cap_ironman_fe (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
cap_ironman_fe) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
cap_ironman2014-01-03 07:35 pm
cap_ironman_fe) wrote in cap_ironman2014-01-03 07:35 pm
Entry tags:
Secret Santa: Peace Visits Not The Guilty Mind - part 1
Happy New Year: raikishi
Title: Peace Visits Not The Guilty Mind
Rating: M
Universe: Divergent 616
Warnings: Bones, Canon Type Violence, Angst, Steve Sulking, WIP,Canon Major Character Death(mentioned), Major Character Death(They get better), Happy Ending
Summary: Steve has come back from the dead. Now, he has to deal with what he wrought during the Civil War.
Author's Note: I owe raikishi, my profound apologizes. This fic was suppose to be under 10k in words. That didn't happen. Your prompt grabbed me up and ran. Now this is a Big Bang length fic. I couldn't get it all edited in time. As I told the mods, raikishi, if you want to read over the roughs for the missing chapters now, let me know and you can have them.
Posting Schedule for Chapters
Chapter 3 ñ 01/06/2014
Chapter 4 ñ 01/14/2014
Chapter 5 ñ 01/20/2014
I will also be putting the polished finished version up on Ao3
From:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
salmastryon
Acceptance
Thor had a presence about him that filled any room he was in. Sometimes, like now, he would draw it all into himself and he would be just Thor instead of Thor, God of Thunder. Generally, that was when he wanted to be left to himself and his thoughts. Unless it was an emergency, Steve had respected Thor's need for space and left him to himself.
Steve wished that Thor would return the favor and leave Steve to his solitude. That wasn't going to happen. Thor had tracked Steve down, swept into the room, dropped his travel worn pack next to the table and taken a seat. There was a determined look about his eyes as he looked at Steve.
Thor's gaze was solemn and rested heavily on Steve. "Friend Steve, I've heard that you refuse to shoulder the responsibilities and raiment of Captain America."
Steve's throat tightened at Thor's words. His skin crawled at just the thought of even touching the shield. Thor took in Steve's reaction and nodded grimly.
"This, I understand. You failed at your task and in doing so betrayed a great trust. Both you and Iron Man overstepped bounds and broke things sacred." There was pain in Thor's face now, He paused eyes downcast.
The moment passed and Thor's chair creaked as he leaned forward towards Steve. "While you have been returned to us, your wrongs weighed heavily on you. Closure continues to elude you." There was knowledge in Thor's eyes. In his long years Thor too had learned the bitter lesson of never being able to take back your actions.
Steve couldn't take Thor's compassionate gaze. He transferred his eyes down. Following the line of Thor's shoulder down to the elbow he was leaning on and settling on Thor's hand resting in front of Steve. Thor's hands were large. The palm and fingers were covered with the thick calluses of a warrior, made for battle and war.
Tony's hands had been covered in calluses as well, but his were those of a builder. They could lift and maneuver large pieces of machinery, but also do delicate work. Steve had watched Tony assemble tiny circuits with his hands. Steve couldn't help but remember how softly they could brush against Steve's skin leaving a sensa-- Steve forcibly stopped that line of thought. He didn't want to dwell on what he had lost in that moment two years ago.
"Steven." Thor's gentle tone pulled Steve's attention back to the room. "This gloom that pervades you suits you ill."
Steve's mouth twisted. Even Thor was trying to fix him. That was the reason he avoided people, talking to them was just so pointless. They came and loaded him down with their words and compassion. Steve had nothing for them, but they seemed so certain each time that it would end differently. Steve didn't even bother trying anymore.
For Thor, Steve would gather what was left and try. He owed that to Thor, and to Tony. Steve raised his head, braced himself and met Thor's eyes. The words were heavy on his tongue but harsh when spoke. "It should have been Tony that came back, not me."
Steve deflated, that was the truth of it. Tony should be here, not Steve. He gazed unseeing at the painting on the wall. His throat tightened and his eyes burned. "I know for everyone else it was two years ago, but the way they so casually put it aside is wrong. It wasn't a war." Steve swallowed, his throat thick. "Tony wasn't an enemy combatant I killed. I..."
Thor was still, sadness covered him like a cloak. His eyes watched Steve, heavy with grief. Steve's hand came up to cover his eyes. His voice dropped and he continued in a soft broken tone. His hand started to shake. "I murdered him."
"He's gone..." The words tore at his throat. A fist tightened around his heart. "It wasn't an accident or the heat of battle."
Steeling himself, he pushed his hair back with a shaky hand and checked Thor's reaction. Thor was a somber statue, listening and watching Steve speak. Steve had to make Thor understand."I went into that fight ready to kill." His voice was hoarse and hollow, "and I did. A presidential pardon doesn't change that fact. Murder isn't something that should go unpunished."
In the silence, Steve took a deep breath and prepared himself to hear Thor's reaction. Thor tilted his head, considering. Would Thor get it, understand Steve's words or would Thor tell him he shouldn't dwell and move on. Thor nodded thoughtfully and his eyes brightened. Was that a smile?
Thor thumped the table. "I, too, have been thinking thus!" Thor's eyes were still sad and his smile dim, but he was pleased. "I hope you will pardon my forwardness, but I have taken it upon myself to dole out your punishment in light of your government's remissness in this regard."
Steve blinked. How could Thor be so cheerful? Tony was dead. Yet, there was something about that small smile. A heavy weight seemed to lift from Steve. Finally, someone agreed that Steve's death didn't absolve him of his crime.
Thor face became stern. Their was finality in his words. "On that day, you deprived this realm of not just one protector. In killing Tony Stark, you struck yourself a debilitating blow." There was a heavy weight in Steve's chest. The thought hadn't ever occurred to him; however, Thor was right. Tony's death was a self inflicted wound that he was still suffering from.
"Your enemy took advantage of this." Thor's face darkened as he talked. "They foully struck at you using your friend most cruelly. Slaying you on those courthouse steps and depriving you of your chance to face your court for your deeds." There was pain and anger in Thor's voice. "Even more cruel, it was a death for death and wiped clean the slate between you and Iron Man."
The words hit Steve like a body blow. Loathing and disappoint rose up with in him. He had thought Thor had understood, instead he was talking of debts being paid. There was no way being killed by an enemy was equal to death at a friend's hand. Steve glared at Thor. There was no reason to stay. Steve had heard it all before.
Thor lifted his hand from the table and signaled for him to stop. "Hold your anger, friend Steve. I am not yet done."
The gravity and strength in Thor's voice stopped Steve. He sunk back into his chair. Steve talked to Thor knowing what path the conversation would probably take. That he'd gotten his hopes up that it would be different, didn't change that. Steve crossed his arm and scowled mulishly. He didn't have to like it but, he would finish hearing Thor out, give him the chance Steve never gave Tony.
"While the matter of Iron Man's death has been resolved, this does not absolve you of the crime of denying Midgard of two of its protectors." Thor's world rang through Steve's head. Thor was angry and his presences expanded rolling over Steve. Each word that Thor spoke impacted Steve, conveying his rage and his grief."Which you still continue to do!"
Steve finds himself glued to the back of his chair. For the first time in the weeks since, he'd been rescued, his thoughts were clear and he cared. Thor was now standing and his mouth was a thin line.
Slowly the maelstrom of anger and sorrow that swamped the room retreated back into Thor, but not completely. It was the God of Thunder that picked up his pack and now spoke to Steve. "I have talked to the Lady Pepper and she has kindly given me a token."
Metal ran against the oak table and Steve flinched away from the shield Thor had dropped on the table. The sound was off. It wasn't his shield. That didn't stop the nausea pooling in Steve's gut as he forced himself to look at it. This shield's surface was burnished to silver gleam. He tentatively reached out a hand his fingers barely touching the surface. It had never been touched with paint and there were scuff marks on its surface that had never been cleaned. He knew this shield.
"Aye, I can see you recognize this shield." Thor no longer sounded so unforgiving. There was sliver of sympathy. "I'm given to understand that this shield is the one that Tony Stark tried to buy your silence with. You would not forsake your honor and returned it when you attempted to stop him, but he kept it."
Steve ran his fingers over the surface. He'd been so delighted when Tony had presented it to him. The adamantium had been polished so smooth that Steve had looked at his own reflection in it. On the first throw, the shield had easily dispatched the training dummies. It had been so close to the feel of his... Steve's stomach rolled at the thought of it. The image of blood and bits of flesh splattered over red, white and blue skittered through Steve's thoughts.
When Steve had first seen this shield Steve had desperately missed the feel and weight of his old companion. The shield Tony had created was close, but not the same. It had made him whole and banished the nightmares caused by lose of his own. Now, the memory of the shield he'd fought battle after battle with caused the nightmares.
This shield in front of him was different. When he had returned it, he had thought Tony and his friendship had been irrevocably broken. How wrong he had been. Their bond hadn't broken then. It had been restored and had grown even stronger in the years that followed. Until Steve had ended it permanently. Steve gazed at the shield with pained fondness. It was so like Tony to have wordlessly hung on to it.
Thor's words reclaimed Steve's attention."The shield that took Tony's life is no longer yours to wield. Now, you will use this one. You will step back into your role as protector and you will strive to compensate for the loss of Iron Man protection as well."
Steve jaw clenched and his fingers bared down on the shield surface turning white at the pressure. A simple change in shield wasn't going to get him to become Captain America again. He couldn't handle that, and the thought of him being dictated to, forced into that role made his whole body coil and tighten.
Thor's large hand came to rest gently on Steve's shoulder. Before he could shrug it off, Thor spoke."I know what you are going to say, and I respect your decision to not be Captain America anymore." Steve's muscles loosened and the scream that threatened to escape disappeared. Thor wasn't going to force him.
Thor's grip tightened and he demanded Steve's gaze."This is hardly the first time you have relinquished your right to the mantle and does not mean I will allow you to ignore the consequences of you actions."
"That is your punishment for your deed. No longer will you hide and brood. You will take up this shield which bares the taint of when Tony wronged you. With it, you will cleanse that taint and your own. Together you and this shield that Tony made will protect this world for both for him and for yourself. This is the charge I set to you."
There was a note of finality in Thor's sentence. Under the weight of Thor's hand and regard though, Steve felt a glimmer of hope. Steve was always better with Tony beside him. Tony was gone, but maybe with this shield. Steve relaxed his jaw and met Thor's gaze. Thor was deadly serious about this. There was no give in his face. It wasn't that shield, but it was still a shield. Could Steve really do this or even deserve this. Tony didn't get a second chance. Steve's hand rested on the center of the shield. This wasn't a chance. This was a duty. Tony was dead and there was nothing that could change that, but this, this was something he could do. This was something Tony would've of done for him.
Steve's hand slid to the edge of the shield. With the ease of a master, Steve flipped the shield up into the air and caught it. Like before the weight, balance and feel was close. Close enough for a tiny shiver to quake inside. It was just different enough though. This shield wasn't a murder weapon. It had its own sordid history of betrayal and perhaps, as Thor, said it was fitting. If Steve couldn't hid away because of murder, then this brilliant piece of Tony's craftsmanship should be used as well.
A sad smile grew on Thor's face and he squeezed Steve's shoulder one last time. "There is the man I know. The one I call shield brother." A companionable slap to Steve's arm made it clear all was forgiven.
Steve realized there was no going back. He'd been standing still mired in regret. His eyes locked on what he lost. Staying wasn't an option, that would lead to losing what he still had. From here Steve could only move forward. It would be difficult, but Thor had pointed the way. There were people who needed protecting and villains that needed to stopped.
The world hadn't ended with Tony's death and neither had Steve. Tony had died trying to protect and save as many of his people as he could. Steve could do no less. He'd protect the world for both of them.
Steve slammed his shield into the robot in front of him. The chest caved in easily and it went flying backwards into its companions. Steve deftly blocked and caught the arm of the one attacking his right. These were cheap knockoffs. He pulled the robot's arm causing it to stumble forward. Sparks erupted as Steve brought the edge of his shield down on its back. The problem was there were so many of them and they didn't stop coming.
Ahead of him there was a growing pile of robots next to Luke. His shirt was in tatters, again. He banged the heads of two robots together and then casually tossed them into the pile behind him. The robots were so weak Luke wasn't bothering to try and defend himself from them.
A weak repulsor blast splashed off his shield dissipating harmless energy.
And that was the reason they were here.
Steve had made it his mission to track down and eliminate any misuse of Tony's tech, often with extreme prejudice. He hadn't been there for two years, but in the last year he'd done his best to live up to the expectations in Tony's letter to him.
These though were a mockery. Steve growled and slammed his fist down into one that was flailing on the ground. His knuckles were already banged up, but Steve ignored the pain in favor of taking out his frustration on these poorly made robots programmed with rudimentary AI and covered with a badly slapped on red and gold paint job.
Jessica Jones' voice sounded irritated over the comm. "You aren't being distracting enough. Stephan and I have got a horde of bots up here to deal with."
Metal screamed in the background of Elloe's response as she dismantled any robots that got near. "We should of gone with Steve's plan."
"It was a horrible plan. I'm sorry Steve, but you going alone to deal with someone with Tony's tech is just a recipe for trouble." While that had proven true a few times in the past, it still grated that Luke didn't trust him to keep his temper. Steve scowled as he tossed another dispatched robot out of his way.
Steve could hear the doors open and another wave of robots push forward. If this kept up, they were going to be be overwhelmed by robot parts. How an accounting firm was manufacturing so many of them was definitely something they needed to track down.
Steve brought his shield up to block another volley of repulsor fire. This wasn't getting them anywhere.
Luke echoed Steve's thoughts."This isn't getting us anywhere. More just keep coming in. Please tell me that you are making some progress up there, honey."
There was distinct lack of sympathy for her husband in Jessica's voice."I'm sure you can beat on robots for a little longer, sweetie. The group up here isn't being reinforced. They'll be cleared out soon enough."
Steve wiped a bead of sweat off his brow. This was taking too long. The enemy would have wiped out all the evidence and escaped by the time they got anywhere. There was a walkway at other end of the atrium to allow people to look at the greenery as they went about their work. Tomorrow there would not be any greenery to view. Most of the trees had already been taken out and the smell of crushed flowers and leaves was almost as strong as the smell of ozone and oil from the robots' corpses.
Steve growled. He had given Luke's plan a try, but he was tired of the pointless fighting. Steve wasn't going to stay here knocking the heads off of Iron Man knockoffs. Elloe and Luke more than had this under control. They didn't need him here to help out.
Decision made Steve started running towards Luke. "Luke give me a boost!"
Luke cursed, grabbed the robot trying to strangle him and tossed it aside. As Steve lept, Luke braced himself. Luke's hands threaded together just before Steve's foot landed and he heaved as Steve sprang forward towards the walkway. As Steve's launched, Luke complained, "A little warning next time!"
Steve tucked himself into a ball as he tumbled forward, using the shield to block any of the repulsor fire from below.
As he flew over Elloe, she kicked a decapitated robot head out of her way. Before it landed she's already turning using the momentum to power her slash. Pieces go flying as her broadsword sliced through the substandard armor on the bots. She taunted Luke as her other broadsword hit. "He did give you warning he asked for a boost!"
Steve unfolds out of his tuck and landed feet first on a robot. He's already sprung upward and out of the reach of the surrounding robots. His arms stretched up and his fingers grabbed the edge of the walkway. With a grunt, he bunched his muscles and swung forward.
"Are you saying, you are slowing down or that you need more practice, Luke?" Steve quipped as he bent his legs up into the swing, bending and pushing off giving him more momentum as he swung back. Although the faux-stone of the walkway scraped at this finger tips, Steve was glad for the extra grip as he swung himself up into a modified back handspring. As his hand left the edge and he arced over the railing, a repulsor blast hit him and was absorbed by his uniform.
The concentrated fire of multiple robots wasn't so easily dismissed. The walkway began to crumble as he landed. Steve quickly rolled to the side and watched as the walkway gave way under their concentrated fire and fell on the robots below.
Steve took some satisfaction at the as rubble smashed the stupid robots. Taking advantage of the brief reprieve Steve ran and jumped the gap towards the wing where Billings' office was. Staying low, Steve did a forward roll to take him the last of the way out of the atrium. Shield up, Steve landed crouched with his right hand on the floor.
"I'm not slowing down. It is only polite to give a guy some warning before you start to jump on him."
Steve glanced down both ways of the connecting hall. It was quiet except for the sounds of battle behind him. There wasn't a bot in sight. Steve's brow furrowed in irritation. This is why Luke's plan sucked. All of the resistance was at the entrances and there was nothing once you got past it.
"There's no bots up here. I'm going to see if I can find Billings." Steve informed the others.
Luke's tone became serious, "No killing Steve. We need to know where he got specs for Stark's tech." There was a crash in the background as yet another bot met its demise. Steve pushed down his irritation at Luke's order. He had no intention of killing anyone and he knew how to do an investigation.
Steve took a right, according to the layout of the building he'd studied, this was the way to Billings' office. Luke's reaction had been a surprise considering how his anger at Tony had been almost as deep if not stronger than Steve's. Talking about SHRA still got him all riled up. Luke just didn't trust Steve to keep his temper. After the disastrous events that led to Tony's death, Luke felt it was only a matter of time before it happened again.
The reason Steve was on Luke's team was because Luke was right. There had been moments in the last year. But, nothing recent and nothing that would indicate he'd mess up here. He certainly hadn't tried to kill anyone either. He appreciated Luke's help with his anger issues, but this was a bit much.
Leather creaked as Steve's fist clenched around the strap of his shield. His kept his voice relaxed and easy, though. "Don't worry. I'll get info."
Luke grumbled, "That's not what I'm worried about. You're never rational when it comes to anything involving Stark."
Jess's voice was sharp over the comm, "And you are?"
Steve turned the next corner and spotted a man clutching a briefcase and armful of documents that were trying to escape. Steve smiled. It was Billings and now he was all Steve's. Billings was nervously making his way to the stairwell and had yet to notice Steve. The shield slid easily off his arm and into Steve's hand. His arm snapped forward sending the silver disk flying. It slammed into the wall causing the man to started, freezing in place. Billings seemed to realize what was happening and tried to run, but it was too late. The shield had already rebounded off the wall, hit a door frame and was bouncing forward to impact him in the back. Papers and folders flew everywhere as Billings was knocked forward by the blow. It wasn't enough to significantly hurt him, but it stopped him from reaching the door before Steve reached him.
Steve grabbed him by the coat and yanked him away from the door. Billings hit the opposite wall with a thud. Steve put on his most menacing face and glared at Billings. Billings squeaked, his eyes rolled up into his head and he crumpled to the ground. Obviously, Steve had been too menacing.
Steve leaned down and shook Billings. There was no response. He crouched next to the unconscious accountant. How in the world had someone so meek manage to get Tony's tech? Well, at least the shoddy design made sense now. He wasn't going to get any information out of him now and any accomplices would have a nice head start.
Steve didn't bother hiding his irritation as he reported it. "We aren't getting anything out of Billings right now. He fainted as soon as he got caught."
Jesse replied in disbelief, "Seriously?"
"I think Danny was right in thinking this guy was just a front. Definitely not arms dealer material."
Stephan chuckled. "We are almost done up here. I'll see what I can do to wake him up and find out who is behind this."
Steve bent over and started going through Billings pockets. "Meanwhile I'll see what I can find out here from what he was trying to run with." Steve pulled out keys, a security badge and Billings' wallet from his pants. A casual glance through the wallet didn't show anything interesting. In suit coat pocket, he found a couple snickers wrapper and a wrinkled handkerchief. It was the inner suit pocket that held something of interest. Two thumb drives.
He shoved Billings and dove backwards when he heard the distinctive whine of repulsor fire. He could feel the charged air of a close miss. There was a scream and the smell of burnt flesh. Steve hadn't quite gotten Billings all the way in the clear. Steve grabbed his shield and dashed forward, bring his shield up to cover Billings just in time. The impact rocked him backwards.
That wasn't like the weak imitations of the bots downstairs. That blast was the real thing. Steve bared his teeth in a wolfish smile. This was the person who had stolen Tony's tech. Steve quickly glanced over the man at his feet. His quick reflexes had prevented Billings from being killed, but his arm had been hit. Fortunately, the wound was seared so he wasn't bleeding out.
Steve turned his attention to the person that had fired the blast. It was one of the administrative assistants. Nothing had come up on her and they'd relegated her to innocent bystander. Steve grumbled in irritation, but he didn't have time be annoyed. The palm of the gauntlet on her left arm was glowing, preparing for another blast. First things first.
He needed to get Billings out of the line of fire, before she succeeded in eliminating Billings. Steve grabbed him by the shirt, pulling him away from the wall. This blast missed them, but the wall hadn't been so lucky and exploded in a rain of plaster and other debris.
Her lips twisted in irritation and she fired again. Steve braced himself over Billings' body and blocked the shot. Tilting his shield just right he reflected the blast towards the wall near her. The wall exploded in a hail of plaster and white dust. While she was coughing and dealing with that, Steve used the opportunity he'd created to kick the stairwell door open, hauled Billings up and tossed him on the landing.
Steve took temporary shelter in the stairwell. "I don't think Billings is the one we were looking for. One of the secretaries has full powered repulsor gauntlet up and knows how to use it."
She was firing randomly down the hall now. He peaked around the doorway in the lull between plasters. The white chalk was striking on her dark skin. She was rubbing frantically at her eyes with her right hand. Steve was just glad she hadn't had experience in this style of fighting. Tony would never have given him a chance to clear Billings out of the hall. He would of blocked the way to the stairwell after the first blast missed. Of course if Tony was around this woman wouldn't have been running around with repulsor tech anyway.
Jess's voice came over the communicator in reply, "Where are you? We are almost done up here."
Luke sourly commented "We're still hip deep in toy robots here."
"I'm on the second floor near the southeast stairwell. I should have this wrapped up before you get here though." Steve ducked down as he reentered. While she was temporarily blinded all of her blasts were aimed torso height or higher. She was definitely an amateur. "Billings took a repulsor blast on his left side. He was unconscious, but not bleeding when I tossed him into the stairwell. Still, someone should have a look at him before too much longer."
One brown, red-rimmed eye glared at him and she vigorously rubbed at the other.. Steve blocked the blast effortlessly. It would have been easier if she'd stayed blind longer. The sounds of battle in the background where fainter this time when Stephen spoke. "I'm headed there now. Jess is finishing up the last few. I will see how he is doing and stabilize him if need be."
Steve need to bring this to end quickly because he wanted some time to question her before the others showed up. It was nice that they were more than willing to stop him if he looked like he was losing it, but it made hard to make the enemy take his threats seriously if they thought they'd be saved.
Glass crunching under Steve's boots as he shifted his weight. A grin slid across his face. She was in her hose, no shoes in sight.
Her hand dropped from her face as she cleared her other eyes. She jutted her chin up and looked at Steve with contempt. "You're going to pay for that. Perhaps Mr. Stark will finally rest in peace once your dead."
Steve couldn't stop the flinch at her words, but he didn't respond and threw his shield. Her eyes widened slightly in panic and her attention shifted to the shield. The shield bounced off the picture frame in front of her shattering the glass. She ducked as it sailed over her head to hit the light behind her. She tossed her head back and laughed. He'd give it about a C for a villainous laughter.
She turned back towards him taunting. "You can't even hit me..." cut off with gasp and fired off a blast at him in panic. While she was busy watching his shield, Steve had already covered half the distance between them. Again she aimed at his torso. He jumped into a forward flip as she fired, clearing her last desperate shot and grabbing his shield, which had ricocheted back, mid-flight. He landed and continued to chew up the distance between them, the glass from the light and picture frames crunching under his boots.
She wouldn't be able to run fast in that pencil skirt and suit, but it was a moot point. She pulled in a deep breath when her foot first hit the glass as she turned to run. Steve couldn't decide if it was brave or stupid when she squared her shoulders and hobbled on.
He slung his shield on to his back and grabbed her. A flare of light and the whine of repulsor and the nerves in Steve's thigh were on fire. He took the pain and stuffed down along locked it down tight with his anger.
Twirling her around he pinned the gauntlet to the wall with one hand. With the other he grabbed her by the neck picking her up and slamming her into the wall dazing her. Steve shifted his grip on her gauntlet covered forearm making sure she couldn't fire it off anywhere useful. Her right hand came up to clutch and pull helplessly at his gloved hand around her throat. "Let me go!"
Steve squeezed slightly on her throat and banged her against the wall again. "Quiet!" he ordered her and then leaned forward into and in a calm icy voice explained to her how things were going to go. "You're going to quietly listen to what I say and then answer my questions truthfully." He loosened the grip on her throat letting her speak, "Do you understand?"
She gasped and continued to struggle, bringing up her legs to kick at him ineffectively. Internally Steve sighed. Externally, his face stayed expressionless as he lifted her an inch off the ground and cut off her air. She glared at him and her struggling increased. Steve kept his face dispassionate as he counted to ten in his head before he lowered her to her toes and relaxed his grip enough to let her breath.
She drew in a quick breath and looked at him indignantly.
"Do you understand?"
"You can't do this. I've got righ--" Steve lifted and squeezed again.
He again counted in his head. As long as it was just him and her, her rights didn't mean much. After fifteen, her eyes started tearing and she kicked out again. Her struggles were only making it worse for her. At twenty he lowered her and asked again.
"Do you understand?"
She gasped and for the first time looked at him with fear in her eyes. "Yes, yes. I understand."
"The gauntlet here and the robots downstairs and on the roof, have repulsors. Are there any more of these or are the ones on this site the only ones?" Steve waited to see if she'd tell the truth or lie.
"We sold some robots to some wannabe mad scientist." She flexed her left hand. "This is only prototype."
"Who gave you the plans?"
"No one. I drew them up myself." She smirked. "The great Tony Stark isnít the only one who can invent things." She bragged with pride.
Steve's eyes narrowed. She was smug and there was absolutely no engineering in her background. He wanted to wipe that look off her face. He hand flexed and he gently shook her "The truth."
She sneered. "Can't stand the fact that you didn't deprive the world of his technology when you killed him?"
Steve's fingers dug into the soft skin of her throat. Steve's stomach flipped. No matter what he said or did, there were still people who thought he was glad Tony was dead. She was making choking noises. This time Steve really was looking at her dispassionately. It didn't matter what she thought. When the light pink skin of the inside of her mouth began to lose color, he let her breath.
She pulled in several gasping breathes, then it all came out in a rush. "I really made the plans myself. You can check. There are blueprints of failed prototypes. It is all in my own writing no one else worked on it. There were several versions before I got it right. This is the first working gauntlet." Her voice rose to a desperate squeak as Steve frowned and tightened his grip, not enough to stop her from breathing, but enough to make it difficult. "Really, get one your tech friends to look at them and they'll see. You can ask --"
Steve growled right over the top of her. "You expect me to believe; that a secretary with no previous experience in engineering, managed to come up with and coincidentally design a copy of Iron Man's tech?"
She nodded as vigorously as she could. "Yes, yes," she pleaded. "I was inspired." She really looked desperate.
Still, Steve lifted her again and cut off her air. There was no way she'd come up with this on her own. She had to have an accomplice somewhere or some piece of tech they reverse engineered this from. Behind him he heard the door to the stairwell open. One of his teammates would be here soon.
Steve loosened his grip and let some of the rage he was holding back show on his face. He leaned in close taking advantage of the discomfort. "Don't lie. Who helped you?"
Her eyes were wide and tears were streaming down her face. Her make-up was destroyed. Still there was something there under the panic. She struggling, think of what to say.
Jess floated into view. "Steve, don't kill her."
His captive's eye almost bugged out of her face. Whatever was there underneath and been swept up in her panic. "He's Steve Rogers, Captain America. He wouldn't kill me!"
Steve glanced sidewise to Jesse and her false concern. Steve hissed in the secretary's face, "Don't call me that." He dredged up the memory of his rage back when Tony died and let it furrow his brow. "I'm not Captain America anymore." The corners of his mouth fell. "I gave up that right when I killed Tony Stark." His eyes deadened and he knew he looked remorseless. "He was a good friend of mine. What makes you think I won't kill you?"
Jesse put a hand on his shoulder, a note of trepidation in her voice, "S-steve" Steve thought the quiver was a bit much.
The throat in his hand shifted and he could feel her swallow. "Oh my god," her eyes glazed over. If he hadn't been watching for it he would've of missed it. "What are you waiting for..." Her eyes snapped back into focus. "That's what you looked like when..." All the fight drained out of her. Her arm fell to her side. Tears poured down her cheeks. "It was the ring! It showed me things in my dreams. Things Tony Stark had seen. I got the plans from that." She began to sob as she begged. "Please, please don't kill me."
Jesse reached out, dropping her act and lifted up the woman's right hand. There was a ring. It was a simple thick iron band with a large sapphire embedded in it. Steve was rather surprised he hadn't noticed it before.
Jesse frowned and then called over the comm. "Stephen, we need you here. Got a magic ring you need to look at."
"What type of ring?" Strange sounded distracted
"It apparently lets the owner watch the past through someone else's eyes. In this case, she was using it to steal plans Tony had made up."
"Don't remove it," Stephen commanded sharply. Steve could hear the quick steps approach from behind.
Jess pulled the woman's hand out and positioned it for Stephen to look at. "Nobody has touched it."
Steve was keeping his eyes on his prisoner. Unfortunately, the woman's complacence was apparently temporary. He could see when it sunk in that she wasn't dead and Jesse was no longer trying to stop Steve from killing her. She tried pull her hand free, which was rather pointless, between Jesse's iron grip and the lack of leverage.
Stephen was muttering to himself off to the side. The woman was looking and listening to him intently. Steve asked, "Do you need her conscious for this?"
Stephen made a noise of acknowledgment, but there was no response. Out of the corner of his eye there was some sort light. Steve kept his focus on the woman. Finally, Stephen drawled out, "yeees. We need her awake. She needs to willingly give up the ring. Otherwise the soul inside will be torn apart and possibly destroyed.
Jesse started talking furiously into her communicator, but Steve wasn't paying attention. Soul? Was Stephen saying what he thought he was saying? "Do you mean Tony's soul is stuck inside that thing?"
"Yes, and a little worse for wear it appears." Steve gritted his teeth at the casual words. With effort he held back his words. Stephen was caught up analyzing a puzzle. just like Reed or Tony sometimes got with an engineering problem. It didn't mean Stephan didn't care about Tony, he was just a piece of the puzzle right now.
"And what happens if she gives it up willingly?" Steve carefully asked.
Stephen was again muttering to himself, no answer forthcoming. Steve forcibly relaxed his muscle and prepared to try again. Jesse beat him to it with a sharp tone. "Stephan. What happens then?"
Steve desperately wanted to look to the side and see what Strange was doing. Strange's answer was absent minded. "Oh then the pieces she's stolen should revert back to the ring when she gives it up."
Steve's breath caught. It just sunk in. Tony's soul. The ring had caught Tony's soul. His chest swelled and he felt light.
Jesse pushed Strange for more information. "And how could we confirm she is giving it up willingly?"
"Oh all we would need her to do is for her to take it off herself and hand it to someone."
Luke butted in at this point, "And Steve that person is not going to be you." Steve hadn't noticed him approach. Steve opened his mouth to reply, but Luke continued on over him. "It would mess you up so bad. You're not getting anywhere near Tony's head."
"Fascinating, I think this took the natural connection of the soul to body and transferred them to the ring right before his death. Not the way one typically traps a soul."
Luke interrupted Stephen's musing in exasperation, "Stephen back me up here."
Stephen's brow creased and then he looked away from the ring, at the group of heroes around him. "Yes, you are quite right Steve shouldn't have the ring. Be rather unhealthy for his mental state, besides the fact I'm sure there are things Tony wouldn't have wanted Steve to know."
"Well, well, it seems I've something you boys want." That smug confident grin was back on her face. Steve resisted tightening his hand. He didn't know what he wanted to do.
Luke's tone was angry "What happens if she dies before giving the ring to anyone."
"That is a possible solution. When she dies, Tony's soul should be released as well and they'd separate."
Elloe spoke from Steve's other side. " You want me to kill her? Her death wouldn't bother me and then Stark's soul could be at peace."
Steve drew in a breath. That would be for the best. Tony didn't need to be trapped in an artifact. He would hate it actually. In a way it would be like killing Tony again, but it was better than this harpy slicing his soul to pieces. Steve just couldn't do it himself. Steve reluctantly gave his opinion. "Yeah that's, that's probably the best thing. Then he won't be trapped anymore."
Steve's attention returned to his captive and she was looking about in horror. "You're serious. You are all seriously talking about killing me in cold blood."
Out of the corner of his eyes Elloe flipped her broadsword. "The rest of you probably want to be elsewhere. I'm not beholden to your laws so it is no big deal. But it would be better if you didn't witness it."
"Wait! There is no need for this." She yanked her hand from Stephen's grip and brought it up to her mouth. Steve was surprised that she didn't rip into her skin with the force she pulled the ring off. She spit it into her hands and held it out to Stephen. "Here, take it! Take it!"
Stephen put his hand out and asked, "Are you giving me this freely of your own will?" There was level to his voice that put the hairs on Steve's neck on edge.
"Yes, YES. Freely and all that!" She dropped it into his palm.
Stephen gave a bright grin. "Thank you, Elloe. Now Steve, let us leave her to Luke and see what we can do about Tony."
Link to part 2
Title: Peace Visits Not The Guilty Mind
Rating: M
Universe: Divergent 616
Warnings: Bones, Canon Type Violence, Angst, Steve Sulking, WIP,
Summary: Steve has come back from the dead. Now, he has to deal with what he wrought during the Civil War.
Author's Note: I owe raikishi, my profound apologizes. This fic was suppose to be under 10k in words. That didn't happen. Your prompt grabbed me up and ran. Now this is a Big Bang length fic. I couldn't get it all edited in time. As I told the mods, raikishi, if you want to read over the roughs for the missing chapters now, let me know and you can have them.
Chapter 3 ñ 01/06/2014
Chapter 4 ñ 01/14/2014
Chapter 5 ñ 01/20/2014
I will also be putting the polished finished version up on Ao3
From:
salmastryonThor had a presence about him that filled any room he was in. Sometimes, like now, he would draw it all into himself and he would be just Thor instead of Thor, God of Thunder. Generally, that was when he wanted to be left to himself and his thoughts. Unless it was an emergency, Steve had respected Thor's need for space and left him to himself.
Steve wished that Thor would return the favor and leave Steve to his solitude. That wasn't going to happen. Thor had tracked Steve down, swept into the room, dropped his travel worn pack next to the table and taken a seat. There was a determined look about his eyes as he looked at Steve.
Thor's gaze was solemn and rested heavily on Steve. "Friend Steve, I've heard that you refuse to shoulder the responsibilities and raiment of Captain America."
Steve's throat tightened at Thor's words. His skin crawled at just the thought of even touching the shield. Thor took in Steve's reaction and nodded grimly.
"This, I understand. You failed at your task and in doing so betrayed a great trust. Both you and Iron Man overstepped bounds and broke things sacred." There was pain in Thor's face now, He paused eyes downcast.
The moment passed and Thor's chair creaked as he leaned forward towards Steve. "While you have been returned to us, your wrongs weighed heavily on you. Closure continues to elude you." There was knowledge in Thor's eyes. In his long years Thor too had learned the bitter lesson of never being able to take back your actions.
Steve couldn't take Thor's compassionate gaze. He transferred his eyes down. Following the line of Thor's shoulder down to the elbow he was leaning on and settling on Thor's hand resting in front of Steve. Thor's hands were large. The palm and fingers were covered with the thick calluses of a warrior, made for battle and war.
Tony's hands had been covered in calluses as well, but his were those of a builder. They could lift and maneuver large pieces of machinery, but also do delicate work. Steve had watched Tony assemble tiny circuits with his hands. Steve couldn't help but remember how softly they could brush against Steve's skin leaving a sensa-- Steve forcibly stopped that line of thought. He didn't want to dwell on what he had lost in that moment two years ago.
"Steven." Thor's gentle tone pulled Steve's attention back to the room. "This gloom that pervades you suits you ill."
Steve's mouth twisted. Even Thor was trying to fix him. That was the reason he avoided people, talking to them was just so pointless. They came and loaded him down with their words and compassion. Steve had nothing for them, but they seemed so certain each time that it would end differently. Steve didn't even bother trying anymore.
For Thor, Steve would gather what was left and try. He owed that to Thor, and to Tony. Steve raised his head, braced himself and met Thor's eyes. The words were heavy on his tongue but harsh when spoke. "It should have been Tony that came back, not me."
Steve deflated, that was the truth of it. Tony should be here, not Steve. He gazed unseeing at the painting on the wall. His throat tightened and his eyes burned. "I know for everyone else it was two years ago, but the way they so casually put it aside is wrong. It wasn't a war." Steve swallowed, his throat thick. "Tony wasn't an enemy combatant I killed. I..."
Thor was still, sadness covered him like a cloak. His eyes watched Steve, heavy with grief. Steve's hand came up to cover his eyes. His voice dropped and he continued in a soft broken tone. His hand started to shake. "I murdered him."
"He's gone..." The words tore at his throat. A fist tightened around his heart. "It wasn't an accident or the heat of battle."
Steeling himself, he pushed his hair back with a shaky hand and checked Thor's reaction. Thor was a somber statue, listening and watching Steve speak. Steve had to make Thor understand."I went into that fight ready to kill." His voice was hoarse and hollow, "and I did. A presidential pardon doesn't change that fact. Murder isn't something that should go unpunished."
In the silence, Steve took a deep breath and prepared himself to hear Thor's reaction. Thor tilted his head, considering. Would Thor get it, understand Steve's words or would Thor tell him he shouldn't dwell and move on. Thor nodded thoughtfully and his eyes brightened. Was that a smile?
Thor thumped the table. "I, too, have been thinking thus!" Thor's eyes were still sad and his smile dim, but he was pleased. "I hope you will pardon my forwardness, but I have taken it upon myself to dole out your punishment in light of your government's remissness in this regard."
Steve blinked. How could Thor be so cheerful? Tony was dead. Yet, there was something about that small smile. A heavy weight seemed to lift from Steve. Finally, someone agreed that Steve's death didn't absolve him of his crime.
Thor face became stern. Their was finality in his words. "On that day, you deprived this realm of not just one protector. In killing Tony Stark, you struck yourself a debilitating blow." There was a heavy weight in Steve's chest. The thought hadn't ever occurred to him; however, Thor was right. Tony's death was a self inflicted wound that he was still suffering from.
"Your enemy took advantage of this." Thor's face darkened as he talked. "They foully struck at you using your friend most cruelly. Slaying you on those courthouse steps and depriving you of your chance to face your court for your deeds." There was pain and anger in Thor's voice. "Even more cruel, it was a death for death and wiped clean the slate between you and Iron Man."
The words hit Steve like a body blow. Loathing and disappoint rose up with in him. He had thought Thor had understood, instead he was talking of debts being paid. There was no way being killed by an enemy was equal to death at a friend's hand. Steve glared at Thor. There was no reason to stay. Steve had heard it all before.
Thor lifted his hand from the table and signaled for him to stop. "Hold your anger, friend Steve. I am not yet done."
The gravity and strength in Thor's voice stopped Steve. He sunk back into his chair. Steve talked to Thor knowing what path the conversation would probably take. That he'd gotten his hopes up that it would be different, didn't change that. Steve crossed his arm and scowled mulishly. He didn't have to like it but, he would finish hearing Thor out, give him the chance Steve never gave Tony.
"While the matter of Iron Man's death has been resolved, this does not absolve you of the crime of denying Midgard of two of its protectors." Thor's world rang through Steve's head. Thor was angry and his presences expanded rolling over Steve. Each word that Thor spoke impacted Steve, conveying his rage and his grief."Which you still continue to do!"
Steve finds himself glued to the back of his chair. For the first time in the weeks since, he'd been rescued, his thoughts were clear and he cared. Thor was now standing and his mouth was a thin line.
Slowly the maelstrom of anger and sorrow that swamped the room retreated back into Thor, but not completely. It was the God of Thunder that picked up his pack and now spoke to Steve. "I have talked to the Lady Pepper and she has kindly given me a token."
Metal ran against the oak table and Steve flinched away from the shield Thor had dropped on the table. The sound was off. It wasn't his shield. That didn't stop the nausea pooling in Steve's gut as he forced himself to look at it. This shield's surface was burnished to silver gleam. He tentatively reached out a hand his fingers barely touching the surface. It had never been touched with paint and there were scuff marks on its surface that had never been cleaned. He knew this shield.
"Aye, I can see you recognize this shield." Thor no longer sounded so unforgiving. There was sliver of sympathy. "I'm given to understand that this shield is the one that Tony Stark tried to buy your silence with. You would not forsake your honor and returned it when you attempted to stop him, but he kept it."
Steve ran his fingers over the surface. He'd been so delighted when Tony had presented it to him. The adamantium had been polished so smooth that Steve had looked at his own reflection in it. On the first throw, the shield had easily dispatched the training dummies. It had been so close to the feel of his... Steve's stomach rolled at the thought of it. The image of blood and bits of flesh splattered over red, white and blue skittered through Steve's thoughts.
When Steve had first seen this shield Steve had desperately missed the feel and weight of his old companion. The shield Tony had created was close, but not the same. It had made him whole and banished the nightmares caused by lose of his own. Now, the memory of the shield he'd fought battle after battle with caused the nightmares.
This shield in front of him was different. When he had returned it, he had thought Tony and his friendship had been irrevocably broken. How wrong he had been. Their bond hadn't broken then. It had been restored and had grown even stronger in the years that followed. Until Steve had ended it permanently. Steve gazed at the shield with pained fondness. It was so like Tony to have wordlessly hung on to it.
Thor's words reclaimed Steve's attention."The shield that took Tony's life is no longer yours to wield. Now, you will use this one. You will step back into your role as protector and you will strive to compensate for the loss of Iron Man protection as well."
Steve jaw clenched and his fingers bared down on the shield surface turning white at the pressure. A simple change in shield wasn't going to get him to become Captain America again. He couldn't handle that, and the thought of him being dictated to, forced into that role made his whole body coil and tighten.
Thor's large hand came to rest gently on Steve's shoulder. Before he could shrug it off, Thor spoke."I know what you are going to say, and I respect your decision to not be Captain America anymore." Steve's muscles loosened and the scream that threatened to escape disappeared. Thor wasn't going to force him.
Thor's grip tightened and he demanded Steve's gaze."This is hardly the first time you have relinquished your right to the mantle and does not mean I will allow you to ignore the consequences of you actions."
"That is your punishment for your deed. No longer will you hide and brood. You will take up this shield which bares the taint of when Tony wronged you. With it, you will cleanse that taint and your own. Together you and this shield that Tony made will protect this world for both for him and for yourself. This is the charge I set to you."
There was a note of finality in Thor's sentence. Under the weight of Thor's hand and regard though, Steve felt a glimmer of hope. Steve was always better with Tony beside him. Tony was gone, but maybe with this shield. Steve relaxed his jaw and met Thor's gaze. Thor was deadly serious about this. There was no give in his face. It wasn't that shield, but it was still a shield. Could Steve really do this or even deserve this. Tony didn't get a second chance. Steve's hand rested on the center of the shield. This wasn't a chance. This was a duty. Tony was dead and there was nothing that could change that, but this, this was something he could do. This was something Tony would've of done for him.
Steve's hand slid to the edge of the shield. With the ease of a master, Steve flipped the shield up into the air and caught it. Like before the weight, balance and feel was close. Close enough for a tiny shiver to quake inside. It was just different enough though. This shield wasn't a murder weapon. It had its own sordid history of betrayal and perhaps, as Thor, said it was fitting. If Steve couldn't hid away because of murder, then this brilliant piece of Tony's craftsmanship should be used as well.
A sad smile grew on Thor's face and he squeezed Steve's shoulder one last time. "There is the man I know. The one I call shield brother." A companionable slap to Steve's arm made it clear all was forgiven.
Steve realized there was no going back. He'd been standing still mired in regret. His eyes locked on what he lost. Staying wasn't an option, that would lead to losing what he still had. From here Steve could only move forward. It would be difficult, but Thor had pointed the way. There were people who needed protecting and villains that needed to stopped.
The world hadn't ended with Tony's death and neither had Steve. Tony had died trying to protect and save as many of his people as he could. Steve could do no less. He'd protect the world for both of them.
Steve slammed his shield into the robot in front of him. The chest caved in easily and it went flying backwards into its companions. Steve deftly blocked and caught the arm of the one attacking his right. These were cheap knockoffs. He pulled the robot's arm causing it to stumble forward. Sparks erupted as Steve brought the edge of his shield down on its back. The problem was there were so many of them and they didn't stop coming.
Ahead of him there was a growing pile of robots next to Luke. His shirt was in tatters, again. He banged the heads of two robots together and then casually tossed them into the pile behind him. The robots were so weak Luke wasn't bothering to try and defend himself from them.
A weak repulsor blast splashed off his shield dissipating harmless energy.
And that was the reason they were here.
Steve had made it his mission to track down and eliminate any misuse of Tony's tech, often with extreme prejudice. He hadn't been there for two years, but in the last year he'd done his best to live up to the expectations in Tony's letter to him.
These though were a mockery. Steve growled and slammed his fist down into one that was flailing on the ground. His knuckles were already banged up, but Steve ignored the pain in favor of taking out his frustration on these poorly made robots programmed with rudimentary AI and covered with a badly slapped on red and gold paint job.
Jessica Jones' voice sounded irritated over the comm. "You aren't being distracting enough. Stephan and I have got a horde of bots up here to deal with."
Metal screamed in the background of Elloe's response as she dismantled any robots that got near. "We should of gone with Steve's plan."
"It was a horrible plan. I'm sorry Steve, but you going alone to deal with someone with Tony's tech is just a recipe for trouble." While that had proven true a few times in the past, it still grated that Luke didn't trust him to keep his temper. Steve scowled as he tossed another dispatched robot out of his way.
Steve could hear the doors open and another wave of robots push forward. If this kept up, they were going to be be overwhelmed by robot parts. How an accounting firm was manufacturing so many of them was definitely something they needed to track down.
Steve brought his shield up to block another volley of repulsor fire. This wasn't getting them anywhere.
Luke echoed Steve's thoughts."This isn't getting us anywhere. More just keep coming in. Please tell me that you are making some progress up there, honey."
There was distinct lack of sympathy for her husband in Jessica's voice."I'm sure you can beat on robots for a little longer, sweetie. The group up here isn't being reinforced. They'll be cleared out soon enough."
Steve wiped a bead of sweat off his brow. This was taking too long. The enemy would have wiped out all the evidence and escaped by the time they got anywhere. There was a walkway at other end of the atrium to allow people to look at the greenery as they went about their work. Tomorrow there would not be any greenery to view. Most of the trees had already been taken out and the smell of crushed flowers and leaves was almost as strong as the smell of ozone and oil from the robots' corpses.
Steve growled. He had given Luke's plan a try, but he was tired of the pointless fighting. Steve wasn't going to stay here knocking the heads off of Iron Man knockoffs. Elloe and Luke more than had this under control. They didn't need him here to help out.
Decision made Steve started running towards Luke. "Luke give me a boost!"
Luke cursed, grabbed the robot trying to strangle him and tossed it aside. As Steve lept, Luke braced himself. Luke's hands threaded together just before Steve's foot landed and he heaved as Steve sprang forward towards the walkway. As Steve's launched, Luke complained, "A little warning next time!"
Steve tucked himself into a ball as he tumbled forward, using the shield to block any of the repulsor fire from below.
As he flew over Elloe, she kicked a decapitated robot head out of her way. Before it landed she's already turning using the momentum to power her slash. Pieces go flying as her broadsword sliced through the substandard armor on the bots. She taunted Luke as her other broadsword hit. "He did give you warning he asked for a boost!"
Steve unfolds out of his tuck and landed feet first on a robot. He's already sprung upward and out of the reach of the surrounding robots. His arms stretched up and his fingers grabbed the edge of the walkway. With a grunt, he bunched his muscles and swung forward.
"Are you saying, you are slowing down or that you need more practice, Luke?" Steve quipped as he bent his legs up into the swing, bending and pushing off giving him more momentum as he swung back. Although the faux-stone of the walkway scraped at this finger tips, Steve was glad for the extra grip as he swung himself up into a modified back handspring. As his hand left the edge and he arced over the railing, a repulsor blast hit him and was absorbed by his uniform.
The concentrated fire of multiple robots wasn't so easily dismissed. The walkway began to crumble as he landed. Steve quickly rolled to the side and watched as the walkway gave way under their concentrated fire and fell on the robots below.
Steve took some satisfaction at the as rubble smashed the stupid robots. Taking advantage of the brief reprieve Steve ran and jumped the gap towards the wing where Billings' office was. Staying low, Steve did a forward roll to take him the last of the way out of the atrium. Shield up, Steve landed crouched with his right hand on the floor.
"I'm not slowing down. It is only polite to give a guy some warning before you start to jump on him."
Steve glanced down both ways of the connecting hall. It was quiet except for the sounds of battle behind him. There wasn't a bot in sight. Steve's brow furrowed in irritation. This is why Luke's plan sucked. All of the resistance was at the entrances and there was nothing once you got past it.
"There's no bots up here. I'm going to see if I can find Billings." Steve informed the others.
Luke's tone became serious, "No killing Steve. We need to know where he got specs for Stark's tech." There was a crash in the background as yet another bot met its demise. Steve pushed down his irritation at Luke's order. He had no intention of killing anyone and he knew how to do an investigation.
Steve took a right, according to the layout of the building he'd studied, this was the way to Billings' office. Luke's reaction had been a surprise considering how his anger at Tony had been almost as deep if not stronger than Steve's. Talking about SHRA still got him all riled up. Luke just didn't trust Steve to keep his temper. After the disastrous events that led to Tony's death, Luke felt it was only a matter of time before it happened again.
The reason Steve was on Luke's team was because Luke was right. There had been moments in the last year. But, nothing recent and nothing that would indicate he'd mess up here. He certainly hadn't tried to kill anyone either. He appreciated Luke's help with his anger issues, but this was a bit much.
Leather creaked as Steve's fist clenched around the strap of his shield. His kept his voice relaxed and easy, though. "Don't worry. I'll get info."
Luke grumbled, "That's not what I'm worried about. You're never rational when it comes to anything involving Stark."
Jess's voice was sharp over the comm, "And you are?"
Steve turned the next corner and spotted a man clutching a briefcase and armful of documents that were trying to escape. Steve smiled. It was Billings and now he was all Steve's. Billings was nervously making his way to the stairwell and had yet to notice Steve. The shield slid easily off his arm and into Steve's hand. His arm snapped forward sending the silver disk flying. It slammed into the wall causing the man to started, freezing in place. Billings seemed to realize what was happening and tried to run, but it was too late. The shield had already rebounded off the wall, hit a door frame and was bouncing forward to impact him in the back. Papers and folders flew everywhere as Billings was knocked forward by the blow. It wasn't enough to significantly hurt him, but it stopped him from reaching the door before Steve reached him.
Steve grabbed him by the coat and yanked him away from the door. Billings hit the opposite wall with a thud. Steve put on his most menacing face and glared at Billings. Billings squeaked, his eyes rolled up into his head and he crumpled to the ground. Obviously, Steve had been too menacing.
Steve leaned down and shook Billings. There was no response. He crouched next to the unconscious accountant. How in the world had someone so meek manage to get Tony's tech? Well, at least the shoddy design made sense now. He wasn't going to get any information out of him now and any accomplices would have a nice head start.
Steve didn't bother hiding his irritation as he reported it. "We aren't getting anything out of Billings right now. He fainted as soon as he got caught."
Jesse replied in disbelief, "Seriously?"
"I think Danny was right in thinking this guy was just a front. Definitely not arms dealer material."
Stephan chuckled. "We are almost done up here. I'll see what I can do to wake him up and find out who is behind this."
Steve bent over and started going through Billings pockets. "Meanwhile I'll see what I can find out here from what he was trying to run with." Steve pulled out keys, a security badge and Billings' wallet from his pants. A casual glance through the wallet didn't show anything interesting. In suit coat pocket, he found a couple snickers wrapper and a wrinkled handkerchief. It was the inner suit pocket that held something of interest. Two thumb drives.
He shoved Billings and dove backwards when he heard the distinctive whine of repulsor fire. He could feel the charged air of a close miss. There was a scream and the smell of burnt flesh. Steve hadn't quite gotten Billings all the way in the clear. Steve grabbed his shield and dashed forward, bring his shield up to cover Billings just in time. The impact rocked him backwards.
That wasn't like the weak imitations of the bots downstairs. That blast was the real thing. Steve bared his teeth in a wolfish smile. This was the person who had stolen Tony's tech. Steve quickly glanced over the man at his feet. His quick reflexes had prevented Billings from being killed, but his arm had been hit. Fortunately, the wound was seared so he wasn't bleeding out.
Steve turned his attention to the person that had fired the blast. It was one of the administrative assistants. Nothing had come up on her and they'd relegated her to innocent bystander. Steve grumbled in irritation, but he didn't have time be annoyed. The palm of the gauntlet on her left arm was glowing, preparing for another blast. First things first.
He needed to get Billings out of the line of fire, before she succeeded in eliminating Billings. Steve grabbed him by the shirt, pulling him away from the wall. This blast missed them, but the wall hadn't been so lucky and exploded in a rain of plaster and other debris.
Her lips twisted in irritation and she fired again. Steve braced himself over Billings' body and blocked the shot. Tilting his shield just right he reflected the blast towards the wall near her. The wall exploded in a hail of plaster and white dust. While she was coughing and dealing with that, Steve used the opportunity he'd created to kick the stairwell door open, hauled Billings up and tossed him on the landing.
Steve took temporary shelter in the stairwell. "I don't think Billings is the one we were looking for. One of the secretaries has full powered repulsor gauntlet up and knows how to use it."
She was firing randomly down the hall now. He peaked around the doorway in the lull between plasters. The white chalk was striking on her dark skin. She was rubbing frantically at her eyes with her right hand. Steve was just glad she hadn't had experience in this style of fighting. Tony would never have given him a chance to clear Billings out of the hall. He would of blocked the way to the stairwell after the first blast missed. Of course if Tony was around this woman wouldn't have been running around with repulsor tech anyway.
Jess's voice came over the communicator in reply, "Where are you? We are almost done up here."
Luke sourly commented "We're still hip deep in toy robots here."
"I'm on the second floor near the southeast stairwell. I should have this wrapped up before you get here though." Steve ducked down as he reentered. While she was temporarily blinded all of her blasts were aimed torso height or higher. She was definitely an amateur. "Billings took a repulsor blast on his left side. He was unconscious, but not bleeding when I tossed him into the stairwell. Still, someone should have a look at him before too much longer."
One brown, red-rimmed eye glared at him and she vigorously rubbed at the other.. Steve blocked the blast effortlessly. It would have been easier if she'd stayed blind longer. The sounds of battle in the background where fainter this time when Stephen spoke. "I'm headed there now. Jess is finishing up the last few. I will see how he is doing and stabilize him if need be."
Steve need to bring this to end quickly because he wanted some time to question her before the others showed up. It was nice that they were more than willing to stop him if he looked like he was losing it, but it made hard to make the enemy take his threats seriously if they thought they'd be saved.
Glass crunching under Steve's boots as he shifted his weight. A grin slid across his face. She was in her hose, no shoes in sight.
Her hand dropped from her face as she cleared her other eyes. She jutted her chin up and looked at Steve with contempt. "You're going to pay for that. Perhaps Mr. Stark will finally rest in peace once your dead."
Steve couldn't stop the flinch at her words, but he didn't respond and threw his shield. Her eyes widened slightly in panic and her attention shifted to the shield. The shield bounced off the picture frame in front of her shattering the glass. She ducked as it sailed over her head to hit the light behind her. She tossed her head back and laughed. He'd give it about a C for a villainous laughter.
She turned back towards him taunting. "You can't even hit me..." cut off with gasp and fired off a blast at him in panic. While she was busy watching his shield, Steve had already covered half the distance between them. Again she aimed at his torso. He jumped into a forward flip as she fired, clearing her last desperate shot and grabbing his shield, which had ricocheted back, mid-flight. He landed and continued to chew up the distance between them, the glass from the light and picture frames crunching under his boots.
She wouldn't be able to run fast in that pencil skirt and suit, but it was a moot point. She pulled in a deep breath when her foot first hit the glass as she turned to run. Steve couldn't decide if it was brave or stupid when she squared her shoulders and hobbled on.
He slung his shield on to his back and grabbed her. A flare of light and the whine of repulsor and the nerves in Steve's thigh were on fire. He took the pain and stuffed down along locked it down tight with his anger.
Twirling her around he pinned the gauntlet to the wall with one hand. With the other he grabbed her by the neck picking her up and slamming her into the wall dazing her. Steve shifted his grip on her gauntlet covered forearm making sure she couldn't fire it off anywhere useful. Her right hand came up to clutch and pull helplessly at his gloved hand around her throat. "Let me go!"
Steve squeezed slightly on her throat and banged her against the wall again. "Quiet!" he ordered her and then leaned forward into and in a calm icy voice explained to her how things were going to go. "You're going to quietly listen to what I say and then answer my questions truthfully." He loosened the grip on her throat letting her speak, "Do you understand?"
She gasped and continued to struggle, bringing up her legs to kick at him ineffectively. Internally Steve sighed. Externally, his face stayed expressionless as he lifted her an inch off the ground and cut off her air. She glared at him and her struggling increased. Steve kept his face dispassionate as he counted to ten in his head before he lowered her to her toes and relaxed his grip enough to let her breath.
She drew in a quick breath and looked at him indignantly.
"Do you understand?"
"You can't do this. I've got righ--" Steve lifted and squeezed again.
He again counted in his head. As long as it was just him and her, her rights didn't mean much. After fifteen, her eyes started tearing and she kicked out again. Her struggles were only making it worse for her. At twenty he lowered her and asked again.
"Do you understand?"
She gasped and for the first time looked at him with fear in her eyes. "Yes, yes. I understand."
"The gauntlet here and the robots downstairs and on the roof, have repulsors. Are there any more of these or are the ones on this site the only ones?" Steve waited to see if she'd tell the truth or lie.
"We sold some robots to some wannabe mad scientist." She flexed her left hand. "This is only prototype."
"Who gave you the plans?"
"No one. I drew them up myself." She smirked. "The great Tony Stark isnít the only one who can invent things." She bragged with pride.
Steve's eyes narrowed. She was smug and there was absolutely no engineering in her background. He wanted to wipe that look off her face. He hand flexed and he gently shook her "The truth."
She sneered. "Can't stand the fact that you didn't deprive the world of his technology when you killed him?"
Steve's fingers dug into the soft skin of her throat. Steve's stomach flipped. No matter what he said or did, there were still people who thought he was glad Tony was dead. She was making choking noises. This time Steve really was looking at her dispassionately. It didn't matter what she thought. When the light pink skin of the inside of her mouth began to lose color, he let her breath.
She pulled in several gasping breathes, then it all came out in a rush. "I really made the plans myself. You can check. There are blueprints of failed prototypes. It is all in my own writing no one else worked on it. There were several versions before I got it right. This is the first working gauntlet." Her voice rose to a desperate squeak as Steve frowned and tightened his grip, not enough to stop her from breathing, but enough to make it difficult. "Really, get one your tech friends to look at them and they'll see. You can ask --"
Steve growled right over the top of her. "You expect me to believe; that a secretary with no previous experience in engineering, managed to come up with and coincidentally design a copy of Iron Man's tech?"
She nodded as vigorously as she could. "Yes, yes," she pleaded. "I was inspired." She really looked desperate.
Still, Steve lifted her again and cut off her air. There was no way she'd come up with this on her own. She had to have an accomplice somewhere or some piece of tech they reverse engineered this from. Behind him he heard the door to the stairwell open. One of his teammates would be here soon.
Steve loosened his grip and let some of the rage he was holding back show on his face. He leaned in close taking advantage of the discomfort. "Don't lie. Who helped you?"
Her eyes were wide and tears were streaming down her face. Her make-up was destroyed. Still there was something there under the panic. She struggling, think of what to say.
Jess floated into view. "Steve, don't kill her."
His captive's eye almost bugged out of her face. Whatever was there underneath and been swept up in her panic. "He's Steve Rogers, Captain America. He wouldn't kill me!"
Steve glanced sidewise to Jesse and her false concern. Steve hissed in the secretary's face, "Don't call me that." He dredged up the memory of his rage back when Tony died and let it furrow his brow. "I'm not Captain America anymore." The corners of his mouth fell. "I gave up that right when I killed Tony Stark." His eyes deadened and he knew he looked remorseless. "He was a good friend of mine. What makes you think I won't kill you?"
Jesse put a hand on his shoulder, a note of trepidation in her voice, "S-steve" Steve thought the quiver was a bit much.
The throat in his hand shifted and he could feel her swallow. "Oh my god," her eyes glazed over. If he hadn't been watching for it he would've of missed it. "What are you waiting for..." Her eyes snapped back into focus. "That's what you looked like when..." All the fight drained out of her. Her arm fell to her side. Tears poured down her cheeks. "It was the ring! It showed me things in my dreams. Things Tony Stark had seen. I got the plans from that." She began to sob as she begged. "Please, please don't kill me."
Jesse reached out, dropping her act and lifted up the woman's right hand. There was a ring. It was a simple thick iron band with a large sapphire embedded in it. Steve was rather surprised he hadn't noticed it before.
Jesse frowned and then called over the comm. "Stephen, we need you here. Got a magic ring you need to look at."
"What type of ring?" Strange sounded distracted
"It apparently lets the owner watch the past through someone else's eyes. In this case, she was using it to steal plans Tony had made up."
"Don't remove it," Stephen commanded sharply. Steve could hear the quick steps approach from behind.
Jess pulled the woman's hand out and positioned it for Stephen to look at. "Nobody has touched it."
Steve was keeping his eyes on his prisoner. Unfortunately, the woman's complacence was apparently temporary. He could see when it sunk in that she wasn't dead and Jesse was no longer trying to stop Steve from killing her. She tried pull her hand free, which was rather pointless, between Jesse's iron grip and the lack of leverage.
Stephen was muttering to himself off to the side. The woman was looking and listening to him intently. Steve asked, "Do you need her conscious for this?"
Stephen made a noise of acknowledgment, but there was no response. Out of the corner of his eye there was some sort light. Steve kept his focus on the woman. Finally, Stephen drawled out, "yeees. We need her awake. She needs to willingly give up the ring. Otherwise the soul inside will be torn apart and possibly destroyed.
Jesse started talking furiously into her communicator, but Steve wasn't paying attention. Soul? Was Stephen saying what he thought he was saying? "Do you mean Tony's soul is stuck inside that thing?"
"Yes, and a little worse for wear it appears." Steve gritted his teeth at the casual words. With effort he held back his words. Stephen was caught up analyzing a puzzle. just like Reed or Tony sometimes got with an engineering problem. It didn't mean Stephan didn't care about Tony, he was just a piece of the puzzle right now.
"And what happens if she gives it up willingly?" Steve carefully asked.
Stephen was again muttering to himself, no answer forthcoming. Steve forcibly relaxed his muscle and prepared to try again. Jesse beat him to it with a sharp tone. "Stephan. What happens then?"
Steve desperately wanted to look to the side and see what Strange was doing. Strange's answer was absent minded. "Oh then the pieces she's stolen should revert back to the ring when she gives it up."
Steve's breath caught. It just sunk in. Tony's soul. The ring had caught Tony's soul. His chest swelled and he felt light.
Jesse pushed Strange for more information. "And how could we confirm she is giving it up willingly?"
"Oh all we would need her to do is for her to take it off herself and hand it to someone."
Luke butted in at this point, "And Steve that person is not going to be you." Steve hadn't noticed him approach. Steve opened his mouth to reply, but Luke continued on over him. "It would mess you up so bad. You're not getting anywhere near Tony's head."
"Fascinating, I think this took the natural connection of the soul to body and transferred them to the ring right before his death. Not the way one typically traps a soul."
Luke interrupted Stephen's musing in exasperation, "Stephen back me up here."
Stephen's brow creased and then he looked away from the ring, at the group of heroes around him. "Yes, you are quite right Steve shouldn't have the ring. Be rather unhealthy for his mental state, besides the fact I'm sure there are things Tony wouldn't have wanted Steve to know."
"Well, well, it seems I've something you boys want." That smug confident grin was back on her face. Steve resisted tightening his hand. He didn't know what he wanted to do.
Luke's tone was angry "What happens if she dies before giving the ring to anyone."
"That is a possible solution. When she dies, Tony's soul should be released as well and they'd separate."
Elloe spoke from Steve's other side. " You want me to kill her? Her death wouldn't bother me and then Stark's soul could be at peace."
Steve drew in a breath. That would be for the best. Tony didn't need to be trapped in an artifact. He would hate it actually. In a way it would be like killing Tony again, but it was better than this harpy slicing his soul to pieces. Steve just couldn't do it himself. Steve reluctantly gave his opinion. "Yeah that's, that's probably the best thing. Then he won't be trapped anymore."
Steve's attention returned to his captive and she was looking about in horror. "You're serious. You are all seriously talking about killing me in cold blood."
Out of the corner of his eyes Elloe flipped her broadsword. "The rest of you probably want to be elsewhere. I'm not beholden to your laws so it is no big deal. But it would be better if you didn't witness it."
"Wait! There is no need for this." She yanked her hand from Stephen's grip and brought it up to her mouth. Steve was surprised that she didn't rip into her skin with the force she pulled the ring off. She spit it into her hands and held it out to Stephen. "Here, take it! Take it!"
Stephen put his hand out and asked, "Are you giving me this freely of your own will?" There was level to his voice that put the hairs on Steve's neck on edge.
"Yes, YES. Freely and all that!" She dropped it into his palm.
Stephen gave a bright grin. "Thank you, Elloe. Now Steve, let us leave her to Luke and see what we can do about Tony."
Link to part 2