Tony was not used to not getting his way. He was not used to people keeping secrets from him that he couldn't find out, and he certainly was not used to being talked back to by a stranger.
He crossed his arms and leaned forward slightly. Natasha was helping to bandage Jemma who was looking pale. They'd all been returned to the previous cell. Wanda, Coulson, and Vision were missing. Tony reflected, as he often avoided to do that everything had gone very wrong. Anger bubbled beneath the surface, this feeling of betrayal was one that Tony actively tried to avoid. It was the one that Fury always ignited. Natasha raised her eyebrows at him.
"I thought you were the brains. Are you just gonna stand there?"
"I'm working on it, Romanov," Tony sighed.
The guard outside grunted and another went flying. Everyone was instantly on high alert, reaching for weapons that weren't there.
The outside became a blur. Guards fell quickly. Steve stepped out of the shadows, the girl from the picture at his side, and Wanda on the other side.
"You're late, old man," Tony said.
"I know," Steve said.
Coulson stepped into the room. He walked up to the enclosure and inserted a key. The wall of the cage sank into the ground and the captives rushed from their prison, Natasha and Bobby supporting Jemma on either side.
"What's our play?" Natasha asked.
"We need to find Vision. This guy has reporters everywhere, so we need to make sure that we get the out safe. We need to get the guy in charge and shut down all operations." Steve looked out over his team, the new and the old.
"Tony and Coulson will take the reporters. Coulson, take two of your agents." Coulson nodded.
"Bobbi, and Hunter you're with us."
"Okay, Sam, Rhodey, go with May." Steve said, remembering May from his time at S.H.I.E.L.D.
"Find Vision and get him out. Wanda, take her," Steve gestured to Jemma who was growing more wobbly every minute, "and get out."
"Take Fitz with you," Coulson added.
"Great, then I'll take Natasha and Daisy and we'll find the man responsible." Steve nodded. "Good luck everyone."
They depart. Tony took his group and started down the hall. Coulson caught up with him.
"Just to be clear, I am in charge here," Tony said.
"Of course," Coulson replied.
"Okay, cause you say that but I'm getting the distinct feeling that no one believes it."
"You are definitely in charge, no question about it."
After navigating the windy passageways, avoiding groups of guards the group found the reporter room. The reports stood up as they entered.
"Hello everyone," Tony stepped up to the podium like he had been born to be on stage. "As you all should know my name is Tony Stark, this," he gestured to Coulson, "is Phil Coulson, former almost director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and two former agents. I am here on the behalf of the Avengers to inform you that we are working to find jobs for all these good people. The threat that Hydra was is gone, and look what I'm trying to say is- we're good, everything's fine for everyone. Sure the world's a mess but we're here to help, we're trying to fix things. Because I'm just gonna say it, we care a lot about what happens to you. All of you. We're on your side. The Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. we are the good guys. So I just wanted to reassure everyone and whatever so we're all done here. Okay, bye."
Tony jumped off the podium and walked to the door, waving for people to leave. Bobbi and Hunter jumped in to corral people toward the door. It took a while but they managed to clear the room, sending people on their way.
"Okay, let's go find Cap." Tony said, turning to leave the now empty room and enter the maze of passageways.
"Are you-" Coulson began but Tony cut him off.
"Nu huh, I'm in charge. Let's go, I need a computer."
"I have to admit this is more exciting than chasing cold leads on missing persons cases." Sam remarked.
"Maybe, but I'd rather be on the attacking side," Rhodey relied.
"What about you?" Sam asked May, "How does this compare to your missions?" May glared at him. "Okay, no talking, thats cool." Sam raised his hands in mock surrender. They turned the corner and encountered a group of guards on routine surveillance. The fight lasted a few minutes, it was filled with the grunts and gunshots, and crashing bodies. Heavy breathing filled the room until Sam, Rhodey, and May stood over the unconscious bodies of the guards. They each took a gun and continued on the way. They ended up traveling in circles for what felt like hours.
"Who let you be in front?" Rhodey whispered to Sam in frustration.
"What, you think you could do better? This place is the freaking labyrinth." Sam whispered back.
"Turn right." May said brushing past and taking the right passageway. Eventually they found the containment module holding. Vision was suspended in orange goop. They searched the unit looking for some kind of release, to no avail. The surrounding computers provided no help either. As a last resort they began to see if they could move the whole container. Footsteps from the hallway outside brought the small group to alert, raising their weapons, and preparing to fight. A thin young man with wild brown hair stepped in flanked by two guards at each side. Sam, Rhodey, and May quickly overwhelmed him. Sam pointed his gun at the wilded haired man.
"Get Vision out of the goop,"
"I don't think I should."
"I don't remember asking."