Ophelia

Letter

                Tony put down the letter that Steve had written him. The righteousness of the man made Tony scoff, and yet, he wanted to forgive him. He wouldn't -couldn't- yet. It was still too fresh, his arm was still fractured and his eye was still bruised, but those wounds would heal a lot faster than the one in his mind. The friendship between him and Steve was severed, all because of Zemo -all because of Barnes. Tony leaned back in his chair and wondered if he would have preferred not knowing. It certainly would have made his life easier, and yet there was a sense of closure in his mind at the same time.

But his parent's murderer was still alive.

Was she?

Tony wondered, knowing what he had done in his blind rage. Sure, the girl didn't deserve it, and yet Tony felt that the playing field was leveled out. Barnes had killed his parents, and Tony had quite possibly killed Barnes's girl. Then the guilt hit him; innocent lives being lost for the sake of revenge was not worth it. Sure she was on the wrong side, but she was only protecting the person she loved. How she could love a monster like that, only Steve could understand.

Tony ran his hand over his face, then picked up Steve's letter again. A second sheet fell, having been stuck to the first one when Tony first read it. Nervously, he grabbed the second paper, hoping it was just a spare, a stray sheet of paper that had nothing on it.

But the handwriting was there, scratchy and clearly written in a haste.

"Tony,

There is one more thing you need to know. I don't say it to make you feel guilty, you have no reason to be. I am not saying it to try to even things out, because no one won this time. It was a battle that should not have been fought, and while most of us made it out with only broken bones and friendships, there was a life lost that day.

Ophelia's head trauma was too severe, and we got to medical care too late. She only made it a few hours before she was gone. I don't expect you to think this makes things even, or that you can forgive Bucky for what he was made to do. But I do want you to keep in mind that he has lost everything dear to him in this world.

I don't blame you, Tony. I don't want you to blame yourself. I didn't want you to go on not knowing, either. I told you it was on you.

It's not.

Steve."

Tony gripped the letter tight, his sweaty palms making the paper damp. He put it down and it unravelled slowly, crinkling back into shape. It didn't make him feel better to know she was dead, because he knew it was his fault. He shot at her, just to get her out of his head. She hit her head because of him. She laid there in the snow dying, not getting immediate medical attention like she needed because of him.

She was dead because of him.

He would live with it, because a lot of people were dead because of him, and because he had to.

And somehow it made him sympathize with the man who murdered his own parents.