A/N) First, thank you to Marcus S. Lazarus for their advice on this chapter. It is greatly appreciated!

Secondly, this chapter doesn't cover what I had hoped it would. A few things have been pushed back to Chapter 14, 15 and 16. Apologies to everyone who had been anticipating Carol Danvers arrival. That will not be happening until at least Chapter 16 at the earliest.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Siberia

Wakanda Air Space

Friday 29th July 2016

"I'd say this was quite a successful trip." Pepper leaned back in the passenger seat situated to the side of Tony's pilot chair in the QuinJet as he lifted them off from Wakanda. Their weeklong trip was over and they both felt satisfied with how it went and what the results were.

Tony leaned back, switching the controls to autopilot. "It was. I think we've both achieved our goals in coming here."

"I wasn't expecting them to offer a trade deal with Stark Industries though," mused Pepper. "But I think they are intrigued by combining their technology with yours. It is the most sensible way for them to come out into the world by integrating themselves with us and slowly marketing their products. Our research and development division could learn a lot from them."

"What better way to step out into the world by partnering with us?" grinned Tony. "No… King T'Chaka has made a wise choice. I could have told him about the threat from up there." He pointed to the sky, meaning Thanos. "But I felt worrying them now would be folly. We need to build trust before I even tell them anything about what is coming."

Pepper frowned. "You never told me what is coming. What you fought before… what killed you."

Tony paused, his shoulders slumping. He'd been afraid of Pepper asking this, of wanting to know more about the threat he and Natasha were seeking to stop. He wrestled with the idea of telling her, of giving her more to worry about, but if Pepper was going to fight beside them, she needed to know, even if Thanos wasn't going to appear on their radar for another two years.

"I know you want to protect me, Tony, but I'm here to help. Whatever is coming, I need to know so I can be prepared to face it when it arrives," reasoned Pepper quietly, mirroring Tony's own thoughts.

"I know…" murmured Tony. He lifted his chin and looked straight at her. "His name is Thanos. He sent the army to New York… The one I threw a nuke at… In his own eyes he wants to save the universe… but in doing so, he wants to end half of all life."

Pepper's eyes rose, her hair falling about her shoulders.

"He's a madman. There are these six stones scattered across the universe which he needs to complete his plan. Two of them are on Earth."

"That's coincidence…" mentioned Pepper, "for two of the six to be here."

"I know. The yellow stone in Vision's head? That is one of them. Thanos killed him to get it. Shuri has agreed to help me with a project to remove it safely so Vision doesn't have to die. Wanda gained her powers from experiments on the Mind Stone. She has the power to destroy it. The other stone is with a man called Stephen Strange. Gaining access to him will be difficult. Nat and I have decided to focus on the others first. Hopefully, by the time Thanos arrives, we will have obtained most if not all of the stones and destroyed them, thereby preventing Thanos from completing his plan. But therein lays the problem."

Pepper could guess. "If he finds out the stones have been destroyed he'll attack Earth in revenge."

Tony nodded. "He will. Either way Nat and I will still have to face him."

Pepper laid a hand gently on Tony's shoulder. "You won't be alone. I'll be there too."

Tony smiled sadly. He didn't want Pepper anywhere near Thanos but she'd faced him before and held her own. She could do it again, only this time with a lot more preparation.

"When do you plan to remove the stone from Vision?"

"As soon as possible. I need to talk to Vision and Wanda. They deserve to know and make a choice if they want to do it. Shuri is brilliant but there are always risks to every experiment. The quicker we destroy one of the stones, the happier I'll feel knowing we are one step closer to stopping him for good."

"But if you destroy one of them, haven't you won already?"

"I'd rather not take the risk," explained Tony quietly. "Those stones are too powerful to be left out in the universe. If they're gone no one will be able to find them and use them against others again, will they? It's better to remove the threat then leave a small semblance of it behind." They had considered destroying just one stone but wasn't it better to take them all out of the equation completely? "The next few years are going to be tough. We've got to find the rest before Thanos realises what we're doing. We had allies from the stars before. Nat is going to try to bring one of them in soon. She's very powerful. I think you'll like her. We'll need them if we're going to retrieve the other stones."

There was one stone Tony was concerned about acquiring. And that was the Tesseract, the one which contained the space stone. It was currently held on Asgard but they had no way of contacting Thor or reaching the place itself. There was a very high chance if Thanos was going to retrieve at least one stone, it would be that one unless they could do something to gain Thor's attention.

Currently, he didn't have any ideas.

For now, the space stone could wait.

Pepper whispered quietly breaking the silence that had fallen between them. "That's what killed you, wasn't it? You used the stones, didn't you?"

Tony swallowed the lump in his throat before he answered. "I did."

Pepper stood from her chair and walked over to Tony, kneeling down and taking his hands in hers. "Promise me you won't use them."

Tony's lips twitched. He sighed. "I can't promise that. If it comes to it and there is no other option… I'll have to, Pep, and I do not want to leave you again but it is a risk we both will have to take. I'm sorry I can't promise you this… I didn't intend to do it last time. It was either do something incredibly stupid and heroic and sacrifice myself or let everyone in the entire universe die."

Pepper squeezed his hands gently. "I shouldn't have asked. I'm sorry."

"You do not need to apologise, Pep," swallowed Tony quietly, his right hand gently stroking her cheek. "I want to promise you I'll come home, but I can't. I'm grateful you want to be a part of this, no matter how dangerous it will be."

Pepper leaned into his warm embrace as she pulled herself up beside him, comforting him. "I know you cannot promise me anything but I know you'll make it back. I believe you will."

But Tony couldn't be so sure himself.

Monday 1st August 2016

Siberia

It had taken a few days to receive authorisation from the Accords committee and Siberia for the Avengers to act on the information regarding the other Winter Soldiers. The team was assembled, all of them being called in for the assignment, even Clint who had semi-retired from the Avengers so he could spend more time with his family.

Natasha had spoken to the Accords committee about bringing Bucky with them on the mission as he had known the other Winter Soldiers. He had already explained to them that they were not forced into this new life as Bucky had been; rather they had volunteered to subject themselves to it.

It was necessary to have Bucky's expertise on this mission as he was the only one who would be able to accurately advise them on what to do if the other Soldiers were active at the base. He didn't think they would be, yet it wasn't a risk they were prepared to take.

Tony had also decided to bring Peter Parker with him. After having an intense discussion with May Parker, she had agreed on Peter accompanying Tony on the mission. It wasn't supposed to be a dangerous one, more a routine mission that had the benefit of multiple planning, designed to keep everyone safe. Peter needed experience and Tony wanted to give his protégée a chance to demonstrate what he could do.

They arrived in Siberia in the late hours of the day, landing just outside the HYDRA Siberian Facility.

Bucky went first, followed by Tony in his Iron Man suit and Natasha just behind him with the other Avengers bringing up the rear.

The entrance to the base was hidden behind a rock mound, cleverly hidden from view and not easily noticed.

Pausing at the door, Bucky turned back to the others. "It could be dangerous."

"I think there is enough of us here," said Steve quietly. "Do you fear they could be loose? Already out within the base?"

Bucky shook his head. "No. But they were unhinged. They were used sparingly I think. I don't know if they did use them as I was always kept frozen until I was required. But I was… always their first port of call for most missions but when they really needed to utilise their skills they used them I believe. They were insane… They turned on their handlers and were frozen, to be kept under at all times unless they really needed to be called upon. When HYDRA abandoned the base they left them here, frozen in their cryo chambers. If I didn't know about them they could be frozen for years, centuries even."

"That wouldn't be good," said Sam.

"We've got a strategy," interjected Tony. "I reckon they'll still be frozen. If they are, we unfreeze them one at a time and try to talk them down. Perhaps freedom and away from HYDRA will help them?" He glanced at Bucky for confirmation. That was the plan. Try to bring the other soldiers in. If not, they'd either have to kill or keep the others frozen until a decision was made by the Accords Committee. Which was why they would only unfreeze one at a time, in the hope all of them could be talked down.

Bucky frowned. "They were all willing volunteers, from an elite HYDRA death squad. None of them were forced into it like I was. The serum they used from your father was supposed to be used in conjunction with Vita Radiation, the process Steve went under. But they injected them with it. The process and the following days and months of training turned them insane. They may not be reasonable. They turned on HYDRA."

"Which could be a good thing," advised Natasha carefully. "HYDRA promised them great things with their abilities they gifted them. And they were betrayed."

Bucky didn't look so sure. "It's possible…"

"Seems like my father didn't get the serum right after all…" mused Tony.

"I think it would have worked if they'd have access to Vita Radiation. It seemed the process they went through… having it injected intravenously was a mistake… They were awake for the whole procedure. In a lot of pain…" Bucky explained. They all knew this. "But if there is a way to save them… "

"Either way we have to know what they're capable of," added Wanda.

Tony nodded. They'd all agreed on trying to bring the soldiers in was the best solution but whether it was possible or not was another matter entirely. "Let's go in… See where this leads us."

Natasha eased into the dark corridor following Bucky. She kept her gun ready. She wasn't wearing the suit Tony had crafted for her, instead choosing to use her usual suit, full of all her gadgets. She didn't really need his suit since every Avenger was here. She glanced back. Tony was following behind her, his suit on but his helmet had yet to form around his face. It could be there in an instant if he needed it to be. "It's very eerie… Dark and damp too." She shivered slightly in the cold.

They proceeded down the corridor mostly in pairs. Tony had Peter walking beside him. Everyone had been introduced to Peter, they knew his identity and had agreed to keep it quiet. If Peter worked well with the team then he would be offered a place when he was older.

Bucky brought them to a large chamber, interspersed with equipment and off to the sides of the room wee cryo tubes, with five people sitting, cryogenically frozen inside.

Nat let out a breath. "At least they're still asleep." She'd worried about them changing to events that someone may have freed them. Thankfully they were still out of the world.

"Who gets unfrozen first?" asked Sam, his gaze moving around the room, glancing at each Winter Soldier.

Bucky pointed to the closest chamber. "This one. Josef. He's their leader. Unfreeze him first. He'll be the most dangerous but if we can convince him to stand down, the others will too."

"We should get into our positions," advised Steve. "We all know what to do."

Each Avenger made their way to different levels of the chamber, sitting atop various pieces of machinery.

Peter was with Sam, located up higher in the ceiling on top of an electronic cupboard linking all the cryo chambers together. Opposite them floated Vision and Wanda crouched on another piece of equipment, her hands poised to use her powers if need be. Clint was further down, with his bow and arrows out.

Stationed on the floor below, remaining in front of the chambers were Nat, Tony, Steve, and Rhodey, with Bucky standing off to the side.

Tony moved across the room to the central control panel, running his eyes over it.

"We can unfreeze one, right?" asked Natasha.

Tony nodded. "Yeah. It's just figuring out the right sequence of keys to only bring Josef out. I'd rather not have to deal with all five at once." He glanced over at Bucky. "I don't suppose you…?"

Bucky shook his head. "No. I was always on the receiving end of it. If I was awake when the others were I was never shown how to bring them out of cryostasis. I suspect they thought I might rebel if I knew."

Tony frowned. "Might be tricky then… Give me a few moments and I might have worked out the correct sequence."

Natasha approached Bucky. "How volatile could this Josef be?" She eyed the man in the cryostasis chamber.

"Quite volatile," the other admitted quietly. "He was the best after me… I mean, he did overpower me once in training… He could be better than me. More of a struggle to apprehend."

It wasn't encouraging. They didn't need any more trouble. She hoped this would be a simple mission, one that proved the whole team could work well together. They needed to work well together if she and Tony were going to succeed in stopping the inevitable that was to come.

"But if we are able to talk him down…" Bucky implied.

"He'll be a valuable asset," finished Steve. He glanced over at Tony by the console. "Any progress?"

Tony grinned. "I think I have the right sequence." He scratched the back of his head. "The only problem is I will only if I give it a shot and there is a chance I could have miscalculated."

"I don't believe that, Stark," quipped Natasha. She knew Tony well enough he rarely made mistakes in his calculations. "Go for it. We have enough people here to subdue all of them if they all do break free," She hoped. It wasn't a given but it was possible.

Tony input the sequence, flipped a few switches and turned two large buttons before stepping back with the others and watched Josef's pod. Noises erupted from the pod, steam issued, heat passing into the chamber to defrost him. The frost across his skin started to melt and warmth began to show on the skin as the process sped up.

"The door unlocks with a separate command," explained Bucky.

"You couldn't have said that before?" asked Tony, raising an eyebrow.

The man in the chair began to stir, his fingers moving slightly and his head twisting from side to side slightly as consciousness began to come back to him. Minutes passed and he opened his eyes, seeing the Avengers in front of him. His hands formed into fists.

Natasha's stomach dropped.

The man's eyes found Bucky as he moved into his vision.

"At ease, Josef," said Bucky quietly. "HYDRA is gone. We're not here to hurt you."

"You…" the man said.

"We want to help you," continued Bucky. "We can free you, help you. You have no need to serve Hydra again."

"I can do what I want…" said Josef. And he moved, leaping from his chair to bash his fists against the glass. The glass didn't crack.

"Hey, there are a lot of us here! If you think you can take us all…" began Tony, but he leaped back slightly as cracks appeared in the glass as Josef punched again.

"Don't you want to live a normal life?" asked Steve, stepping forward. "Away from HYDRA's rules?"

Josef laughed. "HYDRA gave me what I wanted! Strength and power to do what I want!" His fist caused more cracks. "I could kill you all easily."

Natasha swallowed, stepping back a bit towards Tony. "He's insane… We won't be able to reason with him."

"No," agreed Tony. "I might be able to freeze him again before he gets –"

The glass smashed and Josef leaped out, landing on his feet, his eyes shining and his smile wide in insanity.

"Shit!" Tony's helmet formed around his face and he raised his arm, ready for a repulsor blast.

Natasha ducked around behind him, tucking her gun back into its holster and removing her batons. If this was going to be a fight, she'd rather be more of an adversary with the batons than with her gun.

Bucky raised his hands, stepping in front of Josef. "Listen! What HYDRA did to you went wrong. We can fix that!"

"I don't need to be fixed!" roared Josef before he lunged at Bucky, hitting out and attempting to punch his adversary. "I've beaten you before and I can beat you again!"

The two struggled, brawling one another as Bucky tried to twist Josef's arms but he flipped himself over, bringing Bucky with him.

Natasha winced. She edged forward but Tony held her back. "Why?" she demanded.

"He's interested in Bucky. We can subdue him if we do not interfere," whispered Tony quietly.

Natasha threw him a surprised look. "How?"

"Wanda." Tony glanced up at where she was positioned high above him. "You weren't there… but in the battle where I died… She nearly destroyed Thanos…"

Natasha's eyes widened. "But she hasn't used her powers for anything like that before…"

"No," admitted Tony, "but she's always been capable of it. Her anger over Vision fuelled it. But if she's capable of that much power when angry, just think of how much potential she has when she is in full control of her powers."

Bucky scrambled to his feet, with Josef following, trying to wrench him back down. He'd already signalled to Steve to back down, to not aid him. They had to try it this way first. If Bucky couldn't take him down then the others would move in.

Natasha patched into her communicator. "Wanda, can you hear me?"

"Loud and clear."

Glancing up, she saw Wanda looking down at her.

"Tony has an idea. Are you up for it?"

"What's his idea?" asked Wanda through the earpiece.

Natasha focused upon Bucky's fight with Josef. "Can you use your powers to hold Josef still, long enough for us to sedate him? It might be the safest way to bring them all in."

Wanda fell silent. "I don't think I can…"

She hadn't discovered her full potential yet. She didn't believe she was capable.

Tony activated his own ear-piece. "Wanda, I know you can do this. It's a matter of trying."

"I'll try…" she answered.

As Bucky ducked again, trying to avoid Josef's ruthless attacks, red lines appeared around his attacker, lifting him up in the air, holding him, though he still struggled.

"LET ME GO!"

Bucky moved back, rubbing the blood from his nose.

"Quickly, sedate him!" shouted Steve, even as he moved beneath the Super-Soldier as Wanda kept him lifted high in the air.

"NO! I WILL NOT-" Josef was struggling in Wanda's grip, attempting to pull himself free. He wouldn't be able to but he could struggle. Sedating him would be difficult.

"Stark! Wanda's looking a little green!" Clint's voice came over the comm. "I don't think she'll be able to hold it!"

Tony shot up towards Wanda's location, landing precariously next to her. She was straining, her body shaking as she sought to control the power coming from her. Sweat beaded down her forehead, dripping onto her cheeks. Vision was looking concerned for her wellbeing. "Hey, Wanda, concentrate, breathe slowly… Don't strain yourself."

Wanda's shoulders shook. "I… can't!" Her breathing was becoming quicker, the strain becoming too much for her.

"Someone get him sedated now!" yelled Tony. He held Wanda's shoulders, trying to keep her calm, attempting to help her maintain control.

"I'll do it, Mr. Stark!" Peter webbed a bit to the ceiling and then jumped down, landing next to Steve, who passed him the sedation injector. Then he shot another web to the left, circling himself round to the struggling Josef, still in Wanda's grip.

He had more control now, was able to move his legs and kicked out as Peter approached, narrowly missing him.

Tony winced, wishing it had been someone else to try but this mission was all about determining how useful they could all be to the team, and how they could work together. This was just one small part.

Peter managed to land on the man's shoulders who immediately tipped his head back in a desperate attempt to dislodge the teenager from his shoulders. But Peter hung on, holding onto the injector.

Steve ran up and jumped, grabbing onto Josef's kicking legs, managing to get them in an arm lock, stopping his frantic movements.

"Hurry, kid!" shouted Steve.

Peter pressed the injector into the base of the man's neck, depressed the trigger, watching as the solution flowed into the vein.

The man's struggles ceased and he fell limp in their grip, the serum affecting him immediately.

The body fell to the floor as Wanda lost her grip and Steve and Peter hit the floor hard as Josef's limp body crashed down beside them.

"Are you alright?" Natasha ran up, helping Peter sit up.

"Yeah… Sorry…"

"You did fine," she smiled. "You got him out. That was the main thing." She glanced up at Tony. "Is Wanda okay?"

"She's out cold," said Tony. "Exhausted." He sounded surprised. "But it worked."

Steve frowned, moving over to Bucky and checking if he was hurt. "You pushed her too hard, Tony."

"She needs to practice because she has potential that would benefit the Avengers to a large degree, if she knows how to use her powers safely without harming herself," added Tony. "I'll get her out of here. Back to the QuinJet."

"Please do, Tony," confirmed Natasha. She focused on Steve. They watched as Tony carried Wanda's unconscious form out of the chamber. "One down, four to go."

The other four Winter Soldiers were easier to handle now they had taken Josef out of the equation. In case he woke up they kept him heavily bound to ensure he could be transported easily. The other four soldiers were not as volatile as Josef when they woke from their slumber, however, once they realised they were surrounded they did attempt to fight.

However, with each one the Avengers used different strategies, working together to ensure they achieved their goal. Vision was able to easily overpower one on his own, whilst Clint shot arrows at one of the soldiers, working with Natasha so she could easily inject them on the sly. Sam ran a distraction for Steve taking down a third and Bucky and Rhodey teamed together to sedate the last Soldier.

Once they had caught all of the Soldiers, they transported them back to the QuinJet, ensuring they would still be sedated for the journey back. Due to the amount of Avengers they'd brought on the mission, they'd used three QuinJets, enabling one Jet to be used to transport the prisoners back. Steve had volunteered to pilot that one with Bucky and Sam and Vision assisting him if they caused any trouble.

Tony was sitting with Wanda when Natasha found them in the QuinJet.

"Is she okay?" She glanced at the sleeping form of the young woman.

Tony nodded. "Yeah. She is. Just has a very severe headache." He fiddled with his fingers. "I feel bad about it. I didn't believe she would have a reaction like that…"

"I guess if you've never really tapped into your full powers before…" Natasha began. "She needs to train more. She struggles to control them."

"Unchecked they could be dangerous," noted Tony quietly, checking the IV line he'd inserted into Wanda to keep her hydrated. "Kinda odd how you can control yours easily though."

Natasha shrugged. "I think there is more to both of us than we know, Tony."

Tony shook his head, laughing quietly. "I don't have powers. There is no reason for me to have them. I'm fine with the armour."

"An armour that couldn't protect you in the end," she pointed out. "

"Point," he admitted. He didn't want powers. He didn't need them. "I think if I had an ounce of powers they would have surfaced by now. We've been in enough dangerous situations to warrant them and only you have shown an affinity for them."

Natasha sat down next to Tony. "Whatever happens, will happen. We got all the Soldiers. Steve, Bucky, Sam, and Vision are escorting them back. Clint, Rhodey and your kid-" she grinned.

"He's not my kid." Tony pushed back.

"-are in the other QuinJet. Clint will drop Peter off and go home and Rhodey will bring the Jet back. You okay if I fly us back?"

Tony nodded. "Sure. I think I need to be here when Wanda wakes up. I did, technically, do this to her after all."

"She'll be fine, Tony." Natasha rubbed his shoulders. "We are one step closer now we've sorted the other Soldiers out. They're out of our jurisdiction now. Bit by bit, we're getting there."

To be continued...

Please let me know what you think!

Josef is the name of one of the Winter Soldiers - the others do not have any official names.

Wanda and her powers. Her power-levels throughout the MCU seems to change frequently. The powers she had in Endgame were just, quite insane, compared to how she used her powers in Age of Ultron and Civil War, so I think potentially, during the two years Team Cap were on the run, Wanda was setting out and improving her powers. I thought it might be interesting to explore the possibility of her overstretching herself because she hasn't unleashed her full potential before. Her holding Josef could potentially tire her out, especially if he continually struggles.

I wanted to show the Avengers working together and get Peter in on the action too. I think this was a good chapter to demonstrate them relying upon and helping one another out. And I hope it worked.

Next chapter: Tony and Wanda, Nat and Fury, and Tony and Pepper. Should be posted next Sunday.

Until then,

the-writer1988