(MCU) Forged Reality: Chapter 27 - Crushing Lines

Chapter 27 - Crushing Lines

Summary: Two teams collide at the airport, and loyalties are tested.

Tony cursed inside his mind again. He found himself asking for the hundredth time in the past couple of days what the hell Steve was thinking. Trying to steal a quinjet in the middle of a crowded airport, knowing the entire world was after him.

At this point it's more than him not making an effort to save as many people as possible—it's more like he uses them as shields and intentionally puts them in harm's way.

Tony was also worried about Wanda. The woman sounded at the end of her rope when it came to this entire ordeal. Whatever happens next, Tony promised himself he is going to talk Wanda out of continuing this spy job. They will just have to find another way to deal with Steve.

He frowned when he read Wanda's message telling him about a couple of unpleasant surprises waiting for him on Steve's roster. Tony guessed she couldn't say anymore about it without making it too obvious who told him, so he will just have to prepare himself for the worst.

Tony was standing with the rest of his team... oh, and Natasha, inside the hangar hosting the Avengers quinjet Wanda used to enter the country.

Clint and T'Challa were discussing something amongst themselves, both with smiles on their faces. So were Peter, Kate and Harley (through his drone).

Vision and Pietro, as odd as the pair seemed to be, were having a pleasant discussion too.

T'Chaka was left in the care of Agent Ross back in the Germany facility. Rhodey was on the phone with the airport authorities so they would be ready to issue an evacuation order for the airport and get the civilians out of the way.

Natasha kept staring at the quinjet with a blank face, though Tony could guess she was trying to calculate how fast she would be able to hack the controllers if and when it became necessary.

Tony rolled his eyes. Rhodey had just got off the phone when Friday spoke. "Boss, I have the results of the investigation."

Tony nodded. "Go ahead, Fri, show it on our phones."

They all pulled out their devices and looked at the screen as two images were pulled side by side. It was the same man.

On the right was probably his passport image, while the left half displayed the same man with his neck showing obvious signs of choking. It was clear by his pale complexion and vacant eyes that the man was dead.

"This is Dr. Theo Broussard. The psychologist assigned by the UN to assess one James Barnes. He was found dead a couple of hours ago in his hotel room, though preliminary examination reported his death time to be at least 12 hours ago." Friday informed them in a monotone voice.

Rhodey cursed under his breath. "Which means someone was impersonating him to gain access to Barnes and trigger him."

Tony nodded in agreement, before grumbling, "Wish we could know who though."

Friday's voice turned smug, and at the same time the image on their screen switched to one of a different man. "Meet Helmut Zemo. Sokovian. Former EKO Scorpion, which was an elite Sokovian black ops unit. He lost his entire family when Sokovia first lifted from the ground."

"Do we know his goal?" Vision asked calmly.

Friday sounded disappointed when she admitted, "Not yet, bro. But I can confirm he matches the body build of the man responsible for the Vienna bombing as well."

Tony gave a small smile to his phone's camera. "You did more than I expected already, baby girl, so don't beat yourself up. I'm proud."

Tony looked at Rhodey and rather naively asked, "Do you think Steve will listen to us now?"

Rhodey looked conflicted for a short moment before replying, "I'm not sure. Are you up for it, Tones?"

Tony took a deep breath and nodded. "Even if they were my friends, I can't let him keep hurting people. If he won't listen to reason, we will do it."

Rhodey nodded and called the airport authorities. Instead of the calm face Tony was used to, his best friend's face turned livid and he screamed, "What?!" After another moment he let out an agitated sigh and said as calmly as he could, "Go ahead with the evacuation."

Rhodey then turned to the worried looks of the rest of the team, except Natasha, and told them the bad news. "Rogers just 'went through' the guards of the runway. He and his team began a slow advancement in an assault formation toward the hangar. The people are confused about what's happening and have no idea what to do. The evacuation notice will still take them a few more minutes to prepare."

Tony blinked. And counted to 101. What the fuck, Steve?!

Pietro shrugged and said casually, "Then we should go out there and say hello. Keep him talking for those few minutes so people could start clearing out."

T'Challa nodded his head. "I believe it will be the most prudent course of action."

With the agreement of everyone, Tony sighed and said, "Fine. Clint, you are in charge of the kid unit."

The two teens looked offended by the name, and Clint looked resigned. Tony gave them a small glare. "Your new job is to stay out of sight and rescue civilians who might get caught in the crossfire. The most you can do is the occasional blind strike from a distance. Am I clear?"

The teens took a step back under his stern voice and nodded quickly. Tony gave them a sharp nod and turned to lead the group out of the hangar to meet Steve's group.

With the plan made, all of them stepped out of the hangar. Clint immediately led the group of teens, and drone, to the sideways, warning everyone on the way to start evacuating the field.

Tony was not sure if he should be thankful or not that by the time they finally caught sight of Steve, the main terminal was still in view and the hangar they came from was almost on the other side of the runway field.

Tony was glad that none of Steve's group noticed him, because two faces in particular caused him to freeze in his step and choke on air.

As much as he hated to admit it, he already had a bad feeling Sharon was helping Steve from the beginning. His baby cousin always was a huge Captain America fan, and since she entered her teenage years and aunt Peggy showed her some topless photo of Steve post-op, she had a crush on him, one that carried on when he was found alive and joined SHIELD.

Sharon will always trust Steve Rogers to know what he is doing and will always be on the side of good. She never saw him as a man, but rather as some perfect character from the comics.

Tony just never expected her to go so far as to publicly assist him in battle like this. And the fact she had to know Steve would go against Tony and she still chose him hurt Tony more than he would ever admit.

But while the first was a sad surprise, the second was a complete shock. Because next to the criminal Lang, his childhood friend Hope Van Dyne was walking.

Seriously?! They had one fight, and she immediately sided with a team bent on bringing him down? And did she really think it would help her case?

Tony had no doubt old and spiteful Hank encouraged his daughter in anything anti-Stark related. Never mind his entire issue is with Howard, not Tony—somehow Tony inherited the asshole's problem as well.

His emotions were probably broadcasting intensely because Wanda quickly managed to track him down and locked gazes with him.

Her eyes were full of sympathy and comfort that caused Tony's racing heart to settle back down.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see the worried face of Rhodey. "Are you ready for this, Tones?"

Tony took a deep breath and entered his performance persona, with his sharp smirk and cheerful voice. "I was born ready for a show, Platypus."

Rhodey nodded and the two of them stepped out of their cover, their armors immediately drawing everyone's attention, including Steve's and his team's. Tony's team was instructed to wait for the sign before joining them. Tony really hoped they would be able to talk things out.

"Look at this, Rhodey, isn't it the funniest thing how you always bump into someone you know at the airport." He said in a loud cheerful voice, and even though he was mock speaking with Rhodey, his eyes were locked on the man wearing the American flag.

Rhodey's eyes were locked on the group as well as he nodded and said in the same fake cheerful tone Tony used, "Sure is, Tones."

Steve's group stiffened at the sight of him, especially Sharon and Hope, as well as Barnes. Was that because of their little spat in the facility?

Steve took a step forward, though Tony noticed he was already wearing his helmet and his shield was already strapped on his arm. The man clearly came ready for a fight. He still hoped things wouldn't go down that way.

The blonde's words were careful. "Tony. You don't know what's going on. Bucky..."

"Was framed." Tony cut him off, his words enough to silence the soldier so he kept pushing. "By a guy named Zemo. A Sokovian. He also killed the psychiatrist that was supposed to meet Barnes and triggered him."

Steve and his team were clearly surprised Tony knew about it, far less that he was acknowledging it. Tony dropped the smirk and tried to show his sincerity. "Come on, Steve, work with me here. Let's all of us go somewhere private and talk things through."

Steve was so focused on him he didn't notice people began to return back into the terminal building, well except those who stuck around and were now recording everything with their phones.

Steve frowned. "I can't do it, Tony. Zemo is on his way to Siberia to find and awaken five winter soldiers. We have to stop him."

Tony took half a moment to let the new information sink in. Something in all of that sounded wrong. Tony couldn't see how Zemo's actions so far would aid him in this goal. The opposite was the truth.

If the Sokovian hadn't gone out of his way to frame Barnes, they would never have known about him and his plan would be unnoticed until it was too late. So why draw attention to himself? It didn't make sense.

He shook his head mentally and responded, "We will deal with that. I promise. But in a better way, one that won't end with everyone here in prison."

Steve shook his head in his usual disapproval. "All this red tape will just give him the advantage. The safest hands are our own."

Tony hated that line and before he knew it he went on a rant. "And what's your brilliant plan? All you have on your team is three baseline humans, two of them with some high tech spandex, but still. You, who couldn't even take Barnes on. And then there is the original winter soldier himself, who with the right words will faster become another enemy than useful ally. Ms. Maximoff is the only one with a decent chance of taking down a couple of them. If you let us handle it, we can order evacuation of the closest city to the base, and engage the soldiers with an approved team to take them down. No one gets hurt unnecessarily, and bad guy stopped. What's the damn issue here?!"

Tony ignored the reaction of the rest of Steve's team and focused on the American Idol solely. The man had a scowl on his face and he spoke in a more intimidating voice. "If you hadn't broken apart the Avengers..."

"Me?!" Tony yelped in outrage. "I'm doing my damn hardest to make sure there are still Avengers when all of this is over! I gave offers, compromises and you were the one to reject them all. The world keeps moving, Steve. Right now it demands accountability for all the death and destruction you caused while looking for your buddy there."

Barnes looked shocked and hurt by the accusation of so many deaths committed in his name. Steve stiffened and moved to put himself between Tony and Barnes for some reason Tony couldn't understand.

Tony let out a sigh. "Come on, Steve. It's your last chance. Come with us quietly and I promise you, none of you will get any charges for this, and Barnes will get the help he needs." He then shifted his look to the rest of the team. "And what about all of you? Are you really willing to sacrifice everything for his crusade? You have a better option right here and now." He aimed it especially at his cousin and friend.

Sharon looked pained at him but stayed at Rogers's side. Wilson's face remained defiant. Hope looked like she was about to agree with him when Lang pulled her hand, and she shook her head in hopelessness. Wanda shot him a determined look of her own, for an entirely different reason. Barnes looked like he really wanted to take Tony's offer and was stopped by Steve, who was literally in his way.

Steve's scowl deepened and he turned his body a little, entering a battle pose as he said, "We can't do it, Tony."

He can't believe it! And none of his fan group says anything either. Fucking amazing. Well then, Tony guesses they will just have to do this.

Rhodey took a step forward, his voice a stoic mask as he said firmly, "We tried it Tony's way, but if you won't listen, we do it your way."

That was the signal.

With a strong gust of wind, Pietro, code named Quicksilver, appeared next to Rhodey. He was wearing the silver and blue super suit Tony designed for him. Pietro smiled at the wide-eyed look of Steve's team and mocked, "What? Didn't see it coming?"

With a flip over his head, prince T'Challa landed in a crouch next to him. He was wearing his panther-themed vibranium outfit. Steve seemed to recognize him as he gave a mock polite greeting. "Your Majesty."

T'Challa stood up straight and replied with a cold voice, "This will end here, Captain Rogers, either nicely or by force. Your campaign of death and destruction cannot be allowed to continue."

A shadow over Tony confirmed Vision was hovering above, his voice calm and measured as he said, "Please, Captain, reconsider your decision. Before this conflict becomes another tragedy."

Natasha walked calmly to stand beside T'Challa and tried with a soft voice, "Do you really want to punch your way out of this, Steve?"

Tony could taste the tension in the air. Suddenly the other group was much more nervous seeing they were facing more than just Iron Man and War Machine. And not just between the two teams—the people still around looking at their interaction were growing tense as well.

In that exact moment the evacuation order began broadcasting over the entire airport, pushing the tension over the edge.

Just as everyone started moving, Tony yelled out, "Stand down! Let the evacuation finish first."

Steve responded to him coldly, "You are the one who began the fight here, Tony. That's what I'm saying—we can't always save everyone."

The blonde's team began picking up speed. Tony sighed, his helmet closing around his head, and Tony joined his own team as they returned the charge.

A moment later, the two lines crashed.