Steve Rogers sat on top of his throne, built from the skeletons of those who stood against him and the things he believed in. He looked over at his favorite decoration in the room, Thor. He had long ago turned the God of Thunder into a form of statue made of glass, but he never got tired of looking at it. It was his first dealing of justice to the super 'heroes.' With the glass Thor he proved that no one was above the law. No one was above HIS law. He had turned Thor into this statue with the Infinity Gauntlet, the ultimate power. He looked down at the Gauntlet, which rested upon his hand. He marveled at how the few beams of sunlight which streamed in made it glint with power and authority.

He held his hand up and focused on his 'Treatment Room,' the room where he held people before they confessed their sins. It was called the Torture Room by those whom Steve Rogers had detained there for it was there that they faced their worst torments and sufferings. It never bothered Steve Rogers that almost all of the confessions came as a direct result of coercion. It only mattered that the innocent were protected from the guilty.

The Space Gem on the Gauntlet sparkled power and he disappeared in a bright flash of light and he reappered in the 'Treatment Room.' Steve Rogers walked over to Nick Fury and looked down upon him. "Colonel Nicholas Fury!" Steve Rogers' voice boomed, "are you ready to confess the sins you have committed against the innocent?"

Col. Nick Fury looked up at Steve Rogers. To be more accurate, he turned his head towards the sound of Rogers' voice. For Rogers knew how much it bothered Col. Fury that he couldn't see properly, and in knowing his hatred, Rogers took out his other eye. So, Col. Fury sat in the 'Treatment Room' with a dirty rag wrapped around his eyes, and heavy chains covering his wrists, keeping him bound to the wall. "The only thing I ever did with the innocent was protect 'em, and you know that Cap."

At the sound of his former title, Steve Rogers flinched back. "Colonel Fury, you know that I no longer go by the quaint name you attempted to shackle me with. It would stand you well to no longer address me by it, this is your final warning."

"I apologize. We gave that name to a young patriot who fought for his country with every breath that he took. And that was one of the few men who I'd take a bullet for, and who I was proud to call my friend. But you ain't him. I won't call you Captain America, not because you asked me to, but because you don't deserve it." Nick Fury turned his head away.

Steve Rogers held the Gauntlet out before him. He looked down at it, then at Col Fury. "How dare you address me in such a manor! Why, I should kill you just for that!" Nick Fury turned his head towards Rogers.

"Go ahead, I ain't got nothin' left to lose.."

"Not until you confess your crimes." An inner rage seemed to fill Col. Fury. He leapt to his feet, he tried to step towards where he last heard Roger's speak, but his chains caught him and painfully jerked him back to the ground. He turned his head upwards, tears fell from behind the dirty rag. They ran down his cheeks, and fell upon the ground. It was the first time Col. Fury could remember crying.

"You want me to admit all the bad things I've done! That it? Well, I'll tell you! When I was fightin' in Korea, one of my soilders got wounded. He was shot in the belly, and he was bleedin' to death. I wrapped him up, and tried to carry him to a safer place. It was a three day journey to the nearest MD, but I swore I would get him there. He kept talkin' to me, beggin' me to kill him and end his pain and sufferin'. He kept tryin' to kill himself, but I kept fixin' him up and all but draggin' him along. When we finally got to the MD, he died. And he cursed me with his dyin' breath. He cursed me for prolongin' his suffering." Tears fell like rain from Col. Fury's face.

"But I wouldn't let him die. Because I was too stubborn. Because, in World War II, I was shot and someone dragged my sorry carcus out of the line of fire and helped me out. And that man, that hero, was Captain America. And in my own small way, I was tryin' to help someone else, the way he helped me."

Steve Rogers stood before Col. Fury. Deep down within his own twisted soul, the part of Rogers' that was still Captain America screamed. But he was too far gone to care now. "What of the men you killed, Colonel Fury? What of their families? You have given the order for thousands, if not millions of people's lives to be destroyed."

Fury looked at the source of Rogers' voice. "I did what I was told to do. To protect the welfare of the country and the very world."

"You have admitted to your crimes, Colonel Nicholas Fury. Now judgement shall be passed. Do you have any final words?"

Col. Nick Fury pulled himself together. He had spent most of his life preparing for the moment when he would face his death. And now that moment was upon him. But he never thought that the harbringer of his doom would come in the form of his closest friend, his only true friend. He got to his knees, and prayed. He prayed for the return of his friend. He prayed that somewhere deep down inside of this tyrannt there still lurked the soul of Captain America. But his prayers were made in vain.

Steve Rogers raised his hand, and with a momentary gleam of light of the Power gem, he brought his hand back down, crushing Col. Fury's skull. Steve Rogers looked around his almost empty "Treatment Room," when he saw a whitered old man lying in the corner. A sadistic grin crossed Steve Rogers' face as he walked over to the wrinkled body of Victor Von Doom.

Victor Von Doom was the second super villian that Rogers imprisioned, the first being the Red Skull. But, Doom had been Steve Rogers prisoner longer than anyone else. For two reasons, one, Doom refused to admit to any real wrong doing. And second, Rogers enjoyed torturing him. The first thing he had done to him was remove his armor. It hurt him more than words could acuratly describe. For it was not like an armor that Doom took off very often. For it had been combined with his skin in a most painful manner. And when it was removed, Victor Von Doom screamed until he lost his voice for years, and even to this day, his voice was still softer and raw than normal.

"Are you ready to confess your sins, Doom?" Steve Rogers' voice trembled with power from the Gauntlet. Doom looked up, his eyes looking out from the darkness that his green cloak allowed him. He looked up and stared into the eyes of a man with the power of a god, a man who was once 'America's greatest hero.'

"Surely you know by now that I will not be broken by your torture, Rogers. I have done nothing to deserve this. I doubt that any man deserves this. For there is nothing that anyone could do to warrent you to treat people like this. Like less than an animal." At this Steve Rogers laughed out loud. "I will not be broken. Not like you twisted and mangled the soul of the Red Skull and everyone else. I will not be broken."

Steve Rogers quieted down, and looked Doom straight in the eyes. "You have already lost. It is only a matter of time until you admit the truth to yourself."

"You hide from yourself," Doomed spoke softly to himself.

"What was that?" Steve Rogers raised the Gauntlet up, making it glow with a tremendous light and power. "What did you say to me?" Doom glanced away, then returned his stare to Steve Rogers. A look of total apathy crossed the scarred remains of his face.

"You hide the good you have done and can do from yourself. You appear to constantly remind yourself that you are doing the right thing, as if you don't believe yourself. I know that deep down within yourself you know what you're doing is wrong. And I know that the hero that you buried so far deep down inside you will return." Saying his peace, Doctor Doom hid his head back inside his cloak.

Steve Rogers threw the cover back, exposing Doctor Doom. Doctor Doom had on a light layer of clothing. It's pure white had long ago been stained by blood, sweat, and even tears. Doom's body looked as if it had just been covered with second and third-degree burns. Doom had long ago learned to shut out pain, it was how he had avoided commiting suicide all the years he had been in Roger's "Treatment Room." But, to have air around him suddenly bombard his body, took a moment to focus out.

Doom got to his feet, and stood up. He had adjusted to the new enviroment and was thriving in it. "I'm not afraid of you Rogers. I never have been, before or after you got that goddamn Gauntlet. There is nothing you could do to me, or show me that would make me tell you want to hear. I will not break!"

Steve Rogers started to smile to himself. "What is so funny, Rogers?" Doom shouted

"Just reliving old memories, mostly about the Fantastic Four. Reed said the same thing. Right before I strecthed him across the Cosmos. I have to admit, he held it together longer than I think anyone could. Sue also cried that she wouldn't help me "betray my friends." I scattered him atoms apart, placing them next to her husband. The Thing, I changed back into a human. I had never seen a man so happy before I clobbered him. The Human Torch, the arrogant bastard that he is, thought he could take me down. He is now acting as the sun in some distant galaxy."

Steve Rogers let loose a gigantic laugh. "And then the New Fantastic Four came my way, trying to stop me. Here was Logan, the Hulk, Ghost Rider, and Spider-Man trying to take me down. That battle was mere child's play. I ripped out Wolverine's adamantium skeleton and made it slice and dice him. The Hulk, not that is one of my masterpieces. He apparently had all these different personalities running around inside him, it only took some simple nudging to get his personalities to attack each other. He ripped his own head in half after a few short moments. Ghost Rider, all I had to do was rip the Spirit of Vengance from his soul. And Spider-Man, well, I actually don't know if he's dead or alive. And I don't really care, I shrunk him down to the size of a bug, and left him." Steve Rogers looked expectingly at Doom.

"Do you feel that you need my permission to feel good about destroying others?" Doom looked up at Steve Rogers, quickly analizing him. "That proves that you don't like the path you've taken. You want a companion to share all your war stories with. A man who knows pain and death, and will tell you that thing's are looking up. Well, I am no such man. Steve Rogers had such a friend in Nick Fury, but look at him now."

Steve Rogers looked over at the corpse of Col. Fury, a pool of blood lying around his collapsed skull. A ting of pain and remorse touched Steve Rogers deep within him. He looked back at Doom, seeing the crippled and burnt man that laid before him. He tried to imagine Doom as the dictator of Latriva, not this weakened man. Steve Rogers tried to remember all the times that deep down inside he wished that Doom would die, so as not to hurt anyone anymore. Steve couldn't do it. He only saw a scared battered man, and that hurt him more than any weapon could.

"I need your opinon on nothing!" Steve burst out, hoping to cover the fact that he agreed with Doom. "I did what I did because it suited me. Not to gain favor with you." Steve Rogers took a deep breath, allowing himself to be calm again.

"Doing what suited you? I thought you only did what was right, what was just." Steve Rogers blinked.

"You ask of justice? I AM justice! It is I who protects the innocents, and the defensless. Without me, the world would have been engulfed by anarchy long ago!"

"Are you trying to convince me, or yourself?" Steve Rogers looked deep within Doom's eyes. And over his knuckles, the Mind Gem glowed a dull light.

"Let us go."

"Go where?"

"To the place where the ultimate justice is served. The place you were thinking of only a moment ago. Let us go to Hell." Steve Rogers held his hand up, the Space Gem glowed an eerie shade and with a bright flash of light, they vanished.

When Doom's senses returned to him he noticed that he was standing amongst the fiery landscape of Hell. But, despite the savage heat that surrounded Doom, he only felt the cold touch of metal against his bare skin. He looked down, and saw a sight he had longed to see for a long time, his armor. Doom looked from side to side, hoping that Steve Rogers was nowhere to be found, and that this was only a delusion caused by Hell. But over a hill came Steve Rogers, the Gauntlet gleaming from the fire that danced all over the place.

"Alright, we are here. This was the place you were thinking of when we were talking, what was so important about it?" Steve Rogers asked.

"You said it youself Rogers. This is the place of ultimate judgement. This is a place where our inner demons wait to haunt us. I wonder how many demons you posses, Rogers."

"No demon haunts me. The only Spectre that viists me are the souls that thank me for avenging them." Steve Rogers smiled proudly.

"Do you know what frightens me, Rogers?" At the sound of a confession from Doom, Steve Rogers leans closer to better hear. "The fact that you probably believe that. That's what frightens me." Doom looked away from Steve Rogers, who was starting to boil with rage.

Rogers punched Doom in the face. The blow caused Doom to fall to the ground. "Shut up! It's true! I avenge the people who were slaughtered by you and your kind. I will make you pay for every life you destroyed and every hope you crashed." Steve Rogers went into a frenzy on Doom. He started beating him violently. Doom's armor helped, but not by much, old wounds opened and bleed anew. "I will not allow you to destrub the peace that I created!" Steve Rogers stood, hunched over, breathing heavily.

Stiffling a scream, Doom looked up at Captain America. He gained his peaceful state-of-mind and stood up. He walked over to Steve Rogers and looked him straight in the eyes. "I get it now. All these years, I thought you had me pinned down there to hear your sob stories and your whinning. But I was wrong. You held me captive to enforce a peace. A Pax Americana. A place where no defiedthe law, and where you were the law." Steve Rogers continued breathing heavily, but said nothing.

"In that case, just leave me here. I'd rather know I was in Hell, then being tricked into thinking I was in paradise." Doom sat down on the ground and looked out over the abyss of souls that lay on the corner of Hell. "Leave! I don't wish to see you again!"

"It matters not what you wish, little man! For I posess the Infinity Gauntlet! And while I still wear it, you will do as I command!"

Doom glared back at Rogers.

"The Inifinity Gauntlet? You used to posess more than that. You used to posses a soul, and what a truly noble soul it was. That was what I admired about you, how noble and honorable you were. But now I know, that man was killed. The man named Captain America was killed by you Rogers. He suffocated when you put on that damn Gauntlet." Doom looked back into the abyss of Hell.

Deep down with the blackened heart of Steve Rogers there stirred a piece of Captain America that hadn't died. The peace that never could be destroyed, in fact, it is what made Steve Rogers into Captain America in the first place. That thing was hope, for the first time in years, Steve Rogers felt hope about becoming human again. He looked down at the Gauntlet, and knew that he must take it off for him to reclaim his lost humanity. Yet, the more he tried to remove it, the more he found himself wanting to clench it tighter. And then, Steve Rogers knew, the only way to be comfortable with being the monster he had become was to kill Doom.

Steve Rogers raised his hand, made a fist, and pointed it at Doom. Doom turned around and saw Rogers' fist pointing at him. All Doom could do was release of sigh releif. "Soon," Doom thought to himself, "it will be over." Doom closed his eyes and prepared himself for something that never happened.

Steve Rogers held his fist, so that his knuckles were pointing at Doom's head. He thought of energy, of a blast of pure energy that would kill Doom. The Gem on his fist glowed, and then Steve Rogers saw something, or someone, behind him. Steve Rogers turned and saw the figure of a friend he had thought long since gone. He saw the red and blue of the costume that belonged to his former sidekick, Bucky.

In the eyes of Bucky there was a sight of joy and hapiness as he remembered Captain America. Tears that had been saved since World War II came gushing out, running along his cheeks. Steve Rogers looked at his former sidekick and felt something deep within him stir again, this time much more violently. And, in one final move, Steve Rogers pointed at Bucky in disbelief.

Unfortunatly, energy that is put into motion cannot be stopped once put into motion, unless by hitting an object. In this instance, the energy created to destroy the brilliant mind of Victor von Doom was used instead to incinerate the innocent heart of Bucky Jones.

And with the dying scream of Bucky there was the scream of Captain America being reborn. Captain America ran to the body of Bucky and picked him up, cradling Bucky against his chest. Steam rose from the hole in Bucky's chest. The tears that fell from Captain America's face mixed with the blood which oozed out of Bucky's wound.

Captain America's deepest dream had come true, Bucky had been brought back to him. Steve Roger's worst nightmare had also become a reality, for this time it was he who was responsible for Bucky's death. Steve Rogers grinded his teeth in anger and the Gauntlet exploded in a masochistic energy pulse.

With a loud clang the Infinity Gauntlet fell to the ground. Captain America fell to his knees, Bucky's body laying on the ground before him, and it was there that Captain America stayed and mourned the dead.