Earlier the day, Pepper Potts had arrived in a private cab in front of a facility in Dover, Delaware.
The driver stepped out of the car and walked to the back to open the passenger door so Pepper could step out. Pepper thanked the driver and gave him a ten dollar tip. The driver smiled and nodded his head as a thank you.
The CEO of Stark Industries entered the building and walked towards a reception desk. An African man looked up at her.
"Hello, I have an appointment with Werner Reinhardt," Pepper Potts announced as she gave the doorman her ID.
The doorman typed some information into the computer. Pepper looked around the bright white area as she waited. If it was up to her she would do all of this from her office. But the company insisted on inviting her to Dover.
"Yes, I see. You may walk through the security portals and take place in the waiting room. Miss Sarkissian will pick you up and guide you to the office of Mr. Reinhardt," the doorman informed her while he gave back the ID.
Pepper thanked her with a smile and walked towards the security portal. She took a container and placed her belongings in it. While the tub went through the scanner, she walked through the metal detector. The alarm did not go off. The security guards smiled at her, which made her smile back. Once she recovered her belongings, she took a place in the waiting area. Once again she looked around in the massive area. In a distance she saw a green haired woman, wearing nearly the same black pencil dress as she had on. The woman was walking towards her.
"Miss Potts?" she called out with a Russian accent.
Still with a smile on her lips, Pepper rose from her seat and reached out a hand. They shook each other's hand.
"Welcome. I'm Ophelia Sarkissian. An honor to meet you."
"Hi, nice to meet you too."
"I will lead you to Mr. Reinhardt's office. Please follow me."
In his office, he was gazing from the window into the city life. He turned around as the sound of high heels filled the office.
"Ah, Miss Potts. Such an honor to meet you," he exclaimed excitedly.
"The same, Mr. Reinhardt."
They shook each other's hands. After that, the man gestured Pepper to a seat.
"Please, have a seat."
Pepper took a seat in a leather armchair in front of his desk, while the slender man with short grey hair took place behind his desk.
"Thank you for your invite," Pepper started. "I have read your information about the Particle Infusion Chamber, but…"
"Ah yes," the man exclaimed as he cleaned his round glasses. "A fascinating object, isn't it?"
"Yes, I have to agree. Although the Expo is already fully booked."
The man sighed disappointed.
"But there will be another Stark Expo in five years and I will put this project on the list."
"That would be an honor," he stated as he laid a hand on his heart.
Then a security guard entered the office. He went to the man behind the desk and whispered in his ear. His face lifted up in excitement.
"That's wonderful news," the spectacled man exclaimed. "Ophelia, my darling. Give Miss Potts a fine glass of champagne. We have something to celebrate."
He looked at Pepper and stood up from his chair. "Please, excuse me. It was nice meeting you. We will meet again." He left the area, followed by the security.
"Such a gentleman," Pepper complimented to The Madame.
Madame HYDRA walked to the mini bar and filled two glasses of champagne.
"Yes, he really is," The Madame said as she sprinkled a powder in one of the glasses. With the glasses in her hands she went to Pepper. "Here, let's have a toast."
Pepper took the glass the Madame offered.
"In Russia we say; Davayte vsegda naslazhdat'sya zhizn'yu tak, kak my naslazhdayemsya etim bokalom shampanskogo."
"Which means?" Pepper wondered, confused at what the green haired lady said.
"Let us always enjoy life the way we enjoy this glass of champagne."
"That's a nice saying," Pepper smiled.
They clinked their glasses and took a sip.
"Your partner, Tony Stark, is a remarkable man with a great story," The Madame shared as she turned around and walked to a large window, gazing outside. "Creating his first Iron Man suit, in a cave and out of scraps. Very fascinating."
In the background she heard a thud. She turned around and saw Pepper laying on the floor, unconscious. The Madame smiled.
"It will be a pleasure to meet him."
Natasha entered the meeting room of the Avengers' compound with Bucky behind her. She took off her bloody gloves and threw them in a trash can with a sad sigh. Bucky dragged Clint into the room and placed him roughly on a chair, next to Tony. Steve stood at the other end of the long conference table. Next to him was Sam and Wanda. While eyeing Tony and Clint, Bucky took a seat next to Scott, while Natasha seated across Tony and Clint.
"Now what?" Tony snarled, who was out of his Iron Man suit and wore his high-tech glasses.
"We will wait for the agents of SHIELD first before I explain my plan," Steve explained as he seated. "Also, they want to share some information about Whitehall."
"I have things to do, Cap." Tony exhaled a tired sigh.
"Like what?" Scott questioned, irritated.
"Saving the world from HYDRA. What else?" Tony mumbled with an eye-roll.
"Aren't we doing that already? Saving somebody from HYDRA's world?" Sam emphasized.
Then a teenage boy entered the meeting room. Everybody looked at him. Peter was wearing his Spiderman suit but without his mask.
"Uhm, hey everyone," he greeted shyly while he fidgeted nervously with his mask in his hands.
"Well, too bad you couldn't surprise us by bringing the Living Dead Girl here," Tony remarked annoyed. "Or are you hiding her in your bedroom?"
Peter shook his head, feeling embarrassed in front of all The Avengers.
"It's okay, kiddo. Have a seat," Steve reassured.
Slowly Peter went to an empty chair close by Tony and sat down.
"Oh hey, speaking about that girl, those vibranium arrows you've made. They're excellent," Clint interrupted out of the blue as he tapped Tony's arm.
"Really?" Tony replied amazed.
"Yeah, I could shoot it right through her chest!"
Everybody reacted in shock. Natasha had to cover her face and swallow a lump in her throat as she reminded the incident.
"You did WHAT?" Sam snapped as anger filled his veins.
"She nearly died, Clint!" Natasha yelled as she released herself.
"Holy shit!" Peter suddenly blurted out in shock and covered his mouth after he realized he said a bad word.
"Hey, she survived it anyways. Almost took my life," the arrow man defended.
"I should have stayed with her," Peter mumbled softly with guilt in his voice.
Tony quickly turned his head towards the teenager.
"You said, what?"
Peter internally panicked as he noticed what he just said and everybody became silent.
"Can you say that once again?" Tony asked after a moment of silence, not believing what he heard in the first place.
Peter bowed his head and sighed in shame. He knew he let down his mentor.
"I should have stayed with her," he repeated.
Tony squeezed his eyes at him, again not believing what the boy just said. He tapped on the side of his glasses.
"FRIDAY, give me a lie-detection-scan on the last conversation on the comms between me and Peter Parker," he demanded his AI.
"Yes Sir."
Peter started to feel nervous while Tony was waiting for the results.
"He lied to you, Sir," FRIDAY announced.
Anger boiled in Tony's veins.
"Did you lie to me again, kid? WHY?" the billionaire called out angry.
"Because I know you would hurt her! You don't know her as I do! But they do," Peter shouted as he gestured to The Avengers. Some of them nodded.
"Why can't you give yourself a chance to know her?"
The billionaire just kept on gazing at the outraged teenager.
"You know what, yes I did save her from falling out of the sky! Or else she would be dead! She doesn't deserve to die, Mr. Stark!" the boy preached.
Tony folded his arms over his chest. He just looked at him, not interested in what Peter rambled.
Tears welled up in Peter's eyes while he kept on ranting. But not just his eyes. The eyes of Natasha and Wanda teared up also. Bucky was thinking about Julia while the others just listened to Peter's preaching.
"She deserved a peaceful life with good people around her. Her mother died. She never had a father who really loved her! She had a father who beat her when she did something wrong! When she buys the wrong beverage, he beats her! When she didn't clean the house because she had too much homework, he beat her!"
Peter took a deep breath and continued again.
"I saw her being afraid for that man she grew up with. I felt heartbroken. I asked her to come with me and stay at Aunt May's but she declined out of fear. And…"
"And you should be damned lucky she declined because she's from HYDRA! She is a danger!" Tony interrupted in a loud voice.
Suddenly Bucky pounded his fists on the table as he rose from his seat.
"Enough!" he snapped loudly. There was a small crack in the glass tabletop from the smack of his metal fist. "Just shut up and listen to Steve!"
He dropped back in his chair and hid his face in his hands. He felt so stressed out. Scott laid a soothing hand on the soldier's shoulder.
"Well, this is a nice welcome," a female voice interrupted.
The Avengers looked up and saw Bruce with two young ladies behind him.
"Team, I want to introduce you to Daisy Johnson and Dr. Jemma Simmons of SHIELD," Bruce announced. "They took care of Julia during her stay and can give us the information we need about Daniel Whitehall."
"Welcome. Have a seat," Steve said as he gestured to a chair. "Sorry for the commotion here."
"It's okay," Daisy replied while she seated. "It shows how much you care about her." She shrugged her shoulders. "Well, most of you."
Bucky stared at Daisy. She felt him gazing and looked at him. Bucky gave her a small smile on his lips.
"Thank you for helping and taking care of her," he nearly whispered.
"You're welcome. She has a heart of gold."
Bucky just nodded, knowing it was true.
"Doctor Simmons, can you explain who this Daniel Whitehall is?" Steve asked.
"Yes of course."
Simmons took out a small tablet out of her bag, tapped on the screen and laid it on the middle of the table. A hologram of Whitehall's picture and additional information came out of the device.
"He was born in Arnsberg, Germany on October 9th, 1904. He joined the Nazis and became an officer of the Schutzstaffel," Simmons started explaining. "He rose through the ranks of the army and eventually joined HYDRA, the special science division led by Johann Schmidt."
Bucky and Steve glanced at each other when she mentioned the name of Johann Schmidt.
"According to a report from 1945, his facility in Austria was attacked by a Strategic Scientific Reserve team and the Howling Commandos led by Peggy Carter, Jim Morita, and Dum Dum Dugan. He spent the next decades in a small cell in a S.H.I.E.L.D. prison."
"Well done, guys," Bucky mumbled into himself.
"In 1989 he was visited by two agents, who told him that he was free because Alexander Pierce gave him medical parole, citing that he had joined HYDRA under duress. As most of you know, Pierce was a member of HYDRA," Simmons continued. Some of The Avengers nodded. "He dropped his name and a year later, Daniel Whitehall surfaced."
A short silence. Sam was the first who broke it.
"So we have to chase an old grandpa now?"
"No, he was able to use my mother's Inhumans DNA and organs to physically regress himself back to his middle-age and halt his aging," Daisy explained.
"Okay, I want to make something clear. He had another identity before being Daniel Whitehall?" Scott asked, confused.
"Correct," Simmons stated.
"So, what was his name in the first place?"
"Werner Reinhardt."
Suddenly Tony gasped and his eyes widened in fear. Everybody looked at him. He stood up and stumbled to the other side of the room. Bruce followed him. Tony was leaning against a wall as he was taking deep breaths with a hand on his chest.
"Panic attack?" Bruce wondered. Tony could only nod. "How come?"
"Pepper is meeting a Werner Reinhardt today," he shared after a deep breath. He looked at the team. "We have to rescue her."
"We will, Tony," Steve reassured. "Any idea where she went?" Steve asked.
"She told me she was going to Dover, Delaware," Tony explained as he walked back to his seat.
"There is a HYDRA facility in Dover, Delaware. Their laboratories are located there," Daisy remarked.
Steve rose up from his seat.
"Okay we know a place where we have to look. All we have to do is wait where he'll bring Julia."
"What if he takes Julia somewhere else?" Natasha asked.
"Then we'll split up the team and rescue them separately. But for now we have to wait."
Tony became impatiently.
"If it was up to me I would have rescued Pepper already. Why is this girl from HYDRA so important?"
"Because we can give her what she missed. A family she can trust, a safe home," Steve explained. "We can keep her here in safety until she's able to move to Wakanda. Bucky and Sam have a connection with her and can calm her when she's in anxiety and panic."
Tony looked suspicious to Bucky. The former Winter Soldier could not look at him and stared at the crack in the table. His mind was absent.
"They are both victims of HYDRA, Tony," Steve added. "Bucky can help her escape from them."
"Sure. Fine. Whatever," Tony sighed as he rolled his eyes.
Simmons and Daisy were eyeing each other, when their suspicion was confirmed. Tony Stark didn't like Julia.
Agent Elslander arrived in her furnished apartment in Bruges, Belgium. She dropped her bags and collapsed on the couch, releasing a tired sigh. She knew that if she closed her eyes, she would fall asleep. Then her cell phone went off. Without looking at the screen she picked it up.
"Hello?"
"Hey Wilma," a male voice greeted. "Did you arrive safely?"
A smile on her lips when she recognized the voice.
"Hi Phil. I just arrived in my apartment. Just very tired from traveling. How are you? Enjoying your spare time already?"
"Yes, I do. I have visited an old friend and now I'm cleaning my apartment which was really needed."
"Heard anything from Julia?" the mother wondered.
She felt an hesitation at the other side of the line, which made her nervous. She fiddled at the collar of her blouse.
"Jemma had contact with Bruce Banner, an hour ago. Something happened," Coulson sighed. "HYDRA ambushed the compound."
Elslander's heart dropped into her stomach.
"Oh no."
"They took Julia away."
"Oh my God, Phil! We have to find her!" she panicked.
"The Avengers will find her," he reassured. "Daisy and Jemma are on their way to the compound to help them."
She stood up rapidly and started pacing through the living room.
"Anything we can do? Do I have to come back?" she asked.
"I'm sorry, there is nothing you can do. Both of us have to wait and hope they'll find her. Daisy will keep in contact with me and I'll keep you up to date."
"Okay. Thank you for your call," she stuttered, as she took a seat at her dinner table.
"Will you be alright?" Coulson asked worriedly.
Elslander took a deep breath, while fighting against her tears.
"Yes. Yes, I'll be fine. I'm going to bed now."
Then she disconnected the call and burst into tears.
She opened her eyes and in a blur she saw dark surroundings. She felt she was in a bed. Slowly Julia sat up and ignored the stabs of pain in her body. Her head was drowsy and empty, she couldn't remember anything about what happened. She discovered several stickers on her chest and a needle in her upper hand with a long tube. She followed the tube with her eyes and saw an almost empty sack with blue fluids, hanging on a pole. With her other hand she reached out to the needle. Suddenly her body cramped. After a few seconds the cramp was over and she collapsed back into the mattress. Then she felt a tiny stab in her leg.
Slowly Julia lost consciousness.