Next chapter! I hope you like it and please let me know what you think! Thank you so much for the reviews, it makes me happy to read them. A question once you finished this chapter. Do you think Tony and Steve are on the right track?
I don't own the characters or places!
"Peter Parker…" Tony muttered, looking at the screen thoughtfully. "He's still a boy."
"He is attending High School." JARVIS agreed. "And he seems to have special powers, though I could not find out why, Sir."
"I want to meet him." Tony decided immediately. "This kid seems to be special, that's right. And we all know how difficult that can be…" Was it difficult for Peter Parker? Tony thought so. After all, he seemed to keep his powers secret. Which wasn't too stupid.
"When do you plan to meet him?" JARVIS asked.
Tony ran a hand through his hair. "I'll think about it. Now doesn't seem to be a good time, there's so much going on. Keep an eye on him, J. And besides, I don't want to scare him."
"Do you think that it would scare a teenager when Tony Stark shows up at his front door?" Sometimes, Tony asked himself why he gave JARVIS so much character.
"Probably." He said simply and their conversation was interrupted by the sound of the elevator. The information about Peter Parker vanished on the screen and Tony turned around. Steve entered the lab, smiling slightly.
"You wanted to talk to me." Steve said when he said down next to him.
Tony nodded. "JARVIS got us the information about the conference in Vienna." He explained and the data appeared on the screen. "It's not just a normal piece conference. There are certain other things that will be discussed."
Steve raised his eyebrows and crossed his arms. "Why am I already suspecting that this isn't good?"
"Well, you're right. It's about us, in a way. "
Now he seemed to be confused and Tony ran a hand through his hair again. "They'll be discussing the rights of superheroes. New York was the catalysator. They decide what the world will do when another alien invasion will come."
"What exactly does that mean for us?" Steve asked with narrowed eyes. "That we won't be able to make our own decisions anymore?"
Tony shook his head. "I read the files, something like that isn't involved in the discussion. It's more like 'how much power can we give them without giving everything away'. You know that stuff, governments don't like others making the decisions."
"like the nuke in New York. When Fury's been overruled." Steve muttered. "And since SHIELD doesn't really exist anymore, at least not officially, they have to find a new solution?"
Tony nodded. "That's their plan. But that's just point to, primary it'll be a normal piece conference. Every country will have at least one representative there."
Steve raised his eyebrows. "Many people in one place. And all of them have power. The perfect situation for Hydra."
Tony hesitated. "Yes and no. Yes, there are many people with power. No, they'll all be guarded, security is very important there. No one who's not invited will get in, they're already making sure of that. It's a lot to plan."
"Seems so." He frowned. "So who's invited? Why would Hydra want Bucky to go there?"
"JARVIS, the list, please." Tony muttered and it appeared on the screen. "First, I didn't see a scheme. Mostly politicians, nothing interesting. I couldn't find someone who would be of interest for Hydra."
"But you found something." Steve concluded and Tony smiled slightly.
"That's right. After I've let JARVIS check the background of a few people."
"Of everyone who's invited." JARVIS corrected him.
Tony rolled his eyes. "Alright, of everyone. Are you happy now?" JARVIS didn't answer. "Anyhow, there are three people who can be interesting for Hydra. With one I'm sure, the two others are more of a supposition." He pointed at the screen and three names appeared. "First, Matthew Sitwell. He's from Germany and his father has been an opponent of Hydra back in the war."
Steve frowned. "That name sounds familiar."
"You've met his father." Tony explained. "Back when you were fighting –"
"Oh yes, I remember!" Steve exclaimed loudly. "He wasn't a nice man. Your father didn't like him as well."
Tony nodded slowly. "I know, that's how I found him." He really didn't want to talk about his father now and hoped that Steve would drop the subject. Luckily, he did.
"What does he do on a peace conference?"
"He's part of the government. I don't know why they chose him." Tony shrugged. "But probably, Hydra will know him. Though I'm not sure about that."
Steve nodded thoughtfully. "And the two others?"
"Thaddeus Ross. And T'Chaka, king of Wakanda." Tony said simply. There were a few others who might be interesting, but Tony thought these three could be the main targets. "And yes, this might seem odd to you now, but I have my reasons."
"Isn't Ross Secretary of State?" Steve asked with a frown.
Tony nodded. "And he was involved in Bruce's project with the gamma radiations."
At that information, Steve's jaw dropped. "We're talking about the same man?"
Tony nodded. "Sadly, yes. Well, I think he could be interesting for Hydra since he knows much about that project." He shrugged. "Another speculation."
"And the last one? King of… Wakanda? I've never heard of that country." Steve muttered.
"Not a surprise. Small state in Africa, mostly farmers. They're poor. Or that's what everyone thinks." Tony explained.
"Why should they pretend to be something they aren't?" Steve asked, sounding not convinced. "And why should their king be of interest for Hydra?"
Tony smiled slightly. "Tell me, what do you know about Vibranium?"
Now he caught Steve's interest. "My shield's made of Vibranium." He said instantly. "It's a very rare metal."
"And nothing's harder than Vibranium." Tony agreed. "It's hard to get, it took my dad weeks to find enough for your shield." He'd read his old diary once. "What he didn't know is that it's not as rare as everyone thinks. You just have to know where to look."
"Wakanda?" Steve asked sceptically.
Tony nodded. "Don't ask me how I got that information, it wasn't that easy. They're not just very good at hiding, it's also nearly impossible to hack into their systems."
Steve's lips twitched. "Impossible for everyone except Tony Stark?"
He grinned. "Yes, something like that."
"So you say that Hydra could know about the Vibranium?"
Tony nodded seriously. "Probably. There's always someone who sides with the wrong people. No one thought that Hydra could infiltrate SHIELD as well, right?"
"Let's say they want the Vibranium. Why should they attack on a peace conference?"
"King T'Chaka rarely leaves Wakanda. And no, I found that in the newspapers." Tony muttered.
"What about the security? Wouldn't it be too dangerous?" Steve stopped for a few moments, a frown on his face. "No, it wouldn't. It wouldn't be a problem for the Winter Soldier." Tony noticed that he said Winter Soldier and not Bucky, but he didn't comment on it. "Let's say king T'Chaka is their target and they manage to kill him. What happens then?"
Tony shrugged. "He's got a son, T'Challa. Then he'll be the next king of Wakanda. And I don't think that he would side with the murderers of his father." This was far too complicated. Speculations wouldn't help them right now. "Hydra can't afford a war with Wakanda."
Steve sighed and closed his eyes. "Since when do we have so many problems?"
Tony shrugged. Suddenly, he felt tired. "We can speculate about it as much as we want. We wont find the answer to our questions." He reached for his cup of coffee on the table. "We've got to find Bucky and stop all this before it really begins."
"But Sam is on it, we have to wait until Hydra finds Bucky. Or at least until they're close, otherwise we'll never get him." He sounded tired as well, and frustrated.
"Or we join Sam and help him." Tony muttered. "Maybe we could be of use there."
"The conference will be in three months." Steve reminded him. "We've still got time. We know what they plan, if we don't catch Bucky, we can go to Vienna ourselves and stop him there."
"That would be dangerous for everyone there…" Tony muttered. "But when we fail, it's our only choice." Reluctantly, he agreed with Steve. Just leaving now wouldn't do them any good either.
"I hope Sam finds them and we can help Bucky before they turn him into the Winter Soldier again." Steve muttered darkly.
Tony tried to smile at him encouragingly. "It'll work, we have to believe in it." Why didn't his words convince himself? Nevertheless, it seemed to work with Steve. He nodded, a little calmer than before.
"Should we tell the others about it yet?"
Tony shook his head. "We'll wait until we get more news from Sam." He decided immediately.
"Alright." Steve said shortly.
The next minutes passed in silence. Both Tony and Steve were caught in their own thoughts. Tony thought of the piece conference. What if they were wrong and Hydra wanted to be there for other reasons? Maybe the Winter Soldier shouldn't be there for a special person, but for something else? Thinking about this made his head ache. So many possibilities…
"How was your trip yesterday?" Steve asked suddenly, ripping Tony out of his thoughts.
He raised his eyebrows at him, not sure what he meant.
"You went shopping yesterday, while Pepper was at work." Steve explained and now he was smiling.
Tony nodded and ran a hand through his hair. "Well, yeah, I was." He agreed.
"Did you find something?"
Now he couldn't stop himself from smiling as well. "I did, but it took me hours."
Steve raised his eyebrows. "Only the best for Mrs. Potts?"
Tony chuckled. "Always."
"I'm happy for you, Tony." He explained and Tony knew that he meant it. "You deserve to be happy."
He smiled slightly. "No 'are you sure?' or 'did you really think about this enough?'." He asked curiously.
Steve shook his head and leaned back on his chair. "You thought about it for weeks now. And even before."
Tony sighed. "I just hope she'll like it."
"She'll love it." Steve argued immediately. "And now I want to see it."
Tony rolled his eyes. "Alright. But don't tell anyone."
"Tony had an argument with Maria Hill." Happy said slowly. "I heard her talking about it to a few of our new employees." It was late in the afternoon. Pepper and Happy just returned from their trip to the new SI building and now they were in the elevator of the tower. The day had been calm. The new employees who would watch Tony's new reactor once it was finished were all very nice. And they admired Tony, they couldn't wait to finally meet him in two weeks. When Pepper told them that they would even get to see him work, they've been even more excited.
She'd just been thinking about the trip with Tony next weekend, when Happy interrupted her thoughts. Slowly, she turned to him. "She did what?" She asked slowly, collecting her thoughts.
"She told them that she had an argument with Mr. Stark about her work for him." Happy explained. "I don't know what was going on those past days, but I'm sure that Tony didn't complain about that."
Pepper nodded. Suddenly, her anger towards the other woman was back. "She told them that Tony complained about her." She muttered and realized how angry she sounded. "This manipulating, thoughtless woman… What else did you hear, Happy?"
He held up his hands in a defensive gesture, surprised by her anger. "Nothing, just that a few of the others laughed when Maria Hill left. And they said something about her thing for Tony and that she's hopeless."
"Her thing for Tony?!" Pepper asked loudly. She realized that the elevator door opened, but she didn't move. She stared at Happy blankly. Her mind was racing. Was it common knowledge that Maria Hill liked Tony? And why on earth did she tell the other SHIELD employees that they had an argument? Of course, she needed a reason why she wasn't his assistant anymore. But an argument? And a lie?
Happy swallowed. "That's what I heard, not more. I swear, I was already late and had to move on quickly."
Pepper breathed in deeply, trying to stay calm. "I'm sorry, Happy. I didn't want to yell at you, those news just took me by surprise."
"So Tony had an argument with Maria Hill. But it was not about her work for him." Happy summarized.
Pepper nodded. "It was something more personal." She explained and Happy seemed to understand that she couldn't say more.
"I just thought you might be interested in this. After all, she's been talking about Tony." Happy muttered and finally, Pepper left the elevator with him.
She forced a smile on her lips. "Thank you, Happy, for telling me. I'll see you tomorrow, same time as usual?"
He nodded, still looking a little insecure. "Alright, have a good evening."
Pepper looked after him for a few moments, before she headed for their rooms. "JARVIS, where's Tony?" She asked.
"He's in the lab with Captain Rogers." JARVIS explained immediately. "They're discussing an important subject."
So they were talking about Bucky, Pepper had already suspected it. "And where's Maria Hill?"
"She's on her way upstairs, looking for Agent Romanoff." Pepper stopped immediately.
"She's coming up here?" Before she realized what she was doing, she already turned around again and headed for the living area of the Avengers. They wouldn't be there either way, Pepper has met them a few hours ago. Natasha and Bruce have left the tower, they said they needed some air. Secretly, Pepper suspected that they needed some time for themselves. Tony and Steve were still in the lab, Thor was probably in the training area and Pepper had seen Clint with a phone earlier.
She just entered the living area when Maria Hill was heading for the elevator again. When she heard Pepper's footsteps, Maria turned around.
"Oh hey Pepper, it's good to see you. I was looking for Natasha, do you know where she is?" She asked with a smile.
Pepper smiled back, she knew it didn't look friendly. "Unfortunately, she's not in the tower." She said simply. "And I don't know when she'll return."
Maria looked disappointed. "I really needed to talk to her."
"I bet you can try to phone her." Pepper suggested. "Or leave her a message."
She nodded slowly. "That's what I'll do." She was about to turn around again, but then she hesitated. "Is Tony in his lab?"
"Do you need to talk to him as well?" Pepper asked. "From what I've heard, you're not his assistant anymore."
Maria cleared his throat. "Yes, that's right. I need to talk to him about something personal."
The thought of her going to the lab now made Pepper's heart race. She really didn't want her to talk to Tony again. Not after she'd told lies about him.
"I think I know what you mean." She said simply, hoping that she wouldn't make a mistake now.
"I already thought that he told you about it." Maria muttered, though the smile didn't leave her lips. "And yes, it's about that."
"I don't think that Rhodey already called him back." Pepper said in a friendly tone. "Tony will tell you when he does."
"That's good."
They stood there in silence for a few moments, before Maria cleared her throat. "I should leave, I suppose. After all, I've got work to do downstairs."
Pepper nodded slowly. "Now that you don't have to help Tony anymore, you've got more time for SHIELD." She said simply.
"I enjoyed working for him." Maria argued immediately and turned away from Pepper when she noticed what she just said.
"Why do you tell your agents that you parted because of an argument then?" Pepper raised her eyebrows.
"We had an argument." Maria argued. "Why do you even care? I can tell my people what I want. After all, they're just working for your company on paper." She sounded stressed now and turned to the elevator again. "Not everyone can have it as easy as you do."
This wiped the smile from Pepper's face. "What do you mean?" She asked suspiciously.
Maria Hill turned around again. "Oh come on, look at you! And at what you have. You're the CEO of Stark Industries. And you're the girlfriend of Tony Stark. I'm sure you don't even know those problems when someone's life depends on what you do. And on how fast you are." She sighed. "Why am I even telling you this? As if you'd care."
Pepper inhaled sharply. "What I care?" She didn't sound as calm as she'd liked. "You know nothing about me, Agent Hill. You think that my life's been easy? You're wrong. I've worked hard for everything, otherwise I wouldn't be here now."
Maria smiled snootily and it made Pepper's blood boil. "You're just here because Tony likes your pretty face. You could never truly understand him. The thrill of a fight, the danger. How heavy it all weighs on you. He says he loves you, but does he really? Or will he leave you once he finds someone else? Someone who fits him better?"
"Someone like you? A spy and a liar? Who keeps secrets from everyone?" Pepper asked coldly. "I won't tolerate you talking badly about Tony. And you should think about what you just said again. You should leave, Agent Hill. Right now." She said those words in a sharp tone and without saying anything else, Maria Hill turned around and left.
