𝐈𝐍 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐃 - Bucky Barnes

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲-𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭

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❝ 𝐈 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐝𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐝𝐚𝐲. ❞ 

TONY LUNGED AT Bucky after punching Steve in the face. He shot his repulsers once before Thaea tightened her grip on his mind. He froze, shaking with his raw emotion and the effort to break free.

"Tony, I don't want to do this again." Thaea pleaded. He bared his teeth at her before standing up, bones shaking with the force he pushed back on Thaea with. Her eyes flared brighter as she slowed him down, but his emotion was too powerful. She could only watch as Zemo escaped, using their distraction to his advantage. Tony took another shaking step forward. He activated his suit, thrusters pushing his body forward and the suit helped him navigate the paralysis. Thaea ducked as he threw a punch, Bucky catching it with his arm. Tony's helmet flipped into place and he grabbed Bucky's throat, flying overhead with him in his grip. Thaea turned to Steve. "I can't do anything without hurting him." She explained, making him nod. It was one thing to land a physical punch, but mental wounds are permanent. She had used too much energy from before to be as careful as she had been.

Tony threw Bucky to the ground, standing on his wrists and about to pulverize him when Steve knocked him in the head with the shield. They fought, pushing back at each other before Tony released magnetic disks, transforming themselves in midair and locking Steve's legs together. Thaea ran forward, but Tony shot another disk, landing on her leg and emitting the most powerful electric shock Thaea had ever felt. She cried out as the pain laced through her nervous system. He went back and grabbed for Bucky, throwing a few punches before flying and holding him against the wall. 

Bucky grabbed his hand and squeezed, breaking the repulser with his vibranium arm. Tony chose to use a small missile instead, but Bucky hit his arm, making it fly out toward the tanks. It hit its target, effectively destroying the tank and throwing debris across the room. Steve broke out of the cuffs, running toward Thaea and holding up his shield as everything came crashing down. He made to remove the device that kept shocking her, but she managed to shake her head, gesturing toward Bucky. That was more pressing than anything to her right now. Tony was trapped beneath a large chunk of metal, giving Bucky the opportunity to run.

"Get out of here!" Steve urged. Bucky looked urgently between his best friend and Thaea, before running. Tony shot another repulser blast after him, but Steve jumped in front of him and used the shield. Bucky ran over and pressed a button. It opened the large hatch at the top of the room and he began to climb the sets of stairs and platforms. Thaea managed to wrench the small disc off of her leg, throwing it to the side and shattering it against the metal wall. Her legs shook as she stood, but she pushed the soreness down as she ran over to Tony. She lifted her hands again, hesitating, not wanting to hurt her friend. "It wasn't him, Tony. HYDRA had control of his mind!" Steve cried.

"Move." Tony yelled.

"It wasn't him!" Steve continued, hopeless as Tony flew past him. He grabbed the ankle of his suit, trying to destroy the boot's thruster with his shield. It worked, Tony flying forward. He got up and brought a chunk of concrete down to separate himself from Steve and Thaea. He flew up shakily, intercepting Bucky halfway to the hatch. He kicked him hard, sending Bucky across the cavern and slamming into the platform across. Tony charged a repulser blast again, but Steve jumped in front of Bucky, holding up his shield. Thaea felt useless as she watched from the bottom of the cavern. Steve grabbed a grappling wire and got it around the neck of Tony's suit before jumping down the middle of the tunnel. Tony fell after him, both landing hard on a pair of the bottom platforms. Steve made to throw his shield as Tony charged another blast, but Tony deflected it, sending it down to the bottom. 

Thaea sidestepped as it almost impaled her skull. Tony shot a missile, missing Bucky but hitting the hinge of the massive hatch before he could escape. Bucky jumped down to avoid being crushed. Tony ran up to fight him, and managed to get Bucky into a chokehold with a pipe. Tony jumped off, pulling Bucky down with him before Steve tackled them both. Steve and Tony fell downward, Bucky falling onto a higher platform, groaning with his pain. 

Tony and Steve both fell to the very bottom. Thaea ran to check on Steve,  and released a breath when he pushed himself up. 

"This isn't going to change what happened." Steve tried, looking Tony in the eyes as he stood.

"I don't care." Tony snarled in reply. "He killed my mom." Thaea tackled him, both tumbling down to where Steve had fallen. Tony rolled, punching Thaea in the jaw before going to fight Steve. They fought hand to hand, Tony's emotion clouding his judgement, his punches aimed to kill. Bucky leaped down, Steve's shield in hand, and slammed it into the back of Tony's suit. Tony  got up, but so did Steve. He and Bucky teamed up on Tony, fighting in sync as they wore him down. Tony fired a blast at Steve, pushing him back, but Bucky slammed him against the wall, metal arm tearing into the suit, aiming for the arc reactor. He cried out with his effort, before Tony levelled a blast straight from the reactor into his hand. Bucky was thrown back, and Thaea gasped as he looked down, a metal shoulder, some metal plates and a few wires left where his arm used to be. Tony blasted him again, Bucky falling to the ground. 

Thaea yelled as she jumped onto Tony's shoulders, inactivating his helmet with the small button and placing her hands directly on the sides of his head. They both screamed as she invaded his head, shoving down his emotion. He reached for her arms, flipping her over onto the ground. She coughed and sputtered with the impact, keeping her hands where they were. It was all that mattered in that moment. Thaea struggled as her grip tightened, Tony falling to his knees. She kept her stance even as he reached down and put a hand against her neck. Him pressing down harder and harder on her throat, her pressing harder and harder on his conscious. His eyes rolled into the back of his head and he wobbled, before face-planting on the stone ground. Thaea kept her hands where they were, settling his mind into a coma. She had pushed his emotions so far to the surface, heightened them so much that he himself could not handle it. She wheezed, feeling the air enter her throat. 

Tony opened his eyes, getting up faster than he knew how. Thaea's eyes widened, she tried to get to her feet, but she was weakened. Weakened enough that her deliberate choice to put Tony in a coma backfired. Steve launched himself at him and pinned him to the wall, nailing punch after punch. Tony took it for a moment before settling into a rhythm of attacks, pushing Steve to his knees.

"He's my friend." Steve pleaded, looking up to Tony's fiery gaze.

"So was I." The billionaire replied. He wound his arm back to punch, and when he released, his iron-clad fist slammed into the side of Thaea's head. Steve's eyes widened as he realized she jumped in front of him. Blood trickled into the snow from the side of her head, her eyes closed. Tony only paused for a second, indicating his slight surprise before throwing Steve to the ground again. "Stay down. Final warning." Steve used the wall to push himself back up, panting and raising his fists weakly.

"I could do this all day." He replied, winded. Tony charged his repulser before looking down, feeling Bucky grab his ankle. Steve jumped toward him, picking Tony up in a deadlift before throwing him to the ground. He stood on his chest and pounded his fists into the helmet, before picking up the shield and breaking the helmet completely off. He raised the shield a final time, Tony shielding his face and neck with his hands, before it came down hard on his chest, disabling and rendering the arc reactor ineffective.

They both gasped and panted, both covered in their own and each other's blood. Steve fell to the ground beside Tony, before stumbling to his feet and pulling the shield out of Tony's suit. He walked over to Bucky, pulling his bloodied friend to his feet.

"That shield doesn't belong to you." Tony snapped. Bucky and Steve both grunted as they picked up Thaea between the two of them. "You don't deserve it. My father made that shield!" Steve dropped it to the ground. They stumbled away, Thaea unconscious in their arms. They had won. They won, but at what cost?

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