Hello everyone, please accept my sincerest apologies in the delay of posting this chapter. Unfortunately, due to some incidents at work, I have been forced into demoting from shop manager to assistant manager, as such, I've had to take a massive pay cut and life has gotten so far on top of me that I lost all motivation for anything.
I implore you all to bear with me, and please try to understand that if updates are a bit on the sparodic side, then it is because I am either working a ridiculous amount of hours to keep myself in a home, or I am struggling to even adult on a good day. And I really do not want to force this story, because it will lose all of its goodness. So I beg you all to just be patient with me, and please do not demand more chapters. They will come, I promise, just have a little patience.
As always, all Avengers places, persons and things belong to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. No copyright infringement is intended and no money is being made from this story.
Chapter Five- HYDRA returns
Tony's desire to hide away in his workshop was stolen from him when Pepper sent him a demand to attend a charity function that night, and to bring the Avengers, showing New York that they were still together and standing as one- something that they were quite clearly not doing.
Plus, it had been some time since they had been sighted as a team and no doubt people were starting to question if the Avengers even still existed.
But it boiled down to publicity and if the world could see the Avengers together, there was always less of a chance that another maniac was going to come and try take over the world. So Tony agreed and called a meeting in the kitchen with the rest of his current guests.
Steve had elected to drag Barnes along for it, leaving Tony stood stony faced, a muscle in his jaw ticking dangerously as he fought to hold his tongue in check. Once everyone had assembled, Tony began.
"There's a charity function happening tonight, here in New York, and Pepper thinks us attending, as the Avengers, would send a message that we are still together, still strong. She has a point- the publicity would do us some good since we've been silent for over a year."
Clint nodded slowly. "She has a point, yeah. Your charity events usually draw news crews from all over, so it would certainly get the message out."
"Yes, it would. So, tonight, you'll all dress to impress, be there at the function, and do our part to look like the perfect team, still standing together and having each other's backs." The sarcasm in Tony's voice was strong, but no one made comment on it, not even Vision.
Steve sat back in his seat and ran a hand through his hair. "And when someone asks why there's been no news of us? Why there's only been whispers and you've been holed up in here for so long?"
Tony shot him daggers but conceded it was a valid point. "We give them what they'll need to hear. The Avengers haven't been needed, and with accordance with the Sokovia Accords, we have been living our own lives until such a time as we are needed."
Vision nodded. "He is correct, given that there are many reasons why we would not have been sighted, appearing to be going along with the Accords might appease some of the people that still are against the Avengers even existing."
"But Steve, me and Bucky never signed those accords, I mean, damn, Bucky is still being hunted as the Winter Soldier," Clint argued.
He poured coffee and took a couple of sips, grimacing at the taste. "Damn," he muttered. "Yes, you never signed the Accords, however, what we can say is that you didn't agree with being controlled in where we were allowed to go, so instead, we only assemble when needed, when there is genuine peril in the world."
Barnes paced and nodded. "No, he's right, Steve," he said when Steve tried to argue the point. "Just because you didn't sign the Accords didn't mean you don't agree with the idea that the Avengers don't need to get involved with every crime in the world. So you only go to the large level events, like worm holes in the sky," he teased.
Tony had to blink several times before he was able to say anything, shocked that Barnes was actually backing him up. Huh. Weird shit did happen. "As I was saying, we attend this function, Barnes too, much as I am loath to say it."
Everything in the room ceased, all talk was silenced and every pair of eyes widened comically until Tony was slamming his cup down and growling at them all.
Steve cleared his throat quietly. "It's kind of you to include him."
"Don't insult my intelligence," Tony snapped. "I'm dragging him along because it shows everyone that Barnes isn't the Winter Soldier acting under HYDRA's command. He's James Barnes, his own man and not a threat to every living person on the planet."
Clint rounded the table and stood beside Tony. "Fly Boy's right. If it shows that we…Tony has taken him in, then it looks great, because no one sees him as a threat. It shows that he's been allowed to go free, even though he hasn't really. No offense, Buck."
The soldier waved his hand. "None taken. It also shows HYDRA that the Avengers aren't broken apart, like Zemo intended."
Tony flinched violently at the name of Helmut and drained his coffee cup, despite the foul taste. "Yeah whatever. Suit up and be ready, actual suits, not our hero ones. Pepper is sending cars for us at seven. So be ready or you'll be left here."
It took some time before Tony was prepared to even consider getting ready for the evening ahead, so he tinkered in the workshop for as long as he could. Eventually though, he was showered, dressed and prepared for the evening ahead, Tony met his guests' downstairs and there were two cars parked outside waiting for them. Clint rode with Natasha, Wanda and Vision, leaving Tony with Steve and Bucky. Talk about the fates being against him.
The ride was tense, uncomfortable and put Tony in a foul mood with a raging headache. By the time the car pulled up at the function, Tony raced from the car and barely greeted any of the gathered pedestrians and news crews outside the function building.
Only when he was halfway up the stairs did he stop and realise that he had to be showing a united front with the rest of the Avengers, and make sure that he was seen rubbing shoulders with Barnes, or nobody was going to believe that he was safe to be around.
So he waited for the others to catch him up, pasted a smile on his face, and made sure that Barnes was stood next to him so it looked good. Cameras flashed at a thousand clicks a second, damn near blinded him, but the chatter he could hear was all about Barnes being an Avenger, changing sides from HYDRA and doing good.
Once the schmoozing was over, Tony dashed inside, found the bar and ordered a triple brandy to soothe his damn nerves. He took a healthy swig, felt it burn down to his stomach and instantly began to feel a lot better. One of his old flames collared him, tried to slither around him, so Tony was forced to put her down with some harsh words and dived around to where Clint was.
"Christ on a crutch, man, I've had enough already. Pepper knows I hate these fucking things, I don't understand why she keeps insisting that I attend," Tony whined.
Clint nodded and clinked his glass against Tony's. "A-fucking-men to that, brother. I can see why you always avoided them so desperately."
People danced, spoke, drank, danced some more and it all seemed perfectly innocent, and after some time, Tony actually began to enjoy himself. He danced with Clint, laughed and rubbed shoulders with some of the high class peeps that put money in his company.
He even managed to hold a civil, five-minute conversation with Steve, with Barnes stood next to him. So all in all, Tony was feeling in a very grand mood. When asked where the Avengers were staying, Tony lied and said they were in the new facility somewhere in the States.
There was only him rattling around in his Tower, making sure that no one thought they were staying with him. The last thing they needed was any HYDRA agents, or otherwise, deciding to go storm the Tower.
A drink was placed in his hand, Tony took a sip and turned to thank whoever it was, only to find himself looking at a solid chest and thick neck. He raised his eyes and found Barnes staring at him, a slight, lopsided quirk of his lips.
"Oh fuck! Am I gonna find myself dead in thirty seconds because this is laced with poison?" Tony hissed under his breath.
Barnes went wide-eyed and shook his head rapidly. "God no! It's just brandy, the same one you've been drinking since we got here!"
Tony narrowed his eyes, took another sip, counted to thirty and nodded. "Alright, I'll take your word for it. So…this must be all very…new."
Barnes shrugged. "I've been to parties before. In fact, the last major one I was at was one your father held. When Steve found out about the serum that Howard had invented, the one that made him a super soldier."
"The one that you murdered my parents to get hold of," Tony spat and shoved the drink back in his hand, stalking off into the crowd.
The night had been going so well, too. But it went even more downhill when the doors to the room burst inwards and a group of black clad figures stepped in, their faces cloaked in balaclavas and what appeared to be face paint from where Tony was stood.
Thank god he'd brought the briefcase suit. Tony signalled to the others to be ready for a fight, these were not ordinary men, more than likely HYDRA. Someone slid the suitcase across the floor to him, he quickly knelt and hit the switch that would activate the suit. Tony felt the cool metal slide around his body, giving him the level headed calm he needed to think, and to listen to FRIDAY as she gave any relevant information.
He glanced where the briefcase had come from, and found Barnes looking at him with a steely glint in his blue eyes, a barely perceptible nod passed between them, a silent message already going through the team. This time, Tony was willing to work with Barnes to make sure that no innocents were hurt.
"Stand down," Tony ordered the strangers.
"Give us the Asset and no harm will come to anyone."
Tony spotted the speaker, the man moving to the front and removing his mask. Tony didn't recognise the face, or the voice, but since most of the original HYDRA were either dead or disbanded, it was hardly surprising there was a new face of HYDRA.
"Yeah, not gonna happen. Pack up and leave, and we'll forget this whole little skirmish happened," Tony said.
Guns were raised. "You have three seconds to comply or you will have deaths on your hands."
Tony's face plate snapped into place. "Well, it wouldn't be the first time."
"One…two…"
"Now!" Tony yelled.
He shot forward, his jets kicking in before he'd even finished the word and shooting forward, taking out the lead gunman. Wanda created a wall of energy in front of the party goers, protecting them from the spray of bullets that were fired their way. Vision, using the Mind Stone, managed to take down several of the shooters, but for every one he took out, another two appeared- HYDRA to a T.
The two did everything they could to keep the civilians safe, while Tony, Barnes, Steve, Clint and Natasha did the rest. Tony used his repulsors to blast the gunmen out of his path, Steve used the shield to knock them out, Barnes was helping him with the use of his metal arm. Clint and Natasha went hand to hand since the archer didn't have his bow and quiver with him.
There was a soft cry and Tony turned to spot a HYDRA agent with Wanda in his grasp, a gun at her temple. Tony motioned for Vision to back down, he couldn't take the risk that he was faster than a bullet, or that Vision's aim could be off. It wouldn't be the first time and he certainly did not want a repeat of Rhodey.
"Give us the Asset and she can go free."
Tony glanced back at Barnes, the idea so tempting, but it was not the kind of man Tony was. FRIDAY was already calculating the chance of a repulsor taking him out before he could pull the trigger.
"Stop, I'll go," Barnes called, hands in the air.
Steve tried to stop him, his face twisted in hurt. Tony knew he was thinking along similar lines to him, but there was no guarantee that Wanda would be safe.
"No, Steve. Wanda has done nothing but help me, I won't repay her by risking her life."
And if Tony wasn't pissed at Barnes, he was now. Going all fucking noble on them. Fuck. But if they got him, then there was not even a slim chance that he wouldn't return the Winter Soldier- it was a certainty. The attempt to save Wanda was taken out of his hands when Barnes reached them, grabbed the gunman and wrenched his arm so far up his back, Tony heard the bones in his arm snap.
Wanda fell against Vision with a soft cry, a grateful smile thrown Barnes' way. Tony faced the remaining gunmen of HYDRA. "There is no part in this where you will come out on top. Take your men and leave," Tony ordered.
The leader moved to stand in front of Tony, the mechanic's shield folding away to reveal his face. He stared into cold, brown eyes and felt nothing but burning hatred.
"We will not leave without the Asset," the leader said quietly.
Tony smirked. "Then you won't be leaving alive. I protect my friends, by any means necessary."
Tony was circled, feeling rather like the prey of a shark. "You will protect the man who killed your mother and father, in cold blood, purely because he was following orders?"
Oh man he was so close to putting this guy's lights out for good. "Yes, I will," the lie felt like ashes on his tongue. "Bucky is one of us, and we won't let him go with you so you can scramble his brains again. So go, get out of here."
In his peripheral vision, he could see Steve edging ever so slightly closer. The HYDRA agent must have realised he wasn't going to win, not this time, and turned his back on Tony to walk away. He ordered the other men to leave, and Tony was so tempted to blow his head off, but that would only bring them back and risk the innocent people at the party.
Ultimately, they all filed out and Tony called a polite end to the party, sending everyone home and an order to have a good shot of whiskey for the nerves. There was a ripple of laughter, though it was strained. Tony slipped out of the suit and sent it home, collaring Clint and telling him to get the others back to the Tower without anyone seeing.
He stayed and dealt with the press, their incessant questions and accusation of the leader of the HYDRA men about his quip on Tony's parents. Tony confirmed that HYDRA had indeed had his parents murdered, but that there were no leads on who the killer had been, that the leader was more than likely trying to rile him up so he would make a mistake.
By the time he made it back to the Tower, Tony was tired, extremely cranky and really not in the mood to deal with Barnes, who was apparently waiting for him in the kitchen. He stood, silent, hip against a counter top and simply watched Tony.
It was unnerving and irritating, and right now it was the last thing that he wanted to deal with. "What do you want?"
Barnes unfolded his arms and cocked his head slightly. "I wanted to thank you, for not giving me up to HYDRA, even though I would have gone. I would not have put Wanda in danger."
Tony snorted, poured a brandy and necked it in one. "I didn't do it for you, Barnes, I did it for Wanda. Nothing would have given me greater pleasure than to see you destroyed, but I know they would only put you back in the blender and then we'd have the murderer back on our hands again."
Barnes stepped away from the counter and moved to stand in front of Tony. "I know that, but I'm still grateful. I know when someone saves my life, and you did just that, whether you wanted to or not."
Tony barked a harsh laugh and shook his head, slipped past Barnes and headed for the elevator. "Whatever, Barnes. Your hide gets to stick around for a little longer, I guess. Just keep out of my way and maybe we'll both survive this."
The elevator doors slid shut and Barnes could no longer see Tony's stoic face, but he wouldn't forget the tiny look of gratitude that had passed between them when he had slid the briefcase across to Tony, allowing him to slip into the armour quickly. It was something small, and barely even there, but it was something and gave Barnes hope that maybe one day, Tony would be able to move on from the pain of his parents' deaths.
There you have it guys. Now, for something a little more exciting. My lovely and talented friend, LoopyLou992 has recently had her first book published. Please, go buy it, you will not regret it! It's a lovely story and it really is quite hot! It's called Below The Line and can be found on Amazon under the name Louisa Mae. All proceeds are going to LGBT charities, one here in the UK and one in the States.
Until next time!
