The team doesn't need to be told twice, before they back out of the conference room, and rush back down to the medbay. As Bucky's gaze finds and lands on Steve, he can't help but feel as though this is going to be Germany and Siberia all over again and this time, he's finding it hard to believe that he and Steve are going to be on the same side.
Because he looks pissed.
Things have definitely gone south for Stiles and Bucky is not too sure he actually helped Stiles or instead made things worse for him, at least regarding his relationship with Steve and the team. Although it might have been better in the long run if Bucky told the team what he knew. Bucky never got the chance to decide for himself he wanted others to know what he had went through, the choice had been taken for him so despite the doubt he doesn't actually regret keeping silent. When the others do find out the truth and it's when and not if; shit is going to hit the fan, which Bucky predicts is going to happen in roughly five minutes.
Fun.
By the time they reach Stiles' bed, he has already complied a dozen different exit strategies, he does not want to be dragged into the mess anymore then he already is. Which might make him a bad friend to both Steve and Stiles, but he does not want to be caught in the middle, but who knows maybe this won't be a big of a deal as he's making it out to be.
"What the hell is going on Stiles." Steve snaps aggressively straight out the bat, not even pausing to see if his boyfriend is truly okay.
Nope, 100% a big deal, if anything Bucky was understating things, he can see why his friend was so upset though. He thought it himself- that they didn't really know Stiles, which wouldn't be a big deal for the team as it's only been a month after all but for Steve?
It has been months, almost reaching the year mark that they have been dating, it must be upsetting finding out all these things about your partner second hand.
"Wh... what?" Stiles' voice came out broken and croaky and a wave of guilt hits Bucky in the chest making him flinch and stumble back into Tony who steadied him without a word.
"We've been dating for months and I don't even know you" Each word that comes out of the super soldier's mouth gets louder and Stiles flinches become more pronounced.
"What really happen with that girl, your friend Allison, I want the truth Stiles no more lies." The good captain more or less demands. Okay he is beyond pissed maybe it's time to implement one of those exit strategies.
"What? Ally? How do you know about that?"
"In spite of the blatant cover up done by your father you mean?"
At this point Stiles is looking straight at Bucky, a betrayed look clear to everyone in the room on his face, while there goes his exit strategy and before he can make it clear to Stiles that he hadn't told anyone a thing the guy is already speaking.
"Bucky? You… you told them?" Bile rises in his throat, burning and leaving a nasty after taste in his mouth as he hears how raw and broken his friend sounds again, he stumbles into Tony shaking his head in denial. By the now the rest of the team is also looking at him as if he has betrayed their trust, he can't win at all right now he thinks sadly.
"Buck, what's he talking about? What did you tell us?"
EXIT STRATEGY. EXIT STRATEGY. EXIT STRATEGY RIGHT NOW!
"Nothing! I never said anything Stiles, Tony found police interviews."
Stiles seems to shut down at this, his face going blank and his eyes, darkening, hardening as he looks to Tony.
"I thought those we scrubbed were beyond recovering." He tells the genius, his eyes glaring up at the man, stoic.
"Some were, some just had the feed cut off when something damaging was about to be said." Tony replies hesitant as to how Stiles would react to the news, Bucky thought it was actually going a little bit better than what he had first thought it would. Personally, he would have ran by now, taking out anyone in his way he does not do well how in confrontation. How surprising.
"Oh, that's kind of sloppy, going to have to have a chat with Danny" Stiles says calmly, seemingly not fazed about the current topic of conversation, you know how it looked like he had attacked one of his friends and then had his dad cover it up. In fact, he was taking it a little bit too calmly.
"I'm in love with a stranger." Steve mumbles out, dumbfounded by his boyfriends nonchalant and somewhat callous reaction, Bucky personally thinks that's a bit far, does he know Stiles as well as he first thought? No, but is he in love with stranger? Bucky doesn't think so.
"Oh, Stop being dramatic Steve, this isn't some conspiracy. I know what it looks like, but I didn't hurt Allison, at least not directly or deliberately."
There is a sigh of relief throughout the room, and wow Bucky didn't realise how much it meant to the team outside of Steve but it makes sense Stiles and the Kid are a lot alike in many ways one being how they can get completely under your skin and make you love them with little to no effort or time. Then the last part of his sentence sinks in and of course Natasha would be the first to notice, it probably never escaped her attention in the first place.
"So, you weren't responsible for what happen but something you did or maybe didn't do resulted in the accident happening in the first place? A butterfly effect."
Stiles nodded along in agreement, both his eyes and expression softening as he sensed the tension permeating through lessen until it was gone.
"Well if we go down that the road the cause was a long time before I did anything" He stated, and that was not something Bucky had been made privy too, so he frowned in confusion along with the rest of team. He wasn't naïve or dumb enough to believe Stiles had told him everything that went down with the nogitsune (and demons supposedly existed) but he hadn't really thought there was more that had happen before Stiles and his friends had become involved.
Maybe he had been a little naïve, but he his defence demons' man.
"Okay, this is getting complicated where it doesn't need to be, just tell us." Huh Bucky had kind of forgotten that Wanda was here with them.
The winter solider - the deadliest assassin in the world, ladies and gentlemen.
#
"What had happen with Allison was a combination of events and bad luck that had building for exactly 86 years" Stiles started, more confident than he really felt. He was about to let out years of trauma to a bunch of people that whilst he likes them quite a bit has only really known for a month.
"Wait, the tapes said the accident happen on September 1st which means exactly 86 years would have been the day the war started- September 1st 1939" Tony cut across, and Stiles is both relieved and a little annoyed by the interruption as he wants to get this over and done with as quickly as possible.
"Yeah, there was a Japanese internment camp in Beacon Hills, in fact the high school was built over its ruins almost two decades later. For a brief time, the camp was under the control of a man name called Garrett Douglas" He replies slowly, getting a little breathless, he was shot a few hours ago.
"That's not possible" Bucky stutters out, his eyes blown wide looking down at Stiles pleadingly what for? Stiles wasn't sure, so he hesitantly asks.
"It was him; he was the one who implemented the winter solider programme. Who did this to me." At this Bucky gestures to his metal arm downheartedly.
And Stiles freezes, because he knows what this means, what it implies. He can't help but start laughing hysterically, large heaving sobs leaving his mouth.
It's a goddanm conspiracy.
And he didn't even know.
"Stilinski, you good?" Clint asks, he just shakes his head in reply no he was not good, he was in no way shape or form good. But now he knows he needs to tell the team everything, no glossing over anything to do with the supernatural and leaving things out to protect his friends, they need to know everything because admits he's in waaay over his head right now.
"We have a lot more in common than I first thought up on that roof" He manages looking straight at Bucky, he can tell the others in the room are confused by his offhand comment but the super solider less so. If he's smart enough he can guess where this is going.
"Douglas was also my history teacher junior year and I'm guessing he looked as young as he did in the 40's" With that Stiles clues the avengers in on the existence of supernatural creatures, he leaves the pack out of it for now wanting to get back to the main topic of discussion quickly so they can leave him alone to get some rest. He's so tired, he can't take much more at the moment.
"My friend Kira's mum was at the camp, she's a kitsune, a fox spirit when she was there, she fell in love with a nurse -Reece that worked on the camp, it was a forbidden love, so they had to sneak around a lot. He would also sneak the residents more supplies, food and medication mostly until one day he wasn't careful, and Douglas found out, so Reece was tortured and killed."
A pause so he could take a sip of water from the glass on table beside his bed.
"Douglas knew that Noshikio and Reece were having an affair and he also knew that she was a Kitsune but was still surprised when upon finding out about her lover's death, she called out in her pain for the nogitsune, a trickster spirit who possessed Reece's body. The nogitsune craves chaos and strife above all else, it was a slaughter. There were only three survivors, Douglas, Noshikio and a woman called Satomi, Douglas wanted to capture it to experiment and he succeeded for a while. The winter solider programme is most likely the result of those experiments but after a while Noshikio and Satomi worked together to take down and trap the demon, they hid it deep within the preserve that surrounded the town where it remained trapped for 85 years"
Here Stiles took a deep breath, he had been talking for a while wanting to get it all out in one ago and he still hadn't even gotten to the most relevant parts at this rate they would still be talking way into the night and the morning following. Boy he wishes he could be in Harry Potter so he could just take out his memories and show the team instead, that would be a hella lot quicker and easier.
Stiles took a deep breath; the next part was going to be the hardest.
"A few months before Allison's accident I was driving pretty recklessly as my father was in trouble, so I was rushing. Due to this and the fact that I was distracted I crashed right into the area where the nogitsune was hidden all those years ago and the spirit was released. I didn't know it at the time as I was unconscious on impact and when I woke there wasn't anything to suggest anything was different" He pauses here, looking around the room to see if anyone had caught on to what he wasn't saying yet, and would save him the trouble of saying it out loud.
Everyone but Bucky seem clueless, so he carries on.
"The signs that something was wrong started showing up about a week later; small at first but then more and more accidents kept happening and it wasn't until a week after that, that Noshikio told us the truth she had somehow found out that the trickster was free. For months we tried to figure out who the spirit was possessing, it was our friend Aiden who had figured it out and he was the first one of our group who the nogitsune killed. We weren't at our best, Allison was hallucinating, Scott was having trouble controlling his shift and I was sleep walking, having trouble telling if I was awake or not, Derek couldn't shift at all and Liam was having nightmares"
A deep intake of breath was heard, someone had worked it out.
"By the time we had worked it all out, a bomb was planted at the station and the forest was rigged with traps that released arrows when triggered right on the path where the lacrosse team ran every day. No one was seriously hurt at the station, but coach took an arrow to the chest and I was angry."
Another gasp.
"Why were you angry, your father wasn't hurt right?" That was from Scott, Stiles could tell without looking up from his entwined hands, the voice was quiet, hesitant in a way the others wouldn't be.
"No, tata had been called away right before and I was angry because he was supposed to be dead, my plan had failed, the nogitsune's plan had failed."
Stiles was too scared to look up at the others, to see their reaction to his damaging admission, didn't know if he would see rejection on the faces of those who were quickly becoming a secondary pack to him. Family.
"It was about a month after that, that my friends had found a way to get the nogitsune out of me. The supernatural world like the everyday world has rules you can be one thing or the other but not both, so Scottie bit me and it felt like I was being ripped apart." Steve reaches out and pulls at Stiles' hand which had curled into a fist, his fingernails digging into his palm. Wiping the blood of gently with a tissue he takes Stiles hand into his, clutching it firmly, protectively.
"The nogitsune might have been out of me but it still had my face, my body and no one knew what to do. Which one was really me? And which one was the nogitsune? In the confusion we didn't notice when Lydia was gone but at least it answered the question of which Stiles that had been going on for the last half an hour. It took us three days to find her and whilst we were searching the nogitsune was only growing stronger and I was only growing weaker, it would have been a matter of hours before my body finally gave out."
Steve's hand holds on even tighter.
"There was a fight when we did and in the same spot where the nogitsune was first called by Noshikio it ran a sword right through Allison, and we trapped it again a second too late. After that we had to decide what to do, we couldn't be found at scene but we also needed to call an ambulance for Ally so someone had to stay behind, they would obviously be treated as a suspect there wasn't enough time to clean the scene. I argued it should be me, I was the least suspicious, the only son of a well-liked and respected sheriff who everyone knew wanted to follow in his father's footsteps. 147 pounds of pale skin and bones, Skinny defenceless Stiles who couldn't hurt someone even if he tried"
"…"
"That sucks, you good for now?" Bucky asks, small smile gracing his lips and Stiles may love him just a little bit, he lets out a short laugh as the thinks back to the first time the super solider had said those words to him and nods his head in reply and thanks, Bucky seems to understand this as his smile gets a tiny bit wider, more bright and genuine.
And just like that, they move on, the information not forgotten but put aside until Stiles knows he's ready to talk about.
"Okay, so our guess was right the hit on you was due to revenge" Sam pipes up, after a few minutes of silence, Stiles turns to him confused.
"What are you talking about? I thought that it was because I'm with Steve, that it was someone trying to get to him." He begins to frown now, there would only be two people really who want revenge for what happen with Allison, Kate and Chris and he can rule both of them out. Chris because he never blamed Stiles and after the accident, they had gotten close, Kate because of their history would stay her hand and also at that point she couldn't care less about what happen to Allison, she saw her as a traitor to her family. It could be Gerard, but he was still stuck in a care home the last Stiles had checked and really, he probably would have killed Allison himself at some point.
"Yeah, we thought the same at first since we heard of the ambush through Hydra connections but then you said that you recognised the guy who shot you, so I did some digging, and found out he was Joseph Argent, he was Allison uncle right?" Tony clarifies
Stiles nods to the last part but the rest of the information wasn't connecting for him.
"That doesn't make any sense, Joe and Ally never met she didn't even know he existed, and Joe never cared for his family he was a product of an affair, so his father kept him a secret, so Joe resented him and his siblings"
None of what had happen today was making any sense to Stiles, when the avengers first came in he believed it was to tell him why Steve was back late and why Bucky and Tony thought it necessary to sneak into his apartment and instead all the trauma of the nogitsune was brought back up.
"So, there wouldn't be a reason for the man to want revenge." Rhodey throws in from where he's leaning against the door leading to the bathroom, which reminds Stiles of his dirty feet, he really wants a shower now.
"But if the girl didn't know her own uncle existed, how did you? The man carries on clueless to Stiles internal mourning of his lack of a shower.
"Kate, I don't know how she found out but one day when I was waiting for Ally I saw him at the house and she told me the whole story, I met him briefly but we didn't say much more than hi to each other" He explains distractedly, his mind still on having a nice hot shower.
"Okay, so maybe this Kate wanted revenge and is using her brother to do it" Thor speaks for the first time, Stiles almost misses what he says. He really really wants a shower.
"Doubtful, the Argent family are a fucked up bunch and currently all want each other dead and plus before the whole finding out she was Hydra we got along well even after the whole Ally situation, it doesn't make any sense that she would wait that long if she did want me dead, we were alone plenty of times, she knew where I lived and had access to me at basically every moment of the day" He argues dispassionately, his true passion at the moment was having a shower, had Stiles mentioned how much he wanted a shower?
"Oh my god, you slept with her!" That takes Stiles attention fully from daydreaming about a long soak in a bubble bath (he switched it up, sue him.) and trust Tony to be the one to figure that out. Not that Stiles would admit that he did, it was better for everyone involved that no one know what happen between him and Kate with exception of Derek, but he agreed that he wouldn't tell anyone,
Steve removes his hand from Stiles'.
"Wait, when was this? Wouldn't you have been underage at the time?" Bruce adds on, and yep Stiles needs to nip this in the but now.
"Yes, I would have been if I actually slept with her but I didn't so it's a moot point, but she reminded me a lot of Ally, so I spent a lot of time with her and besides I also had a girlfriend at the time, of whom I loved very much" He finishes, hoping that would be enough to get them off the scent.
"If it wasn't any of the Agents, than we have to work under the assumption that Joseph Argent being the one to shot you was just a coincidence and that it was hydra hit, meant to get at Rogers" Natasha summarises, the rest of the team is in agreement but too uneasy, due to the many holes and unanswered questions to be sure.
"Well we could just ask." Stiles suggests, mind back on wanting to have a shower.
"And who would we ask?" Clint responds sceptical, having a really bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.
"Kate of course, who else?" Stiles states dreamily- the shower wouldn't be too cold, but it wouldn't be too hot either it would be just the right temperature…
"What the FUCK Stilinski!"
Steve comes closer to Stiles frowning down at him, and Stiles knows he doesn't approve of him contacting a known Hydra agent, but they have no other choice and besides Kate hasn't been a danger to Stiles for a couple years now. Not that anyone even knows that fact so he can see why the rest of the avengers are looking at him like he's crazy, they don't know that Kate is more likely to protect him than cause any harm to him. That's not to say that Kate isn't a danger and she's definitely not even remotely a good person at all or that she even really cares about Stiles; It's just that due to reason no one will ever find out about it's in her best interest that he's alive and kicking. But the team doesn't know this, so the incredulous and suspicious looks aren't all that surprising.
The door to Stiles' room in the medbay creeps open an inch and Bucky comes back in holding his phone, already unlocked and Stiles shouldn't be surprised by that, but he is a little annoyed. Guess his privacy was forfeited when he admitted to being in contact with a hydra agent, he takes the phone from his friend's hand and lets out a deep sigh. He hasn't actually talked to Kate since just after she was burned when she replied to his panicked voicemail with 'It's been dealt with' text before destroying her phone. At least that's what he's guessing she did, it would be the first thing anyone smart person who was going on the run would do.
"I haven't even spoken to Kate for at least two years" Stiles says to the room, he doesn't acknowledge not even to himself that in addition to the first text every so often he will get 'It's fine' message sent from a blocked number and Stiles knows that it's from Kate. Stiles has never replied to these messages, but he doesn't know any other way to get in contact with her, expect going back to Beacon hills and seeing Gerard because there is no doubt in his mind that the old hunter knows exactly where his daughter is hiding out.
Stiles really doesn't want to that.
He could also go to Poland, as there was a mutual let's say friend of his and Kate's there that would have the information, but he wants to go there even less then he wants to see Gerard.
"I suppose none of you are willing to leave the room, while I talk to her?" Stiles asks redundantly, already knowing what the answer would be but needing to ask just in case as he needs more than 'it's fine' text, he needs to know what is going on.
Steve shakes his head. "That's not happening Stiles"
A grunt in annoyance is let out before he could stop it but nevertheless he scrolls down his messages until he finds the blocked number he knows is Kate's and presses the call button but before Stiles can bring the phone up to his ear Natasha reaches across and puts the phone on speaker.
This really wasn't going the way Stiles wanted it to but seemed on par for how his life has been going recently. The tension that only just eased was once again thick in the air and silence deafening as they waited for the call to connect.
"The number you are trying to call is no longer available"
…
That really doesn't fill Stiles up with confidence, and he really begins to wonder if everything really is fine and on top of that now he has to go and see Gerard and that is not something he thinks he is adequately prepared for.
"Well that was a dead end, what do we do now?" Lang asks, when Stiles really wishes he hadn't, now he has to face the reality of what he has to do next and he really really does not want to. He shakes his heads, in disagreement. "No not a dead end just a long shot" He looks up at Steve and gives him a small smile that doesn't really reach his eyes, but he tries to lighten up the dark expression on his boyfriends face anyway.
"Hope you're ready to face the next step in our relationship Steve because we need to go to Beacon Hills" The super-solider had been asking to meet Stiles dad for the last couple of months now but Stiles always had an excuse ready to go, not sure if he was ready for the two different parts of his life to collide. He was sure it would end very bad for Stiles. At this comment the frown on Steve's face doesn't disappear or even lessen but his face is no longer glaring impending doom down at Stiles, so he takes as a win.
"Why would you need to go back home" Clint asks confused, and Stiles turns his attention to the resident archer. "There's someone there who can tell us where Kate is or at least how to get in contact with her" He replies not moving his gaze from Clint's knowing that Steve would have a broken and betrayed look on his face and he does not have the heart to face that right now, by the end of this he would not be surprised to find that he was out of a relationship.
"In that case, I will get the crew to prep the quinjet, I'm sure I'm speaking for everyone when I say we all want to go and see this through" Stark puts forward, but Natasha shakes her head not agreeing. "I don't think it's wise for all of us to go, some should stay here just in case, we can't leave Peter by himself"
Stiles wonders who this Peter is, the team has talked about him a few times over the last month, but he has yet to meet him but from what he has gathered it seems he might be Tony's secret son.
"I think maybe, Bruce, Sam, Wanda, Scott, Thor and Rhodey stay here with Pete and the rest of us go so we got a balance in teams if something happens here or in Beacon" She puts forward instead and Stiles is just glad that she just included Bucky with the team going with him because honestly does not think he is going to get through this trip without having a flashback or getting triggered which would be bad just all around for everyone.
Steve nods in agreement and just like that everyone goes their separate ways to get ready leaving him and Steve alone and things have never been more awkward between the two of them. Stiles wishes that none of this had happen because he knows it's making Steve doubt him and the whole of their relationship.
And still hasn't got to take his shower.
…
"Please say something Steve" Stiles pleads, once the silence has gotten too much for him to take which is something new, any silences between the two of them have never been uncomfortable. Stiles has always felt a sense of calm and safety in them, now? Not so much.
"I keep finding out all these things about you, that I should know already. I feel as though I don't even know the person in front of me, you have all these secrets and they don't paint you in a good light Stiles"
Steve looks close to tears at this and the sight fills Stiles with a sense of wrongness, he has never even seen his partner truly sad let alone anywhere near close to tears and he doesn't know how to fix it, what to say to make it better. There are a lot of things he just can't tell Steve and it is going to tear their relationship apart if he's not careful.
"Why do you know how to contact a known hydra agent Stiles?" And isn't that the question of the hour and one Stiles really can't answer in a way that will satisfy Steve, he really should have kept his mouth shut and just got in contact with Kate on his own and he could have avoided all of this. In his defense he had just got shot, so he really wasn't thinking all that clear or straight.
"I- We were close, she helped me through a bad time. I swear babe I haven't spoken to her since the shield info dump and I didn't know she was hydra" Steve stares at him for a long time, and Stiles really wishes that he could tell what was going through the super soldiers mind at that moment because his face was completely blank.
"If you don't talk to her why did you have her number, even if it was disconnected. I saw your face you didn't expect it to be which means you had to have been in contact with her lately"
The captain had him there, he can't really get out of this without admitting that whilst he hadn't contacted Kate, she had contacted him. And he doesn't think that will go down too well, but Stiles guesses he has no other choice now.
"She messages me sometimes, but I have never replied" Mostly because he knew a reply wasn't needed, Kate messages him to keep him in the loop barely not to have a conversation with him but Steve doesn't need to be made aware of that particular piece of information.
So, Stiles doesn't tell him.
"Why would she even be messaging you in the first place" Lie! Stiles needs to lie but he really does not want to, there is enough lies between them that he's reluctant to add another.
So, Stiles doesn't say anything.
Steve huffs in disbelief and turns away from him, and Stiles can practically feel the disappointment coming off of the man and honestly, he feels that the disappointment is worse than if his boyfriend was filled with rage at him. Stiles is not sure just how to deal with a disappointed Steve and invokes a deep sense of shame and guilt within him, a feeling he hasn't felt to quite this extent since he first slept with Kate. Makes sense then that he would feel like it again when it involves her, but still Stiles can't bring himself to regret sleeping with the woman not when it gave him a single purpose in his life that he was lacking for a very long time.
"You grab a shower while you can, Bucky already grabbed a bag from your apartment so you don't need to pack" Steve says, still avoiding any eye contact with Stiles so he doesn't see when he nods his head in agreement and moves to get up. By the time Stiles makes it to the bathroom attached Steve has already fled the room without looking back once to see if his boyfriend needed help.
#
The tension if possible was even more tense on the quinjet than it was back in the medbay and it makes Steve glad that they didn't take a plane even Stark's private one would make the journey twice as long as the quinjet would.
It was hard for him to be stuck together with Stiles in an enclosed space for the next two and half hours when he's pretty sure they were on the verge of breaking up as Steve just did not know if he could trust his boyfriend anymore. He could forgive the secrets Stiles kept as some were small and didn't really matter in the grand scheme of things and others he had Steve has to admit a valid excuse as why he kept them but he just couldn't get pass his refusal to answer Steve's questions about his supposed friendship with Kate Argent. A goddanm hydra agent, one of Steve's sworn enemies.
"So, what happen between you and bambi?" Tony asks from the control panels opposite him and if it was possible the tension gets even worse. Steve takes a quick glance towards his boyfriend to find that Stiles was already looking at him with a broken expression taking up his face, if it was any other day for any other reason Steve would already be over there trying comfort and cheer him up. But now he just looks away and towards Stark, the look on his face warning the genius to drop the current line of conversation.
"Okay, got it ignoring the obvious elephant in the room, Stiles what can you tell us about our contact?" Tony asks instead, but his tone letting them know he's not dropping it. They all look to Stiles awaiting his answer and for a second it looks as though this is going to be another question the man is not going to answer, filling Steve with anger.
"It's Gerard Argent, he might be stuck in care home, but he still has contacts he can reach, people that keep tabs on things for him. Plus, I know for a fact there is no way Kate skipped town without telling her father how to find her or a way to talk to her at the very least." He answers after a moment of debate, but Steve can tell there is more he is not telling, before he can call his partner out Bucky step forwards as Tony brings up the background information they gathered on the Argents, specifically the information relating to the patriarch.
"How certain are you that the man will have the information we need? There's a chance Argent wouldn't have told her father anything" His best friend points out but looking through the information on the screen Steve finds that unlikely everything points to Kate and Gerard having a close relationship and that they relied on each other for information.
"It's not a question of certainty, it's if he will give us the info in the first place at least without asking for something in return that we would be incredibly stupid to give him. The man is a snake, he will find some way to turn this in favor of him" Stiles responds, a look of deep thought on his face.
"I think it would be better if I went to see him alone" He carries on saying, and like hell Steve is going to let that happen and it seems the rest of the team is in agreement with him as multiple voices speak their disapproval at that plan.
"No, listen it's a stretch if he will even tell me what we want, if the avengers turn up asking for information on his daughter who is a hydra agent do any of you think he will even begin to contemplate telling us and that's with us giving him whatever he would want in return? At least with me, we could negotiate and get something out of him instead of the nothing we would get if you all came with me."
Steve really does not like the fact that Stiles has a valid point if they went in there was no way the man would give them what they wanted, they could just send in Natasha but he is hesitant to go to such measures just yet not when there was an alternative available no matter how little Steve didn't like it.
"Stilinski has a point, Argent may not be hydra but the man is clearly sympathetic to the cause and all information points to him having no motivation to give up his own daughter" Clint brings up, "He could wear a wire and we would be on standby listening in and could be there in minutes if there was any trouble"
"Anything could happen in minutes" Steve cuts across, still not completely sure of the current plan.
"Stiles can handle himself against a sick old man for a couple of minutes surely" Comes Stark's sarcastic response, and for a second Steve really wants to punch that smirk off of the man's face.
"You would be surprised" Stiles snorts under his breath, and Steve thinks no one was supposed to hear, and it makes him wonder what exactly his boyfriend meant by it. Another thing he is being kept in the dark about, this trip he knows is just going to bring more things to the surface and Steve isn't sure how much more he can take.
Despite Steve's disapproval by the time they reach Beacon Hills and approach the care home Christopher Argent had stashed his father in, Stiles had been fitted with a wire and the rest of the team had comms looped into its frequency enabling them to listen in from inside the building. (the next room in fact, Steve had insisted)
They make their way inside and he is grateful no one is there to see half of the avengers make their way into a random care home in California, they need this to stay under the radar. It helps that none of them are in uniform and that the they left Thor behind, that man did not know the definition of subtle or covert. The team lags behind as Stiles talks to the receptionist and signs them in (under false names of course) they turn to follow when Stiles gestures them down a hallway until he comes to a stop at the last door.
Steve and the rest break away and go to the room opposite, he knocks on the door and waits until its open before flashing a smile and a badge Tony had made up for them. The woman who opens the door, Meredith according to the background check they did on the home and its residents; Peers out, muted brown eyes glaring out at them, she barely spares the badge a glance before moving to close the door in their faces. Steve reaches out a hand and stops it from closing, making sure to smile down at the woman in reassurance.
"FBI, ma'am. May we come in?" The team doesn't wait for a reply before moving pass the woman and making their way inside. A disgruntled sound escapes the woman as they do before she slams the door shut again and turns to glare at them. Steve moves forward towards her, Captain America persona out in full capacity "Sorry ma'am we will only be a few minutes, my colleague here will take you out to the common areas." He assures, gesturing to Clint to take the woman out of the room so they could listen in peace without a potential leak accruing. It is annoying that they weren't any free rooms available, but they make do.
#
"I know why you're here" Stiles hadn't even fully closed the door before Gerard starts talking and if that wasn't a sign that he definitely knew where Kate was Stiles didn't know what was. He probably even knew Stiles was targeted and why eliminating the need to even get into contact with Kate in the first place. Stiles doubts that it's actually that easy, nothing ever goes that easy for him.
"That makes this a nice and easy stop then tell me what I want to know and then I will be on my way" Stiles replies with false confidence, hoping to get the visit over and done with. The man always gave him the creeps and every second spent in his presence brings him closer to a breakdown, the images of what happen the last time Stiles was alone with Gerard coming to the forefront of his mind.
"Why Stiles, you want get out of here awfully quick, makes one think you don't want to be here at all." The smug bastard lets out between small coughs and Stiles can't help but smile a little inside as he see's the tissue the man covers his mouth with covered in the mountain ash that his body is trying to purge.
"I don't, I rather be under the nogitsune's thrall again than be talking to you" Came the smart-arse reply, not wanting to give Gerard the satisfaction of knowing just how petrified he is right now.
"Perhaps being here, alone with me is making you remember the last time we had a little chat. You do remember that don't you Stiles? We did after all have a great time together"
A sharp intake of breath- one breath in and one breath out.
"Perhaps in your old age, your memory isn't what it used to be, I don't particularly remembering having all that great of a time. In fact, I would liken it to something like complete and utter torture"
"Let's not exaggerate Stiles, I'm sure it wasn't all that bad, now do you want to know where my dear daughter is or not? Or maybe you rather I told you my bastard son's villainous plan and why he was at your apartment?
Stiles snorts there was no why Gerard was just going to tell him what he wanted, he was playing a game just what one Stiles wasn't too sure about but either way he did not have the patience nor the fortitude to play along right now.
"Joe has become a liability; you will be doing me a favour if you and your little team of heroes you think I don't know came with you got rid of him for me"
Of course, the reason why the old man was so happy to talk was because they would be doing his dirty work for him though Stiles does wonder what Joe did to incur his father's wrath. And it does not surprise Stiles either to find Gerard knows that the avengers were here with him, the man probably has someone on the staff in his pocket and they recognised the team when they came in.
"I can be very petty and vindictive I might just find the information I need elsewhere now I know I would be doing your dirty work for you" Stiles argues, trying to take the advantage away from the hunter.
"Yes, vindictive indeed I know all about the incident with Mr Whittemore from when you were kids, nonetheless I doubt you will be able to get the information I have from anyone else. I'm sure your next stop would have been my disgraceful son; I wouldn't waste your time Mr Stilinski"
Stiles begrudgingly admits that it was unlikely that Chris or anyone else would have the insight that Gerard does but years of knowing the man and opposing him makes Stiles hesitant to take him at his word, like he told the team the hunter was the very definition of a snake. Regardless he makes a gesture to hunter to continue talking and Stiles plays close attention not wanting to miss even the tiniest of micro-expressions.
Gerard smirks.
"Kate has decided that she has outgrew hydra, hydra of course takes offence to this, but they can't get to my daughter she is too well hidden and protected so they went after you in an attempt to draw her out"
Stiles frowns, why would Hydra come after him instead of say Allison or the rest of her family? They couldn't know, could they? About his and Kate's past? but even if they did it still wouldn't make any sense; they had no way of knowing just how much Stiles' wellbeing affected Kate. Not mattered but affected.
"Hydra has been after you for a long time Mr Stilinski but Kate was a valued member of the organisation and she claimed you under her protection so they stayed their hand but Kate is no longer valued and the now they can kill two birds with one stone with a hit on you, they can finally get you and draw Katherine out"
That actually explained a lot, Stiles had a lot of questions once he found out Kate was hydra particularly about a conversation, he happen to overhear between her and his history teacher Garrett Douglas; Knowing now that the man was Hydra and that they are apparently interested in Stiles the pieces were coming together.
"The question I have now Mr Stilinski is why exactly my daughter thought it prudent to put you under her protection in the first place instead of handing you over"
Stiles really really doesn't want the conversation to keep going if this is where Gerard reveals his hidden agenda because if it is, he is well and truly fucked. Gerard knowing of his and Kate's history is only just slightly better than hydra knowing.
"Makes me wonder if it's a similar situation to what happened with Mr Hale"
Stiles is suddenly very glad he left out the hale fire and the part Kate played in it out of the impromptu introduction to the supernatural he gave to the avengers earlier because yep he's well and truly fucked.