Avenging Justice 3:

To Infinity and Anti-Life

Part VI

Earth, Massachusetts, Cambridge, M.I.T.

Tony Stark exited an auditorium, thunderous applause following him. It was easy enough to understand, he'd just agreed to wipe out all student loan debts for those engineering students. Let's see Bruce Wayne top that! He was feeling very good, like he was up in the suit blasting through the atmosphere. Yeah, that was similar experience high like this. Only difference was that this affected more than himself.

Out of habit he checked his phone. He didn't need to, Friday would have told him if he had any new messages. However, he had to, needed to check. Mostly because she wasn't responding. One of the few people that entered his sphere, and whose opinion mattered to. Just her, Rhodey, Steve and Natasha. Well, Bruce as well, but he'd been moody a lot recently, very distant. However, there were no messages.

What had caused it? He truly tried hard to think about it. It had to do with being Iron Man, putting himself at risk. She understood it, but still thought he was too laissez faire about it. The fact that he finally removed the shrapnel around his heart, and no longer needed to wear the reactor to keep himself alive, didn't help. She wanted him to cut back, do more with his company, and use his influence for that. She didn't have to see the remains of people, killed by his weapons, when she slept at night. Nor could he explain it to her.

So, they were taking a break. He tried to understand why, but was failing. She was everything, the whole package. It had taken him so long to figure it out. That didn't mean she didn't have her flaws, he knew those. Pepper Potts suffered from imposter syndrome, even though he knew her to be the best CEO the company had in quite some time. She also had a bit of a temper, but usually showed that by nonaggressive means. She was also stubborn and spoke her mind, which he loved about her.

Yes, he really loved her, even if her eyes glazed over when he spoke about some of his experiments. Then again, there were some of her likes that caused him to nod off. They weren't perfect, and each one could be better. Together though, they were perfect for each other. Even as they were having issues about a fight, to which Tony was struggling to remember how it started.

Maybe he could get her flowers, that always seems to work for others. Then he remembered the strawberry incident, and that was the end of that. How could he remember only one thing about her, and it turned out to be the one thing she was deadly allergic to? To his defense, he did remember something, which was growth for him. Since then, he'd made several notes to keep that from happening again.

"Mr. Stark?" a tiny voice said.

Tony looked around and found an old woman, hunched over and walking stiffly. He stopped Friday's launch of the armor. Though looks could be deceiving, he was ninety-nine percent sure this old woman wasn't a threat. She looked like she could barely hold herself up, if it weren't for the cane. He did note the cane looked like it had seen better days. Then again, her old shoes also looked very worn and lived in.

"I'm sorry, are you one of the staff here?" he asked. "I thought I got everyone autograph's earlier."

The voice remained tiny, but with great force behind it, "I'm not here for an autograph. I'm here for you. I want you to show you something."

As if she had practiced this innumerable times, she pulled out a wallet from her purse, and several pictures poured out. The plastic film they were encased in, kept them connected to the wallet, but they all showed the same thing. A person more precisely, a smiling young man of college age, maybe late high school. He had a wide grin, a friendly look, which reminded him of a mixture of Steve and Rhodey.

"Was your victory worthy it, Mr. Stark?" the tiny voice asked.

Tony shifted around, "He's a fine looking young man. I'm sure you are very proud of him. Did he not get his scholarship? What is his specialty, and I'll talk to my people."

"Yes, Mr. Stark, he was a fine boy," the tiny voice growled back. "He looked up to you and those other 'heroes.' So, I ask again, was it worth it?"

Tony shook his head, trying to catch up, "Look, I don't know what you're talking about. Do you need help? Do you need me to contact someone for you?"

Instead, she continued her, words spewing forth like a machinegun, "He saved up all his summer job money, went abroad to help out an impoverished country. He wanted to make a difference, bring a little bit of what he had to them. Well, Mr. Stark, he didn't have much, but that boy was willing to share. Can you say the same thing?"

"Ma'am, I think this is time for me to leave, are you sure you don't need any help?" Tony asked again, moving around to head for the nearest exit.

She moved quickly and blocked him, "What I need, Mr. Stark, is my boy back. Do you know where he went? Sokovia, he went to Sokovia. He went there to help people, and you 'heroes' killed him. Oh sure, they tell me it was this robot, Ultron. But one of you built that damned thing. Because of that, my boy is dead. Dead! Do, you hear me, Mr. Stark! He is dead. All because nobody was there to stop you!"

By this time, one of the security guards had finally caught up with the woman and inserted himself between her and Tony. This didn't stop her rant, or the tears of rage that came with it. Nor did it prevent those fiery barbs from piercing his heart. He didn't know what to say, this is why Pepper was better than him at things like this. So was Rhodey, up to a point. He was just a builder, a problem solver, a fixer. There was no way to fix this though, he had yet figured out how to bring someone back from the dead.

The security guard came back, "I'm sorry about that Mr. Stark. We had her blocked off, but she got around us."

"That's okay," Tony whispered. "Nobody's perfect."

Earth, Nigeria, Lagos

Steve Rogers was staring death in the face. It wasn't the first time, and if he found a way out, probably wouldn't be the last. That was his job as a soldier, to do the fighting, the right thing, even when it was hard. Even if it meant his death, he would stand before those who would harm others, and be their shield. His shield though, was out of reach, and that nasty bomb looked powerful enough to kill him.

He went to dive on top of Crossbones, use his body to cover the explosion. He could hear in his earpiece, Sam's shout. Sam was a good man, and the world could use more like him. Wanda's words barely registered to him, but did trigger something in his mind that caused him to pause. Then, he saw the bomb raise into the air, before it exploded. Next came horror, as pieces of building and people came out of a nearby building.

From Falcon's viewpoint, he saw Crossbones go down. Cap had him on the defensive, and that is when his visor picked up on the explosives. He called out to Steve, telling him to get back. Almost immediately he realized that would be the last thing Steve would ever do. He was a good man, and he would try to shield the nearby innocents. It would cost him his life, because even Captain America could only take so much punishment.

How things had gone sideways so quickly was lost on to him. The operation had been simple, and shouldn't have gone off the rails so quickly. Though, he did have to remind himself he was dealing with HYDRA agents. There was a reason they rivaled S.H.I.E.L.D agents, and why things were never easy. Until recently, they were had hidden themselves inside the intelligence organization. Only after Director Fury's near death, and Captain America putting himself on the line, again, were they brought to the light.

Intelligence had HYDRA attempting to steal bioweapons from a local lab here in Lagos. Black Widow, and Scarlet Witch had joined him and Steve to take them down. Wanda had proven herself as a valuable asset to the team. Natasha was still working with her, but oddly enough, it was Vision that she'd bonded with the most. Which left Sam with more questions than he wanted to focus on at the moment.

At first it had looked like their interception had worked. Most of the forces inside and outside had been neutralized. Because they were the Avengers, and not the Executioners, this meant they were unconscious or temporarily disabled. S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were already on their way to round them up. Sam had almost considered that their job was done, when he saw the big military truck burst through the streets. He gave chase, with the others quickly catching up, and he knew they had to end this swiftly.

The streets were too packed for a long chase, and with the recklessness that these HYDRA agents were exhibiting, casualties wouldn't be far behind. There wasn't a thought about waiting for the others, that would only give these bad guys more of a chance of hurting someone. Instead, he sent Redwing ahead, telling the people to scatter. He really hoped Stark's translation protocols were up to snuff, because he wasn't sure of the right words of phrasing otherwise.

Then one of the HYDRA agents noticed their tail and began firing at Redwing. Falcon opened fire as well, trying to guide them to an area where it wouldn't be so crowded. At first it looked like it was going to work, but a bullet struck his wing. Immediately he fought to regain control, on his visor a status report came across his vision. They'd hit him in the rear part of his left wing, and it was attempting a bypass to keep him stable. He had to cut the thrust and fall back, landing hard on a nearby rooftop.

He kept Redwing on them, which is when he saw Captain America leap onto the truck and start taking out HYDRA agents. Black Widow burst from a side street, her motorcycle roaring like an angry lion. Meanwhile Scarlet Witch, flew by, her hands flinging to the side. What came next shouldn't have surprised him, she had been training with him and the others. Two of the truck's wheels ripped off and its front end just slammed into the road below it.

Inside Captain America was flung forward, and he got behind his shield. Letting it slam into the nearby HYDRA agents, he soon found himself in front of their leader. The man didn't stand to fight though. He took a grenade out, and attached it to one of the HYDRA agents, before thrusting him at Captain America. Of course, Steve tried to save the agent, and barely got his shield up as the grenade went off.

It sent Steve flying, and as he landed, he saw Crossbones getting away. His breath knocked from him, and struggling to breath, he threw his shield. Even as good as he was, even as much as he trained, circumstances always have the last word. Ask anyone in a chaotic situation, they'll tell you something similar. So, it was that the strike that should have incapacitated its target, only tripped him up. Captain America rushed forward, ready to stop this man.

It couldn't have been in a worse place to have a fight. People were all around, and many of them were frozen in place. Overhead he heard Sam's drone shouting something, probably a plea for the people to scatter. Cap didn't have time to worry about that, as he had to deal with an angry Crossbones. One that had turned back at him, with pistol in hand. This fight wasn't over yet.

Scarlet Witch watched as the two men moved at a nearly inhuman pace. Blows were traded, and she was looking for an opening. She noticed one of the HYDRA agents trying to run off, and she sent him back to the truck, hard. Despite the screaming and snapping sound, the man would live. Another hadn't noticed her companion being thrown. Instead, this woman pulled out a rifle, aiming at Steve Rogers. Wanda sent a brick to the back of her head, and the woman fell lifelessly.

"I've got the others," Black Widow said. "What are your statuses?"

"Took out two agents here," Scarlet Witch said.

Sam came over, "Got another two here, they surrendered without much of a fight."

"Little busy here," came Captain America's response.

Sam's voice came back immediately, "On my way, Cap. Hang tight."

He got there just in time to see the explosion, the broken bodies and falling debris. Falcon looked over to see a horrified Scarlet Witch panicking. He went over to her, and she kept repeating over and over again, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. What have I done?" He checked on Steve next, and found him already attending to the victims. Crossbones was gone, pieces of his armor were all strewn about. He must have been taken in the blast as well.

"I've got a call in, Steve," Natasha's voice was calm, but held a hint of regret.

"Everyone, do what you can and hold till we can get medical services here," Steve's voice betrayed none of the guilt.

He should have been faster, he was leading this mission. Nobody should have gotten hurt. That had to wait though, there were people to save now. He would have traded his for them, but he couldn't hold it against Wanda. She had been trying to do the right thing as well, and she had been protecting her team. A change from the angry woman trying to get revenge on Tony Stark, to now trying to make the world better.

Crossbones woke up hours later. Most of his face was a mess, he could feel the burns. A good portion of his arms and legs were ravaged, but he could still feel them. Most of his armor was gone, and he felt the hazy effects of painkillers rushing through his body. He tried to move, but found himself weak. That didn't stop him from recognizing a form nearby, or looking for the nearest thing to turn into a weapon.

"Crossbones, you did your part expertly," a voice came from a nearby wall. "I HYDRA sent you after that weapon, but even they didn't know it was for me."

"You are the one who warned us about the Avengers," Crossbones didn't ask.

"You are smart, too bad your psychosis prevents you from being the best you," the voice said. "We each have a flaw, there are no perfect people. I take my time to find those flaws, and have yet to be disappointed."

Crossbones pushed his will into moving, and his arms slowly rose up, "While I appreciate the heads up, I'm not fond of being kidnapped."

"Such horrid manners," the voice said. "Normally when one saves another's life, there are thanks and offers of service, oaths and what not. It's bad form to insult your benefactor."

Crossbones still looked for an exit, "It seems you already got what you wanted, with me 'doing my part expertly.' So, I do believe that makes us even."

"Managing your pain, repairing your body," the voice countered. "Those things are more. If you wanted us to be even, then I'll release you as you are now. You'll be dead in three hours, though. The explosion did a number on you."

Crossbones was silent, "The witch had my grenade too high up, it shouldn't have done any damage."

"You do know your weapons," the voice congratulated him. "Besides, her magic probably made your grenade inert. She has that effect on things sometimes. Which is why I hid those explosive charges where I did. After studying the Avengers and you, I knew the best place to send you. As well as what you would do to escape."

Crossbones anger rose, and with that, the effects of the medicine began to decline, "You led us into a trap."

"No, I led the Avengers into one," the voice corrected. "The world will see them for what they truly are. However, I found you to be far to useful. So, I brought you here. I think you have to much potential to waste, by letting you die from an explosion."

Crossbones felt more medicine enter his system, "What do you want?" The last word drug out, his speech slowing as the medicine worked.

"In time," the voice responded. "Rest now and we'll speak later. In the meantime, you may call me Baron Zemo."