"Tony?" Steve exclaimed in surprise.
Ever since S.H.I.E.L.D. descended into chaos, he hadn't seen Stark. The man had been buried in developing Ultron and upgrading the Iron Legion. He had completely detached from worldly affairs, leaving most of Stark Industries' operations in Pepper's hands.
After the Superhero/Superhuman Registration Act was proposed, Captain America had tried to gather the other Avengers, but the results were disappointing...
Clint Barton was disillusioned and ready to retire. Natasha Romanoff felt the same, unwilling to wade into the murky waters again. With Thor staying in Asgard and Dr. Banner just wanting a quiet life, the only one left to contact was Iron Man.
But Tony had made it clear that he wanted no part in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s internal conflicts. As for the Superhero Registration Act, he had outright refused it.
Steve wasn't surprised. With Stark's personality, there was no way he would submit to government control. Even Fury's S.H.I.E.L.D. had struggled to keep him in line, let alone anyone else.
"Listen, Captain Rogers, this isn't about you. I'm here for him." The Iron Man armor landed smoothly, and Tony's voice came through the speakers seething with barely restrained fury, as if he was itching for a fight.
Recovering from the repulsor blast, the Winter Soldier sprang up like a coiled panther, his metal arm whirring as it slammed into the helmet of the armor.
*CLANG!*
Tony staggered as if struck by a sledgehammer.
The retinal display inside his helmet flashed red. Even with the armor's advanced shock absorption, the impact left him momentarily dazed.
"Well, that settles it." Tony's eyes burned like fire.
He had watched the tape. The one Sean had given him. The seething hatred had devoured his rationality.
December 16, 1991... His parents had died in a car 'accident' on their way to the Pentagon.
That memory was a wound that never healed. He hadn't even gotten to say goodbye before losing the only family he had left.
For years afterward, he drowned in guilt and grief. He partied recklessly and indulged in every vice until he graduated and took over Stark Industries.
He had replayed that tape from the last century over and over...
The man called Sergeant Barnes had crushed his father's skull with his metal fist. Then he had snapped his mother's neck.
That image burned into his mind, igniting a rage unlike anything he'd ever felt. He had never wanted to kill someone so badly.
The thrusters on his boots flared, and he lunged at the Winter Soldier. The palm repulsors charged and aiming straight for his head.
*Thwack!*
A shield knocked his arm aside.
Steve didn't know what was happening, but he couldn't just stand by and watch Bucky's head get blown off.
Tony snarled, "Captain, are you seriously picking a fight with me–"
Before he could finish, the Winter Soldier twisted mid-air and kicked the armor square in the chest.
Trained by Hydra, he had an assassin's instincts for weak points. His metal fingers dug into the Arc Reactor, sparks flying as he tried to rip it out.
Tony's face remained stone-cold. He redirected power to his chest and blasted Barnes away with a concentrated beam. Red lasers shot from the right side of his arm, slicing toward Bucky.
The Winter Soldier rolled aside, grabbing the fallen vibranium shield. He blocked the lasers, then slammed his knee into the armor, following up with a brutal shield strike.
"Do you remember them?! December 16, 1991... what did you do?!" Stark roared, his voice raw with fury.
His armor pulsed with a molten glow as he blocked the shield. Thrusters flared, and a powered knee smashed into Bucky's stomach.
The metal hand clamped onto Barnes' skull, fingers digging in. Tony raised his other fist to smash his face in...
"Sam! Stop him!" Steve shouted.
"Can someone tell me what the hell is going on?!" Falcon's wings snapped open as he sprinted, leaping into the air to kick Iron Man away.
"Sorry, man. I'm Team Cap." Sam muttered mid-flight.
"Get the hell off me!"
Tony's arm shot out, firing magnetic restraints that clamped onto Falcon mid-air. Sam yelped as he was yanked down, then punched across the rooftop.
"Do you even know what he did?!" Stark's helmet retracted, revealing a face twisted in grief and rage, "He did the cruelest thing imaginable to me!"
"Bucky was brainwashed, Tony. He didn't know what he was doing."
Steve remembered Zola's words in the New Jersey bunker... Hydra had orchestrated Howard Stark's assassination.
"That wasn't him. Hydra controlled his mind–"
"Shut up!" Tony's gauntlet tightened around Bucky's throat, "Those were my parents, Captain."
"My father never stopped talking about you. Hundreds– thousands of times. He felt guilty… because after you fell into the ice, he was supposed to lead the search. But he found the Tesseract instead. He missed his last chance."
"The one time he got drunk in front of me… he said he hoped you'd forgive him. Well, he was wrong. You don't deserve to be called his friend."
*Thud!* *Thud!* *Thud!*
Metal fists pounded into Barnes' face, blood splattering.
"I'm going to make him die screaming, just like they did." Tony said, his tone ice cold.
"I'm sorry, Tony. But he's my friend." Steve sprinted forward, scooped up the shield, and rammed it into Iron Man, sending him stumbling back.
"So was I." Tony raised his arm to fire a shoulder-mounted missile, but Steve smashed the launcher with his shield.
A brutal uppercut sent the helmet snapping back. The Captain pressed the advantage, unleashing a flurry of punches.
Thanks to the super-soldier serum and his knowledge of Tony's fighting style, Steve managed to hold his own. Without heavy weaponry, the fight became a brutal stalemate.
"Your judgment is clouded. Just because it's Barnes, your friend, his crimes don't matter?" Tony blocked the shield.
J.A.R.V.I.S. had analyzed Steve's fighting patterns; his punches, and his habits.
A thruster boosted hook cracked across Steve's jaw. Another punch shattered his nose. Tony seized the momentum, hammering blow after blow, until a final kick sent Steve crashing down.
"You shouldn't do this, Tony. Bucky deserves punishment, but not execution. You want to kill him!" Gasping, Steve forced himself up, raising his fists.
He had never backed down from a fight in his life.
"So you're standing in my way?" Tony's voice was cold.
No matter what, he would kill the Winter Soldier. Otherwise, that tape would replay in his mind, forever haunting him and never letting him rest.
"Uh, guys? He's gone. What're you still fighting for?" Sam awkwardly pointed out after finally breaking free from the restraints.
Watching Captain America and Iron Man, he realized the Avengers were over...