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moonlesslights · 1 year

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Broken Hero (Dark Stony)

"—I'm just so tired of being the good guy.

Maybe you never were."

(Scenario located between the events developed in Captain America: Civil War and Thor: Ragnarok in the chronological order of the Marvel Cinematic Universe).

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Steve's foot taps the floor lightly, intermittently, picking up the pace as the elevator ticks up one floor with each passing second. He feels the air turn heavy and a trail of cold sweat run down his spine. Only Bucky seems to notice, and maybe it's just because he's under the same level of nervousness as his blond friend.

“This is a bad idea.”

"I know, I heard you the first three times." Sam replies, crossing his arms.

"We shouldn't involve him, not like this, at least." Steve insists, giving both of his companions a sidelong glance.

Bucky sighs next to him and brings one of his hands to his own face, trying to stay calm. "Do you have a better idea, Rogers?"

The "ding" of the elevator makes him shut his mouth before he manages to give the long-haired man an answer. The metal doors open in front of them, presenting an open living room illuminated by large windows, with elegant and expensive furniture; full of toys only Tony Stark could have fun with.

"Friday, I thought I told you not to open the door to strangers." His voice comes out of nowhere as they step into the room. The echo of his footsteps is lost in the immensity of the place.

"I'm sorry, sir, but I'm afraid they insisted." The program assures.

"We just want to talk, Tony.” The captain hastens to say, looking for Stark with his gaze. His brows rise as he surveys the building: nothing has changed since the last time they were there.

"Well, that's certainly a big surprise."

The three men turn their bodies, following the sound of Tony's words up the stairs that lead to the second floor of the place. The black-haired figure soon appears in their vision field, resting on one of the concrete walls with a glass of whiskey in hand, giving them a lopsided smile that is not at all welcoming.

"It's been a long time, or have you finally considered turning yourself in?"

The blond remains static in his place, unable to fully understand the words that leave the millionaire's lips, and directing his attention completely and invariably to his face, in something that seemed only an instinct now: His hair continues combed to one side, just as he remembers it; his goatee is certainly a bit longer; he dresses smartly, he assumes he plans to go somewhere once they've left; there's a new scar over his left eyebrow; and his eyes, dark hazelnuts, his eyes are what tells him that this is still the Tony with whom once, years ago, he drank that same whiskey and laughed out loud the whole night to, later, receive the sunrise on the huge balcony of the tower. He watches those brown eyes and they, from a distance, ignore him.

“You know we wouldn't be here if we didn't have to.” Sam takes a step in their direction, waving to the newscast playing on the living room screen, reporting what everyone already knew.

“Correction: it is necessary that I help you with something, however, unfortunately for you, I am not interested in getting my hands dirty for whatever stupidity you have gotten yourself into this time.”

"Tony, listen..." Bucky tries to start explaining but is interrupted before reaching the minimum.

“Ah, ah.” The black-haired cuts him suddenly. Ironic tone in his voice. "I don't think I've given you permission to speak to me, or even to be here, as I recall."

The one with longer hair remains silent then, frowning but looking down. Steve finally decides to leave his little trance and, taking a deep breath, he finds the courage to fix his eyes on the black-haired ones.

"We just need you to help us find someone, or rather the place where they might be hiding something." Rogers tries his best to remain calm but his heart pounding hard in his ribcage doesn't help much.

"Again..." One of his palms opens to the side, jerking as the other holds his glass close to his chest. “I am not interested.”

"We're not asking you to fight with us, just point us where to do it." Steve can see the twitch on Tony's face, ready to finish off his words again, but he decides to get ahead of the argument. “We're talking about super soldiers, Tony. Things that Zemo provoked when giving out too many Hydra secrets.”

The black-haired looks away, avoiding eye contact, looking through the huge window towards the city that stretched out like an infinite urban field below them. Steve set his jaw, immediately guessing where Stark's mind had traveled.

Zemo had released many secrets in his quest for revenge for his family, one of them, most importantly... A Checkmate, specifically targeting... Tony. A secret that destroyed him, that destroyed them both. That destroyed everything. Leaving him in ashes, without a single spark of hope to return to what he was before, to what they were before.

The blond's heart clenched at the thought.

"They're dangerous." He forces himself to continue. "And they've already crossed the line. They will stop at nothing to get what they want.”

For another minute in silence, Stark remains still but his head works at full speed, analyzing what he already knew about the new super-soldiers who, just days before, had caused an explosion near a downtown cafe, leaving several wounded back. And he also knew that if he didn't decide to help them now and someone else resulted hurt or worse… He would feel the irremediable guilt fall on him. Again.

"If it is information you want, I suppose I could help. If with that I manage to keep them out of my sight for another long time.”

The engineer nods and Falcon hastily follows, starting to tell him almost immediately about the plan he and Steve had come up with, along with Bucky's knowledge of Hydra, and his suspicions of what the soldiers might be up to, up to that point.

"We need some State files, even S.H.I.E.L.D's” Mentions, Sam, showing some photographs to Stark. "It will help us know exactly what we might be up against."

“Isn't it guys like them?” Tony mentions, turning his back on both soldiers as he walks, and simply gesturing at them.

Of the three of them, Steve knew, Sam was the one who had kept in touch with Stark the most, especially seeking news of Rhodey's condition, trying to assuage his conscience. It was no surprise that the he was the only one who Tony was able to accept so close to himself, after all, Sam was the only one there who had tried to make up for his mistakes.

“The serum they're using is unlike anything I've seen before. They're so much worse than us.” Bucky is watched sideways by Tony as his words leave his lips, wary but sure of his statement.

"Good." The millionaire takes the stack of papers that Sam offers him and places them on a glass platform, causing hundreds of transparent screens to light up with the information. “Friday, give me everything you can find on Robert Lord Taylor.”

“Of course sir. Just a second.” The female intelligence responds.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd like to get my workplace cleared." Tony barely glances at them. "You can be downstairs in the meantime... But please, if you use the bathroom try to behave like decent human beings and put the damn lid down when you're done."

...

Fifteen minutes later, Sam, Bucky and Steve sit on the expensive dark sofas on the first floor, devouring a packet of cinnamon rolls that someone had left on the table. The feeling of the same furniture on his body brings back inconvenient memories for the blond, who more than once was scolded by the black-haired for putting his feet up on the seats <<Do you realize what it's made of, Rogers? That synthetic leather is worth more than your own ass.>>. Neither of the other two have spoken to him in the time they've been there, and for Steve that's been a godsend, because if they'd tried, they wouldn't have gotten an answer.

He listens to them joke around for a while about the girl Bucky met at a bar last week and the blunder he did in front of her. Sam mentions, scoffing, that spilling a drink on someone can be the beginning of the best love story or, as in the case of his friend, the worst memory of that girl with a man. Bucky nods scathingly, and tosses at him the bucket that it wasn't like Sam was any more successful at love than he was. And Steve smiles, pushing his thoughts away from whatever memory was hitting him at the time.

"It's taken him a while already..." The long haired murmurs. "To be Tony Stark."

"He probably regretted it and is calling Thaddeus right now." Sam teases, but doesn't get the slightest smile from any of the soldiers.

“I'll go see if everything is alright.” The blond gets up, shaking off the crumbs that the bread had left on his pants; but his walk is quickly stopped by Sam's hand holding onto his wrist, gently.

“Don't you want me to go?” His dark eyes look at him with empathy and a simple, sorrowful smile. And Steve knows that his intentions are good, that they come from a good place in his heart; but he can't help the shock of irritation that goes to his head. "I'm just saying... That maybe it's not the best idea right now..."

“I don't need this kind of protection, Sam.” Steve shifts, regretting his snapping tone. “I'll go see how soon we can get out of here and make sure we don't have to start running before other types of soldiers start breaking through any existing windows in this place.”

Steve begins to walk in the stairs direction, slightly annoyed with the silence in which his companions remain at his expense, being able to feel their eyes fixed hard on his back during his entire journey until he manages to lose himself in the corridor that leads to Stark's study. Out there, he was their captain, their leader, the man they both obeyed without question, but as soon as Tony's name was brought to the table, their looks of friendship, of respect, changed to pity and compassion. And it made him sick every time it happened.

He gently knocks on the glass door, attracting the attention of the black-haired man, who was on the other side of the table, his body facing him. Tony looks down without saying a word and continues to move between the various screens around him; Steve takes the act as an invitation to enter.

Or maybe just a resignation.

"Have you located somewhere yet?" the blond asks, moving to the side of the table.

"Everything on that side may be important for you to know." The millionaire points to the opposite corner of the room. "It's just that I'm trying to find one more thing, but I can't find where they hid it...”

Steve begins to read the various titles and notes on the screens, making mental notes of things that seemed important for him to finish the mission. The soldier's aquamarine orbs travel back and forth, amazed at the amount of information Tony had managed to retrieve in those few minutes. And he would have stayed that way, if he hadn’t collided head-on with a screen that offers him a view of a huge newspaper headline "SUPER SOLDIERS, CAUSE OR CONSEQUENCE OF AVENGERS DISINTEGRATION?" accompanied by a photo of Zemo's arrest with Tony out of focus in the background.

And before he can think things through soberly, the words escape from his lips, turning to the black-haired man:

“We need to talk.”

Tony stops his movements on the screens and watches him for a few seconds, frowning inevitably.

"I don't think so," he answers curtly. He wants this to be the end of that conversation, but Steve isn't willing to let it go for any longer.

"Well, I need to, Tony." His voice goes up a couple of tones, drawing the black-haired’ confused eyes. “I need you to try to understand me, to try to understand why I did it. I'm sick of trying to find one more excuse to apologize.

"Apologize? You left me a fucking phone, Rogers." Tony loses his temper, hitting the table and causing several of the screens to disappear. “You didn't apologize, you asked me to call you if I needed you. And that's exactly why your phone has never rung.”

“It rang once.” Steve counterattacks, seeking the engineer's gaze. The other tenses his jaw, completely avoiding him.

"You were right, okay?" Tony murmurs, turning away. “You were right about Thaddeus, about the government, about everything. You're always right and that night I realized it, and I called you..." His voice shakes and Steve lets out a frustrated sigh. “But nobody answered.”

"I couldn't, I couldn't, Tony!" The blond tries to take a few steps towards him but Tony immediately backs away. "I had no idea what to say to you, I had no idea how to apologize for what I did to you. And I was afraid...”

Stark exhales a breath, fighting not to cover his ears and yell for him to leave. He didn't want to hear what Steve had to say, he wasn't ready, he never would be and he had learned to resign himself to it, but now...

“I was afraid because I knew that the moment I heard your voice there would be no going back. Because I would have left everything if you had told me you wanted me here.” His voice trails off. “And I couldn't, I couldn't leave them.”

"And you never will, Steve." The black-haired points out, keeping his eyes down with a half smile, covered in pain. "Because that's you. And that is also why I forgave you a long time ago. Because when I confessed to myself that I had fallen in love with you, I also knew that I had fallen in love with all your values and stupid morals that lead you to always do what you think is right.”

Tony moves towards the door but Steve intervenes, he wasn't going to let him go, not now, not after he had told him again that he was in love with him, that there was still hope.

"No, no." He calls him desperately. “Do you remember the first time we were together? The next morning we argued terribly; I told you that I was in love with you and you told me that you were just horny and nothing more. And yet, you showed up at my door two days later, with coffee and my favorite dessert. You didn't say a word but you were there. It's my turn to be here, Tony!”

The black-haired remains silent, removing the screens around and taking, finally, some information. Without further ado and with glazed eyes, he hands it to the soldier.

“Everything you need is there.”

"Tony, please..."

“It's over, Steve. Everything is over.”

As the three men leave his home, the black-haired watches them again from the stairs. Bucky nods his thanks and Tony doesn't look away, which seems to be enough for the other. Sam says goodbye briefly and Steve doesn't look up again until the elevator doors close completely.

He fights back the tears he had thought so long drained away, as his head whips with the greatest conclusion to his story: he had lost the love of his life.

...

By the time Tony showed up mid-mission, amidst the gunfire and screams of the super soldiers, it wasn't even a surprise to Steve anymore. Plans were distributed, Bucky those on the West side, they against those on the North side of the building, and Sam on the other side, would seek to corner them along with Bucky on the East flank.

Now, thirty minutes later, Steve and Tony were in one of the building's rooms, waiting for the other two to show up with their work done. They talked, commented on what was happening and distributed what they would do once they were all on the ground. Just like in the old days. The heart of both dancing to the rhythm of the other's voice.

And Bucky, Bucky was supposed to have taken care of everyone on that side. Bucky should have taken care of everyone. But Tony was smiling as Steve recounted a prank they did to Sam, and Steve was so lost in his eyes. And the man, this unknown super-soldier... He walked through the door after them. Steve yelled a warning as soon as his eyes caught the movement, but it was too late.

The super soldier fired, Tony's body fell to the ground.

Steve reacted immediately, lunging at the intruder, bashing his shield over and over and over into the soldier's body. The metal burying itself in his flesh before returning to his arm and throwing itself forward again.

And it wasn't the first thud of a hit or the many that followed, like deafening crashes in the place, that caused Bucky and Sam to rush to the spot in growing desperation; were but the heartbreaking screams that seemed to go through each and every one of the walls of the place. One after another, long, painful, paralyzing...

It was Steve.

They both burst into the huge room almost at the same time. Sam was the first to assimilate the scene and, before regretting it, he called for backup. Bucky entered two seconds later, stifling a groan as he observed what had happened:

Steve was cleaning Tony's face, brushing his hair to the sides and caressing his cheeks in the action. The passivity on the man's face was broken only by the dark, dripping hole just above his left eyebrow.

"Tony, love, Tony." Steve's voice had dropped, but his breathing only quickened with each passing second. "Everything will be fine, love, I'm here. I got you.”

"Steve... What happened? Is Tony...?" Sam trailed off when the blond looked up. The man's eyes fixed sternly on Tony's head injury and the inactive reactor.

“You!” Steve exclaimed, standing up and pulling Sam out of his trance. "Where were you?! Where were you, Bucky?!"

Sam has to throw his entire body to stop Steve before he gets to the named soldier. Bucky was static, he didn't even seem to be able to react to the shouts that Steve continued to shot in his direction. The only thing that really showed the state he was in was the sweat that trickled down his temples.

"Let go of me! Let go of me, Sam!"

"Steve, Steve!" Sam tries to call him. "Calm down, everything is okay."

He regrets his words as soon as they leave his lips.

“Okay?!, Look at T-Tony!” His voice drops, not wanting to admit that there was something wrong with Tony, with his Tony. He turns his gaze to the soldier behind Sam. "And all because of you!"

"Steve! drop it, now." Sam's reluctant order leaves the blond less aggressive, returning to rest his feet fully on the ground.

"You were supposed to have been here, Bucky, you should have entered through that door, not... him!" He pointed to the assailant's body almost embedded in the concrete of the wall due to the number of blows on the torso. “Where were you?!...”

The agent tries again to reach him but Sam gets in the way.

"Steve..."

“WHERE WERE YOU?!” he yelled, tears streaming down his cheeks. His eyes narrowed and his lips tightened, trying to hold the lump in his throat. "...Where were you, Bucky?" His voice was barely a whisper between the ever-closer sirens.

Anger hits him again, just when his sight had gone out of focus, as if remembering everything. Not only the moment he saw a bullet going through the head of the love of his life, but also the smile he was giving him before that, soft, flirtatious... loving; and how it was gone so suddenly as his body rushed into his arms, and as he poured out his anger on the man's body, Tony's voice echoing softly, one, two, three times... Altering the named, making him see black, until he ran out of strength and dropped to the ground with the body of his lover in his hands.

His heart was pounding in his chest, so hard it hurt. Tony's eyes seemed to look at him even when he knew they didn't anymore. The system seemed to shut down and his Reactor stopped glowing as Steve's cries of despair grew louder and louder.

In front of his eyes he could see his worst nightmare come true, and his head was hitting him with the only two words he never wanted to see together: Love and death.

The only thing he could think of as he tore at his throat screaming was: The person I love has been murdered.

“It was your fault!” he yelled, coming to his senses once again. “You had to be here, with us! You were the one who had to take care of everything on that side!”

His voice had reached a new point and the emotions that his face reflected were chillingly sad.

Bucky spoke for the first time since they had entered there.

"Steve... I... I'm sorry." Saying so, the agent began to walk back towards the body gently lying on the ground, already ignoring the words of his best friend.

Bucky tried to take a few steps towards him but...

"Stay away! Stay away from him!" Steve yelled, enraged, stopping him dead in his tracks. "You caused this, you were the one who told us that he wanted us on this stupid mission even though we said no!" He turned to Bucky. "This is on you."

Steve fell onto his knees and pulled Tony's body against him, swaying, lulling him. His sobs soon develop into the only thing Sam and Bucky can pay attention to, even as the room is filled with cops.

No official dared touch Steve for the first 15 minutes. They all knew him after all, and seeing him that way was tearing them apart.

One of them finally approached, putting her hand on the captain's shoulder. He didn't even look at her.

“Steve, we have to go.” The agent shook his head. "You have to come with us."

Several more agents passed, all failing in the attempt. Some tried to go to Tony's side, putting their hands on him to try to separate him from Steve, but they didn't even get to that: As soon as the soldier noticed their intentions, he sobbed for them not to touch him, and if they didn't stop, then he would yell at them almost at the top of his lungs to get out of there.

It wasn't until agents arrived with direct orders to clear the area and didn't care about anything else that they managed to separate them.

Four of them grabbed Steve and lifted him up, dropping Tony's body, which two others lifted as if he were a piece of junk.

Steve lost control before the act and lunged against one of those who held him, giving him a good blow while he screamed and struggled <<Let go of me!, please, leave him alone!>>

They sedated him in that moment, making him heavy and tired in a few seconds.

"Please… don't hurt him." Tears streamed down his face and his voice trailed off a little more each time. “He doesn't like to be alone, I have to go with him, please...”

The officers began to drag him towards the exit while two others put Tony in a whitish bag, cruel.

"Tony... he's hurt, don't put him there..." He felt the world spinning and his heavy eyelids closing, making him see black. He couldn't anymore, he didn't want to anymore. His voice trailed off but the tightness in his chest continued to threaten to kill him when he, before giving up, murmured to them desperately: "He hates the dark."

Steve surrendered to the unbearable clouds that swallowed everything, and he thought that maybe that was the way it had been for Tony, he thought that maybe those officers had done him a favor and that he would soon wake up with the engineer next to him. And he would never hear from the world again.

…

The next day, Steve woke up in a hospital surrounded by presents that his colleagues had left for him. His presence was wrapped in a clean, neutral scent, and his heart clenched as he remembered all that had happened.

He had woken up to a meaningless life, without Tony.

His eyes met Sam's, who was standing outside the room, wary. Bucky peeked out from behind him, looking down as soon as his eyes met the agent's.

They were both watching it and they knew it. He knew it himself.

Steve had died. He died in the night, with his lover in his arms. And he died screaming for him.

However, the monster that took his place was silent.