The next chapter, enjoy!

As always thank you to Senema for her quick beta, all remaining mistakes are my own.

Chapter 15

After Wanda, Clint and T'Challa went their own way, the group broke up quickly. Everyone went out to explore the ranch on their own, leaving only Steve and Natasha.

"We should get in touch with Fury", Natasha said calmly.

Steve grimaced. He wasn't particularly enthusiastic about this proposal but he couldn't disagree with Natasha either. "Do you think he will respond to you contacting him?" He hesitated. "I mean after you first ..."

"I know what you mean, Steve." Natasha smiled. "Fury will answer. He already knows what happened in the raft and that we freed the others. He will also be worried about Laura and the children. He won't miss the chance to ask me if I have any information on their whereabouts."

"Is the connection secure?" Steve asked nervously.

"Don't worry, no one can trace this call to our position, even if the government has managed to find Fury, which is more than unlikely", Natasha reassured him. She took out her phone and looked questioningly at Steve, who nodded with a sigh.

Natasha entered Fury's number and as she had predicted, Fury picked up after a few seconds. "It's about time", he said gruffly.

"Sorry Nick, but we've been very busy", Natasha replied with a slight smile.

"Yeah, believe me I noticed. Ross is hopping mad and just can't understand how you managed to infiltrate the raft undetected, freed our friends and then disappeared without a trace." Fury hesitated. "In all honesty, I share this confusion."

"Let's put it this way, Clint made an interesting friend a few years ago and he never told us about them", replied Natasha.

"Hm, Clint always had a knack for making unusual friends, who would kill everyone else. I'm talking to one of them right now! Are you and the others safe?" Fury asked calmly.

"Yes Nick, we are safe! Laura and the kids are with us too before you ask", reported Natasha. "They are unharmed."

"Thank God", said Fury with a long sigh. "I sent a trusted friend of mine to Clint's Farm after learning of Stark's betrayal."

Steve saw a strange expression cross Natasha's face. He looked at her questioningly but she shook her head slightly and mouthed a 'Later' in his direction. He nodded to show that he understood.

"When my friend and his people got there, a unit of Hydra soldiers had just arrived too. He and his crew fought and took them out completely before entering Clint's house. It was a slaughterhouse." Fury's voice was grim.

"There were seven bodies with broken necks in the kitchen, and another four were down in the basement. But upstairs on the first floor..." Fury broke off. "I saw the mission video, it was very graphic. There were ten Hydra soldiers; some had their hearts ripped out while others had their necks broken but not one of them had been killed by bullets. They carried fully automatic weapons, which they had also fired, but there were no other bodies or even any evidence, that anyone other than Hydra soldiers have been injured or killed." It was clear that Fury was reluctantly impressed with what he had seen.

Natasha and Steve exchanged glances.

"Did your friend dispose of the bodies of the Hydra soldiers?" asked Natasha.

"Yes, I ordered him not to leave a trace", replied Fury. "We wanted to leave the government and Hydra guessing, what actually happened on the farm."

Natasha could vividly imagine Fury's wicked grin. "Yeah, I think that is a good idea. That friend of yours; I don't suppose he had much trouble finding the farm, did he? I mean, because he has been there many times before."

There was a noticeable silence at first before Fury sighed. "You figured it out, didn't you?"

"You said, you send someone you absolutely trust to Clint's Farm and you said he, so Maria's out." Natasha's voice sounded angry now and Steve looked at her confused. "There is only one person within SHIELD this description applies to."

"It's not his fault", said Fury sheepishly.

"I'm not exactly surprised. Give me his number! It's time for Strike Team Delta to celebrate their reunion."

Fury sighed in resignation. "I'll send it to you. Don't be too hard on him; he's been through a lot in the past few years."

"Who hasn't?" Natasha replied harshly. "But don't worry, I know who the real culprit is. And I'll remember what you did." She ended the call.

Steve could see Natasha was seething with anger. He remained silent for a few minutes to give her a chance to calm down. "What was that about?" He finally asked.

"There were originally only three people at SHIELD, who knew about Clint's family and who visited them frequently", Natasha explained, still upset. "Me, Fury and Coulson. Fury has trust issues und not many friends and he said, he send someone he absolutely trusts and there is only one person."

"Coulson? Are you saying Coulson is still alive?" Steve asked incredulously.

"Looks like it. Oh, Clint won't like this. I'll have to break the news to him gently." Natasha looked sad. Her smartphone beeped. Natasha glanced at it and smiled. "The number!"

"Will you call him right away?" Steve asked curiously.

"No. I promised I wouldn't be too tough on Phil but that doesn't mean he shouldn't stew a few days." Natasha grinned unkindly. "No doubt Fury has already warned him. A few restless nights is the least Coulson deserves."

"I don't disagree with you", said Steve, amused. "I'd like a closer look at the farm now."

"Then let's do this together." Steve and Natasha wandered off arm in arm.

When it got dark, one avenger after another came back to the house, where one of the house staff greeted them. They led the Avenger to a room with a large hot and cold buffet. They kindly informed each of them that they would serve breakfast in this room from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. For dinner, however, Elijah asked that in the future everyone should arrive punctually at 8:00 p.m.

Everyone was still far too exhausted, so everyone ate quickly and then retired to their respective rooms.

xxxxx

As a good host, Elijah saw it as his duty to be present at breakfast. Therefore, he sat down at the table at 8 o'clock with a cup of coffee and a hearty breakfast that he didn't really need, and waited for everyone to come down. He reckoned there were enough early risers among the Avengers that even this early he would soon have company.

On a small table lay the latest newspapers in case the Avengers wanted to find out what had happened since yesterday.

Elijah assumed that at least some of his guests would feel sheer pleasure reading the headlines. He grinned; at least that had been the case for him. The first part of his revenge promised to be a complete success.

T'Challa and Steve were the first to enter the room.

"Good morning", Elijah wished them and the two men returned his greeting.

They got themselves coffee; each of them had a plate filled with enough food for two people, and a daily newspaper.

Elijah watched them patiently as they drank their first cup of coffee, ate something and then opened the newspaper. With a fine smile, he watched as both men froze and then abruptly flipped through the newspaper. Then, when they practically dropped the paper in sync and stared at him, his grin broadened and became very content.

"What have you done?" Steve asked stunned.

"I felt it was about time Mr. Stark learned that he cannot buy his way out of all his troubles."

"How did you manage that?" T'Challa asked a more practical question.

"As it turns out, there are a lot of people with a grudge against Stark." Elijah shrugged. "The only thing, they lacked to enforce their rights and get justice was money and the appropriate first-class lawyers that only Stark could afford. So I hired the lawyers who used to represent Stark, gave them a list of names, and the rest took care of itself."

"Have you forced the lawyers?" Steve looked at Elijah suspiciously.

"That was unnecessary, even lawyers hate to be treated condescendingly and scornfully. They literally jumped to take on these cases." Elijah grinned again. "They were also enthusiastic about my suggestion to make Stark's presence compulsory in the indictments."

Elijah chuckled. "Stark won't have an opportunity to play around with his suits in the months and years ahead. He will spend each day in courtrooms, staring his victims in the face as they explain what he did to them and he will have no chance to avoid it.

As a bonus, the whole world will know what an evil subject Stark really is and he will have to pay millions in compensation. Unfortunately, he won't go bankrupt, but it's enough for me that his reputation goes down the drain."

"But what about Pepper and Stark Industries?" Steve asked uncomfortably.

"All lawsuits are directed against Stark as a private person. I gave Pepper all the necessary information about Stark's crimes. If Pepper is smart, she will draw the appropriate conclusions to protect herself and the people who work for Stark Industries." Elijah looked seriously at Steve. "I have no desire to harm innocents."

"So it will only be Stark, who will pay for his own crimes this time?" Steve asked relieved.

"Exactly, it will be a whole new experience for him." Now Elijah's grin was downright malicious.

"I'm not sure whether to be impressed or horrified", said T'Challa, who had to suppress a smile at Elijah's obvious satisfaction.

"I can get downright nasty when someone harms the people I consider to be under my protection", Elijah explained.

"What are you going to do next?" Steve asked curious.

"I don't know yet, but I will surely come up with something." Elijah shrugged. "Stark is busy for the time being, and strategically it is not very wise to take all actions against him at once. Some things you should savour! And Stark isn't the only one who is on my hit list."

"Who else is?" T'Challa asked curiously.

"I hope Senator Ross will soon have problems other than hunting down the real Avengers." Elijah shrugged. "But I'm still waiting for some information before I know how to deal with him."

Steve swallowed at the ruthlessness that Elijah displayed but also the speed with which he had arranged everything was terrifying. The plan to free Clint and the others was one thing but this revenge on Stark was entirely another level of difficulty. "How did you get that done so quickly?"

Elijah hesitated a little before answering. "I've been collecting information about Stark since I first met him. I didn't particularly like him and thought it would be useful to keep an eye on him. After he made his first appearance as Iron Man, my bad feeling in connection with him only increased." He shrugged. "After a thousand years you learn to listen to your instincts."

Steve nodded thoughtfully. "I see what you're getting at."

"You will also learn to make plans for any eventuality that you perceive to be a threat", Elijah added dryly. "I have had practice, Steve, and the will to carry out my revenge when I see so fit."

Steve didn't say anything else, especially now everyone else came into the room.

Every one of them took their choice of drinks and breakfast before sitting down.

Natasha saw the newspaper lying next to Steve's plate and took it. As she read the headline, her right eyebrow went up. She passed the paper to Clint, who began to read it and then started to grin.

"It's fun and very satisfying to read the newspaper on days like today", Clint said with a laugh. Laura grabbed the paper from Clint to see what made him so cheerful.

"There are enough newspapers for everyone on the table over there", Elijah said helpfully when he saw the general interest.

Everyone got up and got a copy. For the next five minutes, all the adults were silent as they read the paper.

Finally, everyone was up to date and looked at Elijah with expressions that ranged from shock to absolute glee.

"Wow", Scott summed up everyone's thoughts. "If you do take your revenge, you don't act half-heartedly, do you?"

Elijah shook his head. "No, not when I've made a decision."

"Well, if I ever upset you, let me know so that I can apologize to you." Scott went back to his breakfast.

Elijah smirked and for the rest of breakfast everyone talked about the articles.

Elijah felt his smartphone vibrate and checked his caller. It was the informant, he had put on a specific person. He took the call. "Yes?" He asked softly.

For the next five minutes, Elijah was extremely monosyllabic in his answers, but one thing was clear, what he was hearing made him angry. "Thanks for your information. Keep monitoring the person, but don't interfere or let yourself be discovered!"

Elijah hung up and looked around, where everyone was looking at him with great curiosity. "I was interested in those who fought on Stark's side. Two of them changed sides and are now here, Rhodes is in the hospital, and Stark and Vision are searching for you. Only one is nowhere to be found."

"Spiderman", said Steve calmly.

"Exactly", answered Elijah. "Interestingly enough, he's also the one, who is least known. I was curious about the reason for this. My informant, whom I put on Spiderman, just called me back."

Elijah looked at T'Challa and Natasha. "I would be interested, who of you came up with the glorious idea of dragging a fourteen-year-old child into your little argument and allowing him to fight by your side against opponents like Captain America or the Winter Soldier?"

Natasha frowned in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"Yes, what are you talking about?" T'Challa asked, equally astonished.

Elijah gave them a scrutinizing and penetrating look. Whatever he saw on their faces seemed to please him. "Spiderman is a fourteen year old boy named Peter Parker."

The shocked faces of all those present were answer enough as to how they thought about it.

"I'm sorry, what?" Natasha breathed in shock. "We never saw his face; Stark said it was for his safety." Her face darkened. "Now I think it was more for Stark's safety. I was a child soldier! If I had known Spiderman was a kid, I would never have let him fight with us."

T'Challa looked outraged. "Rhodes asked Stark how old Spiderman was because he sounded kind of young, and Stark joked that he didn't carbon-date him."

Elijah nodded before looking at Steve. "I would like to know more about the circumstances under which Stark recruited the boy. It is clear to me that Stark knew how old the boy was."

Steve nodded grimly. "I think so too and I too would like more information. However, what is the best way to go about it? Who knows what lies Stark told the boy? He will hardly want to talk to us."

"We'll think of something", Clint said quietly. "For the moment we can't do anything other than keep our feet still and behave inconspicuously until the search for us calms down."

Steve nodded in agreement. "You're right!"

"Well, let's wait and see. Peter Parker is now under surveillance of someone I absolutely trust. He'll keep an eye on the boy." Elijah looked at Steve. "Is that okay with you?"

"Yes, it is. Who knows if Stark doesn't use the boy as his personal attack dog for other occasions?" Steve grimaced in disgust.

"That's not unlikely", Elijah agreed disgusted, he had no illusions of the depths Stark could and would sink to.

After breakfast was over, everyone dispersed but Natasha pulled Clint aside, explaining that she absolutely had to talk to him.