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Steve sighed seeing another news story about him and Tony. It seemed to be that was all anyone wanted to talk about since Ironman was ‘rescued’ from Siberia. He felt that the term was a bit of an exaggeration, after all, Tony had been the one who started that fight. Steve had only done what he had to in order to ensure Bucky’s safety.
Tony would get over it soon enough and see that Steve had been right to stop him. The genius would never forgive himself if he had killed an innocent man and there was no doubt in the Captain’s mind that Tony would have killed Bucky if Steve hadn’t put him down.
“When is Stark going to give up this charade?” Wanda snapped from the couch next to him.
Natasha sat on the young woman’s other side. The spy had joined them in Wakanda shortly after Steve had broken the others out of the raft. It had been hard to forgive her for originally signing the Accords, but her letting him and Bucky go at the airport went a long way to show she was trying to make up for her mistakes.
Something he knew Tony would do as well once he got over his hurt feelings about losing their ‘war’.
“It better be soon. The media is tearing Steve apart over the footage released.” Sam said with a deep frown.
After seeing what had gone down he felt horrible about giving Stark Steve’s location. The only reasons he had done it was because he thought they were soulmates and because Stark had promised to go alone and as a friend.
Now realizing that Steve had been right about how Stark would react when he found out about Hydra killing his parents. Clearly, the man was unstable if he couldn’t respect the fact that it wasn’t Barnes's fault. He was the longest POW in history and Stark didn’t even seem to care about the hell the man had been through.
Sam was also upset that the world didn’t seem to agree. They were turning on Steve, who was the greatest man Sam had ever known, except for Riley of course.
At least now his Captain didn’t have to be weighed down by a fake soulmate anymore. Once they got home and provide that they were right about the Accords they could distance themselves from the arrogant genius.
Steve shouldn’t have to be in the presence of his enemy anymore.
“Not much a man can do from a coma.” Lang muttered from across the room. He was sitting on a small couch next to Clint.
The two of them had bonded greatly in their time in Wakanda. Something about being kept away from their children and respective soulmates. While the two of them had not been outright hostile towards their fellow escapees, it was becoming increasingly apparent that they had regrets about their choice to join Team Cap.
Clint in particular. He almost throttled Steve when he saw what actually happened in Siberia. While he could sympathize with Barnes, mind control was a bitch, he couldn’t get over what Steve had done to Tony. Their friend and Steve’s supposed soulmate.
Never could he imagine putting his hands on Laura like that. Never!
Even if Tony and Steve turned out to be enemies it still didn’t sit right with Clint. He knew what it felt like to be beaten down by your greatest enemy. Clint’s brother had ended up being his own worst enemy and had beaten the crap out of Clint when he threatened to expose his illegal activities.
It had hurt far beyond the beating because Clint was just a stupid kid at the time and even if he knew his brother wasn’t the love of his life or whatever he had thought that his mark simply meant they were to be best friends.
To have Barny turn on him and almost kill him with his bare hands had broken something in the young archer. It broke his faith in humanity.
Something he didn’t get back until he met Laura and she sowed his heart back together.
He couldn’t imagine what Tony would be feeling when he woke (and he meant when, because he would not allow himself to think about the fact that sometimes people don’t wake up from comas) and realized that either his soulmate had been the one to hurt him or that Steve wasn’t his soulmate after all.
Either would be a blow that he thought his friend might not recover from. That was if he could even still call Tony his friend. He doubted the brunette would be forgiving after everything that had happened and his parting shot on the raft was no small slight.
Not after what had happened to Rhodes.
Another thing for him to feel guilty about. He hadn’t known the Colonel had been so gravely hurt and he especially didn’t know about his injury. If he had he would have directed his anger in a different way.
It probably still would have been an insult because he was mad at the genius since he didn’t have all the facts, but it would never have been something so cruel.
“I don’t believe the coma thing for a second. No way Potts would care enough to dig up all of that footage and run this bad of a smear campaign against Steve. It has to be Stark himself.” Wanda snapped as if she understood the complexities of Tony and Pepper’s relationship.
She had never even met the CEO.
“Oh, I can assure you. The coma is extremely real.” A new voice called from behind them.
The group turned to find a man they had never seen before entering the living room from their living quarters. Somewhere that didn’t have an entry point leaving them to wonder how he had gotten in.
From his accent, he was clearly American. Slightly taller than average with thick well-styled black hair. He was dressed to impress in a black suit and blood-red tie. (Authors Note: Feel free to picture him however you like, but my reference is Christian Bale in American Psycho) His face was clean-shaven which showed off his blinding smile. One that reminded Steve just a bit of Tony’s own press smile.
“Who are you and how did you get in here?” The Captain demanded rising to his feet followed quickly by his teammates.
The stranger gave a small laugh at their response to his presence before he sat himself down on one of the tall bar stools by the kitchen. He leaned himself back so that one of his elbows was resting on the countertop behind him.
Natasha felt twitchy with how relaxed and caviler he was acting in their presence. Any normal person would have shown some fear, even if only a little, when they moved, but it didn’t seem to bother him at all.
“I wouldn’t worry too much about how I got in. You all have bigger things to be concerning yourselves with.” He informed taking a moment to drink each of them in with his eyes.
Scott felt something cold wash over him when the man looked at him. There was something unsettling in his eyes. Something that he had seen before in prison on the faces of men who did some really unpleasant things. Those were the people Scott learned to avoid at all costs.
“Is that a threat?” Wanda snapped red coming to her fingers.
The man looked at her unimpressed. “I have read that you have less than a high school education, from a war-torn country no less, but I would have thought you smart enough to know when you are being threatened.”
Wanda growled a little causing Steve to step forward to shield the girl. He would not let someone talk to her that way. “Just who do you think you are?!”
“Ah, how rude of me.” The man said sounding like he didn’t care about how rude he was being at all. “Tiberius Stone; Genius, Millionaire, Sociopath.”
Most of them drew back hearing Tony’s signature introduction massacred in such a way.
It took a few seconds for them to brush that off and recognize the name. Steve sucked in a sharp breath when he made the connection. “Your Tony’s…”
Tiberius’ face morphed into one of rage. “I am not Tony Stark’s anything. He is mine.” He took a moment to calm himself before speaking again. “Anthony Edward Stark is my greatest enemy. Don’t get me wrong. I am a man of many enemies, but what Anthony and I have is special.”
Steve’s fist clenched at his side. He had often wondered about Tiberius Stone, but he tried not to bring him up knowing how upset Tony got talking about him.
Seeing the man for himself made the soldier feel uncomfortable. The way Tony talked about Stone made the other businessman seem almost untouchable. Steve had questioned before why Tony just didn’t have him ‘taken care of’ since Tony’s fortune made it an actual possibility. His small boyfriend had informed him that there was nothing to be done about Ty.
Steve had often wondered how true that was.
There were times when he thought Tony was afraid to face his enemy. He knew, mostly through Rhodes, that Ty had hurt Tony incredibly. The Colonel kept his answers vague, for Tony’s privacy, even though Steve was his soulmate. It always frustrated the Captain, but he tried his best to be understanding.
Enemies were a rough business.
“What are you here for, Mr. Stone?” Natasha questioned in her best business voice. She didn’t know much about Tiberius Stone. Just that he was a threat. Fury had warned her about him when she was on assignment at Stark Industries. The director had told her that if he showed up and went at Stark that she was to stay out of the way.
Apparently, the few times they had tangled over the years were enough for people to get the message to steer clear.
Ty roamed his eyes over Natasha before looking back at Steve. “I am here because you Captain Rodgers have stepped on my territory.”
Steve raised an eyebrow in confusion. Something which clearly irritated Ty.
“You hurt Anthony. Hurt him enough that the entire world is going around spewing lies about you being his one and true enemy. That will not stand.” Ty informed as if they were talking about some trivial business deal.
Natasha looked towards Clint. They silently confirmed that neither of them was carrying a weapon which was a major oversight on their part. Had they actually been speaking they could have coordinated better.
“Tony has many enemies Mr. Stone.” The redhead informed him gently. “Surely, you do not make house calls to all of them?”
Ty flashed her a predatory smile. “Of course not. Anthony can handle his own battles. Who he chooses to piss off is his choice. I trust him to be able to handle himself and to keep those inferior beings from causing too much damage to his person.”
Team Cap shifted uncomfortably.
“So, what you don’t care about what the Ten Rings did to him, or Stane, or Justin Hanner, or Aim?” Nat asked carefully.
The businessman let out an irritated sigh. “No, I do not. Well, the Ten Rings frustrated me a good bit with that giant hole in his chest. However, I don’t mind much about the rest of it. After all, none of them pose a real threat to him. They might be his enemies, but they are not his greatest.”
Steve had to force himself not to snarl at the man’s words. He did not like how this man was talking about Tony.
“If you don’t care about Stark’s other enemies then why do you care about Steve?” Sam questioned sharply.
Ty looked affronted by the question.
“Because I have seen Anthony’s skin myself.” He gave a small almost shy smile to himself. “All of his skin I might add…and on that skin are two names. Tiberius Stone and Steven Rodgers.”
Steve gave a small nod to his teammates letting them know that this was in fact true. He had seen both the names for himself. Some of the others had seen them too. Since finding Steve, Tony had become less caring about who could see his marks. It wasn’t uncommon for people who knew which person was which.
Clint was very much the same displaying both names more often than not.
“Since your name is on his skin people are getting the wrong idea about the nature of your relationship and as I have said. That will not stand.” Ty informed looking already tired of repeating himself.
Wanda crossed her arms with a glare. “What makes you so sure Stark is your enemy and not Steve’s?”
Ty’s eyes snapped to her with a sharp glare. One that cut through her like a knife. Her powers faltered around her in a way they hadn’t since she started training with them at the Hydra facility. Slowly she tried to push fear into this strange man’s mind, but he didn’t so much as twitch.
This man was starting to freak her out, thankfully she was an Avenger. She wasn’t afraid of anything.
Not breaking eye contact with the witch Ty rolled up his sleeves showing the two names on his arms. The one was clearly Tony’s name. The other was the name of a man none of them recognized, but that wasn’t the distinguishing part. The thing that caught everyone’s eye was the fact that his other name was grayed out meaning the other person was deceased.
Ty traced his hand over the dead person’s name. “He died before I was born. A car accident that killed his entire family. The doctors believe that his death is why I am a sociopath. It’s a condition commonly seen in people whose greatest love die before they are born.”
Sam nodded a bit having heard about that on more than one occasion, however, the science wasn’t proven. Too few test subjects since the person would need to be both a sociopath, rare, and have one of their names lost before they were born, less rare, but still uncommon.
“That doesn’t prove anything!” Wanda snapped. “Not to mention everything Stark has done to Steve. There is no way they aren’t enemies. Which makes you Starks soulmate.”
Her final statement was punctuated with a growl as red flowed to her fingers once again. A part of her had always wanted to rip Stark’s soulmate apart. She knew she couldn’t when she had thought it was Steve, he was far too useful to her as he was. Now, knowing that it might in fact be this man she felt a rush of joy course through her.
“Believe me, little witch. Nothing the Captain has done even comes close to the pain I have so carefully transplanted into Anthony over the years.” The businessman smirked causing Steve to clench his fists tighter. Even if he was mad at Tony, that didn’t mean he had to approve of how this man talked about him. “Nor do his actions compare to Anthony’s own actions against me. Our dance as enemies is unparalleled by most.”
Clint felt uncomfortable as he watched Ty’s eyes. There was a gleam of what he could only call madness in them.
“However, let us, for argument's sake, analyze your hypothesis. If I were Anthony’s soulmate what would my best course of action from this point forward be?” Ty asks as if he were a tenured professor being forced to teach the introductory freshman course.
Natasha seemed to be the only one who knew where this was going as her eyes slowly scanned the room looking for any possible exit. She was doing her best to be discrete but a few of her teammates picked up on the action.
“Well, for starters I would clean house. Get all of you pesky freeloaders as far away from him as possible. Thankfully, you all have done that for me. Then I would ensure that you could never come around him again.” His voice being oddly casual for the seriousness of the situation.
Sam frowned. “That doesn’t make any sense. The Avengers are, or I guess were, the closest thing Stark has to a family.”
Ty let out a dry chuckle. “Family? No, I was there when Anthony mourned the loss of his family, and to be clear I do not mean those pathetic genetic donors, but rather Edwin and Anna Jarvis. I suppose at one point I would have considered Stane a member of his family as well, but then again the slimy bastard had everyone, even me convinced he had nothing but love in his heart for his godson.
That leaves his only remaining family member as Col James Rhodes. Although I do suspect that a certain red and blue crusader is quickly mining his way into Anthony’s heart.”
“Leave the kid out of this.” Steve snapped without thought.
Ty appraised the soldier with his eyes once again before smirking. “Captain you misunderstand. In this thought exercise, I am Anthony’s soulmate. I would never hurt his protégé if that is what the boy is destined to become and even as his enemy I can assure you. No harm from me will befall that boy. In fact, I have already taken several measures to ensure his continued health.”
“Why would you do that if you hate Stark so much?” Wilson questioned.
“Anthony is my greatest enemy. No one else. Collateral damage while unfortunate is not something I go looking for, but I digress. As I was saying. I would keep you leaches off his back if he were my soulmate and then I would set about destroying his greatest enemy for him. All in the name of love I assure you.” Ty finished eyes now boring into Steve’s own.
Scott looked around in confusion. “Um, but sir, you just said you try to avoid collateral damage. Wouldn’t Steve be you know, that?”
When the millionaire’s gaze shifted towards himself, Scott wished he had kept his big mouth shut. “Oh no, Mr. Lang. Not in the slightest, because the Captain is involved in this if he wants to be or not. For you see, if he is truly Anthony’s greatest enemy then he will strike against him no matter what. It’s in his nature, one could say, and I as his hypothetical soulmate could never allow that to happen. What kind of person would I be if I did?”
Lang could not think of a counterargument to that, so he simply allowed himself to slip back just a little behind Barton. If the archer cared he did not show it. On the inside, Clint was sort of glad. Scott was a good guy and in his opinion the only person in the room worth protecting if this shit went sideways.
“So, that is where our thought exercise gets us. With you all far away from Anthony and the Captain dead or at the very least permanently out of commission. Now I pose the counterargument and the one I know to be true. What if I am in fact his greatest enemy and Steve Rodgers is his soulmate?” Ty posed not at all upset when he didn’t get a response. “Well, the exact same thing of course.”
The rouges found themselves uncomfortable by the small laugh that left the genius’ lips.
“Once again I clean house and force out anyone I can. Virginia Potts will never leave his side. Believe me, I have tried. Harold Hogan would through himself on the sword before walking away from Anthony. A trait which I respect but find infuriating at the same time. The Col will only leave his ‘little brother’ by death herself and I get the feeling that Spiderman will be much the same with time.
That just leaves you a lot which could be bribed, manipulated, or simply forced into leaving him. Something you all seemed to have handled quite nicely for me. Sure, you could go back and try to earn or even force forgiveness. Perhaps Anthony would give it or perhaps not. Either way, I will be playing the hand I have been dealt and keep you away.”
Natasha filled with dread hearing that. Once again her eyes shifted towards the exit and while she knew she could make it, she did not know what would come after. Men like Ty Stone may not run around with guns and bombs, but that did not make them any less of a threat.
Something she should have learned from Stark.
“While you lot have been living it up here, I have been hard at work. As much as I find the governments of the world tedious I can force myself into it when need be. No pardons will be finding their way to you. Of that, you can be assured.”
His words brought a heavyweight into the room which did not feel like it could get any heavier. Most if not all of them had been banking on some sort of pardon, either from the U.N., the United States, or the Accords Council to get them home.
“The world still needs us.” Natasha challenged coldly. “Are you seriously going to let your ego and pettiness keep us away when the fate of the entire planet is on the line?”
Ty grinned. “Of course not. That is why when Anthony awakens from the state you have left him in Captain, he will find several files on who I consider to be perfect replacements for each of you. Captain Marvel, Bobbi Morse, Venom, Dr. Stephen Strange, and Yelena Belova to name a few. I am not fool enough to risk the whole world to bring down my greatest enemy. After all, I too live on this planet even if I do not care for its other inhabitants.”
Some of them wanted to snap about how their team was irreplaceable, but Ty did not give them the chance. “Which brings us to my final step once again. What better way to truly wound my greatest enemy than to permanently remove their soulmate from their life?”
“So, you are here to kill me?” Steve questioned gearing himself up for a fight.
The millionaire notices his movements and simply smirked. “Oh no, dear Captain. Kill a man and you simply make him a martyr. No. Instead, I plan to ruin you completely. Make it so even if you were to come crawling back to Anthony there is no way in the world he could trust in taking you back.”
“And how exactly do you think you can manage that?” Wanda questioned feeling enraged that she could not control this man's fears. It was as if he did not have any.
Ty laughed deeply. “I have already done it.”
He motioned towards the television behind them and quickly the team turned to find it still on the news where they had left it. The breaking news logo was flashing across the screen. Scott moved quickly grabbing the remote and turning up the volume.
“This just in. An anonymous source has provided a video clip of the currently missing Captain America. While the footage does not appear to give any details about the Captain's location it does contain some shocking information. Viewer discretion is advised.”
The reporter cut away to a video just as she said. It was of Steve sitting on the chair in front of Bucky’s cryo chamber. Something he had done for hours almost every day since coming to Wakanda.
With a crystal clear image, everyone watched as Steve talked in both longing and agitation about his current feelings towards Tony. “I mean. He has to be my soulmate. Right, Buck? I’m not…one of those people. Right?”
Steve’s eyes widened when he realized what was about to be shown to the world, but there was nothing he could do to stop it. As much as he had preached about secretes in the past there was one everyone knew he kept. One that no one ever held against him for keeping because it was considered so deeply personal and now it was going to be shown to everyone.
The world watched as Steve Rodgers took off the armband covering his second mark.
On instinct, Steve’s hand shot towards the band making sure that it was still covering his skin now, even if it was not on the screen. It gave him no comfort as he heard his teammate's gasps of shock beside him.
It felt like he was drowning as he saw the far too familiar name on the screen.
“And there you have it, folks. The video has been analyzed for any form of tampering by hundreds of experts and none was found. Steve Rodgers a danger to himself and the world or a pure narcissist? Our panel of experts will debate this topic tonight at 8. For more…”
Scott turned the entire television off casting the room into an aching silence.
None of the rouges knew how to think or what to feel. This was something they never could have prepared themselves for. No amount of training could make something like this alright. Each of them was running through their every interaction with the man trying to see how they could have possibly missed it.
At the same time, Steve was dying on the inside. Shame and fear taking over in equal measure. This would change everything. He was Captain America he could bounce back from anything, but this was…
“Sociopathy while often looked down on by society is one thing. It gets written off as a tragedy and everyone moves on, but wearing your own name? I wonder what they will save of you in the history books now. Captain America, a man destined to destroy himself maybe? Or perhaps, Captain America, the one true narcissist?
Steve felt all of the blood in his body rush to his ears. His mother had been the only person to ever see both of his marks and the moment she did there was such a level of heartbrokenness on her face that it made Steve cry. She had ordered him to stay where he was and went out to spend what little they had on a band to cover it.
“Never take this off, Stevie. Do you understand? Not for Bucky or anyone. Not even for Anthony when you find him. Oh, Stevie. My little boy. What has fate done to you?” His mother had said what felt like a million years ago now.
Even back then people had such strong perceptions of someone who carried their own name on their skin. Either you were your own greatest enemy and destined to destroy everything you touched, or you were a true narcissist. Incapable of properly loving anyone but yourself. Back then they would have thrown him in an institution the moment they found out.
Times had changed some, but most people's opinions had not. The conditions were both so rare that it was hard to get people to change their minds about them. Even most psychopaths didn’t carry their own name, so people who did make the rest of the world very uncomfortable.
Steve had never wanted to believe he was a true narcissist. He knew it couldn’t be true because he had loved his mother more than anything in the world. He also loved Bucky. They were the two most important people in his life for so long, so it made sense that he would be protective and possessive of them in equal measure. It didn’t mean anything.
And Peggy. He had loved Peggy even if he knew they weren’t meant to be together long term. He had loved her so much that he was willing to crash that plane to help her win the war. He sacrificed himself just for her so that she would be proud of him.
Not to mention Tony.
Tony who had to be his soulmate. He just had to. The two of them had been doing so well for so long. They fought side by side like no other duo before them. This civil war thing: it hurt. It had hurt both of them, but Steve knew they could get through it. They were soulmates, after all, they had to be.
And sure. Maybe that meant he was his own worst enemy, but it was obviously better than the alternative.
“I do share some sentiment for you, Captain.” Ty said pulling everyone’s attention back to himself. “I imagine you have spent most of your life thinking about how unfair it is that you have to hold that mark. Sometimes I do pounder if the entire system of it is unfair.
Surely if it was fair you would hold simpler names to live by. Perhaps Red Skull and Margret Carter or some others equally as poetic. If that were the case and life was fair I believe Anthony would have been graced with Col Rhodes’ name on his skin as well as one of his…lesser enemies. Perhaps I would have been given no names at all. Alas. Destiny did not see it as so.”
They all watched as Mr. Stone carefully corrected his stance until he was standing tall once again. Slowly he reached into the interior pocket of his blazer and pulled out two envelopes before tossing them onto the table.
“Pardons and restraining orders for Scott Land and Clint Barton.” He said as if that was trivial news. “You shall both be on house arrest and monitoring for a long while additionally if you come within the same zip code as Anthony you will be sued into oblivion and placed into a hole so dark not even the worms will find you. His name should never even cross your lips.”
Both men looked in equal measure shocked and terrified.
“Why?” Barton managed to ask feeling a burning need to know.
“Anthony, when he awakens, will not settle well to the idea that you children must grow without their father. It is a sensitive point for him and thus he would work to bring you back to your families opening the door for the rest of this lot. This way you are already out of the equation, and he can finally put this whole issue to rest.
Keep in mind that if you do not take this offer now in an attempt to spare your teammates later I will do everything in my power to prevent you from ever seeing your families again.” The threat hung there, but Ty could tell them men would take it. He might be a sociopath, but he had studied human interaction enough to know that the connections between parents and their children are strong.
“Why?” Natasha questioned mind finally catching up to the new information. “Why show the world that? I thought you wanted people to stop calling Steve Tony’s enemy. Now they are going to speculate about it more than ever. What does this get you?”
Ty sighed in clear irritation. “Yes, that is true. For a time, speculations will roll around, however, those who support him, as few as they may be in the end, will scream from the rooftops how it is impossible for their Captain to be a narcissist. Their numbers will be small, but I have often found that the loudest talkers usually get the most attention.
Soon enough the fanfare will dwindle. Out of sight out of mind and all that. Then people will remember exactly who Anthony belongs to. Sure, they will remember the slight possibility of it every time the Captain is mentioned, but I will have driven the point home to the one person who matters.
Once he sees that name on your arm Anthony will not accept you as either an enemy or a soulmate. He will regard you as simply…a mistake.
You will be nothing more than a footnote on the Avengers page in the great legacy that is Tony Stark while I will hold at least my own page if not my own chapter.” He finished a slight satisfaction was coursing through his body.
“Why not just kill Stark if you are truly his greatest enemy?” Wanda questioned harshly.
Ty smirked. “I have been sabotaging Anthony’s life long before you were born dear. I would be bored without him.”
“Tony is not a toy for you to play with!” Steve snapped finally losing his patients and approaching the millionaire with deadly intent.
When he was only inches away Steve ran into an invisible wall. Ty snickered. “A forcefield of my own making. Sorry, Captain. It appears you won't be able to punch your way out of this one.”
Steve gave it a few good tries to break through the invisible barrier, but it yielded him nothing. It was starting to make sense why this man felt so smug around him. He had taken the necessary action to protect himself against anything they could throw at him.
“Well, this has been…an experience, but I really must be going now. Princess Shuri was kind enough to grant me entrance into this beautiful country, but that welcome is probably coming to an end. As is all of yours I would imagine. After all, Wakanda takes their marks very seriously and I cannot imagine that the people are reacting too well to the news about your Captain.”
With that, he turned and started walking towards the door. “I would say until we see again, but if any of you happen to cross my path I can promise I will not pull my punches again.”
*
As Ty Stone walked away from the Rouge Avengers and back towards his plane he found himself subconsciously running his fingers over Anthony’s name. A small smile found its way to his lips before he pushed it away as he did with almost all of his feelings that he pretended not to have.