Rumors and Ghosts

xiii. truth and lies

Back in the cell, Tony said, "Just look. Because that is the fellow who was supposed to interrogate Barnes." He showed a holographic image of Doctor Broussard. "Clearly, I made a mistake. Sam, I was wrong."

"That's a first," Sam retorted.

"Cap and Anastasia are definitely off the reservation, but they're about to need all the help they can get. We don't know each other very well. You don't have to..."

"Hey, it's all right." Tony leaned closer to the window. Sam sighed and looked uneasy. "Look, I'll tell you... but you have to go alone and as a friend."

"Easy." Tony walked to his chopper.

"Stark?" Secretary Ross called. "Did he give you anything on the Rogers siblings?"

"Nope. Told me to go to hell. I'm going back to the compound instead, but you can call me anytime. I'll put you on hold, I like to watch the line blink."

Ross stared at Tony who smiled as he got in the chopper and the door slid shut. The chopper rose off the helipad and flew away. The doors closed on the prison roof.

Sitting in the chopper, Tony un-clipped the sling holding his left arm. He cradled his arm in his hand for a moment. He slowly reached out the injured arm and pressed a button on a panel. The Iron Man Suit wrapped itself around Tony. A hatch opened and he flew out of the chopper as Iron Man. He sped through dark clouds. Close behind, T'Challa was at the controls of a Quinjet.

---

Steve brought his Quinjet into land beside Zemo's caterpillar truck on the remote icy mountain top. The jet's wings folded up beside the fuselage. On board, Bucky pulled out rack of guns labeled 'Romanoff'. He took a light machine gun. Bucky, Anastasia and Steve stood together, waiting for the exit ramp to descend.

"You remember that time we had to ride back from Rockaway Beach in the back of that freezer truck?" Steve asked.

"Was that the time we used our train money to buy hot dogs?" Bucky questioned.

"You blew three bucks trying to win that stuffed bear for that redhead."

"What was her name again?"

"Dolores. You called her Dot."

"She's gotta be a hundred years old right now."

"So are we, pal," Steve said as he clamped his hand on Bucky's shoulder and placed a hand on Anastasia's.

The three stepped out of the Quinjet.

Wearing his helmet, Steve walked with Bucky and Anastasia up to the entrance set in rock. The door was still open.

"He can't have been here more than a few hours," Steve said.

"Long enough to wake them up," Bucky warned.

Steve led them into the cast bunker. They traveled down into the depths inside a caged elevator. It stopped in the bowls of the bunker and doors slid open. Steve nodded to Bucky and Anastasia and heaved up the cage door.

Bucky and Anastasia readied their heavy duty machine guns and walked along a corridor, keeping close to a wall. Bucky and Anastasia looked into an alcove full of junk then they and Steve moved on up some stairs. At the sound of a loud thud, they spun around, aiming down the corridor.

"You ready?" Steve asked.

"Yeah," Bucky and Anastasia replied.

Double doors parted, forced open by Iron Man. Steve stared in surprise. Tony walked towards Steve, Anastasia and Bucky and retracted the suit's helmet.

"You seem a little defensive," Tony commented as Bucky kept his gun up while Steve walked to meet Tony with his shield covering his body.

"It's been a long day," Steve replied.

Tony glanced at Bucky. "At ease, Soldier. I'm not currently after you."

"Then why are you here?"

"Could be your story's not so crazy. Maybe. Ross has no idea I'm here. I'd like to keep it that way. Otherwise, I gotta arrest myself."

"Well, that sounds like a lot of paperwork." Steve lowered his shield. "It's good to see you, Tony."

"You too, Cap." He said to Bucky, "Hey, Manchurian Candidate, you're killing me. There's a truce here. You can drop..." Steve signed Bucky to lower his weapon and he did so.

The four of them cautiously walked along a corridor. T'Challa, in his Black Panther Suit, was hiding around a corner, watching them.

With his helmet and face plate reengaged, Iron Man led Steve, Anastasia and Bucky towards the enormous chamber with the capsules standing in it.

"I got heat signatures," Iron Man informed.

"How many?" Captain America and Anastasia asked.

"Uh, one."

As they entered the vast chamber, the lights came on. Hazy, yellow mist descended within the capsules. As well as Josef, each one contained an enhanced soldier from the 1991 experiment. Steve and the others looked around, bewildered.

Zemo, on speaker, said, "If it's any comfort, they died in their sleep." All of the enhanced soldiers had been shot in the head. Bucky stared at Josef's corpse. "Did you really think I wanted more of you?"

"What the hell?" Bucky asked.

"I'm grateful to them, though. They brought you here." Zemo appeared in a control room. Steve hurled his shield, but it flew back. "Please, Captain. The Soviets built this chamber to withstand the launch blast of UR-100 rockets."

"I'm betting I could beat that," Iron Man shot back.

"Oh, I'm sure you could, Mr. Stark. Given time. But then you'd never know why you came."

"You killed innocent people in Vienna just to bring us here?" Steve questioned. Black Panther watched from the shadows. Steve looked at Zemo through a window.

"I thought about nothing else for over a year. I studied you. I followed you. But now that you're standing here, I just realized... there's a bit of green in the blue of your eyes. How nice to find a flaw."

"You're Sokovian. Is that what this is about?"

"Sokovia was a failed state long before you blew it to hell. No. I'm here because I made a promise."

Steve and Anastasia, who walked up, studied Zemo and said, "You lost someone?"

Zemo looked grave and clicked his tongue. "I lost everyone. And so will you." He played surveillance footage from December 16th, 1991. Steve stepped over to the screen. Bucky stayed where he was. Anastasia moved next to him, seeing a look in his eyes that concerned her. "An empire toppled by its enemies can rise again. But one which crumples from within? That's dead... forever."

Tony looked at the freeze frame of a secluded road and the date, December 16, 1991. His eyes rose anxiously. "I know that road. What is this?" The video played. The car that the Winter Soldier forced off the road crashed into a tree. Tony watched intently as the Winter Soldier drove up and got off his motorbike. Steve watched Tony's increasing unease. The driver laid on the ground beside the car.

It was Tony's father, Howard.