Chapter 227: The Belated Truth
Tony and T'Challa finally understood that the seemingly harmless doctor before them was far more dangerous than he appeared.
His fees were outrageous.
His strength was even more unreasonable.
He wasn't simply neutral.
Within his medical zone, he was the arbiter standing above both sides.
Taking advantage of the brief lull, Natasha made her choice.
She quietly approached T'Challa, who had just regained his footing.
Her Widow's Bite discharged from her wrist, two high-voltage shocks striking the systems along the back of the Black Panther suit.
The vibranium habit sparked.
Its systems stalled for less than a second.
"Go."
Natasha didn't turn around.
The word was barely above a whisper.
Steve heard it.
He looked at her for a brief moment.
Then he understood.
"Bucky! Move!"
Steve grabbed Barnes, who had only just finished having his superficial injuries bandaged, and the two sprinted toward the Quinjet Clint had already accessed.
"They're leaving!" Rhodey reacted first.
His thrusters ignited.
Wanda raised both hands.
Crimson Chaos Magic wrapped around War Machine's propulsion systems, disrupting their output long enough to hold him in place.
"Tony!" Rhodey shouted.
Tony watched the Quinjet begin to rise.
His expression was a mixture of anger, disappointment, and exhaustion.
He could pursue them.
But his eyes shifted toward Peter, still unconscious inside Lynn's medical station.
That hesitation was enough.
The Quinjet engaged its stealth systems and disappeared into the gray sky.
The battle at Leipzig/Halle Airport ended abruptly.
Tony landed heavily on the tarmac.
His faceplate retracted, revealing a face drained of almost all energy.
Then Lynn approached.
He held out a tablet.
"Mr. Stark."
"Peter's condition is stable."
He smiled faintly.
"Now we can settle the remaining balance."
Tony stared at the electronic bill.
The airport conflict ended in chaos, arrests, and astronomical medical expenses.
Steve and Bucky successfully escaped toward Siberia.
Sam, Wanda, Clint, and Scott were captured.
They were transferred to the Raft, the maximum-security prison complex used to contain enhanced individuals.
...
Tony returned to the Avengers facility.
For two days, he barely left his laboratory.
He replayed the airport battle repeatedly.
Peter falling.
Steve's expression.
Natasha letting them escape.
Every decision.
Every warning he'd ignored.
Frustration, anger, guilt, and betrayal gnawed at him.
"FRIDAY."
Tony's voice was hoarse.
"Reanalyze everything from Vienna."
"Every frame."
"Every audio file."
"Every deleted packet."
"Every surveillance log."
"Sir, the data has already been processed seventeen times."
"Then make it eighteen."
Tony slammed his palm onto the console.
"I don't believe Steve threw everything away for nothing."
"There has to be something we missed."
This time, he ordered FRIDAY to stop focusing on the obvious evidence.
Background data.
Deleted traffic.
Audio residue.
Metadata.
Anything designed to look insignificant.
Hours passed.
Then FRIDAY spoke.
"Sir."
"I found an anomaly."
Tony straightened.
"What?"
"A deleted audio segment from the detention facility's internal system."
The recording appeared.
Static.
Fragments of speech.
The voice of the man who had entered under the identity of Dr. Theo Broussard.
FRIDAY isolated the vocal pattern.
Then another file appeared.
Helmut Zemo.
"Voiceprint comparison complete."
"Match probability: 99.9 percent."
Tony froze.
The fake psychiatrist had been Zemo.
Zemo had infiltrated the detention facility.
Zemo had activated the Winter Soldier.
And the real Dr. Broussard had later been found murdered.
"Pull everything on Zemo."
Files flooded the screen.
Helmut Zemo.
Former Sokovian military and intelligence operative.
Family killed during the destruction of Sokovia.
Wife.
Son.
Father.
Dead.
Tony stared at the family photograph.
Then everything fell into place.
Zemo hadn't wanted to defeat the Avengers physically.
He wanted them to destroy one another.
Tony leaned back.
His face went pale.
Steve had been telling the truth.
The threat had always been Siberia.
And Tony had personally spent days preventing the one man trying to stop it from getting there.
"God..."
He closed his eyes.
A communication request from Secretary Ross appeared.
Tony rejected it.
Immediately.
If Ross learned Steve and Barnes were heading for Siberia, the response would be military.
Troops.
Missiles.
Orders to apprehend or eliminate.
Tony couldn't allow that.
Not now.
He had to go himself.
The armor assembled around him.
His first destination was the Raft.
...
The prison sat isolated in the ocean, surrounded by reinforced security and designed specifically for enhanced detainees.
Tony entered under his own authority.
Sam Wilson was being held separately from the others.
Tony stopped outside his cell.
Sam looked up.
His expression hardened.
Tony didn't bother with pleasantries.
"Where did Steve go?"
Sam stared at him.
Silence.
Tony continued.
"Barnes didn't bomb Vienna."
"Zemo framed him."
Sam's expression changed.
Tony stepped closer.
"Steve was right."
"I need the coordinates."
Sam studied him for several seconds.
Then gave them.
"Siberia."
He provided the location.
As Tony turned away, Sam spoke again.
"Tony."
Tony stopped.
"You'd better be careful."
Tony didn't answer.
The armor sealed around him.
Moments later, Iron Man launched from the Raft and accelerated toward Siberia.
Alone.
...
Miracle Clinic.
Lynn had already returned to his underground base.
He sat comfortably on a leather sofa, a cup of black tea in hand.
The holographic display before him showed Tony Stark's armor telemetry in real time.
Flight path.
Armor output.
Heart rate.
Communications activity.
Even Tony's anxious muttering inside the helmet.
Lynn took another sip of tea.
Everything was proceeding exactly as expected.