Split Personality

Chapter Twenty One

Tony's POV

We made our way out of the building and down to the jets. Steve, well I should say Captain Hydra, was quite all the way down, he never said a word but slight growls emerged from his throat. James was staring at the shield, I am guessing it was bothering him, the red, white and blue was all gone and the void black and crimson red took its place. It bothered me as well, more than it should. I wanted to throw the shield off a clift and get the old one back but it was gone, the paint erased and redone to something worse.

We split up onto the two jets, the same groups before but the Captain came with us since he had some of my armor on his arms. Sam and Rhodey begrudgingly went back to the cockpit while James and I stayed in the cabin with the Captain, both James and I stood between him and the door. I fidgeted with my mask, my stomach was unstelleted from fear, fear for my friend and my life. "Tony, are you ok?" James noticed my uneasy movements and placed his hand on mine. This was the first time in ever that he has been this nice to me and I am unsure why, "No. I am not ok, my old friend is gone and I don't know if I can get him back and you. You are acting nice to me all of a sudden, why?" He looked at the Captain then back at me.

He let my hand go, "Because I feel awful for what I did to you. For the pain I caused you. If Steve wasn't there at the time you found out I would have let you kill me, I would have let you throw me off a clift if that satisfied your bloodlust." He sounded genuine, he sounded like he meant it. I just stared at him, "You would have let me kill you? Why?" He averted his gaze away from me, he tried to speak but quickly shut his mouth. "What's the matter James? Cat got your tongue?" The Captain called out. James clenched his hand and tried to dart towards him but I grabbed his arms, "Hey! He is just trying to rattle you up. Don't let him under your skin." James growled and tried his best to get free from my grasp.

He finally settled down and I let him go. The Captain started to laugh, "Wow, I can't believe you let your boyfriend talk you out of hurting me. How pathetic." This time I was the one to lash out. I moved my armor from my legs to create my gauntlets again. James took my arms before I could get closer to him, "Listen to your own words Tony, he is just trying to get under your skin." I wanted to wipe the smile off the Captain's face and make him bleed, make him regret ever saying that. I let James pull me back to where we stood before, "How about we talk about this later when he," He glared at the Captain, "Is no longer around us," Turning his attention back to me, "He will use everything we say to annoy us." He was right, he can't hurt us physically but his words can be painful.

The three of us sat or stood in silence all the way back to Wakanda. When we touched down Sam opened the door, "Come on, we need to get him inside. Shuri wants to see how badly they hurt him now." Both of us nodded our heads as we took a hold of the Captain's arms. "Come on. Let's get going. It will be impolite to keep a princess waiting." James stated with an annoyed tone in his voice. We managed to get him out of the jet without fuss, I don't know whether or not that was good or not. The Dora Milaje were waiting outside to take the Captain inside, "It is good to see that he didn't escape or taunt you enough to make you hurt him." T'Challa sounded pleased with us, that we were almost able to contain our anger, as to not harm him. We all slowly walked back to the lab, dreading the answer to whether or not Steve can be saved after being tortured again.

*Time Jump*

It has been about five hours since we brought Steve back. He was now sitting in a cell since Shuri got everything she needed. We were all waiting in one of the many common rooms, all of us fidgeting out of nerves. T'Challa walked in startling all of us, "T'Challa any news?" He crossed his arms, "Sadly no. It has been harder to determine what is going on since he has slipped further away from his own body, his mind. We need to make sure we can get him back. You can go down to where he is. Maybe a few of you can bring back the real Captain." James stepped forward, "Can you take me to him?" He then looked over to me, "You can come with us Tony, I know he still trusts you and I know he still sees you as a friend, you can help a lot just being there." I smiled and headed towards the door with James behind me and Okoye leading us to where Steve is.

When we reached where he was, he was standing and facing out the window. He was still in the uniform that Hydra gave him but his weapons were gone, his shield with Natasha, and his mask thrown out into the hallway. "Do you mind leaving us?" James asked. Okoye nodded her head and left. "What is the reason for you coming down here?" He turned around, eyes widened when he saw me standing next to him, "Or should I say two? Why are you both down here? Shouldn't you be upstairs seeing if he can be saved." His voice was firm, like he was ordering us to answer. I wanted to slap that grin off of his face, I wanted to punch him so badly, "We are down here to talk. Talk to you, well actually, to Steve since he would never go away that easley." The bed squicked as he almost fell onto it, "He is not here but you can leave a message and I'll tell him when he starts talking again." I started to scratch at my arm out of nerves, I don't know why I was nervous but it might be because he doesn't care about what is going on. "What do you mean, 'When he starts talking again?'" James questioned.

He chuckled a bit and laid down on his back, "I mean, he was very talkative the first time this happened but now, he is quite as sea urchin. It is sad but the last thing he said was 'Goodbye.' So I think he fully gave up hope on ever coming back." That didn't sound like Steve at all, he would never give up, he is always the one telling us to keep going. I felt a hand wrap around my arm and pull me back. I looked at the person, which turned out to be James, "He is either lying or telling the truth, I have no idea. He shows very little emotions and tell signs of lying. We might need Natasha to help with this." I took a quick glance over to the Captain, he was still laying down and staring at the ceiling, "You go get her, I'll stay here." He let my arm go and started to walk up the stairs.

"So your little friend left you, any particular reason?" The tone in this voice was a little cocky. I sat down on the floor before my legs locked up, "The reason is none of your business." The bed squeaked once again and I looked up to see the Captain walk over to the glass and sat down on the floor, "Wow, snippy. What is the matter with you?" I gripped my sleeve, I wanted to walk out but I couldn't, I wanted to yell at him but my mouth was stuck shut. A giggle came from in front of me, "What cat got your tongue?" I was about to punch him but I heard voices and footsteps nearing the door. Nat and James walked in and looked down at me. I cut them off before they would even ask me what I was doing on the floor. "So you had to bring in someone else to help you with me? That is very sad." Nat pulled a chair up and faced him, "How about you both wait outside the door. If I need either of you I'll get you. Now go." Both of us just did as we were told and walked out of the room.

The hall was very quiet and the only other sound's the slight murmurs coming from the room behind us. James was sitting on the floor and twirling the aglet on his shoe, maybe to distract himself from the situation that was going on, "I can't do this anymore." I flinched at the words he said, "What can't you do anymore?" He stretched his legs out and winned, his head hit the wall with a thud, "I can't keep dealing with this. My best friend might be gone forever. I had to throw myself back in the horrible place again. I had to remember the awful things that happened to me in that place..." He trailed off and I am guessing he was trying to think about other things he wanted to say. I scooted a bit closer and placed my hand on his leg, "You don't have to tell me everything. I understand." I saw a small smile from on the corner of his mouth, "Thanks Tony." He moved my hand off of his leg before sliding away from me.

We both jumped when the door opened. Nat walked out and closed the door behind her, "So he was telling the truth about Steve going quiet. He was telling the truth about Steve giving up hope on ever being free of him." James punched the wall in front of him and made a dent, "I have to go." He sounded very angry while he stomped away. Everything in my body was telling me to go after him but I knew he needed to be alone, so I had to resit everything and not go after him. I straightened my posture and faced Nat, "Did he say anything else?" I asked. She shook her head, "Sadly no but you can try talking to him. I know you are upset so maybe you can, just maybe you can break through to Steve." I sighed and looked away, "I can try..." She moved out of my way and opened the door, "Good luck. I'll talk to James." We both went out separate ways to complete our own missions.

When I opened the door the room was darker than before but I could still see the outline of the Captain sitting on the bed. I slowly sat down when he started to laugh, "So now what do you want?"