Schiller originally planned to spend half an hour having breakfast, and then let Hui Wu solve his hangover headache and the stiff neck caused by his wrong sleeping posture last night.
More importantly, he originally planned to take a day off to regain his energy. Psychotherapy is also very energy-consuming. However, when Jarvis's call came, Schiller had no time to rest and drove to Stark Tower.
.
As soon as he arrived at Stark's laboratory, he smelled a familiar smell of alcohol. Schiller stood at the door and coughed twice. Jarvis made a "didi" sound, and then said: "Sorry, sir."
, I forgot to turn on the air purifier in advance, please wait..."
Standing outside the door, Schiller heard the "buzz" of a fan in the laboratory. After a while, when he walked in again, there was only the smell of air freshener.
As expected, Stark was lying on the experimental table like a drunkard, with empty beer bottles in his hands and mumbling something.
Schiller listened attentively for a while, but didn't understand what he was saying at all, so he reached out and pushed Stark. Stark looked at him blankly, as if he didn't know him, and treated him
He waved his hand and leaned on the table again.
The sound of friction of mechanical parts came from behind. Schiller turned around and saw Jarvis driving the robot body. Schiller looked back at Stark who was drunk and unconscious, and decisively went out to find Jarvis.
Jarvis led Schiller to the next room. He first poured Schiller a cup of coffee, then pointed to the massage chair next to him and said, "Sir, if you feel uncomfortable in your neck and shoulders, you can go for a massage."
Check it out, this is the latest therapeutic massage chair launched by Stark Group, it will make you feel better."
"Thank you, Jarvis, I just need this." Picking up the coffee, Schiller walked over. Jarvis adjusted the backrest for him, the robotic arm stretched over, the hatch opened, and a picture popped up above the projection equipment.
.
"I'm afraid it will be some time before Mr. Stark sobers up, so you can watch a movie here for a while. If you need anything, call me and I will be at your service at any time." After saying that, Jarvis left.
Schiller saw that the picture played on the projection screen was the first perspective of the Stark mecha. The time displayed in the lower left corner showed that this was what happened this morning.
Stark appeared at the door of a ward. He stood there for a long time. He hesitated for more than half an hour before reaching out and knocking on the door. A somewhat familiar voice from Schiller came from the door. It was Bucky.
Barnes, the Winter Soldier.
When Stark walked in, Bucky was reading a book. It was not a serious literary book, but a comic, and it was a funny comic from the previous era.
Bucky was obviously surprised to see Stark walking in, but he still put the comic book aside, stood up, and stretched out his robotic arm, wanting to shake hands with Stark, but Stark didn't do it at all.
Ignore him.
Stark looked at the table next to Bucky's hospital bed. There were a lot of medicines on it, so he pointed there with his chin and said, "Did Steve bring it to you?"
Bucky looked back at the various medicines on his table. His expression was still a little stiff, and he didn't seem to be able to express his emotions well, but he still nodded and said, "Yes, Shi
Tiff went to refill my prescription and changed it to a different medicine, which I heard would be better."
Then, the two fell into endless silence. Neither party knew what they were going to say. Stark didn't even know what he was doing here. But after a while, he finally remembered the topic, so he asked:
"I want to ask you if you still remember how you..." Stark paused and took a deep breath. Just when he mustered up the courage to say those words, Bucky looked at him.
The eyes said: "Yes, I remember, I remember every detail, they remain in my memory."
Bucky lowered his head and whispered: "The psychiatrist shattered the mental shackles set by Hydra on me, but at that time, the memories of everything I did stayed in my mind.
There's no way to erase them."
Stark opened his mouth, and he realized that the reason why he could stand here calmly and talk to the murderer of his parents was entirely because of Steve.
Stark actually knew that Steve was under a lot of pressure because he was caught between the blood feud between his two best friends, but he never told anyone, and in essence, this matter had nothing to do with
It didn't matter to him at all, but in the end, it was Steve who was hurt the most.
Howard is not only a friend of Stark, but also a friend of Steve. It can even be said that the relationship between Howard and Stark is a bit awkward, but he and Steve really have the same mind and fight side by side.
His best friend and comrade-in-arms killed another comrade-in-arms, and as a result, decades later, he indirectly injured his comrade-in-arms' son. This series of tragedies weighs on a person, and the pressure can be imagined.
However, Steve never complained, nor did he say to anyone, "Why don't you understand me? Why don't you look at this from my point of view?"
Stark knew that Steve actually didn't want to bring pressure to him. After all, in this matter, Stark was the first living victim.
Just because Steve was willing to be considerate of Stark, Stark was also willing to be considerate of him and chose to ask questions in a more calm way instead of attacking the mental hospital, violently capturing Bucky, and then forcing him to question him.
Bucky also understood this, so before Stark asked, he told the truth:
"At that time, I received an order from a high-level person within Hydra. Of course, I didn't know who issued the order because I was just a killer and they wouldn't let me know too much."
"They ordered me to stop the Starks' car and create a car bomb. At that time, I set a trap on the road. After the car stopped, I jumped on the hood and smashed the car with my fists.
Window glass.”
"At that time, I heard Howard Stark yell, 'Sergeant Barnes?!'."
"He recognized me, but he couldn't stop my next move, because at that time, I could only act according to the order."
Bucky took a deep breath, and the robotic arm gradually turned into a fist. He said: "My fist hit his chest, but it didn't kill him. He pressed a button on the car, and I
I thought he was going to activate the weapon, so I blew up the car's engine..."
"Everything ended in an explosion." Bucky's tone began to tremble: "After the flames extinguished, I stepped forward to confirm whether the mission was completed. Those were indeed the bodies of Mr. and Mrs. Stark."
"Also, I found the remains of a safe box for confidential documents in the trunk, but because the explosion was so violent, there was nothing left."
After saying that, he unclenched his fists, as if he was resigned to his fate and waiting for the trial.
The next second, the Iron Man grabbed his neck and pressed him against the wall. The light on Iron Man's mask showed the indifference and ruthlessness of the machine.
Bucky was able to struggle, but just a second before he was about to pass out due to suffocation, Iron Man heard him squeeze out a word from his throat: "...Thank you."
The next second, Iron Man let go of his arm, Bucky fell to the ground, his head dropped to one side, his mask opened, and Stark stared at Bucky and asked: "Why is it 'thank you'?"
Bucky seemed to have finally collapsed. His mechanical arm pressed against the wall on the other side, his fingertips dug into the wall, and he said in a trembling tone: "If you can kill me, of course I want to thank you. You
Let me accept the trial I deserve, and from now on, I will never have to be tortured again..."
"Since I regained my consciousness, all the scenes in my memory have been playing in my mind. The pleading, crying and death of innocent people have tortured me all the time..."
Bucky paused and then said: "But I know that I can't commit suicide because I still have to support Steve, otherwise, he will become a real loner."
"He doesn't love this era at all. In fact, he has always hoped that he would not wake up."
"Nothing in this era can support him to continue walking, and I must live on and become the same evidence that he has witnessed that era, reminding him that he is not alone, even if he has to face infinity and eternity.
Endless guilt and despair..."
"Of course you should kill me..." Bucky gritted his teeth and said, "Only you can kill me, only you can end all this..."
At this moment, Stark calmed down. He looked down at Bucky sitting on the ground and said, "But I won't do this, not just because I want you to be punished."
"If I kill you, Steve will face such a tragedy again. One of his good friends killed another good friend. As you said, he can no longer bear such a tragedy for the second time.
.”
After speaking, Stark turned around, not looking at Bucky, and tried to calm down.
After a while, he turned back and asked: "Before you killed Howard, what was his expression and his eyes? Tell me every detail and any clues you think are valuable..."
"I'm just a killer, I don't know much..." Bucky, who was sitting on the ground, curled up one of his legs, put his hands on it, lowered his head and said, "It was the winter of 1991, near Christmas, and the base
Many experimenters have gone home for the holidays..."
"An experimental assistant wrote new commands and brainwashing programs into my brain, including Stark's specific travel information."
"How did they get this information?" Stark asked with a frown.
Bucky shook his head and said, "I don't know, but that information is very detailed. Even when he will pass which highway, and which road sign he will pass in minutes and seconds, there is detailed information."
Stark's frown deepened, and Bucky continued: "They set the program. I came on stage when I was supposed to. When I jumped on the hood of the vehicle, Howard didn't show any signs of it."
surprise."
Stark opened his eyes and said: "...What did you say?!"
"I said that he did not show surprise that he was attacked. He would be surprised later because he recognized my identity. He recognized me as 'Bucky Barnes.'"
Then, Bucky turned to look at his robotic arm and said, "I'm not sure, but it seems that at that time, Howard looked at my arm... and showed a surprised and angry emotion."
Stark's brows furrowed deeper and deeper. He didn't know that such details were hidden in the original murder case. What was so special about Bucky's robotic arm? Why did Howard pay attention to it before he died?
On Bucky’s robotic arm?
"When Howard found out that someone was attacking his car, he subconsciously wanted to press the button. I punched him, but it failed to stop him. He had expected all this..."
Stark took a deep breath and said: "How is this possible? Wasn't he attacked for no reason? How could he not hide even though he knew he would be attacked?"
"Perhaps, he had known that such a day would come." Bucky took a deep breath and said, "Hydra in that era was not as easy to deal with as you think now, and Howard Stark has become a thorn in their side.
, a thorn in the flesh, maybe he had already thought that Hydra would kill him."
"Then why didn't he protect himself or seek asylum?" Stark said in confusion: "He knew someone was going to kill him, but he still didn't hide??!!"
Bucky pursed his lips, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he didn't say anything. Stark noticed this, then stared at him and asked: "...What do you want to say?"
Bucky hesitated for a moment, but still said: "Maybe it's not that he doesn't want to hide, but he just can't hide."
Bucky raised his eyes and looked directly into Stark's eyes for the first time, and said to him: "In those days, all those who rushed forward had something behind them that made them unable to hide, unwilling to hide, and even knowing that they would die, they could only
Something to keep moving forward courageously.”
"It was not the times that shaped them, but they built that golden age."