The Soldier's Luna: Reclamation (Bucky Barnes x OC)

Chapter 24

It had been two weeks since we broke our friends out of the Raft before I decided that it was time to talk to Tony. I leaned against Tony's fancy leather chair, waiting for him to come into his office. I knew that he was going to be alone in the compound. Rhodey had a physical therapy appointment, Vision liked me so he'd give me a warning before he called Ross in, and Pepper and I talked before I decided to visit the compound. I met with her secretly for a lunch and coffee date.

Though Tony and Pepper were on a break, she agreed to help trick Tony with a meeting in his office at the compound so that I could talk to him. I told her about what happened at the base, along with the truth about Tony's parents. Pepper was shocked but understood that it wasn't Bucky's or my fault. After I caught her up to speed, she talked about how she wanted Tony to stop but knew he couldn't. However, Pepper said if things went well with my meeting with Tony, she'd consider letting Tony take her out to dinner.

Tony walked into the office and I turned around in the chair to face him. A flash of disappointment crossed his eyes, but his face hardened immediately. "Using Pepper to get me here is a low blow."

"Had to do it," I replied. "I had a feeling you wouldn't give me the time of day if I asked you myself. She said to be nice and she might just, let you take her to dinner."

"So, she knows what happened?"

"Yeah, we talked about it over lunch."

"You know I can easily call Ross to have you arrested. You're lucky that I was busy the day you broke into the Raft with Rogers."

"Busy doing what? Leaving Ross on hold?" I got up from his seat and leaned against the front of the desk. Tony's stubbornness was etched on his face while his hands remained in his pockets. "I think it's safe to say that you're not going to have me arrested yet."

"Why would you think that?"

"Because I can sense that you don't want to do it. I know seeing me unharmed is a comfort to you, but you're hurting."

"It's not fair that you're reading me. I call that cheating."

I sighed, "Tony, just give me five minutes. I know I don't deserve anything from you, but give me a chance. Please?"

Tony walked over to his seat. He plopped down and gestured for me to sit down on the chair in front of the desk. "Five minutes and then I'm calling Ross."

I looked down, "Honestly, I don't know what to say. I can apologize to you over and over again, but it won't change anything. It's crazy that I tried to fix or know the people I killed while under their control, but I didn't know them. I had no idea who they were."

"How?"

"They weren't assigned to me. I was just ordered to go with Bucky and follow his instructions. It was my second mission. I was freshly brainwashed, but there was part of me that knew this was wrong, but I had to do it. The fear of being tortured was branded in my head. I failed my first mission and they beat me to a point where I was close to death. I could literally see death in front of me, but when I reached to grab it, I realized it was just...taunting me. After that, I accepted who they wanted me to be. I lost my will and hope that I would be saved, so I guess death did take something from me that day. I was an empty shell." I started fidgeting. "Tony, I know this doesn't change what I did and how much I hurt you but during that time, I didn't have a choice. Either way, I'm so sorry. I never wanted to hurt you."

"I know," he sighed. "I know what they did to you, Iliana. It was a lot to take in. I just needed to clear my head."

"You were going to walk away that day."

"Yeah, I was."

"But why didn't you?"

His jaw tightened, "I don't know. Just the moment you touched my shoulder, all I could think about was the fact you and Barnes killed my parents. It was like-"