Tony sighed.
"A few years ago, I almost lost her, so I trashed all my suits. Then we had to mop up HYDRA...then Ultron. My fault. And then, and then, and then, I never stopped. Because the truth is I don't wanna stop. I don't wanna lose her. I thought the Accords could split the difference," Tony stood up and paced the length of the glass walled room. Steve sat at the table, trying to listen completely to Tony, but his mind was drifting to other matters.
Keight type matters.
It wasn't like the other times his head had been filled with her. Usually it was after a nightmare, and he couldn't stop seeing her so hurt and lost. Or during games night, when she looked so happy when she smiled, even if it was fake. Or the one time he and seen her wear a dress, and for some reason couldn't get the image of her in it out of his head.
This time it was confusion, doubt and anger, thoughts he had never fully associated with her before, but with the events that had transpired were now floating in his mind.
"In her defence, I'm a handful. Yet, Dad was a pain in the ass, but he and mom always made it work," Tony kept pacing, his anxiety running high. He was worried about Keight too, or at least she was on his mind for some reason. They were almost father and daughter, although rich uncle and rebellious niece might have been a better description.
"You know, I'm glad Howard got married. I only knew him when he was young, and single," Steve said, trying to stay with the conversation. Tony spun around.
"Oh, really? You two knew each other? He never mentioned that. Maybe only a thousand times," sarcasm dripped with every word. "God, I hated you."
"I don't mean to make things difficult," Steve said. And he meant it. Tony was always bitter about the fact that he thought his father loved Steve more than him, but he never stopped to think about how guilty it made Steve feel, even when he knew it wasn't true.
"I know, because you're a very polite person," Tony said bitterly. Steve shrugged.
"If I see a situation pointed south....I can't ignore it. Sometimes I wish I could."
"No you don't," Tony said pointedly. Steve smiled thinly.
"No, I don't. Sometimes..."
"Sometimes I want to punch you in your perfect teeth. But I don't wanna see you gone. We need you, Cap. So far, nothing's happened that can't be undone, if you sign. We can make the last 24 hours legit. Barnes gets transferred to an American psych centre... and not a Wakandan prison." Tony said, looking at him. Steve picked up one of the pens on the table and frowned.
"I'm not saying it would be impossible, but there would have to be safeguards," Steve said, his mind trying to run one track but splitting into three, Tony, then Bucky, then Keight.
"Sure. Once we put out the PR file, those documents can be amended. I'll file a motion to have you and Wanda reinstated..."
"Wanda? What about Wanda?" Steve sat up straighter, and his brow furrowed.
"She fine. She's confined to the compound, currently. Vision is keeping her company," Tony said dismissively. Steve shook his head.
"Oh god Tony! Every time. Every time I think you see things the right way..."
"What? Its 100 acres with a lap pool. There's a screening room. There's worse ways to protect people."
"Protection? Is that how you see this? Is this protection? It's internment, Tony," Steve said, shaking his head and looking at Tony coldly.
"She's not a US citizen. And neither is Keight," Tony said defensively.
"Oh, come on Tony."
"And they don't grant visas to weapons of mass destruction, which is what both of those woman are capable off!" Tony continued.
"You know neither of them would ever intentionally hurt anyone," Steve argued. Tony shrugged.
"We know Wanda wouldn't, but what about Keight?" Tony looked away from Steve to something behind him. "Speak of the devil, here she is."
Steve turned and saw Keight, her hands cased in metal and crossed around her with metal chains. She was wearing some business clothes, but on her feet were her regular Doc Martens, scuffed and worn but still useful. She licked her bottom lip, which was swollen and split.
"Guys, come on. I thought we agreed no violence," Tony said, throwing up his hands. Keight smirked.
"I started it. You should see the other guy," she said, winking. Tony shooed the guards away and they left reluctantly, standing outside the door a few metres away.
"What is this? Why is she restrained?" Steve said harshly, staring at Tony.
"Oh, you like my new accessories? Yeah, Bruce and Tony made them a few years back. Without my knowledge, of course. They also made some prototype Toxin-proof armour, which, by the way, ended up in HYDRA's hands. So that was really helpful, thanks," she spat, her eyes narrowed and bright.
"Why would you need to make these?" Steve asked, while Tony looked at Keight, not an ounce of guilt in his eyes.
"Just in case I go crazy and want to kill everyone. Or, as Mr Ross put it, 'in event of a mental breakdown or otherwise violent incident that may endanger herself or others'," Keight rolled her eyes, her muscles straining against her restraints.
"This is-why would you do this?" Steve exclaimed.
"It was necessary at the time," Tony said blankly.
"Necessary! You had no right-"
"That is not what we should be discussing!" Tony burst out, spinning around. Keight blinked, her face dropping.
"And what should we be discussing Tony? Is there something more important?" Steve demanded.
"There is, actually. I was talking earlier with His Highness. He has a lot of interesting things to say. Especially about, this one," he pointed at Keight, who swallowed nervously. Steve sat back, curious and suspicious of what was to come.
"And what did he tell you, Tony?" Keight asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Um, a lot? I don't know it seems like a lot because, it's crazy, really, but I don't think I know you anymore Keight. And that's not even your name, right? It's like, an alias," Tony rattled, his eyes cold and staring at Keight. Gone was her strong demeanour, and now her shoulders slumped, her lips trembled, and her eyes shone less bright than before.
"Tony, please," she whispered, her hair falling over her face and with no hands to push it out of the way it stayed there, like a mask.
"Your father was called, Daniel Walsh, am I right? And he was a SHIELD agent who abandoned the agency to run away with some Asgardian woman, Brunnhilde? Am I saying that right?" Tony said sarcastically. Keight had nothing more to say, but Steve could feel the anger slowly bubbling up inside his chest.
"You see, Cap, that this isn't the story she told us. Hers was a sob story lie, and we all fell for it! Even me, who has more than a few trust issues," he scowled at her.
"Now, what happened next? Oh, yes, that's right. They ran away to Wakanda for safety. And who do they befriend? None other than King T'Chaka himself," Tony tapped the glass wall, and a projection of the King appeared. Keight looked down, her ears red and biting her lip.
"Long story short, their house gets set on fire, Daniel dies and Brunnhilde goes off planet, abandoning her week old child and leaving her with who?" Tony directed the question at Keight, who opened her mouth and closed it again, not saying anything. Steve just stared at her, betrayal and hurt filling his mind. She had lied to them? all this time she wasn't who she said she was, and the pain of it hit him like a bullet.
"Who are you, Keight? I want you to say it!" Tony ordered. Keight was silent for a moment, her head hung low, and when she raised it Steve realized there were tears in her eyes, and her lips trembled but somehow, she lifted her head high, and when she opened her mouth her voice did not shake but was as strong as fierce as the ocean.
"I am Princess Khethiwe Nkosazana Udaku, eldest daughter of King T'Chaka, sister to Prince T'Challa, Deputy General of the mighty Dora Milaje and second in line for the throne of Wakanda."
There was silence. Steve stared at her in a new light. She had lied and deceived them because she was royalty. She was a princess, in line for a throne, and yet she had lead them to believe her childhood was horrible, that she was a criminal, that she had had to work hard and had almost died for it.
She had lied to him about who she was, and now how could he trust her to help them?
"It's crazy because I could have found all this out, if I had dug deep enough. But you know why I didn't? Because I trusted you! I thought I knew you, and so it wasn't necessary for me to dig around your history. Turns out, I was wrong. You can't be trusted," Tony said bitterly. Keight had hot tears running down her face, staining her pale white skin. She took a shaky breath.
"I didn't- I thought I was protecting my friends and my family. But by the time I realized it wouldn't make a difference, it was too late. I dug myself into a hole and I couldn't get out and I'm-"
"You're what? You're sorry? Sorry doesn't cut it. You lied to us for four years, Keight. You were never who you said you are, and you know, it hurts being lied to." Steve had to finally speak up after watching Tony grill her, and the anger he felt was a combination of anger towards Tony and anger towards Keight. This was the woman he had grown to care about, who was one of his best friends, his partner and comfort. A part of him understood why she did it, but the rest of him spoke over that small voice in heated betrayal.
"You think I don't know that? My father lied to me for years about who I was, about what I was! I wanted to tell you, but Fury and my father told me to lie, to hide it because it might put my family in danger! But I've had enough. I'm tired of it all. Throw me in a cell and leave me there, because that's what I deserve," she was crying, her entire face wet, black streaks of mascara and eyeliner trailing down her cheeks. Her lips shook, her eyes were bloodshot, and Steve realized the only reason she was angry was because she cared too much.
"No one is going in a cell," Steve said, leaning forward.
"Oh yeah? Cos I'm pretty sure that what Secretary Ross wants to do. Who knows, maybe he even has the original human battery plans from SHIELD. I might be of some use after all," Keight spat, her eyes wild and bright. She truly believed that she was irredeemable, that there was nothing she could do but become an experiment and it would be what she deserved.
But despite the anger, the betrayal and the frustration, Steve knew Keight. Being a princess didn't change her personality, didn't change the way she was. It was, after all, just a title. And although he was hurt that she lied, and he didn't know if he could forgive her yet, he did know her heart. Deep down, underneath the lies and the pain, beneath the layers of sarcasm and vodka, Keight was kind, and heroic, and brave.
She didn't deserve any of the things she thought she did, and Steve was going to make damn sure none of them ever happened to her.
"Uh, I have another question; someone else must have known, right? Apart from Fury. You couldn't have kept it a secret from everyone?" Tony inquired, his face still terrifyingly unreadable. Keight looked down, and sobbed, maybe once, her shoulders heaving. She looked so small, nothing like the foreboding figure she was in battle.
"I don't- I don't think-"
"Dammit Keight who else knew!?" Steve slammed his hand on the table, and Keight flinched, like maybe she thought he would hit her. He hadn't meant to sound so mean. He hadn't meant to scare her, but once again that part of him that was so mad took over.
Keight licked her swollen lips, fresh tears escaping her eyes.
"Brianna and Max, the people I went to school with before New York. Jason Barrowman, my ex-boyfriend who died in New Zealand. Mia's sister Natalya knew. But she, she died in New Zealand too. There were two HYDRA agents who knew. I killed one of them, and the other is who knows where. And, Natasha knew. I told her after D.C. And Sam found out yesterday," she choked, her voice waning as another round of sobs hit her. She almost doubled over, and Tony made a move to help her but thought better of it, staying still.
"You know, I thought I was going to be mad when he told me. I thought I might even hit you. But, I'm not really angry. I'm disappointed. God, I sound like my dad," Tony rubbed his temples with his fingers, screwing up his face for a moment. Steve watched Keight, the competing emotions of anger and pity, and something else he couldn't explain, running around his head.
The something else won over, and he stood and went to her, gathering her up in his arms, the metal encasing her hands and the chain wrapping around her waist digging into his skin. She struggled out of his grasp and stared at him.
"Hit me," she whispered. He stepped back, and Tony watched grimly.
"What?" Steve said, shocked.
"Hit me. I know you want to. You know I deserve it. Hit. Me," she said it louder this time, standing up straight and inclining her head towards him.
"I'm not going to hit you," Steve said, his anger somewhat dissolved at seeing her this way, having given up on herself. She blinked at him, once, then twice.
Then she broke.
She screamed at him, begging, pleading for him to hit her, to make her feel pain because she knew he wanted to. And he did. But he couldn't make himself do it, he couldn't make himself lay one hand on her, even though that anger burned in him.
The armed guards came in, and they grabbed her by the arms, and they dragged her away screaming Steve's name, cheeks streaked black and her eyes dull, lacking the life he had grown to care about so much.
"You see, this is what I'm talking about! Ever since Ultron, she's been getting worse, and now, I don't think she should be out there anymore," Tony said, folding his arms.
"Maybe that's on us. Maybe, we didn't do enough," Steve picked up the pen again, fiddling with it.
"Uh, pretty sure we tried. We sent her to therapy, we talked to her, I even got that adjoining door to your rooms, which, by the way, no one else thought was a good idea. So yeah, I think we did our best. But she is, she's messed up and she can't be around people," Tony closed his eyes and sighed.
"Then where does she go?" Steve said angrily. Tony sighed once again, the stress getting to him.
"We'll send her to the same psych ward as Barnes. Different part of the building, but at least she won't be alone. And hopefully, we can visit her in a year or two." Steve knew that Tony was doing the best he could, that he was trying to make this situation work but shoving a broken, hurting girl, no matter what she had done, into a psych ward wasn't what needed to be done.
"No, Tony! You can't just throw her in a psych ward and hope she gets better. She needs us. She's just a kid!"
"GIVE ME A BREAK!" Tony yelled, snapping suddenly. He put his head in his hands.
"You don't think I know that? I hate seeing her like this, but there's nothing else I can do. I'm doing what has to be done...to stave off something worse."
Steve nodded faintly.
"You keep telling yourself that," he placed the pen back in its case with its matching partner. "Hate to break up the set."
And with that he left the office, leaving Tony holding his head in his hands and watching Bucky ruefully on the screen, wondering if he would ever get Keight back, the Keight he loved, the Keight he knew he couldn't do without.
Authors Note
Any thoughts on Tony's response? I'm sorry its so harshhhhhhhh
Comment your suggestions :)
~JJ