"What?" He was allowed distance if he needed it. Best buffer in the world, a few inches. A few miles. A couple of lightyears. But Bruce leaned right back in and apparetly he wasn't supposed to peel back if he needed it and-
Fuck it, fine. He'll deal.
"You didn't notice the braces? Good. Means I finally have them discreet enough. There was massive spinal trauma. He was paralyzed, never supposed to walk again." And Tony couldn't abide a world where Rhodey couldn't fly, let alone couldn't walk. He'd spent days alternating between helping Rhodey with physical therapy and throwing himself into working on the braces, reintegrating them with the War Machine armor. Giving Rhodey back his life that he shouldn't have had to struggle to keep. "I know. Barnes told me."
But a second opinion, a confirmation? Kind of important. The tension in Tony's shoulders loosened somewhat, fingers loose in Bruce's hand. "Which is fucking hilarious when we get to the end of this little story. Rogers and Barnes high tail it to Sibera. Everyone else: Barton, Maximoff, Wilson, Lang, they get rounded up and sent to The Raft which is what happens when you break the law. You go to jail. Pretty sure the only reason they ended up there was Maximoff, not that it makes it better. They hadn't signed the Accords so there was no due process and I didn't get any time to try and get them a trial or held somewhere not fucking awful- also I was in the hospital with Rhodey trying to figure out what happened with Vision and what should've been a clean shot that never needed to be made- mistakes to go around. So. I'm injured, compromised, the rest are in lockup, Vision's contemplative, Ross is demanding answers and I've got nothing to give. But I know they're not just hiding out, Rogers had said something about a threat- more winter soldiers."
Which- fuck. One was bad enough. "I kill surveillance long enough for Wilson to tell me where they were going because two on five, even if two are supersoldiers, those aren't good odds. I fly out to Sibera which is when we start unpicking the tangle of planning Zemo had left behind. Killing the power grid to get at Barnes, killing his actual assigned psychiatrist to trigger him, setting off the bomb at the UN summit. I thought- we all thought he wanted the soldiers. A man that meticulous and detail oriented with five supersoldiers programmed to obey? It'd be a nightmare."
no subject
Fuck it, fine. He'll deal.
"You didn't notice the braces? Good. Means I finally have them discreet enough. There was massive spinal trauma. He was paralyzed, never supposed to walk again." And Tony couldn't abide a world where Rhodey couldn't fly, let alone couldn't walk. He'd spent days alternating between helping Rhodey with physical therapy and throwing himself into working on the braces, reintegrating them with the War Machine armor. Giving Rhodey back his life that he shouldn't have had to struggle to keep. "I know. Barnes told me."
But a second opinion, a confirmation? Kind of important. The tension in Tony's shoulders loosened somewhat, fingers loose in Bruce's hand. "Which is fucking hilarious when we get to the end of this little story. Rogers and Barnes high tail it to Sibera. Everyone else: Barton, Maximoff, Wilson, Lang, they get rounded up and sent to The Raft which is what happens when you break the law. You go to jail. Pretty sure the only reason they ended up there was Maximoff, not that it makes it better. They hadn't signed the Accords so there was no due process and I didn't get any time to try and get them a trial or held somewhere not fucking awful- also I was in the hospital with Rhodey trying to figure out what happened with Vision and what should've been a clean shot that never needed to be made- mistakes to go around. So. I'm injured, compromised, the rest are in lockup, Vision's contemplative, Ross is demanding answers and I've got nothing to give. But I know they're not just hiding out, Rogers had said something about a threat- more winter soldiers."
Which- fuck. One was bad enough. "I kill surveillance long enough for Wilson to tell me where they were going because two on five, even if two are supersoldiers, those aren't good odds. I fly out to Sibera which is when we start unpicking the tangle of planning Zemo had left behind. Killing the power grid to get at Barnes, killing his actual assigned psychiatrist to trigger him, setting off the bomb at the UN summit. I thought- we all thought he wanted the soldiers. A man that meticulous and detail oriented with five supersoldiers programmed to obey? It'd be a nightmare."