Jane blinked as Darcy disappeared through the spaceship, she frowned and looked between an ungainly Jyn and fidgeting Cassian. Not even bothering to hide a smirk when she realised that she still managed to make the normally stoic man awkward. Raising her eyebrow at the pair, she wondered what exactly had happened to make them decide that she had to be picked up, fairly quickly. Tapping her foot up and down, she decided that she wanted answers, and she wanted them now.
"What happened guys? I wasn't in any trouble, would you like to explain yourselves, because I think I deserve some answers, you had the best hope that I wasn't just dragged away from my home." Jane spoke harshly.
The other two glanced at each other, gesturing towards one another, almost as if they were arguing among themselves who should answer the simple questions. Jane cleared her throat, wanting an answer immediately.
"Right, we owe you answers about that, but shall we go and find Dacia, she should be there for the explanation," Cassian told the woman, sighing. Noticing that the women looked annoyed, Jyn, in particular, was biting her lips, Cassian felt that he had to wonder what the woman had spotted. Jane for herself was beginning to look even more agitated, Cassian sighed as he realised that from Jane's perspective, the whole thing probably looked slightly damning and confusing.
Jyn gave a massive sigh that depressed her shoulders once, she would have to hold some of her questions, it seemed as if Darcy for one hadn't been told the whole story. Jane could hold her irritation a while longer, even if she considered that it would only make her feel better to continue getting more and more impatient – hopefully, it would lead to her getting a few more answers.
Following the other two through the spaceship, Jane briefly held off on the feeling of awe that was crawling up her body. She felt that it was more important for her to keep a tight leash on her awe, lest she gets distracted from demanding answers. Something that she honestly felt she deserved the answers.
Darcy had previously confided in her a little about the spaceship, before. It might have taken her some time for her to confide in her boss, she had explained to the woman exactly what had happened to make the woman so hesitant to tell Jane what was going on. It was something that she might not completely understand, but she felt like she could understand why someone might be more than a little cautious approach as to who they felt they could trust. It might be different, but Jane had never been sure as to who she could begin to trust after she won her Nobel Prize.
She could well remember, all the time she had been shot down as a legitimate scientist, only to be suddenly welcomed as a sort of genius, all of them licking around her not wanting to be left behind. She wasn't sure whether or not she would ever be able to forget the time that she had been brushed aside, cast in the role of embarrassment on a scale with the tin foil hat wearing conspiracy theorists.
Shaking her head again, when she felt that she had to remember where she was, she could be easily distracted at times and right not felt like just the time when she had to pay even more attention. No point in getting distracted over the gleaming silver corridors, not when she felt like she was owed some answers.
WHOOSH
Entering into the small central computer nodule, she looked around her, as she always did when she was faced with the gleaming silver workstations. Though she was aware that some of the data she could potentially get off the computers in here could outstrip anything she could easily get on her own. Maybe if she played her cards right with some of what she was no doubt about to learn, she might be granted access for even a small period.
"What was that about?" Jane asked Darcy, having noticed that the woman was standing over one of the computers flicking buttons perfunctorily.
"Right, we should probably explain some of our most recent actions where they pertain to you, huh?" Darcy asked when she quietly spoke.
"That would be appreciated, yes." Jane decisively nodded, feeling glad that now she was about to get some answers to the things that were beginning to bother her.
"Well, this might take some time, so please hold all your questions to the very end, I will attempt to explain all of this. First I'm assuming that you have heard of the Sokovia Accords yes? We were tasked by Ms Potts to find and bring the former Avengers to justice, mainly because it didn't seem as if they were likely to face any. Given the way, they were summarily thrown into the RAFT prison after made us suspect that we were right in this line of thinking. The rest of the world couldn't be sure where they were, and it didn't look as if they were going to face any court, Secretary Ross was not one was known for colouring within the lines, even on his best days. He was the one who was mostly responsible for the manhunt that Dr Banner had to flee from after the accident that brought about Designation: The Hulk. We took them from that prison, and at the same time, we managed to scoop up Designation (Former): Captain America and Designation: Winter Soldier. While we have been playing perfect hosts to them, we have of course been interviewing them; trying to understand what exactly drove them to those measures. With me so far?" Darcy checked.
Jane barely had enough time to nod her head in confused acquiesce, before she had a chance to open her mouth and begin to speak Darcy continued.
"Okay, so you are caught up on that. We haven't been able to pin them down to any clear motivation, from what we can see, it looks as if they were all just following Rogers' lead and not thinking through their actions. So it looks like they have gotten themselves in the shit, with no real idea of why they are there. It's troubling. While that was going on, K-2SO was able to find reliable intel that you were in trouble, so as soon as we were finished with the interviews, we wanted to be able to travel to assess your situation. When we were there, I'm guessing that Cassian and Jyn saw something that they didn't particularly like, would you like to explain guys?" Darcy frowned, looking between Cassian and Jyn for answers.
Cassian jumped a little as if electrocuted. He had zoned out again during Dacia's words, a small frown playing on his face. Going through his mind were some of the things that he felt had troubled him enough to make him want to move Jane. Even though he felt bothered enough to want an immediate move of the woman, he felt that he couldn't be 100% sure if it was a threat. He could only remind himself that this was one of the situations where it was better to be safe than sorry, wasn't that was Dacia was fond of saying?
Jyn glanced over at Cassian looking even more unbalanced about what she was about to say. Jyn felt as if she had seen something which didn't make a lot of sense, for one thing, she didn't even think that she felt comfortable enough to state what she had seen. In the smallest sense, she felt more than a little conflicted about whether or not she had seen was a real threat. For now, though, she felt that she had to tell someone about what she had spotted. Curling a single lock of hair behind her ear, she shifted her weight from one foot to the other and tried to pick some of the words she would have to begin speaking.
"Look, I don't know if it's a threat now but judging on what I have seen so far, I didn't feel completely comfortable with even the slightest possibility that we could leave Jane there. That is not to say that there was a threat, for now, though we can keep a better watch on what is happening back with Jane. But I don't know what Cassian may or may not have spotted, but I know enough to realise that what I spotted wasn't going to be something that I could immediately recognise as being part of the original area. It didn't seem as if it was something that I could state matched with what I have known about the surrounding area." Jyn sighed, thinking through some of what she had to say.
"Jyn, dear you are talking through your hat again!" Dacia groaned.
"No, no I know exactly what she is struggling to verbalise, but what I spotted, it didn't seem like normal paths that I was able to find. What I did spot though, were tracks, which by itself are not that surprising, we can expect to find things that don't seem to be sitting right. In any case, I found what looked to be a small lookout den. I thought that if anyone had bothered to set up a lookout perch, especially in such an out of the way spot. I figured that it looked as if someone was keeping an eye on Dr Foster. I couldn't remember if you mentioned whether or not there was anything providing security to the woman." Cassian remarked thoughtfully.
"Okay, Jyn is what he is saying true?" Dacia double checked, not wanting to miss a step at even this stage.
"Yeah, that tracks with what I saw, BODHI was there anything that you have been able to find that might point us in the correct direction?" Jyn answered.
"So far, while I have been able to find some evidence that Designation: Black Widow may have lost her temper and started to plan around the possibility of something happening to Dr Foster. Something which she could use to her credit." BODHI's smooth modulated voice rang out.
"Still here guys, but what would even be the purpose of her attacking me? Doesn't it seem like there would be anything that she could use to make herself look good? I'm a scientist, not an agent!" Jane reminded the small group.
"Dr Foster, I can state with near certainty that the woman intended to make herself look good by defending you. She was likely hoping to use the small fact that she could defend you against threats as a weapon against Dr Stark. No doubt, she intended to make herself look good in Lord Thor's eyes if you started to thank her for defending you." K-2SO reminded the small group.
Jyn tried to hide the fact that she was rolling her eyes, she found it to be predictable for the Andriod to become short-tempered when he wasn't always the centre of attention. It still astounded Jyn that the Andriod was an all-powerful Artificial Intelligence, still found it so easy to give into his childish side. She had briefly wondered whether or not; the Artificial Intelligence was always going to carry on attempting to put her down. She still wondered from time to time whether or not the Andriod distrusted anyone that he would no doubt have to share Cassian's attention with. Or was it simply because he believed that his methods were better than the womans'?
Oh well, questions for another day she surmised. With a short, sharp shake of he head, she focused her attention back onto the room in front of her.
"That doesn't make any sense. Thor and I broke up, how could she even begin to surmise that would make any difference to the woman. Why would Thor even want to break so much as sweat to bother about saving me?" Jane asked incredulously.
"The Artificial Intelligence might be one to something here. She might be still operating under the mistaken belief that there was no trouble between you too. It wasn't an acrimonious split though?" Darcy peered at Jane, chewing on her bottom lip as she thought some of the easier problems for them to deal with.
"No, it was fairly mature, I understand that he is a Prince and can't be with me at all times, but I couldn't live without knowing whether or not I was dating someone. You were with us for the whole length of our great romance; I didn't want to hold him back. Besides it probably would have just annoyed me too much if he had started to hand around all the time. I am not about that life; I need some space!" Jane shrugged, still not feeling completely sure where Romanoff would get any of her intel from.
"It does seem slightly more likely that when the two of you were dating Thor spent all his time talking you up to his fellow Avengers. It's possible that he was trying to reassure the others of his continued intention to come back to Earth, or as he put it Midgard. He would have no doubt felt that he held an even bigger connection, then he may not have gotten as many reminders of his role here." Cassian remarked.
"That is a good point, but a few days do not make a star-crossed relationship, I have my work that I would like to be getting on with, I don't want to be known as the kooky scientist dating an alien. I'd rather be known for my theories, not who I was supposedly bumping uglies with!" Jane threw her hands up in the air in protest, her voice rising in pitch as she continued to speak.
"Calm, okay, K-2SO can you get into the archives where any video with Thor might show us where she got the impression that there was, even more, going on behind the scenes than there was? We need to be able to move ahead of this?" Cassian tried to pacify Jane by holding his hands up in a conciliatory gesture.
"I will try to get into the files, it might be tricky though, we have, after all, heard that Dr Stark has a technologically advanced Artifical Intelligence." K-2SO sounded as if he was frowning.
It is was even possible for an Artifical Intelligence to frown that is.
"Oh but come on K, if anyone can break through any firewall that occurs to the technology of this century to put it will be you! Aren't you always telling us how superior you are?" Jyn cajoled the Artificial Intelligence.
Cassian looked over at the woman, wondering what had happened to make Jyn change her mind about his Andriod's capabilities involved. He was well aware that their relationship seemed to be made up of each of them trying to one-up each other. Sighing and exchanging a tired glance with Dacia, he wondered at what point did he have to be to feel completely fed up and hacked off with the two? At this point, the question wasn't even keeping him up at night; it was more of resignation that it genuinely didn't seem like anything was about to change for them.
Would a bit of silence and a cooling balm for his frazzled nerves be too much to ask? It probably would be.
"Okay, moving on from that, tell us when you manage to get any answers for us K-2SO, I have a feeling that we will need answers as soon as we can get them." Dacia sighed shaking her head.
"Very well, allow me to concentrate here, and I shall hopefully be able to make a little headway." K-2SO's prim and proper voice told the assembled group.
With K-2SO's words, the small group lapsed into silence. Having heard her computer beep at her, Dacia swung around again and started to look through some of the files the computer spat up on screen.
"Okay, so after we took you in Jane, I wanted to show the former members of the Avengers some of what happened in Siberia, I didn't particularly think it was a good idea if we allowed them to continue down the path of blaming Dr Stark for everything. They need to start learning to think for themselves, and I wanted to be able to jolt them to the notion that Designation (Former): Captain America might not always be telling them the truth." Dacia started to explain, waving her hands around as she did so.
"We haven't shown them that footage yet?" Cassian remarked, crossing his arms over his chest.
"No, not yet, it took me some time to be comfortable with how much I had scrubbed it up. I also wanted to check whether or not Dr Stark would be comfortable with us showing the footage." Jyn sighed, feeling like she had a massive amount of work ahead of her.
"Did you get an answer on that? It seems to me that the guy can't easily speak for what he wants, given that he hasn't yet woken up." Cassian checked.
"Ms Potts seems to be pettier over the thing that I am comfortable, admitting, in a reply she told me that she wants the Avengers we have still locked up to feel guilty. I have got to say; I am little impressed with that facet of the woman's personality." Jyn muttered, impressed.
Cassian whistled long and low, thinking quietly to himself. Jane's eyes darted between the three before she decided to speak.
"Wait, what footage and why is Dr Stark still not awake? What happened, what am I missing here guys?" Jane asked confused.
"Oh, so much, but you see after the complete fiasco at the airport, Dr Stark managed to follow both Designation (Former): Captain America and Designation: Winter Soldier to Siberia. You see Designation: Winter Soldier had been framed for blowing up a special UN signing, and that precipitated the fighting. At least, on 'Team Iron Mans' side, it didn't seem as if Designation (Former): Captain America was particularly interested in following things like law and procedure. He felt that he had to do what most of us would do for our friends, namely stick his nose in where it didn't belong." Dacia explained, feeling a little shocked that she had managed to forget the woman they had previously had to rescue.
"You see the Sokovia Accords were designed in part to protect the ordinary person from 'Supers' and while some of the addendums were slightly more invasive than would be liked. Namely any prospect where the Government would be able to track down people with powers, possibly even people who used their intellect to fight. While it looked like Designation (Former): Captain America was ostensibly fighting for freedom and for the Sokovia Accords to be struck down, he was fighting for his friend." Cassian continued for Dacia.
"Wouldn't someone have caught onto this though?" Jane doubtfully asked.
"We would have thought so too, except that he was still operating with the phrase 'Loose Lips Sink Ships' in the back of his mind, so he didn't pull anyone into his confidence. He was reactionary than pragmatic, and because of his legend and role in the Second World War, nobody thought to question him, or even to challenge him. The only person who was comfortable enough challenging him was Dr Stark, and we know now that he was willing to push away Dr Stark. We can't be sure whether or not it was the guy's ego that made him think that making such a decision was a smart and rational thing to do. To cut a long story short, the three ended up fighting in Siberia, and it took me a while to work out why they were fighting." Jyn took up the explanation.
"Jyn was able to find proof that they were fighting because they were shown a video of Designation: Winter Soldier assassinating his parents. Understandably Dr Stark freaked out and went to throw a punch at Designation: Winter Soldier before he realised that it seemed as if Designation (Former): Captain America had known. Instead of holding the guy and not letting him become violent, the fight escalated to a point where it was no holds barred. At least, it didn't look as if Designation (Former): Captain America or Designation: Winter Soldier were holding back." Cassian explained further.
"For one thing it doesn't seem as if the two were ready and willing to be calm and rational, Dr Foster. In fact, we have watched the videos, and it didn't look like the men were holding anything back, it looked like a no holds barred fight." Jyn told the woman.
"You do seem to be forgetting that Stark has access to the Iron Man prothesis, understand that while I do not follow weapons systems, it's not something that gives me much interest. I do suspect though that if Stark had simply wanted to end that fight, then Captain America and Winter Soldier would be nothing more than a speck on the wall. I am not a card-carrying member of the Tony Stark Defense Squad, but it is curious that people have found it so easy to discount Stark, simply because of how he grew up." Jane remarked thoughtfully.
"You may have a point, but for now we need to understand what exactly was going through those people's head. As Spanish poet George Santayana is often quoted as saying "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it'. So, we were wondering if it was possible that they got sucked into a type of cult of personality with regards to the man?" Dacia checked.
"It is possible, even though I didn't grow up in America, I did live here for a few years in my early teens, and it was shoved down our throats that the great Captain America could do no wrong. Do you think that the other Avengers or at least the people you have locked up here, bought into that whole thing?" Jane remarked.
"It's possible, especially if they weren't used to critical thinking. I can sort of understand why Designation: Hawkeye and Designation: Falcon may have bought into it. They are soldiers, and shadowy organisations where you aren't sure of their motives may not have been completely outside of the realm of possibility. Designation: Scarlet Witch intrigues me though, mostly because I cannot for the life of me see what she hoped to gain by publicly throwing in her lot with Designation (Former): Captain America, she seemed to have the possibility of a life if she had stayed behind in the Compound. Might not have been a happy one, but at least she would have had her agency and space to make her own decisions. Why would she have simply thrown that all away? It doesn't track with what we know about her so far." Cassian muttered.
"No, it seems to track perfectly, we know that she had a grudge against Dr Stark and openly admitted that she would do anything to see that revenge through to its conclusion. In her mind, I suspect that she wouldn't have liked feeling as if she owed the man anything. Take it from someone who constantly struggled with the ideas of revenge and questions of why those things don't go easily.
"Yeah, but you went underground during those years you spent hiding from the Empire, so you aren't an authority on revenge." Cassian thoughtlessly muttered.
"Maybe, maybe not, but I can tell you that I felt more fear during those years when I had to run from everything I knew. Don't forget that after Baze left me, I was very quickly at loose ends and I wasn't sure which direction to go in. For me, the only path I could take most of the time was to run for my life and quietly keep as much as peripheral eye on what Krennic was up to. At the very least I honestly felt like I deserved knowing whether or not I was still being hunted." Jyn calmly told the group in front of her.
"You were always hunted Ms Erso, whether or not you were aware of it. Tarkin didn't like the idea of having someone out there that could be used as collateral damage and a weak spot for any of his weapons designers." K-2SO distractedly put down the woman.
"Thanks for that." Jyn wound up as if she was about to continue arguing with the voice.
Jane shook her head once again; she felt that she couldn't understand these people sometimes, it didn't matter to her how often Darcy explained their backgrounds. She had resolved herself to the information that there were some things that she just wasn't supposed to understand. At least not when it came to things that didn't link to the night sky and the stars above her head. She sometimes felt that she didn't have the energy to care particularly for anything that wasn't linked to the stars. Not when she could be so intent on peeling back the secrets behind the universe.
"Oh guys, settle down, for now, we need to focus on some of the problems facing us. What were there reactions." Cassian tiredly mediated between the two.
"Right, for now, it seems like we might have gotten off lightly because at least for now they are quiet in the cells. My guess is that they are still working on understanding what they have just watched." Dacia theorised with a shrug of annoyance.
"For now though, that isn't important, K, have you managed to find anything yet?" Cassian asked drawing the focus of the conversation back to what they were trying to do.
Glaring at one another as they tried to come up with solutions to their problems, seemed to an effort destined for failure. Sighing to herself, Dacia clapped her hands together once and ran a hand through her hair in agitation. To herself, it felt like they were so close to being able to find an answer to the problem that had been silently bugging them, she knew herself well enough at the point to be able to say that she thought the solution was staring at them. For now, though, it escaped her, she felt disappointment in herself, as she ruefully thought to herself that it seemed unlikely that she would be able to think her way out a wet paper bag.
Distracted from what they were doing, which at this point was nothing, a small beeping noise distracted the group from staring at each other without a purpose for much longer. Jane looked around the room, searching for any point the beeping sound could emanate from, while Cassian turned on the spot and started to tap buttons on the computer in front of him. Taking a large lungful of air, Jane looked over at Cassian while she tried to work out how she should behave, sighing when she realised that the man wasn't giving him any hints on how she should begin to act.
Looking over at a smirking Jyn, she wondered to herself what exactly the woman could have to smirk about. She wondered if there was something that she was missing; it was entirely likely that there was something that she wasn't thinking about. She had already become resigned to the fact that she would always be likely to miss subtle clues whenever she was around these other people. It came, she thought of not being able to completely understand them, due to them having been from both another portion of the Universe and a different time. It was endlessly entertaining to wonder what behavioural clues she simply wasn't picking up.
Jane was well aware that she could frequently be accused of missing out on subtle behavioural clues, finding it a better use of her time to have her head stuck in a book. It was marginally disappointing that she couldn't simply read a couple of books to try and explain some of the behaviours further. Oh well, she shrugged to herself, she now had more things on her minds than in trying to understand some of the things which she struggled with.
Dacia was stood while her arms hanging at her side before she started to speak;
"Well? Don't leave us hanging K, what had you found?" Dacia impatiently asked.
"It would have taken me a shorter amount of time, I apologise for the long wait, but I encountered some things that I wasn't expecting. It turns out that we shouldn't have been so quick to sneer off the advances made in this century and this Universe, or at least not when it comes to Dr Stark." K-2SO sounded prim and irritated.
"Any chance you could tell us what you found K? We are all just hanging around here, waiting for you." Jyn spoke harshly, her annoyance with the former Andriod leaking into her tone.
"Doesn't seem to me like you are doing anything even approaching usefulness Ms Erso!" K-2SO shot back at the woman.
"K! Apologise, that was rude, you know sometimes I would really like a moment of peace. And between the two of you always trying to score points against one another in some imaginary game, it doesn't look like I'm going to get that. At least not while you two are around!" Cassian cried out, becoming fed up with the incessant back and forth between the two.
"Sorry." The two muttered ashamed of themselves and their actions.
Jane looked over at Darcy, frowning as she wondered whether or not it was standard behaviour for the two to apologise in unison, no doubt it wasn't something that the two of them planned on doing. Judging by the amount they fought with one another, it was more likely that it had been an unhappy accident.
Dacia's eyebrows rose again as she tried to hide a smirk when she realised that the two had done precisely what they never wanted to do, namely agree on something. It had to be something that would happen to the two from time to time, namely that they were known to accidentally say the same things. It might be unfortunate, but the two were remarkably similar at times, perhaps, they couldn't get along at times, because they were so similar but constantly clashed, precisely because they tended to think in much the same way.
"Okay, can we please move on, what did you find K?" Cassian blinked at the computer in front of him attempting to tamp down on his frustration.
"Very well, my enquiries were intercepted by a being called FRIDAY, again, may I state that I don't believe that there could be more than meets the eye when it comes to this Universe. It took me some doing, but I was able to work around the being. I was able to find evidence of constant undermining of Dr Stark, but most curiously I did find that Lord Thor was constantly talking up his beloved, I believe that he called her Lady Jane.
But that's not all, while the man was prone to fits of rhapsody about the woman, he similarly did not speak of any problems in the relationship. It is unknown at this time whether or not the man simply didn't believe in sharing all the parts of his relationships. Or maybe he simply couldn't see them. It is entirely possible that the alien didn't want anyone to think any less of him, at least not if he could help it. Another point to consider is that he could already see the writing on the wall and doubt the Avengers was always going to be around." K-2SO spoke calmly telling the small group what he had found.
"Enough with the armchair diagnosis, you aren't even programmed to give those small details." Jyn sighed.
"No, but I have a learning protocol, so I can look up the things that interest me. In any case, it could explain why the woman is interested in Dr Foster." The AI testily shot back.
"ALRIGHT ENOUGH YOU TWO, GO TO YOUR SEPARATE CORNERS UNTIL YOU CALM DOWN ENOUGH SO THAT I DON'T WANT TO SCREAM," Cassian shouted at the two, running a hand his hair in agitation.
WHOOSH
Silence reigned supreme in the prison cells while the group tried to digest what they had just seen on the tapes. Clint sighed once again and wondered again how he had gotten himself involved in this mess. He sometimes found himself wondering if he had access to a time machine, he had seen enough while under the employment of S.H.I.E.L.D. to completely discount the existence (or near existence) of such machines. He would like to go back before this mess started and stay on the farm with his wife and kids. That way he wouldn't have had to get involved in this whole mess.
It took him some time to work out that some of the feelings he held for Wanda Maximoff weren't real. He wasn't sure what had possessed him to lump the woman into the same category as his daughter Lila, the woman was old enough to be a lover. If Clint ever went for terrorists that had her fingers in his friends' minds and tried to kill him. Clint could admit that he might be more messed up than he liked to admit some days, but he drew the line there. He was starting to consider whether or not it had been the right move for him to jump to dance to Rogers' tune so quickly.
Judging by the video they had just watched, the two of them, he wasn't so sure whether he should have so easily danced to Rogers' tune. Whether any of them should have trusted Rogers' so easily. He could easily remember that one of the Avengers' earlier nemesis' was Loki who had patronisingly described the man as 'The Man Out Of Time'. After that whole mess he had easily wiped the taunts from his mind, but not he wondered if he shouldn't have paid closer attention. Should Rogers have been trusted to leave a paramilitary group made up of people with special abilities?
"Steve, would you like to explain, WHY THE HELL ARE WE STILL LISTENING TO YOU? WHAT GAVE YOU THE RIGHT TO LEAD US TO THIS." Clint roared.
"I thought that was quite simple personally because who else would have led your sorry asses? You? I think not; you were in trouble long before we ever got there, you were waiting for a reason to come out. Was life on the farm getting too boring for you? Not enough action and adventure for there pal?" Steve taunted, sneering at the man.
He had long ago managed to see the writing on the wall with regards to the man. It wasn't Steve's fault that the man hadn't had enough patience (or intelligence) to sort through his emotions and know when he was being led astray? You just couldn't find good help anymore, certainly not when it came to someone who been formally employed by a clandestine agency that turns out to be an even more clandestine terrorist group? Steve had frequently asked himself if you could trust anyone anymore.
Certainly, he couldn't trust Stark, but one thing that he was embarrassed about what that he hadn't counted on the man going postal on them in that bunker. Stark should have known enough to so willingly disobey him. He should have known enough to take a firmer hand in making sure that the man understands that Rogers' word was as good as law. Steve sometimes wondered how much his good friend Howard would weep if he could see how badly behaved his son was. Steve wondered how little a hand Howard had taken in his son's upbringing because clearly, it wasn't enough.
As per usual he got stuck with the bill for looking after the man that so easily tried his patience. Clearly, he did, couldn't trust anyone these days, and those he had once trusted only tried to kill him and Buck in that Siberian hellhole.
Sam's eye ran over the people before him as he questioned what exactly had happened to make him think it was a logical solution to all of his problems. It might have been an easy path to take, for him to help Cap during that dust-up that was in DC. Then, he should have known to cut his losses afterwards; the man had had far too much going on with him. He had been taken in by the man's blue eyes. Why hadn't he realised that the man who was supposed to be the lynchpin in the NAZIs destruction? The man looked like the perfect Aryan specimen, white skin and all!
He had wondered whether or not he had been so blinded to some of the truth working alongside the man, because he had seen a fellow former soldier in considerable distress with more issues than Vogue? He should have been able to put aside his potential friendship with the man, to know that he should have attempted to call in bigger guns and get the man to seek professional help. Sam was left to wonder whether or not his ego had been too big for him to admit that a problem that faced him was bigger than him.
He should have seen the signs all along; he didn't have much by way of formal qualifications. He had more learned on the job, and while he had been counselling Veterans, he had been able to get a small qualification, and he had learned the rest on the job. For a time that had worked, but Sam had privately suspected that even the licensed professionals with a long string of letters after their name would the way Steve Rogers mind worked to be vexing. Hoping that he could blunder through it by a combination of luck friendship was not enough to make a positive. Sam also privately doubted that it was even enough to get through to the guy.
Scott now that he was in enforced proximity with them had learned that it was never a good idea to meet your heroes. He had been wondering all along what had happened to make him think that it was a smart idea to hang on Dr Pym's every word. Sure, not Dr Pym had been the one to point out that you should never trust a Stark, but Scott couldn't remember whether or not Dr Pym had ever met Stark. He had managed to work out that Dr Pym had mostly retired from a life spent as CEO and before that hero, so how would he have ever met Stark? Even more embarrassing but had Scott ever even thought to ask the man whether or not he had ever met Stark?
Some of the business decisions that Stark made had flown over Scott's head, but Scott wasn't sure how he would react if he were ever faced with his parent's murderer. Yeah, he might have met the guy who technically murdered his parents, at the guy's trial, but he had still been young then, so could he trusted not to try and take the law into his own hands happened now?
Scott didn't think he could trust himself enough to be faced with the same decisions and make better calls, for one thing, he wasn't sure about much anymore. He still found himself wondering from time to time why he had decided to throw in his lot with Cap. Sure, it was Captain America, and he had heard the story of when the guy had seemingly single-handedly taken down the Nazis? Though now, he was beginning to question whether or not that was oversimplifying a big problem. He had long since known (at least he had dated that history major in uni) how difficult it could be to kill an idea, so it stood to reason that the NAZIs were still alive and kicking.
Didn't that whole mess in DC prove that they were still about? Still lurking in the shadows like the creepers they were! Scott could acknowledge that he had been a bit of idiot, getting involved in things that he had no business getting involved in. Why did he think he could play (fight) with the big boys? He was new to this whole hero game, why had he even gotten involved?
He should have known that when he was fired from Baskin Robbins (they always know man) that it would be incredibly difficult for him to find a job, he should have known better than to break into some rich prats home. All he had wanted was to be able to remain in his darling Cassie's life, but how could he expect to do that if he continued to do stupid things like breaking the law. He had been so grateful when the rich bastard had decided not to press charges, but he should have known better. What other reason would that guy have had not to press charges if he hadn't had something to hold over the guys head? Scott was starting to realise that he was a patsy for Pym and nothing more. It was disappointing to realise that someone had never intended for you to be anything more than cannon fodder because Scott could now realise that Pym had called him in to avoid his daughter getting killed.
Scott felt himself sliding down the wall beside his bed and wondered to himself whether or not he was a complete idiot. Why had it even entered into mind that he could make a difference? While he was almost positive that he had made a difference in for the people living in San Francisco, it would have been bad if Cross had realised his evil intentions. But he wasn't sure if that meant he was ready to step forward and save the world. Had he been ready to step forward and make a change? It was a shame that there wasn't any form of qualification for hero work.
After watching the video Wanda felt only disappointment fill her – she felt disappointed with Steve for not killing Stark. The guy was right there, and he could have so easily killed the guy who brought Wanda so much pain. Maybe the only thing that could be considered good was that now Wanda could kill Stark? The guy's hands were dripping blood, for his many victims, Wanda could only imagine the relief and small amount of joy that would fill them with news of the pig's death.
The bloodier, the better (with regards to Stark), nothing would fit the man's end better. After Stark met his end, she would want to deal with Rogers. What made that man think that she appreciated being treated like a child? She was fully aware of what she was doing, and the only thing that she regretted from that ULTRON misstep was that her beloved brother Pietro had died. She always wished that she had listened to her brother in that castle and killed Stark there.
The man had been out of his armour and completely vulnerable, but she wanted to make the man hurt. If she had listened to Pietro then, maybe she would still have her brother. They could be back within HYDRA's embrace merrily torturing their way through Europe. Oh well, it would seem that hindsight could show her a whole manner of problems she could have easily avoided.
She would also wonder what she would do if she ever came face to face with Vision, the stupid robot had been too conflicted on how he should behave towards her after she broke out of the Compound. Didn't sending the thing through floors of concrete tell the man that she just wasn't that interested in him? When she got out of this, some things were going to change.
James stood in his cell and slowly surveyed the other prisoners wondering to himself how he had managed to get himself entangled in this mess? How had this 'team' ever operated together for this long?
Who the hell was Bucky?