Avenger's Tower

"OK guys, you know the drill," Tony paced as he addressed the Official Stark Industries clean-up crew, "The TV room is in need of a new wall and flatscreen, Hulk smashed his front door again, there are two broken windows- one in the TV room, one in the penthouse- and there's probably other damage. Just wander around and fix whatever you see that's broken. Black Widow wants more lights in her place and in the stairwells, and someone needs to team up with DUM-E to install a launch pad in the guest quarters so Falcon can take off from his bedroom. Also- who the hell are you?" he stopped in front of a new face on the crew. This guy was thin, small, and kind of mean looking.

"My wife's cousin," his Foreman nodded to the boy, "needed some work for the summer, and at the rate you have us up here fixing things lately, we need the extra muscle.

"Muscle?" Tony cocked an eyebrow- the guy couldn't be more than 140 soaking wet, "Anyways, split up however you want. Each group gets a remote suit supervising. I apologize for the inconvenience in advance- but no cutting power to do electrical work. Let the suit handle that. Lights stay on in all rooms at all times." He wandered off to check on Cap and find something to annoy him with.

"Alright men, you have your assignments already. Tyson, as requested you will be going with Nash and Rodriguez to get some electrical experience. They are installing extra lights in the penthouse and the Captain's place, got it?"

Tyson nodded, pleased. Getting into the Tower was simple. Getting onto the crew was a cake-walk. The real fun would be the aftermath- and Dennisson promised him a front-row seat to the slaughter.


New York Ferry, One Week Later

Dennisson watched New York rise out of the early morning fog. The "City that Never Sleeps" looked, well, tired. He focused on Avengers Tower, looming over the rest of the city like a sentinel. The top several floors were illuminated- the heroes, ever vigilant.

"I want to see inside," Dennisson growled. Morris produced a laptop and within only a few keystrokes he had a feed.

"Mr. Tyson was only able to plant three devices and five cameras. All run on a special encrypted feed. Mr. Stark's in-house system should not be able to detect them."

"If they do, I'll take you apart. Slowly."

He took the computer and flipped through the available feeds. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Gold. The Winter Soldier was in a workshop of some kind, having a very serious discussion with two people Dennisson did not recognize.

"That one is Clint Barton, codename Hawkeye," Morris indicated one of the men, "the other we believe to be Dr. Bruce Banner, the host of the creature known as the Hulk."

"Why don't I have sound?" Dennisson asked through gritted teeth.

Morris watched him carefully. Ever since they put him through the 'Indigo' device his temper was shorter, his rages more violent, and his victims lasted mere hours instead of days. He was devolving, quickly, "Our intel indicated if we were to add microphones the possibility of the technology being discovered by the house system increased by a factor of six. Also, our devices give off a frequency which would significantly diminish the clarity of audio signals. We do have a lip reading program if-"

"-silence." Morris obeyed, though he continued to eye Dennisson. He was beginning to suspect his employer was a fast burner- they show promise, yet let themselves fall to other, baser influences. Dennisson may not be aware, but Morris' job was to keep him on-mission, as any good minion should. Dennisson was different now. He wasn't making Morrison's job any easier.

After several minutes, Dennisson changed cameras. His eyes lit up, "So, they thawed her out after all." Echo looked as much like a zombie as ever. She was guarded by the Black Widow. Who else? There was talk among Hydra's upper echelon, long ago, of partnering the Winter Soldier with the infamous Natalia Romanova. That they were together now (on the wrong side) wasn't surprising.

"May I ask a question?" Morris prompted, "To be as useful to you as possible I believe I must inquire into the ending of this 'Project: Echo'. Why was the subject sent to the Asylum rather than given to you for termination?"

"The mongrel saved her," Dennisson switched back to the feed of the Winter Soldier, "A Project as high-level as Echo had to be closed by a top Hydra official. In that case, Alexander Pierce himself. The Winter Soldier made a deal with him to have pity on the girl. Made me look like a damned idiot for not wiping him before Pierce arrived. The girl went into the freezer and the Soldier became Pierce's little errand boy."

Morris didn't understand, "Why not order the Winter Soldier to serve him? Why make the deal?"

Dennisson growled, "Maybe because Pierce liked to pretend to be an upstanding man, of a higher moral ground than most of Hydra. It didn't matter that the Winter Soldier couldn't remember making the bargain, all that mattered was he could pretend to be merciful and benevolent. That's my theory anyways. Pierce was a fucking useless man. Who knows why he did anything."

As they closed in on the docks, Avengers Tower was blocked from view. Dennisson studied the tablet. Whatever the Winter Soldier was talking about with the others, he looked anxious. Looks like he's doing well enough, he thought, new friends, new home, new life. He's even working through some of that guilt- bringing Echo here. "Activate the first device," Dennisson ordered, handing the laptop back to Morris, "let's remind our friend just who he was."