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When Steve and Bucky enter the room, Pepper is still sniffling and wiping at her eyes with a tissue. Steve pushes down the wave of guilt that flares up, you were right, he reminds himself. You did the right thing.
He glances around the room, and everybody else is already here; Rhodey, Sam, Wanda, Clint, Natasha, Bruce, Thor, T’Challa, Vision, even that Parker kid (Scott went home).
“I fucking hate you,” Rhodey says to Steve as soon as he sits down.
“Colonel Rhodes–”
“Just Rhodes now,” Rhodey says, “The military let me go because I can’t walk.”
Sam's knuckles are white as he grips the edge of the table.
“Rhodey,” Pepper reprimands tentatively, and the man shakes his head but falls silent. “We’re here to deal with the aftermath of the war,” she practically seethes, and her sudden change in tone catches Steve off guard, as she says the next part slowly, enunciating each and every word, “And Tony’s death.”
“So I think that we should start by…explaining each side of the story,” Steve says, trying to control his breathing.
“Yeah, you do just that.” Rhodey says, arms crossed and sneer in place.
“The Accords were holding us back from doing the right thing,” He starts, taking a deep breath. You did the right thing. “They limited our abilities and had the government breathing down our neck, we couldn’t do what was best for the world. They saw everyone who was slightly capable as a threat, including Bucky, especially Bucky, and they would’ve killed him. I regret my...execution, but I still don’t agree with what the Accords are asking us to do.”
Nobody responds, there is only silence, nobody responds, and then–
“You know what," Rhodey starts lowly, "Fuck you, Rogers,"
"I don't–"
"You think you know best? You think you're better than the rest of us? Did you even–"
A cool, detached voice cuts Rhodey off.
“Captain Rogers, I believe that there were approximately 120 countries that had been looking to activate the Accords, currently 140,” Vision says.
“Yes.” Steve replies, confused, and surprised when Rhodey actually stops talking, and instead chooses to cross his arms and fix Steve with a withering glare.
“This means that there are 120 countries that believed in having control over their home,” Vision continues, “You may believe that you are doing what is best for everybody, Captain, and maybe sometimes it is what is best for everyone, but this is not your decision to make. Though I am unable to feel emotion, I must imagine that people would like to have a say in the fate of their country, and more importantly, their home. I can understand why governments would find it frustrating that enhanced individuals such as yourself could cross borders without restriction.”
“But you don’t get it,” Steve says. They don't get it. Why don't they get it? “People such as myself, we could’ve helped make the situation better, we could’ve utilized our powers! We’re not trying to take the ability of making choices away from these people!”
"Right, Captain,” Vision counters, voice neutral and expression indifferent and that was just so fucking frustrating. “But if you act without the consent of the government, then you are, in fact, taking the ability to make a choice away from people. Furthermore, you seem to be under the impression that signing the Accords would prohibit you and your…team from taking any action at all. I do not believe that is the case, as the government is not completely clueless and would call matters to your attention when required.” He says the word ‘team' with an uncharacteristic hesitance.
You did the right thing, Steve says to himself.
“Look, Rogers,” Rhodey says, this time calmer, “The way you’re talking about quote unquote ‘protecting’ people without their consent like you know what’s best for them, that they should be grateful that you’re doing them this great favor, that as long as you yourself think it’s the correct course of action, do you know what it makes you sound like? It makes you sound like a–”
“Supervillain.” Sam finishes the thought, voice no higher than a whisper.
“But we have good intentions!” Steve says, frustrated, because how could they not see that he really did want the best for everyone? How could they think that he was like a supervillain?
Everybody suddenly starts to talk at once, but they immediately go silent when Pepper yells “Shut up!”
She looks perfectly unruffled, other than the chipped nail polish from digging her nails into the table anxiously. Pepper clears her throat and folds her hands across her lap and her eyes meet Steve’s, they are filled with loathing. Loathing for him, Steve realizes.
“I’m going to address the elephant in the room,” She says calmly, but her voice still shakes, “Captain Rogers, you cannot honestly believe that people like yourself or Sergeant Barnes do not need to be controlled and supervised after you basically murdered Tony?”
Steve reels back.
“It wasn’t," Steve says, struggling to find the right words. "I didn’t mean to–” He chokes on air. You did the right thing. Silence suffocates the room.
“Come on, Rogers,” Rhodey says, voice and expression still viciously bitter, but his shoulders slump defeatedly. “You can’t actually still be coming up with those half-assed excuses.”
“It was my fault.” Bucky says quietly from Steve’s side
“No, Bucky, don’t say that,” Steve says to him, turning, “None of it is your fault.”
“It was everyone’s fault,” Wanda says defiantly from her seat, arms crossed, “Especially Stark’s. From what I heard, he attacked Barnes first and destroyed his left arm without thinking, because he was weak enough to fall for Zemo’s tricks.”
“Yeah,” Clint says mildly, “Barnes and Cap didn’t need to go to such extremes as to kill him, but Stark was the one who provoked them in the first place.”
Rhodey stares at Clint and Wanda, “I can't believe this,” he mutters.
“Can't believe what?” Clint sneers back.
“I can't fucking believe that you people can be so self-centered and unwilling to face the harsh fact that your stupid actions led to not only countless deaths of civilians and police officers, but Tony's death. And you’re trying to pin it on the dead man himself for being killed by two obviously mentally-unstable supersoldiers?” Rhodey says, “This is fucking ridiculous.”
“Excuse me?” Wanda hisses, red streams floating around her fingertips, “He locked me in the compound!”
“Oh yeah, what a stupid move to supervise the magic chick with anger management issues who’s on the terrorist watch-list!”
“I’m on the terrorist watch-list?” Wanda pales.
“Well, how come Wanda is on the terrorist watch-list, but Tony isn’t?” Clint says, crossing his arms, “Sorry, wasn’t.”
Vision's eyes are carefully cold when he looks at Clint, and he says, “Mister Barton, based on the files I have gathered from SHIELD’s database, I believe that everyone in this room, excluding Miss Potts, and previously consisting of Mister Stark, is on said list.”
The room explodes with loud protests and angry shouts, until Natasha starts speaking, quietly but still effectively silencing everyone.
“SHIELD was smart to do that,” She says, “And before you all go defending yourselves, especially you, Rogers,” Steve winces and closes his mouth, “We all see how things turned out with Stark.”
“But it was his fault too!” Wanda explodes.
“Wanda, Tony was not completely free of fault, but you can't blindly place all blame on him like that,” Pepper says quietly, but filled with rage. She drums her fingers on the surface of the tablet in front of her for a few beats, taking a deep breath and hesitating before picking it up. “Before Tony…died, he left me a message. I think that you should all hear it.”
“Pepper…” Rhodey starts softly, laying a hand on her arm.
“They have to know, Rhodey.” She sends him a watery smile.
“Tony wouldn’t have wanted us to show them.”
“Well he’s not here anymore, is he?” Pepper snaps, face crumpling. Rhodey recoils in his wheelchair.
“Anyways,” She clears her throat and taps something on her tablet.
“Hey, Pep,” Tony’s familiar voice echoes throughout the room and everyone listens intently. He sounds tired. “How was your day? Mine is going... I just got my worldview shattered. I mean, when I was a kid, I always dreamed about the day that Captain America and Bucky Barnes got back together and made the bad guys piss their pants; I know I did, just a few minutes ago,” What's probably supposed to be a laugh crackles through the air.
You did the right thing, Steve barely remembers to tell himself.
“Well, I gotta say it's not all touching childhood reunions... It turns out that Howard and Mom didn’t die of a car accident,” Tony’s voice starts to get a little slurred, “Barnes–nah, the Winter Soldier killed them,”
Steve can feel Bucky tense up beside him.
“But I just wish that Cap didn’t feel the need to keep it a secret from me, or at least he could’ve told me before Zemo played the video,” Tony continues to murmur tiredly.
“Wait, I'm really sorry, could you pause it for a second,” Sam says and Pepper obliges with trembling hands. He turns to Steve and Bucky, and asks, “What video?”
“Zemo found the footage from a camera on the road the night that Howard and Maria died,” Steve says, ignoring the lump in his throat, “It showed the Winter Soldier killing them.”
"What?"
Steve looks down.
“I mean, now that I think about it, I definitely should’ve reacted more maturely,” Tony’s voice abruptly resumes, “Cause it wasn’t Barnes’ fault, you know? It was HYDRA. Still, nobody wants to see their mom get strangled on camera, huh?" He attempts a small chuckle here, but it sounds more like coughing. "I wish–I wish that Steve would’ve just talked to me. Then none of this would’ve happened,
“I’m just–sorry, to everyone. Especially you, Pepper. I’m sorry for always putting you in danger, I’m sorry for being a shitty boyfriend, I’m sorry for killing so many people and doing everything wrong even when I try to follow the rules,
“And Rhodey–pass this message on to him, will you? I’m so, so, sorry. It was all my fault, you didn’t deserve to get involved in this stupid war and now you can’t fucking walk, and I’m just–I’m just sorry. Hopefully one day you can forgive me,”
"I was never mad at you, jackass." Rhodey mutters.
“Pep, I love you. You know that? I don’t think I ever said it before now. I love you so much, you’re the best thing in my life and you’re the only person, other than Rhodey, who’s ever actually believed in me–just, thank you. Thank you for allowing yourself to be friends with me. Thank you for everything,” there's a long pause, and Steve would've thought he hung up already if it weren't for the labored breathing that they could all hear over the line.
“And. I don't think I'm going to make it. I've had so many close calls, Pep, you know that, but this time... I know it's different. Just, remember, Pepper, I fucking love you, okay? I love you so much, I wish I had been a better man, I wish that I had been someone who deserved to be with someone like you. I love you, I love you, I love you.” He coughs, and the voice stops. The line is silent, and the loud sound of breathing that Steve realizes he had found comforting was gone as well.
Pepper is shaking. Rhodey hides his face in his hands.
“Steve,” Clint regards him slowly, “Why would you,” He stops, at a loss for words.
“I didn’t expect Tony would react that way–”
“Then what did you expect?" Rhodey explodes, and this time nobody stops him. "For him to watch a man he’d been trying to help strangle his own mother to death, then being lied to about it by a man he idolized his entire life, and then just smile and pat you on the shoulder and say, ‘Oh, it’s okay, buddy, I understand. I’m not mad at all that my entire life is a lie.’ He reacted like a human being, and sometimes you assholes seem to forget that he’s not fucking unbreakable! You’ve all always acted like Tony was the heartless one, but maybe you should take a good long look in the mirror!”
Steve doesn't know what to say.
“I thought you told him,” Natasha says, and this is the first time that Steve has heard her sound…bewildered, surprised, hurt. “It was three years ago, Steve. We were at that base together. I thought you told him. How could you not tell him?
“I thought, ‘Wow, Tony handled that really well, it’s like nothing has changed’ but you didn’t even tell him,” She sounds betrayed, “You didn’t tell him.”
It’s dead silent in the room, and Pepper has even stopped crying to glare at him, and she manages to look terrifying even with red-rimmed eyes and messy hair.
Out of everybody, it's Peter than breaks the unbearably heavy silence,
“I-I was so excited, when Mister Stark came to my house one afternoon," He says, "I walked in after school, and bam! There he was in my living room, misguidedly congratulating my Aunt May’s baking. It was surreal," Peter pauses, a small smile playing at the corners of his lips at the memory. But then he looks up at Steve, defiant and headstrong and unbreakable. I've seen that look before, Steve thinks. "You know what he told me before we left to go stop you guys? He told me that he didn’t want to fight with you. He just wanted you to listen, for you to trust him enough to know that he wasn’t trying to capture or kill Bucky, and that you were a good man, you would understand. But you didn’t. You act like you know what’s best for everyone, that you come in and shower us with your glory, but you really aren’t better than anyone, because you weren’t able to see past the mask that Mister Stark put up. You believed those stupid stories the media wrote. You believed that he was being selfish, that he really was just a spoiled rich kid who has nothing better to do. ’No man left behind?’” Peter scoffs, “Please. You don’t have necessarily agree with us, but can you please just stop pretending that you’re right all the time? Because you’re not,” He continues more quietly, “And you weren’t.”
He’s so much like Tony that it hurts. Steve has to look away.
“Peter’s right,” Natasha says after a long silence, “I was…something of a double agent. I agreed with the general idea of the Sokovia Accords, but the details were overwhelming, to say the least. I was with Tony when he set off to find Steve and Bucky, he didn’t want to do it either.”
Clint turns to her with something like betrayal in his eyes, “That doesn’t change the fact that he threw us in jail,”
“He didn’t throw you in jail. General Ross threw you in jail because you chose to disobey the law and endanger thousands of lives,” Natasha counters without missing a beat, “You all acted like if you didn’t sign the Accords then you would be locked up, but that was never the case; you could choose to retire. And Clint, since you had retired already, I don’t see how coming back out of it is anybody’s fault but your own.”
“I haven’t seen my family in five months, I missed Nathan’s birthday,” Clint says furiously, “If Stark hadn’t done anything, then I would’ve been there.”
“Jesus, Barton,” Rhodey snorts mirthlessly, “You can’t actually blame Tony for that. You reciprocated when Rogers reached out, you chose to take a mission you knew nearly nothing about and come out of your cozy retirement, and for what? Tony didn’t hold a gun to your head and force you to leave your happy family, you made that decision all on your own,
“And the Accords were going to be created sooner or later, regardless of whether or not they had Tony’s support, so don’t you go putting it on his head. He was just trying to make it easier for everyone, that maybe you group of assholes would listen better since Tony was someone that had fought alongside with you, and that he was someone who had risked his own life for you. But you see, just because you threw a temper tantrum and Tony didn’t clean up your mess for you this time doesn’t make it his fault. You act as if being thrown in jail was a surprise or a wrongdoing, but guess what? That’s what happens when you break the fucking law!”
Clint just grows pale, and stares at a spot on the table intently, while Rhodey breathes heavily.
Tense silence fills the room for what feels like centuries, until a soft click of the door has everyone looking up.
Coulson steps into the room, face impassive as ever, but Steve can still see the line of his shoulders are slumped.
“We’ve called you all in to discuss the issue regarding the Accords,” He says, and Steve can see Clint and Natasha flinch in his peripheral vision. “Please sort out personal issues in your own time.”
“Oh, fuck me.” Rhodey mutters under his breath but settles in his seat––wheelchair.
“Now,” Coulson walks to the podium and folds his hands, fixing his chilly gaze on everyone in the room. “About the Accords,” He pauses, staring at Steve, “Stark managed to send me some amendments that were to be put into action as soon as he returned from Siberia. Unfortunately, he was unable to perform the latter, but the amendments remain.”
Steve zones out while Coulson talks about the Accords and signs them wordlessly because he trusts Tony, had trusted Tony to do what was best for all of them.
So how come you killed him? His once-comforting inner monologue sneers at him. He has no answer.
When Coulson is done, the ex-Avengers leave one by one, most looking morose as they walk through the door with heavy limbs.
As Pepper and Rhodey leave, Rhodey’s wheelchair gets stuck behind the table leg. Steve reaches forward to help, but all he receives is an angry, “Get your hands off me!” and he just watches them leave because he understands. He really does. He murdered their best friend. He murdered their family.
Captain America is a murderer.
Only Bucky sits silently beside him as Coulson moves to leave, then turns around,
“Oh, I almost forgot.” He says, and throws the still blood-stained Captain America trading cards down on the table.
The door shuts behind him.