If They Knew All About You

Under Arrest

His legs were stiff. Maybe he had torn something during his heroic stunt at the courthouse. Maybe it was simply the cold from the iron cot that was seeping through his thin suit. It felt like he had been sitting on a block of ice for hours. His hands were still cuffed behind his back. Sure, he could have paced the small cell instead but Tony just couldn't bring himself to get to his feet.

He had made a right mess of things. Not like he had never been in this situation before. Cuffed in a cold basement somewhere at the mercy of people who would rather see him dead. It had been a while though and he had rarely gone this willingly.

There had not really been a point to fight anymore. Tony was semi-sure that Clarke wouldn't outright murder him after taking him into custody in front of about 150 witnesses, not counting the reporters outside the courthouse he had been marched by. That had been Clarke's first mistake. Despite how exposed Tony felt in front of those cameras without any glasses to shield him from the eager lenses, he held his head high, squinting at the reporters as he was dragged past them.

"Yes, take a good look, ladies and gentlemen," he bellowed towards the microphones. "This is what happens when the city puts a corrupt cop in charge of the department. The whole system rots and there is no due process. If they think they can push an unwarranted arrest through on me, just imagine what they can do to any one of you!"

Rough hands had pushed Tony into the back of a police van. Rogers had gone even less quietly than he had. He had been raving about his buddy's innocence, struggled when they had tried to lead him away. It had made quite the picture, likely even more impressive than the billionaire in cuffs. Four men at once had to drag Rogers with them, blood still trickling from the bullet holes the guards had left in him.

"Oh my god," one of the reporters called out, frantically pointing at Rogers. "They shot Captain America! Steve Rogers is being led away bleeding from his chest."

As the first responders had rushed into the room, nobody had made an effort to tend to Rogers. Trapped by a tight line of officers and armored guards, they were cut off from the rest of the courtroom including the medical team that was rushing to tend to people. Tony had no eyes for the civilian casualties. With a whole range of armed and thoroughly unhappy-looking security guards around them, he was more focused on avoiding any additional casualties, including himself. Rogers on the other hand was still busy watching over Barnes, ordering police and security not to lay a finger on him, it came down to Tony to at least try for some sense.

"He needs a medical professional to treat those bullet wounds!" Tony tried to make eye-contact with several officers. "Hey, Rogers is still bleeding. He needs medical attention!"

None of the guards seemed to care for his opinion though, happy instead to write their own attack headlines. For all he knew, Barnes was still lying on his back out cold on the marble of the courtroom floor. But as much as Rogers had fought to stay with his boyfriend, the cops were determined to get both him and Tony out of there, marched them right past the press. Tony would give it 5 minutes tops from the time they left that room before the first websites would come out with news alerts like:

Captain America shot at trial.

Super Soldier and war hero was refused medical attention at courthouse scene.

Police brutality: Does it have no limits?

All they would need would be a nudge in the right direction. It wouldn't even matter that they spent months hunting for clues on Rogers and his gang, they were in it for the spectacle and nobody knew how to deliver one quite like Tony did.

It honestly baffled him, how sloppy the cops handled the whole thing. Sure, Clarke had every reason to panic and lose his mind after Tony exposed him as the murderer he was. It wasn't even all that surprising that the officers Clarke was in charge of would be running around like headless chickens, following their leader's example.