Welcome to the weekend.
This is not the chapter I thought I was posting. I thought this one was Peter meeting the Avengers, and told a few of you that it would be. I forgot we have this interlude, though. Sorry for the confusion.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Steve and Tony were dressed in their best suits, shoes polished, and hair groomed, but they both knew looking at their best would not make a difference to their cause.
They had come to the United Nations Headquarters to meet Ellis, who had allowed them a meeting while he was in the city for a G8 summit. They were waiting outside his office, Tony adjusting his glasses and Steve's leg bouncing.
Though they knew they had a good case and, according to everyone outside their inner circle, Bucky was in Wakanda, protected—which T'Challa had agreed to maintain when asked—there was no knowing how this would go.
A woman in kitten heels opened the door and peered out, "Mr. Stark, Captain Rogers, The President is now ready for you."
They rose, and Tony took the lead through the door. Steve almost walked into him as Tony came to a dead stop. He peered around him and saw what had caught Tony off-guard, and he automatically moved to Tony's side.
President Ellis was behind the desk, papers neatly piled, and Thaddeus Ross sat opposite, with chairs either side of him, which Ellis gestured them to take with a mild greeting of, "Gentlemen, come in."
Steve heard Tony's deep breath, and he brushed against his arm as he walked forward and took a seat on Ross' right. After a moment, Tony took his seat on Ross' other side and placed the file he held on the desk.
"This is why we want to see you. Mr. President," he said, voice stilted.
Ellis took the folder and opened it, Ross' shrewd eyes watching him.
Ellis turned the pages slowly, eyes widening, and he said, "The Winter Soldier?"
Ross made a small sound, like a laugh, but when Steve looked, his face was a smooth mask.
"We've got proof that Bucky Barnes was not guilty of the crimes of the Winter Soldier," Tony said. "Some of it is there, and the rest is being compiled by our lawyers."
"You think The Winter Soldier is innocent?" Ross asked with a smirk. "How can a man that ended that many lives be innocent?"
"Because he was not in control of himself when he committed those crimes," Steve said. "We have proof that Hydra had programmed him with trigger words, and he was completely under their control when he acted."
Ross' smirk grew more pronounced.
"Where is he now?" Ellis asked.
"In Wakanda," Steve said. "King T'Challa has given him sanctuary within their borders while we pursue his freedom."
Ellis turned another page and read for a moment while Tony and Steve watched, and Ross stroked the sharp crease in his black pants with his palm.
"I can see you have compelling proof," Ellis said eventually. "But you cannot think I am going to give him a presidential pardon. Crimes of this magnitude would divide the nation. Also, the crimes were not just committed within the United States. There is evidence of at least five other countries in these files, and that's just what we know of."
"No, we don't expect a pardon," Tony said. "We want him to have a fair trial. With your support, we hoped a single trial could be arranged to represent all countries involved with a jury based on citizens of each interested party."
Ross snorted. "You can't honestly believe we will be able to persuade other sovereign countries to allow us to pass judgment on crimes committed within their borders."
They had expected this, and Steve had the response ready to give, but Tony spoke first, cutting across him.
"We're not asking you for anything, Ross."
Ellis' eyebrows rose, and he said, "Mr. Stark, Secretary Ross is here as a government representative—"
"Yes," Tony said, tone curt. "I'm sorry, Mr. Secretary. I was rude."
Ross looked into Tony's eyes as he answered, a smile playing at the corners of his mouth, "I am sure you felt you had good reason, Stark. You can probably imagine my actions with the Accords as crimes against you and the people you hold dear."
Tony's eyes narrowed and his lips turned down, and Ross flinched as if suddenly pained, making Tony's eyes widen.
Steve was puzzled, as there was something familiar about Ross' tick, and then he realized what it was, and his own mouth dropped open.
He had seen that before, that flinch and distant look in the eyes, in Peter when one of the Stones was talking to him and he wasn't expecting it—or when Power was having one of his tantrums.
Was it possible that Ross was hearing something now?
Tony's eyes met Steve, and he nodded, sure they were both wondering the same thing—had they found Nemesis?
"Personally, I don't see a major barrier between what you want and what's possible," Ellis said, apparently oblivious to the silent communication happening in the room or Ross' distraction. "All nations that we're aware of its citizens being victims of his crimes are represented here at the summit, so I can talk to them. However, you need to understand that each country may wish to try Sergeant Barnes individually, and I cannot stop them. Also, his trial, if it can be arranged, needs to happen within one of the prosecuting countries. It does not matter what protection Wakanda is offering him now; the trial cannot take place within its borders."
"We expected that," Tony said, voice vague. "And Bucky understands."
"We'd be grateful for whatever help you can give us," Steve added.
Ellis steepled his fingers under his chin. "I must admit, being able to try The Winter Soldier does appeal to me. The debacle with Hydra and SHIELD damaged our reputation on the global stage, and we can be shown to be taking decisive action against Hydra, more so than what you did as a group as Avengers."
Steve was stung by the reference to what they had done like that, as what they had done was in large part take them down. He wasn't about to argue that point, though, when Ellis seemed to be on their side.
"We would be grateful for your help," Tony said again.
Ellis nodded. "Very well then, gentlemen. Ross and I are due in a conference soon. I will contact you when I have more information for you."
Tony and Steve stood and made for the door, but they stopped and turned back when Ross called their names.
"Yes?" Tony said, his voice strained.
"I just want to commend you on this endeavor," he said. "Protecting the innocent is a cornerstone of American life."
He flinched again, and Tony opened his mouth, but Steve grabbed his arm and towed him out. He didn't release him until they were outside, and Steve led him back to where Happy was waiting for them in the car.
"Did you see?" Tony asked, voice harsh. "You saw it, right?"
"I did," Steve said. "But if that's Nemesis, they're being pretty obvious about it."
"Yeah, but maybe that's Ross' side of them. You saw his reaction—it was just like Pete when the Stones got rowdy. That could have been Ego giving him hell for it. I'm sure I'm right on this, Steve. Think back—he didn't create as much of an issue about the Accords as we expected, which could be because he's got a bigger aim. If that is Nemesis, they're not going to care about The Accords when they've got Zemo and Bucky and whatever else they're planning."
Steve nodded. "Yeah, I think you could be right. How we find out for sure, though, I don't know."
"We ask Mind," Tony said. "He's obviously not sensed Ego when he'd been around Ross, but he'd always been Vision in control. Even if he's watching through Vision, which he's got to be, he might not have full access to his abilities."
He raked a hand through his hair and stopped with his hand on the car door, Happy peering out of his window at them.
"This is good, Steve," he said. "If that is Nemesis, we know where the threat is coming from, and we can monitor it." He yanked open the door and slid in. When Steve was in beside him, he said, "We've got to talk to Mind. I want Pete's perspective on this. We need to get him on BARF so we can talk face to face."
"Agreed," Steve said, cheered out of his worry slightly by the idea of talking to Peter properly.
"You gonna shut that door, Cap?" Happy asked, turning in his seat. "Only it's safer to drive with them closed."
Tony snorted, and Steve apologized as he closed the door. His mind was reeling with the idea that they might have found Nemesis—and who would be a more perfect choice than Ross, with his grudge. If they knew the direction the threat was coming from, they had a chance to stop it. Tony could track Ross without an issue.
Just because they were no match for Nemesis, they could create a line of defense between them and Peter.
Ross knew Ego was going to be unhappy. Though she had been quiet within his mind since Stark and Rogers had left, Ross was expecting the summoning. Therefore, it came as no surprise when he found himself pulled into his own head when he was finally alone in his hotel room that evening.
As always, he found himself in the Oval Office, opposite Ego, who sat in the place of power and scowled at him.
"What were you thinking?" she snarled.
Ross knew he should apologize, but he was annoyed. It had been almost a year of life here now, and they had not acted against the Asset at all. He was still living his free and happy life. Ross had waited long enough. He was sick of living through these days again of only partial power.
"I was promised revenge, and we have done nothing! They are having all the success. They had the Accords; they now have Ellis on their side to clear The Winter Soldier's name; we have done nothing!"
She narrowed her eyes at him, a steely glint in them, and he wondered if he had said too much.
"We are moving in the direction we need," she said, tone carefully measured. "We have a Black Widow. We have a Winter Soldier. We have a feed of information coming from inside the Avengers stronghold."
"We don't have surveillance," Ross said. "Zemo's recruit has failed us."
"Beck has failed to achieve surveillance, yes, but he has other talents."
Ross scoffed. "The illusions? What use are they?"
"They are going to help us break the child. With them and our fighters, and the candidate Zemo is going to find, we will soon be equipped to act. You will be patient, Ross, or I will send you back to Gryn Fylds and find myself a new vessel."
Ross gaped. She couldn't do that to him; she'd promised they would be together. They were Nemesis now, and he could not bear to lose that power. It belonged to them.
"Are you going to behave with a little more caution in the future?" she asked.
Ross nodded quickly. "Yes, of course. I apologize."
"Good, because I will not suffer your insubordination again. In fact, I think you need a reminder."
Before Ross could say more than, "No, I don't need—," white light had surged from her eyes, flooding towards him, and surrounding his body as he rose to his feet and backed away.
The light poured into him, burning and crushing, ripping and tearing, and he screamed.
"This is your fault," her voice whispered. "You know that."
Ross couldn't speak or nod to agree. He was consumed with pain. He needed no more reminder than this.
Pain was its own warning.
Two days after their meeting with Ross, at the end of a Wednesday lab session with Peter, Steve called with the message that Mind had made an appearance.
Tony was eager to go to the compound and talk to him, but he wasn't about to rush Peter out, so he spent the last fifteen minutes before Happy arrived to drive him home fine-tuning the third BARF system and saw him down to the lobby on his own way out, the BARF glasses tucked in his pocket.
He saw Peter off and then gave Pepper a quick call to tell her where he was going and then headed to the garage to get a car.
He took his Acura, which would eat the miles when he got out of the city, and cranked up the music for the drive.
He was excited to get there, and the hope that he would not only get to talk to Peter but also get answers about Ross boosted him. He was almost convinced now that Ross was Nemesis. The signs were there, and it would make sense for Ego to choose him. Not only was he a demented monster, like her, but he also had a grudge against Peter for what he'd done to him.
And the time of their arrival in 2016 made sense now, too. Mind said it was Nemesis that chose the moment Peter sent them to, and the day of the Lagos disaster and Tony's BARF demonstration at MIT was the same day Ross was appointed as Secretary of State. That also played into Ego's plans as that was Ross' most powerful position before he became President, and that appointment came too late to target Peter as that happened after he died.
It all added up, and Tony just needed Peter's confirmation now.
He arrived at the compound, parked in the garage, and rushed through the halls to the common room where Bucky, Steve, Natasha, and Vision were gathered. He didn't know where the others were, but he dismissed the question at once when he recognized the yellow of Vision's eyes, which meant it was Mind in control.
"Did they tell you?" he asked, fixing his eyes on Vision.
"We did," Steve said, and Vision nodded.
"I don't know if you're correct, though," Vision said. "I have not seen Ross in this time. I am often paying attention to what is happening here, as much as Peter can support, but I have not been in control and therefore able to see clearly. We need to either facilitate a meeting between him and me, which I am wary of as Ego will see me as clearly as I see her. The other option is for Peter to investigate. He can now if he uses Space to travel as he did when he witnessed the discussion between you all upon discovering he possessed me and the other Stones. He need not leave the bed at all. In fact, I think Peter would prefer that as he will see something other than what he sees now."
"What does he see now?" Natasha asked curiously. "Is he still unconscious?"
"Yes, in a way. If he was to use his energy in that way, he could regain consciousness, but as he has cut himself off from the rest of reality, he would merely see his surroundings frozen in stasis. That is no better than being unconscious. Most of the time, he watches his memories change with each new experience as he rests, which he usually enjoys. He also spends time with us."
Natasha nodded. "That sounds tough."
"It's hard on him," Vision agreed. "But he now has the chance to experience time with you through BARF. I assume that's your plan now? He is waiting for the sense of you there."
Tony nodded. "Yeah, I've got the new set here, and the other two are in the lab." He looked around. "Who's coming with me?"
Bucky raised his hand at once and said, voice brooking no argument, "I am."
"Nat?" Steve asked, his face carefully controlled.
She laughed. "It's okay, Steve. I'll talk to him next time. You boys go ahead."
Steve thanked her and leaped to his feet. Tony led them back through to the lab, snatched the glasses from the drawer, threw them to Steve and Bucky, then put on his own pair.
As soon as the scene formed around them, he found himself on the edge of the lake outside the Tool Shed, geese splashing into the lake and the sun sinking towards the mountains opposite.
He guessed from their location that it was Bucky who had taken control of the simulation, as this was his place with Peter.
They all looked around, searching for a sign of Peter, but it was his voice that reached them first, a moment before he appeared by the Tool Shed entrance.
"All of you?" he asked, his voice pitched high with excitement.
Before Tony could answer, to tell him he'd finished the last pair he and Peter had been working on alone, the air was rushing out of him with a laugh as Peter threw himself at Steve, almost knocking him over.
"God, I missed you," he said, voice muffled by Steve's chest. "I know I've seen you, but it's not me-me, not like this."
He released Steve and then threw himself at Tony, clung to him a moment, and chuckled as Tony pressed a kiss to his cheek, and then released him and collided with Bucky.
With them all greeted, he bounced from foot to foot and said, "Man, this is so cool. I didn't realize the third set was done. I didn't know who to expect to come." He hugged his arms around himself. "I'm so happy it's all of you."
Tony put an arm around him and hugged him close. "It's good to see you, too, Pete. I know we've got you sometimes, and I love it, but it's not you at the same time."
Peter nodded, too-long hair flopping into his eyes. "Yeah, I get that. It's got to be weird. But for me, where you are, I mean, I'm happier than I've been in a long time." He fixed his eyes on Tony. "Thank you for helping me patrol. It helped me so much. Before, I'd built up this phobia about it, but I'm more confident now than ever."
"I noticed," Tony said, resting his cheek on Peter's hair. "It was great for me, too."
Peter sighed happily and then stepped away from Tony with what looked like regret and said, "Okay. Nemesis. I've discussed it with The Stones, and we don't know if it's Ross, since I wanted to talk to you first, but it does add up. Ego is powerful, can do some of the things we can, so fetching him from Gryn Fylds would be no problem."
"Can you go see if he's still there? Steve asked. "Is it safe for you?"
Peter nodded eagerly. "Yeah, absolutely. I'll go now."
Tony watched, waiting for the moment he'd disappear, but instead, his eyes became distant, and his chin dropped to his chest. He stayed perfectly immobile for a moment, a disconcerting sight, and then his head snapped up, and he took a deep breath.
"Okay. Whoa. That was crazy." He ran a hand through his hair. "Yeah, Ross is gone. Unless some other space traveler has grabbed him, which I doubt since Quill said it's not a popular destination, it was Ego. He's now with her. They're Nemesis."
"This is good," Steve said. "We know who it is."
"Yes," Tony growled. "It's that asshole. I knew you should have—" He cut himself off, but Peter knew what he was going to say.
He frowned and said, "Maybe I should have killed him, but then we wouldn't have known who Nemesis was. You've got an advantage now. I know you can't exactly set a tail on him, and you sure as hell can't kill Nemesis, but you can monitor what he's doing. Right?"
Tony nodded. "I can try. The fact he's got someone of his side that can source calls back to the Tower means they've got a good head for technology. Still, I'm better."
Peter grinned. "Of course you are. Really, this is the best advantage we've got, better even than Bucky's connection with Zemo."
"Yeah," Bucky said, voice rough. "The advantage we're risking since we're going public about me. Which is down to you."
Peter beamed, completely unabashed. "I know, but it's the right thing. I don't want you to be in hiding all this time when you've got a chance to be free; it's not fair on you."
Bucky sighed. "I know that, but if we lose the connection to Zemo because of it, we're blind."
Peter shook his head. "Not now we've got Ross we're not. And even if we didn't have that I'd still want you to be free."
Bucky shook his head. "Bud, I get that, but this is about so much more than my freedom."
Peter crossed his arms over his chest, expression mulish. "It's not for me, and I don't think it's a problem. When they clear your name, you can do more for Zemo, so you might learn more."
Bucky huffed a laugh. "Yeah, you believe that?"
Peter crossed to him and hugged him. His face tucked into Bucky's chest, he said, "I believe it's the right thing to do."
Bucky's eyes softened, and he hugged Peter in return, resting his cheek on his hair and smiling.
Steve watched them, smiling fondly, and when they parted, said, "How long have you got to be with us, Queens?"
Peter shrugged. "As long as you've got with me. I'm not tired yet, so I can stay. I know you've all got lives and stuff going on now, and I'm already taking loads of your time."
Bucky grinned. "They have lives, yeah, but I've got a free schedule until the trial starts, so I can spend all the time with you I like."
Peter beamed, shifting from foot to foot with anxious energy, and said, "Awesome."
Tony smiled, seeing his son's pleasure. He would like to be here all the time, too, but Peter was right: he did have a lot going on. He needed to spend time with Pepper; he needed to create a system to track Ross. If he could not be with Peter all the time, and he couldn't, at least Bucky could be.
As long as Peter had one person he loved with him, Tony would be happy.
So… We had a proper BARF reunion. I'm not sure if I said it before, but I never planned to use 2023 Peter as part of this story. I was going to stick with 2016 (and onwards) Peter and use Mind to communicate with him and them. The opportunity to have this time was too great to pass up, though. I hope you enjoy it.
Until next time…
Jadey xxx