Chapter Four | Trickery

Ace

The next few days were filled with meetings and various people being sent out to spy on potential suspects. The only people aware of Tony's suspicions about the team were Ace, Steve, they told Natasha and Clint after deeming the pair trustworthy, Bruce and Pepper heard it from Tony, and Thor confronted Ace about it in his usual loud manner and she quietly asked him to keep it on the low.

Other than that, no one else knew what they were doing, and they planned to keep it that way. Everyone else apart from the 'OG Group' as Clint called it knew. Not Pietro, not Rhodey, not Happy, not Logan, although Ace suspected he knew much more than he was letting on.

After the third day, though, she became frustrated. With Steve for holding back punches when they sparred, Tony because he was coddling her, Pietro since he was coddling Wanda, and Wanda because that girl was too nice for her own good. Way too nice to be a part of The Avengers.

When Ace walked into the kitchen, she saw the girl wearing shorts and a thin top and it took all self-control to keep her cool, reminding herself that she was Pietro's little sister. Wanda asked if she wanted anything and Ace replied calmly, watching for a few moments as she stirred something in a pot, oblivious to the pair of eyes trained on her.

As Quill once said, if it had two legs and no dick, Ace would fuck it.

Which was how she ended up sat at a bar in Hell's Kitchen - Josie's. It was the only place she could relax, not have to worry about having fists flown in her face by patrons because Josie herself, the bartenders and the bouncers had respect for Ace.

When the bar was being overcrowded by gang violence and fights, Ace stopped it singlehandedly. People like Kingpin, Black Mariah and the Purple Man were strong, but none were stronger than her.

The smaller gang leaders never got their hands dirty so Ace had to track them down with Bruce's help, gave them a little something to remember so they'd leave Hell's Kitchen alone. When Josie offered her cash payment in return for her act, Ace refused, but when Josie said that she didn't have to pay for drinks for as long as she was alive, Ace accepted it.

Maybe it was selfish, but she didn't care. She saved lives, for god's sake.

Knowing that Tony was going to throttle her as soon as he found out she went out alone, Ace calmly drained four fingers of Bourbon. She ordered another one, downed it, another one, downed that too, and then asked for a beer, deciding that getting shit-faced wouldn't be her best option right now.

A dark-haired man sat on the stool next to her.

He didn't glance her way as he ordered a straight whiskey, didn't acknowledge she was there as the waitress, Rosario, gave him the drink, didn't bat an eyelid when Rosario gave Ace the look, silently asking her if everything was okay. With a slow nod, Ace brought the neck of the bottle to her lips and gulped down half the thing in one go.

After a few tense moments, he spoke.

"Why did you call me here?"

Ace set down her beer on a coaster, giving a small nod to Josie who was peering around the corner of the kitchen with a concerned look on her face.

"Do you think I'm a danger to the group, Bucky?" she asked, her eyes trained back forward.

She saw from her peripheral that he shook his head slowly, confused. "What? Of course, I don't. What's going on with you, Ace?"

Ace carefully reached into the back of her jeans and produced a knife from her pocket.

Before Bucky had a chance to react, she grabbed him the back of his neck and pushed the tip of his blade against his throat. Their chairs slid forward, her thighs framing his legs and their heads pressed close together. Bucky's long hair covered the weapon, but everyone in the bar knew what was going on. They all knew what she was capable of.

"Let me rephrase, buddy," she whispered, voice dripping with ice. "Did you send someone to kill me the other night?"

Bucky's eyes were unafraid as usual, but Ace could see the glint of danger in his eyes. "I think you already know the answer to that," he replied coolly.

"Hm," Ace huffed, pulling the knife away from his throat and stabbing it onto the surface of the bar in front of her. "Thought as much." She grabbed the edge of the mahogany bar and moved her chair back to its original position, sighing heavily.

"How much have you been drinking?" he questioned quietly.

"Sorry 'bout the, uh, knife thing," she apologised, waving her arm around aimlessly. "I haven't spoken to you in probably nearly a year. I've, uh. Been a bit on edge lately... hah, on edge. Yeah, I shouldn't even be here, Buck. Stark's gonna have a fucking heart attack if he doesn't kill me first, Steve's gonna have an aneurysm... god, everyone's gonna think that I'm actually dead. Shit." She hung her head between her shoulders, hands pressed against her eyes.

"Ace," he spoke softly. She felt a hand place itself on her shoulder. His prosthetic hand, she realised. "Talk to me. What happened?"

"Someone was sent to fucking kill me," she whispered, breathing heavily. "Don't give a shit about that, I've been stabbed and shot more times than I've been outside, it's jus'... fuck. There's a fucking traitor in the group, Buck. Sent a Hydra goon to kill me when I was with Silver. Didn't succeed but... damn, I don't trust anyone anymore, Tony obviously and Steve, but no one else. Can't even look Tash or Clint in the eye without getting suspicious."

"Do you trust me?" Bucky asked carefully.

"Yes," Ace replied without an ounce of hesitation. "I trust you, Buck. You... You're like a brother to me. You've done a lot for me and, well, what was left of my family before he fucking died. I just needed to make sure. Might be a good liar but you can't fool me, man. Wouldn't even hate you if you did send someone to shoot my ass, lord knows I deserve it." She snorted. "Still, shouldn't've used my knife on you." She raised her head to look at the blade sticking out of the wood, eyes glassy. "You know how I get when I drink."

"Ace, if someone out there wants you dead-"

"Pfft, everyone wants me dead."

"Someone that you know, if it really was an Avenger." Ace could see that he was beginning to get frustrated. He always had this demeanour about him, not calm but not exactly angry either. Calculating, she guessed. Or impassive, collected, some other shit like that. He was starting to lose that demeanour. He always did when he was around Ace. She was good at making people lose their cool. "You shouldn't be here, in public. If someone nearly got you in Maximoff's apartment, they can easily get you at your local bar."

"At least I'll die happy," she muttered.

"This isn't a joke," he said darkly. "Hydra isn't some low level gang, Ace. It isn't like Hammer or Stone, or what you used to be a part of. And you're not exactly someone of non-importance, you're not expendable. What would happen if you died? If they succeeded in killing you?"

Ace opened her mouth to come up with some kind of snarky reply, like everyone's life would be much easier, but she really thought about it. "Well..." she began. "Tony is an impulsive guy so he'd probably take matters into his own hands. Or literally have a heart attack and die before he could. And if Stark died, your dear husband would be pissed off and have an aneurysm, too - by the way, please don't tell Steve about this, he will actually kill me for even involving you - and then him dying would set off a chain reaction with you--"

"The Avengers would fall apart," he cut in, silencing the woman with just those five words. "Tony would be heartbroken and angry and he would take it personally. He sees you like this child and yeah, you won't ever admit this to anyone but you love him like he's your parent, Pepper, too." Ace's jaw ticked. In anger? From trying to stop tears from falling? She didn't know. "Steve was your mentor when you first began, I was with him when he'd talk about how proud of you he was, how he knew that you were going to become something amazing. He was the first person to ever hear you speak, remember?" Of course she remembered. "It might not have been a big thing for you, but for him it felt like he won the lottery."

"If you're trying to guilt trip me, asshole..."

"This isn't an intervention," Bucky stated. "I'm saying that if you don't want to live for yourself, at least try and live for the people around you. If it wasn't for Steve..." His eyes flickered away, throat bobbing. "I doubt I'd even be here."

"That's the thing, though. You have a husband who loves you, Tony has a wife to go back to every night, Clint and Natasha have each other, even Silver has his little sister, but me?" She shook her head, mouth twitching. "I don't have anything to go home to. I don't even have a fucking home anymore and the people who I'm supposed to trust... can't even trust them anymore."

"Ace?" an all-too familiar, extremely angry voice called out from the entrance, earning strange looks from the other patrons.

"I can hear the aneurysm already," Ace whispered, ducking her head as if it could hide her from her impending doom.

"Ace," he repeated, much lower and much scarier, and definitely much closer.

"Take it easy on her, baby," Bucky tried reassuring the man, placing his flesh hand over his bicep.

"Take it easy on her?"

"Why the hell did you call him, Buck?" Ace asked hushed, still keeping her face hidden.

"He's my husband, Ace," Bucky answered. "And whenever you call, it's never a good thing. Especially when you're at a bar. Drinking."

"Go home, Bucky," Steve ordered his husband. Even with her back facing him, she could feel the daggers being pointed at her back. "No, I don't want to hear it. Don't wait up for me tonight, okay?"

There was a short pause of hesitation, but Bucky apparently folded and walked out of the bar.

"We have a lot to discuss."

Tony was pacing the living room back and forth when Ace walked in, Steve's hand wrapped around her arm, both steadying her and keeping her from running off. But it wasn't just Tony in the room. Natasha was sat between Clint and Pepper on the sofa, Thor was looking out of the window with a furrow in his brow, even Sam Wilson was there, leaning against the back of the sofa.

"Was the backup really necessary?" Ace murmured. Judging by Steve's grip tightening on her arm and his eyes glaring into the side of her head, it was the wrong thing to say.

Tony stopped his pacing as soon as he heard her voice, and his eyes were scarily blank, but they looked teary. "Was it necessary?" he repeated. "You're asking me if it's necessary to call people together when you go missing and don't answer your phone three days after someone was sent to kill you? You were out in the open, drinking, when you know someone is after you. You know, just..." he rubbed his eyes in irritation. "It's midnight, everyone's tired. Go to sleep and we'll talk in the morning when you're sober."

Ace nodded, guilt eating her from the inside. God, she was a fucking moron.

Tony was right when he said they would talk in the morning, but boy did he talk. It wasn't anything that Ace hadn't become used to since she was known for being a shit who didn't listen, but she tried to listen to him. She really did. Bucky's words registered with her - he sees you like a child - and Ace could be described as many things, but selfish wasn't one of them... well, it was pretty low down on the list.

She understood his frustration, why he was pissed off with her and why he would think she was dead, but she wasn't going to change her entire self for a single fuck up. He made it seem like she only had one option and that was to sit still and wait while the other guys did all the dirty work, and that wasn't who Ace was. She wasn't one to sit and do nothing.

Tony eventually settled down after talking at her for 15 minutes - she was grateful that Steve was the only other one present - and said that she could go out as long as she informed someone else and sent a text every once in a while, so they wouldn't think she was dead.

Ace wasn't actually planning on going out, anyway, she really wasn't. But after a training session with Pietro, since she was still his mentor and was basically responsible for his wellbeing, Ace got a message on her work phone. From Red Skull. Johann Schmidt. The leader of Hydra.

We know who is behind your attempted murder. Meet us at the following location. Do not bring backup.

Yeah, okay, that last sentence in particular was very concerning and almost made Ace want to call up Steve and ask him to be nearby, but she couldn't fuck this up. The only thing she was apparently consistent with was fucking things up, so that's how she ended up parked outside an abandoned bay in an equally abandoned Port Jefferson, two hours away from Stark's Tower.

"I'm about to meet up with Jess," Ace said into the receiver, staring out of the dusty window of her Jeep. "Nothing too scary, just drinking vodka following rage-fuelled sex, probably. I'll text you in about an hour."

"Try not to get a UTI," Tony said. "And be careful out there, you hear me? No... getting killed, or whatever the kids are doing these days."

"Got it, old man. And I'm 29, Tony, hardly a kid." And then she hung up, not before sending Jessica Jones a message asking her to confirm with Tony that Ace was with her. The woman was weird but trustworthy, knew how to keep a secret like it was the only thing she knew.

Ace stepped out of her vehicle and rolled up the sleeves of her leather jacket as she walked towards the large container ship where Schmidt would be waiting, no doubt with his entourage.

She rounded the corner and saw a large concrete space, lanterns spread around the floor to light it up without being too obvious. There were around 10 other men excluding the man himself, all big and heavy-looking with guns on display. Schmidt was stood in front of one of the lanterns, his face shrouded in darkness, wearing a long coat with his hands clasped behind his back.

As soon as she was spotted, the men flanking Schmidt had their hands secured around the handle of their gun, fingers placed against the trigger, but Ace didn't take it to heart. Schmidt ordered the men to stand down and they did without question, taking a step back.

"Friendly atmosphere," Ace commented, taking in the cold stares and silent threats being thrown her way. "I wasn't expecting anything fancy but come on... an abandoned shipyard. Really? A warehouse would have been less conspicuous than this."

"I thank you for not bringing your men," Schmidt stated, the last word leaving his tongue with a sour taste. His accent was very heavy and very German. It reminded Ace of Pietro when he first joined, but Pietro wasn't a shit-faced coward. "Although I must apologise for my guards-"

"I don't give a shit, Skully," she cut him off, smiling a little, and sauntered towards the leader until she was a few feet in front of him. His faux-welcoming attitude dropped like a penny. "A wise guy once said, 'of all the gin joints in the world, she walks into mine'. Do you know what that means?" His mouth opened to speak but shut again with a bitter smile taking place when she cut in with, "Let me tell you anyway. It means coincidences don't just happen and Rick Blaine isn't the stupid asshole you think I am. I let it slide when your UC feds threw me into a prison with people who wanted to bludgeon me and the, uh, many other times I've been stabbed and shot and tortured by your guys, on your orders." Ace took a moment to relish in the startled look on his face. "But hey, we're past that now, right?" She smiled closed-lipped, sweetly. "You stab me in my back, I stab you in yours. You kill people close to me and hey, I'll return the favour."

"Ace, we have already discussed the unfortunate death of your brother," he pointed out. "I have information on your attack."

Ace's lips parted and her tongue came to rest on her bottom lip. The corner of her mouth twisted into a smile but it went as soon as it came, settling into a passive grin. "Lay it on me." She took an overdrawn step back and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Thank you." Schmidt gave a short nod and turned back to the stoic leader his men knew, back straight and chin up like he was looking down at Ace, as though she were some vermin on the bottom of his shoe. "An anonymous source came to Raoul, the man you killed, and offered him a handsome amount of money to scare you away."

"That's all the information you have?" Ace asked, close to exasperated. "That someone told him to scare me away?"

Schmidt's lips spread into an ugly smile. "I think we know each other quite well by now, Ace. Since you were... 17, correct? I believe that is when we first met. You know that information comes at a price. What I want in return is information on what your Iron Man is working on."

Ace's amused expression dropped into something of a threat. Not an I'll-kill-you kind of look, but I-will-definitely-make-you-regret-what-you-just-said look. "You disappoint me, Skully," she sighed through her nose, lip twitching. "You think I'm stupid which is a nice change. I hate it when people overestimate me, think that I have the solution to every single problem when in reality I'm just... human. I fuck up a lot more than I probably should. But you, right now, have just fucked yourself so far up your own ass that you can taste your own jizz."

Schmidt still had that knowing smile on his face. "I think I am in a better position than you right now." He shrugged, holding his arms up and gesturing to the dozen men surrounding him. "You can walk away and get no information, or you can tell me what I want to know, and I will tell you everything I know. Either way, you will not get hurt."

"You really think I'd betray my old man like that?" Ace asked, uncrossing her arms and letting them fall to her sides.

"I believe you are thinking about it," he stated, self-assured.

Ace clicked her tongue and looked at the concrete ground, chuckling under her breath. "You're cute, Skully, you know that? I might not have brought backup, but I didn't come in without a plan."

Without any warning, Ace pulled out a pistol from a hidden holster on her waist, but unlike what the henchmen were expecting - to shoot Schmidt between his beady eyes - she pointed the barrel of the gun at herself. Her fingers were clasped around the handle and thumb hovering over the trigger, pressed against the space between her ribs.

"What do you think you are doing?" Schmidt demanded, losing his composure. Even in the dim light she could see his face was bright red.

"Give me the information, or I shoot myself." She smiled brightly, no teeth showing. "And- oh, shit. Forgot to explain," she tutted, holding her free hand out, palm facing the stunned man, "if a bullet goes through me, my heart rate will either spike furiously or it will drop like a dime, right? Well, I thought I'd make a little device that detects my heart rate - my own work, of course - so if anything goes sideways, it'll send a signal straight to every member of The Avengers and, well, imagine what'll happen when they come running and see me bleeding out."

"This is absurd," the man hissed, the corners of his lips pulling together in a scowl. "You would dare-?"

"Oh, boy, but I would dare," Ace told him. She didn't acknowledge the masses of weapons being pointed at her. "But let me just make it a bit more real for you. Notice my leather gloves?" His eyes narrowed at her. "Yeah. I transferred some fingerprints from the meeting you had with Iron Man on his table and placed them all over this gun. I mean, you wouldn't detect a single other one aside from yours, and yeah, I know what you're thinking: but Ace, I'm recording this entire conversation with the phone in my pocket!"

The look on his face... damn, she wanted to take a picture and hang it on her wall, it was so amazing.

"I was listening to every word you said," Ace continued, "and the recording miraculously cut out after you said that you were going to decieve me." She smiled mockingly. "And I know you would never hurt me, Skully. But no one else knows that. So... what's it gonna be? Do I shoot myself and incriminate you and your entire organisation, or do you want to give me everything you know?" She felt a bit like the Joker in that Dark Night scene, the one where he's threatening to blow himself up with a bunch of grenades lined up in his jacket? It was sick, but it was all part of the job.

"You would deceive your so-called team like this? By blatantly lying when I have witnesses around me?"

"Like your guys would ever go against your word. You know everyone would call bullshit on that." Ace snorted. "And yes, I would deceive them. Because I'm selfish and want to know who's after me. I've had enough of waiting."

Schmidt grumbled something low under his breath in German. She knew a little because of Natasha teaching her, so she made out the word bitch. He glared at her for a solid twenty seconds, chest heaving and hands fisted by his sides.

"I do not know who it is that betrayed you," he informed her, finally giving in. "But I know that someone in Hydra is planning to meet with this contact who arranged to scare you. In two weeks at the Steuben Parade in New York."

"The German-American organisation?" she asked for confirmation.

"Yes," Schmidt bit out. "And there is no guest list, but it will not matter since whoever wants you away will use a false name."

"Well," Ace breathed out a crass laugh, stepping back with the gun still pressed to her body and her hand in the air, "this was an exciting meeting. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone about what went on here and I hope you do the same." Giving a wink to the flustered man, Ace turned around and made her way to her Jeep. "Don't shoot me in the back, boys."

Author's Note: Ace is what I aspire to be tbh.