The War Within | A Tony Stark Series

c: The Winter Soldier

Tony's POV

"You doing okay?"  The infamous redhead sneaks up on me. The little spy still finds her ways to find me at my most vulnerable. 

"Ecstatic," I remark sarcastically.

"You know you don't always have to put on a tough mask. You can actually tell people how you feel. If you're capable of that sort of thing." Romanoff jokes. Normally I'd find something witty to comment, but knowing I just lost the only woman who tolerated me at my worst is keeping me from existing. "They caged her, Tony."

I lifted my eyes to meet hers and narrowed them in confusion, "That's against protocol."

"Your protocol, not theirs. These people; they don't understand her like we do. They strapped a muzzle on her-"

"Jesus..." I pinched the bridge of my nose in frustration. I'm an idiot.

"She let her guard down for you. She feels betrayed. Losing half the team is one thing, but losing her. She's made a ton of sacrifices for you. I think she'd want you to do the same for her."

"The accords can keep her safe."

"Is it worth it? Chasing after her, locking her up, and stripping her of her free will just to protect her? You and I both know that's crazy. She's been through enough. How long until you realize she doesn't need protection, she needs you."

***

Monroe's POV

I caught up to Steve in an empty office that has a view of the live footage of Barnes. Being a former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, I know my way around the buttons on the table, so I pulled up the footage on the screen before him. Discreetly of course. He turned back to me as I threw him a sad smile. He nodded in appreciation and watched. If I looked far enough outside this room, Nat was sitting ahead.

'He didn't know' Nat thought out.

'He knew enough' I sent in response. Defending Stark doesn't suit hNat. She hates Stark, so why is she trying to make amends for him. My attention was brought back to Steve when he spoke up, holding the released photos of Barnes.

"Why would the Task Force release this photo, to begin with?" 

"Get the word out, involve as many eyes as we can?" I respond unsure of the right answer.

"Right. It's a good way to flush a guy out of hiding. Set off a bomb, get your picture taken. Get seven billion people looking for the Winter Soldier," Steve proposes.

"You're saying someone framed him to find him? It doesn't guarantee that whoever framed him would get him. It guarantees that we would..." I narrowed my eyes at the thought. Steve and I shared a look.

"Yeah..."

Suddenly, a power outage emerges almost coincidentally. However, we know better than to think so. Red lights begin flashing as I search the minds of everyone in the area.

"Sub-level five, East Wing."

***

Steve and I arrived at where Barnes was supposed to be kept, but instead, we found all the guards assumingly dead or unconscious. Only one man cried out for us. How is he the one who survives from a team of armed men that were taken down? Not buying his act, Steve lifts him by the collar and interrogates him. 

While he does so, I look out for the Winter Soldier. To my surprise, a metal arm came rushing for my face. I ducked under it as the wall behind me crumbles from impact. I swing for his face, but he blocks it. With the metal arm, he grabs me by my chin and throws me toward the cell he was caged in. My back hits the edges as I fall to the ground, defeated. While Barnes goes after Rogers, I groan in pain but force myself to sit up. My vision clears up, barely making out the scene of Barnes plunging Steve down the empty elevator shaft. I shut my eyes and wince at the pulsing headache I've earned. Once opened again, the Winter Soldier was gone. Instead, the sketchy guy from earlier stood before the elevator entrance.

"Hey!" I called out as I forced myself to stand. He turned to me and ran to save himself. He entered a staircase with me chasing after him. As soon as he made it to the ground floor, he escaped, disappearing into the crowd. That's when my enhanced hearing kicked in, the fighting grunts of guards and the Winter Soldier. I ran back in to find Tony blasting Barnes with a sonic wave. I took my chance raised one hand, flashing a bright blue light to blind the soldier. He crouched as Tony lunged for the assassin. Unmatched, Barnes blocked every strike and held up the gun he never let go of, aiming for Tony. "No!"

I jumped on his back and held his head back. Pulling at the tendons in his neck, Barnes brought the gun up toward me to fire. I grabbed his arm on instinct and tried pulling the gun out of his hand. Instead, the assassin never lost grip and pulled his arm down, pulling me with it. I was thrown to the floor as he pulled the trigger at Tony. Luckily, his repulsor saved his ass. That fight didn't last long before he threw Tony across the floor. I picked myself up and kicked at his sides. Barnes was shoved back before Nat ran in behind me. She punched the man between his legs as I kicked my leg across his face. Spinning with momentum, I tried once more, but I became predictable. Barnes caught my leg over his shoulder and spun me in the air, smashing me onto a table. My vision became blurry from the attack as I watched helplessly. Nat was defeated and T'challa only slowed him down. Once I regained my strength, I ran up the stairs to capture Barnes. I knew he was headed for the rooftop, even with the mumbo jumbo thought process. It seemed the boys had made it before me. The assassin was barely lifting off in a helicopter while Steve held it down with his bare hands. I watched in awe, wind blowing strands of hair in my face from the propellers.

The assassin gave up and directed the helicopter to crash on the rooftop in hopes of killing Steve. I crouched down to protect myself and curled my fingers to avert the path of the propeller blades, protecting Steve in the process.  They nearly sliced his head off but missing him in the end. Once the movement stopped I looked over to make sure he was okay. Just as I was about to deem the scene clear, a metal arm broke the glass windshield and latched onto Steve's throat. The weight of the soldier was sliding the chopper off the edge. Like hell was I going to let him take Steve down with him. I rushed over, but I was too late. They'd crashed down to the river below. I looked for any sign of survival, and I was right to do so.

'We're okay. I'm taking him into hiding until we figure this out.'

Hearing his thoughts was enough for me to develop an idea.

'Whatever the plan is, we'll need our suits. Consult me later, I'll get our stuff back'

With that, I snuck back into the building, using my mind-warping abilities to slide me by. I searched for the blonde agent, seeing as she helped us from the beginning. I avoided Stark and Nat as they recovered from the fight. Turning the corner, I find my target.

"Sharon, just the agent I needed to see."