keepers of the stones. [avengers infinity war]

chapter two.

❝ THE FALL OF POWER ❞
( KEEPERS OF THE STONES )
ii. fallen hero
chapter two

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NEW YORK CITY, ONE MONTH AFTER THE BREAK UP OF THE AVENGERS

Sloane hating seeing Tony like this. They had just gotten back from Rhodey's physical therapy appointment, and were standing in their living room, discussing the fact that Vero hadn't contacted him for three weeks.

He'd been pacing back and forth nonstop for the past five minutes, and, with everything that had just happened over the course of the past few days, only one thing was stabbing into his mind. He could remember the fight with Steve so perfectly, and he wished he couldn't. He wished he could forget it all, and act like it never happened.

But that wasn't the part he was worried about, not the most. He was worried about his son.

" Dad? " Vero's trembling voice called, a few feet away from where Tony had laid after his fight against both the Winter Soldier and Captain America.

The goggles on his head were cracked down one lens, and there was blood running down from his hairline. Vero had followed his father to the abandoned building, and he'd seen everything. The footage of Bucky killing his grandmother and grandfather, then Tony attacking them both out of anger. He didn't know what to do when he witnessed Steve and Bucky double teaming his father. He'd stood off to the side for most of the encounter, but when Tony was getting pummeled, holding his own, barely, Vero had to do something.

He rolled up his sleeve, tapping a button on his watch (which really wasn't even a working watch), causing it to retract into a slim, silver band before expanding again, the silver crawling down to his fingers and up to his shoulder, spreading across his entire body before engulfing it in the silver Iron Man suit.

Vero didn't waste any time, bringing his palm up, aiming at the Winter Soldier as a blast of white energy shot from it, hitting Bucky straight in the back, sending him forward. Both Tony and Steve stopped, mid-fight, to turn and look at Vero; while Captain America looked shocked, his father seemed a bit relieved.

But then the Winter Soldier, who'd managed to get back up in a flash, tackled him to the ground, throwing punches with his metal arm at the teen's face. A sharp pain blossomed in his nose after a particularly hard punch, and, after that, Vero held his own metal-clad forearm against Bucky's artificial one. But, as the latter pushed down against him, Vero could feel the muscles in his arm start to give out underneath the pressure, and the warm blood pouring down his nose, then the next thing he saw was the Winter Soldier being ripped off of him.