Leave Me Broken [Winter Soldier] II

Powerlessness [Chapter 28]

"That's how it starts. The fever, the rage, the feeling of powerlessness that turns good men... cruel."

Alfred Pennyworth in "Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice"

             "It wasn't him!" Steve's voice rang through the commotion; in the building behind them the crashing had slowed down, the rubble had settled for now. It was Steve without his shield facing Tony Stark, with multiple mechanical problems to his suit. But it was still not a fair fight, and it was a fight that should never have been fought. But this fight was beyond Zemo now, it was beyond all previous prejudice. It was about Tony Stark being unable to see the truth that was right in front of him, unable to process the events, just as he was unable to process the guilt he gained when the news of his parents found dead in a car accident was brought to his attention. He had never dealt with it, and now it was his guilt too that was feeding this fight.

           And Ophelia had made that stronger.

          "I don't care," Tony said with something so defeated to his tone. "He killed my mom."

           Bucky watched for only a few more seconds as Tony began fighting Steve once more, and he could no longer stand there and watch. With Steve's shield in his strong hands, he jumped down from the upper level that they were on, and bashed the shield down against Tony. With all the weight and force from the jump, he brought Tony down, and the unequal fight began. Steve and Bucky worked flawlessly as a team, as if they had been waiting their whole lives to do this. Perhaps they had, but neither of them would have assumed it would be against Tony Stark. This was a fight that they would remember for the rest of their lives, even if they didn't want to remember it at all.

             If they survived. 

             Passing the shield back and forth, they were able to bring Tony down to his knees. Every time Tony tried to shoot a blast at them, it was powered half way up and one of them would knock his hand away, or hit him with the shield. 

             Ophelia was still up on the concrete; she could feel the uncomfortable thoughts running through her mind. There was a part of the Huntress still inside of her that wanted to stop Tony, for good. She knew getting close to the fight would not benefit her, and she would only get in the way. She was unsure of what she might do to Tony Stark. In truth, she was unsure of that spiteful part of her was leftover from what Zemo had done to her, or if it was an honest hatred inside of her towards Tony. Over the course of the last few days, she couldn't say she was entirely fond of him.

             But she needed this fight to stop, and to play her part she had to utilize her powers for good. Instead of bringing back pain from old memories, she could bring back so much more. Powerful memories were often the worst ones, but some of the best ones were just as powerful, if not more. Ophelia found that accessing Tony's mind was harder now, because she was distracted by watching these three men fight with such force. The look on Bucky's face suggested he hated Tony, but Ophelia knew that Bucky was not a man filled with hatred. After everything he had done in the past, hate was not something he could allow to consume him. But there it was, plain as day upon his face as they fought each other.

             Getting into Tony's head, Ophelia fought the urge to access memories that would break him. Instead, she sought out the ones that would remind him of the humanity in this world. Preferably memories of him with Steve, so that he could see the man he was fighting, see that they were friends, and to step up into the role of the bigger man in order to stop it. Though she did not expect Tony to step up and be that bigger person, she had to try. Scrounging for his best memories, she found ones of Pepper, but decided against those given that their recent split was still too fresh and an open wound for Tony. Going back to further memories, she found one among the chaos and disaster of Sokovia, when Ultron was wreaking havoc not only on the city, but on the world itself.