I got a guest review that I like to adress and since I can't directly reply to those I'll do it here.

Civil War showed that Steve is willing to throw everything away for Bucky. It's canon, so it's not ridiculous that Steve leaves everything behind to help him.

I don't see how Nat is weak when she's crying over the fact that Steve is gone. That was her immediate reaction to it. Showing her emotions doesn't make her weak- she's not a robot.

Chapter 40

Tony was waiting outside her suite when she came back to the hotel. Her body was numb and she just wanted to be alone to process everything.

"Where were you?" Tony got up from the wall he was leaning against. "I've been calling you guys a hundred times!" He looked down the hallway. "Where's Steve?"

She didn't say anything and unlocked the door. Tony followed her inside. "Did you at least check your phone?"

No, she left it here when she went to her old apartment. She just shook her head. "We have a huge problem, Natasha." He looked around the suite. "Okay where's Cap? This concerns him as well."

"He's gone."

"What do you mean gone? Did he go to get breakfast?"

She plopped down on one of the velvet arm chairs and laughed an ugly laugh. "No, he left. He's gone for good. I don't know where he is."

"That's not funny!"

"It's not a joke." She felt new tears buidling up in her eyes and blinked them away. She didn't want to cry in front of Tony. "Why are you here?"

He looked like he was debating if he should comfort her but thankfully he seemed to decide against it. She didn't need his pity."They released the footage. The world now thinks that the Winter Soldier is behind the attack on the White House. Two more people died in the hospital. Death count is now by 35. And the puplic knows that the Winter Soldier stayed at the Tower."

"What?"

"He showed up in the background of tourists photos yesterday when he left the Tower."

Fuck! That was not good. They could forget the Avengers if Bucky really did it.

"Natasha?"

She looked up at Tony and he sat down on the coffee table. "What happened with Steve?"

"He left either to go after Bucky or with Bucky." She shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. All I know is that he's gone and he's not coming back."

"He won't just leave you like that. He's crazy about you. He loves you!" Tony objected and placed his hand on her knee for comfort.

She gave him a forced smile and pushed his hand gently away. She didn't want his pity. Captain America left her, they all knew it was eventually bound to happen. They had bigger fish to fry. They needed to find a way to get the Avengers out of this on top. Their leader might be gone but the idea still lived on. The Avenger Initiative was founded before they even knew Steve was still alive, it could continue without him. She could continue without him.

"So where do we go from here?"

Tony rubbed his eyebrows with his hand. "Secretary Ross wants to see us. We're gonna have a lot to explain. What are we gonna do about Steve?"

"We have to tell Ross the truth. That we don't know anything and that the Avengers will operate without Captain America."

Tony gave her a small smile. "Since Cap is now out of the picture and you were his second in command... Looks like you're our leader now."

She hadn't even thought about that! She was mostly devastated that Steve left her but now she was getting pissed that he left her to deal with this fucking mess on her own!

The conversation with Ross was unplesant to say the least. He naturally wanted to know why they had haboured a wanted criminal and if that was something the Avengers did on a daily basis. He wanted to know where Steve was and they truthfully told them that they didn't know his location.

"So are you telling me that Captain America and the Winter Soldier are both behind the attack on the White House?" Ross snapped. "Good American people died last night!"

"That's not what we've been saying." She corrected him. " Capain Rogers went most likely after Sergeant Barnes to get to the truth, ."

Ross crossed his arms and gave her and Tony a stern look. "Are you two aware how bad things look for you right now? Barnes is no.1 on the most wanted list and I'm really tempted to put Rogers' name there as well."

She couldn't really blame Ross for that. "We believe that HYDRA somehow got to Barnes and triggered the Winter Soldier. Barnes has been himself in the last weeks since he showed up."

Tony spoke up. "I wouldn't have let Barnes stay at my Tower if he was a risk. You know what he did to my parents but that wasn't him. What could be Barnes' MO to attack the White House? There is none."

Natasha nodded. "The Winter Soldier and HYDRA on the other hand? They're trying to spread fear and hate to weaken the government to take over." She looked at Ross. "HYDRA is probably closer to you than you think."

Ross seemed like he was thinking about what they just said. "I guess what you're saying makes sense. Fine, I try to convince the World Council to not shut down the Avengers Initiative." He raised his finger. "But you have to bring in Barnes. And Rogers. So we can find out what's really going on. Try to keep your circle as small as possible. We don't know how far HYDRA's reach is."

They both nodded. "We only involve people who we completely trust." She promised and Tony walked Ross to the door.

He turned to her after Ross was gone. "And now?"

"We go back to New York and get to work. If we screw this up we can forget the Avengers for good."

"Okay,you're the boss now!"

Sam, Rhodey, Wanda and Pietro were already waiting for her and Tony when they arrived back at the Tower. Thankfully Tony had a private plane in DC and they didn't had to wait for a plane to come from New York or take a regular flight.

The rest of them was confused that Steve wasn't with them. "We have to do this without him." Was all she said and Wanda gave her a look that told her that the kid could sense what was going inside her. She was angry, sad and confused but she didn't have time to deal with this. They needed to find Bucky and Steve fast before the damage would be even bigger.

FRIDAY was hacking into every surveiilance and traffic camera around the world to find Steve and Bucky. She hoped they would find them soon because she wanted to kick Steve in the nuts for turning everything into a bigger mess.

"So we're all thinking that HYDRA is behind this, right?" Sam asked into the round.

"The question is how did they get to Bucky." Rhodey continued.

"Wanda, did you find anything in his brain? Hidden triggers?" She asked the girl and everyone looked at her.

"No, I'm sorry." She blushed shyly. "I didn't get to that yet. I'm sorry." Her brother patted her hand.

"It's okay. It's not you fault." She assured her. It was HYDRA's fault. "Did anyone see or talk to Bucky yesterday morning?"

Those who had been in New York yesterday shook their heads.

"So we got nothing?" Pietro concluded.

"Miss Romanoff? Councilman Malick is on the phone for you." FRIDAY informed her and she excused herself to talk to him in private.

Malick promised her that he would still support the Avengers and try to keep the World Council on their side to get the Avengers authorized as their own agency. He said that Captain America being out of the picture could complicate things but he would try his best. She thanked him and ended the phone call.

They needed to find a HYDRA member to get intel or to infiltrate the organization. The hit on the White House had to be ordered by a high ranking member. It was the same with knowing how to trigger the Winter Soldier, she was sure that only a few people knew how to do that. Things would be so much easier if Steve hadn't vanished because she was more and more convinced that Bucky was with him and they took together off. Maybe to get off the grid or to find out who was behind all of this and Steve probably thought it was the best to keep the Avengers out of it.

"Natasha?"

Hill was standing at the door frame holding a file in her hand. "I'm gonna tell you something that you probably already know."

"I'm listening."

Maria walked over to the couch and sat down. "SHIELD's not gone. Coulson is the new director."

So her hunch was right. "Keep going."

"SHIELD's been going after HYDRA in the last months trying to shut it down for good. Remember Ward?" Maria made a face.

"He's HYDRA?"

"Yup." She nodded and slid the file over to her. "By the way he thinks you're eye candy."

"I caught him staring at my ass a few times." She grabbed the file and opened it. Various pictures of Ward were in it. And the info that he had been in custody but fled and killed his brother and almost killed Bobbi.

"Ward's been busy with HYDRA. He was Garrett's lap dog and now it seems he wants to climb up the ladder. Even kidnapped von Strucker's kid. May and Hunter went after him on a little revenge trip but couldn't capture or kill him."

"You want me to go after him?"

"Yes, Coulson contacted me." Hill explained. "He originally wanted to give a kill order but with the White House attack he thinks Ward may knows something."

She nodded and read over the file. The last known location of Ward was Texas. "Thank you for this." She said to Hill. "I'll leave in an hour."

"Shouldn't you take back up with you?"

She shook her head. None of the other Avengers were trained for these kinds of mission. She could have used Clint but she didn't want to drag him away from his family. "No, I'll go alone. I may have to do things that would make the skin of the others scrawl."

Hill gave her an understanding look. They were both trained to use torture to get information. She didn't think Sam and the others would be cool with that.

After Maria left she seached the floor for any clues that Bucky might have left but she found nothing. Ward was their only lead for now.

She said goodbye to the others before she left and told them to keep looking through surveillance feed and the dark web for HYDRA. She wanted Wanda to be ready to read Ward's mind if he didn't cooperate with them.

Sam walked her to the quinjet. "Call me immediately if you need back-up!"

She gave him a small smile. "I don't think that will be necessary..."

He gave her a stern look that made her promise him to tell him if she needed him. She highly doubted it though. Ward was good but she was better.

"For what is worth I don't think Steve would have left if he thought there was a another way." He said and rubbed her arm in a comforting way. She knew that he wanted to say that Steve wouldn't have left her if but he did and she had to live with that. It wouldn't help anyone if she watched sad movies and ate gallons of ice cream or whatever women did when they got their heart broken. She had no time for that HYDRA was planning something and they needed to be stopped.

"Thanks, Sam." She patted his arm and walked up the ramp of the quinjet. He waved and smiled at her until the ramp was up. She started the jet and typed in the coordinates of Ward's last known location. She hoped he would pick up a fight, she really needed to hurt someone.