Chapter 80: Remember what you said

Daniel had a hard night.

Because, Tony hugged his waist tightly, buried his head in his arms, and his body trembled slightly.

It is more uncomfortable to look at his fragile appearance like this than to see him angry or crying.

But there is no way to help...... In fact, this is the most painful thing.

He muttered to himself, as if for Daniel, but only for his own recollection...... He vaguely recounted the day his parents left, described his mother's graceful way of playing the piano, and...... That final quarrel with my father.

“…… I didn't even have a nice word to say to him, Daniel...... I really didn't know, that was the last time I saw him. I should sue him, I love him......"

"You don't have to sue him, he knows it."

Daniel whispered to comfort him: "How can there be children who don't love their parents? Mr. Howard must have known in his heart. ”

"I blamed him...... Taunt him...... Provoke him......"

"You didn't mean to."

"I just want them to stay and spend Christmas with me."

“…… They get it, Tony. Because, without parents, do not understand their children. ”

Then there was a long silence.

After a while, he raised his head, but covered the big brown eyes with his palms, and there was no expression on his face, just asked forbearingly: "Did I scare you?" ”

Daniel stretched out his hand in distress and hugged him: "A little, but in fact, I'm more afraid...... Fear of your grief and pain ......"

He said slowly and carefully: "I won't interfere with what you think, and it doesn't matter what decisions you make, really...... But as you said to me before, if you're about to make the wrong decision, I'm going to try to get you back on the right path; If you've done something wrong, then I'll make amends with you. Trust me, Tony. No matter what, I will always be there for you...... Every Christmas, we spend it together, you just don't ...... Don't run too fast and leave me behind. ”

"Then you have to be good-tempered." Tony whispered.

He hugged him back, put his head on his shoulder, tilted his head slightly, and whispered in his ear, "Little Pepper said that I have always been willful and do whatever I want to the point of madness. ”

"Then you can continue to do whatever you want!" Daniel laughed, "Try it, am I going crazy?" ”

He reached out and rubbed his hand slowly on Tony's back, as if patiently smoothing out the fur of a manic, fried-haired beast, and then, he lowered his head and kissed the side of his neck lightly with his lips.

Tony was slightly in a trance and discovered: At this moment, the two people were so close.

They hugged each other, chest to chest, head to head, legs intertwined, as if two halves had separated, finally becoming one. Daniel's warm palm had been rubbing his back comfortingly, perhaps except for his young mother's arms, he had never been so patiently soothed, and when the temperature of his palm touched his spine, he almost felt a shiver in his body involuntarily.

He vaguely heard the loud sound of a firmly built embankment in his heart after it completely collapsed, and then, those once suppressed emotions and memories came like a tide...... But the scenes in those memories are not the first sight of London, not the chaotic cooperation of Majipur, not the full support and maintenance of the post-Skovian period, but the hugs every night, the kisses every morning, and even the laughter after the prank, and the bland 'waiting for you to come home'......

True love may never be a game of life and death, let alone a thrilling adventure.

It's just a companionship that never leaves each other day and night.

Tony involuntarily raised his head and saw the warmth and unbreakable determination that had always existed in those beautiful blue eyes.

He held his hand firmly from beginning to end, neither letting him go nor leaving him alone in the darkness of loneliness.

The cold body warmed up little by little, and Tony felt the long-lost vitality and hot blood return to his body together.

He couldn't hold back the already heavy gasp, sweat slowly dripped down the corners of his eyebrows, and between the fierce entanglement of the two bodies, the scorching breath exhaled blended together, and the broken world was filled little by little until it was complete.

――――――――――――――――――――――

"The matter of the Winter Soldier, if I don't look for you, are you going to just drag it out and not tell me?"

Nick Fury made a long-distance phone call from England to say that he was tired.

"Hmm...... I'm sorry, but I don't think it's necessary to report this to you? Daniel replied nonchalantly while making coffee on the phone.

"Have you forgotten that I'm the head of S.H.I.E.L.D.?"

"If you don't say it, I almost forgot about it. But what does that have to do with me? Didn't you throw me to Stark Industries to work? My boss, isn't it Tony, or Miss Potts? S.H.I.E.L.D. didn't pay me a dollar. ”

"Don't play dumb with me, Daniel." Nick Fury said impatiently, "How are you going to solve the Winter Soldier's matter?" ”

"It's not how I solve it, it's how Tony solves it, he's my boss." Daniel blinked his blue eyes as he looked at Tony coming out of the bedroom, pointed to the phone, made a 'wait a minute' gesture, turned his head, and continued to deal with Nick Fury.

He pretended to be pitiful and muttered: "Director, if you don't say what you plan to do, how do you want me to answer you?" Why don't you just give me an order? I'll think about whether I want to do it or not. Besides, are you mistaken, I've always been the most pitiful person at the bottom, oppressed by everyone, and have no autonomy at all......"

Nick Fury couldn't help but roll his eyes: "Less nonsense, others don't know, don't I know you yet?" Over the years, who has forced you except for your own willingness? The Capitol used to clamore Tony to hand over his armor every day, and since you came, you've silenced them one by one...... Never mind. ”

He didn't bother to continue arguing with Daniel, and asked directly, "What is Stark going to do?" ”

"You'll have to ask him."

“……”

"Alright! I just hope that before I come back, the Avengers will be okay and not finished. ”

The black one-eyed director said earnestly word by word, and then, he didn't want to talk to him anymore, and simply hung up the phone neatly.

Daniel shrugged his shoulders, threw his phone aside, and walked over with his coffee: "The director is probably worried about you fighting with the captain. ”

"Why should I fight the captain? For his old lover Winter Soldier? Tony sneered casually, continued to look at the number jù analysis graph on his computer that he didn't know what kind of research it was, and took a bite of the doughnut and asked, "Am I like such an uncool, irrational person?" ”

Daniel handed him the coffee, looked at it carefully, and replied in the affirmative, "Quite like." ”

"Hey, baby, you need to have some faith in your man." He said unashamedly: "At least, I have some confidence in it today, as for yesterday...... Hmmm......"

He pointed to his head: "No matter how advanced the computer is, it will occasionally encounter a virus, and the program will be chaotic, which is inevitable." ”

"So today, you installed the firewall?" Daniel grinned and hugged his genius head, kissed him unceremoniously on the forehead, and asked with a smile.

"In fact, with your help, I've doubled my strength." Tony blinked his big brown eyes and replied quickly, "Although I would like to install a large antivirus, I ...... considering that the antivirus software is not compatible with another 'Captain America' software."

He spread his hands helplessly and narrowed his eyes slightly: "Fortunately...... Viruses also have a usage of viruses. ”

Daniel glanced at him incomprehensibly, but after sensing the other party's affection, he was now very calm, and gave up any more superfluous advice.

The kindness of a guy who gave up a large order and risked bankruptcy and closed down the weapons department just because 'someone died in the weapon director's heart is enough for anyone to trust him unconditionally.

Because, under the premise of reason, he will not make wrong decisions lightly.

――――――――――――――――――――――

Steve and the Winter Soldier are picked up by a private jet sent by Tony.

The Winter Soldier's mechanical arm can't get through any of the security checks.

So, as soon as they got off the plane, they were surrounded by a team of paramedics brought by Daniel.

Steve subconsciously held the shield, looked over vigilantly and asked, "Daniel, what do you want to do?" ”

"Don't worry, Captain." Daniel stopped the doctor who was about to rush over and explained sincerely: "It's just a test, we mentioned it before. Seriously, you bring this ...... Well, isn't that what Sergeant Barnes is back? Now it's just a little bit ahead. ”

Steve furrowed his eyebrows in confusion: "I don't understand...... Tony ......"

"He's going to wait for the results of the test to come back before talking to you."

Daniel shrugged his shoulders and replied, "Although Natasha and I both told him that this Sergeant Barnes did not act with his intentions, but was brainwashed by Hydra. But, Tony argues, that's just our one-sided statement, and there's no evidence for it. He's stubborn, you know, he's more of a believer in numbers and science. ”

So, he insisted that Sergeant Barnes be given a regular, thorough, thorough test to prove that he had really been brainwashed and not ...... pretending to be innocent, trying to find excuses and remission of the heinous crimes they have committed......"

When he said this, he couldn't help but bow slightly at the silent Winter Soldier on the side: "I'm sorry, no offense." ”

The Winter Soldier shook his head calmly, indicating that he didn't mind.

"Of course Bucky isn't ......," Steve subconsciously wanted to defend his friend.

But the Winter Soldier immediately stopped his forward pace with his metal arm, and replied calmly, "I'm willing to be examined." ”

"Don't worry, Captain." Daniel smiled with relief and said, "Try to trust Tony, and trust your friend ......"

He turned his head to look at the Winter Soldier and blinked his blue eyes, "Uh...... See you again! For the sake of my big customer, I bought a lot of things later, and I don't care about the last robbery. ”

The Winter Soldier's face, which had been expressionless, suddenly slowly showed a smile.

He pursed his lips, stretched out his finger on Daniel's shoulder, and poked it gently: "Too weak, I'll rob you next time." ”

"Hey!" Daniel's eyes widened in anger.

Steve's hand, however, dropped from the shield at once.

His expression, which had been tense with worry, finally relaxed.

When the Winter Soldier noticed this, a quick flash of relief flashed across his face.

He calmly walked over to the medical team behind Daniel.

But before that, he suddenly curled the corners of his lips, bumped his shoulder against Steve's shoulder, and said in a brisk tone that belonged to Bucky Barnes, "Don't worry, man, trust your friends, and trust me." ”

――――――――――――――――――――

This all-round inspection from beginning to end, from the outside to the inside, took almost seven or eight hours to check.

But due to Tony's urgency, the doctors worked overnight, and in the early hours of the morning, they got the examination report out.

In fact, the situation of the Winter Soldier is a little more severe than is known.

"It seems that Hydra doesn't do a good job of daily maintenance of weapons."

Tony looked back and forth at the inspection reports, and commented with surprising indifference: "Repeated, repeated brainwashing...... What do they think it is? USB flash drive? Can you crush the text casually, plus formatting? It's amazing! With this rudimentary, crude technique, Hydra's scientists are all third-rate...... No, no, the eighteenth-rate origin! ”

Seriously, he really doesn't have much mercy and sympathy for the murderer of his parents.

Even, looking at the Winter Soldier who was brutally treated by the Hydra, he still had a faint idea of relieving hatred in his heart.

But the facts are clear to him, and Bucky Barnes is also a victim.

This made him feel very complicated, and he couldn't restrain his extremely bitter tone because of hatred; Second, I felt that the anger in my heart that wanted to kill people and vent my anger had disappeared little by little when I read the tragic inspection report.

Ignoring the remnants of years of fighting on the Winter Soldier's body, he basically didn't do much 'maintenance', and even due to the compression of the metal arm, the tattered body of severe scoliosis, and the psychological condition of PTSD.

Speaking of the poor head alone, the brainwashing method of the Hydra is probably a rough electric shock to the hippocampus, not to mention the severe pain.

The basic process should be: 'Format into a whiteboard-use--Winter Soldier recalls some fragmented memories-Forced to smash the text, continue formatting--Use-Winter Soldier recalls some more-It's annoying, format, format, format, freeze-up-want to use, unfreeze, restart, format first--use ......'

And so on and on.

Every time the pain and mental depression make a normal person want to die seven or eight times.

As for the sequelae of the middle due to too roughness, the brain damage caused by the guide, and the frequent headaches.

The person in charge of the release of the mission of Hydra still gave a warm praise to the logistics personnel who were responsible for the brainwashing of the Winter Soldiers:

You've done a great job! It doesn't matter, weapons don't need to use their brains.

As a result, the Winter Soldier can still think normally, not become a fool, not become a psychopath, and even occasionally recall a little memory of the past...... This is due in part to the super-soldier serum's extremely high self-healing ability; Part of it is that God can't stand it, and the little luck of giving.

"Tony, I'm really sorry about your parents."

Steve was embarrassed and cautious and said, "But, you see, Bucky is ...... too It was forced. ”

"So, I deserve both of my parents?"

Tony spread his hands and let out a slightly shrill shout, "Be fair, Captain, I'm your friend too." ”

Daniel patted his hand comfortingly, knowing that this guy was pretending again, and the more uncomfortable he felt, the more he made himself look like a frivolous and mean bastard.

Tony glanced at him, bit his lip, and stopped talking.

Steve lowered his head, and his blonde hair seemed to have darkened.

Friends on both sides, he doesn't want to hurt Tony, but he can't give up on Bucky either.

"You can kill me, I won't fight back." The Winter Soldier walked in at this time and said very calmly.

His walking and standing posture is very special, because the left metal arm is too heavy, as if the left side has been kept in a weight-bearing state, and the leg is slightly spread and slightly tilted.

Tony didn't speak, his big brown eyes blazing at the Winter Soldier.

At the same time, he had never hated his genius brain and superior memory so much.

Because, the moment he saw the Winter Soldier, his head involuntarily began to recall every inspection in that inspection report, and even, those tragic results, to correspond to this poor man one by one.

Including his peculiar standing posture, Tony instantly remembered the description of 'functional scoliosis of the thoracic spine' mentioned in the report [Note].

This made it impossible for him to be ruthless and vent his hatred.

Steve looked back up.

He clenched his fists nervously and looked back and forth between the two men.

Daniel sat next to Tony the whole time, in fact, he was the calmest person in the room.

The authorities are confused, and the concern is chaotic.

Anyway, he didn't believe that after learning about the Winter Soldier's miserable situation, Tony could still do it.

really

"Bucky Barnes, or the Winter Soldier......"

Tony suddenly said in an indifferent tone, "I can forgive you for killing my parents, I will provide you with everything you need for the rest of your life, and I will find a way to remove any hidden dangers from your brain, and I can even help you escape the government's trial of the 'Winter Soldier'." But you have to atone for your sins, and you have to join me in killing all the hydras. ”

Daniel laughed almost involuntarily.

Steve's tense heart let go slightly.

His blue eyes were like oceans, and he glanced at Tony gratefully, and then looked at the Winter Soldier expectantly.

However, after being silent for a while, the Winter Soldier slowly refused: "I'm sorry, but my hands shouldn't be stained with anyone's blood anymore." ”

"Bucky!" Steve shouted in surprise.

Although he was surprised, there was still a hint of understanding in his eyes, but because of the understanding, he was even more sad.

Tony stood up angrily.

He shouted with fire in his eyes, "You don't want to get blood!" Why didn't you say that when you killed my parents? ”

"I'm sorry." The Winter Soldier apologized dryly, his lips white as a piece of paper.

Tony kicked over the coffee table.

Like an angry cat, he tried to endure and turned back and forth in place twice, but he couldn't help it, and wanted to rush up and bite the Winter Soldier to death.

Daniel hurriedly hugged his waist and shouted hard, "Hey, wait, wait!" I beg you...... I really can't stand the way you talk, don't talk about things so deadly, okay! Okay?!! It's as if you are the only one in the world who has the most principles! ”

"Sergeant Barnes, you don't want to be a killer anymore, but it's okay to catch the bad guys and put them in jail, right? Hydra, an evil organization, will it remain for the New Year if it is not eradicated? ”

"And Tony, dear, don't deliberately say it so scary, when you get angry, you say that you are like ten thousand people, and you can't do things to kill innocents indiscriminately, and besides, that's killing people, not killing rats!"

"I don't see any difference between that and killing rats, a bunch of damn vermin." Tony said with a stiff sneer.

Steve stood up, and under the watchful eye of the Winter Soldier, he walked up to Tony and put his hand on Tony's shoulder.

He looked at Tony sincerely with those determined blue eyes and said, "Hydra has always been my enemy, Tony, and I can promise that in my lifetime, I will work with you to completely eradicate it, for Howard, and for Bucky." ”

The Winter Soldier walked over slowly, and he was a little clumsy as he learned from Steve, put his hand on Tony's other shoulder, ignoring his angry eyes, and whispered, "I'll be with Steve." Tony, I'm sorry, you don't have to forgive me. ”

All of Tony's anger stopped.

He widened his brown eyes, gritted his teeth, and then waved the arms of the two men away.

"Remember what you said, don't give me a chance, kill you."

He pulled a bottle of beer out of the fridge and bit the cap with his teeth, the hundredth day since he quit drinking.