Chapter 54! I hope you like it, please let me know what you think! Slowly, it's getting more exciting. There are two main problems the Avengers have to deal with. The Hydra base in Alaska and the peace conference in Vienna with Bucky. Now it means planning and it's even for me exciting to write this! I'm sorry if there's not that much of Pepper in this chapter, but right now, I'm focusing on Tony a little more. I hope you don't mind.

Also thanks to everyone who wrote a review to the last chapter!

To those who didn't see it yet, I published a new Pepperony oneshot a few days ago. It's called 'Second Chance' and takes place during Avengers: Endgame.

I don't own the characters or places!

"I'll never go to a technology fair again! Especially not when you're with me!" Steve muttered darkly.

"Oh come on, it wasn't that bad." Tony looked over his shoulder and smiled slightly. "You didn't even have to do anything! You just stood next to us."

"And many people were harassing me. I don't know anything about modern technology." Tony just knew that Steve rolled his eyes now.

"Next time, Tony and I will go alone, I promise." Bruce threw in.

"As if you could persuade me to accompany you again…"

"You have to see the positive side of things. We know more about Alaska now." Bruce's voice was thoughtful.

"Now we just have to figure out how that can help us." Steve didn't sound convinced.

"It will help us a big deal." Tony said loudly. "Now we know how to get in."

They were in the jet on their way back to New York. The technology fair had been interesting, but Tony could figure out better ways to spend his time. Especially without so many people around who all wanted to hear the opinion of Tony Stark. And Bruce Banner, of course.

When they were finally able to leave in the evening, they made their way to Alaska. Without his suit, Tony felt naked when they approached the base. However, he knew that it wasn't possible to use any technology. At least not yet. The trip had given them some ideas to solve that problem. The base wasn't as guarded as they'd expected.

"Care to explain?" Steve asked.

"I think the others want to hear it as well." Bruce threw in.

"And Rhodey. I promised that he can come with us. For the help in California." Tony added.

"Yeah, we talked about that." Steve agreed. A few days ago, Tony and Steve had thought about offering Rhodey a place among the Avengers. They were both sure that he would fit in the team well.

And then there was Peter Parker. In the past two weeks, he'd visited the tower a few times. Poor kid nearly lost his mind when Tony introduced him to Captain America and the other Avengers. They all liked him and someday, he could be a good addition to the team as well. If Tony would be able to train him properly. He was very hot-headed. Not a big surprise when you considered his age. Pepper liked Peter as well, which made Tony happy. Even Happy smiled at the kid sometimes, which was a good sign.

"How's work going at the new facility?" Steve asked after a few minutes of silence. "From what you told us, the building should be finished soon."

"It will." Tony confirmed. "Do you want to see it?"

A few hours later, they arrived in New York. Even if Tony had already seen it, the new buildings still impressed him. The new facility would be huge, and no one would bother them out here.

"Wow." Steve muttered while he looked out of the window. It was nearly midday and the sun was shining. After their nightly trip to the Hydra base, they'd slept in the jet. It wasn't the most comfortable night, but they were all too exhausted to fly back at night. They had left in the early morning.

"And that's all for us?" Bruce asked and Tony smiled at the surprise in his voice.

"Of course. Living quarters, conference rooms, training areas, storerooms, everything's there. A lab for me and once for you, several rooms so that everyone can train his or her special abilities. I thought of everything." Tony explained. "Here we have more space than in the tower. We'll call it the Compound."

"I can imagine that it's big enough for all of us. Can we go inside?" Steve's question made Tony smile even wider.

"Of course, not everything's finished yet, but I can show you around."

"When the Avengers move in here, the entire tower will be for Stark Industries?" Steve asked and looked around again. He looked impressed, just like Bruce.

"That's right. For about two minutes, I thought of selling the tower, but I discarded that idea very fast." Tony smiled slightly. "It's our home when we're in New York, and I don't think that Pepper wants to stay in a building full of Avengers and so far away from SI. And yours too, of course. You'll always have your rooms there."

Bruce avoided to look at Tony, but to his surprise, Steve hugged him tightly. After a quick 'thank you', they made their way inside.

"And you're sure that it'll work?" Natasha asked sceptically. "Because if it doesn't, this could be very dangerous."

"I know. But it will work, trust me." Tony emphasized every word.

"Otherwise, half of us wouldn't be able to fight anymore." Natasha continued without responding to his interjection. "And at least two of us, if not even three, would be stuck in their suits." She glanced at Tony, Rhodey and Sam.

"Don't you trust our abilities?" Tony crossed his arms and raised his eyebrows.

"I'm just planning the worst-case scenario." Natasha shrugged. "But if you insist that it will be alright…"

"We've considered every possible problem." Bruce tried to calm her down.

"I doubt that." She said dryly.

"Alright, all the problems you can anticipate." Bruce corrected himself.

Natasha smiled at him. "Better."

"The chance that it won't work is very small. And if it doesn't, we can still retreat." Tony threw in. "And once the transmitter works, it won't be a problem anymore. We'll prevent a possible breakdown by disconnecting the entire machine."

"That's what I'll do." Bruce nodded. "It won't take long."

"In case no one tries to stop you." Somehow, Tony had the feeling that something about this mission was bothering her.

"That's what we'll prevent." Steve said loudly.

"So we can only go in if the device that enables technology is destroyed completely? Because otherwise, there might be a small chance that your transmitter won't work anymore and we can't get out of our suits anymore?" Rhodey asked slowly and raised his eyebrows at Tony.

Tony hesitated for a moment, before he nodded. "Yeah, that's it."

Rhodey groaned. "Remind me why I wanted to be a part of the Avengers?"

"It will work." Tony repeated what he'd said about ten times in the past hour.

"Why am I not so sure about this?" Rhodey asked and exchanged a look with Sam.

"I trust that Tony's and Bruce's device will work." Steve declared. "They've still got some time to work on it before we'll leave."

"Just in case we can deal with the whole Alaska thing before the peace conference in Vienna." Clint muttered. "Because that's more important, isn't it? No matter what Hydra is doing in the north."

They all looked at each other in silence, knowing that they needed to act fast.

"Any signs of Bucky yet?" Steve asked half an hour later. The others had already left and now they were alone in the lab.

Tony shook his head. "JARVIS is still on it. Somehow, I have the feeling that Bucky knows that we're trying to track him."

"He knew that before, didn't he?" Steve raised his eyebrows. "And you found him either way."

Tony wasn't that enthusiastic, but he smiled slightly. "Maybe it will just take time, like before." He didn't want to crush Steve's hopes.

"Otherwise, we'll see him in Vienna." Steve sighed. "We have to decide if we'll deal with the Hydra facility before or after our trip to Europe." He looked concerned now.

"I have a bad feeling about it." Tony admitted and the surprise on Steve's face made him feel uneasy. He understood it anyway. It rarely happened that Tony Stark admitted that he was afraid of something.

"We'll deal with the whole technology thing." Steve said slowly. "I know that you're worried about fighting without your suit, but it will be alright, I'm sure of that. Your device will work, no matter what Natasha and the others say. I trust you and Bruce with this."

Tony smiled slightly, but the uneasy feeling wouldn't vanish. "It's not that, Steve." He ran a hand through his hair. "I can't explain it, but somehow I fear that something bad will happen."

Steve looked at him attentively. "You've been worrying for some time, right?"

Tony laughed weakly. "You really notice everything, don't you?"

"You're my best friend." Steve answered simply. "I know you, Tony. And something's been bothering you ever since we left California."

In this moment, Tony really wanted to say something. Admit that Steve was his best friend as well. Or thank him for his trust. Maybe tell him that he really appreciated their friendship, especially after the way they acted when they first met? In the end, no words would leave his mouth. Instead, he just smiled at Steve.

For a moment, Steve smiled back and they just looked at each other in silence. Then Tony cleared his throat and the moment was over. "You're right, ever since we found out about the facility, I've been worried. I can't explain why, though. It's just a feeling."

Steve frowned. "So your instinct tells you to stay away from that building." He concluded and crossed his arms. There was a thoughtful expression on his face and somehow, Tony knew that he was in Cap mode now.

"It's stupid, I know." Tony threw in quickly, knowing that Steve would think just that. Most probably, he would say that Tony was just worrying too much or that he needed a break. "Just ignore that I said anything at all. We can deal with that as soon as our transmitter is ready –"

"When you have a bad feeling about this, we should take more time to plan the mission." Steve interrupted him seriously. "And we shouldn't rush anything. Maybe we even need to go to Alaska again and have another look at that building. See who goes in and out, what happens there, you know that stuff."

Tony stared at him. "You don't think that I'm overreacting?" He asked quietly.

Steve shook his head and to Tony's surprise, he chuckled. "Tony, in all the time we've been working together, I've learned two things."

"Oh, now I'm curious." Tony muttered.

"First, never mess with Tony Stark because you're going to lose. And second, never mistrust his instincts since they're right most of the time."

"Just most of the time?" Tony raised his eyebrows, but he was grinning now.

"Most of the time." Steve agreed and smiled slightly. Tony noticed that his eyes were gleaming mischievously, but Steve got serious again soon. "Alright, let's stop joking." He breathed in deeply. "I'm serious, Tony. When you have the feeling that this is a bad idea, we'll take more time."

"But what if there's something in there we have to deal with fast?" Tony asked. "Then we need to act soon."

"You said that JARVIS is on it. And you've been looking for information as well." Steve said slowly.

"Yes, J didn't find anything, but I did. Nothing important, though. Just a few deliveries. Mostly clothes. And weapons, but nothing heavy. Not even good ones, at that." Tony explained what he found out in the morning before the meeting with the Avengers. Those things have been the first real clue to anything that happened in Alaska. In the past weeks, it was like the facility didn't even exist.

Steve was silent for some time. "Could they train their new recruits there?" He asked. "I mean, clothes and weapons. You don't use that to get more power. And when the weapons aren't even good ones, they're actually useless." He raised his eyebrows at Tony.

"That could fit." Tony muttered. "But why would they prevent to use technology there?"

"Maybe so no one finds out what they're doing?" Steve suggested.

"They can't invent anything technical there, their own devices won't work as well." Tony muttered thoughtfully.

"We have to find their main laboratory too." Steve sighed. "But that's the task for another day. First, we have to deal with this one."

"So what are we going to do? Natasha seems to have doubts about this as well."

"We could leave it and deal with that after Vienna…" Steve looked at the calendar on Tony's desk. "We have to plan the piece conference as well, after all. And that will take a few days or more."

"And until the conference, we'll spy on Alaska again?" Tony asked. "Maybe we could send Natasha and Clint. After all, they've experience in spying. "

Steve nodded. "I'll talk to them." He decided. "Maybe Sam wants to help them. I think just sitting here bores him. I would go too, but I think I'm needed here when we plan Vienna."

Tony grinned at this. "So we'll plan that together?"

"If someone can get into the schedule of the conference it's you. And I think we'll need that. Maybe we should also talk to your friend who got us in, Everett Ross. He could help us when you already hinted to him that this conference could be dangerous for the king of Wakanda."

Tony laughed. "I bet he would love to know what's going on."

"Did you startle him that much?" Steve raised his eyebrows.

"Let's say he likes to be in control of things. And he didn't like that I know something he doesn't."

"We'll talk to the others and when everything's discussed, we might let him know what's going on. Or at least parts of it." Steve decided.

Tony nodded. "So another Avengers meeting, about two hours after the first one? We need to make it short, then. Pepper wants to go out for dinner and I don't want to let her wait."

"Something troubles you." Pepper said slowly and Tony looked up from his plate.

"What do you mean?" He raised his eyebrows. They were sitting in their favourite restaurant and Pepper has told him a few stories about her day at work, which was, to be honest, not really exciting.

"Tony, I know when something's wrong." She explained and sighed. "Do you want to talk about it?"

He looked around carefully. The place was crowded as always and he didn't want anyone to hear their conversation. "Maybe later."

Pepper seemed to understand what he meant since she nodded. They were silence for a few minutes, before she spoke again. "You told Happy to pick up Peter on Thursday while I'm in the online meeting with our new partner in Europe."

He smiled at her, grateful for the change of subject. "Yes, the kid will come to the tower. I've just finished his new suit and he wants to test it." He grinned when he remembered the conversation with Peter and how excited the kid has been. "And we'll practice fighting a little more, he could need that in dangerous situations. What he doesn't know yet is that Steve will join us. Poor kid will probably get another heart attack, he's still nervous around the famous Captain America."

She raised her eyebrows. "He's nervous around you too."

"I think he's getting used to it." Tony shrugged.

"He stares at you when you don't look at him. And the background of his smartphone is a picture of Iron Man."

At that, Tony raised his eyebrows in interest. "Oh? How did you notice that?"

"Last week, he called his aunt when he were standing in the elevator together." Pepper explained, a sly smile on her lips. "You can admit that you feel flattered by this, I can see it on your face."

He laughed and held up his hands. "You know how I am, Pep."

She chuckled. "Don't be too hard with him, he's still a kid."

"I'll remind Steve of that. After all, he'll run that training session. And you know how many bruises I have after training with him." The first time Tony had finished working out with Steve, Pepper had been shocked. She even thought that something happened to Tony when she'd seen all the bruises.

Pepper grimaced. "But you're getting better, you didn't look like someone tried to beat you up the last few times."

"And that's good, I really have to get better soon…" He muttered darkly and ignored her worried expression. "Do you want to leave?" Tony asked suddenly, needing to get out of that restaurant.

She nodded. "Back to the tower?"

"Maybe the Central Park?" He asked instead.

"Alright, as you wish."

Twenty minutes later, they were walking through the park. Tony was holding Pepper's hand and first, they just enjoyed being outside. Tony didn't want to start the conversation about what's bothering him, so he just waited for Pepper to say something.

"You're worried about something." She said finally.

He sighed, even if he'd promised her to talk about this. "Yes, and it seems like it's not just me." In short words, he told her about his worries concerning the Hydra base in Alaska. "Natasha has doubts as well, we talked to the others about it again. We want to have another look at it first. Nat, Clint and Sam will head to Alaska soon. Thor wanted to accompany them as well, but we all agreed that he'll get bored too fast and that could be dangerous."

"So where's the problem? When you take your time to plan everything, nothing can go wrong." Pepper looked at him questioningly.

"I don't know. As I said, it's just a bad feeling." He shrugged. "Most probably, I'm really acting stupid and just delayed everything with my unsubstantiated worries."

"You said that you're not the only one who's worrying." Pepper reminded him. "So maybe there's more behind that facility than you think. Maybe you can even find more about it, there have to be files that say what it's about."

"We still have a few files of Hydra to look at, from the computers we got in Santa Barbara." Tony nodded. "Hill and her team wanted to have a look at them, but they haven't made it yet. There's something else they're dealing with, some of the agents in the tower left recently, and we didn't see agent Hill for some time. I think it's about her brother, however they refuse to tell us anything."

Pepper frowned. "I still don't like that they're using our tower as their new base."

Tony shrugged. "It is what it is. They're not causing us trouble, so there's no need to worry." They had enough to worry about already.

"I just hope they'll leave again someday." She didn't sound happy.

"I hope so too." Tony admitted. Maria Hill had caused enough trouble for a lifetime. "Who knows, maybe that'll happen sooner than expected." SHIELD still had far too many secrets for his liking, who could know what else they were planning? Most probably, Tony should try to find out something about that as well…

"What is it now? You've got this far-away look on your face, the one that always appears when you're planning something." She raised her eyebrows. In times like this, Tony hated that Pepper noticed everything.

"I should find out what SHIELD's planning soon." He said and shrugged. "If I find the time, next to everything else that's going on."

"Do you think that there's even more going on?"

He ran a hand through his hair. "I don't know."

Pepper smiled softly. "I'm sure everything will work out in the end. SHIELD, the Hydra facility, Vienna, just everything." She squeezed his hand. "You can do all this, Tony."

They stopped and she kissed him. When they parted, Tony leaned his forehead against hers. "I love you, Pepper."

"I love you too." She smiled again. "Do you want to go back? I bet you still have lots of stuff to do."

"That can wait until tomorrow." Tony whispered. "We're taking the evening off. JARVIS can already have a look at those files, he doesn't need me for that. And I'll look into SHIELD business within the next days."

"Then let's go back." They walked back hand in hand.