The next chapter! I hope you like it and please let me know what you think! I think there'll be something unexpected in this chapter. As always, thanks to everyone who reads this story and to those who write reviews!

I don't own the characters or places!

"Take the black suit, that will look more seriously." Pepper suggested. "And not the red shirt, even if I like that. A white one. But you could take the blue tie…" She looked at him thoughtfully. "I think that would look great. Or the red tie, since you won't wear that shirt."

Tony watched her sceptically. "By now, you should know that I wear whatever suit I want, Pep."

"But this is a peace conference, Tony. Not just one of your normal public appearances." She explained again.

"Yes, and we're not there to have fun." He threw in. "We'll be on a mission."

"No one knows that." Pepper argued. "So you should look representable. I'm sure the others will also wear black suits. And you should see Natasha's dress, in a dark blue. It's beautiful."

"Actually, she decided not to wear it just yesterday." Tony informed her. "Really disadvantageous in a fight." He grimaced. "We could all imagine that too well. Instead, she bought a trouser suit."

Pepper sighed. "What a shame. I think she could fight in that dress as well."

"She can, but we're dealing with Bucky. And he's dangerous." Tony ran a hand through his hair.

"Maybe you should also leave out your sunglasses." Pepper said suddenly.

"What?" Tony stared at her. "No way. I need them."

"It's a formal event, Tony. And you're official representatives of world peace."

"Steve will hold that speech, not me." He held up his hands. "And I need them, in case JARVIS finds something." He emphasized every word.

She sighed. "It was just an idea." Pepper gave in.

He raised his eyebrows. "Why do you even care for my appearance so much? Normally, you leave those things to me."

Pepper shrugged. "Honestly? I don't know. Maybe I'm just nervous." She smiled weakly and Tony gestured for her to sit down next to him on the bed. When she did, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"Why are you nervous?" He asked softly.

"This whole conference and then the threat of Bucky… You've never dealt with that before. Something could go wrong."

"We know that. That's why I invited Everett Ross to the tower. And we'll be in Vienna a few days before the conference, so we can have a look at the building before everything starts. We'll make a plan with Ross' team and we will also try to talk to T'Chaka, the king of Wakanda. Ross insists that we have to warn him."

"You, talking to a king?" Pepper asked sceptically. "I can't picture that."

"Steve and I will talk to him together." Tony corrected her. "Though we don't have much hope that he'll listen to us."

"Why?"

"Last time I talked to Ross, he said that T'Chaka doesn't want to talk to the Avengers." Tony muttered. "Something about they shouldn't get involved in Wakanda's business."

"Can you blame him?" Pepper asked. "From what you've told me, I think that Wakanda's a very isolated country and they want to keep it that way." She smiled slightly. "And the Avengers have the habit of attracting chaos."

"That's not true!" He argued immediately. "We're not attracting it, we prevent it."

She didn't look convinced, but she nodded. "I hope that everything will work out. It's time that you find Bucky. It weighs heavily on all of you. Mostly on Steve."

Tony nodded. "He still hopes that Bucky will recognize him."

"And what do you think?"

He ran a hand through his hair. "We have to be prepared for everything." He said finally.

"You are. The past weeks, you didn't do anything except planning your strategy." Pepper hasn't been happy about that since Tony didn't have much time for her. However, she understood that it was necessary.

"And we were still discussing Alaska." He threw in.

"You said that you talked about the things Natasha, Clint and Sam found out only once." She raised her eyebrows. Nat and the others have watched the base for nearly two weeks and now they knew what was going on there. Or at least parts of it.

"We did. But in that time, we didn't talk about Vienna. And I fixed and improved all our equipment."

"Now you sound worried." Pepper noticed.

"I'm not." He shook his head. "Honestly, I can't wait for this conference to be over."

Pepper sighed. "The conference is in a week and you'll already leave tomorrow. So you don't have to wait long anymore."

"I'll miss you." Tony changed the subject. "Not seeing you for a whole week will be exhausting."

"You will be busy. I doubt that you'll even notice my absence." Pepper argued.

"I'll always notice when you're not with me. After all, without you a part of me is missing." Tony said softly and smiled at her. "I love you, Pep."

She smiled back at him. "I love you too."

They kissed each other. "You know, we can keep talking about your mission and everything that goes along with it, but maybe there's a better way to use our last evening together…" Pepper whispered in a seductive tone and Tony grinned.

"Come here." He whispered and pulled her close.

"I could position myself on that rooftop." Sam said and pointed to the right. "From there, I can see everything that happens in the yard, the windows of the conference room and the other rooftops."

"You think that he might attack from above?" Steve asked thoughtfully.

Sam nodded. "From over there, he has a good look at the conference room and he's right behind the person who speaks."

"Would make shooting easy." Tony muttered. "Good idea."

"Then I'll take that rooftop." Clint decided. "When I'm up there, he might not try to shoot from there."

"So Falcon over there and Legolas will take that rooftop…" Tony muttered thoughtfully. "Do you want to be up there as well, Point Break?" He turned to Thor.

"Inside that building, I'm not of much use." The god of thunder decided. "I will stay up there and watch the other side."

"That will leave the four of us." Steve said and looked at Tony, Natasha and Bruce.

"One of us should stay in the hallway." Natasha suggested. "If he tries to get in that way."

"Tony and I will be needed in the conference room." Steve muttered. "They would notice our absence."

"And don't forget that you'll make that speech." Tony added with a grin.

Steve sighed. "Right." He said simply and raised his eyebrows. "Do you want to stay outside, Natasha?"

She nodded. "And then Bruce stays in the recording room."

Bruce looked relieved. "Let us hope that the other guy won't show himself here. I don't want to be responsible for a crashed peace conference."

"Everything will be alright." Natasha placed a hand on Bruce's arm and they smiled at each other. Somehow, their new kind of relationship was still strange to Tony.

"So that's settled." Steve said loudly. "When will we meet Ross again?"

Tony looked at his watch. "In ten minutes. Our timing's perfect." He explained and grinned. "Let's go inside."

It was the fourth day after their arrival at Vienna and the conference would be the following day. The past days, they spent looking at all the buildings. Now their plan was finished. Ross' men would help them as good as possible. There were cameras everywhere, which would be watched by Bruce. And of course the Avengers would all stay in contact with each other, so they could act fast.

Under her suit, Natasha would wear her gear, just like Steve (Tony had made him a special suit for this occasion that was light and solid). Unfortunately, Steve couldn't take the shield into the conference room. It would stay with Sam on a rooftop. Of course Tony would have the reactor on his chest. Since Clint, Thor and Sam wouldn't attend the conference, they didn't have to wear something formal.

The meeting with Ross would take place in a small office. They've talked there before, but this time all the Avengers would be there. Before, it have always been just Tony and Steve. This was the last chance to discuss the plan and now everyone should be there.

Tony entered the room first and stopped in surprise when he saw that Everett Ross wasn't alone. Next to him sat T'Challa, son of the king of Wakanda.

"Ah, there you are." Ross greeted them when they had all entered the room. "May I introduce our guest? This is T'Challa, the prince of Wakanda. I invited him to our small meeting after my conversation with him and his father this morning."

"It is an honour to finally meet the Avengers." T'Challa said with a smile and they all greeted him as well. However, T'Challa became serious again very fast. "Mr Ross told me that you have doubts concerning the safety of my father during the piece conference?"

Tony exchanged a look with Steve and the other Avengers. He noticed that they all looked determined. "This is a long story." Steve said with a nod.

"I thought that I should let you explain everything." Ross told them with a smile that Tony knew was faked.

"Alright." Steve said after a long moment of silence. "I will try to explain it as best as I can."

In the end, he didn't tell T'Challa the whole story. For example, he didn't mention that they knew the assassin and that he's been Steve's best friend once. Steve also didn't tell T'Challa how exactly they found out about the possible attack.

While Steve told the story, Ross just watched him in silence. He didn't say anything, even if he knew that Steve left out important parts. After all, they'd told him more of the truth than T'Challa. Tony was glad that Ross kept his promise. On the other hand, he didn't have a choice. Tony found Klaue and the Vibranium for him weeks ago.

When Steve finished, T'Challa looked at them thoughtfully for a long time. "My father didn't want to hear my concerns about his safety." He said in the end. "But now that I've heard your story, I will try to talk to him again. Even if I doubt that he will cancel his speech."

"Thank you." Steve said with a small smile. "We will do everything to make sure that he stays safe."

T'Challa smiled back at him gratefully. "I want to help you." He said seriously. "I can fight as well, I've been trained for years."

Tony exchanged another look with Steve. In his friend's eyes he saw the same surprise he felt. When Steve hinted a nod, Tony glanced at the others. They were all looking thoughtful. Tony turned to T'Challa again and smiled slightly. "Well, three eyes in the conference room will be better than two."

"How was my speech?" Steve whispered once he sat down next to Tony again.

Tony smiled slightly. "Even more impressing than when you held it in the tower." He muttered.

"I didn't make any mistakes?"

"No. And you impressed all of them." Everyone in the room has clapped loudly after Steve finished. He'd talked of many things, especially the mission of the Avengers to make the world a safer place. And that everyone was able to help if he or she just kept looking around attentively. When he stood there in front of the crowd, he wasn't Steve anymore. It was Captain America who spoke. Everyone could sense that.

Between Steve and T'Chaka, two other people would talk. Tony didn't really listen to them. He kept looking around carefully and kept listening to the comments of the others. Until now, no one saw something noticeable. Tony saw that T'Challa was also scanning the crowd, a concentrated look on his face. He could hear the others as well, Tony had given him a pair of earphones. Today, T'Challa was part of the Avengers. Tony would never admit it, but he liked him. Even if it still bothered him that Wakanda had so many secrets.

Finally, T'Chaka stood in front of them to speak. Next to Tony, Steve tensed and he put on his sunglasses carefully, hoping that no one would notice. At a piece conference, this could be seen as highly impolite. He let JARVIS scan their surroundings. A glance at Steve told him that his friend was watching him now expectantly. Tony shook his head, telling Steve that JARVIS didn't find anything yet.

Halfway through T'Chaka's speech, when Tony nearly couldn't stand it anymore, something happened.

"There's someone walking towards the yard." Sam said.

"I can see him too." Thor agreed.

"I can't. The trees are hiding him from me." Clint threw in. "On my rooftop, everything's calm."

"He looks like a security guard." Sam explained. "But something bothers me about him."

"What is it? I'm on my way towards the entrance door." Natasha said.

"I didn't see him coming. And it's like he avoids looking directly into a camera. As if he knows where they are. I think he's wearing a mask." Bruce sounded troubled.

"He's holding something in his hand." Thor muttered darkly. "Can anyone see what it is?"

Tony and Steve listened to the conversation silently, not able to say anything in the crowded room without being noticed. A man coming from the yard? The conference room was on the first floor of the building, so what could he do from down there? Or was this really just a normal security guard?

Tony glanced at Steve and saw a tensed look on his face.

"I'm nearly at the door now." Natasha announced. "Then I'll be directly in front of him."

"Guys, I think he's holding a grenade or something like that." Bruce said suddenly, sounding alarmed. "We have to stop him!"

"On it!" Sam and Thor said at the same time. However, they were already too late.

"Tony, Steve, he's throwing it!" Natasha shouted suddenly. "Watch out!"

In front of them, T'Chaka was still talking, unaware of the threat outside. Tony reacted immediately. He jumped to his feet and Steve did the same next him. From the corner of his eyes, Tony saw T'Challa standing as well. However, he was too far away, while Tony and Steve sat in the first row. All around them, people began to whisper nervously and T'Chaka interrupted his speech.

While running towards T'Chaka, Tony activated his suit. Then the window burst and a small object fell into the room, right in front of T'Chaka's feet. "Everyone get down!" Tony heard Steve shout. "Sam, the shield! Just throw it!" In this moment, Tony really hoped that Steve's gauntlets worked and the shield would come to him.

Tony pushed T'Chaka away from the grenade (he would apologize later) and scanned it quickly. Deactivation wouldn't work, so he did the only thing he could think of at the moment. "Get away from the yard outside!" He shouted and hoped that the others would be able to run away fast enough. He threw it out of the window again. Or that's at least what he wanted to do.

It exploded mid-air when it nearly reached the window. Tony was just able to position himself between the explosion and a few people and to activate a shield when the pressure wave hit them. Parts of the wall were crashing down and they were lucky that they were already on the top floor of the building.

After that, everything was a blur. People were screaming, there was dust in the air and Tony wasn't able to see anything. Suddenly, the dust just vanished. Thor was standing at the edge of the building, a grim expression on his face. Tony looked around to see many people lying on the ground, while others were running out of the building. Steve was kneeling above T'Chaka, the shield in his hands. T'Challa was running towards his father, a concerned look on his face. However, it seemed as if T'Chaka was alright.

"I can see him, he's running away!" Sam's voice said suddenly and Steve stood up again. For a moment, he looked at Tony, before he nodded.

"Let's get him." Tony muttered.

Tony couldn't deny one thing. Bucky was fast. Somehow, he's been able to get a motorbike and now he was trying to escape from them. Luckily, Tony and Sam could fly, while Thor just jumped from building to building as if it was nothing. Steve had also stolen a motorcycle. Natasha, Bruce and Clint had stayed behind to take care of the injured and to make sure that there wouldn't be another attack. Most probably, T'Challa was still with his father.

"There he is!" Sam pointed at a small figure under them. "And Steve's right behind him!"

"Then let's go." Tony said and changed the direction. Just before they could reach Bucky, he jumped from his motorbike and landed on the ground. Steve wasn't able to react fast enough, which was why he stopped too late. When Tony arrived on the ground, Bucky was already running away again. They were on a public street now and the traffic was making everything even more difficult.

They were already chasing Bucky again, when there was a muffled scream in front of them. Tony, Steve and Sam stopped and stared at the scene. Tony barely noticed that Thor landed next to them, swinging Mjolnir.

The attacker was lying on the ground, someone had shot his leg, making him unable to move. And another person was standing above him, gun in hand. The man was clad in black and wore a mask.

For a few moments, they all stood there motionlessly. Then the man took off his mask.

Steve gasped. "Bucky?!"

In front of them stood Bucky Barnes, his gun pointing at the attacker on the ground. There was a grim look on his face, but he smiled slightly when he turned to Steve and the others.

"Hey Steve." Bucky greeted him.

But who was the man on the ground when Bucky has helped them to catch him?