• If I could turn back time •

12. Worth It

"I don't know if I'm worth all this, Steve..."
———

Run.

Run.

Run.

My lungs felt like they were going to explode. I was gasping for air, each breath a struggle to take. My muscles were burning.

But I had to keep running.

Soon enough, however, I ran out of rooftops to leap onto. My shoes skidded on the concrete and I held my arms out to keep my balance, sharply exhaling as I looked over the edge. It was long way to the ground from here, but I had nowhere else to go. I took a quick glance around to see if there was a ladder. Thank God there was one.

My hands slipped on the frigid bars of metal, nearly sending me plummeting towards the pavement below. I could hear shouting off in the distance and quickened my pace. As soon as my shoes hit the ground, I was running again.

I flew past people, shoving them aside if I had to. My eyes darted to and fro, trying to seek out an escape route on the run. I couldn't hear anything but the pounding of my heart in my ears and my limbs had long since grown numb. I didn't know where to go. I couldn't think straight.

I could only think about Steve.

Suddenly, something hard collided with my chest and I fell on my back. The concrete sidewalk was not kind to me. I laid there in shock for a moment before I slowly pushed myself up, wincing in pain.

"Stay down." A firm voice told me.

I looked up, trying to blink away the dizzying black spots from my vision. There was a man in a suit of red and gold armor standing over me, his glowing palm aimed at my chest. Something told me he wasn't a friend, probably because he just took me down like I was nothing. I grit my teeth together and quickly swung my legs sideways, knocking his feet out from under him. The split second he lost his balance, I swung my left fist and hit him right in the head.

I ducked when he tried to punch me, trying to land another hit. He was too fast. I parried his punches, holding my ground against this seemingly unstoppable suit of armor. Then, in the blink of an eye, I was face down on the sidewalk with my left arm being held in a painful position. I couldn't move no matter how much I struggled.

"I told you to stay down." The man in the armor growled, yanking upwards on my arm. That earned a howl of pain from me and I only struggled more to escape.

"Tony!"

I froze, panting heavily. Through the messy locks of brown hair that were draped across my face, I could see Steve running up to me. He looked angry. I had never seen him like this before. "S-Steve..." I croaked, groaning in pain when pressure was applied to my back.

Steve looked down at me, eyebrows furrowed. His eyes looked conflicted, but.... they also looked sad. I wanted to reach out for him, do something to get to him, but I couldn't. He finally tore his gaze away from me and glared at Tony, his blue eyes now cold and unforgiving. "Tony. Let him go."

Tony was appalled. "Let him go? Are you serious? We've spent years looking for this guy and you just want me to let him go?!" He sharply retorted, shaking his head. "Barnes is a criminal, and now you are too. How long have you kept him hidden from us, huh? Did you really think keeping him in your apartment like he was just a friend was gonna work?"

"He is my friend, Tony!" Steve immediately snapped back. I've never heard him sound so angry. It was like he was another person entirely. I didn't know if I liked it. He took a few deep breaths in an attempt to compose himself. "Listen, he's been through so much. All he's trying to do is put his life back together like any other normal person would do. How is he going to do that if you lock him away? Tony, use some sense for once!"

Tony was silent for a moment. I was scared of what could possibly come. I was scared that he would hurt Steve. No. If he even laid a hand on him, there would be dire consequences. I didn't care if bad things happened to me, all I cared about was Steve.

"Barnes is coming with me, Steve. You know it's what's best for him." Tony finally said, locking my hands together with thick metal handcuffs.

"Tony, stop. You don't know what you're doing." Steve argued, taking a step towards me. He held out his hands, almost like he was surrendering. "You can't do this, it'll only make things worse."

"I don't care. I'm taking a murderer off the streets."

"Tony!"

An armored truck soon pulled up and Tony dragged me over to it. I turned my head, watching helplessly as I was pulled further and further away from Steve. I tried to fight against Tony, but I couldn't. Steve just stared as I was shoved into the back of the truck and roughly secured into more restraints. The doors slammed shut, and then it was over.

I hung my head, staring at the dull metal floor.

This was my fault. I had brought this upon Steve.

A/N: Yeahhh... Tony's a bit of a jerk, if you couldn't tell.