"He'll kill you!" Steve Rogers practically roared. "Bucky! Do you have any idea what this means?! Tony will tear you apart!"
"Then let him kill me!"
Bucky Barnes shouted back just as fiercely.
"That's what I owe him, Steve! I killed his parents! I made him an orphan!"
"I did those things! That blood is on my hands—blood that will never wash away!"
"Isn't redemption what we always talk about?" Bucky slammed a fist against his own chest.
"This is redemption!"
"One life for another. That's fair."
"No! It's not fair!"
Steve lunged forward, grabbing Bucky by the collar and slamming him back against a cryo-pod.
"That was HYDRA!" Steve snarled, staring straight into his eyes. "Not you!"
"You were brainwashed! You had no self—no choice! You were a tool!"
"If you want redemption, then we hunt HYDRA down. We wipe them out. We don't send you off to die!"
"Steve… don't lie to yourself."
Bucky slid down the cryo-pod until he was sitting on the floor.
"I can't escape this. As long as I'm alive, this knot never unties."
"I want it to end. I already died seventy years ago."
Steve looked at him, his heart tearing apart.
Fate was a cruel writer, backing them into a corner with no good ending.
If he handed Bucky over to Tony, Tony would seek vengeance—and Steve couldn't guarantee he'd listen to explanations about mind control.
And Steve would lose the last living piece of his past.
"No."
Steve stepped forward and extended his hand.
"It's not over, Bucky. As long as I don't say it's over—it's not."
"I already lost Peggy. I lost everything from that era."
"Now I only have you."
"I can't lose you too. Even if it's just for me… you have to live."
Bucky lifted his head, staring at that outstretched hand.
"But what about Stark?" he asked quietly. "Lying to him would be hurting him a second time."
Steve pulled Bucky to his feet.
"We'll get help."
In his mind appeared a man draped in a star-spangled cape, always wearing that confident smile.
"Homelander."
Steve spoke the name out loud.
"He fixes problems. No matter how big they are."
"We'll go to him." Steve yanked out the decoder, removed the hard drive, and tucked it into his jacket.
"We tell him everything. No holding back."
"If there's anyone in this world who can keep you alive through what's coming…"
"It's him."
Bucky studied Steve's unwavering expression in silence.
"You trust him?" he asked.
"Yes." Steve nodded. "He's the person I trust most in this era."
"…Alright."
Bucky picked up his rifle.
"Then let's go."
-----
V.G.D. Headquarters — Chairman's Office
Natasha Romanoff frowned slightly as she finished explaining the situation to Antony.
"…That's the full picture. Lorelei has Tony, Banner, and Barton under control. Avengers Tower is completely sealed by Stark Industries' defense systems."
"All external access is cut off. Any unauthorized lifeform that approaches gets hit with indiscriminate fire."
"And it's not just firepower."
Natasha looked up, deep concern in her eyes.
"Avengers Tower sits in the heart of Manhattan. Hundreds of thousands of civilians around it."
"If we force an assault… Tony will deploy the Iron Legion. And the worst part is Banner."
She paused, her voice lowering.
"I have a bad feeling. Hulk is extremely unstable right now. Lorelei's magic isn't fully suppressing him—it's pushing him to the edge."
"If fighting breaks out and Hulk loses control… half of New York will be rubble."
"We can't take that risk."
Antony listened, nodding slowly.
"Makes sense."
He turned toward the tall blond god standing nearby.
"So, Your Highness."
"Since she's an old acquaintance of yours—any ideas?"
Thor reached into his dimensional space and produced a golden collar.
"This is a magic-suppressing restraint," Thor said, holding it up. "Father once used it to seal her voice. Once it's locked around Lorelei's neck, her enchantments will fail instantly."
"Tony and the others will wake up."
"Sounds simple." Antony calmly pointed out the flaw.
"Like putting a collar on a dog."
"The problem is—how do we get it on her?"
"She's protected by the Iron Legion. Hawkeye's on overwatch. And Hulk is acting as her bodyguard."
Natasha sighed. "That's exactly the issue. We need to subdue Lorelei instantly—without triggering a full-scale war."
"Two options." She raised two fingers.
"First: lure her out. Somewhere isolated. Then we can go all out."
"Lure her out?" Antony raised an eyebrow, glancing at Thor with mock amusement.
"That sounds promising. Thor, since she's your ex—how about you make the sacrifice?"
Thor's head snapped side to side like a rattling drum, blond hair flying.
"No! Absolutely not!"
He looked like a boar being dragged to slaughter.
"I said it before—that was a mistake six hundred years ago! I'm a family god now!"
"And she hates me! If I show up, she'll just order Tony and Banner to tear me apart!"
"Then we're left with option two," Natasha said grimly.
"We need one person—someone who can break into that palace and collar that witch before anyone can react."
Her eyes naturally fell on Antony.
"Ms. Romanoff," Antony said mildly, "as much as I'd love to volunteer—my entrances tend to be… dramatic."
He stood and walked to the window.
"My speed follows physical laws."
He traced a finger lightly across the glass.
"Yes, I have a biological force field."
He gestured vaguely. "Like Superman. The underwear-on-the-outside guy. In the comics, his field lets him catch falling planes without them shattering."
"But in reality…"
Antony shrugged with a hint of regret.
"My field is tiny. It barely covers my head."
"Luckily, when I break the sound barrier, it redirects most air molecules and disperses the shockwave—turning a sonic boom into something closer to a 'sonic puff.'"
"But indoors…" He mimed an explosion.
"The sudden pressure shift would still be lethal to normal humans. Glass would shatter. Eardrums rupture. Organs fail."
"If I sprint at full speed inside Avengers Tower—people will die."
He turned toward the door.
"So…"
"…we need someone with a different kind of talent."
Someone truly one in a million.
A voice cut in—
"Yeah. That would be me."
--------------
T/N:
Access Advance Chapters on my
P@treon: [email protected]/PokePals