Work Text:
Was it worth it?
Steve once asked as he stared behind bars. As he waited for his death.
He had received no answer.
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...tell me what can I do...
...I begged you to stop...
...we might as well have lost if this is what it cost...
...the thing I can't live with has happened...
...there's one thing I'll never be able to tell anyone now...
...the one thing I should have told you...
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Tony didn’t ask as he was led to his cell. He didn’t try to fight or defend himself.
Didn’t even try to say something.
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...I'm sorry ...
...I'll find a way to make this right...
...let me fix it...
...I'll do anything ...
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He hasn’t spoken. He slowly follows him outside, half afraid of every sound and shadow remotely close to him. The other half doesn’t care anymore.
He lost weight and is cover with a rainbow of bruises and dried blood.
His head remains down, refusing to meet his gaze.
He looks completely defeated.
An empty shell of the man he once was.
Of the man who betrayed him.
Of the man who he broke in returned.
Tony doesn’t ask but Steve knows what the answer is.
What it has always been.
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It wasn’t worth it.