Author's Note: So, once more I've failed to keep up with my writing. But, after nearly 6 months, here is a new chapter of Aftermath. I don't even know if people will read this, but hopefully, you enjoy the following chapter.

Aftermath

Chapter 28

Tony Stark was anxiously pacing the hall outside of the surgical room at the Avenger HQ. Every few moments he would walk down to the window to see what was happening and then he'd force himself to move away again. He knew that he wasn't going to be able to help and he wasn't good at feeling helpless.

He checked his watch. It had only been twenty-two minutes since they'd landed in New York. How could it only have been twenty-two minutes? Tony had no report to give to Cap and thankfully, he had no asked for an update. But Tony did wonder how Steve and Sam were doing with the computer system at the cave.

"FRIDAY, can you let Scott see what we're looking at?" Sam said to the AI.

"Of course, sir," FRIDAY replied.

"Sir, huh?" Sam smirked at Steve. "I could get used to that…"

"Unless we figure this thing out, you won't have the time to get used to it, Sam."

FRIDAY activated the camera on Sam's goggles and connected it to the screen near Scott Lang. He studied what was being shown to him.

"It could be password encrypted, but if you select that…but it could also auto-detonate everything if you open it…"

"What should we do, man?" Sam said in an annoyed voice.

"We have to take our chances," Steve answered. "This is where I should click? You think this could be what we're looking for?"

"I do," Scott replied in their ears.

Steve reached out and with bated breath, he clicked on the program in question.

For thirty seconds, nothing happened. Nothing popped up on the screen and the cave didn't explode around them.

Sam looked around the room and then back at Steve.

"All right, Lang, what do we do now?" Sam asked.

"That has to be it. It just has to be the one. Unless it's a dummy program. Just to stop people, but…"

"Lang, please focus."

Suddenly, hundreds of images flashed across the screen while the program seemed to load. The two men watched as the images flashed by.

"Was that you?" Sam asked as another image of Steve flicked past, followed by an image of Sharon. Images of them at Lake Michigan and outside of the cottage. The surveillance photos then changed to those of all of the Avengers, including Bruce Banner (who hadn't been seen since Sokovia), Peter Parker at school, and Thor and Jane Foster.

When the system finally loaded, the desktop showed eight blinking lights on a world map. They matched the locations of that were marked on the paper copy of the map, but this version included a detonate button in the center.

"We need to disengage this, Lang," Steve said. "What do I do?"

"They waited for Scott to respond and a time appeared. They had ten minutes and counting.

"Shit," Scott and Sam hissed at the same time while Steve sat in total disbelief.

"Seriously, Scott, what do we do? We have less than ten minutes now," Steve said. "Less than ten minutes," he repeated. "FRIDAY, patch me through to Tony."

"Boss, Captain Rogers needs to speak with you."

"No, FRIDAY," Tony replied. He was still watching the doctors working hard.

But it was too late.

"Tony," Steve said in an exasperated tone in Tony's ear. "It's counting down. I've got nine minutes before the shit detonates."

"Wait – what?" Tony yelled.

A couple of the nurses turned to look at Tony through the glass. Tony moved away and started to run through the halls.

"What happened?" Tony shouted as he moved toward his office.

"Lang got us into the program, but it started a countdown timer. Eight locations are lit up," Steve said.

It was just the two of them on the line.

"I don't have any updates, Steve," Tony said as he ran. "I'm sorry, I…"

"It won't matter in eight minutes," Steve said in an incredibly flat voice. "We just need to take care of this first and let the doctors keep doing their work."

Tony got to his office and burst through the doors.

"FRIDAY, show me what they see," he said to the AI.

His computer screen lit up and he saw firsthand the timer as it ticked away.

"Run schematics, FRIDAY. Find me a way in," Tony told the AI.

"Boss, without being uploaded…"

"Then do it," he told the AI.

"Tony…" FRIDAY started.

"Just do it," he said. "We do not have the time."

FRIDAY did as she was told and through the net she wound her way into the computer in question. A minute and a half ticked away.

"Come on, FRIDAY, give us something," Tony said angrily. "C'mon…"

FRIDAY's work gave him access a second later.

"Okay, I've got control on this end now," Tony said.

Tony started to code when he could and after another minute, he realized it was actually all going to have to take place on Steve's side.

"You're going to need to do this, Steve," Tony said. "Or Wilson. Doesn't matter. But someone is going to need to do it over there."

"What has to be done?" Steve asked.

"The power source to the computer has to be cut at the same time that you run the code I'm going to give you," Tony told them.

"The power source for this computer is at the other end of the underground cavern you're standing in," FRIDAY said.

"I can go cut…"

"You stay here," Sam cut Steve off. "You and Stark figure this out. FRIDAY, you and I will take care of the power," Sam said. "I can fly, remember?" he said when Steve gave him a questioning look.

"Okay, gentlemen, I don't give a flying…just someone go. I just need you to take care of things," Tony told them.

Sam nodded curtly to Steve and pushed his wings out. He was gone two seconds later.

"All right, Tony, what am I supposed to do here?" Steve asked.

They had three minutes left.

"FRIDAY, how close is Wilson?" Tony asked.

"Eight hundred feet, boss," FRIDAY replied.

"Okay, Rogers, I'm going to do some work here and then you need to do exactly as I say," Tony said. "You wait for my word, all right?"

"I'm ready," Steve said back.

They now had two minutes.

"Sam Wilson, you have reached your destination," FRIDAY announced.

"I am in the middle of nowhere, FRIDAY," Sam said. "There is nothing around me."

"The source of the computer's power is in the east wall. You will need to break into the wall."

"Wilson, you need to do this fast and you cannot destroy the power source. Just get to it. You have forty-five seconds," Tony told him.

Sam fired a shot further down the wall and started tearing away at the brick and cement as FRIDAY gave him directions.

"You have one minute remaining," FRIDAY announced to all of them.

"Where you at, Wilson?"

"Sam, please tell me you're to the power line," Steve said at the same time.

"Another couple seconds," Sam replied through gritted teeth while he pulled another chunk of wall away. "I'm almost…"

"There aren't any more seconds, Sam," Steve said. He was nearly dizzy with anxiousness, but he somehow kept his voice from breaking.

"Okay, I've got it. I'm here," Sam said.

"All right, we have thirty seconds," Tony said. "We only have this one shot," he added.

He glanced around at the map again. It included landmarks across the world, the former Avengers tower and even Peter Parker's high school. This lady had done her homework.

Tony launched into a mile a minute explanation and Steve focused to follow along. They were down to ten seconds.

Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one…

Sam pulled the power cord from the box affixed and Steve and Tony pressed their Enter keys. They waited for everything to take place – to blow up or something. But nothing happened and the screens in front of Tony and Steve went blank.

"Is that a good thing?" Steve asked.

"Is what a good thing?" Sam asked. "What happened? What's going on?"

"Nothing. Screens went black," Tony said. "FRIDAY? What do you have for me?"

"I can happily report, boss, that the detonations were stopped – nothing occurred," FRIDAY said.

Steve relaxed in the chair and let out a long sigh. Sam slouched to the floor and Tony spun in his chair excitedly.

"All right, a quinjet is waiting for you. I'll send teams out to sweep the eight locations and you all get back here. I'm going to check on Sharon now," Tony said.

He ended the connection and forced himself up and out of the chair. He headed back down the hall.

Steve and Sam met up in the hall and Sam gave Steve a big smile. "We did it, man! Come on! We did good!"

"I know, I know. I'm trying to be happy, Sam, but…"

"Sharon is going to be just fine, Steve. You have to know that," Sam said, putting his hand on his buddy's shoulder. "Come on, we'll get out of here and get back to New York."

Tony made his way down to the medical unit once more. His face fell when the doctors weren't working on Sharon anymore.

"What are you doing? Keep working!" he said before he pounded on the glass.

One of the doctors came out to speak with Tony.

"Mr. Stark," the male doctor started. "Mr. Stark, Ms. Carter is going to be fine. She's going to need some recovery time – she had a significant amount of internal hemorrhaging, but we were able to stop it," the doctor said.

"Wh-what?" Tony stuttered in disbelief. "She's…all right?"

"She will be," the doctor replied. "She's going to be asleep for a while. What was she hit with?"

"One of my repulsor blasts. We had – I had…" he said, his voice breaking from relief and guilt.

"Mr. Stark, it's okay. We gave her a couple transfusions of blood and stopped the internal bleeding. She has a concussion, but like I said, she will be fine," the doctor explained.

"Thank you. Thank you," Tony said humbly. "FRIDAY, how far out is Rogers?"

"Captain Rogers and Sam Wilson are two hours from arrival in New York. They boarded the quinjet three minutes ago," FRIDAY replied.

"Mr. Stark, you can go in and see her. She's out of the woods. Although, taking her to Barcelona would have also been an equally good option for immediate medical care," the doctor said.

"Listen, doc. I know you're the best. That's why we came back here. And you did an excellent job. Thank you," Tony said.

Tony reached out and shook the doctor's hand – something he normally avoided at all costs – and moved around him to go into the surgical room.

Tony walked into the room and let the feeling of relief wash over him. He took solace in the steady beeping of the heart monitor.

The nurses that were still in the room finished checking on the various other monitors and then vacated so he could be alone with Sharon.

"Hey, little girl," Tony said quietly as he walked around the end of the bed. "You scared all of us," Tony said. "And, I…I know I screwed up. A hell of a lot, actually. And this…I'm sorry I fired at you. But the doctors say you are going to be okay and I had to do something. You were under that woman's mind control and…just, don't scare me like this anymore. I'm so sorry about everything. I'm going to make sure things are put right. And you and Rogers can…I don't care," Tony said. "You're-you're all I've got left and I damn nearly killed you. But I promise you, Sharon. I'm going to make things right from here on out."

He leaned over, brushed some hair of her forehead, and kissed it before taking a seat on the chair in the corner of the room. He wasn't going to leave her side until she woke up.

Author's Note: So, do you forgive me and my lack of updates? I sure do hope so! Let me know with a review what you thought!

I'm going to finish this one, I promise!