Wanda appeared to be in a sorry state, depressed. Her head hung low and her shoulders were dropped as she sat against the back wall of her prison cell. A true picture of the damsel in distress. Agatha, however, was not falling for the Scarlet Witch's act. The performance was having no effect on her. At all. It must have worked quite well on Rogers though. The man had to be the knight in shining armour, always ready to come to the rescue of the little guy, or gal. They were truly made for each other.
"Do you know what happened to you?" asked Agatha without any preamble.
Wanda's head shot back up. The hatred in her eyes shattered the fragile demeanour she had tried to project so far. She remained seated on the floor. For the witch, Agatha wasn't wasn't important enough to make an effort or even to just have some basic manners. Respect was earned not demanded. Wanda was doing nothing to help in her situation. Some people would simply never learn.
"You monster came to gloat?" Wanda said with a snark.
"You brought all that on yourself. If you don't realise that by now I really can't help you."
"You wouldn't have anyway." Wanda spat the words. "You are with Stark."
"Maybe. Maybe not. We will never know."
Agatha began to explain that both her and Loki had taken away all her abilities, all the magic of chaos she was definitely not mature enough to wield. Wanda would go on living her normal life, like any other human on the planet, but she would still be held accountable for what she had done. The rules were the same for everyone.
"It wasn't her fault! Hydra used her! She's just a kid!"
As was to be expected, Steve Rogers felt like he had to intervene in a conversation in which he was not welcomed. His outburst would not change the outcome. The truth had a tendency to reveal itself regardless. Tony might be able to assist a little. The files they discovered as a result of the data dump were quite interesting. Hydra had a big interest in people with powers of all kinds, and that, whether they wanted to participate or not. All those videos of Wanda testing out her powers on innocent people would certainly destroy that poor little innocent woman. Yet another irony.
Agatha ignored him, never taking her eyes away from Wanda's face. The two women engaged in a silent battle of willpower. Hatred for complete indifference. Whatever happened to Wanda now would not make a difference to Agatha one way or the other. Her family would not lose a moment of sleep over any member of that team. Natahsa and Steve probably still believed they still had a way out. Captain America was the epitome of everything that was good in this world. Anybody at his side was necessarily on the right side of the rapids. People would come to realise that they had done all that for them. They were that delusional.
Agatha didn't need to read the Captain's mind to figure out what he was thinking just that. His thinking was either misguided or more outdated than she had initially believed. She had been on that planet for a long time. Agatha had to adapt to a great many things. It had not always been easy, but she had tried again and again until she had perhaps not mastered it but, at least, understood what it was about. If Rogers wanted to influence where the world was going, he would need to better understand how its cogs were turning.
Barnes looked more broken than Tony had expected. He was curled in on himself, trying to occupy as little space as possible. He was pathetic. Tony wasn't entirely sure what he hoped to get from Barnes. Perhaps he thought he would see another version of Steve, with the same cockiness and tendency to always believe he was in the right. Their interaction up to this point had been limited, and really Tony shouldn't have made assumptions about Barnes.
"Do you know who I am?" Tony asked without preamble.
"Tony Stark." whispered Barnes back.
"Do you remember that night? That road and my parents? Howard and Maria Stark?"
"I remember them all."
The situation at hand was far from being a simple one. Tony had time to consider the implications. He knew deep down that he would never be able to get over the fact that this man had murdered his parents. Even when Tony closed his eyes, it was Barnes he was seeing violently take the life of his mother, strangling her mercilessly. This haunting image would never go away. At the very least, the genius no longer wanted to kill the Winter Soldier. It was already a significant step forward for him.
Howard Stark did not kill his wife while driving drunk, and the fight between father and son was not the cause of his heavy drinking. Tony was left feeling like he had wasted so much energy being angry at his old man for so long. Another thing for Tony to feel guilty about. His anger towards his father had returned when he realised that Howard had thought it was a good idea to take his wife out while having his brand new version of the serum in the trunk. Tony himself wasn't that reckless with the people he loved.
"Are you there to finish the job?"
Tony had absolutely no idea what Barnes was asking. The Winter Soldier appeared just as broken as he looked. Nothing about that situation was being fair to either of them.Once again, Captain America knew better than anybody else.
"You can't do that Stark! Bucky is innocent! You can't kill him because of Hydra's actions."
After a few seconds of stunned silence, Tony just laughed. Despite the gravity of the situation, he couldn't help himself. This was how those people perceived him, and they weren't entirely wrong. His enemies were usually either dead or behind bars. Rogers didn't seem to realise that they could all face the death penalty for their recent actions. Tony wouldn't have to personally get his hands dirty. The end result would ultimately be the same.
"If you testify to what you have done while being the Winter Soldier, I'll get you a deal with therapy included." Tony said when he finally calmed down.
"Why would you do that for me?" asked Barnes.
The Sergeant finally lifted his gaze to meet Tony's. His eyes were full of curiosity but devoid of hope. He appeared to be someone who hadn't made a decision on his own in a long time and was simply waiting for his next assignment. Tony felt uncomfortable looking at that man, but Tony had spent enough time in the public eye to not let it show.
"I'm not doing this for you. The families of the people Hydra had killed through you deserve to know the truth."
"You have all the rights to kill me. I would not defend myself."
"It would not make me feel any better."
Despite Rogers' shouting, Barnes accepted the deal. Captain America didn't matter anymore, and perhaps he never did. With or without him, the Second World War had been won, and the world would continue to spin just fine. Agatha returned to Tony's side and placed a hand on his arm. The exchange glance, a silent question passing between them. They were both done.
Ross was probably waiting for them to be done to corner them in a conversation they would rather avoid. The general had sent his own transportation, probably thinking that Agatha and Tony would not be able to leave whenever they pleased. How naive of him. Nobody could force them into doing something they did not want to do in the first place.
"Stark! Wait!" Barnes yelled as Agatha and Tony were about to leave. "There are others like me. Worse than I am. That's what the psychiatrist was after. They're in Siberia, and he plans to awaken them and use them for terrible things."
"And you couldn't lead with that?" answered Tony, shocked.
Agatha wasted no time and teleported them both back to the tower immediately. Facing five Winter Soldiers would need a full team. Everyone was already waiting for their return from the raft anyway, if only to provide support for Agatha and Tony would need. The entire team began to get ready as fast as they could. This was not a drill.
The bulge of the bunker was barely discernible, almost hidden beneath the snow of Siberia. The silence all around them was almost eerie. They were probably in that quiet moment before the perfect storm. They were extra cautious as they made their way in, inspecting every nook and cranny just in case. The bunker was much larger than it appeared from the outside. It was like a concrete maze, amplifying the already freezing atmosphere.
"Where is Steve Rogers?" A voice asked as they entered what looked like the main room.
"Sorry. He was overwise busy with facing the law. Didn't mean to disappoint." answered Tony.
"Well, at least you are here. I'll have to be satisfied with that."
In the centre of the room, a video began to play on. They all knew that road by this point. Using that traumatic experience against Tony was truly despicable. They couldn't understand why Zemo had such a strong desire to harm Stark. Tony wasn't to blame for Ultron. What had happened in Sokovia wasn't his fault either. In fact, Tony had made things better for everyone. The right people around him had helped to transform him for the better. It was obvious that if Iron Man had joined the Avengers, events would have gone down differently. For everyone.
"I know about that. What is your point exactly?"
Zemo remained silent. It was clear that this was not part of his plan. He had hoped to use the raw emotions behind grief and betrayal. With the power of his armour, Tony would have destroyed Rogers, and then, he would have been forced to face the repercussions of his emotional actions. Zemo would have gotten his revenge and simultaneously destroyed the notion of superheroes. Tony understood the need for retaliation. He didn't like Captain America and his team. Still, he understood that there were threats out there that would need the help of more than human beings. The needs of one man could not jeopardise the fate of the entire world.
All of the sudden, they heard a commotion, and they all rushed in that direction, only to find Black Panther having made his way to the command room and already restraining Zemo. The king was already there. Wakanda had the technology to find a needle in a haystack. Their facial recognition program had been able to trace Zemo down to a Russian airport. The arrest would have happened with or without T'Challa's help. The king was probably seeking revenge. The cycle had to be broken.
"That man needs to go to jail." slowly stated Rhodey, always the voice of reason.
T'Challa gave him an odd, almost offended look. The Colonel couldn't care less. King or not, he would have to follow the rules. In those difficult and grieving times, the well-being of his nation should be more important than the life of a single individual. The people of Wakanda deserved to see justice served. Their new king's word about the man's death may not be enough for them. T'Challa nodded quite reluctantly. Rhodes and the rest of the team would not hesitate to throw him under the bus if he did not follow their instructions
All of them really wanted to get back home and rest. They carried on searching for the other Winter Soldiers though. Their cryotubes were in the next room. Zemo had shot each of them in the head. The threat was never real. Agatha and Loki used their magic to burn the corpse after getting the approval of the UN. Nobody wanted to risk the serum in their bodies to be replicated.
Tony had promised to train the Spider kid and Harley, who had totally been working on his own armour. The whole team was going to help. There was still so much left to be done. Ross needed to be stopped and the threat out there was still coming for them. Delaying by a single day would not