Traveling Guest: Glad you enjoyed it. Yeah, Tony here is in a better place, allowing him to make better decisions, in spite of his conflicted feelings about Bucky. I'd say MCU MJ is pretty understanding after the first movie, but the rest I agree. You'll see. Guess no matter what you look like, you can't change where you come from.

TW: Thank you. Slowly but surely.

Ellie Bishop: You'll see. Thank you, it wouldn't surprise me if they were all the same person but I do know for sure it's a user on this site who doesn't like that me and a few others have decided not to take his BS and has decided to create numerous accounts with the sole purpose of harassing us.

The Raft

Night

"How do you lose Tony Stark of all people?" Ross demanded irritably as he talked on the phone with the men he had tailing Tony.

"Sir, I don't understand it either. He left his house at 1:30; we followed his car for two hours before they stopped at a gas station. While the driver filled up the tank, we looked in the back. He wasn't there," the man said, sounding as confused as Ross.

"I'll deal with you both later. Return to base, now," Ross almost growled before hanging up.

Putting Tony Stark out of his mind for the moment, Ross exited his office, heading to the cells once. Perhaps Zemo would finally be willing to talk.

Near the London border

Next morning

"You sure this is the place?" Steve asked as they stopped the car outside a remote cabin.

"This is where Bobbi told us to meet. It's one of her old safe houses she'd use on missions close to London. It's not on any SHIELD files that I leaked, so it's safe," Natasha assured him.

"Do you trust her?" Steve asked after a moment.

"Only people I'd trust more than her would be you and Clint," Natasha told him and after a moment, Steve nodded.

"Anyone you trust that much must be something," Steve noted and she smiled.

"She is," Natasha said simply as they got out of the car.

It was silent for a moment as they walked up to the safe house, a modest looking house that appeared to be one story. It was a dull red color, not something you were likely to buy, Steve mused as they reached the door.

Natasha knocked on it and there silence for a moment.

"Strange weather we're having," a voice said from the other side of the door, a woman's.

"I brought an umbrella," Natasha answered.

After a few moments, the door opened to reveal a tall, attractive blond woman with blue eyes.

"Nat. It's good to see you," Bobbi Morse said with a smile.

"It's been a while," Natasha agreed, the two sharing a brief hug. "And I'm sure he needs no introduction."

"No, no he doesn't," Bobbi agreed as they released each other and she glanced at Steve. "Captain Rogers, it's an honor to meet you."

"You as well, Ms. Morse. Any friend of Nat's is a friend of mine," Steve said politely, holding out a hand to Bobbi, who took it in a handshake.

"Call me Bobbi. And let's get inside. You have no idea who may be watching," Bobbi said with a look outside.

Steve nodded in agreement. They didn't think they were followed, but you could never be too careful.

As they stepped inside, Bobbi closed the door behind them and Steve looked around, spotting a fair skinned man with short brown hair and hazel eyes sitting on a couch. Seeing them, he got to his feet.

"Nat, Captain Rogers, this is Lance Hunter," Bobbi introduced them.

"Oh, I've heard about you," Natasha said with a laugh.

"Nothing good, I assume," Hunter said with a raised eyebrow.

"Depended on how mad at you I was," Bobbi said and Hunter nodded.

"That's fair. So, what's going on?" Hunter asked and Steve and Natasha exchanged a wary glance.

"That's…a long story," Steve said, wondering where to start.

Unspecified location

Not long after

In a room that reminded Wanda of the briefing room at Avengers Tower, she stood, looking at the holographic blueprints of the building Ross spent most of his time, according to Betty. Clint, Fury and Hill were in the room with her.

"The room Ross refuses access to anyone else is here," Fury said, pointing to a room deep in the building. "On the eighth floor. From our Intel, it's locked electronically, with laser grids inside in case anyone does manage to get inside. There are about twenty guards on that level."

"So if anyone manages to trigger the alarms, those guards will be on them in seconds," Wanda noted and Fury nodded.

"That's not even the worst of it," Hill added and two looks of disbelief were shot at her.

"What could be worse than that?" Clint said what Wanda was thinking.

"The building has a Steranko," Fury said.

Wanda wasn't sure what a Steranko was, but judging by the look of horror and disbelief Clint was shooting Fury, silently asking if he was joking, Wanda knew it wasn't good.

"You're kidding, right? You want to try and beat a Steranko?" Clint demanded. "Are you out of your mind?"

"What's a Steranko?" Wanda asked, hating feeling out of the loop.

"The most advanced security system in the world," Clint told her.

"You know those AIs Stark uses?" Hill asked and Wanda nodded. "Take one of those, hook it up to CIA level infra-red, ultra-sound, and motion sensors, and then give it the personality of the Hulk. That's a Steranko."

"Unlike most security systems, it can adapt, learn. It's next to impossible to beat it," Fury added.

"And you want us to try anyway," Clint said, still in disbelief.

"Rogers and Romanoff asked me for help in bringing down Ross. In almost a month since then, this is the only thing I was able to find. It's this or nothing," Fury pointed out and Clint sighed.

"I hate it when you're right. And Ross knows about my family, I have to stop him before he hurts someone else I care about. All right, so how to do we beat it?" Clint asked reluctantly.

"There are levels to a Steranko, ranging from passive lockdown to a chemical breach. Anything beyond a passive lockdown, no one sees the light of day again," Hill explained.

"Ross runs a tight ship, the Steranko scans for any intruders by the second. Which is why it can't know of an intruder," Fury said before glancing at Wanda. "Did Romanoff ever tell you how she fooled Alexander Pierce the day SHIELD fell?"

"The Photostatic Veil. She used it to impersonate a member of the Security Council," Wanda said, wondering why Fury was bringing this up now.

"Yeah, she did," Fury said, reaching into his jacket and pulling it out. "And now, you're going to use it to impersonate a member of Ross's staff."

"Elaine Bishop," Hill said as the hologram of the building vanished, replaced by a woman about ten years Wanda's senior with black hair and grey eyes. "According to Betty, she's Ross's right hand. She's also around your height and weight."

"Why does that matter? I thought no one could access this room without Ross?" Wanda asked confused.

"There's a failsafe in the system. A retinal scan can deactivate the Steranko, and shut down all security locks, including for that room. It would only be for a few minutes, but enough to get you into the room, see what's in there," Fury explained.

"Only problem is, the retinal scan only works with Bishop's key card," Hill explained.

"So we need to take Bishop out, get her key card and then pull this off, hoping nothing goes wrong," Clint said with a heavy sigh. "Well, I hope Nat is having a better time that we are."

Bobbi's safe house

Same time

"Bloody Hell," Hunter muttered once Steve and Natasha had finished their story.

"Ross really went after Clint's family?" Bobbi asked horrified and got two nods in return. "Are they all okay?"

"Fury got there in time, they all got out okay. Last I heard, Clint's wife and kids were sent somewhere safe," Natasha explained and Bobbi nodded, letting out a sigh of relief.

While she and Clint had ended things long before Clint had met Laura, they had remained friends, even if they occasionally bickered. She would never wish harm on him or his family.

"If everything's all right, why come to us?" Hunter asked, breaking Bobbi out of her thoughts.

"Not you, her," Natasha said, turning her attention back to Bobbi. "I know that after the incident in Harlem, Fury had you in charge of keeping tabs on Ross. And I know you well enough to know that you'd keep doing that after SHIELD fell."

"If there's anything you have on Ross that might be able to help us take him down, we'd really appreciate it," Steve added and Bobbi paused, thinking.

"There might be."

Not long after, Bobbi was showing the three of them a room full of boxes.

"Bloody Hell. You're a pack rat," Hunter muttered as Bobbi opened one.

"Cute, Hunter. Last time I was here, I put these here. They have all my Intel on Ross. Here it is," Bobbi said, finding what she was looking place.

Bobbi placed it on a table and unfolded the paper so they could see it. Walking up behind her, they saw it was blueprints to a building.

"This is the building where Ross works in DC. Ross will want to keep anything he doesn't want getting out close," Bobbi explained.

"Like his office," Natasha mused and Bobbi shrugged.

"Don't know for sure. But a man like Ross, he needs to be in control, all the time. It would make perfect sense for him to keep anything that could damage his credibility close," Bobbi pointed out.

"What do you think?" Natasha asked after a moment, glancing at Steve, who looked thoughtful.

"I think it's the only lead we have right now. Fury might have something better, but he's not talking right. And we're out of options," Steve noted and Natasha nodded.

"I know. Looks like we're going to Washington," Natasha said with a sigh.

Not a big chapter but hope you all enjoyed it anyway.

A Steranko (named after Marvel writer Jim Steranko) is from the TV show Leverage (which if you haven't seen you absolutely should). Felt fitting to use it here, for obvious reasons.

Hope you all enjoyed the Bobbi and Hunter cameo.