War Torn || Civil War

Prologue

Music is "War" by J2 feat. Maddi Lasker.

Picture is from Captain America: Civil War.

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PROLOGUE

"I know that road."

Tony's eyes flicker from the old-tech screen in front of him and Steve to Bucky behind me. I step in front of Bucky, protecting him from Tony's anger.

I know he'll be angry. I saw the date on the tapes. December 16, 1991. The day Howard and Maria Stark allegedly died in a car accident.

What Tony never knew, what Steve and I never told him, was that his parents were murdered by the Winter Soldier.

The Winter Soldier. Not Bucky. But I doubt he will see it that way.

"What is this!" Tony shouts at Zemo. Zemo remains silent, enjoying the conflict build.

The video plays, and Tony's eyes lock onto the screen. I saw the footage back when Zola showed us proof of HYDRA in SHIELD. After that day, when I woke up after my two-year immortality coma, I found the footage on one of SHIELD's hidden files. Despite my closest friends' attempts to keep this footage from the world, I had to see it.

I don't have to see it again to know what's happening. The car crashed. Howard was thrown from the vehicle. The Winter Soldier arrived on his bike.

"Please, help my wife," Howard begged. "Please, help."

The Winter Soldier grabbed him by the skull, lifting him so he could see his face.

He hesitated. "Sergeant Barnes?"

"Howard?"

Tony's eyes move from the screen to Bucky as he hears his mother's voice. In his brown iris', I can see the pent-up rage of a seventeen-year-old kid who's just seen his parents brutally murdered by a man who stands three feet away. Howard may have been a terrible dad, but he was Tony's father. Before Tony loved any other woman, he loved Maria.

I tense up, moving back closer to Bucky. I reach backward, letting my hand make contact with his metal arm. I want him to know that I will protect him. I know it wasn't him, not really. Howard and Maria were my friends, too. I know he'd never have hurt them if he were himself.

But I know, deep in my gut, that Steve and Natasha were wrong for keeping this secret. Tony deserved to know. The world deserved to know. The Starks were murdered.

And from the look on Tony's face right now, I know that keeping it secret was a huge mistake.

"Howard!"

Maria's cries from the car brought the Winter Soldier back to his mission. He knocked Howard's face in and dragged him back to the car. He choked the life out of Maria. Then the Winter Soldier shot the camera, ending the feed.

Tony is frozen for a few moments after the video ends. All of us are staring at him, waiting for him to move. He lashes out towards Bucky. I pull my bowstaff from its holster, Bucky raises his gun in defense, and Steve holds Tony back.

"No, Tony," he pleads.

Tony eventually looks back to Steve with teary eyes. "Did you know?"

"I didn't know it was him," Steve replies, but we both know that's not true. We knew it was the Winter Soldier, and Bucky is--or was--him. And while I was asleep, they made the choice to keep it that way, a secret in the dark.

Tony's face contorts in anger, and his voice rises in volume and intensity. "Don't bullshit me, Steve," he growls. "Did you know?"

Steve's eyes flicker over to me, then back to Tony. I know what he'll say even before he does. He'll say the one thing Steve has always been good at saying: the truth.

"Yes."

END PROLOGUE.