Hey guys, here is another chapter. I have finals this week so I'm most likely not going to update until the weekend. However, next chapter we start Avengers 2! I think you guys can understand why I'm skipping GoTG VOL. 1. Anyways, I had this idea rattling around in my head so I hope you guys like this chapter as much as I do.
As always, please review :)
Izzy flexed her wrist subconsciously. She was nearly a year out of her cast and three months past her last day of physical therapy, but it still caused her pain if she was still too long, which was normally every time she was in the lab. Today she had been working on upgrades for the MARK IV of her suit. When Tony took away the last one, he banned her from using the suit until she was done with physical therapy, then she got a little too sassy over some small thing and Tony extended it another 3 months. She was anxious to get back to flying again.
The only thing that had kept her sane while being grounded was school and the times the other Avengers would come over. Most of them came to watch her graduate from MIT and they popped in every few weeks or so which was fun. She had a nine-month long game of battleship going with Clint and Natasha was teaching her self defense. Bruce was always around to run ideas with when she or Tony needed help. The only one Izzy really hadn't connected with yet was Steve. She didn't know what it was, but she could swear that he just didn't like her.
Natasha told her that Steve felt out of place, which she figured, but why did it seem like his problem was with her?
Her phone rang as she was putting her tools away. It was Natasha. "Hello?" She said confused, she thought Natasha was on a mission.
"Hey kid, are you busy?" Natasha sounded relaxed but there was a clipped way that she spoke that alerted Izzy to trouble.
"I always have time for you Nat." Izzy replied lightly but her mind was switching gears for whatever was coming next.
"How quickly can you get me some information from SHIELD?" Natasha asked.
"I'm guessing there is a good reason you can't get it yourself?" Izzy asked.
"There is. Not a lot of time to discuss it though." Natasha replied.
Izzy grabbed her tablet and propped it up. "What do you need from me?" She asked shifting the phone to hold it against her ear with her shoulder.
"What can you tell me about Jasper Sitwell's recent comings and goings?" Natasha asked. "Possibly where he is right now."
"One second." Izzy said hacking in quietly without tripping any alarms. "This guy globe hops a lot. What exactly am I looking for?"
"Anything that looks related to Hydra."Was that Steve?
"Captain, Hydra has been gone for a while." Izzy said. "You and your Howling Commandos made sure of that."
"No Isabel, they're still functioning."Natasha answered. "We just found you too. You need to trust us on this."
Izzy frowned as she switched gears for the files she was looking for if they were secret ones. What she found was pretty scary. "Oh my god. Nat all this stuff that SHIELD has been hiding. They're the new Hydra?" She said quietly.
"It's going to be okay."Natasha said."Can you send me a backdoor access to their servers? We may need it later."
"Yeah of course." Izzy said. "Okay here we go. Looks like Sitwell is meeting with—holy crap!—Senator Stern today at 1:00pm in Washington DC. I'll send you the address of the meeting."
"Thanks kiddo I knew we could count on you." Natasha said.
"Should I go tell dad?" Izzy asked. "You might need backup for this."
"No, we've got it." Steve said quickly.
Izzy felt a flash of hurt at his clipped tone. "Okay…" She said softly. "Good luck."
When Natasha spoke her voice sounded closer, now off speaker phone."It's not you kid. It's been a stressful few days. Don't take it personally."She said.
"Sure." Izzy replied. "Be safe Nat."
Izzy was sitting in the living room area watching the news with Tony. The attack going on at SHIELD, the new Helicarriers that they were launching, that Steve and some others were desperately trying to stop. They would never be able to get there in time to help so they could only wait and hope that they succeeded.
Some of the designs for the Helicarriers had been their ideas after what happened when Loki attacked, however, if Hydra was SHIELD that meant there was a lot of technological designs they had just handed over to the enemy.
Izzy has stopped looking at her tablet. Natasha has dumped all of SHIELD/Hydra's files online and her tablet was lighting up like a Christmas tree.
Izzy tensed as the SHIELD HQ building began to collapse. Tony put an arm around her shoulders, but his face was grim as he watched.
After what felt like a lifetime, they watched the Helicarriers get taken out by their own weapon system. Steve and the others had done it.
Because of the massive shockwave that hit the world with the information about Hydra, Tony had to go to Washington DC to try to help calm things down. Izzy went along too though she didn't have much to do.
When they first arrived, they went to see Steve in the hospital, making all necessary arraignments to get him a private room and the floor sectioned off. While there, they met Sam Wilson, who had been helping Steve and Natasha.
"You were one of the EXO-7 pilots.?" Izzy asked recognizing him. "You and…Riley, right?"
"Yeah, how did you know that?" Sam asked.
"Because those were my prototype designs." Izzy replied proudly. "I wanted to know who was using them."
Sam was super cool, she really liked him. It was clear that he had a really caring heart but obviously was not afraid of the fight. Probably a good Avengers candidate.
One day, while Tony was working Izzy went to visit Peggy. It had been a while since she had been, and she felt horrible about it.
"Hi Nanna." Izzy said walking in with a smile. "I brought you some flowers."
Peggy was sitting up in bed, though she looked tired. She smiled as she saw Izzy though. "Thank you dear. They're lovely." She said as Izzy set the large vase full of calla lilies on the table top.
"How are you feeling?" Izzy asked pulling up a chair.
"I'm fine." Peggy said. "You look beautiful today."
Izzy smiled glancing at the Chanel sundress she was wearing. At 14 years old, her style was evolving. "That's my line." Izzy said taking Peggy's hand. "Do you feel up for a walk today?"
"Maybe later dear." Peggy said patting her hand.
She managed to convince Peggy to sit in her chair instead of just up in bed and Izzy brushed her hair out and curled it, humming a lullaby that Peggy had sung to her as a child.
A tiny sound caught Izzy's attention, without pausing in the song or brushing, Izzy looked up to see Steve in the doorway watching them with curious eyes.
Peggy hadn't noticed him yet. "That's such a pretty song. Where did you learn it?" Peggy asked.
Izzy's smile faltered a bit before returning. "You taught it to me Nanna. Remember? You used to sing to me all the time when I was little. We'd bake all day and you'd teach me songs." She said recalling some of the best memories of her childhood before Peggy got sick.
"That's right." Peggy said smiling faintly before picking up the melody.
Izzy noticed the faint smile on Steve's face as he listened. "Nanna, I have to go okay? But I'll be back tomorrow." She kissed Peggy's cheek and hugged her gently before grabbing her bag.
Steve had retreated into the hallway to speak with her.
"Hey." Izzy said. "I didn't know you were out of the hospital already. How are you feeling?"
"Fine thanks." Steve said. "I didn't know you knew Peggy."
Izzy nodded. "Yeah after Howard and Maria died, she kind of stepped in as grandparent and also helped give my dad advise on raising a little girl." She said. "We try to stop in whenever we're in DC."
Steve nodded.
"You know she would tell me stories about Captain America." Izzy offered. "But it wasn't about the missions, it was always about the kind, scrawny guy that had stood her up because he had to save the world." Steve smiled faintly at that. "She never stopped loving you."
"Thank you, Isabel." Steve said.
Izzy nodded. "Also, Natasha told me about the Winter Soldier. Any resources we can give towards finding and helping your friend let us know." She said.
Steve nodded, gratitude clear in his blue eyes.
"Go on." Izzy said starting to move past him. "I'm sure she'll light up when she sees you."
He smiled and went towards the room.
She paused. "And Steve?"
He stopped and looked back at her.
She smiled. "Whenever you're ready to start tracking down this Hydra stuff, you know where to find us."
Steve nodded once before disappearing into the room. Izzy smiled and walked out into the sunlight.