Now Tony was working with Steve and Barnes so it was baffling to think what could then turn it around and change things so drastically. What Zemo was saying and Tony was repeating, it did sound like he planned exactly what ended up happening. Bruce's mind was jumping around, until he heard the date. The date was familiar, why was the date familiar? As soon as Tony put it into context, Bruce's head picked up, brown eyes wide. The death of Howard and Maria Stark was highly publicized, and everyone in the science and technology field was horrified at the loss of such a great mind. He was all over the Project Rebirth files too.
"He made you watch?" That was cruel beyond imagining. Tony actually loved his parents. It wasn't like Tony would turn away, if Zemo was doing it to torture him. Whoever this Zemo was, he was scum, and Bruce really hoped he got some kind of retribution for all that had happened. But as awful as that was, why would it make Tony mad at Steve? Steve cared about Howard too, he would be sympathetic. His mind was curling over the facts, flipping them around, trying to find the through line.
It clicked all at once. Zemo pinned the death of the king on Barnes, so Steve would protect him, so they'd have to arrest him, so the rest would happen. If it was going to plan, it was necessary for those three people to be in the room. And if those three people were in the room, and he was showing Tony's parents dying, it had to be connected. It shifted again and reframed, and he just felt a wave of sadness that could knock him off his feet. For Tony and for Steve and for this entire screwed up situation and screwed up world. "It was a hit, not an accident, right?" Everything was rotten to its core. "Tony, I'm so sorry."
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"He made you watch?" That was cruel beyond imagining. Tony actually loved his parents. It wasn't like Tony would turn away, if Zemo was doing it to torture him. Whoever this Zemo was, he was scum, and Bruce really hoped he got some kind of retribution for all that had happened. But as awful as that was, why would it make Tony mad at Steve? Steve cared about Howard too, he would be sympathetic. His mind was curling over the facts, flipping them around, trying to find the through line.
It clicked all at once. Zemo pinned the death of the king on Barnes, so Steve would protect him, so they'd have to arrest him, so the rest would happen. If it was going to plan, it was necessary for those three people to be in the room. And if those three people were in the room, and he was showing Tony's parents dying, it had to be connected. It shifted again and reframed, and he just felt a wave of sadness that could knock him off his feet. For Tony and for Steve and for this entire screwed up situation and screwed up world. "It was a hit, not an accident, right?" Everything was rotten to its core. "Tony, I'm so sorry."