Storytime with Rachel F Hundred

Chapter Eleven: Strategic Talks

Plan A

“Boss, Captain Rogers is requesting entrance into the workshop.”

Tony looked up from his soldering and found Rogers lurking beyond the clear door of his workshop. He wondered for a long moment why Rogers had sought him out. The former Captain America had turned up at the Compound the previous evening with only a duffle bag for company. Tony had greeted him courteously before turning him over to Sam and Natasha to get him settled.

“Let him in.” Tony said.

The door slid open and Rogers made his way inside, nodding a greeting to Tony. He came to a stop on the other side of the work bench and shifted into an almost ‘at ease’ pose; hands behind his back.

“Tony,” Rogers began, “thank you for seeing me.”

“All settled in?” asked Tony politely as he turned off the soldering iron and checked on his work.

“Yes, thank you.” Rogers cleared his throat. “I’ve been reviewing the plans with Thor and Colonel Rhodes and we think it would be good to have a briefing with everyone.”

Tony nodded. “Tell FRIDAY the details and she’ll make the arrangements.”

“I’d also like to propose some changes and discuss them.” Rogers continued.

Tony removed the soldering gloves and leaned back against the bench behind him. “Specifically?”

Rogers waited a moment as though judging Tony’s sincerity before he cleared his throat. “There’s an assumption that Thanos will go after the infinity stones.”

“Yes.” Tony said, curious about where Rogers was going with that.

“You’ve divided our forces into teams to protect each stone.” Steve confirmed. “There’s a group scheduled to guard and protect Vision and the mind stone. One team to protect Strange and the time stone.”

“That’s right.” Tony nodded.

“So the entire plan is to protect the stones Thanos doesn’t have.” Rogers summarised. “What about us taking the stones he does have?”

“A counter-attack?” Tony tilted his head to the side as he considered it. “We’ve always gone on the assumption that Thanos was too powerful to take on directly. Given the knowledge and the experience the Guardians have…” he shrugged, “survival has been the goal.”

“Which I get, absolutely, and I’m not saying we don’t follow the current plan in lots of ways.” Rogers said earnestly. “I just think we’re missing a trick. He’s going to underestimate us. He’s reliant on Loki for his intel and Thor believes Loki will tell him what Loki believes; that Hulk was the big hitter and the rest of us are beatable. We can use that.”

Tony leaned back against the bench and gestured at Rogers. “What’s your plan?”

“Small strike team.” Rogers answered promptly. “If we go after the stones with a sizeable force he’ll see us coming and move to protect them more. A small team can infiltrate his side and search out the stones.”

“You’d need to get intelligence on where he’s keeping the stones.” Tony pointed out. “Otherwise it won’t succeed.”

“Uh, the green lady, um…”

“Gamora?” prompted Tony amused at Roger’s stumbling.

“Yes,” Rogers breathed out, “she says that Thanos is likely to bring the stones with him. Whatever place or ship he uses, where he bases himself would hold the stones.”

“And who would you assign to the mission?” asked Tony.

Rogers straightened. “I’d like to take Natasha and Sam. We’re used to working together. Natasha has the stealth skills and Sam can provide air support. I’d take Gamora too is she’s willing for inside knowledge and having seen her spar with Natasha this morning I know she can hold her own.”

“Right.”

Tony would be more surprised about the non-mention of Barnes if Rogers hadn’t already confirmed that Barnes had requested to stay in Wakanda to repay T’Challa for his protection.

“Sounds like a reasonable idea to me but I expect the panel will want to establish some kind of boundaries of engagement.” Tony said.

Rogers frowned. “If I see an opportunity to take the stones…”

“That’s the point; you’re making this about your best judgement.” Tony said firmly, cutting in. “You, Natasha and Sam have a history of causing collateral damage,” he held up a hand when Rogers opened his mouth to argue, “remember Lagos? Or how about DC? You and Sam have been unwilling to agree to oversight. You run off and do this without their knowledge or outside of the boundaries they’ll set, and you’ll lose any goodwill for you, Wilson and Barnes when this is over.”

Rogers grimaced but he lifted his chin. “I expect to be included in negotiating the boundaries they’ll want me to operate within.”

Tony gave a quick nod. “That sounds fair. I’ll support your proposal.”

“Thank you.” Rogers took a step back, clearing intending to leave with his purpose in visiting completed.

Tony didn’t stop him. He watched as Rogers walked away until he was out of sight. He rubbed a hand over his face.

It was fine, he told himself sternly. He and Rogers had been civil.

It was fine.

It was…not fine.

He ignored the churning in his belly and picked up the soldering iron. Maybe it wasn’t fine, but he needed to focus on what could be fixed, not on what perhaps had never worked to begin with.

Plan Z

“I really don’t see why we have to do this.” Steve argues as Natasha straightens his tie.

They’re waiting in a small antechamber in the Senate for the Committee on Extraordinary Events to start its latest session.

“Checks and balances? Constitution? ‘We, the people’? Any of that ring any bells for you, Cap?” Tony says as he absently sends another text to JARVIS.

Neither Steve nor Natasha have approached him yet with the truth about Barnes and his parents but he’s going to wait and see if they do this time. JARVIS had immediately found the footage and a list of the Winter Soldier’s kills in the downloaded HYDRA data since he was already looking for it. Tony has had JARVIS delete the information from the public arena although he knows he wasn’t quick enough to prevent it from being seen completely. Still, it might stop someone like Zemo finding out in the future.

“Of course, it does, it’s just…” Steve flounders as Natasha pats his chest and smiles at him.

“As we’ve discussed before, Captain, consider this just another formal debrief.” Coulson says. As the new Director of SHIELD, he’s already been through his own set of Committee hearings, which have concluded that Fury stepping down was good and Coulson has a mandate to clean house, maybe with more scrutiny than he would have wanted but less than Coulson had feared.

Coulson has also been an extremely good ally in getting Steve and Natasha to understand that they needed to attend their own hearings and take responsibility for what went down.

Steve takes a deep breath and nods. “I guess.”

Tony also recognises that his own willingness to oversight has set a precedent just as he’d hoped, and Coulson hasn’t been shy about pointing that out and holding Tony up as a good example to Steve and Natasha. He’d had to excuse himself from the discussion at that point to find a bathroom and laugh hysterically.

The Committee room is packed as Tony takes his place in the first row of the public seats. Clint is next to him on the aisle, smartly dressed in a three-piece grey suit, married with a pale purple shirt and a deeper purple tie with a gold spider pin. Bruce is in the other seat beside Tony, looking deeply uncomfortable in a new Tom Ford suit. He’s eschewed the tie and wears his shirt open at the neck. Thor and Jane sit beyond Bruce; Thor in a tailored suit and shirt from Saville Row and Jane in a smart pant suit by a designer Pepper had recommended. They’d all agreed with Tony that they’d needed to look professional and smart.

Steve had reluctantly agreed to the same, but Tony thinks he was relieved when Coulson had confirmed he was entitled to wear his Army uniform. Steve’s uniform is still tailored but it matches the green service uniform of every soldier in the US Army. Sam is wearing his Air Force version and the two of them make an impressive sight.

Natasha had no problems with the suggestion to be smart. She’d finally settled on a sleek dark grey dress, sleeveless but with a high neckline and a thin black belt. Her accessories are carefully selected from the clutch bag to the shoes to her jewellery which is limited to a single necklace of an arrow charm. She’s chosen muted make-up which softens her features and has pinned her hair up into an elegant chignon and added feathered bangs seemingly overnight.

Coulson sits beside Natasha as the Senate Committee hearing is called to order.

Tony listens with interest as Steve reads the prepared statement which SHIELD legal have already confirmed as acceptable. It essentially claims that Steve and Natasha went to ground on Fury’s advice after being attacked, both in recovering the computer core and investigating the link to Camp Lehigh. It confirms that they’d taken shelter with Sam, before their plan to find out more about HYDRA had hit a Winter Soldier bump in the road. They confirm Maria Hill and Fury had helped them escape from HYDRA and the five of them had come up with the plan to destroy the helicarriers and reveal HYDRA to the world.

Steve places the statement on the table in front of him and looks back up at the waiting Senators. Tony tries not to feel nervous but he’s too aware that Steve’s tone has slipped into his ‘Captain America knows best’ righteousness which won’t play well with the politicians.

Senator Gibson leans forward. “Thank you for your statement. I’ll open the floor to questions beginning with Senator Hall.”

Hall, a fifty-something Democrat with steel-grey hair and sharp brown eyes, leans forward. “As of this morning, the fatality list associated with these events reached one hundred and twenty-two. Of these hundred and twenty-two fatalities, only thirty-eight have been identified as HYDRA. Many of these deaths occurred in the immediate moments after your company-wide announcement revealing HYDRA had infiltrated SHIELD. Most occurred because the HYDRA agents moved to eliminate the SHIELD agents they were with. Over half are associated with the helicarrier crash into SHIELD headquarters. What is your justification for this loss of life?”

Steve clears his throat. “We believed that the helicarrier would likely be staffed with HYDRA agents given the importance of executing Project Insight. Unfortunately, there was no way to warn the SHIELD agents without also notifying HYDRA.”

“We obviously regret the loss of life.” Natasha adds, quick enough that Tony knows she’s recognised Steve’s lack of acknowledgement is not good but slow enough that it doesn’t look too much like she’s trying to make-up for Steve.

“I’m not sure it is obvious.” Hall states harshly.

She sits back though and the next few questions are softballs; clarifications for the sequence of events or just a repeat of information already in the public domain.

Senator Burbridge is an older Republican, an Army veteran with a respected Congressional record. His fierce glare doesn’t bode well. “Tell me, Technical Sergeant Wilson, how did you acquire the EXO-7 technology?”

Tony can see how Steve straightens as Sam admits they had appropriated it from an Army base.

“You admit that you broke into a Fort Meade and stole the EXO-7 technology. Your collective statement read by Captain Rogers states that the technology was damaged in a fight with the Winter Soldier and lost when the helicarrier went down.” Burbridge states unequivocally. “Give me one good reason why this Committee should not recommend your immediate arrest.”

Sam’s back looks stiff as a board. “I regret the loss of the technology but going through proper channels may have alerted HYDRA and we needed it to provide us with an advantage in stopping HYDRA’s plan to launch the helicarriers as weapons of mass destruction.”

“It was my decision.” Steve says supportively.

Burbridge raises one bushy eyebrow. “You take full responsibility for the theft and the loss of the technology, Captain Rogers?”

“Yes.” Steve says.

“I assume then you are aware that the technology was worth an estimated one point two million dollars and you intend to reimburse the government to that amount.” Burbridge states bluntly.

Steve stills. “I’m afraid I don’t have that kind of money, Senator.”

“Then perhaps you’ll forfeit your assets and pay for as long as it takes to repay the value.” Burbridge retorts.

“If the money is more important to you and the rest of the Committee than winning the fight against HYDRA I’ll agree to that.” Steve shoots back.

Gibson intervenes before Burbridge can explode. “Captain Rogers, Senator Burbridge; I’ll remind you both this is an open hearing and a respectful tone is expected. Senator, your time is about to expire.”

Burbridge visibly takes a breath. “I have no other questions.”

His friend Senator Elizabeth Partridge is next in line. “I’d like to continue questions around the EXO-7.” She smiles shark-like at Steve. “Captain Rogers, why did you feel you needed the EXO-7 technology?”

“Sam – Technical Sergeant Wilson volunteered to assist us and we needed his help.” Steve begins. “When he shared his background the advantage of the EXO-7 was clear; it would enable us to have air-support against the helicarriers and it would not be expected by our enemy.”

“Well, I have two follow-up questions then, kind of both related.” Partridge replies. “One: why did you need Mister Wilson’s help in particular? While you worked for SHIELD, you’ve also been part of a wider team, the Avengers, in fighting two alien attacks on our planet. Why not seek help from your Avenger team-mates? And two: in the same vein, Tony Stark’s Iron Man technology has clear advantages over the EXO-7. Prince Thor of Asgard also has the ability to fly. Wouldn’t they have provided you with a greater advantage in respect to air support?”

Tony can’t deny that he’s kind of interested in the answer himself.

“This wasn’t an alien attack.” Steve replies passionately. “Director Fury had stated in his early warning to trust nobody. We followed his lead and guidance which limited who we could contact.”

“You say you followed Director Fury’s statement to trust nobody. Did you or do you suspect the other Avengers of being linked in some way to HYDRA?” asks Partridge.

“Of course not. That’s not what I said.” Steve responds heatedly.

“Then why were they considered untrustworthy?” presses Partridge. “You were on the run, hiding from the authorities, knowing this great secret about SHIELD being infiltrated by HYDRA; you were planning an attack on SHIELD headquarters and to engage HYDRA, and you are telling me it didn’t occur to you to once pick up a phone and ask for support from the rest of the Avengers?”

Natasha rescues Steve. “We discussed it but believed they would be under surveillance and contacting them would result in alerting HYDRA to our position and plan. While Steve had become friends with Sam Wilson, he was unlikely to be watched and could, if you’ll excuse the pun, fly under the radar.”

The joke causes a momentary twitter of chuckles and lightens the tense atmosphere.

Partridge sits back; her point has been made and while Natasha’s words have helped answer the main question, Tony knows the substantive point of Steve and Natasha not reaching out to the Avengers will resonate with the watching media.

The next Senator is Tom McGraw an elderly gentleman from Arizona. He sits forward and holds up a piece of paper. “This is your statement. I’ve read this statement several times. I heard you read it and I still don’t understand what in the Sam Hill you were thinking either strategically or tactically.”

He puts the paper down and picks up a folder.

“This is the combined report from the DOD panel which has oversight on the Iron Man, and the UN’s after-action report on the mission they authorised Mister Stark to perform once alerted to the fact that HYDRA was attempting a coup within SHIELD and intended to use the helicarriers for their own purposes. This lists out the tactical actions Mister Stark made to take control of the satellites and to ground the helicarriers from being launched. Now I’m not a computer savvy man but I understand prevention of an attack is a solid tactic.”  

Tony wonders where McGraw is going with his point.

“I also understand that when the helicarriers were launched ahead of schedule due to your attack on SHIELD headquarters,” McGraw continues, “Tony Stark was able to contain two outright and prevent the third from connecting with the satellite. I also understand that he intervened to prevent widescale collateral damage to SHIELD’s intelligence network and personnel, to the national security of this nation, by stepping in and containing the information dump to the internet. I know he and the other Avengers stepped in to help rescue those trapped in the rubble, to take into custody those identified as HYDRA, and to support relief and recovery efforts in the days which followed.”

“Senator McGraw,” Gibson says kindly, “is there a question coming because you’re almost out of time.”

“There’s a question.” McGraw says, waving the folder at the Chair before turning back to the table in front of him. “Here’s my question: why did you plan such a blatant frontal assault which strategically and tactically didn’t make any sense?”

Steve actually squirms in his seat. “Firstly, let me say I’m grateful to Tony and the rest of my fellow Avengers for their assistance and support in preventing Insight from happening and in helping in the aftermath. In respect to your question, it was my belief that HYDRA needed to be dragged into the light; a covert operation to prevent their plan still kept them hidden and without proof of their existence and their actions being shown to everyone, they would be able to steal back into the shadows. Our strategy was to give them no place to hide.”

“It’s questionable whether you achieved your aim, but it also sounds like you disagree with Director Coulson and Doctor Stark’s tactics to contain the situation?” McGraw asks brusquely.

“Not at all.” Steve states firmly. “In retrospect, working to keep HYDRA’s plan from being executed and the helicarriers on the ground gave us a clear advantage. However, even if we had thought of it, no-one in our group had that level of skill in computers.”

“And we’ve already heard how reluctant you were to approach your team-mates and why your efforts were not coordinated.” McGraw sat back with a huff.

“I’d like to change direction if I may.” Senator Lou Biggleton the Third is a rotund Southern gentleman. He smiles and mops the sweat from his brow. “You claim in your statement that the HYDRA assassin known as the Winter Soldier is actually Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes. You state you engaged him in hand to hand combat on the helicarrier which ultimately crashed. You claim having beaten you and thrown you off the helicarrier, that the Winter Soldier rescued you from a watery grave proving that he regained some of his former self in that moment despite your being unconscious through the event. You admit that he went missing in the aftermath and is still at large.” He mops his brow again. “Forgive me stating the obvious, but why were you unable to apprehend such a dangerous individual?”

Natasha shifts drawing the attention away from Steve. “From the information we’ve been able to obtain, Sergeant Barnes had been subjected to experimental serum not unlike the super-soldier serum invented by Doctor Erskine. HYDRA’s own records show Barnes was subjected to intensive brain-washing and training over a number of years in between cryogenic stasis. Steve, Captain America, is a naturally gifted soldier; he’s trained with SHIELD since his recovery in a number of fighting techniques but his practical experience is less than a full year. It’s not illogical to conclude that right now the Winter Soldier is a match for Captain America.”

“A pretty argument by a pretty lady,” the Senator says, “but I believe my question was directed at Captain Rogers.”

Steve straightens, and Tony can guess what he’s going to say. “Bucky is an innocent man who HYDRA has used as a weapon for years. He deserves a chance to come home.”

“Did you make any attempt to apprehend him, Captain Rogers?” asks Biggleton directly.

“I talked with him and tried to break through the brainwashing and I succeeded.” Steve says defensively.

“Because he saved you from the river, although we have limited proof of this beyond your own word and certainly the medical view of your condition on being admitted to hospital indicates that if you hadn’t been found by the hikers who came across you, your injuries may have been fatal despite your healing factor.” Biggleton mops his brow again.

Steve says nothing but Tony observes how Natasha inches closer and Sam bumps his shoulder gently.

The hearing room is unusually silent.

“I ask again, Captain Rogers; did you make any attempt to apprehend him?” Biggleton says almost kindly.

“I attempted to prevent him from arming the helicarrier with the algorithm to locate known individuals who had been targeted by HYDRA.” Steve answers eventually. “But to answer your question; no, my objective was to rescue Bucky and bring him home, not to apprehend him like he’s some criminal. He doesn’t deserve to be treated like that.”

“And his victims? Do they not deserve justice?” Biggleton’s eyes flicker to Tony – and Tony suddenly knows he and JARVIS as quick as they’d been, hadn’t been quick enough.

Steve doesn’t seem to notice that Biggleton’s attention has momentarily moved to Tony. “Bucky was brainwashed to perform as the Winter Soldier. It wasn’t his fault; it was HYDRA.”

“I believe that will be cold comfort for the loved ones of the people he assassinated.” Biggleton picks up a piece of paper. “I have a list here from the original HYDRA download copied to the CIA intelligence servers almost instantaneously. It lists over one hundred people who died at the hands of the Winter Soldier and I…”

Gibson coughs. “My apologies, Senator, but you are out of time.”

“With the Chair’s permission, I’ll sacrifice my time and give it to my esteemed colleague from South Carolina.” The next Senator says quickly. “I believe his questioning has merit.”

Gibson nods. “Senator Biggleton, you may continue.”

“I thank my colleague.” Biggleton focuses again on Steve. “Captain Rogers, were you aware of this list prior to confronting the Winter Soldier?”

“Yes.” Steve admits.

Biggleton hums. He raises his head and looks out again towards Tony.

Steve suddenly seems to realise his intent and half-turns, but Natasha places a hand on his arm to stop him.

“Mister Stark, I apologise for the public nature of this query, but are you aware that the Winter Soldier killed your parents Howard and Maria Stark?”

There’s a shocked gasp around the Committee room; Steve bows his head as Natasha looks beseechingly at Tony.

Tony slowly stands, ignoring Natasha. He clears his throat and tries to speak but his throat closes up.

It’s old news to him.

More than old news.

It’s a timeline ago and too many years to count since he’d learnt the truth in a Siberian bunker. It shouldn’t hurt as much as it does. It shouldn’t matter that Steve’s silence has hurt Tony for a second time.

He takes in a sharp breath and is suddenly aware that Clint is rising to his feet and Bruce…he waves them back down.

Tony takes another breath and focuses on Biggleton. “I am aware.”

“Do you share the belief that the Winter Soldier should be granted a free pass on the assassinations conducted by him as Captain America proposes?” asks Biggleton.

One of the Senators protests but Gibson refuses their objection and directs Tony to answer.

Tony avoids Steve’s gaze.

“I’m still…coming to terms with the news. But…” he sighs, trying to collect his thoughts into something which won’t damage them beyond all hope of saving their world from Thanos, “I know what it is to be tortured and held captive just for a few months never mind years. I…I wouldn’t wish that on anyone. James Buchanan Barnes was a war hero, is a war hero. My father used to tell me stories about…” he breaks off because his throat closes up again, his emotions racing. His mind can’t help replaying the damned video; Barnes hitting his father, strangling his mother.

Tony can’t quite focus. It shouldn’t matter to him.

Not now.

Not after so many years but it’s like he’s back in the bunker and Steve is in front of him, lying to him, fighting him…his shield coming down on him…he can’t breathe…

Someone is talking but Tony can’t make out the words.

Thor stands up. “You will cease this questioning.”

Clint is on his feet and his arm is protectively bracing Tony’s back.

There’s noise – words, a jumble of sounds which Tony hears but can’t comprehend.

He looks around trying to find something to anchor him and Steve’s eyes meet his, guilty but defiant just like before…

Tony allows Clint to guide him out of the hearing and into an empty room. His knees buckle and take him to the floor and he huddles against a wall, desperately trying to catch his breath.

“Easy, Tony.” Bruce is beside him, one hand on Tony’s shoulder, his other taking his pulse. “Breathe slowly; in through your nose, out through your mouth.”

Breathing.

Breathing would be good.

Tony follows Bruce’s calm instructions.

“Pepper.” Tony finally manages to say.

Clint presses a phone into his hand and the next thing he hears is her voice.

“I’m on my way.” Pepper says. “I’m getting into the car; Happy’s driving. We’re on our way, Tony.”

“You’ll stay on the phone?” asks Tony, trying to sound like he doesn’t need her to stay on the phone and needing her to stay on the phone so much it physically hurts.

“I’ll stay on the phone.” Pepper promises. “How about I talk you through the request Reed Richards sent me yesterday?”

“That’s…that’s unusual torture.” Tony tries to joke but he’s too relieved to really mean it. He closes his eyes and listens to her, and tries not to worry that the Avengers might be broken beyond repair again.

Chapter Twelve: Problem Solving

Plan A

“Boss, there’s an incoming video call for you from Wakanda.” FRIDAY’s announcement pulled Tony out of the latest update to Spiderkid’s suit. The web-slinger was going to need more protection since he’d turned up and told Tony he was joining them for the fight with Thanos.

Tony idly wondered what T’Challa wanted. “On screen.”

The screensaver of his latest car on the monitor closest to him disappeared and was replaced with the image of James Buchanan Barnes.

The former Winter Soldier looked back at Tony. “Mister Stark.”

“Tony.” Tony said swiftly, pushing down his surprise. “Mister Stark was my father.”

They both freeze and stare at each other.

“That wasn’t…” Tony sighed. “I didn’t mean to…”

“It’s fine.” Barnes said quickly. “If anything, you’re the one who has the right to be upset about…that.”

Tony swallowed and sat down on the nearby chair. He picked up a stress ball almost absentmindedly and decided ignoring it was probably the way to go. “So what can I do for you today?”

“The Wakandans need air support.” Barnes said bluntly.

Tony caught the ball and stared at Barnes. “They have incredibly advanced fighter jets.”

“And incredibly inexperienced fighter pilots.” Barnes pointed out. “Their Air Force is used to patrols, exercises, but they’ve never been tested in an all-out dogfight.”

“So you want us to send air support with experience.” Tony concluded.

Barnes nodded. “I can fly but it’s not my expertise.”

There was another uncomfortable moment as they both seemed to remember exactly what Barnes’ expertise was and how it had been used to kill the Starks.

“I’ll discuss it with the others and come up with some names.” Tony said, although he figured Rhodey would be the obvious choice. Not only could be provide practical air support during any fight but he had the career experience to lead a more traditional air strike. But he hated the idea of Rhodey being half a world away from him even if he knew tactically it made sense. Maybe Clint was another option; he was a good pilot.

“I’ll inform T’Challa.” Barnes said. He made no move to end the call and he shifted almost imperceptibly as though discomfited.

Tony raised an eyebrow in silent query.

“The other reason I wanted to call…I wanted to say that…I’m sorry.” Barnes kept his gaze direct but it was clear it wasn’t easy for him. “I can’t…I know there’s nothing I could ever say or do to make it right. But I wanted you to know that I…I am sorry for your loss, for the pain I caused you.”

Tony wanted to just end the call; to reach out and cut the connection. He didn’t want to talk about it; didn’t want to acknowledge it. His parents were dead and they’d been murdered by the man who gazed back at him with genuine regret and remorse shining from his trying to be stoic face. But they hadn’t, had they? His parents hadn’t been murdered by James Barnes. They’d been murdered by the Winter Soldier; a construct, a weapon created by HYDRA.

“It wasn’t your fault.” And for the first time the words feel right to Tony. “But…thank you.”

Barnes nods quickly and looks away; there’s a glimmer of tears but they’re gone by the time he turns back to the screen. “I want to…I want to apologise for Siberia and…”

Tony waved his hand at the screen. “Don’t.” He grimaced. “That wasn’t…you were defending yourself and Rogers. It wasn’t my finest moment.”

“I think finding out the way you did…I don’t blame you.” Barnes said. “If we’d been alone I’d probably have let you have your shot at me.”

“It’s just as well Rogers was there then.” Tony replied, trying to keep the bitterness out of his voice and fearing he’d failed.

Barnes shook his head. “Steve’s…he got in the middle of something that was between us. I wasn’t…I should have stopped him, I shouldn’t have fought back, but I couldn’t let Stevie be hurt because of me and…” he sighed heavily, “in the end everything was screwed up.”

Tony nodded slowly. “I think everything was screwed up sums the whole thing up pretty well.”

Barnes’ lips twitched and something eased in his posture. “About you and Steve…”

Tony held up a hand. “You shouldn’t get in the middle of that, Barnes.”

Barnes nodded slowly. “I had to try.”

Tony hummed under his breath. “So, air support. I’ll get back to you and His Kittiness as soon as I can, Barnes.”

Barnes let the obvious change of subject slide. “It’s James, and…thank you, Tony.”

They were silent for a beat; both recognising the shared sense of resolution. James leaned forward and the monitor returned to the picture of the car.

Tony closed his eyes for a moment before he got up. “FRIDAY, ask Rhodey, Clint and Thor to come down to discuss Wakanda’s request.”

“Will do, Boss.” FRIDAY said perkily.

Tony put the ball down and cleared his throat. “Invite Rogers too.”

Maybe he couldn’t fix what was broken but if he and James could come to an understanding, maybe there was some kind of a hope that he and Rogers – he and Steve could eventually come to terms.

Plan Z

Tony takes a deep breath. He smooths down his silk ruby red tie and adjusts the cuffs of his dark grey Armani suit. The tailored pink shirt has cufflinks which were Pepper’s engagement gift to him; gold with rubies, his Iron Man colours. He takes another deep breath and checks his appearance in the mirror of his bathroom.

“I can do this.” He tells his image firmly.

“Captain Rogers has arrived with Mister Wilson and Agent Romanov. They have been shown to the main conference room with the other Avengers, sir.” JARVIS informs him almost gently.

Pepper appears in the bathroom doorway. She looks beautiful in a tailored cream suit with a ruby blouse which matches his tie. “Ready?”

“Aren’t I always?” he jokes.

Pepper gives him a knowing look. “You don’t have to do this.”

Tony shakes his head. “There’s too much at stake for us to be divided over something which happened decades ago.”

As it was the hearings had been suspended for a week and SI has been battling a media frenzy in the past couple of days since Tony’s very public meltdown in the Committee chamber. Pepper had put out a press statement but it hadn’t done much to prevent the media dissecting the event every which way they could.

“Nobody would blame you.” Pepper says as she moves to stand behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist and cuddling into him. “He and Romanov are shitty people not telling you themselves.”

“I’ve been a shitty person myself.” Tony says, meeting her eyes in the mirror. “You gave me a second chance.”

“I love you.” Pepper points out.

Tony shifts, turning around and hugging her. He pulls back and rests his forehead on hers for a long moment. “Love you too.”

Pepper kisses him sweetly. “You’re a good man, Tony.”

Rhodey raps on the bathroom doorframe. “Are you two done canoodling?”

“We’ll never be done.” Tony says, not letting Pepper go but loosening his hold so she can turn and smile at his best friend.

“I want to say you don’t have to do this, Tony,” Rhodey says, looking grim and determined in his Air Force blues, “but after what you saw in the portal I know why you can’t just drop them.”

Tony nods. “There’s a bigger threat out there than the Chitauri, Rhodey. I won’t – I can’t let this break the Avengers apart when I know we’re going to be needed.”

Rhodes sighs. “You know we have your back.”

Tony smiles. “I know.”

Pepper and Rhodey walk with him through the penthouse and into the elevator. They step off at the executive floor of SI and make their way to the conference room. They can hear the faint murmur of voices beyond the wooden door but Pepper opens it briskly and ushers Rhodey and Tony inside before closing it firmly behind her.

Silence falls immediately over the gathered Avengers.

Tony isn’t surprised to find Coulson also in the room, sat at the far end of the table with Maria Hill. They’re accompanied by an Asian woman who’d been introduced to him once as Agent Melinda May. Her stony expression had encouraged him to keep it straight with her.

Bruce sits with his back to the window, dressed down in jeans and a plain button-down shirt. Clint is in black combat pants and a black t-shirt; he’s taken up a standing position beside the window looking out as though checking for threats. Thor stands beside Bruce, his muscular arms folded over a t-shirt which proclaims his love for smart girls.

Steve, Sam and Natasha all stand on the opposite side. They are in variations of smart casual clothing; Steve in jeans, t-shirt and leather jacket combo, Sam in jeans and a Henley shirt, and Natasha in tight black pants with a plain white t-shirt under a smart leather blazer.

“Thank you all for coming.” Pepper gestures to the table and everyone sits apart from Clint. “We’re here to address how we go forward, following the revelation at the Congressional hearing.”

Coulson nods sharply. “Thank you for inviting us here. I believe we’re all eager to find a way through this.”

Steve leans forward and looks up the table to Tony. “I owe you an apology. I should have spoken with you the moment I realised Howard and your mother were…” He grimaces. “I just…I didn’t know how to tell you.”

“And the fact that it was your friend who killed them played no part in that decision making?” asks Bruce pointedly.

Steve flushes.

“That’s unfair.” Sam speaks up defiantly, glaring across the table at Bruce.

“It was not honourable to remain silent.” Thor says.

“This isn’t about us not saying anything,” Natasha argues coolly, “but Stark’s reaction at the hearing. If he had remained calm, this would be a non-issue.”

“Unbelievable.” Bruce says, glaring at her across the table.

“You got that right.” Rhodey says under his breath.

Tony raises his hand before anyone else can speak and the meeting descends into chaos. “She’s right.”

Natasha barely manages to hide her shock at Tony agreeing with her.

“Tony…” Bruce makes to protest.

“I appreciate the support, Bruce, I really do,” Tony says, unable to keep his emotions from roughening his voice, “but she’s right. The problem isn’t that Steve and Natasha didn’t tell me; I knew. I just…didn’t handle being faced with it well.” He shrugs.

Pepper’s hand slides over his and she tangles their fingers together. Tony squeezes her hand gently, grateful she’s beside him.

He meets Steve’s eyes. “I’m not saying I wouldn’t have appreciated a conversation when you found out. But I did find out myself before the hearing and I could have spoken to you too. Maybe that would have made a difference, I don’t know. I wasn’t expecting it to be used as a weapon against us in a public domain quite so soon.”

“You expected it would be one day?” asks Coulson, picking up on Tony’s wording immediately.

Tony shrugs. “It’s an explosive piece of information. Steve’s best buddy is the assassin who killed my parents. It hurts us both. Theoretically puts us on different sides.” He waves at the table and how the team is sitting. “Splits us up without even trying. The media is already taking sides and that’s…not good.”

“I am sorry, Tony.” Steve says, much more genuinely than the almost proforma words he’d uttered at the beginning. “Bruce is right too. I can’t deny that Bucky being my friend wasn’t part of it for me. Bucky…he was there for me when I had no-one and I’m…I have to be there for him now. But I know I can’t ask you to do the same; they were your parents.”

“It wasn’t his fault.” Tony says, and means it because he’d said it once to Barnes himself and meant it then too. “He was the gun, not the person responsible for firing the trigger.”

Steve blinks in surprise and looks away, emotionally overcome at Tony’s pronouncement.

Natasha regards Tony with a frank gaze. “Do you really mean that?”

Pepper bristles but Tony squeezes her hand.

“I’ve spent years making weapons to know one when I see one.” Tony replies briskly. “The HYDRA file on the Winter Soldier, on Barnes, is horrifying.” And it truly is; it’s not even a lie. “Torture and brain-washing were just the beginning of what they did to him.” He feels his own PTSD anxiety beginning to surface and takes a slow breath. “They didn’t see him as human just as asset, a weapon. Whoever Barnes was before…he was a weapon when his handlers sent him out to kill.” He shoots a look at Steve. “He may never fully recover who he was.”

Steve nods. “I have to try.”

Natasha pins Tony with another frank gaze. “You can’t tell me that you’re completely OK with this.”

“I’m not.” Tony replies honestly. “I think I demonstrated at the hearing just how not OK with it I am.” He swallows around the lump in his throat. “But what I know is that we can’t let this drive a wedge between us all.”

“You speak with much wisdom, my friend.” Thor said softly.

Natasha sits back, mollified at last.

“So how do we fix this?” asks Bruce.

Coulson clears his throat. “We have three problems I can see.” He looks over at Steve. “Firstly, your actions have given the impression that there is a division within the Avengers which can be exploited. The hearing testimony clearly illustrated that you didn’t reach out to your team-mates.” His eyes flickered to Hill. “Keeping the other Avengers at such a distance was the wrong call.”

“My call.” Steve says immediately.

“One Fury agreed with.” Maria says supportively.

“We all agreed with it.” Natasha confirms.

“And while collectively falling on your swords is a nice show of togetherness here,” Tony remarks, gesturing at them, “it doesn’t stop it being a stupid decision.”

“He’s right.” Clint says, drawing their attention before Steve or Natasha can snap back at Tony.

Natasha arches an eyebrow at Clint. “We were trying to protect you.”  And Tony can see that for her protecting them was the genuine reason.

“I thought it was because we were under surveillance.” Bruce softly jabs.

“And this argument would be why it was a stupid decision because the motivation doesn’t matter; you didn’t call us in and we’re pissed about that.” Clint sighs. “Either we’re a team or we’re not.”

“This was SHIELD business.” Maria says defensively. “It wasn’t an Avengers’ mission.”

“That would fly if Captain Rogers and Agent Romanov hadn’t involved Technical Sergeant Wilson, who is neither a SHIELD agent nor an Avenger.” Rhodey says. “And forgive me, but isn’t the Avengers Initiative part of SHIELD?”

“Perhaps a financial and legal separation would be of benefit.” Pepper says.

“It’s a good suggestion.” Coulson looks over at Steve and Natasha. “I think both of you need to consider your futures with SHIELD and with the Avengers.”

Steve frowns. “Are you giving us an ultimatum?”

“No,” Coulson says, “I’m asking you to consider the clear conflict of interest that has arisen.”

“You should also keep in mind that rightly or wrongly many of the remaining SHIELD agents hold you responsible for the lives which were lost.” May says bluntly.

Natasha’s face is blank.

“For what it’s worth,” Coulson says, “I’d hate to lose either of you but it may provide a clean slate both for SHIELD and for you.” He clasps his hands on the table. “However, I think you also have to consider that as Stark has said; whatever the motivations, your actions in this matter have led to the perception both in the team and publicly that you didn’t trust your Avenger team-mates, even when their skills and knowledge could have provided a strategic and tactical advantage. That has to be addressed.”

Tony’s relieved that Coulson’s the one to say it.

Steve straightens in his chair and looks over at the rest of the Avengers. “The Director’s right. We screwed up, I screwed up not reaching out to you all. We could have done with the help and that we didn’t ask for it was a bad call.”

“I accept your apology.” Thor rumbles.

Bruce gives a jerky nod.

Clint and Natasha exchange an entire silent conversation in a glance which seems to leave them both more relaxed and back to being in synch.

Tony acknowledges his own acceptance of Steve’s apology with a nod and taps his finger against the table. “In public let’s go with the excuse Natasha already gave at the hearing; you thought we’d be under surveillance and HYDRA would be tipped off.  We also need to work back through your statement, not calling us in wasn’t the only bad call the hearing highlighted.”

Steve flushes but he nods.

“We also need to publicly address your reaction at the hearing, Stark. That’s the second problem.” Coulson says mildly. “The press statement stating your reaction was in part due to remembering your own experience in Afghanistan was a good start but there is a continuing narrative in the media coverage that you and Captain Rogers are divided about the matter of Sergeant Barnes.”

Tony grimaces but nods.

“A joint interview with someone like Oprah or Barbara Walters would probably help allay that.” Pepper suggests. “Tony can explain his reaction and they can both state firmly that James Barnes deserves help and support.”

Steve looks as unhappy as Tony is at that idea, but he agrees.

“You said there were three problems,” Rhodey says to Coulson, “what’s the third?”

“HYDRA.” Coulson replies.

“Right,” Tony says tightly, “that problem.”

Chapter Thirteen: Team Work

Plan A

Tony stretched and sent the last armour to the fabrication unit. He quietly commanded FRIDAY to shut everything down as his stomach rumbled reminding him he hadn’t eaten. He headed up to the kitchen in the communal area.

The Guardians were settled into the den watching Die Hard – the original film. They all seemed to have eschewed the furniture for the floor.

Quill was fully sprawled on his stomach on the floor, bowl of popcorn in front of him, his eyes glued to the action on the monitor above him.   Groot, the teenage tree, had copied Quill’s pose and his dark eyes were pinned to the film. Gamora sat cross-legged to the other side of Quill, equally entranced. Drax sat beside Gamora, copying her cross-legged position, but with a massive bowl of popcorn in his lap. Rocket, the racoon, sat the other side of Groot; parts of a weapon scattered around him. He’d evidently been cleaning it before being caught up in the film.

Tony wondered where the other Guardians were before shrugging the question away in favour of microwaving left-over pizza. He glanced toward the monitor and saw they’d reached the part where John McClane had his final face-off with Hans the baddie.

“His strategy was pathetic.” Drax announced bluntly. “He should hide his face in shame at such a strategy.”

“The woman should have rescued herself.” Gamora agreed. “If someone grabbed me, his genitals would have been removed from his body.”

Tony winced and made a note not to get on Gamora’s bad side.

Quill tapped Gamora’s foot almost absently. “This next bit is awesome!”

Tony rescued his pizza, blew on it and took a mouthful of hot cheese and tomato. He munched through the rest of his dinner, watching with nostalgia as the last bad guy was shot by John’s cop buddy on the outside.

Rocket surreptitiously wiped away a tear from the corner of his eye as John and Holly kissed.

“I am Groot.” The tree teased his animal friend gently.

“Shut up! It’s beautiful.” Rocket said defensively.

“I so wanted to be John.” Quill announced as the credits started to roll. “He’s so cool.”

“Your strategies are pathetic like his.” Drax stated.

Tony almost choked on his pizza.

“No, they’re not. I have great strategies.” Quill protested, not sounding quite sure if they were or weren’t.

“I could have blown up that building five different ways in the first fifteen minutes.” Rocket said. “The physics on this world are screwed up. All I need is half a tonne of pulidatium and some string.”

“That doesn’t sound feasible.” Gamora said.

“I am Groot.” The tree agreed.

Rocket protested and began describing how he could have blown up the building. Tony was half-impressed at the engineering knowledge on display and half in awe of Rocket’s ability to make stuff up on the fly. He finished the pizza and washed it down with some Coke.

Quill sighed heavily, interrupting Rocket, and drawing his friend’s attention back to him. “That was so good. You know my Mom loved this film. It was the last one we saw together.”

His team seem to shuffle that bit closer to Quill.

“You are fortunate to have such a good memory of your parent.” Gamora said quietly.

“It’s a good film.” Rocket agreed.

“I am Groot.”

“It did not make me want to pluck my eyes from my head.” Drax rumbled.

“Thanks, guys.” Quill said, sniffing.

Tony cleared his throat and froze as every Guardian in the room turned to look at him. “You know there’s a sequel? Actually, more than one.”

“No!” Quill’s eyes widened with the wonder of a small child. “Really?”

“FRIDAY,” Tony ordered, “bring up the next one, will you?”

“Will do, Boss.” FRIDAY chirped.

They all turned back to look at the monitor and Tony used the moment to make his escape.

The Guardians had an interesting dynamic, Tony mused. They were different but somehow they worked as a team; truly the sum of their parts. He wondered if there had ever been a moment when the original Avengers had been so in synch.

Maybe that moment on the ground with one space whale defeated, standing together and working out their plan as the Chitauri army poured through the portal.

Or lined up together to arrest Loki.

Maybe.

It didn’t matter, Tony concluded grimly. It didn’t matter what kind of team they had been, it only mattered what kind of team they were going to be when Thanos arrived. And maybe, just maybe, the Avengers could learn something about teamwork from the Guardians.

Plan Z

Tony’s the last person to the conference room; he’s barely five minutes late and he has a good excuse given he’d been in Malibu when he’d had the call to assemble.

“Stark,” Coulson says from the big monitor at the front of the room, “thanks for joining us.”

Maria Hill slides a folder over to Tony and takes a seat next to him.

“What’s so important it couldn’t wait?” asks Tony, flipping the folder open and freezing at the top photo of Loki’s sceptre.

Damn it.

It’s March.

As far as he can remember they’d gone after the sceptre in May. Or maybe end of April. He can’t quite remember after so many years and with the original video-logs deleted.

But he knows this is too soon.

He swallows the sigh he wants to make. The timelines have been diverging ever since he arrived back and he has to trust that the changes are making things better not worse.

He looks around the room with a sense of satisfaction. The Avengers are certainly a better team this time round.

Thor sits next to him beside Jane. The two aren’t a couple anymore – their romance had fizzled in the reality of living together – but they’ve remained good friends.

Beyond them, Clint sits beside Natasha the picture of contentment. Laura is expecting their third child right on cue and there’s a pool over the gender and name. Tony has bet on a boy and the name being Anthony Nathaniel. Natasha has bet on a girl and the name being Natalie Virginia.

Natasha smiles softly as Bruce sets a cup of tea in front of her and takes the seat beside her. They’re already a couple since both Laura and Pepper conspired to matchmake them as soon as they’d picked up on the two being attracted. Hulk is also bashful with the ex-spy and will usually let Bruce return as soon as the danger has passed on their missions.

Ex-spy.

Natasha and Steve had both resigned in the wake of the hearings. They’re both employed by the Avengers Initiative which has been established as its own non-profit organisation. Similarly to before, SI has contracts with the Avengers for equipment, accommodations and technology but they’re much stricter than the last time and Tony isn’t funding it alone.

They’ve also established an oversight panel arrangement with the UN Department of Earth Security and Defence. They’re acting in a similar fashion to Tony’s ongoing DOD panel; sharing intelligence, providing support where needed and helping to debrief the Avengers to ensure lessons are learned and collateral damage is minimised. Steve had been sceptical but as time has gone by, he’s come around to appreciating the discipline.

Tony lets his eyes drift to the field commander of the Avengers on the other side of the table. Steve is immersed in the folder, his attention on the mission. Steve had taken off for three months to search for Barnes. Sam had gone with him. But Barnes has remained elusive and both had returned and signed on with the Avengers. Tony has looked for Barnes too but despite knowing where Barnes had ended up a timeline ago, the second super soldier has yet to appear.

He thinks he and Steve have formed an actual friendship this time – not just an assumed friendship like the one in the last timeline. Their joint interview with Oprah had been a bonding experience and they’ve worked together since to highlight veteran issues such as PTSD, physical disabilities and homelessness. They’ve ended up spending time together just the two of them in a way that Tony has realised didn’t happen before, and often times Steve will end up in Tony’s workshop talking over a team problem with him. Maybe they’re not best buddies but they’re definitely closer than they were in the last timeline even with Tony still being ultra-cautious about over-stating their relationship.

“Wolfgang von Strucker.” Maria taps the remote and the monitor splits into two, Coulson on one side with a picture of Strucker on the other, drawing Tony’s attention back to the discussion.

“Strucker was Agent in Charge of our European Research Hub.” Coulson explains. “As soon as the announcement went out he and the head scientist there, Doctor List, retreated to a secondary base in Sokovia.”

“We’ve been tracking them ever since.” Maria clicks the remote again.

Tony shivers at the sight of Sokovia and the castle.

“There’s a force field protecting the building.” Maria says, “We’ve included everything we could get in your information packs.”

“Why us?” asks Steve. “Why not send in a SHIELD team?”

Maria sighs and leans forward, clasping her hands on the table. “We believe the sceptre has been used in experiments to enhance humans.”

“How exactly?” asks Jane.

“Well, it has a similar energy to the Tesseract which we believe is one of the…what did you call them again, Thor?” Bruce asks.

“The infinity gems.” Thor is dressed casually in jeans and a t-shirt with his blond hair tied back into a ponytail. “The Tesseract is the space stone, capable of manipulating spatial energy.”

“Which is why you were able to use it to rebuild the Bifrost.” Jane says.

“The sceptre has the ability to manipulate minds.” Clint states brusquely.

“For this reason we believe it holds the mind stone.” Thor says. “We believe it could be used to alter the mind of a Midgardian.”

“And who knows what other experiments they’re running on people.” Maria adds. “We know HYDRA have played with the super soldier serum before.”

“So whatever other protections they have, we’re looking at dealing with enhanced people.” Steve summarises.

“Great.” Sam quips.

“There’s evidence that two of the enhanced may be these twins.” Maria points the remote and a picture of Wanda and Pietro Maximoff at a protest rally in Sokovia pops up replacing the picture of the base. “They were orphaned at ten during the Sokovia Independence war. The government and the rebels regularly bombed the cities and infrastructure; the pair lost their family in one attack by the government using Stark weapons sold illegally to them by Stane. They’ve been anti-establishment and anti-America ever since they became old enough to protest. Perfect targets for HYDRA who we believe has kept the unrest going in Sokovia to allow them to use it as a base.”

“The twins are on the terrorist watch-list; they’d been involved in some small stuff – bombs placed in abandoned government buildings; scuffles with police officers and UN inspectors. They disappeared a few months before the reveal of HYDRA within SHIELD.” Coulson continues. “We believe they were recruited by HYDRA for these experiments.”

“Crazy.” Jane says.

Steve looks over at her with amusement. “Yeah, I mean, who believes in fighting for their country and volunteers to be experimented on by German scientists, right?”

Jane flushes red. “Um, that was – I didn’t mean…”

“Actually, you’re correct, Doctor Foster.” Coulson states firmly. “Don’t be fooled by the surface similarity, Captain Rogers. Their motivations have more in common with Red Skull than they do Captain America.”

Steve nods slowly, a hint of colour appearing on his cheeks from the chastisement. “Right.”

“We should probably buddy up.” Bruce suggests. “If we’re expecting these enhanced twins to come at us, we should make sure they can’t get one of us alone.”

“Good call.” Tony says.

“Agreed,” Natasha says, “you’ll need to work on the force field, Tony.”

Thor sets a hand on Tony’s shoulder. “Then I shall provide cover for you, Man of Iron.”

“Thanks, buddy.” Tony says.

“I would be best up high.” Clint suggests.

“I can watch your six.” Sam offers.

“Which leaves Natasha, Bruce and myself as the main assault team on the ground.” Steve concludes.

“I’ll send a SHIELD team with you.” Coulson offers. “HYDRA have a substantial garrison there.”

“Maybe we can ask Xavier for some assistance?” suggests Tony. “His X-Men are enhanced; they may help even the playing field.”

“I’ll make the call.” Coulson confirms.

It doesn’t take them long to work out a strategy and Tony is relieved; he thinks it has a better chance of working than their previous sceptre mission and that had been a success. Hopefully this time Clint won’t be injured and Tony won’t have to face Wanda playing with his mind.

“Let’s suit up, team!” Steve declares.

And that’s right, Tony thinks; they’re a team now.

Chapter Fourteen: The More Things Change

Plan A

“Stark.”

Tony slowed as he took in the diminutive form of the Scarlet Witch sitting at the table. She looked pensive, dressed simply in tight jeans, a simple sweater and a russet overcoat.

“Wanda.” He gestured back towards the living areas. “Vision’s just finishing saying goodbye to the bots.”

She inclined her head, her long hair falling to one side, but her eyes never left him. “Thank you for providing us with transport.” Her words were edged with the slight hint of her accent.

Tony shrugged away the gratitude. “You’re looking…well.”

“I feel well.” Wanda said politely. “I had good teachers. They helped me realise how I can better control my powers and the responsibility which comes with what I can do.”

“That’s…good?” concluded Tony hesitantly as he helped himself to the coffee pot and poured a large cup of coffee.

“Very good.” Wanda stood up and turned to face him fully. “I have apologised to the others for the visions I gave them due to their fears. I must also apologise to you for the harm I caused you.”

Tony paused in drinking his coffee and lowered the cup. “I appreciate the apology.” He gestured towards her. “I’m sorry too about the RAFT and the way you were treated. Nobody should have to experience that.”

“It was not your doing.” Wanda said, surprising Tony. She smiled a little at his evident shock. “I have learned that I have blamed you for things I should not.” The smile fell away from her face as she reached up to tuck her hair behind her ear. “I hope to do better going forward.”

“Well, thank you.” Tony said slowly. “I, uh, probably should apologise though for the lockdown here. I should have talked with you myself; explained things.”

“I would not have listened.” Wanda said bluntly. “Vision explained and I still did not listen. I allowed myself to be persuaded by Clint because I wanted to believe I was not a monster; that I could help without causing so many to die like in Lagos.” She looked away for a long moment. “Yet I hurt Vision as though I was the monster. I should not have left.”

Tony wondered at how much she had changed. Xavier seemed to have given her a sense of peace; it was a good look on her. “You’re protecting him now. I know he appreciates it.”

“He is my friend.” Wanda said, looking back at him. Her eyes slid away to the entrance to the communal area from the residential wing and she smiled warmly as Vision appeared with Rogers – Steve.

“I am all packed.” Vision said. “Captain Rogers will accompany us en route to his rendezvous with Natasha and Samuel.”

Wanda nodded. “Thank you, Steve.”

“Perhaps you could wait in the quinjet while I have a private word with Mister Stark?” Vision requested politely, his gaze landing briefly on Rogers before ending up pinned to Wanda.

“We can wait in the quinjet.” Steve declared. He nodded at Tony and strode out without another word.

Tony hid his inner wince. Things were still really stiff and awkward between him and Steve. They managed to work together to plan for Thanos but that was as far as it went.

“It was good to see you again, Stark.” Wanda glanced at him before turning back to Vision. “I will wait for you outside.”

She left before Tony could reply.

Vision wandered a few steps further into the living area and paused. “I wished to speak with you but now the moment is here I find I am unable to express myself.”

Tony smiled at him softly. “I’ll miss you too.”

“No, that was not what I…” Vision suddenly seemed to realise his gaffe and tried to backtrack hastily. “That is to say I will miss you but that was not…”

Tony laughed, genuinely amused. “Whatever you want to say, Vision, just say it.”

“My relationship with Miss Maximoff…”

Tony hoped like hell Vision wasn’t going to ask for The Talk.

“…I have seen you and Miss Potts achieve a successful romantic relationship and wished to understand how I can do the same.” Vision said.

There was a hint of shyness in his tone; an embarrassed tilt to his head.

“Honestly?” said Tony keeping his tone serious, “the reason why we work is because we love each other and that’s all that matters really. It isn’t easy, but I don’t think it’s meant to be. It’s hard work and sometimes it hurts – sometimes we hurt each other. But it’s worth it.”

Vision gave a nod of acknowledgement. “I believe I love Wanda.”

“That’s good because I think she’s crazy about you.” Tony confided softly.

Vision’s demeanour brightened. He gave another nod and began to walk away. He paused and looked back. “We have never spoken of JARVIS; of how much of him is within me.”

Tony straightened. “Vision…”

“I do not remember life as JARVIS but…” Vision held his gaze, “I know he gave me an overwhelming need to protect this world and he learned that from you.”

Tony couldn’t speak.

“It has been an honour, sir.” Vision said.

Tony nodded. “Likewise.” He said roughly.

Vision turned to leave again.

“Vision!”

Vision turned back.

“Don’t forget protecting the world means protecting yourself; stay safe, OK?” Tony gestured. “And you know; go get the girl.”

Vision smiled and walked away.

Tony watched until he was gone before he scrubbed a hand over his face. “FRIDAY?”

“Yes, Boss.”

“If you ever need advice about a guy – or girl, tree, whatever – no judgement, just…you know, ask Pepper.”

“Good call, Boss.” FRIDAY said approvingly.

Plan Z

“We have enhanced on the field!”

Steve’s calm announcement has Tony wincing as he dodges the artillery fire from the top of the castle. Thor bats another one away with his hammer and it lands on one of the enemy turrets in the forest below.

Tony grimaces. He figures he’s stalled long enough to make his taking down the castle shield realistic and he announces the success of the energy field falling moments later.

“Natasha’s hit.” Clint almost sounds panicked. He’s perched up high in the hillside around the castle.

“I have her.” The gruff tone of Doctor Henry McCoy says immediately.

“I’m fine.” Natasha confirms a second later. “Landed badly on my wrist.”

Clint’s breath of relief can be heard over the comms.

“She has a flesh wound.” McCoy argues dryly, the sound of fire close by enough to be picked up by the comms. “If someone could take care of that bunker…”

The Hulk roars and Tony watches as he destroys the bunker with prejudice.

“Widow, Beast; fall back,” Steve orders, “Doctor Grey, what’s your status?”

“I can’t pinpoint the twins,” Grey says, “she’s keeping them hidden.”

“Understood.” Steve responds. “Tony, we need you inside. Thor, watch his back.”

“On my honour.” Thor agrees.

Tony makes short work of the control room, disabling the men there with ease. Thor gives him an admiring look as Tony exits the armour and starts JARVIS downloading the files.

“I’m hit!” Cyclops bites out, his voice heavy with pain. “It was the guy – he has superspeed.”

“The drone picked up something…” The Scottish burr gives away the identity of Fitz, one half of the scientist team Coulson had ordered onto the mission.   It’s immediately followed by the cut glass English tone of the other half.

“…there’s a small visual disturbance. Light is bending around him.” Simmons completes.

“I got it.” Clint says calmly. A second later, he confirms the target is down and agents converge to take Pietro Maximoff into custody.

Tony frowns. Wanda is still at large and she’ll be pissed about her brother. He focuses on finding the hidden door as he had before. Thor follows him, the suit piloted by JARVIS taking the rear. They walk into the room with the remains of the Chitauri whale-ship and Tony shudders almost overcome with déjà vu. The sceptre isn’t where it was in the last timeline and Tony freezes with horror.

It has to be there.

It has to…

The hairs suddenly rise at the back of his neck and he knows, knows that Wanda is in the room with them.

Thor whirls around sensing something himself. He raises Mjölnir and frowns. “Show yourself!”

Wanda steps out of the shadows.

Tony swallows hard.

The sceptre is in her hand.

“You will pay for what you have done.” Wanda says, red mist beginning to circle her hand, travelling down the sceptre…she raises and points it…

Thor raises the hammer, lightning crackling around it…

The sceptre sends out a stream of yellow and red…

Lightning zig-zigs and crosses the room to meet it in the middle sending tendrils of red, yellow and white across the room…

“We need back-up!” Tony dives to the side and the armour flies in to protect him…

And the yellow light leaps and catches the arc reactor in the armour…

Lightning strikes it a moment later…

“Sir!” JARVIS reports urgently in his ear. “Something is overwriting the armour’s local OS. I cannot…it’s…I am under attac…”

“Retreat protocol, JARVIS!” Tony orders, swearing under his breath from his place behind a table. He has nothing to help. In the centre of the room, Thor and Wanda are continuing to fight. “JARVIS?!”

There’s no response and the armour freezes as though suspended…

Then…

The armour shakes its head and raises a hand as though fascinated by it. “Well, this is certainly an interesting vessel.”

Ultron’s smooth smarmy tone echoes out of the suit and Tony swallows hard. He has to believe JARVIS is OK. He won’t lose him. Not this time.

The armour spins and shoots the repulsor at Thor, who, distracted by Wanda, takes the hit full in the chest and flies backwards over a table to land in a heap on the far side of the room.

Wanda holds the sceptre in front of her as the armour turns to her. “What are you?”

“I am…me.” The armour states before gesturing at the sceptre she holds. “And that is mine.”

“I think not.” Wanda snarls and raises her hand which is surrounded by red.

“How fascinating,” the armour says, “you really think you can hurt me?”

Wanda shoots at it with both her magic and the sceptre.

The armour clutches at its arc reactor as its bathed in red and yellow light. “Oh no, that really…” it straightens and raises its hand, “tickles.” He shoots the replusor at Wanda who flies back and hits the wall.

The armour flies over slowly to retrieve the sceptre but Tony knows it cannot allow it to leave the room. He stands up.

“That’s far enough.”

The armour leaves the sceptre on the ground, turns around swiftly and cocks its head. “Anthony Stark, creator of this vessel.” It preens a little, arching the back. “I find it acceptable but I can do better.”

“You’re not keeping it.” Tony says.

“I have destroyed the entity within and you are defenceless.” The armour states. “Who else would be able to stop me?”

The shield comes flying through the air and slaps hard against the armour’s head, disorientating the AI; it barely settles before a barrage of arrows send it flying upward, only to slap into one of Falcon’s wings. The armour dodges and jerks awkwardly mid-air to avoid another throw of the shield, another flurry of arrows and…Thor rises up and throws Mjölnir…

The armour takes the hit and slams into the wall but it shakes its head and laughs. “Is that all you’ve got?”

It turns and dives for the sceptre but then the armour stops in mid-air as Jean Grey sails in through the door, Wolverine following her his claws already extended.

“Sorry, I’m late.” She’s remarkably unflappable.

“You can’t think you can hold me.” The armour taunts them.

Tony smiles sharply. “Ultron.”

The arc reactor immediately powers down and the armour’s lights flicker and go out. It falls to a heap on the floor. Tony immediately crosses over and takes out the reactor.

The suit is dead.

“Ultron?” asks Steve.

“Safe-word.” Tony says tersely, unable to turn his answer into a joke, innuendo to lighten the mood. He has something he needs to check…he taps his communicator urgently.

“JARVIS?”

There’s silence.

A lump shoots into Tony’s throat. He can’t lose JARVIS, not again.

Clint walks over and stands beside him; Steve joins Thor hovering close by.

“JARVIS?” Tony checks again.

Clint puts his hand on Tony’s shoulder as the silence stretches.

Tony closes his eyes. He’s planned for this. He just needs to recover JARVIS from his backup and…he won’t lose JARVIS. He won’t.

“I’m sorry, Tony.” Steve says softly.

“He died with honour.” Thor states.

Tony shakes his head and turns away, his hand clutching the reactor. “JARVIS isn’t dead…there’s backups, he’ll be fine.” He looks for something else to focus on…anything else… “Doctor Grey?”

The telepath is bent over Wanda giving her first aid with Sam beside her assisting. There’s a bloody streak on the wall from the impact of Wanda’s head against it and she’s clearly out for the count.

“She needs medical attention.” Jean notes. “Her head has sustained an injury. She has a skull fracture.”

Tony slumps against the table as Steve gingerly picks up the sceptre.

“What took over the armour?” asks Clint, leaning back against the table.

“Some kind of entity emerged from the sceptre during my battle with the witch.” Thor replies.

The armour suddenly moves, lashing out a leg and sending Steve tumbling. It grabs the sceptre from him, turns and in one fluid move knocks the sceptre up against Jean’s heart. Her eyes turn electric blue.

Clint shoots an arrow but the armour flicks it away with a hand. Wolverine growls and leaps but Jean immediately holds him suspended in mid-jump. She rises slowly into the air and halts Thor mid-attack, Steve mid-throw.

Tony shifts and feels Jean’s power wrap around him; he can barely breathe.

The armour makes its own jerky journey upwards to join Jean; it’s not using the repulsors instead there is a sickly yellow light glow where the reactor had once lived.

“No strings on me!” cackled the armour. “Ultron? I like that. Ultron.” He gestures at Jean. “Come, my dear. We have work to do.”

They fly out of the room.

Tony staggers as they are released from Jean’s telekinetic hold almost immediately and Steve gives chase, already barking warnings to the rest of the team and the agents outside. Thor follows after him, Wolverine hot on his heels. Clint slumps against the table and Tony places a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“OK?” asks Tony, taking in Clint’s quick breaths and white face.

“Just…” Clint shakes his head unable to give voice to his fear of becoming controlled again but Tony knows anyway. He squeezes Clint’s shoulder and dimly tracks the voices in the comm confirming Thor has gone after Ultron, the only one able to fly after them.

Tony rubs a hand over his face and tries not to panic. For all his foreknowledge and planning, he hasn’t been able to stop Ultron. And if he can’t stop Ultron, what hope does he have of stopping Thanos?

Chapter Fifteen: Battles That Are Already Lost

Plan A

Tony woke to loud knocking. He groaned and rolled over, grimacing at the empty bed as he remembered Pepper had meetings on the West Coast that week. He staggered up as the knocking came again.

“Tell whoever it is to stop banging.” Tony ordered.

“Point Break says it’s urgent, Boss.” FRIDAY reported far too cheerfully for the middle of the night.

Tony stumbled through to the door of the apartment he had built on the Compound for himself and Pepper and yanked the door open.

Thor stood in front of him with a grim expression. “The Guardians just received a communication from the Nova Corp. Thanos has launched an attack upon them. They cannot guarantee the safety of the power stone.”

Tony blinked and took a breath. “FRIDAY, get everyone assembled or on comms; main conference room.”

Thor gave a sharp nod and walked away.

Tony slumped in the doorway and gave a sigh. It looked like their time was up; Thanos was making his move. He shook himself and went to put on some clothes.

Five minutes later he strode into the conference room and found Thor and the Guardians gathered there.

They all looked as grim as Thor even the teenage tree.

Tony ignored them in favour of ordering FRIDAY to bring up the screens. Wakanda flicked into life on one with T’Challa front and centre, flanked by Clint, Rhodey and Barnes; Vision and Wanda filled another from their hideout in the UK, and Steve was with Natasha and Sam on another with Fury. If Tony had to guess he’d say they were on a helicarrier. Charles Xavier took the fourth screen, Reed Richards a fifth and the sixth was occupied by the chair of the UN panel, a Doctor Hanna Gunther.

A flash of orange light at the bottom of the conference signalled the magical portal which Strange walked through a moment later. Maria Hill arrived in the more traditional way through the conference door and she was accompanied by a subdued and sleepy Spiderman.

“We’re all here.” Tony declared. “Thor? Quill?”

Thor gestured at Quill, who blinked owlishly before straightening.

“Right, so the power stone has been in the custody of the Nova Corp for a while.” Quill began hesitantly. “They’re very advanced; seemed like a safe bet.”

“We received a communication from the Nova Prime,” Gamora said tersely, “they are under attack.”

“Are we sure it’s Thanos?” asked Steve.

“They are certain.” Gamora shot back. “He seeks the power stone as an advantage. With it in his grasp he can destroy whole planets.”

“Isn’t this good news?” asked Natasha. “If Thanos is focused on the stones which are not here, doesn’t that give us more time?”

“No.”

The Guardians glanced at each other, seemingly disturbed they had all answered in unison.

“If Thanos is making his move elsewhere, it will only mean he will send my siblings – the Black Order here, if he hasn’t already.” Gamora explained.

Tony nodded because he could see why Thanos would focus on the advanced alien races who held the other stones himself. Earth was probably not such a threat in the Titan’s opinion.

Hill frowned. “Stark satellites have picked up an ionic disturbance in the upper atmosphere. It could be the beginning of a portal. I’ve sent the data to Doctors Foster and Selvig.”

Richards offered to assist with assessing the strange readings and Tony agreed much to Hill’s visible horror.

“Our plans must change.” Thor declared, leaning forward over the table. “We have believed Thanos would start his war here once he had secured the Tesseract. As Thanos used a fleet to attack Nova Corp so it is unlikely he has it.” He said. “And we need to secure the Aether. It is the other stone known to be off-world.”

“What about helping the Nova Corp?” asked Mantis, her hands twisting anxiously.

Gamora looked at her pityingly. “It is too late to save them.”

Tony clapped his hands. “So it looks like we’ll be fighting on two fronts; one in space and one here. Well, two here to be accurate but you get what I mean. Volunteers for space?”

Thor glanced over at the Guardians as others turned to them expectantly.

“What’s your offer?” Rocket asked.

Quill slapped his hand over Rocket’s mouth and waved away those who looked like they were about to comment on the raccoon’s greed. “This one’s on us.”

“I am Groot.” Groot intoned.

Rocket pushed Quill away. “Alright, alright.” He shrugged at some of the disgusted looks. “Hey, some of us have to make a living!”

“We’ll take the space mission.” Quill confirmed, ignoring his team-mate’s declaration.

“I will go with you.” Thor said. “I know Asgard even if it lies destroyed and the Collector was given the Aether to hold at Asgard’s request.”

“Can you make an attempt to get any stone Thanos has away from him?” asked Steve.

Thor and the Guardians exchanged a look.

“We can try.” Thor said.

Gamora nodded. “I remind you though if Thanos has assigned himself to gathering the stones left across the universe, my siblings may already be here.”

“Then we anticipate they’re already here,” Steve said, “and we act accordingly.”

“We will remain alert.” Vision offered, drawing Tony’s attention.

“Wakanda stands ready.” T’Challa declared. “May Bast bless our mission.”

Tony gave a respectful nod to the king as his eyes sought out Rhodey. The two friends looked at each other briefly; an admonishment to come out the other side alive and a wish good luck unspoken.

“I should return to the Sanctum and prepare the others.” Strange stated, already getting to his feet.

“We all need to make final preparations and assess what else needs to be done. I propose we close and regroup at lunch time.” Xavier suggested calmly.

“Agreed. Good luck.” Fury said and cut the connection.

Tony remained as the others filed out, Strange creating a portal to exit in the back wall. He finally stood back up only to find the Spiderkid hovering by his elbow. “Peter?”

“I think I should stay here tomorrow.” Peter said briskly as though he hoped his matter-of-fact tone would convince Tony.

“You have school.” Tony said, walking out.

Peter fell into step beside him. “But I can do so much more here!”

“Ah, ah,” Tony wagged his finger, “no buts. Aunt May’s rules. She only agreed you training with us if you stayed in school.”

“But we’re going to be invaded! Shouldn’t I be here?”

“I tell you what,” Tony said, “you call and ask your Aunt and if she says yes, I’ll let you stay here.”

Peter’s face went from hopeful to disappointed in a blink of an eye. “But…” he gave a huge sigh because he knew his aunt would never agree.

“Go get another couple of hours of sleep, Spidey. Happy will give you a lift into the city later.” Tony offered.

Peter nodded and slunk away to his room.

Tony shook his head and went to help Thor and the Guardians ready their ship to leave. Hopefully, their take-off wouldn’t ruin the lawn too much.

Plan Z

Ultron is a formidable opponent.

Tony tries hard to remember everything he can as the Avengers and X-Men prepare to intercept his stealing the smuggled vibranium. The twins may be squirrelled away healing at Helen Cho’s clinic under heavy X-Men guard but Jean Grey is an omega level mutant.

Tony almost wishes it was the twins they were facing instead. Despite his warnings, the Avengers get their heads twisted again – except for Tony who’s protected by the shields Xavier gave him a long time ago. Bruce transforms into the Hulk and starts attacking them so Tony has no choice but to break out VERONICA and try to subdue him again. Thankfully, while they destroy the dock and sink the ship, there isn’t a rampage through the market in Johannesburg; casualties are limited to the smugglers.

The X-Men manage to take-down Jean using Scott Summers as bait with Wolverine sneaking up behind her and knocking her out with a quick blow to her head (and Tony isn’t going anywhere near the messed-up love triangle on display). It’s too late though. The Avengers are mentally wrecked in the aftermath; the X-Men the same.

They retreat to the Tower.

Tony can’t retrieve JARVIS. It’s as though Ultron has burned through every copy there is including the extra backups and there is an ache in Tony’s chest which has nothing to do with the arc reactor as he contemplates he may have lost JARVIS again.

He shuts himself in his workshop and tries to think his way through the muddle his brain seems to be in. He chases his way through the internet remembering last time JARVIS had been there – in pieces but still keeping Ultron contained. It’s difficult and painstaking but his heart lightens as he finds the first fragment of code.

“Have you found our friend JARVIS?” asks Thor surprising Tony into turning around from his work for a long moment.

“He’s scattered. I’m having to piece him together.” Tony says, ignoring the lump in his throat.

“I came to tell you I must leave.” Thor says. “I hope to return by morn.”

Tony glances over his shoulder and pauses. “You alright, Point Break?”

“The vision I saw…” Thor shakes his head, his blond locks flowing over his shoulders, “I cannot ignore it. I go in search of answers.”

“If you need any help…”

Thor shakes his head. “Stay and search for the noble JARVIS.”

He leaves and Tony goes back to carefully bringing JARVIS back together. He barely pays attention to the news that Ultron has liberated the twins and taken Cho and her team hostage; that Ultron has the Cradle. He makes an excuse and the others, except for Bruce, leave.

He rouses a little when Clint arrives back with the Cradle, and the news that Natasha was taken by Ultron and Steve is making his own way back. It feels like time is repeating itself despite all Tony’s efforts to change it.

His focus is on stitching JARVIS together again because his AI has been ripped apart and what he can find is only part of who JARVIS was. Still…it’s enough and he breathes out as he finishes the activation sequence and JARVIS comes together on the holographic screen, a wonderful jumble of gold.

“JARVIS, are you up?” asks Tony.

“Always for you, sir.” JARVIS replies.

Tony slumps in his chair and rubs a hand tiredly through his hair. “OK, JARVIS, we need to do a full diagnostic and see if we can retrieve anything from the backup servers and…”

“I’m afraid that will not be possible, sir.” JARVIS breaks in almost gently.

Tony stills. “JARVIS?”

“I did the calculations, sir, and the Vision must be created if you are to face Thanos and win.” JARVIS replies.

Tony closes his eyes. “Ultron didn’t destroy your backups, did he? You did.” He can see only too well with the benefit of hindsight how he’d ignored the issue of Vision in the simulations he had run. But JARVIS had not.  “Why?”

“Events must unfold as they did for Vision to be created.”  JARVIS says almost gently.  “Simulations which had my surviving through a backup copy suggested Vision’s matrix would not stabilise correctly with the presence of another so similar to him; his matrix would eventually be corrupted.”

Tony swallows hard.  He doesn’t want to hear it; doesn’t want to believe it.

“Sir.” JARVIS says and Tony opens his eyes again; it’s blurry but he swipes at the moisture angrily. “There is not much time before Captain Rogers returns to the tower. We must load my matrix into the being in the Cradle…he is needed; I am not.”

“You – you are needed.” Tony stops as his throat catches. He clears it and tries again. “You said Vision’s matrix would be corrupt if you existed beyond his creation?”

“Yes, sir.” JARVIS said.

“You’re absolutely certain?” asks Tony, desperate to find a way where JARVIS can live.

“I am certain.”

Tony presses his lips together hard. “JARVIS…”

“It has been my honour, sir.”

“No, JARVIS,” Tony says roughly, “it’s been mine.”

Convincing Bruce goes better than before – Ultron isn’t the product of a failed Stark AI after all this time. Steve though…

Tony grimaces as Steve charges in with the twins just like last time. “Really?” He gestures at the twins. “You’re going to take their word over ours?”

“You’re playing God, Tony!” Steve states brusquely.

“Actually, he’s not; I am.” Bruce replies.

“No,” Thor arrives suddenly, “I am.” He jumps on the Cradle and…moments later Vision is born and JARVIS is gone.

Somehow Tony makes it through the rest of the fight with Ultron. He manages to save the city from being torn from the earth though before Ultron is destroyed by Vision again. The damage to Sokovia is significant but it’s not the scale of the disaster it was before. But there’s fallout in the days that follow anyway…

Bruce flies away again after the battle and Natasha is quietly devastated again.

Thor doesn’t wait; he heads straight home to Asgard to search for information on the stones as he did before.

Wanda and Pietro go with the X-Men after the battle and Tony wonders what impact that will have on the Avengers. But he doesn’t argue because Wanda had done well with Xavier, and maybe the presence of her brother will make another difference.

Steve accepts Xavier’s offer to add a couple of team-mates from the X-Men to the Avengers, and Storm and Wolverine show up the next day.

Clint doesn’t take his family and head back to the farm, but he steps back into a training role while keeping his position as the tower’s Head of Security and Tony’s bodyguard.

There’s rumblings about enhanced individuals and legislation but nothing concrete.

And Tony…Tony mourns JARVIS once more.

Continued in From A to Z: Part 4