The War Within | A Tony Stark Series

s: Interference

Monroe's pov

"I'm here because I made a promise..." the man who I've learned goes by Zemo trails off as the captain connects the dots. 

"You lost someone."

"I lost everyone." The panther and I stayed hidden in the shadows to watch the scene play out, but judging by the sokovian's next words... trouble was coming. "And so will you."

A moment passed before an old computer screen, standing near Rogers, flickered. I squinted my eyes, trying to make out the moving picture. I notice Tony take a few steps to get a closer look.

"I know that road..." that's when it clicked. The date at the corner of the footage. December 16, 1991. "What is this?!" Stark yells, hoping for an alternate answer than what he'd already thought.

I practically lunged forward, but was pulled back and shoved into the wall by the new king. His clawed hands over my mouth with me wriggling underneath. I wanted to interfere, needed to. I kicked at the panther, but he didn't budge. I could only hear the crash that was being played back. I froze as I heard Maria's calls to Howard. Only then did T'challa loosen his hold on me as I glared at him. My chest rose as my breathing grew harsher.

"You cannot interfere-"

"Why not?!" I whisper yelled. "You found your truth."

"It's Stark's turn to learn his..."

"Wha-..." I could barely make out as I started to intake an overwhelming amount of emotions. Fear. Anger. Guilt. Shame. I slowly turned to the three men as I caught a glimpse of the small screen. An arm wrapped around Maria's neck, only to hear her struggled breaths. My eyes trailed up to find a face, only to match it to Barnes. I shifted my gaze to the soldier who had already seemed to be fixated on me. It was then that I realized I had made myself visible. Our eyes locked, neither of us backing down until the gunshot had ended the clip. 

I blinked in realization, turning my head to find that T'challa had disappeared. I turned back to Tony displaying a betrayed expression. He jumped forward, ready to make a move on Barnes with Steve holding him back. I hesitantly took a step forward, eyeing the soldier as he lifted his gun in defense.

"Did you know?" Stark questioned through gritted teeth.

"I didn't know it was him." A lie... I lifted my eyebrows in disbelief at the captain.

"Don't bullshit me, Rogers. Did you know?"

I, too, waited for the answer that was about to slip out.

"Yes."

Stark pulled away from the captain's hold as I prepared for what could be the most heartbreaking fight I've had. Tony took a moment to mislead the captain before striking at him. Rogers fell just before me, noticing my presence.

"Jess...?"

I ignored him and threw my hands out just before Barnes could shoot at Tony.  Flicking them as the gun in the soldier's hand flew to the ground. Stark turned as he was unphased by my presence, taking a punch from Barnes. I rushed forward only to be stopped by Rogers who gripped at my ankle and pulled me down while regaining his composure. A grunt left me as I crashed down, immediately rising back up again.

Steve threw his shield over at Stark to throw off his aim and shoved him off of Barnes. Tony caught himself as I swayed my hands, throwing Rogers across the room. Tony then locked the captain's ankles together and continued his fight with Barnes. I ran over to Steve, not knowing how to proceed.

"I won't fight him," I made clear.

Before he could retaliate. An explosion erupted, distracting me as Rogers broke free. I ran after him but changed my tactics when the structure began to crumble. I leaped forward, crashing into the captain and shielding us from the damage. It took a moment for me to recover with a ringing in my ear. 

"Get out of here!" I assumed was one soldier shouting to the other. I searched for Stark until he flew past us. Steve jumped between him and Barnes. "It wasn't him, Tony. Hydra had control of his mind."

"Move!"

"It wasn't him!" Steve tried as he grabbed at Stark's foot repulser and banged his shield against it. I immediately rushed over and took a grip of Cap's arm to stop the blow. Once he lost his hold, Tony was sent flying across to where Barnes was climbing to escape. Meanwhile, Steve and I fell back from the opposing force. I ignored the pain enforced on me from the fall and beat Rogers to that same area, but Tony had blocked us both off.

"Tony! This isn't the way!" I yelled as if he bothered to listen.

"I didn't mean-"

"Just help me get through before they kill each other." I cut the captain off as we struggled to find a way around. 

***

"Send me up... NOW!"

I raised my hands, sending Steve up in time to block Stark's repulsor. Unfortunately, the beam reflected back, causing Tony to fall onto a lower platform, right beside me. I ran toward his struggling form, but he decided not to acknowledge my presence and shoot straight up to Barnes. Think, Jess. Think. 

My eyes darted between the men at war as I submitted to my morals. I watched as Rogers forced Stark down to a few more of the lower levels. I'm gonna hate this on so many levels... 

I hopped across to a platform to try and catch up to Barnes. Unfortunately, one of Tony's missiles beat me to him. I instinctively waved my hand, sparing Barnes. However, his only escape began to crumble after the blow. Not too long after, a flash of red and gold passed me by.

"Tony, don't!"

My call warned Barnes enough to grab a pipe and defend himself against Stark until he was locked in a chokehold. I looked down at Rogers, hopping from ledge to ledge until he caught up. Stark forced Barnes down to the surface which gave cap an opportunity to lunge at the two. I dropped down, only to slam Barnes onto one of the railed platforms as Sark and Rogers crashed below.

As we recovered from our fall, the clashing of metal began to sound. I lifted myself, palms flattened on the platform when I noticed Barnes eyeing the shield. "Don't even think about it..." 

The assassin sat up as I leaped forward into him, nearly falling off the edge. Using his metal arm, he shoved me off of him. I was now pinned under Barnes until I attempted to roll him over the edge. I had misjudged the distance as he rolled us over once more, only to have me hanging from it. I grunted in annoyance as he leaped for the shield and dropped down to Stark. 

This is gonna hurt.

I let go of the railing and dropped down on my back. Gritting my teeth as my body ached. Wincing, I forced myself up only to be knocked back down when Rogers had been tossed over. I had been winded, coughing as my body struggled to recover. My ears began to ring as my vision became slightly clouded. I tried to blink away the symptoms, but I couldn't control it. I panicked as I caught glimpses of Barnes crushing Tony's arc reactor. This only caused my thoughts to grow darker. At this point, I had shut my eyes to try and control my emotions. Keeping my head down, I felt every muscle in my body; clenching, struggling to clear my head. I don't want these dark emotions. I've trained over the years to contain this part of me. 

"Stay down. Final Warning."

Tony's threat snapped me back to reality as my breathing slowly grew steady. My vision began clearing as I noticed Barnes inching toward Tony's ankle. "No!" I tried before it all played out. Barnes found his grip, distracting Tony enough to be swept off his feet. I forced myself off the ground to tackle Rogers, but Barnes had suddenly found his grip on my ankle. Pulling at me, I had fallen to the ground once again as I kicked at his arm. I looked up to see Rogers repeatedly punching at the mask of Stark's suit. But once that skin-to-metal contact changed to the clinging of his shield, I lost it.

"Let. Me. Go!" I finally kicked at the assassin's face to freedom. My eyes darkened as Steve rose his shield for the final time. His movements were halted as my fingers curled. Blue energy circled around the shield as I pulled it back, crashing it into the wall. Dragging Rogers before me, to his knees. "You're not going to hurt him anymore..." I let out intimidatingly as my hair flared with my skin cracking, blue traces glowing from within. I slowly clamped my hand as I heard his pained grunts. 

"You're going to disappear."