Whatever It Takes [Wanda Maximoff AU]

7- Broken Family

The elevator doors were pried open behind Steve and Bucky. Steve stood at the ready with his shield as Bucky had his light machine gun pointed over his shoulder.

"Ready?"

"Yeah." Bucky replied.

Tony Stark walked through the door as his helmet retracted back.

"You seem a little defensive." Tony said to them.

"It's been a long day."

"At ease Solider I'm not currently after you." Tony said to Bucky.

"Then why are you here?" Steve asked.

"Could be your story's not so crazy. Maybe. Ross has no idea I'm here I'd like to keep it that way." Tony said leaning against the wall. "Otherwise I gotta arrest myself."

"Well that sounds like a lot of paperwork."

Tony scoffed.

"It's good to see you, Tony."

"You too, Cap." Tony smiled. "Hey, Manchurian Candidate, you're killing me. There's a truce here, you can drop..."

Steve turned and motioned for Bucky to lower his weapon.

Tony, Steve, and Bucky wandered deeper into the hydra base where unbeknownst to them Black Panther was slowly stalking them.

"I got heat signatures." Tony said to the others.

"How many?" Steve asked.

"Uh, one." Tony replied.

They entered into a large chamber where five cryogenic pods lit to life. All of them had bodies of deadly assassins.

"If it's any comfort. They died in their sleep." Zemo said over the intercom.

The trio continued to walk farther into the chamber only to realize that every assassin had bullet holes in their foreheads.

"Did you really think I wanted more of you?" Zemo asked.

"What the hell?" Bucky asked as he fidgeted.

"I'm grateful to them though. They brought you here."

"Please captain, the soviets built this chamber to withstand the launch blast of UR-100 rockets."

"I'm betting I can beat that." Tony said to them.

"Oh, I'm sure you could Mister Stark. Given time, but then you'd never know why you came."

"You killed innocent people in Vienna just to bring us here?" Cap asked.

"I've thought about nothing else for over a year. I studied you. I followed you but now that you're standing here. I just realized, there's a bit of green in the blue of your eyes." Zemo chuckled. "How nice to find a flaw."

"You're sokovian, is that what this is about?"

"Sokovia was a failed state long before you blew it to hell. No. I'm here because I made a promise."

"You lost someone?"

"I lost everyone." Zemo hissed. "And so will you. An empire toppled but its enemies can rise again, but one which crumbles from within? That's dead. Forever."

An old video monitor switched on in the corner where a video began to play. The video of the Winter Solider murdering Tony's parents.

Steve knew his problems were about to become ten times bigger.

"Did you know?" Tony asked Steve with tears in his eyes.

"I didn't know it was him." Steve said to him.

"Don't bullshit me Rogers, did you know it was him?"

"Yeah." Steve said quietly.

That's when everything went down.

When the Avengers finally cracked.

Steve and Bucky battled the angry, grief, and vengeance stricken Iron Man as he had one goal in mind. Kill James Barnes.

The trio all fell together down an empty missile silo where the fight continued.

"This isn't going to change what happened." Cap said limping as Tony rose above him.

"I don't care." Tony growled. "He killed my mom."

He flew at Cap as they began hand to hand fighting. Iron man had him pinned down until Bucky rose to his feet and hit him with Cap's shield. Bucky and Cap continued to throw the shield back and forth keeping him on the ground as they beat him.

Bucky pinned Tony against the wall as he began to dig through the metal towards his arc reactor.

Tony sent off a unibeam that ripped through his metallic arm dismembering Bucky Barnes.

Cap grabbed his shield and began fighting with iron man again until Iron Man dropped to his knee and sent a repulsion blast at the shield which only bounced off it.

The two continued fighting as Captain America had Tony pinned against the wall continuing beating and fighting with his once best friend.

"Friday analyze his fighting technique and deploy countermeasures." Stark said as Captain America continued to pummel him.

It took a few minutes to scan before Friday spoke. "Countermeasures Ready."

"Let's his kick his ass." Tony said as his suit began to dominate Captain America until Tony had him on the ground in a heartbeat.

"He's my friend." Cap said to him.

"So was I." Tony said as he continued to beat him. "Stay down. Final warning."

Cap slowly struggled to his feet and raised his fists. "I can do this all day." He strained.

Tony raised a palm ready to hit him with a repulsor blast but last second Bucky grabbed his leg throwing him off balance.

Steve picked him up and threw the machine to the ground where he got on top of him and continued to punch his helmet until it broke apart.

Cap picked up the shield and raised it above his head as Tony covered his face with his armored hands. Steve brought the shield down hard into Tony's arc reactor successfully shutting down his suit.

The broken brothers looked at each other in regret and sadness before Steve pulled the shield from his chest and helping Bucky up.

As Steve and Bucky headed out the door Tony rolled over.

"That shield doesn't belong to you. You don't deserve it. My father made that shield." Tony said to him.

And in a single second Captain America realized that he was more than just that shield, and that shield didn't mean what it had used to mean in another time.

Steve let go of the shield causing it to clatter against the ground before him and Bucky walked out of the base.

Tony rolled over and struggled to sit up as he tried overcome what had just happened.

Cap had just forfeited his shield.

Tony had lost a brother.

But most importantly.

A family had broken.

And the Avengers were no more...