Tony's (Wonderfully, Fabulous, Annual Stark Industries) Christmas Gala (That Victoria's Never Heard Of)
For the next week, Vic continued to work on straightening up the mess of a garage that Tony had downstairs. Every day she would find something new to irritate her, all thanks to Tony. There were missing pieces from different cars that were taken for repairs to either his suits or the Quinjet. At dinner one night, Pepper had asked how she was doing working in the garage. That opened up a long rant focused on the frightened looking man sitting at the head of the table and ending with him being banned entirely from the garage for five days, one of each car that was not currently able to run thanks to him.
Steve and Bucky's affections had taken an even larger turn since the big date. Whereas before they would give her simple kisses while they had watched movies at night, they had begun to have fully make-out sessions on the couch. They would eventually end up in the bedroom and had not finished a single movie all week. She found it funny that Steve seemed to be the instigator more often than Bucky was.
After the shower with Steve, and then the next day Bucky, if they were in the mood, they would not automatically wait for the third to be there. There had been times when Steve had to deal with PR, so she had been with Bucky. Then there had been times when Bucky practiced at the shooting range, so she had been with Steve. At first, the two of them seemed to be more concerned with not monopolizing her, but they had finally relaxed.
As she had guessed it would be, Bucky had finally been the first one to press the topic of being a bit more bossy. Between the comment at the club, as well as the ones during the week, not to mention how they acted at dinner on their date, she knew it would be only a matter of time. Last night they had begun to kiss, but then Bucky had commanded her on how to slowly remove her clothes as he watched the show, similar to how he had in the hall after their date, his voice husky with desire.
Obeying him with a smile, he had ordered her to lie on the bed, telling her to place her arms over her head and not to move them at all until he gave her permission. Over the next long couple of minutes, he had begun slowly exploring her entire body with his hands and mouth, as if it had been forever since he'd done anything like that. There had been many times that she wanted to grab a hold his hair, pulling him into a kiss, but she laid there and enjoyed the moment just as much as he seemed to be.
When he had finally held off as long as he could, Bucky moved her arms down to her sides before sliding them into the small of her back, hands to elbows. With the weight of his body pressing down on to her, it was just enough pressure to prevent her from being able to free them. He had trapped her under his warm body in such an easy way, as he then began to claim her with each wonderful, hard thrust. Bucky had no idea how he had prevented himself from having his back all scratched up after teasing her for so long.
Afterwards, they had talked for almost an hour about as she tried to figure out what he liked and wanted eventually to get around to trying. She had even mentioned a couple of things she wanted to try that had gotten his attention with a knowing leer. Vic learned that neither Bucky or Steve had ever done anything like that years ago, as dames were not as open back then. But as they talked, she began to wonder if it also helped to give him back a bit of power that had been denied to him for so long. Vic had assured him that when he was ready, that they could try whatever he wanted, including Steve in the playtime, if he wanted to she told him, to which Bucky only gave another knowing smile.
After pointing out how Steve had followed his lead before, she had joked about Steve and damsels in distress, and how he was supposed to save them, not be the one tying them up. But Bucky had just hinted again that he thought that Steve would be willing to participate, but he didn't elaborate. If he wanted to be secretive, she'd go along with it. He then asked if she would be nervous about them having such control over her, probably thinking more to his own time as a captive. She pointed out that she totally trusted the two of them, and that she knew they would never hurt her.
Now, she was nervous, but only because they would all be going out into the public spotlight once again, to attend the Gala that Tony would not shut up about for the past week. It had really better be something with all the bragging he was doing, she thought.
"Are you ready yet?" Steve's voice called out from the bedroom again through the closed bathroom door at her.
"Not yet, go away, Ennuyeux," she yelled back as she moved the pencil back under her eye to finish the dark line. She was trying her hardest to duplicate the look that Natasha had done for their date. She had paid attention, but it was still nerve-wracking to actually do it for the first time.
"I'd stop being annoying you if you would just get out here," he retorted as she finally finished.
Standing back from the mirror she looked herself over. She was finally satisfied with the overall look. Giving herself a final double check in the mirror and satisfied with her appearance, she wrapped the waiting coat around her and buttoned it up. Opening the door, she found Steve standing by the window, looking out over the darkening city.
Turning around, she knew that her jaw had probably dropped at the sight of him in the tuxedo. How she suddenly wanted to stay home…
"They sent over the wrong one, but it is the right size," he said straitening up the lapel.
"They didn't send over the wrong one," Vic could barely choke out with her throat tightened, before walking over to him to straighten up the bow tie that was just slightly crooked. "I changed it for this one the day I took Bucky for his fitting."
"You did?"
"Of course. The one you had selected was horribly out of style. I'm surprised that Pepper and Nat let you leave here in it."
"They did seem a bit unhappy seeing me in it. Tony actually laughed, but I just marked that up to Tony being his usual self," Steve told her as he looked down at the coat she had used to cover her dress. She wanted to wait until they arrived at the hotel's ballroom to reveal it to them. "How do I look?"
"Is that a trick question?" she asked pulling him into a hard kiss.
As they were standing there, they heard Bucky's voice from the doorway, humor in it as he stated, "I thought we were leaving but if we're staying home, great! Steve, you get her coat, I'll grab her panties!"
Vic flipped an English bird his direction then broke the kiss long enough for her to see Bucky starting to remove his jacket, so she pointed her finger right at him declaring, "Don't you dare!"
"Are you saying you don't want to stay?" he asked with a smirk.
"That's not the point. We are going to this fracking Gala because we'll never hear the end of it from Tony if we don't."
"That a pretty good point," Steve agreed, standing behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist. "Besides, we'll be coming home tonight."
Starting to walk forward, Steve never let go, so she dragged him with her as she made her way to Bucky. He looked even better in the tuxedo now than he had that day at the store.
"Now aren't you glad that I made you change your mind about going?" she asked him picking a single piece of long loose hair from his shoulder. He had slicked it mostly back like he had for their date, but not all the way. It looked a lot more modern now.
"Yes," he said batting Steve's arms away so that he could wrap his own around her before getting his own kiss, which earned him a flick on his ear from Steve.
"Alright you two, don't make me have to separate ya'll," she scolded.
"But that's just what we want," Bucky then grinned.
"But up close and without clothes," Steve chimed in, finishing the comment unlike they had at breakfast one morning. She groaned at his remark but grinned knowing that in a few hours that is exactly what was going to happen.
"Here," Bucky said handing her a small velvet bag. "Pepper dropped this off on her way down to the garage, saying it was for you to wear tonight."
Walking over to the bed, she untied the ribbon holding it closed and then let the items inside slip onto the blanket. They all stared at the diamond and silver necklace and earrings that lay sparking in the light. It had to be an antique, judging by the Art Deco style. The clusters of rectangle diamonds were designed to form flowers gradually increasing in size toward the center, which had a large teardrop diamond. The sides looked like the stems of the flowers with bit of detail wrapping them. Even the clasp was covered with another flower design, making it look seamless. The earrings matched the design of hanging flowers, also with a large center diamond.
"Holy flying fish," she murmured as Steve and Bucky chuckled beside her. Bucky reached down, picked up the necklace and started to place it around her neck before she had a chance to protest. "I can't wear these. Do you realize how much they probably cost?"
"Tony must have gotten into some real trouble with Pepper to get her these," Steve smiled at her as she tried to duck to prevent it from going around her neck. Reaching over, he took a hold of her shoulders to keep her in place.
"You will wear these tonight," Bucky told her as he fiddled with the clasp. It took him a few moments longer than she would have expected but then guessed he was not used to working with such a delicate item with his metal hand. After it was on, Steve picked up the earrings, took her hand in his and then placed them into it.
"If anything happens to them, we'll owe Tony our first born, you realize that?" she jokingly asked, which actually caused both of them to hesitate with what they were doing. So far, they had not even spoken of children, but they both had grins on their faces at just the thought, giving her a peek at a future conversation.
"Nothing is going to happen," Steve informed her, bringing them back to the now. Vic went ahead and put the earrings on, still hesitant but knowing she was not getting out of this.
"Come one, everyone is already heading downstairs," Bucky instructed as they wrapped their arms around hers, heading to the elevator. The night was hopefully going to memorable, if not at the Gala, it would be once they got back home.
Twenty minutes later, Tony beamed as their limo pulled to a stop in front of The Plaza Hotel, saying, "If anyone says anything negative to you, just let me know and I'll have them tarred and feathered then fired and kicked out."
Of course, he had rented the Grand Ballroom for his Christmas Gala, as it was one of the most extravagant sites in the city. They had all climbed inside of the limo for the short ride, with Bruce and Nat sitting next to each other across from them. It seemed that Bruce had indeed listened to her and asked Natasha if he could escort her to the Gala.
"That won't be necessary, Tony," Steve told him as they prepared to make their first official public appearance. Reporters had been hounding the PR department for the past week trying to confirm that the three of them would attend. Looking out of the window, guards were lining the red carpet that led to the front doors to clear the area for them.
Tony and Pepper led the way, reporters yelling out so many questions she couldn't keep track of even one of them. They let Nat and Bruce go next. When they finally emerged, there were so many flashes from camera's that she just let Steve and Bucky lead her, ignoring all of the questions she heard. Pepper had requested that they at least stand for a few seconds, altogether with happy faces, and let the reporters get the best possible shots they could. A bit of good publicity never hurt, she had told them. They stood with their arms around her waist while ignoring the actual questions wanting to know about the usual: living arrangements, her background, their sex life. Turning to the entrance, they all sighed in relief as they left the mass of bright lights.
"That wasn't so bad," Bucky said as they made their way through the hotel to the Gala.
The entire place was decorated for Christmas, which made her realize that they didn't have a single item in the apartment indicating that it was getting close. Steve probably didn't own any decorations from his previous Christmas', and there was no way that Bucky did. She never bothered to do anything since it was pointless. Wade would usually send her something small and disposable, like fancy bath products, while she would mail him whatever unique or practical thing she had found for him.
Unfortunately, there was also the anniversary of something coming up. That was not going to be fun. She needed to talk with Pepper to find out how it had been handled in the past. Her mind started to formulate a plan in the background, but she quickly pushed it away so that she could enjoy tonight. She'd start working on December 16th tomorrow.
Making their way up the staircase to the Grand Ballroom's foyer, they waited in the line at the coat-check for a few moments. Unbuttoning the coat, she heard the gasps she had been expecting once handed the coat over to the person. Turning around to face them, their expressions showed the shocked looked she had wanted to get.
The red shimmering dress was extremely form fitting to her body. The first thing that they had seen was that the shoulder straps went straight down her backsides, leaving the entire center back of the dress open, revealing her smooth bare skin. The curve of the dress was at the lower small of her back, while the train of it glided barely on the floor. The dress was covered in a crystal and sequined pattern that accentuated the Art Deco style of the dress.
Turning around they saw that it had a plunging soft neckline, exposing her soulmark proudly, between the necklace and dress. The jewelry she was wearing matched the style perfectly, which was why Pepper had probably chosen it, since she and Nat had helped her find it.
"So, are ya'll just going to stand there all night?" she smiled at them as they continued to stare, practically drooling. They quickly moved as she started to head towards the opening to the Ballroom without them.
"Do you know that the back of your dress is missing?" Bucky asked as his warm hand slid over her exposed skin. She gave him a simple elbow to the side for the jest as Steve's hand then matched Bucky's.
"Yes, but I wouldn't exactly say that I'm missing it," she told them with a smile.
"I don't mind," Steve then smiled as they stood in the doorway admiring the decorated room. There was a live band playing Christmas music and the entire place was red, white, and gold. Tables lined the large dance floor while waiters made their rounds with champagne flutes.
Still feeling uncomfortable in the overly done up ballroom, she never strayed from her warriors. The only time they even split up was when they moved onto the dance floor for a while. Pepper introduced them to some of the Stark Industries board members and department heads, who all could not help but look at her soulmark, but they were all very friendly. After the first few times, the jitters of meeting so many new people became much easier to deal with. Maybe Tony had threatened them already, or possibly not everyone here was as judgmental, or they hid it really well.
By close to the ten o'clock hour, the party was in full swing. The band was playing a mixture of songs and everyone was enjoying themselves. She had seen Bruce and Nat dancing a couple of times during the night, but she would guess that Bruce was still hesitant about even being in such a public setting. She had seen him fidgeting a bit too much at times when small crowds were too close to him.
At one point, the band had played an orchestral version of Iron Man, of course, because it's Tony. He dragged Pepper out onto the floor for the dance, but it was the next song that amused her the most. When his and Pepper's song ended, Tony came around the table to her, leading her out onto the dance floor. That was when the band played their instrumental version of Big Balls as the two of them laughed and sung the lyrics between them. Other guest looked at them like they were crazy, so she figured they were not AC/DC fans, but when you are with Tony Stark and it's his party, you can do whatever you want and get away with it.
Later on, as the group was sitting around the massive head table Tony dictated had to fit all of them, a lone figure walking towards them caught Vic's attention. She felt Bucky slightly stiffen at his presence, but if he was a danger she knew that Bucky would have done something more. The man's attire did not exactly fit in with the rest of the tuxedos, but he was dressed in a very nice black suit, even with the eye patch. He continued to walk right up to the table without hesitation.
"Enjoying your evening off I see," he told the group, as he stopped next to Natasha, who also didn't seem bothered by him being there, or being that close to her.
Tony looked over his shoulder at the man, then picked up his glass before calling out, "Party crasher," pointing at the new guest.
"And here I was thinking that you just didn't know how to get the invitation to me," he smartly replied as he looked around the table, stopping on her for only a moment.
"You know not to listen to Tony. You are always welcome, Nick," Pepper informed him with a smile. "But a mailing address would be nice."
"I'll get right on that," he sarcastically informed her with a small grin, reminding her of when she had used that phrase on Bucky while criticizing how he had been chopping vegetables one morning.
"Business or pleasure, Boss?" Nat then asked, making her really wonder who this guy was. Why would Nat call him boss?
"I've actually come to deliver a long overdue present. It's something for the entire group," he told them.
"This ought to be good," Tony put down his drink and turned slightly in his chair to face the man. "But if it's a spare Helicarrier, the parking fees in New York are going to be outrageous."
"No, it's not a Helicarrier, Stark. But if you want, consider him my plus one," Fury replied, nodding his head towards the side of the room.
"I would never have thought you rolled that way," Tony smirked, earning him a shoulder punch from Pepper. Vic looked towards the direction Nick had nodded, noticing a sharp dressed man emerging from a small standing crowd that was talking among themselves, making his way to their table.
Now it was Steve's turn to stiffen.
"Phil!" Pepper gasped in shock as she stood up and wrapped her arms around the adorable gentleman that Steve was now standing up to greet. He didn't seem to believe the man in front of him was actually there, as Steve reached out hesitantly to touch his shoulder. Finding it solid, Steve actually gave the man a tight hug, earning him a matching one from Phil.
"Well, there's one thing checked off of my bucket list," Phil smiled and then waved at the table once Steve released him, saying, "Hi, everybody!"
"What did you do?" Bruce then asked Nick as he stood and shook the man's hand.
"Let's just say I had a project that is no longer viable to use, but Phil deserved it," Fury told them as the rest of the table began to talk with Phil. Pepper had grabbed him a chair from another table and he sat down to answer a couple of questions. She didn't understand what was going on so she would just find out later. Bucky was still sitting next to her, a bit on edge, so she took her hand and nudged him.
"Want to dance?" she asked.
"Yes," he quickly answered as he stood, seeming to want to get away from Nick.
Standing out on the dance floor, she asked, "Care to tell me about why you looked panicked because of Nick?"
"I kind of blew up his car, then shot him three times, and killed him," he explained as they glided around, keeping their voices low due to the topic of conversation.
"He looks pretty good for a dead man," she smiled at him.
"No, he actually tricked HYDRA into thinking he was dead, so that my mission was complete," he told her, then it dawned on her.
"The final file…that's Nick Fury?" Vic asked turning them so that she could see the man once again. He stood at the table as the rest of the Avengers talked with Phil, but she noticed him glancing at the two of them every so often. "You know, now that I think about it, that's the third person I've met that you've shot and not killed. I thought you were supposed to be a good assassin? Do I need to send you to the shooting range to practice more?"
"Really?" he grumbled at her, as she laughed and gave him a kiss, getting rid of any anger he had from her teasing. "I try to avoid him when we go on mission with SHIELD."
"Mind if I cut in?" they heard a familiar voice ask.
Turning to look at Fury, she felt Bucky once again stiffen, but she gave him a gentle squeeze of assurance.
"Not at all," she told him while letting go of Bucky. He seemed a bit hesitant, but he stepped towards their table without a word. After Nick had taken her into his arms, she said, "That was the bravest thing I've seen someone do in a long time, Nick."
"What?" Fury asked.
"Separate the Winter Soldier from his soulmate. Do you have a death wish? Are you trying to make him finish the job?" she teasingly asked as they began to move across the floor.
"Definitely not. I just wanted a chance to meet you, Victoria. I was one of the few people in SHIELD that knew about Rogers' soulmark once he was found. Sometimes I still have a hard time understanding how the Winter Soldier was one of his matches," Fury told her as he glanced down at her own exposed one. "Amazing."
"Thanks. So, if you were head of SHIELD, were you there when Steve was found?" she asked.
"Yes, Phil and I both went when to the Arctic base when we got the word he had been found. I was the one who ordered the search to resume once I became director of SHIELD. Even with all the advance equipment used, the project ran for two years. It had been called off decades prior, and there were many people who wanted to keep it that way. I'm glad I didn't listen to my critics and give up," he told her.
"You and me both," she smiled at him before looking over at the table. Steve and Bucky were next to each other, Phil being introduced to Bucky it seemed, as they then shook hands. "So who exactly is Phil and why is everyone surprised to see him?"
Fury then gave her a sudden spin, so she was no longer looking at the table, as loud pops occurred.
That was when she felt Fury's body lurch hard into hers, as he wrapped his hands around her head before collapsing to the ground, taking her down with him, his body covering hers. Victoria heard screaming from everywhere as she was then grabbed around her waist from behind, pulled out from under the weight of Nick's body, and dragged across the dance floor away from his prone form.
Coming to a stop, she found herself at the edge of the dance floor, a covered table to her side, partially hiding her. People were running screaming in every direction as the orchestra had stopped playing and were also scattering.
"Victoria, are you all right?" Steve was asking her as he knelt on the ground next to her, his hands running over her chest and stomach area, looking for something.
"What happened?" she asked looking back out onto the floor where Bruce, Nat, and Phil were surrounding Fury, who was lying on the ground. Bucky was standing only a few feet away from them, his eyes darting around, before locking on something. He then took off with a definite target in mind. Seeing him run from them towards the raised balcony area that surround the main floor, she sat up to watch, before she almost lost sight of him.
"Victoria, listen to me! Are you hurt?" Steve firmly asked as she watched Bucky make an amazing leap over the railing of the balcony about ten feet straight up, before disappearing onto the upper level.
"Why would I be?" she then turned to ask Steve.
"Because Fury just got shot!" he informed her.
"He what!?"
Up in the balcony area, Bucky saw the male target trying to make his way through the frightened crowd of people. He was dress in one of the waiter outfits, so he stood out among the tuxedos and dresses. Turning back to see if he was being followed, Bucky saw the moment he understood who was chasing him down for taking the shots at Fury...and more importantly, Vic.
Pointing his gun at Bucky, the shots he fired made contact with his arm as they then ricocheted away, ruining the sleeve with multiple bullet holes. Emptying the gun, his flight then became even more exuberant and crazed, pushing people to the ground, trying to get to the stairs at the far end of the balcony area. There was no way he was letting him get out of here, Bucky thought.
Glancing at one of the buffet tables he was about to pass, Bucky spotted a carving knife resting on the abandoned station's cutting block. Grabbing it up, he took a couple of more steps before pausing a second to aim and throwing the knife at the hit man. It lodged in his back just as he reached the first step downwards, collapsing onto the backside of a male guest, both of them starting to tumble down the stairs.
Reaching the target, Bucky grabbed him by his ankle, pulling him back up off the stairs onto the flat floor as the guest righted himself and continued his own downward escape. The man turned to lay on his side due to the knife protruding from his back, and Bucky saw that he still had possession of his empty gun, which was now turning in his direction as an automatic response.
With a hard backwards swat of his left hand, the force of the blow to the target's hand dislodged the gun as he screamed. Bucky knew that he had used enough force to break at least a finger or two as well.
Seconds later, he heard the familiar steps of his group approaching him and the downed man who was whining in pain at his feet. The moment he confirmed Tony and Nat had the man under control, he turned back towards where he had come from, finding Steve and Vic walking towards him.
With Steve giving him a nod and their old team hand sign for 'uninjured', Bucky let out the breath he had not realized he had been holding since first seeing Vic heading for him. Steve had instantly ordered him to find the shooter while he got to Vic and he knew Steve would take care of her. He had known the directions the shots had come from and tried to put his body between the shooter and Vic, as Steve checked her for injuries away from where Fury was lying on the floor.
He heard Nat and the shooter conversing, but even with Steve's assurance, he was too focused on his own visual inspection of Vic to pay attention to them. As Vic then stopped before him, she seemed to be checking him over. She had heard the shots and was looking to see if he had been hit. Vic did not look happy as she poked one of her fingers into one of the bullet holes in the arm's sleeve.
"Then it looks like you failed," he heard Natasha say to the man.
"Hail HYDRA!"
Bucky turned at hearing those words spoken, a chill running down his spine as he watched the man's mouth began to foam a white substance. He had a suicide capsule in his tooth. A last defense before being taken in for questioning that HYDRA liked to employ to prevent information from getting out about their plots. He had never had such a device, as he had been far too valuable to loose. Luckily, he had also never been caught.
"Nat, what did he say?" Steve asked as they stared at the dead man.
"Fury was his target. I guessed he used him being out on the open floor with Victoria as the perfect time to try and take him out," Nat commented, turning to the three of them standing together.
"Great, another party crasher," Tony dryly joked, tapping his foot on the man's leg, as if testing that he was really dead.
"Well, what do you expect? Even HYDRA wants to come to your big balls," Vic then flatly stated, Tony slowly turning his head towards her, a surprised giddy look on his face at her comment. Vic then slowly allowed a smile to creep over her own face as she looked down at the dead HYDRA agent. Taking her arm, he turned her away from the body, leading her to the stairs they had come up, not wanting her to look at what he had done. "What? That was funny! Right, Tony?"
"You don't need to see what…" he then hesitated with his response.
Bucky then felt a hard pull on his entire body in the form of Vic planting her feet, stopping all movement, jerking him into almost falling backwards with the action.
"Do you think I'll be mad, or upset at you?" she then asked him.
"I don't want you to have to deal with what we do. Neither of us do," he said including Steve in the comment now that he had caught up with them.
"Well, that doesn't seem to be going to happen!" she told him, jerking her finger back in the direction from which they had come.
As something caught her eye over his shoulder, he turned to see Fury walking up the steps with Phil next to him. Seeing the man, he got so angry at the thought that it was his fault that Vic could have been hurt.
Taking a few deliberate steps towards his failed mission, he saw the lovely expression of fear appear on the man's face as he approached. Suddenly, there was a blond barrier in red between him and his new target. Vic.
"Stop right there, Gradina!" he heard her harshly inform him, a finger poking him in his chest, but his eyes not leaving Fury. "Stand down, or you'll be sleeping in your own bed alone for a month!"
Bucky then met her eyes, and he started to say something, to reprimand Fury for even coming here tonight, but he then felt Vic's hand cover his mouth.
"Fury turned me when he saw the shooter. He put himself in the path of the bullets," she informed him, dropping her hand back down so he could again speak. He looked at her, glancing to Steve for confirmation.
"He did."
"I saw the agent up on the balcony. When he realized he had been made, he lifted his weapon as I turned to cover Victoria," he said opening up his unbuttoned jacket to reveal the bullet-proof vest underneath. "After the presents you gave me, I never leave home without it."
Bucky stood there stiff for a few moments, trying to let the anger he felt drain away. Feeling Vic wrap her fingers around his, her other hand began to push the stray hairs that had fallen during his pursuit away from his face.
"Take a guess as to what I want to hear you say," she then told him, resting her hand on his cheek.
With a final deep breath, he let the last of the anger go, saying, "Thank you for protecting Vic."
"I'm sorry I had to," Fury told him as they stood there awkwardly for a few moments. Suddenly, he felt Vic smack his shoulder, gesturing towards Fury with a nod of her head. He knew what she was now expecting from him. In all the months he had been working with SHIELD, he had avoided it.
"Also, I'm sorry for trying to kill you. Twice."
"They say that the third time is the charm, but let's not test that theory, shall we?" Fury jokingly asked with a grin and nod to him, easing some of his tension at knowing that Fury did not seem to be holding a grudge. "You have no idea how glad I am that you are back on our side."
Then nodding to Steve, and giving Vic a smile, Fury and Phil walked over to where the dead man lay. Nat was in the process of searching the body while Tony and Bruce backed people down the stairs trying to keep them from taking pictures while party security helped them.
"This is the most memorable Christmas party I've ever been to," Vic informed them as she moved between him and Steve, taking their hands to lead them down the other set of stairs away from the body. "Granted, it's also my first, so Tony has a lot to live up to at next year's Gala."
"Sir, this just came across a secure channel," the HYDRA agent handed him a printout he recognized as a mission report. At first, Rumlow had only been slightly disappointed at reading the 'failed' status on the standing order to kill his old boss, Nick Fury.
Then as he read over the details of the event, he became furious. The damn agent had made his assassination attempt while the Asset's soulmate had been dancing with Fury. If she had been injured, or worse – killed, then all of the plans he was making would be useless. He would never get his Asset back, with Rogers in tow!
"I want a message to be sent out, the highest level encryption possible, to all remaining bases and agents! Nobody is to go anywhere near the fucking Avengers at all from this point forward!" he yelled at the cowering agent. "I don't care if another target is in the vicinity or not!"
"Yes, Sir. Do you want an explanation as to why?" the man asked.
"Hell, no! My orders are to be obeyed without question! Nobody outside of my own team needs to know my plans for the Asset and Rogers. If that damn agent hadn't taken his own life, I would have killed him for almost fucking up my plans!"
"I'll send the message out right now," the agent slinked away as Rumlow continued to stew at the idea that his plans could have ruined if Victoria had been killed.
They were still a long ways away from having the Chair's new base of operation set up, at least a matter of months. Then they still had to get to the location of the instruction book that was locked away so the scientists he was trying to recruit could start learning how to operate the Chair.
Hopefully, by the time they were ready, today's incident would have been forgotten, and any protection the Asset or Rogers had on their lovely soulmate would be gone, and without any further incidents to worry them more.
Author's Note: FYI - In case some of you missed it since I didn't give any notice, on the 4th of July, in honor of Steve's birthday, I posted a filler chapter. It's not necessary to the story, but it does contain information used in other chapters. Go back and look for chapter 50: Intermission: 4th of July, 1934 if you want to read it.
Updates this week will be on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I forgot to mention this last week.
