Summary: An AU for the ending of the Civil War movie, in which things go a little differently inside the Siberian bunker. Not slash, but Steve and Bucky are inseparable to the end. And Tony is, well, Tony. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own nothing in this vast Marvel universe.

Author's Note: My thanks to everyone who read and reviewed the first chapter of this story, and special thanks to WeirdRaptor for encouraging me to pursue a second chapter exploring Tony's side of things. Hope you enjoy!

Why I Can't Move: Part 2

Damn you, Rogers! Why couldn't you just move out of the freaking way?

Two months had passed, and Tony Stark could not stop reliving the events of Siberia.

He was used to the flashbacks of bad things happening to himself, used to the nightmares of bad things happening to his friends, and now even used to the guilt of causing bad things to happen to innocent people. But guilty flashbacks of he himself killing innocent people who also happened to be his friends? That was a new one, even for Iron Man.

Even so, only one of those people had been his friend – and only one had been innocent. An argument could be made that Rogers was "guilty by association," as the saying goes…but it still didn't excuse Tony's actions.

When the United Nations task force had demanded a status report on the twin renegades Barnes and Rogers, Tony had answered truthfully – for the most part. He had confessed to following the pair to Siberia, but claimed that it had been his intention to confront and corral them privately, far removed from any chance of civilian casualties. And without revealing any personal details, he had made it clear that neither of the fugitives had left that God-forsaken bunker.

He had tried once again to make a case against that slimy Zemo character, but much like Secretary Ross, the rest of the U.N. wasn't interested in his theories. They only wanted to know that the Winter Soldier was dead and that Steve Rogers would no longer interfere with their affairs. If it had indeed been Zemo's goal to derail the Avengers, he had done an outstanding job!

T'Challa, the mysterious Black Panther of Wakanda, had also been present at the debriefing; it made sense, considering his political and emotional investment in the matter. Even upon hearing the report that Barnes was dead, the young king had appeared as stoically imperturbable as ever. Maybe he was just jealous that Tony had robbed him of the opportunity to exact vengeance himself against the Winter Soldier. But when Stark had approached him to haltingly broach that very subject, T'Challa had simply dropped his eyes and moved away without a word.

Ice cubes clinked together in a whiskey glass that had just been refilled for the fourth time, and Tony knew he wouldn't be getting much sleep that evening. After all, why should tonight be different than any other night of the past two months? If not visions of Rogers' desperately pleading face, it was compulsive worry for Rhodey that kept Stark awake night after night.

Although his friend's condition was more promising now than had originally been projected, progress remained slow, and every pained grimace on Rhodey's face as he went through rehab stuck inside Tony's chest like another piece of shrapnel. At times like that, when Rhodey's suffering was most evident, Tony could almost silence his guilt about burying Captain America alive and leaving him for dead.

Apart from Rhodey, Vision was the only other "Avenger" Stark had seen since that fateful day in the bunker. Thor and Banner were both still MIA, Natasha had cleverly disappeared several weeks ago, and everyone else was secured aboard the nautical Raft Prison. Tony still wasn't sure how many of them knew what had become of their brave, foolhardy, stupidly stubborn Captain. He sure as hell wasn't about to tell them himself.

He might still be alive. After all, if anyone could have survived that, it's him.

Such whispers of doubt tormented Iron Man in more ways than one. For even if Steve had survived the cave-in, he was still injured and could not possibly have escaped the wreckage afterward. Not without help, which Tony had flat-out refused to give. Part of him had honestly been shocked by that sudden, unexpected turn of events, and his flight had almost been a retreat of panic. But after the panic had subsided, and the enormity of what had just happened hit him, he still didn't go back. Not even to recover the bodies, so that Captain America could be given the honor and recognition that millions of people believed he deserved.

But what if he had survived the initial impact of the ceiling's collapse? How long could super-soldiers go without food or water? Much longer than normal human beings, that was certain. Whatever solace Tony's conscience took in the knowledge that he hadn't technically dealt the killing blow himself was soon erased by the thought of Steve slowly starving to death underneath a building's worth of rubble. Or he might have suffocated, the air squeezed out of his lungs by an impossible weight.

Shit. In that case, it would have been better for everyone if Iron Man could have simply blown them to pieces in a single, spectacular moment. Not to mention that the prospect of Rogers possibly returning someday was equally troubling and exhilarating. Of course, Stark would be thrilled on one hand to know that he hadn't killed Steve after all; but on the other hand, there was no way the next encounter between Iron Man and Captain America could be a pleasant one. Steve had never been a particularly spiteful or vindictive person, but Tony suspected that all prior rules regarding Steven Rogers had to be thrown out the window where a certain individual was concerned.

By now the billionaire's ruminations had led him down to his deepest, most secret of laboratories. This was where he kept it hidden away from all other prying eyes – his trophy. Stark might have preferred the shield of his father's invention instead, but this odd souvenir would suffice. He had it spread out on a table, initially for research, but now it lay there like an exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry. How much time had he spent down here over the past two months, staring at it?

No part of that hallmark red star was visible on the portion he had recovered, yet it could not possibly be mistaken for anything else. Even without dissecting it, Tony knew this artificial limb was a true technological masterpiece. The five matching indentations surrounding the arc reactor on his last suit could testify to that. He never would have thought that one mechanical hand could pose such a threat to his own armor, but that moment inside the bunker had been entirely too close for comfort. A few seconds longer, and the Winter Soldier might very well have done away with Iron Man once and for all. Tony had since resolved that he would never again use the expression, "You're tearing my heart out!"

In another reality, he would have relished the opportunity to reverse-engineer such a mechanical marvel; he might have even enjoyed the challenge of constructing a worthy replacement, had the Winter Soldier lost his arm under radically different circumstances. But no. Tony hadn't destroyed it, experimented on it, or even bothered to clean it up. He just stood and stared at the arm that had killed his father.

He could admit that what happened to Steve was unfortunate, but Rogers had thrown his lot in with the monster who murdered Howard and Maria Stark in cold blood. Not even Captain America could be excused for that, and no true friend would defend the killer of another friend's parents! Tony would never regret this; it was, after all, his just recompense. If anyone deserved to claim this prize, it was him.

He had fed himself that same argument at least twice a day, every day, for the past two months.

In reluctant hindsight, he could now see the difference. The difference between the cold, soulless eyes of the assassin in the video and the lost, almost frightened stare of the man standing directly in front of him. A man terrified of his own past and his own mind.

Barnes might have escaped Iron Man's wrath (temporarily) if he hadn't been so obviously torn between fleeing for his own life and staying to defend Steve's; he hadn't even fought against Tony in earnest fury until Steve had shown signs of struggle and injury. Stark should've known Rogers would choose Barnes over him, once the battle had started. Apparently, saving the world together a few times didn't constitute as strong a friendship as your brainwashed childhood protector coming back from the dead with a mission to kill you.

But the honest truth, even if he couldn't admit to himself, was that Tony was tired. Tired of justifying his actions to the very people he was trying to help, tired of trying to make them understand his decisions, and so damn tired of wondering if maybe he'd reacted too harshly after seeing that video.

And so he stayed awake all night long, with a bottle of Scotch and the physical "Fist of Hydra" for company.

Early the next morning, just as he contemplated trying to catch a few hours of shuteye, FRIDAY interrupted him in her ever-polite manner. "Pardon me, Boss, but you have a high-priority call coming in from Secretary Ross. Apparently, there's been an incident at the Raft Prison."

Tony felt his heart rate kick up to another gear, despite his fatigue. Still, he couldn't resist greeting, "Thank you for calling Stark Industries. Your call is very important to us. Please hold and your call will be answered in the order in which it was received." And then he hit the "Hold" button, watching with no small degree of satisfaction while it blinked red for a minute or two. Certainly he wasn't using this as an excuse to delay the hearing of unwelcome news. Would Iron Man do a thing like that?

"Thank you ever so much for your patience, Mr. Secretary," he answered at last. "Now, what can I do for you?"

Clearly, Ross was in no mood to play along. "I'll only say this once, Stark, but don't you ever put me on hold like that again! Do you know how much my time is worth? And thanks to your former colleagues, my patience is basically nonexistent now."

"Oh really?" Tony quipped. "I thought a heart attack had given you a new 'perspective' on life."

"Let's just get down to business," the older man insisted without taking the bait. "Last night there was a breach at the Raft Prison, and all of the one-time Avengers incarcerated there have now been liberated."

Stark had to battle a slight tremor in his voice when he asked, "Any idea who's responsible?"

"Oh, it's no mystery who's 'responsible' for it," snipped Ross. "The security cameras were all disabled, but not before he gave them one long, very deliberate look at his face. It was Rogers, Stark. Rogers again! I thought you said he was dead."

"No, I only said it was highly, highly unlikely that we would ever hear from him again." Tony's mouth was suddenly very dry. Steve was alive! He had survived, after all! "Did he say anything or leave any sort of message?"

"You mean apart from the fact that he infiltrated and sabotaged a high-security penitentiary facility? No."

It didn't matter. Rogers might not be the type of guy who would call Tony out publicly for burying and then abandoning him, but he obviously wanted Iron Man (along with the rest of the world) to know that Captain America was still alive and kicking. But if Steve had survived, then…

"Ross, was Rogers alone on the footage? Is there evidence that he had any kind of extra help last night?"

The Secretary of State saw right through to the heart of his question. "If you're asking about Barnes, the answer is that we have no idea. In fact, since you were the last known person to interact with Barnes, we were hoping you might be able to shed some more light on this mystery."

Tony rolled his eyes unseen. Of course, now it was all his fault again!

"Mr. Stark," Ross persisted, "if the Winter Soldier is still alive, we must know about it. That man is too great a threat to the free world for there to be any uncertainty about his fate. So I'll ask again: what more can you tell us about that day in Siberia?"

Iron Man drummed his fingers against the tabletop and selected his words with care. "Yesterday I would have said they were both dead; they were each in the same hopeless situation last I saw them. But since Rogers clearly survived, we have to assume there's a very strong chance that Barnes did as well."

Because something told him that those two super-soldiers would be inseparable moving forward, either in life or in death. But if Bucky Barnes was dead, then Captain America would surely give the word "Avenger" a whole new level of meaning. And when considered in the light of his own personal safety, that thought was almost enough to make Tony wish the Winter Soldier was still alive.

Almost.