Captain's Hart and Soul

Chapter 27 Broken

Steve P.O.V.

Steve finally broke his way through to see Tony flying in small bursts up what looked like a giant spiraling catwalk. It appeared to have been a rocket launching room, or at least built with that intention, as the catwalks were separated and designed more for maintenance platforms or support structures than an actual pathway, and the whole cylindrical room opened up to an enormous missile hatch that was currently open hence the cold air Steve had felt earlier.

Steve arrived just in time to see Tony kick Bucky as the Winter Soldier tried to leap across to another catwalk, causing the man to come crashing down on a lower platform with a grunt. Tony turned, firing up his laser, and Steve leapt up, jumping a few platforms before leaping in front of Bucky and raising his shield just as Tony fired.

The laser rebounded off Steve's shield, hitting Tony and causing Iron Man to go crashing backwards, hitting the wall before he fell a few floors down onto a different catwalk far below them. Steve glanced down worriedly as Bucky got to his feet, and he muttered grimly: "He's not going to stop."

He glanced at his best friend, ordering: "Go."

Bucky's jaw had set as well, but he followed Steve's order immediately, turning and making his way back up once more as he jumped up onto the next platform above him. Steve pulled out one of the gadgets Arianna had designed for him from his suit, clicking it as he placed his shield onto his back and took a deep breath.

Tony had fired up his flight jets once more and was just moving to follow Bucky when Steve jumped from his catwalk, shooting one end of his gadget at Tony as he fell. The wire shot out, wrapping around Tony's neck and hauling him down after Steve as the pair fell. Tony whacked his head against one of the platforms, causing the suit to spin and smack against another platform as he fell before he smashed into one more, face first, as Steve landed further down on another platform.

He glanced up to see Tony had also gotten up on his knees, pointing his laser in Bucky's direction as the man made his way up the side of the structure. Steve threw his shield at Tony, hoping to cripple him just a few seconds longer, but Tony heard the shield whizzing through the air and turned quickly to knock the shield aside, causing it to fall harmlessly all the way on the ground far below.

Steve's eyes narrowed as he watched his shield before he glanced up at Tony as the man aimed his laser once more. Steve was certain that all the frontal hits on Tony's mask should've at least damaged Tony's targeting systems- he remembered having heard Arianna having been worried about it before, but it wasn't something that could be fixed if Tony wanted to keep the targeting systems linked to his eye visor. So why... Steve realized one second too late what Tony had been planning to do.

"Oh, n-" Steve began, but Tony had already fired a missile, shooting the hinge on the metal hatch far above. The entire hinge exploded, destroying it completely and causing the hatch to fall back down just before Bucky reached the top, slamming shut right above Bucky's head and forcing him back down onto the platform a little below his feet.

Tony took off into the air once more, making his way unsteadily but swiftly up towards Bucky. Bucky leapt back to his feet, grabbing a piece of broken metal and smashing it against Tony before Iron Man could fire a laser. Tony took the blow before grabbing Bucky, throwing him against the wall before pulling him into a headlock.

Bucky gripped Tony's arms, preventing him from breaking his neck but he wasn't strong enough to pull free from Tony's grasp. Tony grit his teeth as he hissed: "Do you even remember them?"

"I remember all of them." Bucky answered flatly, before he kicked off the platform, showing them both back. Tony fired his jets, preventing himself from hitting the wall before he turned so that they were flying downwards, intending to slam Bucky into the ground and kill him.