Chapter 55! I think this is the shortest chapter I've written in a long time. I hope you like it either way, please let me know what you think! And thanks to everyone who wrote reviews to the last chapter! It makes me happy to see that you like the story. I'll try to write another chapter until Monday. After that, I think I won't be able to update for two weeks, I'm already really sorry. I just wanted to let you know so you don't get impatient.
I don't own the characters or places!
The next days, Tony locked himself in his lab. He only left for meals and to sleep. Sometimes, Steve visited him, mostly to keep him company. There was not much he could do to help Tony, even if he was very busy.
First, he had to make the last tests at the Spiderman suit. Then, he was looking into the last Hydra files to find out something about the facility in Alaska. He was trying to track Bucky. And he tried to find out what SHIELD was doing in his tower. Next to that, Rhodey's suit needed an update for the software, sometimes the weapons were going crazy. And Steve's gauntlets needed to be checked again before they went to Vienna.
In the end, he fixed Rhodey's suit first – he had to leave soon, since they didn't plan to go to Alaska in the next weeks, he'd accepted another mission – and took care of Steve's gauntlets. Then he ran the tests for the Spiderman suit. While Tony did that, Steve was already reading a few files about Hydra. So far, they couldn't find anything about Alaska.
On the second day, Sam accompanied Steve to the lab. While Steve tried to find something about Hydra, Sam kept looking for Bucky with JARVIS' help. However, it was Sam's only visit. He would leave with Clint and Natasha the next day.
When Tony finished all the suits, he hacked into the SHIELD servers. It wasn't difficult since they were even in the same building. Maria Hill and a few other agents were on a mission at the moment, it was called 'Rescue'. Tony suspected that it was about her brother. When he looked at it more closely, he noticed that they were in Asia at the moment. Apparently, someone kept the files updated the whole time. Most probably their supervisor.
Since he didn't really care what they were doing there, Tony took a closer look at Hill's personal server. It was better protected than the other servers, but it also wasn't a problem for him. There were many documents with unimportant numbers and stuff like that, which Tony decided to ignore. He'd nearly given up when he found something interesting.
"Hey Steve, you should look at this." Tony said loudly. It was Wednesday and they were alone in the lab since Sam was already on his way to Alaska.
"Did you find something? Because I didn't. It's like Alaska doesn't exist." Steve stood up and looked at Tony questioningly.
"I'm not sure yet." Tony pointed at the screen. "This is a conversation Hill had with someone two weeks ago. It was deleted, but I was able to restore parts of it."
Steve looked at the screen with a frown. "What is this about?" He scanned the lines slowly.
"It's about SHIELD's current missions and the status of our plans concerning Hydra." Tony explained.
Steve raised his eyebrows. "I thought Maria Hill doesn't know anything about our plans."
"She doesn't. That's why that part of the conversation is very short." Tony said with a slight smile. "She can't get into our files."
"But we can get into hers. How practical." Steve muttered.
"That's not the point right now." Tony threw in. "Look at the last lines."
Tony saw that Steve's eyes widened when he read them. "This can't be…?"
"It is." Tony said.
"But how?"
"When I knew what I was looking for, I found this." Tony showed him another file.
Now Steve gasped.
They had just identified the new director of SHIELD. Eve if that shouldn't be possible. After all, he was dead.
They exchanged a look. "What are we going to do now?" Steve asked.
"This is top secret." Tony reminded him.
"But if he's alive and the director of SHIELD now… Shouldn't they have informed us?"
"The Avengers are not working for SHIELD." Tony muttered and ran a hand through his hair. "I doubt that they want anyone to know. Maybe even the other SHIELD agents don't know about this."
"Just like they don't know that Fury's alive…" Steve sighed. "I think Nat and Clint have the right to know. After all, they are his friends."
"But wouldn't that endanger his mission? Seems like he's pretty busy with his team." He threw in.
Steve looked troubled. "So we should just keep this to ourselves?"
"I think we should speak to Hill about this once she returns." Tony said slowly.
"She won't tell us anything." Steve crossed his arms. "You know how she is."
"True." Tony frowned. "There will be a reason why they keep this secret. What I would love to know is how they did it. He was dead."
Steve raised his eyebrows. "I bet you're going to find out soon enough."
"If I would have more time, I'd just do it now…" Tony sighed. "But there's no time. Our priority is Vienna. And tomorrow, we'll be training with Peter."
At this, Steve's lips twitched. "Maybe you should have a look at it, while I deal with the peace conference."
"But you wanted me to contact Ross."
"That can wait until Friday." Steve decided. "Now I'm curious as well."
Tony raised an eyebrow. "Or is this because Captain America hates it when someone has secrets?"
Steve shrugged. "Maybe both." He admitted.
"Alright, but just today." Tony decided. "I can't believe that the Agent is alive."
"I'm still not sure if we should tell the others about this."
"Maybe we should deal with our own problems first." Tony suggested. "We can't risk that the team gets distracted in Vienna or Alaska. After that, we can think of it again."
Steve nodded, though he didn't look happy. "That's what we'll do." He decided. "You won't tell Pepper, right?"
Tony shook his head. "She would just get excited. And I bet that she would want him to come to our wedding. She always liked him." He smiled slightly.
"Is it just me, or is too much happening around us at the moment?" Steve asked thoughtfully.
"We could all use a break, I think." Tony agreed. "Maybe the past years have just been too uneventful."
"They weren't." Steve argued immediately.
"Probably you're right…" Tony muttered.
"So you're telling me that someone plans an attack on the king of Wakanda. And it will happen during the piece conference in Vienna. One of the biggest meetings this year, I just want to add." Everett Ross said and looked at them sceptically. "You can't really expect me to believe this without a proof."
Tony and Steve exchanged a look. "But we have a proof." Tony explained seriously. "More than one, to be exact."
"And you already believe us, otherwise you wouldn't have come." Steve added.
"You also wouldn't have gotten an invitation for the Avengers to the conference." Tony smiled slightly.
Ross sighed. "Alright, you've got a point there. But I have to take this seriously. After all, I'm responsible for all business concerning Wakanda."
"I thought superheroes and not just Wakanda?" Tony raised his eyebrows.
"Well, yeah. There's been a change of the plan. Thaddeus Ross deals with superheroes in general now, I'm the expert for Wakanda." Ross explained.
"Is this about Ulysses Klaue and the Vibranium?" Steve asked.
Ross stared at them blankly. "Is there anything you don't know yet?" He crossed his arms, but then he sighed. "And yes, it is about him. We'll have to find him soon."
"Why is it so difficult?" Steve wanted to know.
"Because that man is really good at vanishing. And every time we try to talk to him, he escapes. Or he hasn't got the Vibranium, which doesn't help us at all." Ross looked annoyed now. "But let's not talk about that any longer. It's secret, I already told you too much."
"We already knew that." Tony assured him. "No worries." If possible, Ross' face fell even more.
"I shouldn't expect something else when I'm dealing with Tony Stark." Ross muttered darkly. "Now let us come to the point. There will be an attack and you're sure of that. Which is also why the Avengers will be at the piece conference. I would just like to know how you got this information. Because we've been looking for possible threats concerning this meeting for months now and there wasn't anything. Not even a single letter."
"You have to promise that you won't tell anyone what you get to know now." Steve said sternly.
Ross raised his eyebrows. "Why should I do that?"
"It's Avengers business, not government." Steve replied shortly.
"And what the Avengers are doing isn't important to the government?"
"That's not what I said." Steve threw in.
"He just wants to say that it would be unpleasant if the whole world gets to know what we're about to tell you." Tony said quickly. "Because then certain people could be alerted and our entire mission would fail. Which would have unpredictable consequences for world piece." Tony smiled at Ross. "And I'm sure you wouldn't want that, do you?"
Ross stared at him. He opened his mouth to say something, but then he hesitated. "Alright." He said finally. "I promise not to tell anyone. If it's not important to us."
Tony exchanged a look with Steve. This concession wasn't good enough for him, Tony saw that. He would never risk Bucky's safety, not even for the help of Ross and his team.
"I can lead you to Klaue and the Vibranium." Tony said loudly and turned to Ross again. "If you promise not to tell anyone about our story, no matter what happens." From the corner of his eyes, he could see the surprise on Steve's face.
Ross' eyes widened slightly. "You… what?" He put his hands on his hips. "Is this an attempt to bribe me, Mr. Stark?"
Tony shrugged. "Depends. Does it work?"
"Yes, it does." Ross muttered. "Do you know how long we've been trying to get him without success?"
"I bet for a long time." Tony assumed.
Ross nodded.
"So we have a deal?" Tony asked with a grin.
"Seems like we do." Ross agreed and they shook hands.
Two hours later, the Avengers had all the help from Everett Ross and his team they needed. There were plans of the conference, the building, who would be invited and when the people would arrive. Most importantly the plans of the delegation from Wakanda, led by the king T'Chaka and his son T'Challa.
They would arrive a day before the conference started since they also had an appointment with Ross. He had contacted them some time ago and asked if they could speak about Wakanda. He didn't tell them the real reason for the conversation, but they had agreed either way. Ross wanted to find out more about Vibranium and why it was so closely linked to Wakanda.
Tony already suspected that it could be found there and that's why Klaue always tried to go to Wakanda. Maybe he even had contacts within the country. And Tony couldn't shake off the feeling that there was a connection between the legends of the guardian of Wakanda and the Vibranium. It was an interesting country. He would have to look at their files before the conference too. Maybe it would even make his promise to Ross easier.
In the afternoon, he was alone with Steve in the lab. Ross had left some time ago.
"You didn't have to do that." Steve said now.
Tony looked up from the papers in front of him. "What do you mean?"
"Making him promise not to tell anyone about Bucky. Now you have to find Klaue as well, next to everything else that's going on."
"I knew that this is important to you." Tony said simply. "And don't worry about me, I can live without much sleep."
Steve didn't look convinced, but his lips twitched. "Thank you, Tony."
He held up his hand. "You can thank me when everything works out." He pointed at a sheet of paper. "This is the timetable of the meeting. Apparently, we'll also speak in front of those people."
"We will?" Steve sounded surprised and grabbed the paper. "Was this planned?"
Tony shook his head. "Seemed like the only way Ross could get us in without receiving too many questions."
"So who'll speak?" Steve asked.
Tony laughed. "I won't talk on a piece conference! You know that it's not my area of expertise."
Steve groaned. "I'll have to do it?"
"Seems so. But Captain America shouldn't have problems with a little speech?" He raised his eyebrows.
"I don't even know what to say."
Tony shrugged. "Maybe the others can help you once they get back. Or we can ask Pepper, she always knows what to say."
"Do I?" A voice asked and they both turned around to see Pepper standing in front of the elevator. Her arms were crossed and she raised her eyebrows at them.
"Yes, you do." Tony said and stood up from his chair. He kissed her on the cheek.
"So why are you talking about me? And how was your meeting?" She asked and sat down on Tony's chair.
"It went well." Tony answered. "And the Avengers will make a speech on a piece conference. We were just thinking of what to say."
"I will make that speech." Steve emphasized. "And I've already got an idea. I just need to think of it some more."
"You've still got a few weeks." Tony grinned. "And we can help you with it."
"As if you would be a big help." Steve muttered.
Tony turned to Pepper and looked at her questioningly. "What are you even doing here? I thought we wanted to have dinner later."
"We do, but you've got a visitor." She explained. "I just came down here to tell you."
"Couldn't JARVIS have done that?" he asked curiously.
"I wanted to see you. Because I thought that you might not make it to dinner, once you know who it is." Pepper's lips twitched.
"Now I'm curious." Tony said. "Who is it?"
"It's Peter." Pepper explained. "He said something about his aunt being angry at him because of all the bruises he had after your training session last week. And that the new suit is perfect. Oh, and something about villains who want to steal weapons."
At the last sentence, Tony raised his eyebrows. "I've got to go." He announced. "Thanks for telling me all this." He kissed her passionately, before he turned to Steve. "Seems like you'll have to look at those alone for now. Or we'll just continue tomorrow. The kid seems to be in trouble. JARVIS?"
"The suit is ready, Sir." JARVIS told him.
"Good." Tony grabbed the new reactor which contained his suit. "I'll see you later."
On his way to the elevator, he heard Steve's whisper behind him.
"He really likes that kid, doesn't he?"
"He does." Pepper agreed. "Sometimes, it's like he's his own son."
"And what do you think?"
"I like him too. He's sweet. And he makes Tony happy."
With a smile on his face, Tony left the lab.
So, they found out something new about SHIELD. And it's shocking. Any ideas who it might be? I think that's an easy question.
And I just love Everett Ross, that's why I included him in this chapter :) And of course the relationship between Tony and Peter!