End of SHIELD part 3/3
Owen arrived first, right where the Winter Soldier was supposed to be. But it did not look like he had been the first; on the ground, as if he had fallen from the sky, he saw the man lying there and convulsing from the electricity running through his body; a sparking device hung from his chest. Two robots stood around him; a third, piloted by Tony, had its hand raised toward Bucky as if still hesitating whether to finish him off.
Tony saw Owen arrive, but said nothing; that careless, jokey expression he usually wore was gone. In its place his face was a serious mask, full of rancor.
Owen also stopped without saying much. He knew what had happened to the Winter Soldier; he knew he was being controlled. It was not his decision to stop a man's vengeance; especially not the vengeance of a man who had been his friend.
"Normally death is the last option; when a person has been contained, they are arrested and taken by SHIELD or VITAE and jailed. I do not care much what happens to their lives after that," Tony began, as he opened his helmet; the carefree, mocking face he always showed was not there, only a dry, pained expression. "You know, I do not remember him coming at me. My old man never told me he loved me; he only said he hoped I would become him. And my mother... she was the best. She always acted as neutral ground between the two of us," he added, depressed in his gaze; his hand began to glow directed at Bucky, who still convulsed from the electricity but continued to stare fixedly at Tony.
"Even if he was being controlled?" Owen asked calmly, looking at his friend; the question was a contained knife as everyone weighed an important decision.
"I do not care. He killed my mother," Tony said, before opening fire; a bolt of energy shot from his palm straight toward the Winter Soldier.
Owen did nothing at first; he remained motionless, gaze fixed, before turning to the side; then he saw a shield fly at full speed, intercepting Tony's shot and saving Bucky's life.
Steve stood there, serious and worried; at the same time pained, as if the decision was tearing his chest apart.
"Tony, please," Steve said with a pleading look; "he was controlled by Hydra. He is being controlled right now," he added quickly.
"And for that, do all his crimes have to be forgiven?" Tony asked, voice hard toward Steve. "I remind you he recently tried to kill the general you now respect so much. Even if I did not do it, do you think Nicolas or Owen, who is standing right there, would simply give their approval if he walks away as if nothing happened?" Tony continued, fixing his gaze on Owen, who remained with his arms crossed.
The reason Owen had not stopped him was the same reason Steve was now defending him; Owen knew Bucky was being controlled, but he had tried to kill someone who truly mattered to him; someone he treated like a father. Owen would not allow him to get away with it.
Steve looked at Owen; he knew he would not count on his support. He then turned his gaze back to Tony, with a resigned expression; he already knew that if he wanted to save his friend, he would have to face them both.
Owen looked at the captain and let out a sigh; he seemed to know it could not be avoided. Tony had something clear; if the captain defended Bucky, then he would be an enemy.
"Stop, kids," a serious voice was heard not far off; everyone turned. General Nathaniel was walking up, his face completely serious; behind him came Nicolas, expression annoyed at the sight of Bucky.
The smoke in the area seemed to drop instantly; the general's presence imposed calm and checked everyone's fighting instincts.
Nathaniel advanced with measured steps, his gaze sweeping the three of them; Nicolas gripped his rifle tightly as if holding back all the urge to raise it and fire at Bucky.
"Old man, I respect you a lot, but you cannot ask me to stop when the man who killed my parents is standing in front of me," Tony said suddenly, voice ragged and seriousness on the surface.
"Then you are aiming your weapons incorrectly," Nathaniel replied harshly, "or you forget how one of your weapons killed Wanda and Pietro's parents in the past, leaving them orphaned, and surely many others. You always defend yourself by saying you were not the one who pulled the trigger and that you have changed now," the general continued with an implacable look. "Now that guy is the weapon; you are going to unleash on the weapon and not on the one who used it. Right now all his comrades are doing that, and you are wasting time," he said in a dry tone.
Tony's face tightened, with little to refute; the accusation hit something real and painful. It was a different situation, but at the same time similar; if it was true that Bucky was being controlled...
"Detain him. Heal his mind and let him use all the information he has to help you find who gave the order; each and every one of them," the general said before looking at Steve, who fell silent. "Meanwhile, let him pay with his own actions for the problems he caused. And if that is not enough, let him go to prison like the others; without mercy," Nathaniel sentenced.
Tony looked at Bucky for a moment; the rage in his eyes came and went, as if vengeance and prudence fought inside him.
"If you kill him now you will not be able to find each of those idiots who dared to kill your parents; each one of them," the general added, in a softer voice, like a promise. "If necessary, you can even turn the government over to catch every one."
Tony swallowed hard; the scene hung suspended, tense, as the air smelled of ozone and decisions that would forever blur the line between loyalty and justice.
He looked at Bucky in silence before raising his palm and firing. The blast wasn't meant to kill, only to knock him unconscious. Steve moved slightly, ready to intervene, but Owen raised his hand to stop him; he already knew what Tony's decision would be.
Nathaniel watched the Avenger calmly, understanding that the only thing that had stopped him was respect—perhaps even fear. Then he turned his gaze toward Steve.
"What are you waiting for? Take him. He has valuable information; we need him alive and in one piece," he ordered firmly, before looking toward Owen and then at Nicolas.
Both men wore tense expressions, fully aware that they too would be denied their vengeance tonight.
Tony took off into the air, leaving without a word. Meanwhile, dozens of his drones began to sweep across the area, scanning the wreckage and securing the perimeter. Owen and Nicolas followed the general to the vehicle waiting for them among the debris and the still-hanging smoke.
"Well... it seems SHIELD will have to be restructured," Nathaniel began in a grave tone as he climbed into the back seat. "I suppose that bastard Fury will leave one of his trusted men to start over little by little. The remnants of Hydra that aren't within SHIELD will hide even deeper, like rats. With the Winter Soldier, we can track down a few of those cockroaches, but I doubt he has much information. If he knows something useful, it'll serve. VITAE will take over the sectors that SHIELD once managed, so they'll be quite busy for a while. Thankfully, with Tony's drones, infiltration won't be such a problem. Still..."
The general paused, his eyes lost in thought as he lit a cigarette.
"Without Hydra causing trouble for a while, I doubt the world will stay peaceful for long," he murmured, exhaling smoke slowly.
Owen frowned. "What do you mean, old man?" he asked, an uneasy feeling settling in his chest.
"I hope nothing," the general replied, refusing to elaborate. He climbed into the car and closed the door. Owen took the driver's seat, and Nicolas sat in the back with his arms crossed.
The drive was cloaked in heavy silence. Owen wanted to press further, but he knew the general too well—he wouldn't say a word until he was certain. Instead, Owen focused on the road while updates came through the communicator: every team had finished cleaning up the combat zones and neutralizing the remaining threats.
There was no need to go back. Tony seemed to be handling everything himself, working with more intensity than ever—as if channeling his pain into relentless efficiency. Perhaps, Owen thought, this was Tony's way of letting go of his emotions: hunting Hydra infiltrators again and again, until only the silence of duty remained.