Chapter 16

"I still don't fully understand why she'd just leave." Steve mumbled as he sat at the table on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Helicarrier for another discussion.

Tony sat there staring holes into Steve's head.

"What?!" Steve nearly snapped, his irritation with Tony staring at him for such a long period of time getting the better of him.

"Oh I don't know," Tony said as he leaned back in his chair with a smug look of victory. "I'm pretty sure you can think of a few reasons she's gone."

"You seem to know a lot about what's going on with her, why don't you share with the group?" Director Fury asked as he walked up to the table.

Tony considered his options. "I don't know much honestly. She asked me to take her back to the apartment, I did, and I haven't seen her since." He said with a shrug.

"Nothing else?"

"Nope."

"Then why do I feel like you're hiding something?" Director Fury crossed his arms over his chest as he tried to stare Tony down.

"Because you're a spy. You're the spy, your secrets have secrets. Why would I hide anything from you?" Tony answered coyly. "Can't you find her? You guys can find anyone."

"We weren't tracking her because she was supposed to be here on the ship." Fury answered though it appeared almost painful for him to say so.

"Well it's not my fault you lost her, how was I supposed to know you weren't tracking her?" Tony waved around a little instrument from the lab he had been playing with. "If you want to ask anyone why she left you should be talking to the Cap over there. He should be able to come up with a bunch of reasons she's not here."

"What's that supposed to me?" Steve asked glaring at Tony.

"Oh come on, you can't be that naive. You really should have figured out the reason why already. I mean it's been four months she since disappeared."

"What are you trying to say?"

Tony hit the table with his fist before he pointed at Steve. "What were you doing the day she disappeared? Come on it can't be this hard!"

"I think you better fix your attitude."

"I think you better make me."

"Put on the suit and we'll go a few rounds."

"Boys!" Peggy's voice interrupted their squabbling. "I don't know who this person is everyone on this ship is so worried about but clearly she's important enough to rile everyone up."

"I think that would be my fault." Agent Hill said as she piped in from near Fury. The tough brunette held out a folder. "I hadn't had a chance to catch you up to this current situation as I tried to catch you up with all current events. That would be my mistake Director Fury."

"It's understandable." Fury responded. "The girl in question is Zaria Barnes. She has direct relations to a known political assassin who has, on one occasion, tried to have her recruited or killed. The issue at hand is that she is in control of valuable information about the man that we would rather have in our hands than in anyone else's."

"Then why didn't you just confiscate the information from her?" Peggy asked.

"It's not that simple. All of that valuable information is in her head. The location to the paper files is unknown as on an incident almost five months ago that destroyed her apartment, so she was our only link to that information."

"I don't understand what's so important about this information coming from her. I'm sure you could easily find the information on your own with a network this large."

"Finding that information again is highly improbable."

"Why?"

"All information pertaining to that subject has either been lost, destroyed or is still in enemy hands. The trails to follow went cold when the USSR fell."

"Russia...? She has information on old Soviet Russia?"

"More than that."

"What more could there be?"

"Peggy," Steve stated quietly. "The guy they're trying to find is Bucky. Zaria is his granddaughter."

"Bucky? But Bucky died." Peggy answered, confused.

"Apparently not." Fury answered as he leaned on the back of his chair. "His body was taken into Russia and he was used in their attempts to create a Super Soldier like Rogers. Zaria was our only connection to both the information and the man in question. At this point we don't even know if she's alive or dead or worse."

"Then how do we find out?"

"We have to find her." Steve answered.

"This brings us back to my original question. What were you doing the day she disappeared Cap?" Tony asked darkly.

"I don't see what this has to do with anything at all." Steve retorted.

"If it helps us find her then I think you should just answer the question." Peggy responded.

"I was waiting for her in the hangar bay when you showed up. I wasn't..." Steve's face fell, he turned to Tony. "You don't think that... That she saw..."

"You all over our friend Peggy here? She saw it all." Tony answered as he leaned back.

"I don't see what the problem is with her seeing Steve and I kissing." Peggy surprised. "We are all adults here."

"There isn't one unless emotions were involved." Tony said with smug satisfaction. "Cap here broke her heart."

"What?" Peggy asked, surprised.

"What?" Steve echoed, confused.

"Come on Rogers, everyone here at this table could see how she looked at you and how you looked at her. What do you think seeing you with another woman, especially one that you were with before, would do to her? You think she'd just be all hunky dory and skip around happily with not a care in the world?" Tony glared at Steve. "I think you're lucky she didn't go out there and try and kill you both. At least she was calm enough to just leave and not do something more drastic."

"Her leaving is more than a little drastic." Fury answered darkly.

"She didn't blow up his apartment." Tony pointed out.

"That does not make me feel any better." Steve muttered.

"You were with another woman?" Peggy asked angrily.

"Well you were kinda dead." Tony answered before Steve.

"Enough!" Fury bellowed over the table; silence fell quickly. "Steve, you made this problem you fix it. Go and get all the names and addresses of anyone she's ever been in contact with and go ask every single person on that list."

"Yes." Steve responded.

"Tony, if you have any more information that you- no, I feel is important you better speak up now because if I find it out later there will be hell to pay."

"I have no other information that will help in finding her." Tony answered evasively.

"I swear Stark, if you're withholding information -"

"I'm not withholding anything that would keep you from finding her. Anything else I know about her is something that she can tell everyone when and or if you find her."

"You better be right Stark." Fury crossed his arms over his chest and looked at the few people he had sitting at the table. "Find her, or find out what happened to her. If she's alive you bring her back."

"And if she isn't?"

"Then bring me proof."