Betrayal.
When I returned back into the facility after detaining Helmut Zemo within the Quinjet I bared witness to the severing of a bond.
Zemo's plan did work, and the two Avenging heroes were now at each others throats. Tearing each other apart. Their excruciating battle making the bunker shake, and tremble.
Every Cryostasis Chamber had collapsed to the ground. The pipes, and rod iron structures un-tethered from the concrete walls. Their bolts limply strewn in stacks of titanium.
Up above, past the grated platforms, the ceiling hatch of the silo had been busted shut for good, no longer able to latch open.
I walked over the rubble, and headed closer to the War. The sounds of their screams, and clashes echoing in my ears.
If you pull on the right thread the whole piece unravels, and that's what Zemo has done. As easy as a snap of the fingers he turned trust into betrayal.
From afar I watched the Avengers fight together, and protect together for a couple of years now, and they had always been a symbol of light, and hope. But, like rifts in a pond their unflinching beacon of heroism had been splintering away for quite some time. And, now with the two leaders divided up the piece was only becoming more, and more broken.
I headed deeper into the alcoves, and found them battling it out in front of a row of grey stone columns. The wicked snowy winds slithering in between the pillars. The mountainscape blurred in the white blizzardy distance.
Stitch by stitch, I was watching everything be torn apart.
Bucky had slammed Tony against the cement wall, and fought against him with everything he had. His metal hand ripping into Tony's red armor as he desperately tried to pull the Arc Reactor out, the powerhouse of Tony's famous suit.
The systems blue light flickering in distress, sparking as it started to be forcefully gouged out by Bucky, who was screaming with all his might.
But, then in one swift beam of light the Reactor protected itself. In turn, causing Bucky's bionic arm to be blasted right off at it's base.
What was left just the shoulder, and frayed metal pieces that were aglow in fiery embers.
I nearly shouted, bringing my hands up to my mouth to stay silent.
I wanted to rush out onto the battlefield, and fight too, but I didn't dare. I knew that I had to remain unharmed so that once this was all over I could fly Bucky, and Steve out.
I fought with myself, knowing I couldn't make a sound as I watched Tony gear up his palm Repulsor again, and knock Bucky to the stone floor.
His destroyed cybernetic arm a few feet from him as he lay.
The two heroes kept on at it. Both so relentless despite being bloody, and broken. They were fighting to the death, they were fighting to win, and they both looked so exhausted.
Tony had analyzed Steve's fight pattern, giving him a momentary lead, and with that America's Golden Boy had been violently thrown against the columns harshly. The sound of the painful impact reverberating off the walls.
"Stand down. Final warning." Tony threatened, armed, and ready.
Though, never one to become defeated, Steve stood back up, bruises, and all.
"I can do this all day." I heard him say, reminding me of the scrawny kid who used to get in fights in the alleys of New York back in the day.
And, true to form, Steve didn't stop.
He kept on trying, and battling, and throwing punches until he was able to win. Until he had Tony pinned down, and with that he slammed Tony's Iron Man helmet off before making his final move.
Finally, Steve shattered Tony's Arc Reactor with his shield. Immobilizing Tony's armor, rendering him powerless. Unable to stand back up.
Steve ripped his shield back out of Tony's suit, and stood back up, his face dripping with blood.
I watched as he helped Bucky up, Bucky's one remaining flesh arm wrapped around his friends shoulders. They leaned in on each other, using the other for support. Completely drained, and badly beaten up.
"That shield doesn't belong to you!" Tony helplessly hollered out, still crippled to the ground. "You don't deserve it! My father made that shield."
In complete horror I saw Steve drop his shield, the one embodying piece that had been apart of him for so, so long. Captain America's defining symbol... He had abandoned it.
And, that was the last thread to finally sever the bond.
I stepped out of the shadows then, in need of retrieving something. Steve, and Bucky dwindling within the distance, back out into the snow.
I watched as Tony noticed me as he spit out some blood. His Arc Reactor weakened, it's blue glow just barely flickering in, and out.
"I'm sorry, Tony. I really am. It's hard to learn something like that," I spoke up, staring down at him. "But, there are two ways of thinking about this,"
"There are people out there who view the whole Ultron thing as your fault. The people that died, the citizen casualties, the utter destruction... You made Ultron, so you made that happen. The Battle of Sokovia was your fault, and yet you still think of yourself as a hero. You're still the "Good Guy", and yet you're blaming someone for killing your parents when it really wasn't their fault,"
I denoted, my voice filled with conviction, teeming with anger. Anger in Tony's need for revenge because in his revenge, he had hurt my husband.
"James didn't ask to become a human experiment, he didn't ask to have his memories wiped, and to be a slave for HYDRA. Everything James has done... He didn't make that happen."
"And, what do you know, huh?" The genius retorted, getting to his knees, his Iron Man helmet broken beside him.
"You're right, I'm only a 100 years old, what would I know?" I disputed.
Bending down I picked up Bucky's mutilated bionic arm, the metal limb heavy, and cold.
I slid off his wedding ring from the ring finger, relieved that it had survived the blast.
Kissing the golden band tenderly I tucked it away into my uniforms pocket for safe keeping before I turned back to look over at the injured billionaire. My expression darkening.
"See, Tony, the difference is James can never be a hero, and he knows that. He used to be back in the day, but that ship has sailed," I conveyed, my tone harsh, riddled with emotion. "But, you? You get to be a hero every damn day despite everything you've done. So, who's really at fault here? The guy who was forced, or the guy who chose?"
An angered Tony threw up his hand, ready to fire at me, and release some of his pent up frustration at my words, but his Repulsors merely sparked. His damaged Arc Reactor having shut down every weapon he had within his iron suit.
He settled for slamming his fist against the stone floor, and I turned away from him.
"I really do apologize, Tony. But, you shouldn't let this effect your relationship with Steve. You're not going to find a better teammate, or a better Avenger than him."
With that, I walked away from the broken man in his broken suit, and I left in the Quinjet with Bucky, and Steve. Flying them far away from the Siberian Training Facility.
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