A/N: Graphic deaths ahead

Darkness Falls

SHIELD Helicarrier

Fury awaited some update on the battle in Berlin impatiently. That he hadn't gotten one in the last fifteen minutes boded very poorly for the Avengers. He knew they had been coming apart at the seams, but he hoped against all logic that they would have been able to pull themselves together and eke this one out by the skin of their teeth.

Every second that ticked by only lessened the chances of that happening. Still, he held out the hope for a miracle.

Hill walked in abruptly. "Sir, you need to see this."

"If it isn't about Berlin, I don't want to hear it, Hill."

"It is." That was all she said. She handed him a tablet with a live feed queued up and ready to play.

Fury's brows creased in horror. "Is that Danvers? What the hell is she doing there? How long ago was this?"

"I don't know. That video is live."

He swallowed anxiously and turned the volume up.

Berlin, Germany

It had been reported to Zemo that War Machine was incoming and was estimated to arrive in less than fifteen minutes. While they weren't worried he could make a difference, they didn't want to take the chance of him giving Wanda the time to rouse herself completely and turn the momentum completely against the Masters.

Still, despite the risk, Zemo wanted to make the following a spectacle; one that would put the entire world on notice. It just happened that he had Madame Hydra prepare ahead of time. An agent with a handheld video camera ran onto the scene as several others hefted the unmoving – or in some cases, dead – bodies of the defeated Avengers over to where Zemo, Gene, and Yelena were standing. Steve was on his knees, hands bound behind him by green magical tethers supplied by Amora. After Gene stripped Tony's armor off him, she did the same to him and forced him onto his knees.

Steve dared hazard a glance at Natasha and Jessica. Their still bleeding wounds leaked blood at a frightening rate. His stomach started to turn sour. He had seen countless dead bodies; both as a superhero and as a soldier back in WWII. This was nothing new. He had even seen the bodies of those he had known personally. But this... this was too much.

He would happily hear endless arguments for the two of them for the rest of his life about everything under the sun if it meant they could both still be alive.

"Citizens of the planet Earth," Zemo spoke to the camera. Somehow, they managed to connect that simple handheld camera to every news feed on the planet, forcing everyone with a television set to watch everything that was about to happen. "My name is Baron Zemo, and we are the Masters of Evil. And we have just defeated the Avengers."

The cameraman zoomed out to captured the fallen heroes, either on their knees or laying on the ground. Even some of the indescribable collateral damage wrought during the epic battle between the two sides was visible, giving depth to the clash.

"As you can see, two Avengers are already dead. Two of your heroes, your saviors, lay dead at my feet. And soon, the rest will be as well."

"Like hell!" Tony shouted as he started to struggle against the magical bonds tying his hands behind his back. There was nothing he could do, but he had to try something. A quick chop to the neck from Gene stifled any attempt at escape or a comeback.

Tony had been standing, but suddenly dropped to his knees when hit, a pained grimace twisting his face.

"Look at your heroes for the final time. Captain America. Iron Man. Thor. Scarlet Witch. Hawkeye. ...eh, whoever this is." He stepped forward and stood behind Carol. "Tell the masses who you are."

Steve didn't look, but he knew why she wasn't saying anything. His keen hearing picked up the soft whimpers and sniffles from the airwoman. Why didn't you listen to me? That question kept running through his mind, even as Viper approached her and placed her handgun to her temple.

"Talk," she ordered icily.

"...C-Captain Carol Danvers. 325th US Air Force.."

He couldn't see, but he could hear the smile in Zemo's voice. "Captain, you picked the wrong time for a career change."

The single gunshot echoed through Steve's head. He made the mistake of turning and just caught Carols' lifeless body falling back and hitting the ground. An innocent woman, a civilian soldier, dead. It was his fault. Even if there was nothing he could have done to stop her from leaving the tower, it was still on him. She was his responsibility, and he failed her. He had failed them all.

"Any last words, Agent?" Viper asked Clint. She made a small notch on the barrel of her gun before pointing it to his forehead.

Clint swallowed. Other than that, there was no betrayal of whatever he was feeling inwardly at that moment. Then, after taking some time to collect himself, he looked directly into the camera. "I love you, Bobbi." With those words, Clint was dead, a single gunshot to the head.

Thor was next. Steve still didn't know what Amora had done to him, but whatever it was had him looking sickly and pale, far more destitute than at any point during their friendship. Karla picked up his head and phased her hand into his skull. Steve heard his soft breath slow, then fade to a stop. There was no bluster, no bombast, nothing from the thunder god. Just silence and the soft thud of his body hitting the ground.

Wanda was next. In an act of utter cruelty, her own brother chose to do the deed instead of anyone else. He looked into her eyes coldly as he held up a gun and pointed it at her.

Steve heard Wanda break down and start crying. His heart broke, even more than it already had. There was no closer bond on the team than Wanda and Pietro Maximoff, and to have to witness this horror was beyond agonizing.

The trigger was pulled.

The gun, instead of spitting out a single bullet to end her life, fell apart. If there was something amiss, he couldn't tell by looking at Pietro. Wordlessly, his form blurred briefly before an iron pipe appeared in his hands. He held it back, intent on thrusting it into her chest.

It stopped cold a foot from touching her.

Whatever was happening, Pietro found it funny enough to breathe out a chuckle. "So. Now you decide you care, Father." He approached her and held his hand to the side of her head, fingers poised to snap. "Goodbye, Wanda."

"Achh devlesa, bar," Wanda mumbled in reply in Romani.

(Translation: Goodbye, brother.)

Those three words made Pietro hesitate, just briefly looking unsure and reluctant of what he was about to do. The hesitation only lasted a second. The next, he snapped his fingers. The sonic boom created by the motion killed Wanda instantly.

Steve had been looking at her when it happened and saw what happened. He saw how her entire head seemed to explode into a mist of blood and gray matter. Her headless body fell to the side. Pietro's eyes never left her.

"You did say you wanted his execution to be displayed live," Zemo said abruptly before shooting Tony in the head just as suddenly.

Steve had no warning, no time to prepare. Specks of blood splashed on his face as the man he had gladly called a close friend fell back. The silence radiating off him was numbing.

Steve felt numb. He knew exactly why Zemo saved him for last. He knew why he was made to watch all of his friends die one by one. Zemo said he wasn't, but Steve knew that he was exactly this petty.

He could feel the Baron's presence behind him. He could hear the gun being holstered and the sword being drawn.

It would have been nothing for him to try and fight his way out of this. War Machine would be there shortly. There was little doubt Fury had sent every SHIELD agent available in Germany to their location. All he had to do was hold out for a few minutes, then they could retreat, regroup, and try again another time.

The issue was, however, he was dead. His body was still alive, but for all intents and purposes, Steve Rogers died the very moment Viper's bullet pierced Carol's head. Every subsequent murder of his friends only served to further deaden his already dead soul to the point that nothing, not even a miraculous circumstance could resurrect it.

He was saved for last because doing so would render him broken.

Zemo succeeded. He had won.

"I hope you're watching, Barnes. You're next."

At hearing the name of his best friend, Steve's eyes widened. His father... Bucky killed Zemo's father, Heinrich all those years ago. The Masters of Evil and Zemo's bid at world domination may not have been a revenge plot, but that didn't mean that there wasn't revenge intertwined in Zemo's motivations.

"Buc—"

– End –