Chapter 49

Despite his past experiences with the Scepter, Loki had opted not to join them on their mission to Sokovia to retrieve it. As he explained to them, he had never been a fighter back on Asgard nor did he enjoy going with Thor into battle most of the time. And as it was simply a find and retrieve sort of mission, it wasn't as if they needed the manpower.

There were no signs that the base there was heavily active, so one less fighter on their team hardly made a difference.

Barnes on the other hand, very much needed to stay behind. Despite wanting him to have a life of his own, it would hardly do for him to be seen frolicking in other countries when he didn't even have a pardon in his own yet. Nor was his mind fully freed yet of HYDRA, so the last thing any of them needed was to throw him straight into HYDRA's grasp.

So the Avengers geared up and boarded the jet to head towards the small European country.

"Are you sure it's wise to just go in there and retrieve it?" Harry asked her carefully, as he took a seat next to her. "Who knows what they've been doing with the scepter over the last few years. You saw what happened when Loki used it; he almost brought down New York. And that was while under its control. What happens if it's used against us by someone with their full will power?"

"What do you mean?" Clint asked with a frown.

"You know what I mean," Harry looked over at him. "While we were under it s control we had to obey but there were still loop holes. Removing threats didn't have to mean killing them. We could simply knock them out. Loki didn't bring about anywhere near as much damage as both know that he could have with a fleet of that size. He held himself back. Because he didn't want to take over Earth. He was under the control of someone else entirely. But HYDRA has the full control of the scepter and won't have anything holding them back like Loki did. We don't even fully get how it's magic works. What's to stop us from being put under its control once more?"

"I have something for that once we retrieve it," she told her cousin. "Back when I talked to Loki in the tower alone, he tried to use the scepter against me. But the energy in the Arc Reactor cancelled it out. The reactor's based on the Tesseract which we know has similar energy readings. So I designed a box to carry it, powered by arc reactor technology to be able to safely transport it."

"Is the transport that big of a deal?" Steve asked her, "Over fighting HYDRA?"

"Don't you remember the Helicarrier?" she asked him, "It was messing with our minds and caused us to fight amongst ourselves while just lying there. I'm not going to take that risk while we have it on board."

"We also don't know what state the scepter's in," Natasha warned them, "They've most likely been experimenting with it. Anything could have been done with it in the meantime. They could have taken it apart and weaponized it into more modern tech, like guns. They could have done countless things with the technology. We need to be prepared for anything. The last thing we need is that power unleashed on the world again."

"Why is why retrieving the scepter is our highest priority," Steve said, nodding to all of them. "Taking down HYDRA at the base is secondary."

"We will be landing shortly," JARVIS announced to them, and she nodded around the room.

The base was surrounded by forest, and she knew that despite the tree cover they had, they wouldn't stay hidden for long.

"What's our plan, Captain?" she asked Steve, as her body was encased in the armour.

"We need to get in as close as possible to the base," Steve told her. "Unfortunately, I don't know if we can make it by foot; we're too far out. But we couldn't land any closer without them detecting us."

"If we take a vehicle, they'll see us coming," she said, glancing at the others.

"They're going to know we're coming the minute we get within range," Natasha said with a shrug, "Based on my intel, the base is under heavy surveillance. We won't have the element of surprise this time. Our best bet is going to be to just attack and fight."

"So going in guns blazing?" she asked with a grin.

"Guns blazing," Harry grinned back.

"Let's do it," Clint nodded, glancing at the cars they had in the jet. There was a jeep and a motorcycle.

"If I Hulk up there's no way that I can fit in that," Bruce said, looking around the room.

"We'll go with you," Toni said reassuringly. "I can fly and Thor has his hammer flying power."

"We shall accompany you into battle," Thor beamed at Bruce.

"Nat, Harry and I can take the jeep," Clint nodded, "Which leaves the motorcycle for Steve."

He grinned down at it, "I wouldn't have it any other way."

She turned to leave, as Steve grabbed her hand.

"Steve?" she asked him in surprise, as the others all began gathering their things. She lifted her mask to be able to look at him, and he cupped her face.

"Stay safe out there, Darling," he said, brushing his thumb against her cheek. "No reckless antics okay?"

"I could say the same for you," she said, wrapping an arm around his waist. "You always run into battle without a second glance."

"I know," he sighed heavily. "I just want you to know that I love you."

"I love you too," she said, and he kissed her softly. She closed her eyes, leaning into him, as a cough broke them apart.

"Shouldn't the two of you join the others?" Ava's voice said, coming over the intercom, interrupting them from what they were doing

"Maybe," she said, burying her head into Steve's chest.

"We'll continue this when we get home," he said, growing slightly and she laughed as she stepped back from his arms.

"Let's go join the others in the field," she said, putting her mask back on.

"Avengers, Assemble!" Steve said and together, they charged towards the HYDRA base.

Of course, it only took a few minutes before everything fell apart. Just after clearing the tree line, it seemed as if they had immediately been spotted.

Not that she was surprised, given that they were literally driving into a HYDRA base.

"Report to your stations immediately. This is not a drill. We are under attack. We are under attack," she heard an announcer call out over the station.

She flew straight towards the base, only to be blocked by some sort of shield. Of course they had some sort of shield.

"Shit," she swore as she flew back towards it, scanning for any way in.

"Language," Steve chided her jokingly and she grinned despite knowing he wouldn't be able to see her anyways. "J, what's it look like out there?"

"The central building is protected by some kind of energy shield. Strucker's technology is well beyond any other Hydra base we've taken," JARVIS told them from the satellites.

"Thanks Baby," she said.

She looked at the blasts that were coming her way in a bit of shock. It wasn't that she didn't expect HYDRA to have some advanced weaponry, however what they were using was high tech. Far more than she would have given them credit for.

Peter would say that it almost looked like something out of Star Wars.

What with the blasts being brightly coloured and looking like the weaponry of that movie.

"Loki's scepter must be here. Strucker couldn't mount this defense without it. At long last," Thor said, grunting as he fought some of the soldiers.

She could see Nat and Harry on the ground, fighting soldiers hand to hand. She'd seen her cousin fight before, but seeing them on the ground was something else altogether, and she could see Aunt Peggy's fighting style with every move he pulled.

"At long last is lasting a little long, boys," Natasha said, as she took down a HYDRA agent.

"Yeah, okay, we definitely did not have any element of surprise," Clint said with a grin.

"We knew that going in," Steve reminded them.

"I know," Clint acknowledged, "I just wished it would have lasted a bit longer."

"Are we not going to talk about how my boyfriend just used the word 'language'?" she asked the group. "Especially given I've heard him say worse in the bedroom.

"She's got you there, Cap," Clint said.

"I didn't need to know that," Harry moaned.

"I know," Steve sighed, "It slipped out."

"Always the gentleman," she laughed."

He flipped off his motorcycle then, throwing it at the incoming agents.

"I may need a new bike," he said with a shrug. "Mine seems to have exploded."

"We'll get one when we get home," she acknowledged. "After we've dealt with these snakes."

"Miss, the city is taking fire," JARVIS told her urgently, "We need to get them to cover."

"Well, we know Strucker's not going to worry about civilian casualties. Send in the Iron Legion," she said, referring to her bots that she'd made for cases like this. After New York she couldn't have there be any more civilian casualties on her hands. Not when they would be on her hands.

"Guys there's something out here," Clint said with a groan.

"Clint!" Nat called over the comms.

"We have an enhanced on the field," Steve said to them muffled.

"Clint's been hit," Natasha called out. "Somebody want to deal with that bunker?"

The Hulk roared over the comms and she knew Bruce would be on it.

"Thank you," Natasha told him.

"Toni we need to get inside," Steve said to her and she nodded.

"I'm closing in; or at least I think I am. J, do you see a power source for that shield?" she asked, blasting a HYDRA agent with her repulsor.

"There's a pathway under the north tower," JARVIS told her, "You're close to it."

"Great, I wonder if I can poke it with something," she murmured, flying up to it as she took out soldiers along the way. She aimed another repulsor blast at it, only for it to be blocked.

"Time to bring out the big guns," she said, and she blasted one of her missiles straight at the spot JARVIS had locked in on. She watched as the blue shield began to fall. "The drawbridge is down people."

"The enhanced?" Thor asked.

"He's a blur. All the new player's we've faced, I've never seen this. In fact, I still haven't," Steve told them.

"Clint's hit pretty bad, guys. We're gonna need evacuate," Natasha said to them urgently. "We need to get him help.

"I can get Barton to the jet. The sooner we're gone the better. Cap and Toni can secure the scepter," Thor said, as he flew towards where Clint was lying.

"Copy that," Steve acknowledged.

"The HYDRA agents are being to line up," Thor cautioned them, "They have metal tanks at their disposal."

"Well they're excited," Steve commented. "Better give them a show."

She looked back as she saw the blast left from Thor hitting Steve's shield.

"Find the scepter," Thor told them both.

"And watch your language, for goshes sake," she said, and Steve sighed.

"Are you ever going to let that go?" he asked her.

"Never, Darling," she cooed.

She entered the base then, hovering with the help of her repulsors, as the agents of HYDRA began shooting at her.

She sighed, why did they always think their guns could penetrate her armour? Men. They always thought they could stick it in wherever they wanted.

"Guys, stop, we gotta talk about this," she chided them lightly as she landed. Her shoulder pads lifted as her suit began shooting back at them. Well they had the chance to stop shooting. "Good talk."

"No it wasn't," one of the wounded soldiers said from the ground as he groaned.

She moved through the base, as she approached the control room. She saw a man there and raised her arm quickly, knocking him out before she had the chance to react.

She stepped out of the suit, knowing she wouldn't be able to do any hacking in it.

"Sentry mode," she said to the suit, and it put itself in stasis.

She walked over to the computer and began typing, as she downloaded the files, "Okay JARVIS," she said, "I want it all, Sweetheart. Copy it to Hill at HQ."

She continued typing, looking at the semantics of the base. "I know you're hiding more than just files. Barnes recognized this base. That means there must be more to this here. He wouldn't have come here for just a file storage location. So what are you hiding?"

She looked on the screen, "Hey J, give me an IR scan of the room, real quick."

She looked around the room, knowing that there must have been more to it than what she was seeing.

"The wall to your left," JARVIS said to her, "I'm reading steel reinforcement and an air current."

Air current. Why would a wall have air current to it. Unless…

She walked up to the wall, "Please be a secret door, please be a secret door, please be a secret door..."

She pushed against it and it opened up, as the bricks slid to the side. She beamed at it, more than pleased that she had been right in her assessment. "Yay!"

"Baron Strucker. Hydra's number one thug," she heard Steve call out, and she tensed.

"Technically, I'm a thug for SHIELD," she could hear Strucker respond and she nearly threw something.

"Well then technically you're unemployed," Steve told him sarcastically, "Where's Loki's scepter?"

"Don't worry, I know when I'm beat. You'll mention how I cooperated, I hope," she heard the man say.

"I'll put it right under illegal human experimentation," Steve said firmly. "How many are there?"

She heard Steve groan then, "We have a second enhanced. Female. Do not engage."

"Steve are you alright?" she asked him quickly.

"I'm fine," he said quickly, "I still have company to deal with."

"You'll have to be faster than-" Strucker started, before Steve knocked him out.

"Guys, I got Strucker." Steve said.

"Yeah," she said softly, "Well I got something...bigger."

She walked around the room, seeing artifacts from the Battle of New York. There was a giant Chitauri leviathan in the sky, as well as some of the Iron Woman armour.

How much had HYDRA scrounged up and taken from right under their noses? How long had they been doing this for? And how didn't she see this before?

If only she'd known. She could have stopped so much from happening. Her parents. Aunt Peggy. Her own kidnapping. She could have prevented so much of it.

"Thor, I got eyes on the prize," she said, as she spotted the scepter.

"Be careful, Stark," Loki's voice came over the comms, "It's a dangerous weapon. Do not allow yourself to fall under its spell."

A red mist came over her then, and she felt herself grow overwhelmed, as fear filled her systems.

She dropped to the ground, filled with pain.

The world around her began to fade, and the leviathan behind her came to life as it soared in front of her. She turned and suddenly she was in the black hole again. She couldn't breathe as panic overtook her.

No. No. NO!

She couldn't be here. She escaped. She made it back. She was safe. She had been safe.

Hadn't she?

What if that had all been a dream. A figment of her own imagination as she suffocated for air and hallucinated. What if none of it had ever been real?

She let out a sob as she struggled to breathe.

Please.

She couldn't be back there. She couldn't go back there. She needed to go back to her life. To her home. To Steve.

Please.

She looked around her and saw Bruce in his Hulk from struggling to breathe as he whimpered on the ground. Nat was dead on the ground lifeless. Clint and Thor had their eyes closed, as if they had simply fallen asleep.

Harry was covering Ava with his own body, but there was no mistaking that both of them were gone. They were dead as well. Just like everyone else in her life.

And Steve, with his shield cracked in half lay there, cold and still.

No. please.

They couldn't be dead.

She needed them. They were her family. Please.

She bent down, to touch his face, to see if he was okay.

And she nearly fell back as he reached up and grabbed her hand.

"You…could…have…saved…us," Steve said, gasping for air, before his hand dropped and he stared at her face with lifeless eyes.

No.

She stumbled backwards sobbing, as she looked around the room. No it couldn't be.

She looked around and saw Aunt Peggy lying there as Uncle Daniel held her hand and she lay there in pain.

"Please," she cried out.

"You should have stopped this," Uncle Daniel told her, anger in his eyes. "After everything we've done for you over the years, you should have saved us. We gave you a home. We have you a family. And in turn, you let us die. What kind of monster does that make you?"

"Please, I did everything I could," she sobbed. "I tried to save you all."

"Bambina," she heard a voice say and she sobbed more. She turned around to see her mother looking at her with pained eyes. "Why did you let us die? I loved you. And you let us down. You let all of us down."

"Mom," she said, trying to wipe away her tears. "Please no. Not you."

"You could have saved us," Steve said, his voice echoing in her head. "You should have saved us. Why didn't you do more?"

"Toni?" Steve said, as the mist began to clear. "Toni what happened?" he asked.

She sobbed and he pulled her into his arms. The initial fear that had plagued her was gone, but it didn't do anything to stop the pain that filled her. The pain from seeing everyone in her life. Everyone that she had loved, dead in front of her. That pain did not fade.

"You were dead," she said, struggling to breathe. "I saw you and you were dead."

"I'm here," he said soothingly, "I'm here and I'm not going anywhere. I promise. Now let's get this scepter and get out of here, okay? Let's go home."

She nodded, as he stepped away from her and grabbed the scepter. He turned back to face her, holding her hand tightly as the two of them left the secret room. She wrapped herself in her armour, feeling safe.

She thought she was doing better. That her PTSD was under control. And yet here she was having attacks in the middle of the field, just from seeing a Chitauri soldier. She couldn't let this happen to her. Not again. Not when it would put the others at risk.

She didn't say a word to anyone as they made their way back to the jet as Steve coordinated their departure. She still took out the odd HYDRA agent that she saw, but without saying anything.

Steve shot her worried looks from time to time, but she couldn't bring herself to talk to him more than giving nods of agreement that she was doing okay. Not when all of this was too much.

"Darling talk to me," he said, sitting down beside her as he took her hand in his. "I came to find you when you stopped responding to me over the comms. I had JARVIS tell me how to find you, and when I do, you're sobbing on the ground, begging for it to be a dream. You kept saying my name. Please, at least tell me what happened to you. Please tell me what all of that was."

"I saw all of you," she whispered. "You were all dead, Steve. All of you were dead on the ground and there was nothing I could do to help. It was all my fault. I should have saved you and I didn't; I couldn't. It was my fault. I let all of you down. I've spent years since New York trying to make sure that nothing like that ever happens again but it still wasn't enough. I still wasn't enough. I still let you all die and there was nothing I could do to stop it. And even worse, I had a panic attack in the middle of the battle. I put all of you at risk by having a panic attack. Do you have any idea just how bad that is? What if it put you all at risk? What if I started fighting you?"

"Toni you haven't had a nightmare in months," he said to her gently, "Don't you think it's a little odd that you had one now? Right when you were in the middle of that fight?"

"Well I haven't exactly come face to face with many Chitauri soldiers until now," she pointed out to him. "We don't know that I wouldn't have reacted similarly if it happened sooner."

"Toni did you see anything strange before you had the vision?" he said, ignoring her and pushing on. "Before you started to see the black hole and all of us dying in front of you? Did you see anything?"

"I saw a red mist," she said, a bit hazily. "What does that have to even do with any of this?"

"The enhanced girl who attacked me," Steve said, "She had a red mist about her when she shoved me down the steps. It was freaky. Like it somehow gave her the power to attack me without even touching me."

"What are you saying?" she asked, a bit sharply. "That this girl attacked me too?"

"Do you know that she didn't? he challenged her. "Hill can go through all the reports of the two enhanced, but we don't know what their powers were. What if she did this to you? What if she caused you to see all those things? Even in all your nightmares, have you ever seen anything like that?"

She paused for a moment, as he rubbed her hand with the back of her thumb. She thought to herself about whether what he was saying could be true and shuddered.

"No. I've never seen anything like that. Even with my panic attacks. It was never with other people there. Or if it did, it would have one of you. Not all of you, there, dead. It's never been like this before," she said to him.

He wrapped an arm around her, and she leaned into him, taking comfort in his warmth.

"Whatever this was that happened, we're going to get to the bottom of it, okay, Toni? Together. You and I are going to figure out what this was and what happened together. I promise, it's going to be okay."

He pressed a kiss against her forehead, and she tried to allow herself to relax. To let go of all the worries she'd been facing. But no matter how hard she tried, the fear would not fade. It was like it was embedded within her.

Something was out there. She knew that much. Someone had sent Loki to earth to carry out their bidding. Something was coming their way. And to pretend it wasn't was pure ignorance.

And she couldn't ignore it any longer. Not when her loved ones were at risk. Not when she could lose them all.

She had to stop it. That much was certain. And she wouldn't rest until she had.