Chapter Text
Some months after the press conference.
Even after some time, Steve still has trouble thinking that this...is how everything ended.
He can’t believe that after everything Steve had done, after all of the sacrifices, all of the good he did as Captain America, that this is how he met his end.
Not in a glorious battle, where he fought against a evil being until the very end, but instead being locked up for some crimes, for some mistakes he made and that everyone wanted him punished for.
After their arrest, it all went to hell. At the time Steve was sure it was all a big misunderstanding, that once he talked to someone (Tony) that the people would listen to him and all of this would be over. He could clear things out and things would return to normal.
But as days passes, it was becoming clear that they were in so much trouble.
A day after their arrest, the President came and announced that due to their multiple violations of human rights, SHIELD has been officially dismantled. He wasn’t with Fury and Hill when it happened. But he can imagined their faces. The brand new SWORD took over all,SHIELD operations. Steve didn’t like,this. SHIELD had made mistakes. But they protected the world....yet people wanted them gone.
The a month later, the Sokovia Accords came.
They were a document that dictated that the Avengers would cooperate with the UN to make sure borders were respected, and that heroes were held accountable, as well as other things.
Steve thought that they were a terrible idea. Heroes should not be put under restrictions. They needed to act when they saw necessary. But his protests would not be heard. Steve and all of his team weren’t considered Avengers anymore.
Tony came in soon announcing that the remaining Avengers, James Rhodes, Vision, Bruce Banner, Thor, and himself, would still be around, and introduced their two new members, Yelena Belova and Stephen Strange. All of them agreed with the Accords. Steve could only watch in horror as Tony took them out of the team, and no one said anything against it. Though he was suprised when he heard that Rhodes became the leader instead of Tony.
Things only kept getting worst and worst.
The US army then announced that both Steve and Sam were being dishonorably discharged from the army, and that they were loosing their titles. Steve was stripped of the Captain America title and he could do nothing to fight for it.
He later learned that the recent revelations and his arrest had made Laura divorce Clint, and nothing the archer did changed her mind.
Natasha was humiliated internationally. The report she made in Tony was also leaked. Steve thought that it was very accurate. But the world thought differently. She was torned apart, accused of egotism and narcissism. Her sister later came in and revealed how she had left her behind on the Red Room, and to take the punishment.
And Wanda...the poor kid fared even worst. With the recent evidence, Steve now admits Ultron wasn’t Tony’s fault after all. But then the world started blaming Wanda for it ! After the footage of her using her powers on Tony before its creation came online. She was blamed for every death that the AI did, and it made the situation worst. No one cared about the young girl that lost everything, but only about her mistakes and the victims of it.
Steve himself also got a lot of hate. He was blamed for welcoming a Hydra terrorist, ignoring that not all of his teammates were comfortable. His treatment of Tony also got him a lot of fire, since he had been the leader of the Avengers, most people says he was the lead abuser, for allowing everything to happen. Steve was very confused at all of it. He never meant for Tony to be hurt, they just had to deal with him that way with him. No one agreed. And of course. His secret mission to find Bucky, the fact that he used Tony’s money to find the man that killed his parents without telling him. It made so many people angry at him.
Bucky....Steve hasn’t been able to get information about it. Has he been found, is he ok? Does Tony truly not blame him or was it all a play ?
He can’t really believe that after being so close to finding his best friend, he went down like this. And now has no way to find him. To see if he is ok. No one tells him anything, no matter how much he yells, demands, and even begs.
His lawyer had told him to plead guilty, but Steve wouldn’t do that. He knew that if he got out, he could explain, he could make everyone see that they weren’t the bad guys that they were being painted as. That he and Tony could resolve their issues and make things back to how they were.
He was very pleased to learn that his team would not plead guilty as well. They would fight this fight together, and they would win. Heroes always win.
Then the time for court came.
They all went in.
And the result was the same for everything.
All of them were found guilty of all counts.
Steve didn’t believe it.
None of them did. He saw the fear, the shock, the disbelief on his team’s face when the veredict came out. None of them could believe that after all they had done, they were going to put away in jail.
Fury and Hill, as the heads of SHIELD, were blamed for every violation the agency had committed. No one cared about their end goal, only their actions. They were sentenced to 35 and 30 years without parole respectively.
Natasha and Clint also got the book thrown at them for their works as SHIELD agents. Clint had gone a bit easier, and was sentenced to 18 years, it could have been less but the archer’s outbursts in court, specially after his divorce, got him several contempt of court charges. Natasha got worst though. Her infiltration at S.I, her role in the info dump, and her abandonment of her sister in the Red Room all ruined her case. She was sentenced to 32 years behind bars.
Sam was the one that got the lightest sentence, but he was blamed for his role in Washington, and all the damages and theft they made during his search for Bucky. He got 10 years. Wanda though, she had it worst than all of them. Her role in Hydra, in the creation of Ultron and her brief alliance with him. The fact she tried to brainwash people multiple times, and that she sometimes did on missions. Everything had come to get her, and she got the hardest sentence of them all. 40 years without parole.
Steve was the last one to hear his sentence that day. Despite all of the good he had done, that he was a hero, an Avenger, they only cared about his mistakes. He was found guilty of everything, and was sentenced to 27 years without parole.
Additionally. All of his team had been charged for stealing S.I money in the searches for Bucky, and were ordered to pay back every penny they had used on the missions. The amount was huge, basically confirming no one on the team would have money on their name ever again.
And now, after everything, Steve is in a jail cell. He was kicked out of his own team, no longer considered a hero, and had lost his chance to reunite with Bucky. Steve can’t believe this is how it all ends.
He then heard footsteps coming closer.
He rose, wanting to see who was aproching. He was honestly expecting it to be Tony. He knows his only chance to get out is to get out of here was for him and the genius to work things out and get him to understand why he did what he did.
But he soon saw that the one aproching wasn’t Tony, the genius seemed to be truly done with them after he exposed them.
“Well well Well. This is a beautiful sight indeed.” The person said as they came in. It was a man Steve had never seen before.
“Who are you ?”
“My name is Zemo.”
That name didn’t ring a bell to Steve.
“What do you want ?”
“I needed to see the pay off of my plan. How it all fell down on you.”
“Your...plan.”
“Yes. You see. It was me, who exposed your lie to Mr. Stark. It was me the one that started all of this. I was the one that freed Ms. Belova and directed her to him, though I never saw how close they would become.”
Steve gasped at the man. It was him. He was the one that brought Tony against him, that he uncovered the truth about Bucky. It was him that started the events that lead to his downfall.
And yet...he doesn’t understand why he did it.
“Why ?”
“I lost my family and son in Sokovia. I saw how you didn’t care about the damage you left behind. How only Iron Man came to help after the battle was done. That’s why I did this. I wanted you to finally awnser for everything you did. And at it took was patience, and a video, and then it all happened after that.” Zemo smirked at him.
Steve suddenly felt afraid of this man. He had done what Hydra, Loki, And Ultron had failed. He defeated Captain America, and without a single punch.
“You has everything Steve Rogers. You had what any person would have dreamed of. But you destroyed everything yourself, you lied, you used a man, and now look how it ended for you. You have lost everything, just like I have. Now we are even.”
With that Zemo turned and left Steve gasping.
He sat down on his bunk, shock on his face.
Tears started to come out of his face, as realization filled him.
Zemo was right, he had everything he could ask for. Friends, a nice house, his dream job, and then because he wanted more, because his desperation to find Bucky, he had done bad things, and he had lost everything.
Steve started to cry.
This was truly the end, there was no escape.
He had lost, and he could only blame himself for that.
After Rogers was sentenced, Tony made a small party. To celebrate the end of SHIELD and the old Avengers. That it was all over.
All of his friends came in.
Rhodey played with Happy and Bruce on the pool table. All laughing together. Pepper stood with Sharon and the Director of SWORD, who happened to be the very alive Phil Coulson. And man was he happy to see him well. Thor sat in the couches with his girlfriend Jane, and talked with Stephen and Christine. The annoyed wizard’s face and his laughing girlfriend told him everything, specially with Thor’s big laugh. Vision stood with Wong on the window, both talking about the stone and magic.
As for Tony, well he and Yelena were finally having an interrupted dance.
“This is really nice indeed.”
“Indeed,” She said, her head close to his chest. “It’s very nice.”
“I sure wish it could always be like this.”
Rogers and all of them might be gone, but the fight is not over.
Thanos is still coming, and now that that’s all over with them, they need new people. They need more heroes to stand with.
Lucky for them, it’s a big world out there, universe even. And they can actually have a chance.
“Who knows. One day we might be able to just enjoy the peaceful life.”
“Yeah, the future can be bright.”
“Oh honey, I think there is already hope.”
A figure aproched them.
“Hey Mr. Stark, Ms. Belova.”
Tony turned and smiled at the boy. His new intern (who he knows he has a secret) Peter Parker.
“Hey Peter.”
“I just want to thank you for inviting me and my Aunt here, we are having a lot of fun Sir.”:
“Hey, you are part of one of us now,” they smiled as his eyes glowed at that. “Thank you sir.”
“Hey Pete. Before Imforget. Mind coming to the lab after school tomorrow. I need to talk to you about something. Nothing bad I assure you.”
“Oh yeah sure, see you then.”
Tony and Yelena watched as they boy left back to his aunt.
“Hey.” She called.
“Yes ?”
“I love you.”
‘Heh, I love you too.”
They both shared a gentle kiss and continued to enjoy the night together
Yes there were issues coming in the future. But she, and all of the others, gave him hope. A future he wants to live and will fight for.
With his girlfriend and friends, he managed to overcome the ones that abused him, and now he can look forward to this new beginning.
He’s really looking forward to it. Specially with her, with all of them. Being together was the best thing Tony could ask for.
It made him truly happy.