[Steve slides off the couch and onto the floor to sit next to Clint, not trying to offer any comfort beyond his presence.] And yes.
It's Fury's fault for researching that thing, for drawing Loki's attention. SHIELD's fault for trying to hide it. Howard's for pulling it out of the water. Mine, for not burying it with me.
[He inhales around the knot in his chest.] Heck, it's Thor's, his peoples', for leaving it here.
Yeah. Those are technicalities. It doesn't change what happened. But technically I... [He stops, and the next words are a quiet struggle.] Technically, I didn't push my best friend off of a HYDRA train on a run through the mountains. What happened is still in some portion my fault. But the question I've got for you, Agent Barton, is what if it had been someone else? Agent Romanoff, or Hill, or Agent Coulson? Would you rather bear the responsibility for what was done through you, or be left helpless to watch someone you care about blame themselves?
...This is what I know. [He drapes his arms over his knees and rests his head against them.] This is the only thing I'm really sure of, in all this. If you let it destroy you, then Loki. Well. We never beat him at all. If you let him put something broken where you're supposed to be, you never really escaped in the first place.
no subject
[Steve slides off the couch and onto the floor to sit next to Clint, not trying to offer any comfort beyond his presence.] And yes.
It's Fury's fault for researching that thing, for drawing Loki's attention. SHIELD's fault for trying to hide it. Howard's for pulling it out of the water. Mine, for not burying it with me.
[He inhales around the knot in his chest.] Heck, it's Thor's, his peoples', for leaving it here.
Yeah. Those are technicalities. It doesn't change what happened. But technically I... [He stops, and the next words are a quiet struggle.] Technically, I didn't push my best friend off of a HYDRA train on a run through the mountains. What happened is still in some portion my fault. But the question I've got for you, Agent Barton, is what if it had been someone else? Agent Romanoff, or Hill, or Agent Coulson? Would you rather bear the responsibility for what was done through you, or be left helpless to watch someone you care about blame themselves?
...This is what I know. [He drapes his arms over his knees and rests his head against them.] This is the only thing I'm really sure of, in all this. If you let it destroy you, then Loki. Well. We never beat him at all. If you let him put something broken where you're supposed to be, you never really escaped in the first place.