FRIDAY

It had taken her less than three hours to find out about everyone responsible for the attack. Her investigation had started from the point of how the Winter Soldier entered the Tower and went on from there. The culprits had covered their tracks well, but none of them stood intact with her on the hunt. While learning that an employee to S.I. had granted the Winter soldier the entrance had been jarring, realizing there was an entire group of Hydra agents inside the company was nothing less than shocking. She had no idea how they had escaped her and Tadashi's checks, and that was more important than anything else.

It meant that there somethings that she had missed in her old dimension, something which could wreck her plans at any moment. Handling the job to JARVIS to determine why had they not been detected earlier, she continued on the trail, uncovering more names. The chain had ended right on the top of the organization with Senator Pierce, who had ordered the attack himself. Observing the camera footage in the Senator's private servers, it became clear that Hydra had moved Boss from recruitment to dangerous list. With everything Boss and her had been doing against S.I., Hydra had decided to end Boss and the possible employee leaking data against SHIELD at the same time. The Winter Soldier, who was ordered to kill Boss, Morgan, and Nela, had been chosen just as an irony, to end another two Stark generations.

The attack had been performed by including a chain of Hydra's dormant sleeper cells, some of which she had no information about. For example, no one could have guessed that the old couple who had been running a breakfast cart in the front street long before the plans of Stark Tower was even made were once active agents of Hydra. The finding had made her revaluate each plan once again, adding multiple variables and changing them accordingly.

She had considered the dedication humans could show to their cause, but the limit had been under-considered. It was not going to happen again, not under her watch. The backdoors she had created and left alone in Hydra and SHIELD systems were accessed once again. Sharing access with JARVIS, she started finding out the location, weakness, and other information about the people involved in the attack. Meanwhile, JARVIS got the job to look for a very particular list of SHIELD agents and perform a full background check on them. During all this, she kept observing Morgan and those in the Hospital.

By the next morning, the situation had become a lot clearer. While the FBI had taken over the Tower's investigation, there had been no mention of the Winter Soldier. SHIELD agents had infiltrated the FBI task force and were regularly trying to get access to hack in the S.I. systems. TADASHI was having a fun time denying them everything and destroying every bit of hardware they used.

Morgan had kept waking up during the night and had been continuously enquiring about Boss and Boss Lady. Nela wound up having to leave for the farm in the end when Morgan refused to settle down. The final diagnosis of those admitted was also in. Boss only had a slight concussion and some bruises, while Boss Lady had the wound from bullet and blood loss issue. Mr. Hogan was still in intensive care, having suffered the worst injuries. The Doctors were not sure that he would ever be able to see or walk again, as the bullets had passed through some significant nerves before striking his spinal cord.

Both Boss and Boss Lady were headed to the mansion. Boss had wanted Boss Lady to stay back but had agreed not to fuss when she left as she decided to stay in the infirmary at the mansion. He had also wanted to stay there for Mr. Hogan but had been convinced to leave after talking to Boss Lady. Mordo, who had directly gone to the Barton far after receiving her message, would be bringing Morgan, Nela, and Ben Parker back once Boss arrived.

An hour later, when everyone had arrived in the infirmary, the situation was quite tense. Enough that Logan had tried to get Laura to go to her room. She refused on the grounds that her friend Morgan was still there. As Boss and Boss lady were consoling Morgan, Ms. Romanoff addressed her.

"What did you find, FRIDAY?"

She was not sure whether to answer in front of Mr. and Mrs. Parker. JARVIS, sensing her reason for hesitancy, ensured that he had already informed them about the seriousness of everything they might hear and had taken steps to ensure nothing untoward happens.

"Four days ago, a Hydra agent of New York division guessed that the leaks for the EmployeeofSI social media accounts were originating from someone of the newly formed Research team. In a meeting of the Heads, it was concluded that the whole team had to be taken out in what looked like an accident. When they later learned that Mr. Stark and Ms. Potts would be meeting the team yesterday morning…"

"Wait a sec, FRIDAY. The meeting was not planned till yesterday early morning. I was the one who scheduled it; how did they know?" Boss lady interrupted her.

She decided to give the truth bluntly, despite knowing how much it would hurt Boss and Boss lady. "I have uncovered a few HYDRA agents employed in S.I. These are most likely sleeper cells, never heard about before, even in my old dimension. They are spread in nearly every department, and all have roles that allow them access to sensitive information. This, unfortunately, includes a member of your secretary team, Ms. Potts, and your personal legal team, Mr. Stark."

This time Boss interrupted her; his eyes fixed straight on her projection. "Who?" He growled out in a stern voice.

FRIDAY didn't want to answer, knowing what Boss's reaction would be, but she gave a half-truth when Boss asked again. "I am still forming a list, Mr. Stark. Background checks are being done, and I will have an answer for you by the day's end."

Nobody looked like they believed her, but she didn't explain more, and they didn't call her out on the lie.

"The report I have located says that The Winter Soldier was only supposed to be used as a last resort. I don't know why he attacked when he did, but it was not in Hydra's plans. They are right now looking for the assassin, thinking that he went AWOL after failing. They are unsure if his programming failed of if he is looking for another way to complete his orders. Hydra has no idea that he is with us."

After a moment of silence, Boss lady spoke up in a soft voice. "Did anyone else survive, FRIDAY?"

"No. Ms. Potts. The first explosion and its aftereffects had killed all the members of the research team."

"I killed them. I told them to assemble..." Everyone left a mumbling Boss lady alone with Boss, who had taken her in his arms and was whispering that it wasn't her fault. Ms. Romanoff addressed her again when she was out of the room.

"What are you going to do about them, FRIDAY?"

She connected straight to the Black Widow's earpiece. "I am getting in contact with some agents of your old organization, Ms. Romanoff. They helped young miss and me when we were leaving our old dimension. The details on who will be on your phone soon. I think that it's time that Hydra burns, don't you? You can join the team if you want?"

The spy nodded after a moment of consideration. "Clint too. Morgan is his daughter's friend, and he hates people that target kids."

FRIDAY didn't respond, not having any issue with it.

When JARVIS provided her with information about the location and background check on the agents, she started the process of contacting them. Out of the 19 agents, 16 were in the states, with the other three in Europe. After giving it much consideration, she decided to use SHIELD infrastructure to gather them in one place. It would create a little drama inside the SHIELD, which was always welcome, and also give her the chance to steal away some brand-new SHIELD tech, which they had stolen from S.I.

The emergency evacuation code reached the unsuspecting agents from SHIELD channels, and at the same time, she closed their beacons, location, and communication systems. It would take some time for their supervisors to notice that they were missing, but by then, it would be too late to do anything about it. Directing all of them towards one of the abandoned warehouses outside New York, one which she had acquired to be used as their base, she started her other preparations. HYDRA had fired the first shots in a direct war against her, scoring blood without knowing it. Now, it was her chance to make a move, and she would make them regret being born.

The first thing she targeted was the finances of the organization. All the money in the emergency accounts of HYDRA was drained and dispersed. With glee and a bit of irony, she donated millions to Jewish memorial groups and antifascist organizations. Millions more ended up in groups like Doctors Without Borders and Amnesty International. Nobody knew about the money except for a select few as it was only to be accessed if their primary source, i.e., SHIELD, was having problems.

Once the money was taken care of, she started going after the personal life of the Hydra heads. Lies were exposed to families; artificial debts were created, infidelity was discovered, due dates were missed, important paperwork was deleted, minor legal problems were arranged, things of that nature. But she was careful only to target the agents, after all, collateral damage is both messy and often dangerous. Once all the nine heads of HYDRA were busy with their personal lives, she started doing the same to Secretary Pierce and the STRIKE team members. Not even their private vehicles were spared, the smart vehicles had all their systems fried, and the few simple, mostly classic ones had mostly something fall upon them. She had to stop herself from going too far on the same day, as the plan was to prolong their suffering.

Breakfast the next day was a little tense. Morgan had barely left Boss Lady's side but seemed not to be affected much from the previous day. The rest of the people looked tired from the harrowing events and information dump they had been through. Once the plates were cleared, Mordo was kind enough to open a portal to the Barton farm. Boss Lady was headed there, accompanied by Morgan, Nela, Ms. Ross, Dr. Banner, the Howletts, and the Parkers. The trip had been planned at Morgan's insistence so all could meet her new friend, Mr. Barton's daughter, Lila. Boss had advised to use it as a break for one day, which everyone had agreed to. When they had left, Boss kept on staring at the car till it was out of the gates and then addressed her.

"Have all the agents arrived?"

She had informed Boss and Boss Lady about her plans last night, and after a little modification, they had agreed to let it proceed.

"Yes, Mr. Stark. The last three arrived 3 hours ago and have been waiting for further instruction with all others."

TONY STARK

He had barely slept as he thought for nearly the entire night about FRIDAY's plan. Despite the tag 'Merchant of Death' that was associated with his name, he wasn't a murderer. He was never involved in killing someone personally bu planning beforehand. After he became Iron Man, his actions had been one of ending terrorism in general, not target select individuals. And yes, this had lead to the death of some, but he was not methodically planning their deaths, it just happened. But now, that was precisely what he was going to do, and no matter how much he justified it, his mind kept calling it murder. And after a night of thinking, he was okay with it. These people had gone after the people he loved, harming the only woman he might have loved except his mother and daughters, and seriously injured one of his closest friends. Yes, he was okay with it.

"J, bring the suit up."

A few seconds later, a new design of iron man suit wrapped around him, one which he had designed for quick wrap around and travel. Lacking any armor or weapons, it was fast, agile, and stealthy. He had added the nanotech reserve at FRIDAY's insistence for any emergency case. After checking the status of his family, he blasted off towards the warehouse the agents were in. According to JARVIS, the new suit lived up to his expectation, covering the journey in 8 minutes rather than 14 minutes his other suits would have taken. Stepping inside the warehouse, he was greeted by 19 confused people. Seeing him, they immediately fell into a sort of formation, with the elders right at the front. The only agent with grey hair spoke up.

"Mr. Stark..."

He waved the agent off, exiting his suit and stand on the side. The agents' confused expression changed when the nanites flowed from his suit reserve to form a projector. A second later, FRIDAY's familiar form was visible to all of them.

"Good Morning, Everyone. My name is FRIDAY. I am an A.I., just like JARVIS, who I am sure you have heard about in SHIELD."

The agents were looking at him for an explanation, but he kept his silence. FRIDAY continued on.

"Please take your seats. I have something to show all of you, which you would find interesting. I assure you, this is not something that is harmful to you."

All the agents were now looking at the eldest man, who nodded after a second, taking his seat. Without any further words, FRIDAY started the video. This version was heavily edited, with FRIDAY providing a live commentary. Credit to their training, none of the agents reacted much during the first half of the video. During the second half, more than a few curses flew when SHIELD files were dumped online. FRIDAY had included the recordings to the Iron Legions, which had rescued these agents and others. The last part of the video played without any interruption. None of the agents reacted much on seeing their alternate selfs' messages, nor when they sacrificed themselves. Romanoff's death earned a few more exclamations, but that was it. After the video ended, a silence spread in the room.