He was moving, he wasn't going anywhere fast, but Percy could definitely feel the ground shifting under his feet. Well, not so much shifting as much as it was that he could feel his feet dragging along the ground. He was vaguely aware that both of his arms were wrapped around something. His left arm was wrapped around something large. It felt distinctly like corded muscle, he could feel the soft cloth of a t-shirt and the moistness of sweat. His other arms dangling more loosely, around a considerably smaller frame. Feeling equally strong, albeit thinner and not as dense. It felt like he was resting on smooth skin, slick from perspiration.
He tried to open his eyes, but his body for the moment refused to cooperate. What the hell was going on, what had happened. He tried to think, but his memories were simply too hazy. A jumbled mess of noises and color. What had he been doing? A sharp sting in his abdomen jolted a memory; a memory of a metal fist catching him square. He'd been in a fight! That was a start, but given that Percy had been in too many fights to count, it wasn't all that helpful. He focused on the metal fist. That was a clue, had he been fighting robots? No, no that didn't make any sense at all. Robot armies were the product of cheesy sci-fi movies and bad television shows.
So, he must have been fighting a person. There was a slight spasm in his right arm and whatever was holding onto it jumped and Percy's arm fell from its resting place. Percy paid it no mind. His was body was slowly restarting. The fog of his memories was clearing up, and he saw a face. Or rather, a pair of cold blue eyes and black face mask. Like someone had flipped a switch he remembered. The Winter Soldier! He and Steve had been fighting the Winter Soldier, and they had been winning? He thought that they had been winning, but then the man had disappeared?
He felt a groan escape his lips and though his ears were ringing slightly, he could make out a muffled voice saying, "Hey, he's waking up!"
Percy ignored it, trying to piece together the process of events. They had been traveling to the Triskelion. He, Steve, Natasha, and Sam. They had been ambushed. They had fought it off. The Winter Soldier had escaped. And then what?
He felt the arm wrapped around the larger frame be gently pried off and Percy felt himself be lowered to a cold, concrete floor. He was sitting upright, but his eyes still refused to open. His head was spinning and the ground felt like it was moving under him. "Hey man, take it easy, you were shocked with enough electricity to bring down the Hulk alright? Just try to relax." said a soft voice by his ear.
He remembered. They had been surrounded, five pylons had fallen from seemingly nowhere and then he was being electrocuted. He had tried to fight it, to fight through the pain and get to the people trying to hurt him. He remembered someone reaching out to him, a voice? A face? The image of a stunning red-headed woman burst through to the forefront of his mind and Percy's eyes snapped open.
"Jean!" Percy gasped, as he inhaled lungful's of oxygen. As his swimming vision began to calm, he could take in his surroundings. He was in a tunnel of some sort. He could feel the earth above him along with the running of water of a nearby water way. A river maybe? He could feel himself get hauled shakily to his feet. Looking to his left he saw the sweaty and smirking visage of Sam Wilson.
"Easy there big guy. Take it easy."
"Where the hell are we?" Percy asked,
"Ask her," Sam said, nodding his head to Percy's right. Turning his head Percy felt his eyes widen in surprise,
"Hill?" he asked, shocked. "What in the-"
"You need to quit it with the Taco Bell Jackson. Jesus Christ you're heavy." said the former agent as she rolled the shoulder, she had been using to carry Percy before she strode off, taking the point position. Staring after her incredulously, turning to look back at Sam, the man just kept smirking at him.
"You good on your own?" he asked, Percy just nodded. He had regained feeling in his legs and he could move on unaided. Raising him arm off of Sam, Percy took a few shaky steps forward before he got his legs back. Sam strode by him, smacking Percy on the back and said, "Oh and by the way, we're talking about this 'Jean' girl later. I want details." and took off after Hill.
"C'mon Percy." said a voice to Percy's right, and for the first time he caught sight of his teammates. Steve was a sweaty, bruised, and dirty mess. But for as bad as Steve looked, Natasha looked even worse. She was pale, leaning on Steve for support as she pressed a bloody towel into her shoulder. Snapping into action Percy yanked the towel out of her hand and pressed his hand into her wound. She grimaced in pain and grunted but just nodded her head at Percy. Focusing his will, Percy felt the blood pooling around the wound and forcefully stopped the blood flow. Reaching a hand out, Percy summoned water around his outreached hand. Taking the hand off of the wound he placed his water laden palm over the wound and willed the water heal Natasha as it would him. After a few moments, the wound began to seal over.
Panting slightly, Percy was far from feeling one-hundred percent, he pulled his hand back. "It's not perfect but it will have to do until we get someone to fix that properly."
"Thanks." she said, smiling in relief, but he could see the exhaustion on her features all the same.
Steve maintained his position as support pillar and started walking forward, Natasha shuffling along beside him.
Percy fell into step beside him, "Fill me in. What the hell is going on?"
Steve glanced his direction, "HYDRA took us in. Likely to kill us in a remote location. I don't know how, but Hill managed to sneak onto our wagon. She took out the guard and got us out. She said this is a secure location for us to regroup and prep to take down insight."
Percy had questions about how the hell that worked out, but he had worked with these people long enough to know better than to ask. "That guy, the Winter Soldier, seemed like you recognized him. What's the story there?"
Steve's face grew stony, and his eyes adopted a glazed look. "James Buchanan Barnes. Bucky. That's his name. He's my best friend. Back in '43 his entire unit was captured and experimented on by Zola. I don't know what he did to Bucky, whatever happened helped Bucky survive the fall…"
"Damn…" Percy muttered as they trudged forward. This entire thing just got a lot more complicated. While Percy certainly didn't have any kind of a connection with Barnes, Steve was going to be compromised the next time they encountered this guy. He would hesitate, would pull his punches, wouldn't try to put the man down. Considering they kept running into him too, Percy would be shocked if they didn't have an encounter with the bastard when they tried to take down the Helicarriers.
As much as Percy could sympathize with the man, Percy wasn't sure that he would be able to control himself should he come into contact with the man. Percy didn't know him, didn't have the personal connection. All he knew was that the Winter Soldier had carved a bloody trail through the world over the last fifty years. And then there was the prevailing thought in his mind.
Tony.
Zola had heavily implied that Howard Stark, Tony's father, and his mother, had been assassinated by HYDRA. And if the Winter Soldier, if Barnes, had been HYDRA's personal assassin, it was not out of the realm of possibilities that Barnes had been the tool used to eliminate one of the founders of SHIELD.
Percy felt sick. Tony needed to know, he deserved to know. But Percy knew that the conversation would be far from pleasant. Percy had not known the man for very long. Could barely even call him a friend, but he was a comrade. They had fought together, saved the world together. Combat bound individuals in a way that nothing else could. So Percy resigned himself to knowing that they would need to have that very difficult conversation.
Glancing over at Natasha, he met her gaze and knew that she was thinking along a similar wavelength. Her eyes flashed, before they narrowed. She didn't need to speak for Percy to understand, they would discuss this later.
Stuffing his hands into his pockets, Percy tried to push the thoughts of his painful revelation away in leu of more pressing matters. Like how in the living hell they were going to destroy three, state of the art, Helicarriers.
Looking between the battered super soldier, the wounded spy, the falcon and former SHIELD agent, Percy realized that they were woefully underpowered. They needed much heavier artillery. His first thought was to try and contact Xavier, but he knew that would go nowhere fast. If Xavier was unwilling to unleash his team in the face of alien invasion, then he certainly wouldn't dispatch them to clean up SHIELD's mess. Even if Sitwell had mentioned that the mansion and the team were targets for Insight.
He considered trying to get ahold to of Thor, having the Thunderer for this would certainly make things easier. However, Percy had heard through the grapevine that Thor was currently dealing with some kind of a mess back on Asgard.
God only knew where Banner had disappeared to. As nice as it would be to have the heaviest hitter on the team, Percy was worried about having something so uncontrollable in the nation's capital.
That only left…
Percy sighed. Of course, it brought him back to Stark. That was hot mess for more than just a few reasons. Percy had seen the footage of the attack on Tony's mansion. And had seen the follow-up satellite imaging of the fight at the dockyard. As far as Tony was concerned, he was seemingly retired from the Iron Man gig. But Percy knew better. Men like Tony Stark, they were all talk. He would say he destroyed his suits. He would say that he was done and out of the game. But he wouldn't be able to help himself. He'd start tinkering and sooner or later there would be a new model of whatever suit he had been working on.
Then there was the whole Barnes debacle. Before he could even ask Tony for help, he would have to tell him about what he suspected about Barnes. It was wrong to try and keep that from him. More than that though, secrets like that never stayed a secret forever. Better to air all of this out now, rather than let it simmer and blow up in their faces later.
Percy would try and get a hold of Rhodes too. Not just for additional air support, but to potentially wrangle in Tony when things went south about Barnes. And Percy knew that things would go south.
His decision made, Percy checked his pocket, only to find that his phone had been destroyed during the fighting, sighing, Percy slipped the broken tech back into his pocket and brushed past Steve. Catching up to Hill he whispered, "I need your phone."
Shooting a puzzled look his way, she asked, "Why the hell would you assume that I have a phone down here?" Percy just raised an eyebrow. Huffing in irritation, the agent reached into her pants pocket and withdrew her own encrypted device. Percy slipped the phone into his jeans. "What are you going to do with that?" She asked,
Percy was saved a response by running footsteps, looking up, he saw an older looking man in glasses and wearing a full suit running in their direction.
"GSW." Hill called out, "She's lost at least a pint."
"Maybe two." Sam added,
"Let me take her," the man commanded as he stopped to examine Natasha,
"She'll want to see him first." Hill said cryptically as she continued past the man and down the rest of the tunnel.
She led them through a doorway into the inner-workings of an old hydroelectric dam. At the far end of the room was what looked to Percy like a makeshift hospital room. Pushing through the curtains, Percy shouldn't have even been surprised by what he saw.
Sitting propped up in a hospital bed, his one good eye barely open, was Director Fury. Turning to look over at the sudden intrusion, he said, "About damn time."
The man that had greeted them took Natasha by the arm and guided her to a folding chair at the side of the room. Sitting her down, he began working away at Percy's makeshift patch job. Before anyone could begin saying anything, Fury started speaking. "Lacerated spinal column, cracked sternum, shattered collarbone, perforated liver, and one hell of a headache."
"Don't forget your collapsed lung." muttered the doctor as he reopened Natasha's wound to begin fixing her back up.
"Let's not forget that" murmured the director sarcastically, "Otherwise, I'm good."
"They cut you open," said Natasha from her said, seemingly oblivious to what the doctor was doing, "Your heart stopped."
"Tetrodetoxin B," Fury explained, "Slows the pulse to one beat per minute. Banner developed it for stress. Didn't work so great for him, but we found a use for it."
"Why all the secrecy," asked Steve, "Why not just tell us." and Percy could tell that Steve was starting to get very much fed up with all of the games. Percy could relate, when he was just starting out he got real sick of the half-truths and secrets. It took him year to finally get used to the fact that working for an agency like SHIELD, meant that more often than not, you were left in the dark. For a man like Steve, someone who thrived on structure and having the whole picture, the intelligence game must have been maddening.
"Any attempt on the Director's life had to look successful," Hill explained,
"Can't kill ya if you're already dead," Fury said, "Besides, I wasn't sure who to trust."
"Well that stops now." Steve said, crossing his arms over his chest, "Because if we're going to put a stop to Insight, then I need to know that we can all trust one another to get the job done." Steve looked over to the doctor who was finishing up with Natasha, "How long to get him stable enough to have a sit down with us."
The man looked over to the director, who nodded reluctantly at him, "Gimme half an hour and we can get him mobile." he said. Steve simply nodded before wandering off into the bowels of the dam. Sam shared a look with Percy, who nodded his head at the man. Sam returned the gesture before turning and following the Captain. Walking over to Natasha, Percy helped her up and guided her away from the doctor and toward a small table outside of the makeshift hospital.
He helped her get situated before he pulled a chair out and sat directly in front of her. She wasn't meeting his eyes, instead looking down at her hands, folded over in her lap. "Hey," he said,
"Hey yourself," she said back,
"Haven't really had much time to talk you and I, you know, since all of this went down." Percy said, still trying to meet her gaze. "Just wanted to see how you were holding up."
Natasha's hands curled into fists into her lap and her jaw clenched. "Hey," Percy said a little more forcefully, "Talk to me here Nat."
She was silent, then she sighed and leaned back in her chair before she finally raised her gaze to meet Percy's. "Before SHIELD took me in, I didn't think that I was any more than what they had made me to be." she started saying, and Percy didn't need to ask to know who she was referring to. The Red Room. The Widow program. Where she was made into what she was. "All my life I was told that I was expendable. A tool. A weapon. And once my edge was dulled and no longer useful, I would be discarded. It's why I tried to be the best. To make sure that my edge never dulled. That way…that way they would never have a reason to be rid of me."
Reaching out, Percy gently took her hand in his and gave it a reassuring squeeze. He wanted her to know that whatever she was going to say, he was not going to judge her, or think little of her for it. He had known Natasha for most of his adult life. She and Clint had trained him, had taken him in. Had become the family he had left behind. She knew him and he knew her, as far as she let anyone know her at any rate. The fact that she was willing to talk to him like this, about herself, spoke volumes of the level of trust between the two of them.
"I did a lot of terrible things. I was the monster that they had always wanted me to be. But I got careless, sloppy. And I came across SHIELD's radar. They sent Clint after me. He should have killed me, but he didn't. He saw what nobody else did. He saw me as a person. Not a tool. Not some…thing to be discarded. But a person. He offered me a way out. I took it. And when I joined SHIELD, I thought I was going to be atoning for everything I had done before. To right the wrongs I had committed."
She paused and she broke her gaze off from Percy. He just squeezed her hand again and was pleased when she didn't pull away, but squeezed his back.
"But now, I don't even know if I've actually atoned for anything. How much of what we've been doing, how much of what I've done while working for SHIELD, has actually been for the good of the world? Or has everything just been HYDRA all along? Did I just trade one master for another?"
In all the time that Percy had known her, he had never seen Natasha look defeated. But right here, right now, was a defeated woman. And more than anyone in the world, at this given moment, Percy could understand exactly what she was experiencing.
He scooted his chair closer so that their knees were practically touching, "Ever since I was a kid," Percy began, "My life, my fate, was predetermined. Other people were calling the shots, and my life was not my own. I thought for the longest time that my choice were mine. But they weren't. They were the predetermined acts of the fates, and the gods pushed and prodded me along to follow certain paths. They used me, and I followed. Like the good little soldier they wanted me to be, I followed them. Not for them, but my friends and the people I loved. I did what I was told."
Percy had given her a rough outline of his life before, and it had been made clear to him in the past that SHIELD had been tracking his movements since he was a child, but it was one thing to read about him in a file, and it was another to hear it firsthand. Percy needed Natasha to hear his story in his own words.
"When I was sixteen, I was told that my choices would either save the world, or doom it, and that I would die either way. Turns out, they were wrong, the prophecy that the gods had thought was about me, wasn't, not exactly anyways. But the point remains that I had been manipulated into acting the way that I had, and had been molded into a weapon for the express purpose of dying to save the world. When the war was over, I thought everything else would end with it. That my life would finally-finally, be normal. I was wrong."
Percy took a deep calming breath, steadying himself as long-buried memories made their way back to the surface. "When I was seventeen, I was taken against my will. My memories were stolen from me, and I was forced into a position of leadership at the head of an army of my kind and told to wage another war against the darkness. Once more, others were making the choice for me. I was being manipulated into doing what others wanted. Were the intentions good? Yes, did my actions help stop an evil force from destroying the world? Yes, but the point still remains that I was not in control over my own life."
He was shivering a little now, and it was Natasha's turn to squeeze his hand in support, as her gaze never wavered. "We fought, and we won. And once more I found myself thinking that I could have the normal life I thought that I wanted. Then, the FBI raids my high school and arrests me. The hold me on trumped up charges, and throw me through a kangaroo court. I was sentenced. They locked me up and were prepared to throw away the key. The entire time, I prayed, I prayed to my father, to the king, to anybody I thought might be able to help me. But nothing. Nobody came to me. Nobody helped me. The people who had been running my life. The people who had used me to their own personal ends, had abandoned me. I understood why, I still do. They needed someone to take the fall to protect not only my world but the mortal one as well. But it still hurt."
Percy smiled sadly, thinking back to his time in isolation, thinking that he would never get the chance to breathe free air ever again, to feel the spray of the water on the rocks or smell the salt of the ocean.
"But someone did come. Coulson came. He got me out. Told me that the world owed me a debt and that SHIELD planned on paying it. He didn't force me to do anything, he didn't demand that I join up in recompense for their service to me. Instead, he made me an offer, that if the life I thought that I wanted wasn't what I believed it to be, then I would always be welcome with them."
Percy's smile brightened, thinking of his former mentor and friend. Of the man who had given him his life back, "So when I inevitably grew stir crazy, I had something to fall back on. For the first time in my life, I could make a decision, a life-altering decision, that was entirely my own. Then, in a manner of days I find out that the organization I have pledged my life to, was not what I thought it was. And I had this searing moment of doubt. I thought, 'did it happen again? Did I allow myself to be used again?' and that thought has been killing me."
Percy paused for a minute, sitting back slightly in his chair but maintaining a firm hold on Natasha's hand as he did so, "Yesterday, I said something very similar to what you just said. I've been worried about how much of what we've done was really in the name of SHIELD, and how much was done to further HYDRA's aims. We can sit here, and we can worry and we can cry over it, but it won't change the past. Nothing can. Instead, as we've sat here, and as we've talked, I've come to realize something. It doesn't matter if HYDRA has been pulling the strings. It doesn't matter to me, what is or is not true. The fact of the matter is this, without SHIELD, what it was or was not, I would not be here. I wouldn't have you. I wouldn't have Clint. I wouldn't have the Avengers, or the X-Men, or any of that. I would still be lost. But I'm not lost, am I? Because I have all of you. SHIELD offered me a lifeline in one of the darkest points in my life. And it gave me something I didn't believe I had any more."
He squeezed her hand again, "It gave me another family. People I could trust implicitly and completely, without having to worry. That's what I want you to realize Natasha," Percy needed her to understand, "I want you to realize that no matter what SHIELD was or wasn't, we still have each other, and it doesn't matter who was calling the shots, because at the end of the day, it wasn't them forcing you to do anything. Nobody was directing your life but you. You made a choice, a choice to be more. A choice to prove to yourself and the people who made you that you are so much more than the weapon they believed you to be. That's what matters. Nothing else. You did everything for the right reasons. You worked for SHIELD because you believed, in your heart, that you were atoning for your sins and because you wanted to make the world a safer place. That alone proves you are greater than anything else. That you're a hero. Never forget that."
For a while, neither said anything. Just staring at one another, Percy's face was a mixture of compassion and desperation. Desperation that his friend would realize the truth of what he was saying, and the sincerity with which he said them. And Natasha, just a mask devoid of utter emotion. Then, she dislodged her hand from his and leaned over the chair and embraced him. Her arms wrapping around him in a tight embrace. Percy wrapped his own arms around her and squeezed her back. Trying to put all of his love and unconditional support for his friend into the embrace that he could.
They stayed that way for several minutes, simply two friends holding one another in a moment of support. After a while, they dislodged from one another, Natasha's eyes were shining a little with unshed tears, dabbing at her eyes, the spy stood up. "We need to strategize," she said simply, "I'll help Hill with Fury, you get Steve and Wilson." Percy nodded and stood up to go after his wayward comrades. Before he was out of earshot, he heard Natasha mutter,
"Thank you"
And Percy smiled.
BREAK
It was a short while later that saw the group reassembled around the small table. Fury had a picture in his hand, staring with such a mix of resentment and sadness.
"This man declined the Nobel Peace Prize." He said sadly, lost in a sea of mixed emotions over the betrayal of a man he had called friend. "He said peace wasn't an achievement, it was a responsibility." With one last glance at the photo, the former director threw the picture onto the table. In an instant, gone was the nostalgic and resigned man, and in his place was the director of SHIELD. "See, it's stuff like this that gives me trust issues."
"We have to stop the launch" said Natasha, getting the discussion back on topic,
"I don't think the council is accepting my calls anymore." Fury said, as he opened a black case on the table top. Inside were three blue data chips.
"What's that?" Sam asked, shifting with nervous energy,
Hill answered, "Once the Helicarriers reach three-thousand feet, they'll triangulate with Insight satellites becoming fully weaponized."
Fury picked it up, "We need to breach those carriers and replace their targeting blades with our own."
"One or two won't cut it" Hill continued, "We need to link all three carriers for this to work, because if even one of those ships remains operational."
"Boom" said Percy dryly, and Hill nodded at him, "Which reminds me," Percy said, turning to look over at Fury, "These things can't fire until three-thousand feet yeah?"
"That is, literally, what I just said,"
Percy ignored him, "And we can only destroy these things, with the new targeting blades, which force the carriers to fire at themselves."
"You going somewhere with all of this?" Fury asked, but Steve beat Percy to the explanation,
"Those things are going to free fall directly on top of Metro-D.C."
Percy pointed a finger at Steve, "Bingo," he said, "How do we either A) ensure that these things aren't over an area with a very healthy civilian presence or B) Stop them from falling on top of people after they're destroyed?"
It had been bothering Percy for some time, he remembered New York entirely too well, the civilian bodies lying in heaps in the ruined buildings and lying in the streets. That time could hardly be considered their fault, but here? If they dropped three Helicarriers on the Capital and even one person died? That was one-hundred percent on them. Percy would be damned if he let innocent lives be lost because of their own carelessness or hubris.
"How would you suggest do that? I don't know if you noticed but we don't exactly have the manpower to evacuate the entire city." Fury snarked,
"Percy," Natasha said, getting his attention, "How did you keep the civilians away during the battle in Manhattan?"
"Morpheus cast a spell, put all of the mortals in a deep sleep that kept them off of the streets."
"Think you could pull something like that off again?" She asked, and Percy snorted,
"Hell no I don't," he responded, "That was Morpheus, God of Sleep. I've gotten pretty good with Mist manipulation but that is far and away outside my wheelhouse. Although…" Percy paused for a moment as an idea hit him, turning to look at Steve, "You're not camera shy, are ya?" he asked seriously, Steve looked at him, confusion etching his hard features. Fury drew them away by clearing his throat,
"Can we table that discussion for the time being?" he asked, at seeing everyone nod their heads he continued, "We have to assume everyone aboard those carriers is HYDRA," said Fury, "We have to get past them, and insert these server blades, and maybe just maybe, we can salvage what's left."
Percy and Natasha shared a look with one another but it was Steve who beat them to the punch. "We're not salvaging anything," the Captain said hotly. Fury paused on his planning and looked at Steve incredulously, "We're not just taking down the carriers Nick." Steve continued, "We're taking down SHIELD."
"SHIELD had nothing to do with this," Fury argued hotly,
"You gave me this mission. This is how it ends. SHIELD's been compromised, you said so yourself. HYDRA grew right under your nose and nobody noticed."
"Why do you think we're meeting in this cave? I noticed."
"How many paid the price before you did?"
Fury seemed to have no answer to that. "I didn't know about Barnes" he admitted after a moment,
"Even if you had, would you have told me?" Steve asked, "Or would you have compartmentalized that too? SHIELD, HYDRA, it all goes."
"He's right," Said Hill, and Fury looked to her sharply, barely able to comprehend that his right-hand was turning on him too. He turned to look at Natasha who met his gaze evenly, leaning back in her chair, it sent Fury the clear message that she would not be on his side here either. He looked to Percy, but the man wasn't looking at him, instead he was typing something into a phone in his hand, seemingly feeling the director's stare he said,
"Steve's right Boss. Only way to make sure HYDRA dies, is kill SHIELD along with it."
Out of sheer desperation he turned to Sam who just shrugged, "Don't look at me, I do what they do, just slower."
Percy snorted, "Bet"
"We're still gonna talk about this Jean girl." the man shot back and Percy just looked up from the phone and glowered at him. Fury ignored the byplay and just shook his head, "Well," he said, before sighing and leaning back away from the table, "Looks like you're giving the orders now Captain."
"I hate to interrupt this little moment we're having here," Sam said, looking between Steve and Fury, "But can I just point out that it feels like we're going into this seriously undermanned. I mean we're talking about breaking into SHIELD, and destroying three state of the art weapons of mass destruction. Am I the only one thinking that we could use some additional support here?"
Steve just shook his head, "I don't want to have to bring anyone else into this if we don't have to. It's bad enough that we dragged you and Percy into this mess, I don't want to bring anyone else down with us."
"Too late Spangles. Already here. Thirty-day warranty has expired. No returns now." came a voice at the entrance to the dam. As one all heads snapped to the rear of the room as footsteps echoed off the wall. Walking into the light, dressed immaculately in spite of the damp conditions was Tony Stark, the composed features of Colonel Rhodes hot on his heels.
"Stark?" Steve spluttered in confusion, "How did you-? When? Who-?" his head snapped over to Percy who just raised an eyebrow,
"You really think that I was just going to sit here and not bring in one of our heaviest hitters on this?" he asked,
"One of the heaviest? You know what Margaritaville, just for that, you're officially uninvited to my birthday party."
"Oh no. My heart is bleeding. How will I ever go on?" Percy snarked back, "And honestly, I was being pretty generous. I'm like ninety percent sure literally everyone in this room could kick your scrawny ass."
"Jackson!" Steve said sharply, his tone every bit the commanding platoon commander he had been, "Why in the hell would you drag them here?" he demanded,
"Because Sam is right Steve." Percy said simply, meeting the Captain's glare, "This isn't some raid on a bunch of arms dealers or cartel members alright. We're talking about something that could literally wipe out millions of people in a matter of seconds. Besides, Stark has a personal stake in this now,"
"What do you-"
"You know exactly what I mean Rogers." Percy said coldly, leveling his friend with an icy glare of his own.
Steve's face glazed over icily. He knew exactly what Percy was referring to, "We don't know if-"
Percy slammed a hand on the table, cracking it slightly and he shot to his feet, "Bullshit!" Percy said, "I know you heard and saw the same things down in that sub-basement that I did. You know exactly what Zola was implying. I get it Steve, believe me I do. The man was your best friend, and HYDRA screwed him up, took his life away, but you cannot keep this from him. The man has a right to know!"
Steve took a step forward so that he and Percy were inches away from each other, "Even if Zola was being truthful, it doesn't change the fact that Bucky wasn't in control of his actions."
"I'm not disagreeing with you Steve, because I agree with you!" Percy was shouting now, "But you can't keep this from him," Percy said in reference to Stark, "Secrets like this never stay buried and we need to get this out in the open now before it comes back to bite us in the ass later,"
"We don't know if-" Steve started say, desperate to do anything to keep his best friend, his brother, away from further harm,
"Bullshit we don't! Steve," Percy said, imploringly, "I have been at this a long time. I know what I'm talking about, I know that you think you're protecting him," Percy gestured with his head to Tony, who was watching the debate like a tennis match, incredulity and annoyance raging in his features, "But all you're doing is prolonging the inevitable! The more you try and bury the truth, the more it's going to hurt when it comes out, and believe me Steve the truth always comes out. You cannot hide something like this forever!" Percy paused, breathing heavily in anger, desperation and more than a little exasperation.
Percy understood all too well what his friend was going through. When Percy discovered Luke's betrayal all those years ago, it had ruined him, but more than that, he had seen what it had done to Annabeth. The girl had idolized, even loved Luke, and while Steve's love for Bucky might have been purely platonic, it was similar all the same. To watch someone you love turn away from the ideals they had seemingly sworn themselves to, and lose themselves to a darkness they had little control over, it could be heart-wrenching. But Percy needed Steve to understand him. He needed Steve to see the light and come to terms with the fact that the longer Tony went without knowing about the truth of his parents' deaths, the more the truth would destroy him.
"He needs to know Steve." Percy reiterated, his voice considerably gentler, "And you need to be the one to tell him."
"Alright," Tony said, waving his hands around, "Enough the with the damn pronoun game! What the hell are you two talking about."
Neither Steve nor Percy looked at the agitated billionaire, instead they continued to stare at one another. Percy crossed his arms and cocked his head, his face saying, 'either you man up and tell him, or I will.' There was a scrapping of metal on concrete as Natasha stood up, padding over to Steve's side she gently placed a hand on his arm,
"You need to tell him," she said softly, but firmly. Percy watched as Steve's features softened, before he finally sagged in defeat. Collapsing into a chair, he gestured at the empty one across from him at the other side of the table,
"Tony, take a seat, there's something you need to know." Tony paused, looking over the lenses of his expensive sunglasses at the super-soldier. After a long pause he rolled his eyes before relenting and taking a seat.
"Before SHIELD caught us," Steve started, "Percy, Nat and I tracked data from a data drive to Camp Lehigh in New Jersey. While we were there, we found what we believed to be the first SHIELD operations headquarters. In a sub-basement below the base was a data terminal. In the terminal was the digital mind of Armin Zola, a HYDRA scientist that we captured during the war."
"I'm sorry but literally nothing about what you just said makes any sense at all." Said Rhodey who had walked around the table to flank Tony,
Percy just shrugged, "Our lives our weird man," he said simply,
Rhodey, who had never actually met Percy prior to this moment looked at the man incredulously, "Seriously man, you're saying this dude put his brain into a computer and we're just supposed to take that at face value?"
"A year ago a portal opened over New York and we fought off a literal alien invasion led by a Norse god by another Norse god, a genetically altered super-soldier who was frozen in ice for seventy years, a giant green rage monster, a half-god, a man in a tin suit, a spy, and a dude with a bow and arrow. Is this really the weirdest thing you've ever heard of before?" Percy asked dryly, to which Rhodey wisely shut up.
"Anyways," said Steve who tried to bring them back on topic, "In addition to telling us about HYDRA's infiltration of SHIELD, Zola insinuated that HYDRA had been involved in…attacks, on certain high-profile targets."
"Real life-altering stuff there Rogers," said Tony with a roll of his eyes, "What else did he tell you? Microwaving your food is actually bad for you? Or maybe he had the gall to suggest that the sky really is indeed blue? Oh! or maybe that-"
"He implied that HYDRA killed your parents." Steve cut Stark off, opting to rip off the first band-aid rather than beat around the bush any further.
Stark froze mid-sentence, his mouth hanging open in an expression of stunned disbelief. "What the hell did you just say?" he asked,
Steve rubbed his hands together nervously, "Zola. He implied that the accident that killed your parents wasn't actually an accident. It was an assassination."
Tony's mouth worked itself, but no words seemed to come out. After a moment of this routine, he finally stood up, "Alright, you know what, I like a good joke every now and then. Bit of a pranked myself ya know? But this, this isn't funny. Not even a little bit Rogers."
"Tony," said Percy gently, meeting the billionaire's eyes, "He's telling the truth. He didn't outright say it, but the implication was pretty clear. Howard Stark stood in the way of HYDRA's plans so they…got rid of the problem."
Tony looked at Percy but his gaze refused to waver. His eye betrayed the truth behind the Captain's statement.
Tony's pupils dilated slightly and his face drained of color. His hands clenched into fists on the tabletop as Percy watched the dawning comprehension slowly seep forward, as Tony began to steadily understand that what Steve was saying was utterly genuine, that this was real. That what he had thought about his parents up to that moment might have been wrong. It wouldn't have been the first time that Tony had grossly misjudged his father.
Tony tore his eyes away from Percy, ripping his glasses away from his face. He turned towards Fury, "Did you know?" he demanded, when Fury didn't respond immediately Tony slammed his hand down on the table, "Did you know?" he roared,
Fury's lone eye swiveled to look at Stark, "No I did not."
Tony's chest heaved as he took large and gasping breaths, "How could you not know!" He growled, "You're king spy, you know everything."
Fury raised an eyebrow as his eye tracked around the abandoned dam, "Far as I can tell Stark, I am currently king of nothing. I only act like I know everything Stark, but there are in fact, some things that even I'm not aware of."
"Clearly," Tony bit out bitterly. Before he made to walk out, "I've had enough, this is just," he waved his hand wildly in the air, "I don't even know what this is but I need to leave, get out of he-I just can't be here."
"Tony, that's not everything." Percy said calmly. before leveling Steve with a meaningful look.
Tony stopped, just as he was leaving, he didn't turn around but he didn't leave either, "We still don't know if-" Steve tried to say but Percy's sharp glare, and Natasha's hand on Steve's shoulder cut him off before he could finish. Sighing deeply, Steve acquiesced. "There is also the distinct possibility that it-it was the Winter Soldier who was responsible for it."
Tony turned around, a quiet calm on his face but Percy could see the rage burning deeply beneath the surface. "I'm sorry, am I supposed to know who that is? Because I don't and I gotta be honest, finding it rather hard to give a damn at the moment considering that all I want, is to blow every single person in the Triskelion to hell and back."
"It matters because the Winter Soldier is Bucky Barnes." Percy said,
"Barnes?" Tony asked skeptically, "Sergeant Barnes? As in the same Sergeant Barnes that dad never shut the hell up about? How in the hell is that even possible, he'd be as old as you are!"
Steve just shook his head, "HYDRA experimented on him back in '43, whatever they've done to him, he's forgotten who he is and they've somehow managed to keep him alive all this time."
Tony scoffed, "That is absolutely insane, you know that? Crazy, certifiable, all the above."
"Tony…" Steve tried to say,
"No!" Stark thundered, rounding on Steve and getting nose to nose with the man, "No you shut the hell up, because I'm talking right now. I don't know what kind of game you're playing Rogers, but I won't be a part of it. You tell me that HYDRA killed my parents, fine I can work with that. Benn doing this superhero shit for long enough now that it doesn't surprise me. But now you're telling me that your little war buddy was 'brain-washed' into killing my parents? How the hell am I supposed to respond to that? What would you have me do here Rogers, huh? What exactly is your plan for this?"
"We need to get him help-"
"I can't believe I'm hearing this,"
"Tones" Rhodey tried to say but it was all for nothing, Tony had already left the room. Steve just sighed and collapsed back into his chair, head in his hands.
Percy stood up and moved to go after Tony but Rhodey stopped him, "Don't bother man, he's going to be long gone before you-" he was cut off by the sound of jet's firing off. "Yeah like that," he then stuck his hand out, "Don't think we've met yet by the way, James Rhodes, call me Rhodey."
Percy shook his hand, "Percy Jackson-"
"Sentinel, I know," Said Rhodey with a smirk,
Percy frowned but focused on his more pressing concern, jerking a thumb over his shoulder he asked, "You sure that we shouldn't be more concerned with that? Pretty sure we just kind of changed his entire world view."
Rhodey shook his head, "I've known Tony for most a long time. He's going to need some time by himself to come to terms with this."
"I knew this was a bad idea," Steve muttered from where he sat,
"No, it wasn't." Rhodey insisted, looking at Percy, "I agree with you, he needed to know. This kind of thing can ruin someone, worst of all it could ruin a friendship. Like it or not the world needs Captain America and Iron Man on the same side. That can't happen if they're hiding things from one another." Rhodey looked out at where Tony had left, "He'll be back, whether he's willing to admit it or not Tony does have a bit of a hero-complex. He won't be able to stand on the sidelines while this goes down."
"Does that mean you're in?" Natasha asked, still at Steve's side,
"Of course." Rhodey said simply, "Granted you still haven't really explained what we're doing, why we're doing it, or how we're going to do it. But I know you wouldn't have asked for help, or asked us to meet you in the basement of an abandoned hydroelectric plant if it wasn't important."
Spreading his hands out in front of him he asked, "So, what are we doing?"
BREAK
Sneaking into the facility had been far easier than Percy had been anticipating. Of course, the man in the supply cabinet that Percy had knocked out and stolen the uniform off of might be a little pissed when he woke up, but hey, couldn't win everything.
Percy checked his watch, if everything was going according to plan then Alpha-team would be entering the facility at that moment. Percy had just been clearing a corner, the OPS center in eyesight, when right on cure, the Captain's voice began speaking.
"Attention all SHIELD agents, this is Steve Rogers. You've heard a lot about me over the last few days. Some of you were even ordered to hunt me down."
As Percy walked forward a group of STRIKE members opened a nearby doorway and began walking into the hall.
"But I think it's time you know the truth. SHIELD is not what we thought it was. It's been taken over by HYDRA."
The lead agent paused mid-step, turning his attention toward Percy, his eyes narrowing in suspicion. Percy's knuckles popped as he surreptitiously began feeding on the water in the air around him.
"Alexander Pierce is their leader. The STRIKE and Insight crew are HYDRA as well. I don't know how many more. But I know they're in the building."
All of the men tensed as they followed their leader's gaze. One by one the agents began slowly unclipping the straps on the holsters. Percy gathered a stronger hold on the water. Behind his back his back, several knives of water materialized.
"They could be standing right next to you. They almost have what they want. Absolute control. The shot Nick Fury. And it won't end there."
Deciding that he needed to be the instigator, Percy acted. Moving faster than any mortal, Percy grabbed hold of the knives on his back and began launching them at the men. Two knives embedded themselves into the chests of leader and the one beside him.
"If you launch those Helicarriers today, HYDRA will be able to kill anyone who stands in their way. Unless we stop them."
Grabbing the wrist of another agent, Percy twisted and pointed the barrel into the forehead of an agent who was in the process of catching Percy in his sights. Squeezing the hand of the man Percy had incapacitated, Percy felt the pistol discharge and a splatter of blood sprayed into the face of another agent who was trying to line up a shot.
"I know I'm asking a lot. But the price of freedom is often high."
A stun baton caught Percy in the spine and he dropped to a knee,
"It always have been."
Reaching up, Percy grabbed hold the tactical vest of the man who hit him. With a heave, Percy launched the man into the wall. The wall cracked behind the force of the man's impact and he collapsed to the floor, motionless.
"And it's a price I'm willing to pay. And if I'm the only one, then so be it."
The last man was shaking as Percy turned his attention on him. He dropped the pistol in his hands and slowly raised his hands in the air in surrender. Percy just smirked at him, before hitting him hard across the jaw, rendering him unconscious.
Percy turned his attention back to the OPS center, where Rumlow had entered, and was quickly making his way towards a row of OPS techs. Breaking out into a run. Percy gave chase, praying he would be fast enough to stop the launch.
"But I'm willing to bet I'm not."
AN: Hope you guys are enjoying this so far. I hated writing the last half of this chapter. Rewrote it about six times and to be honest, I'm still not super happy about it. I partly blame my skill as a writer but also the clunky plot that was the Winter Soldier in Civil War. Still, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. The ride of this arc is almost over and I think quite a few of you are going to be rather upset with what happens in the next. Either way it's gonna be exciting. As always, thanks for the love and support, ya'll are awesome and are an inspiration for me as a writer.
Love,
LilDB