Chapter 209: I'll Be With You to the End
"So what are you planning to do?"
"Arrest Barnes?"
"Or try to convince Rogers that he's innocent?"
Tony didn't answer immediately.
His eyes remained on the reports scattered across the table.
Barnes was dangerous.
That much was beyond dispute.
Even if he had not been responsible for the Vienna bombing, James Buchanan Barnes had spent decades being conditioned by HYDRA. He had been turned into the Winter Soldier through prolonged psychological manipulation, memory suppression, and repeated programming.
A weapon like that could not simply be ignored.
But the evidence against him was wrong.
Not merely questionable.
Manufactured.
Too clean.
Too perfectly arranged.
Tony finally spoke.
"I think the evidence is compromised."
He looked at Natasha.
"But I also think Barnes is dangerous."
Natasha nodded.
"Both things can be true."
...
Temporary medical area.
T'Challa had changed.
The formal clothing he had worn during the conference was gone.
He now wore a discreet black outfit reinforced with concealed Wakandan technology.
Lynn could detect the vibranium components immediately.
T'Challa approached him.
"The death report."
Lynn retrieved the document from a compartment in his medical case and handed it over.
T'Challa opened it.
His eyes moved across the first page.
Then the second.
He stopped.
"You didn't include everything."
"No."
Lynn answered calmly.
"You don't need every technical detail right now."
"You need the cause of death."
"The trajectory of the fragments."
"The damage to the heart and aorta."
"Those details are on page two."
T'Challa closed the document.
For several seconds, he looked directly at Lynn.
"You know what I'm going to do."
Lynn adjusted his glasses.
"I'm a doctor."
"Not your counselor."
T'Challa didn't react.
Instead, he asked the question that actually mattered to him.
"If I find Barnes..."
"...and I kill him..."
"Will you save him?"
Lynn's lips curved slightly.
"That depends."
"On what?"
"Who brings him to me first."
"And who pays."
T'Challa studied him for several seconds.
He seemed to be determining whether Lynn was deliberately provoking him.
Then he put the report away.
Without another word, he turned and left.
Lynn watched him go.
Five minutes later...
Bruce Wayne entered the medical area.
He closed the door.
The two men were alone.
Bruce's voice was quiet.
"How much did you see before the explosion?"
Lynn continued organizing his instruments.
"Are you asking to buy information?"
"Or are you asking for my opinion?"
Bruce's expression barely changed.
"I'm asking you."
"Information has a price."
Lynn placed a scalpel into its case.
"If you're looking for moral guidance, start with the two men who created Ultron."
Bruce's eyes hardened.
The remark struck directly at the guilt he had been carrying since Sokovia.
He remained silent.
For a long time.
Finally, he said:
"I'll find out what happened."
Lynn closed the medical case.
"Good luck."
Bruce looked at him once more.
Then left.
The door closed.
Lynn sat back.
He took out his phone.
Bucharest.
The name appeared briefly on the display.
Bucky Barnes was somewhere in Romania.
Wakandan intelligence had apparently reached the same conclusion.
Efficient.
Lynn locked the phone.
Then his gaze fell upon another item in the laboratory.
The blood sample collected from T'Chaka.
He picked up the sealed container.
The sample was far more interesting than the king himself.
The Heart-Shaped Herb's effects were not merely a simple increase in strength.
The Black Panther tradition combined physical enhancement, heightened senses, reflexes, endurance, and the mysterious connection between the herb, Wakandan vibranium culture, and the Panther deity Bast. Across Marvel history, the herb has been closely tied to the mantle and spiritual traditions of the Black Panther.
Lynn's eyes narrowed.
The biological component was obvious.
The mystical component was more interesting.
And then there was vibranium compatibility.
Wakanda's entire civilization had developed around the metal's unique properties, and the Panther mantle had evolved alongside that culture.
Another useful sample.
...
Avengers Base.
Steve Rogers sat alone in a small briefing room.
The Vienna bombing played repeatedly on the monitor.
He had already watched the footage several times.
The image froze.
Bucky.
Or rather...
Someone who was supposed to be Bucky.
Steve stared at the screen.
Then he turned it off.
Sam Wilson stood in the doorway.
"You think it's really him?"
Steve shook his head.
"I think someone wants us to believe it is."
Sam walked inside.
"That's almost philosophical."
"It's not."
Steve picked up the remote.
"Bucky was the Winter Soldier."
"He was controlled by HYDRA."
"He did terrible things."
"But if he had actually chosen to carry out this attack..."
Steve paused.
"He wouldn't have left evidence like this."
Sam folded his arms.
"Because?"
"Because the Winter Soldier was trained to disappear."
"His objective was never simply to kill."
"His objective was to complete the mission and leave nothing behind that could identify him."
Steve looked toward the black screen.
"This looks deliberate."
Sam considered that.
"So what are you going to do?"
"Find him."
"And if Tony tries to stop you?"
Steve's expression hardened.
"Then I'll deal with that when it happens."
His phone vibrated.
One message.
BUCHAREST.
An address in the old city district followed.
A second line appeared:
Suspected Barnes location. Intelligence may remain compartmentalized for approximately two hours. German special forces, UN personnel, and Wakandan agents may already be converging.
Steve stared at the screen.
Then replied:
Thank you.
Another message arrived.
From Sharon Carter.
Steve, this is different. Once you go, you're going against the entire Protocol.
Steve looked at those words for several seconds.
Then typed:
If the Protocol's first major decision is to hunt someone who may have been framed, then I have even more reason to go.
No response followed.
Steve put the phone away.
He walked to the equipment cabinet.
Inside was his shield.
He reached for it.
Behind him, Wanda appeared in the doorway.
"You're going after the Winter Soldier."
Steve looked over his shoulder.
"Yes."
Wanda hesitated.
"He was used as a weapon."
Steve's expression softened slightly.
"I know."
"So was I."
A pause.
Wanda stepped farther into the room.
"For most of my life, people have looked at me and seen a weapon."
"Hydra did."
"Governments did."
"Even people who wanted to help me sometimes looked at the power first."
She touched the edge of the black collar around her neck.
"I know what it's like when everyone decides what you are before you have a chance to say anything."
Steve listened.
"I won't go there to fight him."
"I'll go to find out the truth."
Steve frowned.
"This isn't your responsibility."
"I know."
She held his gaze.
"But I want to come."
A silver blur entered the doorway.
Pietro stopped beside her.
"No."
Wanda turned.
"Pietro."
"No."
He pointed at Steve.
"You're going to another country to hunt an assassin wanted by practically every intelligence agency on Earth."
"Then you'll probably have Iron Man chasing you."
"Batman."
"Government agents."
"Maybe Wakandan soldiers."
"And you want my sister to come?"
Steve opened his mouth.
Wanda answered before he could.
"I'm not going to kill anyone."
"I'm going to verify what happened."
Pietro shook his head.
"You need to leave the country to verify it?"
Wanda gave him a look.
Pietro sighed.
He knew the argument was already lost.
"Fine."
He looked toward Steve.
"Then I'm going too."
Steve raised an eyebrow.
"You don't have to."
"I know."
Pietro folded his arms.
"That's why I'm doing it."
A voice came from the communication terminal on the table.
"Sounds like you could use an old man."
Everyone looked toward the screen.
Clint Barton appeared on it from his farmhouse kitchen.
He was wearing a simple T-shirt.
Steve stared at him.
"Clint."
"You have a family."
Clint nodded.
"I do."
He looked directly into the camera.
"And that's precisely why I don't like watching people decide, through television broadcasts, that someone deserves to die."
His expression lost its usual humor.
"So..."
He picked up his bow.
"...I'll be with you to the end."
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