Virginia "Pepper" Potts
Pepper waits at the delivery entrance as the men unload the boxes and send them up the huge maintenance elevator. She personally oversees that everything is placed just so. Not wanting anything to be crushed or damaged in its final journey to the common room.
She signs her name when they've loaded up the last box and she clicks the correct floor number, stepping into the elevator and waiting as the doors swish closed behind her.
She feels the pulleys and is rising with two decades of incredibly valuable items surrounding her.
She has more questions than answers about Tony's mysterious disappearance and his strange phone calls. But he hasn't kept her any more in the dark than he usually does. His usual flights of caffeine fueled fancy are nothing new to her. But something about this is different.
She met Barnes way back in 2012 when he and Tony could barely stand to look at each other.
And now Tony is having her pull items from his father's wartime collection for the man. She's been rather busy with SI meetings and running the Fortune 500 company, but his text and then phone call almost a week ago had signaled to Pepper that this was top priority.
So here she is, after being told to "be prepared" and "don't freak out".
She taps her heel impatiently as the floors click by and when the elevator stops, she waits.
—
Tony
Tony stands at the elevator doors, shoe tapping impatiently as he watches the numbers rise.
He's infinitely glad there's something else to focus on other than the look of absolute shattered despair on Barnes' face after his best friend had appeared and disappeared just as quickly.
Natasha had briefly filled Clint in, and now the assassin was following Barnes around like a little guilty pigeon.
Let's just say the room was more tense somehow then when they were standing in the middle of the Red Room.
Tony ignores the Asset as he stands rigidly with his back to the wall.
He's smart. Tony will give him that.
After Clint's command that was technically directed at Tony (turns out brain controlled Assets respond to any command, who fucking knew) reawakened the cyborg part of Captain America's brain, Barnes had reached out and said the dreaded word.
"Steve?"
And the Asset had recoiled as if burned. "No." He responded sharply. "Asset."
And that's when the agonizing look appeared on Barnes face. And hasn't left.
Tony makes a mental note to tell Barnes' never to play poker. He'd be crap at it.
Natasha was the quickest to recover. "Good." She'd responded firmly, "that's good. For a moment we were worried you had left. We still need you for future missions. Are you still willing?"
"Affirmative."
And that had been that.
So now Tony stands at the elevator doors, waiting for the only sane person he has left in the tri-state
area to appear.
Finally the door makes a ding and they start to open.
And there she is. In all her business manner glory.
He smiles, and she smirks at him, before her eyes dart around the room taking in the tense scene.
Then her eyes land on something.
And they widen like saucers.
"Pepper." Tony says calmly, "there's someone we'd like you to meet, it's—"
"Captain America." Pepper whispers, "oh my gosh." She takes a halter step forward towards the Asset and her eyes grow even wider in size. "You're— oh my— you're—"
"Pep. 'Member what I told you about not freaking out?"
But Pepper obviously isn't listening anymore because she steps forward and her hand stretches out, "you're—" then she shakes her head, "you were my childhood hero!"
Tony's eyebrows go up into his hairline, "Um, excuse me, what?"
She finally manages to stand in front of the Asset who looks at her warily.
"I'm Pepper. I'm a huge fan. Huge. Oh my heavens my dad would be flipping out right now if he knew I was meeting you!"
She holds out her hand eagerly and something about her must disarm the Asset because he slowly reaches out and returns the handshake. She squeals like a toddler and Tony feels like his head is going to explode.
"Pepper. Um, hey, Pep? Care to explain what the heeeeellllll you are saying?"
She turns to face him and frowns. "Oh, like you would have expected me to tell you about this?" She rolls her eyes, "I applied to work here first and foremost because of your dad and his work with—" she points to the Asset, "and after I rose up through the ranks I thought I was going to finally meet you and share stories out our dads and how much they loved Captain America, but I quickly was told about your hatred for the man, and Captain Rogers, so I didn't say a word." She raises an eyebrow at him. "I feel like I'm in the twilight zone right now."
Tony huffs, "you what! I can't believe this! All this time? Who else knew about this?"
Natasha and Clint stay silent and when he looks at Barnes, the wide-eyed shock clearly informs Tony that he didn't know this fact either, and then he hears Pepper speak softly.
"Coulson knew."
Tony looks at her, a sad nostalgic look on her face. "Back when you first started being Iron man? I saw his trading cards and I told him about my dad and brother and how they collected every card, every comic book, every newsreel and propaganda poster." She looks wistfully back at the Asset, "my dad served in a unit you worked with near the Italian border. Said you were the greatest leader he's ever had. He actually has a sketch you drew, it's a helmet, upside down with flowers growing out of it. He said he watched you draw it on a rainy day when you all were waiting on orders. Do you remember that?" The Asset shakes his head and Tony feels the room lean in as she tells the story.
"My dad said some guy made a smart comment about 'Captain America' drawing flowers, and that you looked up at the man and said 'you'd rather me draw the 19 year olds' brains I just washed off my uniform? Or the burnt corpses from that cathedral?' When the guy didn't have answer, you pointed at him, calling him out and said, 'Why is me drawing something beautiful an insult to your masculinity?'"
Pepper's voice chokes off and she waves a hand. "Sorry, sorry." She looks back at the—- well, he doesn't look too much like the Asset right now. His eyes are intensely on her, "He begged you for that drawing and you gave it to him willingly. You said, 'better to remember there's still some beauty that's going to be left in this world after this war is over.'" She says the words as if reciting a passage from the Bible. She knows them by heart and it makes Tony's throat dry and chest tight. "My dad told us that story a million times. Over and over."
She smiles back at Tony wryly. "Sorry, didn't think you'd want to know."
She looks shyly at Barnes who is sitting there, dumbstruck and with eyes that look a bit glassy. "I really…" she sighs, "I really really wanted to talk to you, but… you never seemed to want to talk about him—" And that's when it finally hits her. "Wait. How is he here?" She turns back to Steve, "how are you here? I thought—" she blinks at him, "my dad said you died… on a train." She looks at Barnes, "was he in ice too?"
"Negative." The Asset says softly. "Hydra found the voice in the gorge and stored him until he behaved. Now the Asset is in control."
Pepper's parted mouth shock makes everyone wince. And that look is back on Barnes' face.
"Come on, Pep." Tony says brittly, "let's catch you up to speed."
—-
Clint
He's never speaking again.
Ever.
Not ever.
He can sign for the rest of his damn life. He sits grumpily in a chair, facing the rest of the group and Natasha sends him a 'stop pouting' look.
But he can't. She'd informed him that Steve Rogers, the actual Captain America, had been front and center, present and speaking until he showed up ordering Tony to give him his coffee.
So now he sits. Quiet.
—-
Bucky
"Are you hungry?" Bucky asks the Asset, trying to keep his voice normal. "It's been hours since you've eaten."
"Affirmative."
"Okay. Good. That's good. We'll get some breakfast going."
He walks into the kitchen and sees Tony talking to Pepper down the hallway. He can see the horrified look on her face, and the hand clamped over her mouth and he knows Tony's filling her in on what happened to Steve. He looks over at the Asset and notices that he has his head tilted to the side.
He's listening.
Bucky tunes out the other noises in the room and is surprised to hear that he can hear them talking.
It was brutal, Pep. Pray that you never have to watch that footage, I swear I'm never gonna sleep peacefully again.
Tony, I can't even half-believe what you're telling me. I- I just can't believe it! What are you going to do now? Is that why I brought all this stuff?
No, it's mostly for Barnes. I—
You're different with him now. Bucky hears Pepper say, and he almost tunes out of the conversation but Tony responds quickly and he listens.
Pepper. I never understood my dad's fascination with this guy. I didn't. I resented him. Hated him. And don't misunderstand me, my dad could have and should have done a lot of things differently while I was growing up… but… Pep. You didn't see this guy be chewed up and tortured and frozen and starved and dragged just for him to still fight them. And watching Barnes watch that? Forget it. It was like watching someone kill a puppy in front of a toddler. I thought my dad exaggerated about Cap. I thought Barnes put him on too high of a pedestal. I was wrong. Hearing what happened to him with the widows?
The widows? Natasha's widows?
Yeah, Pep. He trained widows in the red room. Oh it's a shitstorm and it's hit the fan. One of the big bad spider women wants her fangs back in the Asset. But we're not going to let that happen.
Tony, be careful, you're going to take care of them?
As much as they'll let me. Now we gotta talk about this secret love affair you've had and never said a word—-
Bucky stops listening and looks back at the Asset whose thousand yard stare makes Bucky take a deep breath and say. "What he said is true. We're not going to let that happen."
The man blinks at him and says flatly, "the Asset can take care of himself."
"I know that. But will you let us help?"
There's a pause and then his eyes land on the floor. "Affirmative."
"Good." Bucky says tightly, "because that's what friends do. They help each other and they let themselves get helped."
He glances up to see Natasha looking at him with an amused smile.
He begins making pancakes.
—
Tony
They don't say a word as they unload the myriad of boxes.
Once they've all been set in a neat pile in the common room. There's nothing left but to actually open them.
Here goes nothing.
They open the first box with movie reels in it.
Tony pulls one out that's says: Hydra Weapon #23
He puts that one back.
Clint, who hasn't spoken a single word since this morning's incident hands him one that says: Namesake.
The man has a raised eyebrow in question and Tony shrugs. Whatever it is has got to be better than watching his dad dissect weapons.
He takes the reel to the lab and sends it through JARVIS' scanner. "Play it up in the common room will ya?"
"Yes sir."
He makes his way back up.
Everyone is gathered around the big screen except the Asset who hasn't moved from his sentry spot by the wall. Which is fine. Tony doesn't want to set him off by watching videos that might trigger memories.
He sits next to Pepper and the lights dim ever so slightly as the screen comes to life.
Howard appears, gloves on his hands and blood on his coat.
"Okay, this is morphine drip number 16 and Phillips is officially going to kill me but hey, it's finally working. How ya feeling big guy?"
He steps away from the lense to show a tent, wehere Steve lays on a medical cot, a bloody chest filled with shrapnel and glass on display. Barnes kneels besides the cot, holding onto Steve's shoulders to keep him from moving.
"He's a human porcupine." Barnes snaps, "how would you feel?"
"Beck." A slurred voice says. "Back. Hey, no. Becky."
"It's Bucky, Steve." The man replies with a groan, "Howard! Whatd'ya don't to him huh? Can't even remember my name!"
"It's taking so much morphine to keep him pain free I'm surprised he's able to talk, shut up and hold him still."
"I'm fine." Steve says, "just a few pinpricks."
"Howard." Barnes seethes.
"Relax. Relax. I'm working, I'm working." Howard kneels besides Steve on the opposite side and begins picking shrapnel out of Steve's chest with a pair of tweezers.
"I—" Barnes says shakily, "I remember this. Oh." He looks at Tony and his eyes widen. "Oh."
"'oh' what, Barnes?" Tony asks a little snippy, not enjoying the look of trepidation on Barnes' face. But the man just turns back to the screen as Steve starts talking again.
"You guys needa take care." He yawns, "ofda udders. Udders. Ofders." He sighs, "can you hear me?"
"Yes, Steve. We can hear you. The others are being taken care of. No one else jumped in front of the glass window like an idiot."
"Hadta."
"No." Barnes growls, "you didn't! What if they'd pierced something vital."
"Hadta."
"Okay. Yeah. I'll yell at you later when you're more coherent."
"This is a mess." Howard scowls.
"What?" Barnes asks nervously, "what's a mess."
"His damn healing factor is sealing the glass into his skin."
"What? It can do that?"
Howard nods, "guess so. Eventually it will push it out… probably."
"Eventually? Probably? Howard, what the hell, get it out!"
"I can't find it all!" Then he looks at Steve, "Steve? Can you hear me? Can you point to wear you feel anything painful or sharp?"
Steve's head lolls to the side, "no pain. You're good at drugs."
The group snorts and Tony has to stifle a laugh. High Captain America is a sight to behold.
"I'll get the bigger pieces out, then I'll take out the morphine drip. He can point out the remaining shards then." Howard says calmly. Then he looks at the camera. "I was recording this for the documentation of how fast he healed and how this level of morphine worked, but, I'll just figure that out later."
"Howard. I don't give a shit about your documentation. Fix this idiot."
Howard nods and gets back to work.
Tony looks up at Barnes who is grimacing. "Wow. You really told my dad to shove it. Good for you."
Barnes groans, "I swear I had to remind everyone that Steve was still a human being despite their desire to treat him like a lab rat."
"You know." Steve says, looking at Bucky. "You're somethin' else. Buchanan. Buchanan."
"It's Bucky. Steve, now shut up about my name."
"Hmm." Steve sighs. "I like my name. Steeeeve. Steven. Ssssssssssteve."
Howard laughs, dropping a shard of glass into a metal canister that sits on the bed.
"It's a good name you got. You gunna name you and Peggy's firstborn little Stevie jr.?"
Steve smiles. "Peggy. What a name. What a dame."
Barnes smiles and looks at the tent flap, "if only she was here. Bet you'd clam up about names real fast."
"Howard. Don't you date Peggy."
Howard chuckles, "we've been over this pal. We don't fondue. She's got her eyes on you."
"Who's got eyes on you." Steve asks seriously.
"Lotsa girls." Barnes quips, "rich like him? Never have a shortage, right Howard?"
"Gross." Steve says. "Gross. You only need one. The right one. Find the right one, Howard."
"I'm sure I will, Steve." Howard says with a smirk. "One day. And when I have a kid, I'll name him after you. How 'bout that?"
"No, no, no." Steve says in annoyance waving his hand. "Smart guy like yous gonna have a smart kid. Needs a smart name."
"Oh yeah?" Barnes says with an eye roll, "what's a smart name? How 'bout James?"
"Becky. Hush."
"It's Bucky, Steve, Geez."
"Smart guy. Smart wife. Smart kid. Needs a smart name. Like… For a girl? I dunno, don't have a girl. You'd be terrible with a girl." One of his eyes squints at Howard. "Have a boy. Nothing dumb. No dumb names like Jimmy or Tommy. You gotta name him something spiffy. Something smart. Like Anthony. Or Edward. Something smart. Ya hear?"
And Tony swears that time stops as the man in the video shifts in the medical cot and looks right at Howard, stabbing a finger into his chest, wearing a serious look.
Howard laughs and nods his head. "Advice taken. I'll name him something smart. Now lie back down."
"Good. That's good."
Barnes looks at Steve, "Anthony is a dumb name. And Edward sounds like he's tryna be the king of England. Who told you those names were smart?"
"I said so, bickeroony." Steve says seriously as he shifts in the bed. "I said so."
The tape winks off and the room sits in silence.
Tony looks up and he can't breathe. A panic attack is fighting his way into his chest and he's about to stumble off the couch to escape when the Asset appears in front of him, crouching.
"You're in distress." He says calmly, "your heart rate is too elevated."
"No, fucking duh." Tony rasps out, "move."
"Negatory. You need to stay seated and calm down. Breathe slowly."
"I just learned you named me, you—" he cuts off and slams the palms of his fists into his eye sockets. He can feel Pepper rubbing calming circles on his back and he sucks in desperate lungfuls of air.
Minutes tick by and the room remains silent.
He finally is able to open his eyes back up and he glares at Barnes. "You knew about this this whole time?"
Barnes shakes his head. "No, I— I forgot about this. I didn't remember til it started playing." He looks at him and then the Asset who is still crouched in front of Tony, "I… I can't believe Howard—"
Tony leans back and squints an eye at the Asset. "You can stand down now. I'm not about to blow."
The Asset nods and returns to his self-relegated sentry point.
"I can't decide if that makes me unbelievably angry, or…" Tony's eyes trail to the man who said his own name wasn't good enough. Who told Howard that he'd have a smart kid and that that smart kid needed a smart name. "Or so fucking sad I can't even think about it."
Barnes stands and looks at Tony. "I know you and your dad had issues. I wish we'd been there." He gestures to himself and Steve. "I think things would have been different, but…" he says, his shoulders dropping, "they're not, and we're here." He looks at the Asset. Then back to Steve on the TV. "He would be so thrilled."
"Named by fucking Captain America." Tony mutters, "it's like my own personal nightmare."
"Tony." Barnes says softly. "He'd be so honored. You have no idea. He'd be crowing up and down Brooklyn that Howard's kid got his name from him. Even if it was in a weird drug-fueled roundabout way."
Pepper drags her thumb across the back of his neck and he sighs. "I'm still in disbelief. Everything about my childhood was shaped by this guy." He says sharply, pointing at Steve on the screen, "and now this? What else are we going to find on these tapes?"
Natasha grabs Barnes' hand and looks around the room, "I guess we'll find out."
—
The Asset
Even as the Asset stands at attention, eyeing the exits and ensuring the room is safe from threats, he can't avoid hearing the voices that are emanating from the screen.
A voice.
The Voice.
The sound stirs something in his chest and he shuts it out. Willing his mind to listen to anything other than that.
He replays the scenario in his mind of this morning. Going over details and trying to figure out why there seems to be a gap in the things he remembers.
And it comes down to sleep.
The Asset had fallen asleep while receiving an appearance update for a mission.
That sleep had led to the Voice taking control.
Unacceptable.
The Asset will no longer sleep.
Problem solved.
—-