Agatha had been on Earth for quite some time now, but she was still amazed at its inhabitants' ability to ignite conflict left and right for the most absurd of reasons. They seemed to enjoy being at war. Naturally, the death of a monarch was no small feat, and diplomacy wasn't easy on the best of days, but everyone seemed to be overreacting after the bombing without any actual evidence for anything. Everybody was crying and was using the circumstances to advance in their careers. Natasha Romanov was at the top of that list.
That woman was a sociopath who was constantly plotting. Some might describe her as a survivor. She probably was, but so were everyone in Agatha's extended family. They weren't trampling over others to get to the top. The spy had no qualms in setting the world on fire to get where she wanted to be. Her actions were not those of a hero who would go to any length to protect the little guys. She was just good enough to make them look that way.
The spy had a way with words. She was always going for something tender that had already been hurt in the past. The tactic was effective. Agatha sometimes wondered what would have happened to Tony had she not be there. The genius was too trusting sometimes. It was probably better for everybody that they didn't have to find out. It didn't change the fact that Romanov had played her cards very well and was causing problems for them and, most likely, for the rest of the world. Agatha should have disposed of her when she had the chance.
Jarvis had gathered as much information as he could find about the man responsible for the bombing. The AI actually found a lot of information in the data from Shield. The facial recognition was a 98% match for James Buchanan Barnes, who was supposed to have died during World War II. Jarvis had checked it twice for good measure, not that he was the kind to make a mistake in the first place. One could never be too sure.
The legendary best friend of Steve Rogers was not dead. He actually looked as good as new, except for the brand new metal arm. Just thinking about what Jarvis had uncovered from all those files made Agatha want to murder Romanov and her team all over again. The AI had asked for his creator to take a seat in the common living room, which made Tony suspicious. The whole team was there as well, having been asked to provide moral support, even though they had no idea what it was about. They would be there for Tony anyway. Perhaps it would have been easier on everybody if they had known. Then again, maybe not. There was no use crying over spilled milk right now.
Hydra had retrieved the sergeant at the bottom of the mountain. Everybody knew about that last mission jumping on a moving train. Rogers had never bothered returning to the scene to find the corpse of his best friend. He might not have had the time to be fair. Only Rogers really knew what had really happened now. Hydra had previously conducted experiments on Barnes. They just kept going. Their version of the serum might not have been as effective as the original, still, it had kept the man alive to his day.
"Please, Sir, sit down."
"What is it Jarvis?"
"A number of files were flagged by the face recognition programme. Hydra appears to have used Sergeant Barnes as the Winter Soldier on a great number of assassinations."
Jarvis projected all the information he had found out. Feelings were still a difficult concept for him to grasp. He could analyse their reactions, the features of their faces or the speed of their heartbeats. He would have no idea how it actually felt. He wouldn't be able to experience it firsthand. The one thing he knew was that he had to protect his creator no matter what or, at the very least, make everything better for him. Jarvis didn't need to be a human to understand that Tony Stark would struggle as a result of what was about to happen. Delaying would not make the situation any easier, but at least Jarvis had made sure that his father would be surrounded by people who loved him.
On the TV, a blurry video began, and right away, Tony recognised that road. The entire room was holding their breath. Rhodey and Hope knew what it meant but the others didn't fully understand. Tony was watching the screen with intensity, showing to all that it was important to him. A man on a motorbike was causing a car to have an accident. Soon after, he was seen walking toward the crash and then he went on attacking the people in the car.
"Mom." whispered Tony.
The assassin was emotionless and methodical. Even when Howard Stark appeared to recognise him, Sergeant Barnes' eyes did not light up with any kind of feeling whatsoever. The older Stark wanted to protect his wife. He thought that Barnes was a friend and didn't understand what was happening to him. It kinda made the whole thing even worse. They couldn't imagine what Tony was feeling right now. The man really couldn't catch a breath.
A single tear ran down Tony's cheek, his eyes staying glued to the TV set even if it was all black again. The silence was deafening. Nobody was sure of what to say or do. Was there anything in their power to make things better? At that point, was it even possible? They could only be there for him, and wait for him to be ready for whatever would be the next step.
All of the sudden, as if coming out nowhere, Tony stood up and exploded in one single scream of pain mixed with rage. He took the first thing that came to hand, a piece of technology he had been working on, just to throw it at the TV set. The people closest to Tony were somewhat awakened by the sound of breaking. With all their might, Rhodey and Hope gave the genius a bear hug. They knew that Tony would never do anything to harm them. He tried to break away though. Tony always wanted to be alone in those moments he hurted the most, in those moments he shouldn't be left to his own devices. They would not let him go anywhere.
He put up a little more of a fight, struggling against their embrace, but eventually, the adrenaline left his body, leaving him boneless in the arms of his friends. He sobbed in silence. The three of them sat down once more. No one got up to leave. Tony needed them and they would be there for him. That was what a family was for.
"I never got along with Howard." Tony said quietly. "He was constantly comparing me to Rogers, and nothing I did was ever good enough. Over the years, the image of Captain America became more and more perfect. When he wasn't around the house, he spent most of his time on a boat looking for dear old Steve Rogers. He spent millions looking for one man. His family was not good enough to keep him home. I would be lying if I said I was moved by his death at the time."
Bruce quickly went to the kitchen and returned with a mug full of fresh coffee. Jarvis knew his creator well and had planned for everything. Tony accepted it with a small smile. His hands were wrapped tightly around the mug, as if he wanted to extract every last drop of heat from it.
"I always assumed that he was drunk that night. I despised him. For a long time, I hated him because he had killed my mum. And I hated myself. That night, we had yet another fight. I also believed that he had drank even more because of that, because of me. Obedaiah, Peggy, they all lied to me to cover it up. I'm so tired of everything."
Tony was helped into his bedroom by Rhodey. Hope would not leave his side. Not right now, not ever. The genius made no objections. The light that seemed to ignite him and put those gold sparkles in his eyes had gone out. This was too much to handle. It would take some time to wrap his head around it.
The adults would have to do anything they could to spare the news to Harley for now, but the kid would not be kept away for long. The group that remained in the room was left in a different state of frustration and rage. Shield knew. Fury knew. They most likely helped in covering up the murder into a road accident. Every time they believed the agency couldn't go any lower, they were always proven wrong.
Fury had certainly known for a while. He had been working for Shield long enough to be around back then. He had always been the kind to keep secrets up his sleeve to use later. Romanov and Rogers had most probably learnt the truth about the Stark's death during the data dump. The members of shield and Tony weren't close by any stretch of the imagination. Telling the truth to the genius might have made them friendlier. The genius wasn't good enough in their eyes for basic decency. Failure to report a murder to the appropriate authorities was a crime in and of itself. They always had the option to use that against the heroic avengers at one point.
In the bedroom, Tony wasn't sleeping. He was laying there, the small spoon in a never-ending hug. He couldn't bring himself to care about anything other than the fact that she was there, anchoring him. If he had been alone, facing that revelation, Tony knew his reaction would have been disastrous for him and, in the long run, for the people he cared about. But he wasn't alone. His family of choice was there for him. Hope was there for him.
He turned around on the bed, facing his girlfriend once again. She wasn't sleeping either. Instead, she was simply waiting for him to do something once he would be ready to do so. His smile toward her was small and unsure. He would get better for her and for everybody else. He was not OK but he would be. Life had never been easy for him. The important thing to focus on was not the fall but rising back from the ashes each and every time after. He had done it before. He was capable of doing it again.
"Hydra killed my mum." He told her again softly.
"Yes, they did."
Hope was always the type to tell him things as they were, plain and simple and he was really thankful for that. Most of the time, he didn't need for things to be sugar-coated. The teaspoon full of sugar would not make the hard pill easier to swallow. That's why he figured he could learn a little more about the murderer from her. She wouldn't lie to him.
"What did they do to Barnes?"
"Torture, brainwashing. I don't know the details. Jarvis says some things are in the files from the data dump."
The AI was most likely projecting the information onto a hologram being Tony's back. The genius didn't need to be reading about it. Not right now anyway. Tomorrow the world would go on, spinning way faster than Tony would want to handle but he would take a moment today to properly grieve his mother. As he cuddled further against Hope, Tony thought it was time to forgive himself for the things he was never responsible for in the first place. He closed his eyes and forced himself to recall the fondest memories he had of his mother. He finally dozed off.