The sudden attack from Tony startled Bucky, but he forced himself to stay calm.
After Hank helped him break free from the brainwashing, Steve had told him everything he had done over the years. He knew very well that Howard and Maria Stark had died because of him.
Tony's hatred was something he had to bear.
But that anger should be directed at him alone, not his friend.
The reason Steve had kept him hidden these past few months was not to shield him from punishment. It was to give him time to regain his senses so that even if Tony took his revenge, it wouldn't happen while he was lost and unaware.
"Mr. Stark, those things were all my fault, so please don't—"
Bucky stepped forward, blocking Steve. But before he could finish, Tony frowned in disgust, and fired a pulse blast from his arm armor without warning.
"Ah!"
The beam shot out so suddenly that Bucky barely had time to react. He threw up his metal arm, taking the full force of the blast. Even so, the impact slammed into him like a truck, hurling him across the room. His back crashed into the wall with a heavy thud.
Boom!
As Bucky collapsed helplessly to the ground, Steve could no longer stay still.
He had anticipated that Tony would attack the moment he saw Bucky, and he had prepared for it, but when this scene actually unfolded before his eyes, he still couldn't just stand by and watch.
"Tony, Bucky was under Hydra's control. None of what he did was his own will."
"Steve!"
Hearing Steve plead for Bucky, Tony immediately turned his repulsor at him.
"Controlled? Does that make him innocent? You fought in World War II. Those people brainwashed by Hydra, by the Nazis, who started a world war, do you dare say they weren't guilty? Tell me, do you think being controlled means no crime? Or do you just think your friend is innocent?!"
With Reid's interference, the two men still clashed over Bucky, but it wasn't as intense as in the movies.
In the film, Tony saw Steve as his closest comrade and partner. He had even offered Stark Tower as their Avengers base. For the sake of his friends, he stayed up countless nights worrying about possible future threats.
But then Steve chose to defend Bucky, which not only angered Tony but also completely broke his heart. That was why, communication between the two could never work, and they eventually had a complete falling out.
Here, things were not like that. Thanks to Reid's manipulations on both sides, Tony and Steve's relationship had never been that close. So when the latter made his position clear, the former didn't feel the same crushing disappointment.
They were distant. And because of that distance, there was still room for dialogue.
"But Bucky isn't like those Hydra agents or Nazi soldiers. He—"
"Enough, Steve!"
Steve wanted to explain that Bucky wasn't someone who chose Hydra's ideology. He was forced into it through drugs, brain implants, and other means. He had no self-awareness at all, unlike those who had independent thinking ability yet still threw themselves into the organization's embrace.
That argument indeed made sense. But the one who interrupted Steve wasn't the grim-faced Tony; it was Bucky, slowly pushing himself up from the ground.
"That's enough, Steve. Don't speak for me. Don't just focus on me being forced into Hydra's hands and ignore the pain the others suffered due to my actions."
He stood up again and moved in front of Steve, shielding him from Tony. His expression was sincere as he spoke.
"I'm sorry for what he said. I'm probably the only friend he has left from his time. When it comes to me, he loses his sense of judgment."
The words didn't soften Tony. He walked closer and aimed the repulsor directly at Bucky's chest. Here, there was no metal arm to block the blast.
"There was supposed to be another old friend of his," he said coldly. "But guess what made that friend die early?"
Howard Stark.
Even in his younger days, he had worked tirelessly for his ideals, but he was still from the richest family in America. He and Maria never lacked any care or medical attention.
When Tony was young, he had cursed Howard numerous times, wondering why the old man was still alive. But deep down, he knew his father was strong and healthy. Living to ninety wouldn't be a problem. A hundred wasn't impossible.
Especially now, with LexCorp secretly researching ways to extend human life, Howard should have had more years ahead. He could have lived two hundred years, three hundred, maybe even longer. But this man standing here had stolen all of that away.
How could Tony not hate him?
"Yeah, it's my fault."
Bucky's face was filled with guilt. He had met Howard before: a man who seemed frivolous at first glance but was dependable to the core. His contributions in the war far exceeded those of Steve and himself.
Thinking about how such a man died because of him, he couldn't forgive himself either.
He reached out, gripped Tony's armored arm, and pressed the repulsor firmly against his own chest.
"I won't make excuses for what I did. I came here to atone. If you want revenge, then do it. Fire the repulsor. Whether it's me or Steve, we'll accept the outcome. We were never meant for this time anyway."
He held no attachment to his life, just like Steve. Both men had always felt out of place in this era. This wasn't their world. If ending it here meant laying down his sins, then no matter the punishment, he would accept it.
His words tempted Tony. For a moment, he felt a surge of satisfaction. If he fired now, he could finally have his revenge for his parents.
But when it came down to it, he couldn't do it.
Bucky's calmness brought him back to his senses. He understood what kind of brainwashing the man had suffered. It was nothing like that of ordinary Hydra agents. He also knew that even if Bucky carried out the act, the real person responsible for his parents' deaths wasn't this man in front of him.
"Get lost!"
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