Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Awareness returned slowly to Tony Stark.

The first feeling that came back to Tony was pain. Throbbing, constant pain in many different places. The second thing that flowed back was his memories. Yes, he remembered why he was in pain.. Rogers and Barnes had kept his parents’ reason for death a secret, they had fought, broken his suit, and left him to die in Siberia.

The next thing he felt was his emotions, flooding back through the dam that had shattered after watching that bastard kill his mother. He felt anger, he felt rage.. He felt fear, and sadness.. How could they?! They left me! How could they leave me here to freeze to death?! He angrily thought, as feeling came back to him. That’s when he realized some

He had been left in Siberia.. In a snow covered HYDRA base..thing..

Then.. Why wasn’t he cold?

Tony’s eyes snapped open, only to hiss at the bright light that invaded his vision. He tried to bring his hands up to cover the brown orbs, but his hand was jerked back down. He froze, trying to lift his other hand, same reaction. His hands were tied down? Why?

Tony opened his eyes again, beginning to struggle with a vengeance. But his legs were bound too, on the ankles and knees. There was a something around his neck, it seemed to tighten as he tried to break free. Why!? Why was he bound!?

Suddenly, a painful shock ran through his body, causing a hoarse cry to escape him as his body jerked slightly before going limp. He panted, it felt as if all of his strength had suddenly faded away.

Then, there was shuffling, and noises. Tony tensed up instantly, eyes flickering around in an attempt see who it was.. There were voices around him.. But he couldn't hear what they were saying.. Was he at the hospital?

But then, the light was moved away from his eyes, and the spots in his vision faded. Blinking a couple times, his brown eyes turned towards a figure that was near him. As he finally got a full view of them.. He realized what was going on.

They were wearing HYDRA symbols.

Suddenly the fear was returning in full force. Tony jerked his head back, and struggled again.”You bastards!” He exclaimed,”Let me go!”

Another jolting, painful shock jerked through his body, causing Tony to stop fighting once more. “It’s awake,”A deep voice with a german accent grumbled,”Finally, we’ve been waiting long enough.”

Tony frowned, chocolate eyes examining the men around him. They had the HYDRA uniforms, and black gloves on them. One, however, was wearing a white lab coat with the symbol on the back. He had a surgical mask on, and thin black hair that covered some of his forehead. He must have been the one that spoke.

“Who-” Tony began, only to let out a strangled croak as another shock ran through his body, his body thrashing slightly again.

“You’re awake. Good,” The man in the lab coat began,”Captain America and the Winter Soldier did a number on you before they brought you in, I was beginning to believe that you wouldn't make it. It would be a shame to lose our newest Asset.”

Tony frowned. “Asset?” He questioned. “What are you- AGH!”

The doctor held up a small controller with a red button, thumb poised over it. “Assets are possessions, possessions don't speak. You will listen and obey,” He declared.

“Fuck you!” Tony snapped, this time he was expecting the shock, but it didn't make it less painful.

The soldiers chuckled, and one said,”I’m surprised that the Asset still has fight in him after Siberia. Don't worry, Dr. Muller, that fight will leave him soon.”

The doctor slowly lowered the controller. “Yes, I suppose you’re right,” He said,”Although I'm beginning to see why the Captain and the Winter Soldier were eager to hand him over. Such a weak individual.”

Tony’s mind finally registered those words, confusion filling him, and a frown marring his lips. “What?” He asked aloud,”They would never-”

The doctor whipped out the controller again, pressing it once more. Tony cried out again, as the doctor nodded. “Yes, they did. After all, who would want to be near a worthless thing like you?” He sneered,”But don't worry, HYDRA will turn you into something better. You’ll be our new weapon, you will be our Asset.”

Tony’s blood ran cold, his fists clenching so hard that they turned paler than they already were. No.. No they can't be serious! He thought in horror.

Dr. Muller smirked, walking over to a side table. Tony turned his head the best he could to watch, and saw several different tools on it. All of the were sharp, and deadly looking. There was also a closed, silver briefcase. Tony’s heart began to stutter in terror.

The doctor ran his pale hands over the tools, waving his fingers in a morbidly excited way. “Of course, we will be using different methods than we did with the Winter Solider,” He said with a chuckle,”Don’t wanna make the same mistakes twice.”

Tony didn’t find it very funny, especially when Muller picked up a large syringe, and flicked the air bubbles from the red liquid. Instead of staying still, Tony began to thrash again. In the back of his mind, he knew it was hopeless, but the rest of his brain was panicking.

“You bastards! You’re all monsters! I’ll get out of here, I’ll let the whole world know HYDRA is alive!” He yelled,”You won’t get away with this! The Avengers will.. They’ll..” But he stopped himself…

Muller smirked at him, green eyes filled with sadistic amusement. “They’ll what, Asset?” He asked,”You have nobody who cares for you anymore, Captain America and the Winter Soldier left you for us, the Avengers hate you. You have no one.. You deserve no one.”

Before Tony could react, Muller took the syringe, plunging it into his neck. “He won’t remain awake for the procedure anyways, putting him to sleep now will save us a lot of trouble,” He explained,”Now, let’s begin phase one.”

Tony tried to fight whatever they injected him with, but soon the voices around him sounded like they were underwater, and then his vision faded to black once more.

This was the beginning of Tony’s life in hell.

-- -- -- -- -- --

Three Years Later

-- -- -- -- -- --

Many things had changed in the past few years. With Tony Stark- one of the main backers of the accords -missing, people began to notice its flaws. Then, as the flaws appeared, so did criminals who realized how much easier crimes were when nobody could stop you. The sudden influx of crime, combined with the questions that Secretary Ross wouldn’t answer, sent the public into a rage.

Ross tried to defend himself by claiming that the Avengers would cause more damage than anything else, but the state of the world around him proved otherwise. Many countries kept their opinions firm, they wanted to Accords to to stay. Many other countries, however, were starting to realize how unhelpful that stack of papers really was.

Those countries tried to call a UN meeting, but to no avail. So, many countries simply started to disregard the accords, the first country to do so being Wakanda. King T’Challa’s reasoning being ‘My father was killed by a villain, I just want heroes to be able to protect us. I thought the accords would help with that but they are just making the situation worse.’

Several countries followed in Wakanda’s footsteps. It wasn’t long before superheroes started to pop up in this countries once more, and the crime rate dropped quickly.

As soon as other officials realized the effectiveness of disregarding the accords, they followed in suit. One by one, countries stopped following the accords, to the point that trying to use it for anything was seen as a joke.

But still, the UN refused to meet, because Ross refuse to lose the control he so desperately desired, using the Winter Soldier’s attack on Wakanda as an example. For a while, it worked, and people backed down.

But then the leaks happened..

Someone anonymously dropped videos onto the internet, showing Helmut Zemo’s confession to T’Challa and the video of Zemo planting the bombs. Now the world knew that Ross had been a liar.

Things moved fast after that. Ross was fired and arrested, the UN meeting was finally called, the Accords were nullified, and the Avengers who were once fugitives were able to return with SHIELD, Thor, and Bruce eventually returning along with them. All in the span of a year and a half..

It was strange for Steve to think about, how long and painful the Accords seemed to last but how quickly they vanished. All of that was what led him to where he was now, staring at the blank page of his sketchbook in the Avenger compound.

It was hard to move back in, along with everyone else. Coming back was difficult too, especially for Bucky, who was just getting over the trigger words with the help of Bruce and SHIELD. Clint and Laura were divorced now, and he didn’t see her or the kids often, Scott was usually with his daughter when he wasn’t at the compound, Natasha was around too, but was often quiet, Sam too. Wanda was depressed as well, but that mainly had to do with the fact Vision was completely avoiding her. Obviously he was not happy with them, and he wasn’t the only one.

Pepper, Peter, and Rhodey were very angry towards them as well, especially toward him and Bucky. All the friendliness was gone, but Steve understood why.. Even though he didn't find out about Tony being missing until he came back, it was his fault. What surprised him was the hostility from Bruce and Thor towards the topic, both deciding Steve and the rest of his team were also in the wrong.

He wished he could fix it, he really did, but it was too late. There was no hint to Tony’s whereabouts, so all they could do was wait for a sign. It hurt, but there was some good in his life at least. He and Bucky were together now, and his best friend was finally recovering. He would probably never get over what happened, but Steve was just thankful to have him. Thanks to the sudden drop of crime as they returned, he hoped they would have time to mend everything around them and themselves..

As if his thoughts were heard, there was a sudden loud blaring. Steve was jerked out of his thoughts, and turned to look at the ceiling. “FRIDAY?” He asked,”Is something wrong?”

“Obviously,” The annoyed AI replied, not very happy about him being around either. “It’s a call from Director Fury.”

“Answer it please..” He awkwardly asked, placing his sketchbook down on the dark oak table, his blue eyes continuing to stare at the ceiling.

After a small ping, he heard Fury’s voice loud and clear. “Captain Rogers, I need you to gather the team in the meeting room, something needs our attention,” He declared instantly.

It was unlike Fury to sound this… Worried, and Steve couldn’t help but question,”What’s going on?” There was silence on the other end for what felt like forever, until Fury finally responded.

“HYDRA has returned.”

-- -- -- -- -- --

The Avengers all gathered to the meeting room extremely fast, mainly because most of them knew the threat that HYDRA caused for them. The only people who didn’t really understand, Sam and Scott, watched the others curiously. They had heard stories, but nothing more.

Director Fury’s one eye stared at them from his seat near the front of the table, Agent Hill right next to him. Once everyone was paying attention, Natasha was the first to speak up. “What happened?”

Steve frowned at the open question, but he was wondering the same thing. He looked over at Bucky, noticing the dark, bubbling mix of fear and anger in his eyes. They all had that question, what happened, how did HYDRA return, and why?

“It happened last night, at the RAFT”  Fury began, moving to look at the screen, which showed security footage of several cameras. One minute, it was SHIELD agents patrolling the halls, but then the cameras all somehow glitched at once, turning into snow. Then the screen came back, most showing all the agents unconscious, doors broken, and.. Zemo’s cell was shattered open.

Steve and Bucky tensed, as the blonde asked,”So Zemo escaped? No offense, sir, but isn’t that more important than a rumor about HYDRA?”

“Captain, I would not say HYDRA had returned without proof, let me finish” He angrily snapped,”HYDRA freed Zemo, and purposefully left video evidence behind.”

The tense atmosphere in the room grew, as the lights darkened turning most of the attention to the screen. Steve couldn’t really tell where it was, but he saw four people on screen. One was a disheveled looking Zemo, whose was unbound and standing happily in a prison suit. The other three were painfully familiar, and made several members of the room tense.

They were wearing all black outfits, with under armour and weapons attached to them, with the HYDRA symbol displayed. The first two were tall, and had slimmer suits, but the third was shorter, and wearing clothing that looked eerily similar to the Winter Soldier’s clothing. He looked rather young as well.

“Well,” Zemo suddenly said,”I must say, out of all the people I expected to free me, HYDRA soldiers weren’t one of them.”

The taller two chuckled, while the shorter remained eerily silent. This reaction sent a frown of confusion up Zemo’s face, as he asked,”I don’t understand.. What’s so funny?”

“We merely find it funny that you think we would waste any efforts to help you, you are not worthy of joining HYDRA, but you are worthy of being our example for what happens when you cross us, kill our members, and steal our files…” One of the taller men declared, causing Zemo’s face to fill with fear.

“Asset,” The tall one suddenly said, and instantly, the third one reacted. He pulled a gun out of his belt, pulling the trigger, and shooting Zemo in the head. The man instantly crashed to the ground, blood pooling underneath him.

The taller one then said,”Good, very good.” His hand went to the shorters hair, running  a hand through it, as the shorter put his gun back in the holster. Then, without a word, the three turned and left. They didn’t have to say anything, because they knew their message was clear, HYDRA was back.

The screens returned to snow once more, and Fury turned back towards them. His face was grim, as he declared,”Now do you see why this is a problem? They’re back, and all we know is that they killed Zemo. We have nothing else, no information, nothing to go on. But they’re planning something, they have to be, they had no reason to reveal themselves and yet they did. HYDRA’s return is now one of our main priorities, understood?”

Most of them nodded, understanding instantly. Steve’s blue eyes, however, saw his best friend shuddering out of the corner of his eye. “Buck..?” He asked worriedly,”What’s the matter?”

All eyes in the room were suddenly on Bucky, as he chewed on his lips. “The short one.. They called him Asset..” He muttered quietly.

“Yeah, so?” Clint asked in confusion, his cheek resting in his hand. Natasha’s eyes flicked towards him for a moment, narrowing her eyes at his attitude.

“That’s what they called me.. Before I was ‘The Winter Soldier’ they called me Asset,” He explained fearfully,”And the other experimental soldiers.. That was what they were called too..”

Instantly, the gears in Steve’s head started turning. “They made another Winter Soldier, is that what you’re saying?” He asked, his heart freezing over in fear.

Bucky nodded shakily, and replied,”It has to be, didn’t you see the way he was acting? He didn’t move or speak until they ordered him, they took another person and brainwashed them! They were probably just an innocent kid, and then forced them to be a weapon, why do they do this?!”

His metal hand slammed onto the table, before he turned and stormed out of the room. Steve stood up to follow after him, but Natasha grabbed his hand. Her steel eyes firmly said ‘Leave him be’. So, Steve sighed, and sat back down.

“If what he says is true..” Thor began,”Then we must find a way to save this ‘Asset’ as well as stop HYDRA.”

Fury nodded. “I agree, but until we have more information, all we can do is wait,” He explained in shame, before standing up. “You’re all dismissed, I’ll call if anything comes up, but I’d like you all to keep an eye out by yourselves as well, understood?”

He didn’t wait for a reply, instead he and Agent Hill left. Soon, everyone got up and left, their own thoughts on the issue distracting them from the others around them. Steve got up quickly as well, as he asked,”FRIDAY, where’s Bucky?”

“Barnes is on the balcony,” Friday tersely replied, not even using the formalities she used to. He thaked her, and took the trip to the upstairs balcony.

When he got to the top, he could see Bucky standing there, his brown hair flowing in the wind. There was no noise in the green, luscious trees surrounding them. Steve was almost afraid to break the silence, but he was more afraid of leaving Bucky with whatever horrible thoughts were running through his brain.

“Buck,” He awkwardly began, surprised when the other man jumped slightly. Bucky usually could tell when people were sneaking around, he must really be troubled, and Steve wasn’t sure how to fix that.

Before he could think of anything, Bucky spoke. “Why? Why do they have to drag innocent people into this? They’re powerful enough without a Winter Soldier, or an Asset, or whatever the fuck they want to call us.. I hate this, why do they keep coming back?!” He angrily demanded.

Bucky’s eyes grew wet, as they filled with tears. Steve’s heart broke, seeing that his friend as holding in all this pain. He quickly made his way over to his friend, wrapping his arms around him.

Bucky tensed up for a moment, before releasing a huge breath and burying his face in Steve’s shoulder. “It just hurts so much..” He whispered,”I want them to stop, I want it to be over.. But now they’ve come back, they’ve taken someone else.. They’re going to kill more innocent people, I just want it to end!”

“Bucky, it’s okay, we’ll stop them, I promise. They won’t get away with it this time, I promise,” Steve declared, running a hand through his hair. “We’ll stop HYDRA, just as we have before, we’ll help the person they took if they weren’t there willingly, and everything will be alright, I promise.”

Looking at Steve’s blue eyes, and that familiar smile, Bucky found himself nodding, as he whispered,”Yeah.. Yeah okay..”

Steve smiled wider, and nodded. “Okay, come on, I’ll make us some food, you really need to eat more,” He said, patting Bucky’s shoulder as he turned back into the compound. Bucky watched him for a long moment, before following after him. He knew Steve was trying to make him feel better, to look for the good in a bad situation. Bucky wanted to have the same optimism as his best friend, but he just couldn’t.. Not with all the knowledge he had and things he had gone through.

But maybe Steve was right.. After all they had fought HYDRA before, and now they were all together. Maybe it wouldn’t be as bad as he feared.. But then again..

Something told Bucky that there was much more going on than they thought..

Chapter Text

-- -- -- -- -- --
Three Weeks Later
-- -- -- -- -- --

HYDRA’s first strike took a while to happen, no one had really been expecting it when it did.

And no one was expecting the target either..

It had happened at a press conference that was- ironically -about HYDRA themselves. The people running the conference included Thaddeus Ross, Everett Ross, and Director Fury among a few others. Fury, however, couldn’t make it to the conference because of other matters, but he did send Maria to take his place.

The conference was a semi-public event, with reporters allowed in to ask questions but others were not allowed inside, and would have to wait for the recorded broadcast to air. Nobody realized how good this was until after the events happened.

In the middle of the conference, a reporter had stood up, and asked,”Agent Hill, I’m sure I speak for the public when I ask, how do you plan to catch HYDRA when we have no motive, and only a tiny video?”

Ross suddenly seemed frustrated, and angered about the fact that barely anyone had been asking him questions. No one would ever be sure why, considering what occurred not even two years ago that led him to be fired.

Standing up, he slammed his hand against the table. “Listen here!” He firmly snapped,”HYDRA is not some scary villain anymore, they haven’t attacked yet because they are weak and out of control. They are not going to get past us.”

Silence reigned for a moment before a nervous reporter quietly said,”They already broke into the raft, I would call that getting past you..” There was several murmurs of agreement, making Ross growl again.

“That was SHIELD’s fault, their mistake in taking over a government owned building,” He declared,”My men and soldiers won’t be so stupid. We’ll crush HYDRA and everything they stand for, they’re not slick, I can find out anything about them with a snap of a finger. I promise you this, they will not-”

Before he could finish, there was the sound of a gunshot, and blood spurted from his head. He stood shocked for a moment, his head bobbing, before he collapsed to the ground. The journalists and reporters screamed in horror, the crowd erupting in a panic as they ran for safety.

Maria quickly stood up, her hand pulling up her gun, and ducked behind the table while Everett as taken from the area by his security members while the rest rushed to help the citizens out. Despite the quick reaction, it didn’t take Maria long to realize that she hadn’t heard any other gunshots since the first.

She took several deep breaths, trying to calm her speeding heart. Her eyes flicked towards the body next to her, and the pool of blood that was left underneath of his head. In the silence of the aftermath, a realization came to her very quickly.

There were no other gunshots because the target was Ross.

She knew it had to be HYDRA, who else would shoot him the moment they were talking about that very organization?

They were probably trying to make a statement. They wanted to show that Ross’ words were just plastic, and they had succeeded.

After a few more cautious moments, she moved to the old man’s body. She lifted him the best she could, and carried him towards the exit. Reaching for her com, she called director Fury. He would need to know about this development as soon as possible.

HYDRA needed to be stopped.

-- -- -- -- -- --
Hours Later
Unknown Location
-- -- -- -- -- --

The Asset knelt in front of its handlers, the sniper rifle still strapped to its back tightly. Handler stood above him, with Dr. Muller right next to Handler. Both men stared at the man with a calculating, predatory gaze, though Dr. Muller’s was one of pride.

“See?” Dr. Muller began,”It’s working just as you wanted, and it hasn't even had to use the updated super serum in battle yet.”

The handler snorted, walking from the steps to the black clad figure. His fingers threaded through his hair, before tightly yanking the Asset’s head up. Those dead, glassy brown eyes stared back at him, before he pushed the Asset’s head back down.

“That doesn't mean anything,” He firmly told the doctor,”It works for our objective, but not as tests. He never liked Thaddeus Ross to begin with, nor did he like Zemo. We still don't know if it worked, those are not adequate tests of Asset’s new abilities, or if the chair really worked.”

Dr. Muller scoffed, crossing his arms. “Well, than what do you suggest we do?” He demanded, leaning against the wall and messing with his blonde hair.

The Handler hummed thoughtfully for a moment, before an idea came to his mind. A dark look grew in his blue eyes, as he moved to the computers in front of him.

His hands flew across the screen, before he came up with an image. He pressed the image, making it the only thing visible on the screen.

“Asset,” He called. Instantly, the Asset was on his feet, walking over the the handler to await further orders.

The handler let out an amused chuckle, before he grabbed the Asset’s shoulders and pushed him in front of the image.

The Asset found himself staring at a woman with gentle red hair, freckled skin, and bright eyes. She wore a business suit, and held a very professional looking attitude. Despite all this, the Asset did not recognize her, and looked to his handler for orders. Handler smiled amusedly, before he gestured to the photo once more.

“This is your next target. Virginia Potts.”

Chapter Text

If one were to order him to explain exactly how he did it, though, he wouldn't have an answer. He truly didn't know. He simply knew exactly where everything was, and what their purpose was. Someone else might wonder why such a thing could happen, but Handler told him not to question it, so he didn't.

He landed on the balcony, the black of his outfit contrasting with the brightly colored lights in twilight New York. When no alarms went off, he continued to slink closer, remaining low to the ground.

Asset moved towards where one could see a metal plate around the door, hand reaching to his belt to grab his weapons. But then, the glass door slid open to greet him, as if wanting to let him in.. Strange.. Handler had told him that the building’s AI had to be disabled before he got in because of the level of danger it raised.

Pulling his gun close to his chest, Asset slunk into the doorway, quickly entering and looking around. The lights were completely off, nobody seemed to be home.

“ Boss?” A robotic female voice suddenly asked,” Is that you?”

The Asset did not know who boss was, so he simply turned his dark eyes towards the cameras in the room, watching them follow him as he crossed towards the hallway. He had to disable the AI before-

“ Boss, why aren't you answering?” The voice demanded,” The Avengers have been searching everywhere for you. I need to notify them that you are alive right away-”

KRRRUNK!!

Before the AI could finish it’s sentence, Asset’s gloved fist slammed through the metal wall nearby, and grabbed at the bunch of wires within the wall. Then, he pulled them out, snapping them all with a vicious yank. The AI’s panicked voice suddenly lowered several octaves before completely shutting down while the wires sparked, bringing light into the darkened room for mere moments.

Pulling his hand from the wall, and ignoring the quickly healing scratches. Through the slight buzzing of the circuits, he heard another sound. The sound of a woman speaking, and he knew exactly who it was. After all, there was only one person who lived in the tower.

It was Virginia Potts.

-- -- -- -- -- --

Pepper let out an weak, exhausted sigh, her messy hair falling into her face as she wandered down the hall, heels clacking against the floor. She was so stressed, exhausted, and upset. She just wanted to cry.

Ever since Tony vanished, life had been hard. Stock was falling, and she was running Stark Industries even more than she did before. Of course, she’d been the CEO for Stark Industries for a while.. But Tony had always been there with her. It was different now, and she didn't know how much longer she could hang on.

Moving into the dark living room, she kicked off her high heels, and plopped down on the expensive couch. She looked at the stack of papers in her arms and groaned at the amount of work she still had to finish. “Friday?” She called,”Can you turn on the lights for me? And start the coffee pot? It's going to be a long night.”

There was no noise in response, however, besides the clicking of Pepper’s pen. She didn't notice it at first, taking a few seconds, before she looked up again.

“Friday?” She nervously asked,”Are you.. Are you there?”

When no response came, she grew very, very afraid. Something was wrong, very very wrong. Where was Friday? Why was the room still dark!?The only other time an AI had not been present was right after..

Panicked, Pepper jerked up in her seat, whipping around and letting out a piercing shriek at the figure behind her, the back of her knees hitting the back of the coffee table and sending her crashing into the ground.

She didn't take time to be in pain, jerking her head up with wide eyes and scrambling back from the figure. “STAY AWAY FROM ME!” She yelled, eyes searching for something to defend herself as the figure jumped over the couch.

Her hand grabbed the steel ornament that had fallen off the coffee table, throwing it towards him as hard as she could. But he caught it easily, turning and crushing the metal in his hand. Eyes wide with horror, Pepper forced herself to a standing, running for the elevator.

“FRID-” She tried to cry, before realizing why she hadn't responded. Her attacker shut her down, the AI couldn't send a suit to help her. Horrified, the girl tried to speed up. She had to escape before he-

A loud shot ran through the room, and blinding pain flew through Pepper as she crashed to the ground. Red blood pooled out of the hole in her calf, as her breathing picked up in horror. She’d been shot! She’d been shot!!

The gloved hand suddenly grabbed her ankle, throwing her back towards the center of the living room. The CEO tumbled, blood flying into the air as a bone or two cracked with her fall.

Pepper jerked up, pushing herself away with her only other foot. “No! No!” She yelled,”What do you want! Stay away!”

The black clad figure didn't respond, and simply raised his gun, aiming for her head. Pepper wanted to scream, wanted to cry, but there was no way to save herself. All she could do was stare at the barrel of the gun and wait for the sound of the-

CRASH!!

Glass suddenly rained down inside the penthouse, a flying disk slamming into the stomach of her attacker and sent him crashing into the kitchen. Several cabinets crashed on top of him, and he went unmoving.

“Pepper!” Steve’s voice called out, making the woman turn towards him, covered in blood and red marks. He was wearing his full suit, the shield back in his arms. Next to him was Bucky, eyes narrowed towards the kitchen. Running behind them was Natasha, Clint, and Sam.

“No! No!!” Pepper yelled in shock and relief. Before she could say anything else, however, the rubble began to move around as the figure sat back up. Eyes widening, and scrambling towards the Avengers in fear of her life.

Steve quickly moved to stand in front of her, as he declared,”Sam, take Pepper to the quinjet!”

The Falcon didn't question the order, picking up the bleeding woman, wings unfurling as he pulled her into his arms.

But they didn't move quick enough. The black figure emerged from the rubble, covered in plaster, and flicked his hand out. A small black blur flew past them, latching onto Sam’s wings. Instantly, they shut down, falling completely limp. The hero could only turn towards them in shock, before yanking the woman into a fireman’s carry and running away once more.

The Asset pulled himself to a standing, but despite the pain Captain’s shield would usually cause, he didn’t have a single scratch. He quickly turned to look at the people in front of him, his glassy eyes taking them in.

They weren’t his targets, he needed to kill Virgina Potts. He took a few steps forward, but then suddenly there was a body in front of him.

“Hey kid, stop!” The voice snapped,”Don’t do this, don’t let HYDRA control you. Then they win! You have to fight against them!”

Asset turned his glassy brown eyes up to the face, and found himself staring at a blue eyed man with a metal hand. The Winter Soldier.. or the ‘traitor’ as handler called him.

The Asset let his frown deeper, clenching his fist before he brought it up, slamming it into the man’s face as hard as he could. It sent the man sprawling to the floor.

“Buck!” The blonde one exclaimed, but there was no time to check on his friend. The Asset reached down to his side, picking up one of the swords. He did not reach for his gun, he did not have time to waste reloading. His target was getting away.

This was when all hell broke loose. The redhead and the blonde ran toward him, one holding something electric and another with arrows.

Asset acted fast, ducking underneath her electricity and swinging his legs out beneath both of them. They moved back, and Asset swung the sword out in a wide fanning motion, catching the Archer’s bow within it. It flew past them, tumbling away as he looked after it.

The woman moved in next, slamming the electric thing against his side. He felt the burst of energy go through him, but it was too weak to phase him. The woman’s blue eyes widened slightly, caught off guard by his reaction.

In that split second, the Asset grabbed her wrist, swinging her to the side and slamming her into the Archer. They both fell to the ground in a heap of limbs, giving Asset the chance to burst into a run, taking off through the hole and towards the jet as fast as he could.

Exhaust suddenly burst from the jet, before it began to take off into the air. For a split second, Asset felt complete unhinged panic take over him. No! No! His target was getting away! He was failing his mission!

He wound up, leaping as high as he possibly could, only for his finger to barley graze the ship. It then took off, flying across the horizon and completely out of Asset’s sight. His eyes widened, filling with absolute horror.

He had failed.

Asset knew he couldn’t stay any longer, he couldn’t fight these people, he needed to get the the rendezvous point. His hands went to his belt, grabbing smoke grenades and tossing them as hard as he could towards the group of heroes.

They exploded on impact, sending smoke high into the air. The ground darted through the heavy clouds, not about to let their foe go. But they all found the balcony completely empty. He was gone.

“Dammit!” Bucky yelled, slamming his fist into the side of the wall, sending rubble everywhere.

He had seen the look, the first sign of emotions they had seen in those brown eyes. He was afraid, and Bucky knew why. HYDRA didn’t tolerate failure.

A hand on his shoulder jerked him from his thoughts, making him turn to see Steve looking at him worriedly. “Buck, let’s hear back to the Helicarrier,” He replied,”We need to make sure Pepper is okay. We’ll have more chances to help that kid, I promise.”

“Yeah.. Yeah okay,” Bucky whispered, lowering his eyes, and following after the group. Even though they had been very kind to him, considering the circumstances, but they just didn’t get it. They didn’t see the fear in the boy’s eyes, they didn’t understand why he would be so scared. Bucky did.

We need to save him.. I need to help him..

-- -- -- -- - -- --

“You worthless, fucking piece of shit!”

Several violent crashes rang through the room as Asset was thrown down onto the ground, a black eye forming along with several red, violent bruises. The handler then grabbed the short teen, slamming him against a nearby wall, his hands squeezing the boy’s throat tightly.

“We put all this effort into you and all you do is fuck everything up!” He yelled angrily,”You are nothing without us, do you understand me?! We made you, the least you can do is actually be useful!”

The Asset couldn’t respond even if he wanted to, as he desperately gasped for air, but did nothing else, too afraid of what Handler might do.

Dr. Muller watched for a little while longer, before he called,”That’s enough, let him go. We both know that the Avengers are to blame for his failure.”

Handler turned a dark glare towards Muller, before he released his hands. Asset tumbled to the ground, coughing and wheezing. He watched the teen attempt to catch his breath, before sending one last, swift kick to his stomach. Asset collapsed on the ground once more, having lost all his air once more.

The man turned toward the guards at the door. “Take him to The Chair,” He ordered, gaining two nods as the beefy guards moved forward, dragging the limp Asset from the room. Those empty brown eyes remained trained on the ground, he had given up fighting long ago.

Dr. Muller waited until the door closed, before turning back to the handler. “You know that this failure wasn’t his fault,” He snapped,”He’s only been on a few missions, he wasn’t prepared to take them all on at once.”

“It doesn’t matter, failure is failure,” Handler declared, blue eyes filled with annoyance. “He needs to understand that, and I won’t stop until he does.”

Chapter Text

The screaming echoed throughout the base, sending shivers down many of the occupants. Two men within the room, however, weren’t screaming at all. Dr. Muller stood behind one of the techs, watching the voltage of The Chair. The Handler, meanwhile, simply watched the victim in front of him.

“Raise the voltage,” He ordered, steel-like eyes refusing to release their gaze from the captive within the chair.

The brunette within the chair thrashed in pain, screaming as the shocks tore at every nerve from his feet to his brain. No matter how hard he tried, however, Asset would never escape. The restraints on his face and arm kept him firmly attached. All he could do was continue to scream, much to the Handler’s pleasure.

After several long minutes, the Handler finally spoke again. “Release him,” He ordered. The restraints instantly came undone with loud clangs. Without the support, Asset’s head slumped forward, and his body slumped forward in the chair.

The Handler walked forward, grabbing the young man’s hair, and yanking his head up. Once those blank eyes were staring at him, he leaned forward. “Now listen here, you worthless piece of shit,” He snarled,”I did not use up our resources for you to turn out as another failure. You will succeed, you will always succeed. You are nothing but an object for us to use, and that’s all you’ll ever be. Understood?!”

He then yanked the young man out of the chair, sending him tumbling to the ground. It didn’t take long for the scrawny male to get back up, and move into a kneeling position, submissively lowering his head to his master.

The man above him smiled, darkened eyes watching with sadistic glee. “Good… Very good,” He praised, before whipping around. He pointed to the nearest soldier. “You, all of you! Go gather up some of our finest soldiers. It is time for us to make our next move,” He declared.

The soldier quickly saluted, and ran from the room. He was followed by several others as they ran from the room. He waited until the room had gone silent, before looking back at the unmoving Asset. His glove clad hands slid under the chin, bringing those emotionless eyes to his own.

“And this time,” He promised,”You will not fail.”

-- -- -- -- -- --

A few hours after the attack, Pepper was sitting in a conference room with the other Avengers. Her leg was healed from it's wound, but her mind was not. I almost died… She thought in horror. Why? Why would HYDRA target me of all people?

She released a shaky breath, turning to look up at the group in front of her. The Avengers all seemed to be reacting differently to the event that had occured. Natasha was next to her, remaining her protective guardian, but Pepper could see the the thoughts underneath that steel gaze. Rhodey was holding her hand on her other side, running his thumb up and down her palm in a comforting gesture

Clint was sitting in the chair by Maria Hill, tapping his fingers on the metal table in obvious frustration. Sam sat across from them, rather still and staring at one point in Steve was right next to him, but was not looking at any of them. He was, instead, watching his friend pace.

Ever since they had arrived, Bucky had been pacing back and forth behind the table. He often would run his metal hand through his hair, and Pepper could see the tremor going through him, along with his unfocused eyes. The resurgence of HYDRA was getting to him.

Finally, the black clad, eyepatch wearing man at the front of the table had enough. “Barnes! Sit the fuck down!” Fury snapped,”We are not going to be able to concentrate on our next move if you dig a hole in my fucking floors!”

Bucky jerked up at the loud voice, his nerve filled blue eyes flicking towards Fury, before allowing himself to sit down. “I'm sorry.. I just.. I want to help that kid..” He replied.

“Well you can’t do that through pacing, so sit down,” Fury ordered. The super soldier looked like he wanted to argue, but he simply closed his mouth, and fell into the seat by Steve.

Despite Fury’s initiative, everyone still seemed hesitant. The growing tension was finally released when Pepper spoke up. “I just.. I don’t understand!” She exclaimed,”After killing Ross and Zemo, why would they target me? I don’t have anything to do with them! I just run the company!”

“Did he say anything to you? Any of you?” Maria Hill asked,”Anything about his mission?”

Pepper wracked her brain, her whole body beginning to shake again. “I… I don’t remember… It all happened so fast,” She whispered.

Bucky grunted across the table, shaking his head firmly. “He wouldn’t have. We aren’t permitted to speak during missions, we just have to focus on the mission. That’s why he retreated after Pepper was gone. His mission wasn’t to fight us. Even if the Avengers were the next target, we wouldn’t be allowed to attack them until our Handlers told us to,” He explained, his real hand squeezing at his metal one.

“They’re not your handlers anymore, Bucky,” Steve gently tried to comfort. He was about to go on too, but the dark look that his friend shot towards him caused him to freeze up, and lower his head.

Maria looked at the redheaded woman, slowing down her typing. “Did FRIDAY record anything?” She suggested,”If we repair her, maybe we can see what she saw.”

“That won’t work, Hill,” Bruce said from his seat,”Tony told me about how JARVIS worked, but he never mentioned FRIDAY. Her code is completely different, and I wasn’t able to learn it before Tony d-”

Bruce suddenly tensed, moving to rub his hands, and look at his lap. Steve frowned, feeling another wave of guilt wash over him. When Thor and Bruce returned after their adventure, the doctor had been eager to share it with Tony. His despair at learning his friend had been missing for over a year broke all their hearts.

The slip caused several others in the room to tense up, and others to grow a very morbid look on their faces. The tension in the room increased tenfold, and even Fury and Maria grew depressed at the mention of the missing genius.

Only Black Widow dared to speak out in the suddenly hostile environment. “Then that means…” She slowly began,”We still have absolutely nothing to go on..”

The Avengers all looked towards their director for his answer. They wanted to hear something positive, but they knew the truth already. None of them were surprised when Fury released a heavy sigh, and nodded. “I’m afraid so.” He declared firmly.

”All we can do is wait for their next move.”

-- -- -- -- -- --

Two Weeks Later

-- -- -- -- -- --

They didn't have to wait long.

The organization was growing bolder every minute they remained undiscovered, and that was what led to their biggest act yet.

Although the SHIELD facility in question was aware of the attacks that had recently occured, it was rather peaceful. The several employees were simply bustling around, transferring information as they normally would, and watching for anything suspicious on their radar. Yes, it was just another boring day with boring work.

An older agent sighed, pushing away from his desk, and headed to the bathroom. He was getting older, and his eyes often couldn’t handle staring at a computer for too long. The hall was rather empty, as most the agents had been slouched over their desk for several days because of the chaos.

Not that the older man thought it was a problem, of course, it gave him enough room to lean against the walls, and stretch his sore muscles. He heard the gentle cracks of his tense body, filling him with relief.

But as he finished up, he realized that there was another sound… One he was not making. It sounded like thuds. The agent frowned, growing slightly annoyed. Were the new recruits goofing off again?

He looked towards the door, noticing it led to the control panel. His green eyes narrowed. I told those brats that if they wanted to keep working here, they’d have to act like the agents they are!

The man stormed over, punching in the code. The door quickly slid open, and he instantly began to yell. “Now listen here, you punks! I told you-” He began, before freezing at the sight inside.

Instead of the young agents he expected, he saw the three agents assigned to the control room unconscious and tied up. There were two figures, both dressed in black with a familiar red symbol. There was a younger one, who looked like he couldn’t be even sixteen. The older had a much taller height, and a large gun in his hand.

His green eyes widened, opening his mouth to scream. But the younger was quick, he slammed his hand over the agent’s mouth while the other hand wrapped around his arms. The other soldier pressed a button on the panel, shutting the door.

“Shhh… I wouldn’t want to have to kill you right away, old timer,” The older whispered,”Just let us do our work, and maybe you’ll get to live.”

The shocked agent had no chance to respond or fight back, however, as a shock of pain exploded through him and everything went black.

Once the man was in the same position as the other three agents, the Handler cleared his throat. “Asset, you know what to do. Do it fast,” He ordered.

Those blank eyes remained on him as Asset nodded, moving to sit down in the empty chair. His hands began to type away, examining every camera, angle, and air vent available. The Handler then took out several green ball-like objects.

The Handler knelt down to the opened vent, rolling them down, and tossing them inside. Then, he covered up the vent with a solid piece of metal (Any other holes within the room were covered in a similar fashion), and turned toward the Asset once more.

“Do it,” He ordered.

The Asset instantly pushed a red button, turning on the air vents for every room except the one they were currently in. The Handler pressed a button on his own suit, and a soft hissing began to go through the vents.

Switching to the cameras, they watched as the confused agents began to look up at the green gas. It was too late for many, however, as the gas sent them into sweet unconsciousness. A few, however, began to realize what was going on.

Handler’s dark eyes widened, watching one of the agents cover his nose with a napkin and type away. “Shit! Shit!” He whispered, but that was all he could say before the alarm exploded in his eardrums as the last agent slumped forward.

The man quickly pulled up his com. “Get in here, now! Get as much information as you can!” He ordered.

The door exploded open seconds later, as several soldiers wearing gas masks ran through the facility. Several of them ran to computers, pulling out their handheld devices which were then plugged into the computers, and began downloading all the data on it.

The Handler growled, running a hand through his dark hair as he shakily turned towards the brainwashed Asset. Those blank eyes stared at him, and it filled the man with anger.

“What the fuck are you just sitting there for?!” He snarled, grabbing the back of Asset's head and throwing him from the seat. “Get out there and do something useful!”

The small figure quickly scurried out of the room, and the handler took over his position. He watched the cameras closely, keeping an eye on his creation.

The man wasn't foolish, he knew who they would attract by attacking SHIELD. Unlike last time, however, Asset was prepared.

With a smile growing on his pale face, he whispered,”Let's see how you fare this time, Avengers..”

-- -- -- -- -- --

The roof exploded and collapsed from the force of the quinjet’s cannon, while the smoke gave them the perfect cover. The Avengers landed in the middle of the scrambling soldiers, Steve quickly declared,”Avengers! Remember why we are here! Destroy and apprehend!”

There were several affirmative responses, but Bucky didn’t even bother. He had to find that kid, he needed to find that kid. If HYDRA was bold enough to attack SHIELD, they were smart enough to bring their strongest weapon with them. He didn’t care if he would get in trouble, saving that kid was his main focus.

The battle started before the smoke even cleared, with soldiers desperately trying to grab their devices as the Avengers threw them back. The few who managed to get back up grabbed their guns, and began firing rapidly.

Thinking fast, the Bucky grabbed a fallen metal plate, and sped towards the firing soldiers. The clinking of bullets against his makeshift shield quickly stopped after he slammed into the nearest one. Then, he flipped around and slammed the metal against the one nearby, and threw it like a frisbee at the last one. With a satisfying clang, the man fell the the ground.

As Bucky’s blue eyes turned to look for more, he felt something attached to his back, and a violent electric current exploded through him. It hurt, even for a super soldier, but not enough to bring him down. His metal hand reached back, tearing the item off. Then, he whipped around, turning to face his attacker.

It was the kid.

He was silent, unmoving, and almost completely invisible. His empty brown eyes stared straight at Bucky, hands in a position that showed he was ready to attack at any second. “Kid…” Bucky whispered, holding his hands up in a sign of peace. “Please.. I just want to talk to you!”

Much to his pain, his words were ignored. Bucky’s heart shattered more, for he knew that the poor child was deep under HYDRA’s control. He didn’t want to hurt him, but rendering the brainwashed man defenseless would likely be the only way he could save him.

Just as Bucky came to that resolve, the Asset dashed forward and threw a punch. Bucky barley had enough time to bring up his arm and block it. The force of the impact sent him stumbling back, and the kid quickly took the opportunity to lift his leg and kick Bucky. The man stumbled back into the line of fire, frantically grabbing a nearby soldier, and throwing him. He slammed into the kid, knocking them both to the ground.

Knowing he had only a little time, Bucky grabbed a gun and another metal plate. “Buck! Look out!” A voice called, making the man whip back towards the action, and noticed a large circular item with a red light that was blinking frantically

“Rhodes!” He called, as he threw the metal plate at the bomb. There was no need to say anything else, the Avengers quickly ducked, and War Machine lifted his arm and shot.

The explosion shook the building down to it’s foundation, sending the unprepared soldiers flying with the debris. The ceiling crumbled even more, and collapsed down further. The heroes didn’t dare move, waiting for the shaking to stop before they even dared to move.

By the time Bucky lifted his head from rubble again, the the clashing had stopped. He held his breath, slowly climbing to his feet again. “Steve..?” He called,”Anybody? Is.. Is everyone alright?!”

When he didn’t gain a response, he started to fear the worst. He stepped over the rubble, prepared to search as long as he had to. Before he could take another step, however,he felt something hard against the back of his head.

“Don’t. Move.”

Bucky constantly tensed, his heart beating a thousands miles a second. He didn’t dare try to move; he was a super soldier, but a shot to the head could still kill him.  He heard gentle footsteps, and then a tall man with thin black hair, and dark eyes walked in front of him. His darkened eyes were filled with sadistic glee.

“Well, well, well,” The man sneered,”The one and only Winter Soldier, here in the flesh.”

“That is not my name!” Bucky snapped,”I am not your fucking slave anymore!”

His angered trembling and shouting caused the barrel against his temple to press closer in a threatening way. Bucky tensed again, and the man simply let out vicious laughter. “Careful, Winter. I don’t want to make Asset kill you just yet,” He teased.

Bucky’s blue eyes flicked to his side, moving his head slowly. Hose empty brown eyes stared back at him, and Bucky knew that a simple word was all it would take for the child to pull the trigger.

Before any of them could speak, there was a sound of a strangled yell. “Bucky!” Steve’s voice called out, and the two HYDRA members reacted fast. The man pulled out his own weapon, placing it on Bucky’s temple. Asset grabbed a second gun, moving in front of his handler and aiming straight at the Avengers.

As if on cue, several HYDRA soldiers rose from hidden spots, guns aimed and charged. Steve, Clint, Thor, Natasha, and Rhodey raised their weapons while Wanda and Vision readied their powers. For several moments, nobody moved.

“Captain, I suggest you stand down and allow us to leave,” The man calmly said, clicking the safety off his gun. “If we have to kill our way out of here, we won’t hesitate to.”

Steve raised his shield a little more, and snarled,”Nobody is going to leave here until you return what you stole, that includes the kid!”

To Steve’s surprise, the man faltered in confusion, but the burst into chuckles all over again. “Oh? You want Asset?” He chortled,” Seriously? ”

Steve frowned, his own bewildered expression evident on his face. After controlling his laughter, the HYDRA leader replied,”I apologize, Captain, but I simply find it funny that you care about it now.”

His decision to call another human an ‘it’ was what Steve decided to give a snarled reply to. Rhodey, however, as much more focused on what the man implied. Care about it now? So.. We have met him before? His dark eyes turned to look at the Asset, and his heart stopped.

Those familiar brown eyes, the messy hair, and the boyish face. It wasn’t the one he expected to see, but Rhodey still remembered it. Not from the present… But from his days at MIT. The Asset was not nameless, because Rhodey knew exactly who it was.

“T-Tony…?”

Chapter Text

“T-Tony…?”

Rhodey’s heart was pounding in his ears, the world seemed to be fading away around him. All he could focus on was the kid- no, his friend. The more he stared at the face, the more he knew he was right.

His soft spoken declaration caused the Handler, whom had been teasing the angered Captain America, to stop. His sudden freeze transferred to Steve, whom had also caught Rhodey's soft utter. “What?” He asked. The Avengers grew confused, many pairs of eyes turning from Rhodey to the soldier.

Natasha forced herself to ignore the panic rising up in her. She turned her green eyes to the HYDRA leader, and watched his expression morph. The shock faded away, and a dark excitement grew in his eyes. Why is he so happy? He would only react that way if… Her heart stopped, and a dark horror went through her veins.

“No…” She croaked.

The Handler’s dark laughter echoed through the building, and instantly Steve’s confusion vanished. He looked at the Asset once more, and saw the familiarity in an instant. That jawline, the eyes, even the lips. It was Tony..

HYDRA’s new weapon was Tony Stark.

For several moments, Steve was unable to form a thought. All he could do was shake his head constantly, and whisper,”No.. You c-couldn’t have!”

“Oh, but I did,” The Handler interjected, lowering his gun from Bucky’s temple. He moved around to Tony, threading his black clad hands through the messy brown hair. Rhodey released a strangled noise at the sight.

“You see, it’s hard to deny such a beautiful gift when it’s left right on your doorstep, right Rogers?” Handler continued, eyes alight with a sadistic joy.

Steve's whole being seemed to come to a stop as he realized just what the man implied, while Bukcy’s icy eyes filled with horror. The Avengers, however, remained confused.

“Steve… What is he talking about?” Sam questioned.

The Handler gasped, returning all attention to him. “Oh! He didn't tell you?” He asked, voice dripping with fake concern. “The great and powerful Captain America didn't think to tell you about what he did to Asset?”

Steve could feel the several gazes landing on him, but was so constricted by his own feelings he couldn't even move. The Handler snorted, before laughing even harder.

“Oh, this is amazing. Well, if he won't tell you, then I will,” He declared.

The man then moved to stand in front of the brainwashed man. “Your great and honorable leader broke Stark's reactor, and left his shield in his chest, and then left him to die in our base in Siberia. All alone.”

Steve couldn't handle it anymore. Guilt was blending with his rage as he raised his gun to shoot. In that same instant, Tony moved. He jumped in front of Handler, bringing himself to his fullest height.

The blonde quickly froze, his wide eyes staring at the empty brown ones that belonged   to the man that he had cursed to this fate. The shame within him grew even more apparent. “Tony..” He whispered.

The Handler clicked his tongue, shaking his head. “Don’t even try with your honeyed words, Captain, Asset only listens to me ,” He replied,”And I will make sure that you all die with the knowledge that you caused Asset’s fate.”

Handler raised his gloved hand, and the many soldiers around them raised their weapons once more. Bucky felt panic, and knew he had to do something in order to save everyone.

His metal arm wrapped around the Handler’s ankle, before throwing him over his shoulder and into several soldiers. With the group caught off guard, the Avengers moved back into action. “Everyone, change of plans!” Steve called over the loudspeaker,”Get Tony!”

Bucky leapt to his full height as he threw a punch toward the brainwashed Stark. He couldn’t hold back, because he knew if they wanted to subdue Tony they couldn’t hold back. As if proving his point, the brunette instantly grabbed the arm he threw, and sent a swift kick to Bucky's stomach.

They grabbed for a few moments, each trying to attack the other, before help arrived. Natasha pulled out her Widow Bites, one in each hand, but Tony seemed to realize what was happening. He grabbed Bucky’s shoulder, using him as weight to kick both his legs at Natasha. The assassin barley got back in time.

Not about to grapple with Bucky again, Tony flipped over his shoulders, sending a swift kick to the ex-super soldiers back. The force wouldn't have been bad if Tony was still a normal human, but now it sent him stumbling forward into Natasha.

As their battle continued, the Handler quickly reached for his com. “Grab what information you have a retreat! Asset will hold them off!” He whispered.

His other hand reached to his belt, pulling off another circular ball from it, and tossing it. Soon, a thick cloud began to fill the room. The soldiers quickly used the cover to run, heading through the many exits and towards their jets.

Rhodey felt frantic as the cloud engulfed him, unable to see where his best friend had gone. No! I can't lose him again!! He wanted to scream. “Somebody do something! We can't let them get away!” He yelled instead.

His eyes caught sight of the dark hair belonging to the leader, and he felt pure rage. He raised his gun, ready to shoot and end that monster’s life. Before he could even try to, pale hands suddenly wrapped around his arm, pulling it down and sending the shot into the ground below them.

The weight then shifted, grabbing hold of his middle. His brown eyes widened at the sight of Tony, and suddenly he felt frozen. He knew he should fight, but he couldn't hurt his friend-

He didn't have a chance to choose, as Tony slammed something against his chest, and a violent electric current ran through his whole being. The screens within the War Machine flashed several times before going offline. Everything went black, and the War Machine crashed to the ground.

Asset leapt away just before the crash, landing silently on his feet. Suddenly, a red light filled his vision. Asset froze, looking for an escape, but there was none. His empty eyes looked through the red, and saw the producer of the trap in front of him, her hands glowing with the same color.

Then, the dome began closing in, red tendrils moving closer to his head. Asset’s breath hitched, realizing that the enemy was winning. He was trapped.

The Avengers believed the same thing as well, with Steve shielding Wanda as the others fought. “Nice and easy, we’re almost there,” He whispered, watching the brainwashed STark lower himself further in a desperate attempt to escape his capture.

Just as the tendrils reached his temple, a dark laugh echoed through the chamber. Steve turned his head, noticing the sadistic grin from the Handler. His jaw tightened, anger filling his system.

“You honestly think that we would just create another super soldier without thinking, Captain?” He sneered,”We’ve evolved past that, you fool.”

Those evil eyes turned to the dome, as he raised his voice. “Asset,” He called,” Now! ”

There was no time to react, as Tony flicked his wrist and pulled out a blue, glowing disk. He slammed it against the ground and a large blue dome grew out of it, enveloping Tony and pushing Wanda’s own powers away with a violent force that shocked the girl so much that she lost her concentration. Her powers faded away, her wide eyes looking towards her captive.

Tony then stood, turning towards Steve and Wanda, his hands quickly reaching into his pockets and then throwing out several small-looking orbs. As soon as they hit Steve’s shield, electric strands of some elastic substance burst out and wrapped around them. Shit! When did Tony make this?! Steve thought, bewildered by the new technology and the electric shocks burning in his system.

Clint quickly drew one of his specialized arrows, but one of the other soldiers pulled out the same beads that Tony did and threw them at several of the Avengers. Natasha, Sam, and Clint were caught in those strange webs and the others didn’t dare try to free them, as many other soldiers quickly held guns to the immobilized heroes’ heads.

Steve looked at the guns and his heart skipped several beats. Those are… Those look like something Tony would build. He’s making them weapons.. How far gone is he? An anger burned at his chest as he yelled,”What did you do to him?!”

“What I did to Asset? I fixed it, and now I’m using it against you!” He declared proudly.

“Tony Stark is not a thing, he’s a human being,” Natasha firmly argued, her voice shuddering with anger the slightest bit.

The Handler turned to her, still smiling. “A human being that your leader left to die,” He reminded the Assassin.

Steve felt the churning of guilt in his stomach, and desperately yanked against the bindings. “I will save him, I will stop you!” He yelled,”You won’t get away with this!”

“Oh, Captain,” The Handler whispered, placing his hand in Tony’s hair once more. “I already have.”

The soldiers raised their guns, but the Handler sliced his hand through the air. “No,” He firmly stated,”We have our orders, and killing them is not part of it. Our work here is done.”

Several ladders descended from the broken roof. The soldiers who grabbed onto them were quickly lifted from the ground and out of the building. The handler and Tony followed in suit, disappearing from view. As soon as the sound of engines faded away, the other Avengers hurried forward and ripped away the strange new tech.

Steve’s tense muscles quickly sent him forward, running outside of the compound and looking at the big, blue expanse. There was nothing, the ship was gone, and so was Tony. “Oh my god..” He whispered, the world around him suddenly spinning. He stumbled backwards, the compound becoming the only thing holding him up.

It was if the true realization had just hit him. In his desperate attempts to keep Bucky safe from HYDRA and those who wanted to control him, he sent Tony to the same fate.

What have I done?!

-- -- -- -- -- --

Not even twenty minutes later, the Avengers had gathered at the Helicarrier. The only sound was the slight whirring of Rhodey’s leg braces as he paced back and forth. Fury watched them, still trying to process the news he had heard. None of the other Avengers spoke, all in varying forms of shock.

After several long minutes of silence, Rhodey whipped around towards Steve, and slammed his hands on the glass table. Steve jumped, and went to snap at Rhodey for scaring him, but then he saw the rage buried within those chocolate eyes.  “Tell me, right fucking now , how HYDRA would be able to kidnap Tony,” He snarled.

“Rhodey I don’t-”

“Don’t even fucking try, Rogers! You all have fought them hundreds of times, and Tony has been nearly kidnapped thousands of times. What could have possibly been different about this time?!” Rhodey demanded, voice raising with every sentence.

Steve felt the guilt pooling into him again, while his mouth felt as if it was glued shut. He was afraid… If he told the truth…

“It was our fault.”

All heads turned to see a solemn Bucky, whom had pushed himself off the wall and was holding his head down in shame. Steve felt cold flow through his veins. “Bucky, wait,” He croaked,” You don’t have to take the-”

Rhodey looked like he was about to yell again, but Bucky beat him to it. “No! Steve, it was our fault. If we want to help Tony, we need to be honest,” He snapped, blue eyes burning with determination.

Turning to look at the others, he said,”We fought him at the HYDRA base in Siberia. He was outnumbered and we didn't stop to think about that. Steve slammed his shield in his arc reactor and the suit died… Then we left him there..”

The silence and tension in the room was suffocating. Even those who had still been mad at Tony, like Clint and Scott, looked horrified. “Why would you do that?!” Clint yelled,”Why would you leave him there, Steve?! He isn't a super soldier!”

“But… He attacked Bucky!” Steve exclaimed,”What was I supposed to do?!”

Natasha didn't even give Steve a chance. “ Why?” She asked,”I know Stark. He doesn't attack without a reason. Why would he have started attacking you?”

Steve frowned, lowering his head in shame again. He didn't want to tell the truth, but he didn't want to have Bucky speak for him anymore. “Zemo… He showed Tony the video of… The Winter Soldier killing his parents… I knew, but never told him…” He whispered.

Once again, Steve did not want to look up, but he heard a soft sniffling. When he looked up, he saw Wanda, staring at him with eyes that burned with tears and rage. She jerked to her feet, chair slamming to the ground.

“What is wrong with you?!” She yelled,”Did you already forget why I hated him so much?! I blamed him for my parent's death! You didn't cast that aside, so why are his feelings any different?! Why didn't you tell him?! Those were his parents?!”

“Wanda, I-”

“Shut up! I don't care what you have to say! I was on your side, but now I'm with Stark! The whole reason this happened was because you never told him something he should have already known! They were his parents! HIS!”

Wanda's resolve collapsed, and the glowing red that had begun to flow around her faded away. She buried her face in her hands, breaking into sobs, and running out of the room.

Steve felt his own eyes burn, as he softly whispered,”I'm sorry…”

“Sorry won't fucking cut it anymore,” Fury snapped,”Get rid of anything else you had planned, because we aren't going to stop until we get Iron Man back.”

The Avengers did not argue, for they did not want to. They would find their teammate, and they were going to bring him home.

-- -- -- -- -- -- --

The snow surrounded the jets like a cloak as they moved into the hanger, the landing gear helping them land perfectly. As the ramp began to slide up to meet them, the door to the hideout closed shut.

The ramps connected with the opening, and several soldiers stomped out. Dr. Muller waited for a moment, hesitant to approach. But as he saw the familiar form of his creation, he quickly moved toward them. Handler held up his hand, and Asset stopped next to him, hands at his side.

Threading his fingers together, he walked toward them. “How was the mission?” He asked, seeing a prideful look on the Handler's face.

The Handler, dark eyes burning with pride, declared,“The Avengers discovered Asset’s true identity, and he used those special new gadgets we had him create. We got the information as well, I believe that this was much more than a success.”

Muller sighed in relief, and inclined his head forward. “That's good to hear,” He whispered.

Hander made a noise in return, before grabbing Assets shoulder, and shoving him to the nearby soldier. “Take him to the Chair,” He ordered.

Asset was roughly dragged away, and didn't even try to fight. Muller’s blue eyes widened, confusion and anger filling him.

“What are you doing?!” He exclaimed,”You just said it was a success!”

Handler tsked, and began walking down the ramp once more. “We can't be too careful, Muller. Asset might remember them, we must destroy any chance of that happening.”

Muller quickly followed him down the hall. “But he's fought them twice now, and never hesitates to! This isn't necessary-”

“Excuse me?” Handler snapped, her dark eyes staring into Muller's soul. “Are you questioning my orders? Might I remind you, your work has already been done. I could terminate you right now if I needed to. But with the information you now know, I feel I'd need to do a much more… Permanent termination.”

Muller tried to swallow the lump in his throat, but it wouldn't go down. He felt fear grow within him as the Handler leaned closer. “So, I'll ask again. Are you. Questioning. My. Orders?”

Quickly shaking his head, Muller whispered,”N-no, sir.”

Handler leaned back, that sadistic smile on his face once more. “Good,” He softly replied,”Have a good night, doctor.”

Muller tried not to flinch at the hand slap on his shoulder, and quickly gave a soft farewell. He quickly rushed back to his lab, sitting on his chair and placing his head in his hands.

I don't like this… This is wrong. He shouldn't be punished like that. He did everything right.. This all is wrong.. Muller thought.

Despite his thoughts, he didn't care move. His fear of what might happen if he tried to interfere was too heavy.

All he could do was lean farther into his hands, and listen to the Asset’s blood curdling screams.

Chapter Text

Over the next few weeks, HYDRA became strangely silent. There were no assassination attempts, no robberies, and no chances to rescue Tony.

Steve desperately wanted to believe that the reason for the silence was in order for the organization to keep their super soldier safe, but he wasn’t a fool. Tony’s handler (thought Steve cringed at the use of such a word) acted proud and even braffed once they all figured the truth out. Steve knew they were planning something big.

But it was hard to even think of stopping HYDRA’s plans when he was drowning in guilt. Tony was his teammate, his friend, and he was trapped in the exact same situation Bucky had been in… And it’s all because of me…

The Avengers had become tense around him, even those who didn’t even like Tony Stark were in agreement that Steve had gone too far the moment he had decided not to tell Tony about his parents. Of course, they were all smart enough to realize that they hadn’t exactly treated Tony the best either, so Steve wasn’t the only one overflowing with guilt.

Still… What was I thinking?! Why was I so quick to forget about his feelings? I’m such an idiot… If only I-

“Steve!” A firm voice called, jerking him from his thoughts. He turned his head, and found Sam staring at him with concern. “You alright there?”

Steve’s face flushed a soft pink, and he quickly said,”Yeah, I am… I’m just… Thinking about some things.”

“Well get your head out of the clouds now, Rogers,” An annoyed Fury snapped,”I’m trying to explain how we’re going to rescue the person you left behind. Remember him? Or has it slipped your mind?”

The super soldier’s face went redder, and he quickly turned his blue eyes back to the display of holograms in front of them in an effort to avoid the truth. On the screens was all the information they had collected about their HYDRA organization’s return and Tony.

“So far, they have only been robbing stores and trying to kill people, but even that has recently stopped,” Fury explained, opening a file of the lists of people killed and places robbed. Steve noticed how most the places that had been robbed had something to do with technology or artillery.

Natasha leaned forward and continued,”We have enough evidence to believe that they haven’t been trying to build a new base. They’re most likely in one of their old hideouts trying to wait us out.”

She touched another file, revealing a large map covered with dots, each representing a HYDRA base they had raided or at least known about, some that were found before the Avengers were even thought of.

Rhodey, who was still angry with pretty much all of them, frustratingly demanded,”So we’re just going break into every one until we find out where they’ve trapped Tony?”

“Won’t they catch on after a while?” Clint queried, eyeing Rhodey nervously to make sure that he wasn’t angering the Colonel.

Fury shook his head, and explained,”We aren’t going to barge in guns blazing, Barton. We’re going to scout their bases, and try to find out which has the most activity, or any activity at all.”

Thor released a hum of agreement. “Ay, before battle we often would try to discover or enemy’s paths before an attack, it helps to understand and gain the element of surprise,” He commented.

“Which is exactly what we are going do!” Fury interjected, hands going behind his back and straightening up. “It may take a bit of time, so everyone better be in it for the long haul.”

The group of heroes quickly nodded. Bruce’s eyes flashed green for a moment, and he firmly snapped,”I don’t care how long it takes, I just want Tony back.”

“Well you won’t get Tony back,” The angered voice that belonged to James Barnes cut through their thoughts.

The group turned to the doorway and found the man standing in it, fists clenched, and eyes glazed over with ice. Rhodey was up in an instant, staring at the ex-winter soldier with rage. “And what the fuck is that supposed to mean, Barnes?” He sneered.

“Exactly what I said; When we get Tony back he won’t be your Tony,” Bucky explained,”They’ve tortured him, wiped his memories, experimented on him, brainwashed him, and used him to murder and torment. We may be able to save him, we may be able to help with his memories, but he won’t ever be the person he was before. Some things… You can never forget. Y-you never can...”

None of the heroes missed the pronoun change at the end, it was clear that Tony wasn’t the only one he was referring to....

The ice melted away, revealing the vulnerability hidden underneath him as he fell into his own memories. Steve quickly left his seat, gently placing a hand on Bucky’s shoulder in a form of comfort; The brunette refused to look at him.

After a tense, pregnant pause, it was Wanda who broke through the silence. “We can still try,” She declared,”Even if Tony never completely recovers, at least he won’t be in their claws anymore.”

Several of the Avengers, despite the reaction she had a couple weeks ago, looked at her in surprise. Bruce and Thor, however, smiled towards her with pride.

“The lass is right,” Thor commented,”The Man of Iron is still our friend, no matter what form.”

“And I’m pretty sure we’re at least a little better than the company there probably is at HYDRA,” Scott joked.

Clint smirked a bit, turning back to Bucky. “You, Buck, is he right? Are we better?” He asked, putting on a ‘jealous girlfriend’ voice.

Although his eyes still held fear, their banter managed to bring the tiniest of smiles to the man’s face. “Yeah… You are, a lot,” He said softly, the joy obvious in his voice.

With a sense of happiness once more in the room, the Avengers turned back to the Director filled with determination. The eyepatch clad leader smirked, sending a nod towards Bucky, and firmly saying,”Alright ladies, let’s get down to business.”

-- -- -- -- -- -- --

Dr. Muller desperately tried to block out the Asset’s screams, hide the pain he felt from the sounds or the cringes that routinely appeared on his face, but it was hopeless. Those pain filled screams were searing deep into his soul.

Once again, Asset had been forced into The Chair simply because the Handler decided that they couldn’t take any chances (A bullshit excuse, in Muller’s opinion). Muller really didn’t believe all the punishment was needed when the project had obviously worked so well; Honestly, he wasn’t sure he even believed in the project anymore…

Those pained screams clawed at his heart, shredding it into pieces, and shriveling up into a mass of dark guilt. I can’t handle this anymore!

He wanted to run to the Chair, yank the innocent man away from HYDRA’s clutches, and whisk him back to the Avengers. If only he could… But such a revolt was impossible. All the Handler had to do if he wanted to get rid of him was give a simple word. Hell, he would probably force Asset to get rid of him if it came to that.

But the doctor wasn’t just going to do nothing .

When the screams finally died down and the sound of physical violence took its place, the doctor steeled himself, and walked straight through the doors with a rigid, confident for and his head held high.

The handler turned toward the noise, his hand still wrapped around the Asset’s neck. A smile rose on his face. “Ah, doctor! Hello! What can I do for you?” He asked in a tone that sounded way too domestic for the current situation.

Muller took a shaky breath before his forced his eyes up and demanded,”I’ve come to request to take Asset down to my lab for a bit and check out his injuries.”

The Handler almost immediately scoffed. “They’ll be healed in less than an hour, don’t even bother with it.”

“No!” Muller exclaimed, and quickly backtracked,”I… I want to watch his body as it heals. Electric shocks can damage nerves and even strain your heart. I want to see how his enhanced body manages to fix itself.”

With his explanation finished, the doctor made sure to smile wickedly and rub his hands together for good measure.

Thankfully, his act seemed to placate the handler’s suspicion. “Very well,” The man said with a smile, releasing his hand from around the Asset’s neck. It slid down, grabbing the hem of the Soldier’s suit and throwing him down onto the cold, concrete ground

“Asset,” The handler snarled,”Follow Doctor Muller, do as he commands. If you don’t, I will hear about it. Understood?”

The soldier gave a firm, quick nod, not daring to look away from the floor as he pushed himself back onto his feet. The octor’s shriveled heart was now melting with pity, and he cold barley choke out a simple order,”Follow me.”

Muller turned and headed down the hall, not even trying to listen for Asset’s footsteps. The young man was an assassin; his footsteps would only be heard if he wanted them to be. It also helped that Muller knew Asset would never dare to disobey an order.

Once they were safely behind the metal lab doors, Muller whipped around and grabbed the Asset’s hands. He winced, the wrists were rubbed completely raw from being in the Chair’s bindings. He pulled the Asset’s arms under the sink, turning on the old water and allowing it to run over the abused flesh. The soldier flinched at first, but after a few seconds, untensed at the feeling of the cold.

Muller then grabbed a washcloth and some hydrogen peroxide, pouring a bit on the washcloth, and beginning to dab it on the raw wrists. Those empty brown eyes watched his every move, but never betrayed a single emotion.

Suddenly feeling awkward, Muller explained,”I’m uh…. Just cleaning up your cuts so that they feel better. I know you have a healing factor, but it still probably hurts a lot, and you can never be too careful with infections!”

He chuckled, but Asset didn’t react to his joke; Not even a blink. He huffed awkwardly, and softly said,”Hand me your other arm, please.”

A few peaceful minutes later, the wounds were healing well and some of the guilt was no longer trying to break his shoulders.

However, just as the doctor finished up, the door to the lab slid open. The dark eyes of the Handler peering in, and instantly catching sight of the hydrogen peroxide on the counter. Those eyes then turned into black voids of anger. “Why were you cleaning his cuts?”

His voice, although calm and collected, held an undertone of danger that Asset had come to recognize. The experiments eyes lowered to the ground, head bowed, hands clasping in front of him, and backing towards the shadows.

It was only thanks to Asset’s reaction that Muller realized just how dangerous his situation was becoming. “I… W-well… You told me that infections have never happened before, a-and I was worried about how his advanced cells would react if he got an infection so I-”

“Oh you were, were you?” Handler questioned, voice dripping with fake interest. “If that’s the case, then why did you lie to me, doctor?”

Muller felt a lump suddenly take residence in his throat, refusing to leave. No words would leave despite how hard he tried to force them out.

Those dark eyes looked to where Asset was, hunched back in the shadows as much as possible. Handler snapped his fingers, pointing to the floor next to him. The brainwashed young man didn’t hesitate to follow the order

Before the Asset could even stop walking, Handler snatched his freshly cleaned wrist, raising the whole arm up into the air. From his belt, he pulled out a sharp knife.

“You seem to forget the precarious situation you are in, Muller,” He sneered, running the knife up and down the Asset’s pale skin. “Asset is mine .” With that word, he dug the knife into Asset’s skin, slicing across horizontally. After he pulled it from the cut, he lowered it about half an inch.

“And I will do to him.”

Slice

“Whatever I want.”

Slice

“Whenever I please”

The doctor had no choice but to watch as the Handler carved deeply into the Asset’s pale skin, sending blood rolling all the way down to the elbow and dripping off onto the ground. He made sure to give the other arm the same treatment.

After he finished, the Handler pointed the bloody knife at Muller. “If you continue this little ‘change of heart’ you seem to be having, Asset will suffer for your mistakes, and I will show you how easy it is to kill someone who doesn’t have a healing factor. DO I make myself clear?”

Mutely, the pale doctor gave the smallest of nods. A sadistic smile rewarded him, and all anger was returned to the Asset.

Suddenly, the Handler backhanded the soldier backwards, then using his other hand to throw him forward in the other direction; A move that would have given any normal human really bad whiplash. In the end, Asset merely tumbled to the ground.

“Go back to your cell, Asset,” The Handler ordered with a snarl, kicking the side of the young man’s chest to emphasize his point.

The Asset nodded, shakily standing p once more. He turned, bowing at the man who had just beaten him up, and walking ot of the doorway. Before he fully left, however, his eyes flickered back towards the doctor once more; Then, he vanished around the corner.

Handler smirked towards the doctor once again. “Remember this warning doctor. You are on thin fucking ice,” He hissed. Then, just as quickly as he had appeared, the Handler vanished as well.

-- -- -- -- -- --

Another few weeks went by, and their plans seemed hopeless.

Some of the bases were completely destroyed, or rotted and cracked. Others did have activity, but that was no help either. The bases which were active were all exactly the same from the outside. Same amount of guards, same guard times, and the same exact people coming and going.

Natasha felt anger swell around her heart. They know we’re trying to get Tony back, they’re keeping every base exactly the same so we can’t tell where they’re keeping him… Those bastards.

After a long couple weeks of nothing, Natasha almost wanted to give in. It was obvious HYDRA at least had a hint of what may be going on, or at least had planned for them to try such a thing. She knew they would never give in.

But then, while scouting one of the German bases, the Avengers got their first major break.

She had been watching them all day, once again seemingly finding nothing. But then, one of the large doors to the base opened up and a man came out. It wasn’t a guard… It was… A doctor?

The pale doctor seemed tense and exhausted, turning his strained eyes around the base for a moet before walking towards the trees that were surrounding the base. Natasha eagerly followed, staying in the thick pine trees for cover until he stopped at a wide clearing, pulling his glasses off and rubbing at his face tiredly.

That was when Natasha made a foolish mistake. While trying to creek closer on her tree, she grabbed onto a small branch for support. For several seconds, it seemed stable, and then suddenly snapped. The woman nearly fell out of the trees, but managed to catch herself. However, it was too late, the doctor had seen her.

His eyes widened, whipping around towards Natasha. The spy didn’t try to hide, knowing she’d been caught. Instead, she pulled out one of her special knives and got ready to take the doctor down when he tried to go for help.

But… He didn’t.

Instead, his hands went into the pockets of his lab coat, yanking out a pen from his pen pocket and a piece of paper. He scribbled something down quickly, and then let the piece of paper fall to the floor. He turned back to Natasha, motioning his eyes towards it, and then wandering back over to the HYDRA base.

Only after he was inside did Natasha dare creep down from the tree, slowly creeping through the snow and picking up the torn piece of paper from the ground. Once again, her expectations were changed as her eyes roamed the paper.

Veränderung Tea House

6:00 AM

Please Come

Chapter Text

Natasha rubbed her thumb along the edge of her tea cup, staring at the steam that rose above it. Her eyes left the sight, looking around the small building for any sign of the doctor she was supposed to meet.

She saw Clint nearby, he was wearing casual clothes but his hair was colored black and he had a fake beard on; if things went south, he was her backup. Hopefully it doesn’t go that way… Natasha thought desperately. This may be our only hope to save Tony.

Then, she saw him. The doctor was wearing a belstaff coat, a black scarf, sunglasses, and a hat over his blonde hair along with a suitcase clutched in his hands. He looked around nervously, and then scurried over to where she was sitting.

Muller seemed extremely tense and anxious, to the point that when he pulled his chair out the sound of it scraping against the ground made him startle.

Once he was sitting down, he kept the suitcase in his lap. He took several deep breaths, turning his nervous eyes up to Natasha.

“Thank you for doing this…” He whispered quietly,”I know my request probably was weird, I really don’t deserve your trust.”

Natasha took a sip of her tea before she responded. “I don’t trust you,” She said firmly,”I’m doing this for Tony.”

The doctor had the decency to look ashamed at Natasha’s words. “Yes of course, you’re right,” He whispered, looking around nervously again.

The assassin frowned, and calmly asked,”Why are you so nervous?”

With one more quick scan of the tea house, the doctor leaned forward. “I’m on a short leash right now,” He admitted,”Apparently since Asset- Sorry, I mean since Tony’s perfectly brainwashed, I’m no longer useful. I have been told many times that they can get rid of me at any time…”

“Get rid of you as in kill you or let you go?” Natasha asked, adding a few sugars to her rapidly cooling yes.

The doctor gulped at the aspect, quickly shaking his head. “No, no, no, they’d never let me go, I know too much. I’ve already been told that my termination would be much more… Permanent,” He croaked out, the last word much quieter than the rest.

Suddenly, Natasha felt a bit of irritation. “Is that why you’re suddenly remorseful? Because they’re threatening to kill you? After torturing our teammate for so long, now you regret it?” She hissed.

Muller, to his credit, didn’t deny her claims. Instead, he looked down and replied,”Even if he did well, even if nothing went wrong on a mission, they would still hit him, insult him… After he fought you guys, they sent him to the chair despite the fact he never showed signs of remembering you. And then, when I tried to help him afterwards, his handler made several more wounds all over him to make a point. It’s- It’s… I can’t stand by it anymore.”

There was a beeping noise, making the doctor jump. He pulled his coat back, looking at his watch. “I have to go, I’ve already been here too long,” He whispered,”I’ll be in contact soon, I promise.”

The suitcase he had been clutching close went to the ground, and he pushed it to her side of the table. “The combination is the date that caused everything,” He finished, not even taking the time to push his chair back in as he left.

Natasha watched him go, and then turned back to Clint. He looked just as curious as her, so she quickly pulled out her phone and texted him. “ We’ll take it back to the Avengers compound and have it scanned before we open it.”

Clint was quick to answer. “Do you really think we can trust this guy?” He asked.

Natasha frowned, taking a moment to think. “No,” She admitted. “But he’s the only option we have.”

Natasha left first, heading in a different direction than Clint as to not cause suspicion. Even though they were trying to be cautious, she could barely stop her mind from wandering.

She was afraid, afraid that they would never be able to save their teammate, to save their friend…

To save the one they had wronged so horribly.

— — — — — —

When they returned to the compound, Fury was already there. Maria and Phil quickly took the case from them, and went to get it scanned. Meanwhile, the remaining Avengers waited anxiously to hear what Natasha has found out.

“I didn’t learn much,” Natasha admitted,”But from what Muller said, it sounds like he’s on thin ice with HYDRA. I think that’s why he gave us the suitcase instead of telling us outright.”

Bucky made a noise of agreement. “It makes sense,” He agreed,”When I was there, they tended to get rid of people they no longer needed very quickly. They probably are only keeping him around just in case.”

Steve frowned, he always did when Bucky mentioned HYDRA. Natasha wasn’t sure why he hated it so much, she thought it was better for Bucky to let it all out rather than hold it in.

Before any more awkward sentences could be bounced around the room, Fury and the two agents returned with the case.

“It’s cleared,” Coulson said,”But we haven’t been able to open it. The case is fortified by metal and has a passcode, we don’t want to break it open in case something gets broken.”

Bruce looked at the case, and replied,”Six digit password… Did he give you any hints, Natasha?”

The woman nodded. “He said that the password was the date that caused everything.”

The cryptic words made several of the Avengers frown, scraping their minds for what the answer to the riddle could be. Steve, however, turned extremely pale. He gulped, and then walked over to the suitcase.

Everyone watched with interest as the man punched in a code. ‘121691’ Instantly, the suitcase beeped and a green light illuminated them for a moment before opening up.

Rhodes frowned at the sight, and quickly asked,”How did you know what the code was?”

The super soldier frowned, his skin going even paler as he knew he had to admit the reason he knew. “December sixteenth, nineteen-ninety-one,” Steve croaked out,”The day Tony’s parents died…”

The colonel’s eyes widened, and he quickly buried his face in his hands. Bruce was quick to place his hand on the man’s back, trying to comfort him.

Meanwhile, Steve started pulling things from the suitcase. There was a thick file, a USB stick, and a simple piece of paper that had a phone number on it. Steve picked up the paper, reading aloud,”This is the number for my burner phone. Call me two days after you open the case.”

He placed down the paper and brought the file out and read,”Experiment eight… Tony Stark.” He took a quick look at the first few pages, not really reading them but more examining them. “It looks like they’re reports… About what they did to St-Tony..”

“Damn,” Clint muttered,”He really is sticking his neck out for us if he got us all that… HYDRA is very careful with their files.”

Steve then put the file down, and picked up the USB. “I’m kind of scared to know what’s on this one…” He muttered.

Natasha had to agree with him, but she knew they had to look at it eventually. Thankfully, that time was delayed by Fury snatching the USB from Steve and declared,”We’ll take a look at this first, just in case it has some viruses or bugs on it.”

Steve seemed perfectly fine with it as well; He let out a relieved breath, and whispered,”Y-Yeah, you can… You can do that..”

“Meanwhile,” Fury interjected,”You guys read that file. I want a report on it later.”

The super soldier frowned, his hands shaking as he said,”With all due respect, sir, couldn’t some shield agents do that too?”

Fury seemed to ponder this for a moment. “They could,” He admitted, and then his face turned stone cold once more. “But this is about the team member you failed. You have to face what is in that folder, Rogers, because everything in there is your fault.”

With that final declaration, Fury whipped around and left the room compound with Maria following after him.

— — — — — — —

Doctor Muller was very careful when he returned from the tea house. He even made sure to go to the farmer’s market so that he could say that was the reason he had gone out.

He had thought it was enough, he had thought he’d kept their suspicions at bay. Oh, how foolish he had been.

The doors of the compound slid open and he hurried inside, looking around nervously. He saw no one, and let out the air he had been holding. He went to walk further in, when there was a sharp pain against the back of his head. He crashed to the ground, his vision swimming.

Muller whimpered a bit, pushing himself onto his elbows as a laughter echoed through the room. His heart stopped, recognizing the voice… It was the handler.

His vision cleared, the doctor could finally see where everyone was. The handler stood over him, a sadistic grin on his face. Next to him stood Tony, his blank eyes staring at Doctor Muller completely unmoving. On both sides of them were several other soldiers, their faces matching the handler’s.

The handler clapped a few times, casually saying,”I have to commend you, Doctor. You almost got away with it, you really almost did! If you hadn’t tried to help Asset behind my back, I wouldn’t have been suspicious enough to have someone follow you. If only you could have acted for a little longer.”

Muller gulped, his whole body beginning to shake with fear. “Sir, please-” He croaked, but the Handler held his hand up to cut him off.

“Pleading won’t help you now, Muller,” He snarled,”You have already been given too many chances. Imprisonment is too risky, the only thing I want from you is your dead body. It’ll be used to show the Avengers what happens when they try to mess with us.”

The handler turned, and took the gun out of his holster. He aimed it at Muller, but then pulled back suddenly. “No, I won’t kill you… Your creation will,” He declared, turning and handing the gun to Tony. “Asset, kill him,” He ordered.

The brainwashed man took the gun from his handler, moving in front of his handler, and clicking the safety off the gun. As he raised it, sadness filled Muller’s heart. Tears fell down his cheeks.

“I’m… I’m so sorry...” He whispered,”I tried, I really did… I’m so sorry, Tony…” He lowered his head, shutting his eyes tight, and waited.

BANG!

-- -- -- -- -- -- --

A couple days passed by, and none of the Avengers had managed to gather the courage to open the file that sat before them. Thankfully, Phil realized why and convinced Fury to give them more time.

This didn’t call Natasha, however. She had tried calling the burner phone two days later, just as the note had said. It went straight to voicemail every time…

Was it all a trick? She wondered. Was it just to give us false hope? Or was it to brag about their accomplishments?

She shared her concerns with Clint, who was as frustrated as she was. But they both knew that if that was the case, there wasn’t much they could do unless the doctor showed his face again.

Natasha was about to give up hope, she was about to tell the rest of the Avengers that they needed a new plan. But then… Her phone chimed.

Clint, who was next to her in that moment, froze up as well. She pulled her phone up, looking at the text on it. It was from an unknown number, and not the same number from the burner phone.. That part worried her… But she was desperate, so she opened the unknown text

“Agent Romanov, it’s Doctor Muller. I need your help…”

Chapter Text

“Natasha, wait-”

“No, Clint,” The named assassin snapped back, narrowing her icy eyes at him as she headed toward the Quinjet. “I’m not waiting, I’m going to help Muller.”

Clint frowned, following her into the cold night air. “But it could be a trap!” He exclaimed,”We should at least talk this out with the others, and then we’ll be safer if there is a trap… A-and there probably is!”

“I don’t care,” Natasha said,”This is our only lead, if I don’t go because I think it’s a trap, how else will we save Tony? We can’t give up now! We’ve been through much worse, and Tony’s still suffering even as we speak.”

The archer frowned, looking shocked and worried towards his partner before he turned and stormed out of the Quinjet.

Natasha watched him go, part of her wanting to go after him, but she had more important things to do. She moved to the front of the craft, beginning to input the coordinates she had been sent.

After about a minute, she heard a loud clunk behind her. She whipped around and saw Clint carrying his bow, arrows, and a large duffel bag. He tossed them onto the nearby chair, and then went up to Natasha. “So, where are we going?” He asked.

She frowned towards him, turning to face the archer. “I thought you didn’t want me to go,” She pointed out.

He looked towards her with pained hazel eyes and sighed, carefully reached out, and taking her hand in his. “I don’t agree with this, but I know I can’t talk you out of it,” He admitted,”So I’m coming with you, okay?”

Natasha looked like she was going to deny his declaration, her hands tense within his for a pregnant pause before she finally sighed and relaxed the slightest bit.

“Fine,” She muttered,”You can come with me. Let’s go, the sooner we help Muller, the sooner Tony will be safe.”

— — — — — — —

They flew for a few hours before the landed about half a mile from the coordinates led them to for safety; A tiny house in the middle of nowhere in Germany. It was surrounded by trees and snow, and Natasha almost didn’t see it.

They grabbed their weapons and kept them wielded as they crept towards the cabin. It didn’t look like there were any lights on, which made the two spies a little more nervous.

When they reached the splintered door, Clint loaded an arrow and prepared to shoot if necessary. Natasha then leaned forward, and gently rapped her knuckles against the wood.

They heard some movement from inside, and then a click of a lock, and another, and another, and many more until the doorknob finally began to turn. The door pulled inwards, snow and splinters of wood falling to the ground. They heard a gasp, and then the door yanked all the way open. Both Natasha and Clint raised their weapons in preparation, but as soon as they saw the person behind the door, they lowered them.

It was Muller.

He was looking extremely worse for wear. His glasses were missing a frame, he had bruises on his face and bags around his eyes. One of his arms was in wrapped in bandages and a sling made out of a shirt, and he looked very pale.

“Thank god,” The man whispered, quickly opening the door wider. “Come in, come in, quickly.”

Natasha and Clint hurried inside, watching as muller shut the door and re-locked all eight locks on the door.

Clint didn’t show it, but he was feeling extremely relieved. He had been extremely sure that Natasha was walking into a trap, but it looked like Muller was telling the truth.

As he listened to the sound of the locks clicking, he took a look around the tiny cabin. There was barely any furniture, only a rickety table, two chairs (one was missing half of it’s back), and a couch that had several holes in it. The kitchen as sad, the cabinets were nearly falling off the walls and the stove was rusted over. There was a small hallway that had two doors, and the two spies realized that the reason it seemed so dark was because black cloth and wooden boards were nailed to the windows. The only light was a few battery powered lanterns.

Muller finally finished locking the door and hurried over to them. “I was starting to worry you wouldn’t come, I don’t know what I would have done,” He quietly said, his voice quivering.

“What happened?” Natasha questioned as the doctor moved to sit on the couch. “You said you would contact me at a specific time, what happened to change that?”

Muller sighed, burying his good hand in his hair. “They caught me,” He croaked,”They found out so quick, they were going to have me killed. They were going to make Tony do it..”

Natasha instantly felt her heart drop. She remembered Tony well, such an action would break him; It didn’t matter if he was able to control himself or not, he would still blame himself.

“Then how’d you get out?” Clint asked, leaning against the rickety table.

“Tony,” Muller explained,”If it wasn’t for him disobeying orders, I would have been killed…”

— — — — — — —

BANG!

The loud noise made Muller’s ears ring, and his eyes remained squinted shut, waiting for the inevitable; To wake up in hell and face his life choices… But it never came.

He hesitated for a second, before opening his eyes and looking towards Tony. The gun was no longer aimed at Muller, but instead was pointed at the ground. Muller’s green eyes followed where the gun was aimed and gasped.

The handler was dead, there was a hole in between his eyes; Eyes which revealed that the Handler’s last emotion was shock. As the blood spilled from the wound, the many soldiers around them stared in horror.

Tony seemed just as shocked as the rest of them, his brown eyes were wide with the first emotion Muller had ever seen from him; Fear. He began to shake, and the gun fell from his hand and onto the ground.

The clatter of the weapon caught one of the soldier’s attention, he quickly aimed his pistol at Tony. “You little bastard!” The man yelled.

Before he could pull the trigger, Muller grabbed the gun that his creation had just dropped and shot the soldier in the chest. He cried out in pain, falling to the floor and curling up.

Another shot rang through the air and Muller was the one to scream this time as a blinding hot pain burned up his arm, forcing him to drop the gun. The upper arm of his lab coat started to turn red as blood dripped from the wound.

Tony snapped out of his shocked trance and punched the nearby soldier and grabbed him by the shoulder, throwing him like a bowling ball into the three other soldiers nearby and the knocking them to the ground. He then burst forward, grabbing Muller’s uninjured hand and bursting into a sprint.

The sound of angered yells and gunshots rang after them, and Muller could see them whizzing by him or even hitting Tony, but he didn’t stop. He ran full speed at the wall and slammed his body against it, making a sizable hole in it, and then pulling Muller with him again.

Despite the pain he was feeling from his head and arm, Muller forced himself to keep speed with the super soldier. He knew that his pain was temporary, and going back wound mean death him… And worse for Tony.

— — — — — —

“So Tony snapped out of it?” Clint asked hopefully, not even trying to hide the hope in his voice. “Be broke through the programming?”

The second Muller’s face tightened into a cringe, the archer felt his stomach drop all over again. “No…” He said,”Not at all… In fact, it’s worse than that…”

“What could be worse than being a HYDRA slave?” Natasha sneered, narrowing her eyes at the doctor.

The man sighed, forcing himself off the couch and walking down the hall. “Tony has been the perfect soldier to HYDRA, he’s never disobeyed even the smallest order,” He explained,”His handler is supposed to always tell him what to do and the rules… And for just a moment, he broke through the programming and killed him. After we got here… Tony just… He- He shut down…”

The doctor opened the door closest to them, letting it creak inward and reveal the tattered room. There was a bed and night stand, but both looked unused and even covered in dust. The lamp on top of the light stand illuminated the tiny room the smallest bit, and let Natasha catch a glimpse of who was inside.

She let out a gasp so quiet that the only reason the others heard it was because of how tense and quiet it had become, and hurried closer to the figure. “Oh Tony…” She croaked.

Sitting in the corner furthest from the door, curled up with their knees against their chest and dead brown eyes staring ahead at nothing was none other than Tony Stark. He didn’t move, he didn’t react, it was hard to tell he was even breathing.

Natasha frowned, kneeling down, and reaching out to him. “Tony? Can you hear me?” She asked,”It’s me, Natasha. Natashalie, remember?”

She ran her fingers through that shaggy brown hair, but there was no reaction; he didn’t even flinch. Natasha felt her eyes start to burn with tears, but she forced herself to keep them back. She began whispering in Russian as she ran her thumb along his cheek, searching for any hint of her old teammate.

“How… How long has he been like this?” Clint questioned, his throat having gone dry at the sight of the once proud and courageous genius.

Muller sighed, turning his saddened green eyes away from the scene. “Like I said, since we got here,” He said,”I’ve tried everything to get him to react. I tried saying his real name, ordering him like the handler did, but nothing worked. That’s when I knew I had to contact you.”

Clint frowned and turned to look back at the brainwashed Stark, his heart squeezing. “I see…” He whispered,”And… What did you want us to do? Take you both back to the Avengers?”

“I want to help him,” Muller said firmly,”But I can’t do that here; I’m not safe and neither is he, especially in this state. If you could get us to safety, I promise to help him recover, and then you can arrest me if you wish.”

The archer listened to his plea, but he knew he’d already made up his mind. He looked over to his partner, who nodded back at him in agreement.

Clint turned back to Muller, firmly stating,”Tony was coming with us either way, but you’re right. We do need you to help us fix what you did, and that’s it. Understood?”

Muller sighed in relief. “Thank you so much,” He praised, his shoulders slumping as if all the weight on his shoulders fell away. “Now I can do this.”

He walked towards Tony and pulled a syringe out o his pocket. Before Natasha could think to stop him, he jammed it into Tony’s neck and injected the fluid inside of it. Instantly, Tony’s eyelids began to slide close.

“What are you doing?!” Natasha demanded, grabbing the doctor’s shoulders and preparing to throw him aside.

“I’m sedating him,” Muller quickly explained,”It was last ten to twelve hours, enough time for us to get back to your base. I don’t know about you, but I’d prefer for us to have backup before we let an unstable super soldier in a brand new environment.”

The two assassins looked at each other before relenting that the doctor was probably right. They had only fought Tony on a few occasions, but they knew he was not to be trifled with, especially now that he had the super soldier serum.

“Let’s go then, Clint, you carry Tony,” Natasha ordered,”We need to get home as soon as possible.”

Clint and Muller nodded, and the doctor followed Natasha out while Clint pulled Tony into his arms in  bridal style carry and followed the other two out.

Tony was light, too light. He felt like a feather, and Clint could see his smooth cheeks were sunken in quite noticeably. Oh Tony… This is all our fault.. He thought sadly, wanting so desperately to hug the man but terrified that he would break him.

As the quinjet came into view, the sadness in the archer’s heart was replaced by burning determination. He placed Tony gently down on the row of chairs inside, covering him with a spare blanket.

We’re going to fix this, we’re going to help you, I promise.

Chapter Text

It was hard to believe that the pale, emaciated teenager on the medical bed was the great and powerful Tony Stark. Rhodey found it difficult to even look at him, but he also couldn’t seem to look away.

The IV that Dr. Muller had put in his arm kept the brainwashed genius asleep, but there were still cuffs wrapped tightly around his wrists and ankles that kept him on the bed. The blankets were pulled up to his chest, while his restrained arms were above the fabric.

Rhodey sighed again and took the pale, small hand into his own, running his thumb across the unfamiliar palm. The calluses were gone, the skin was completely smooth, he barely recognized the touch. Looking at Tony, he saw that the same was true about his face, clear of any wrinkles and blemishes it once had. His eyes were closed, he looked so peaceful… But Rhodey knew that the true torture was hidden behind those closed lids.

“Oh, Tony…” He whispered, placing the cold hand against his forehead. “You didn’t deserve this… You didn’t deserve any of this… Why did this have to happen?”

Tony, of course, didn’t respond; Rhodey’s paines eyes looked back towards the IV with disdain. He hated the idea of keeping Tony drugged up and unconscious until the others decided what to do next. He knew Muller was trying to help, but he felt that there were much better ways.

“You can’t just lock away the problem when you’re trying to think of a solution!” He growled to himself. “And Tony’s NOT the problem! He’s not the blame for any of this!”

“He isn’t,” A quiet voice replied.

Rhodey whipped around in his wheelchair to face the speaker, his eyes instantly narrowing at the sight of a nervous Wanda in the doorway. Her hair was a mess, eyes red rimmed from crying, her hands were wrung together, and she was shuffling from one foot to the other. Despite her obvious anxiety, Rhodey didn’t feel any pity.

“What are you doing here?” He demanded, forcing himself to hold back the insults threatening to escape from his throat. He knew he had to at least try and keep the fragile peace between them until Tony was better. But, judging by Wanda’s expression, she knew that what the only reason he even blessed her with a response.

The young woman took a second to gather herself, breathing in and out deeply, and softly whispered,”I… I came to see Star- Tony. I- I wanted to see how he was doing.” She looked at the unconscious form, then back at Rhodey. “Can.. Can I come in?”

Rhodey was about to deny her, slam the door in her face, and order FRIDAY to lock out every Rogue Avenger that tried to come inside… But then he remembered that day, when she stood up to Steve and shamed him for his actions against Tony. She’s on our side… At least a little bit.

Without saying a word, Rhodey gave her a nod, wheeling himself backwards to give her a little room. The young woman stared at him in surprise for a few seconds, probably because she hadn’t been expecting his answer to be yes. She quickly grabbed the nearby chair, dragged it to the side of the bed, and sat down next to him.

Wanda’s eyes roamed over Tony and started to mist over again, and she quietly said,”If that Handler guy hadn’t given us hints, I would have never known it was him… He doesn’t look at all like himself…”

A strange nostalgia rose up in Rhodey, and he found himself laughing a bit. “Actually, he does,” The war machine replied,”Except, he looks like he did when we were at MIT together. He was only fourteen when he started going to college, and he graduated at seventeen. Crazy, huh?”

“Yeah… But not really surprising,” Wanda said,”Even if he and I weren’t on the best of terms… Well, ever… I have to admit he was always a genius.”

Rhodey looked at her curiously as he asked,”You always hated him… I worried about his safety sometimes because of the way you treated him. Even after we showed you that it was Obadiah that sent the missiles to your country, you still never gave him a chance. Why now?”

The guilt exploded back on Wanda’s face, and she began to wring her hands together again. “Because…” She forced out,”Because I realized that… That we’re more similar than I thought. My parents… His parents… We both reacted the way we did because of finding out out parents had been murdered. For him, it was even worse, the person he should have been able to trust never told him, lied to him…”

She reached out, taking Tony’s pale hand in her own. “I know that I went overboard with my anger, I did things I still regret,” She admitted,”But he never disregarded my feelings, he never told me they weren’t justified. He understood that I was mourning. I… I just wish I could have recognized his kindness sooner.”

Her free hand went to cover her eyes, trying desperately to stop the tears from falling. Rhodey watched with his jaw dropped the slightest bit, the pity in his heart changing into understanding.

He placed his hand on her shoulder as he said,”The important thing is that you recognize it now. Tony will need as much help as he can if he’s going to get through this. He’s with us now, he’s safe, even if he doesn’t know it yet. And now that he’s safe, we can finally help him.”

Wanda sniffed a bit, nodding in agreement to his words. It took her a little bit to compose herself, and then she turned to Rhodey with a gleam in her eyes. “You’re right, we should help him,” She vaguely responded, and then motioned to the IV nearby. “And I don’t know about you, but I don’t think this counts as helping.”

Rhodey’s eyes widened, finally catching onto what the young woman was implying. He smiled mischievously back, and replied,”You know what, Wanda? You’re absolutely right, it does not.”

The young woman smiled and got to her feet. “Well then, since we’re in agreement, let’s do something about it.”

-- -- -- -- -- -- --

“No! Absolutely not! We are not doing that to him!” Bruce yelled at Steve, a tinge of green rising up his veins.

For the past several hours they had been sitting around, discussing with Doctor Muller and the other Avengers about their options for how to help Tony recover. The tension between them did not help matters at all, and led to the explosion of anger they were seeing.

Steve jumped to his feet as well. “But wouldn’t that be best!? The Wakanadan doctors did some experiments on Bucky while we were on the run, it helped him out a lot!” He exclaimed,”All I’m saying is that maybe we give it a try.”

“Yeah, no,” Scott butt in. “Tony is in no condition to have anyone experiment on him. What do you think that’ll make him feel? Safe?!”

Bruce motioned at Scott and added,”He’ll feel like we’re just another Hydra! And Bucky doesn’t count! This situation is almost completely different!”

“How?!” Steve demanded.

Bucky narrowed his eyes at his best friend, and easily replied,”Because when we were in Wakanda, I had control of myself. I knew what was going on and who you all were. Even if I wasn’t completely fixed, I still remembered things. Tony has none of that, he’s basically still a Hydra tool. We need to give him time.”

The group went silent for a little while, and finally Natasha broke the silence. “But… But what if he never remembers?” She whispered, an unusual amount of worry showing up in her tone. “You heard what they said… They said he’s a better, more perfect version of the winter soldier. What if we can’t fix it?”

“Nothing is set in stone,” Dr. Muller suddenly declared,”Hydra also thought that the winter soldier was perfect, but he got away… It all started because he saw Captain Rogers. Now that Tony is surrounded by familiar faces, I’m sure something good will come of it. We just need to give him some time.”

Bruce nodded firmly. “Yes, exactly!” He exclaimed,”We should give Tony some time to recover, and take this chance to observe how that pans out. We have to at least try.”

“And if he lashes out, then we simply help him to calm down,” Thor declared,”He is bound to have his moments and they should not be seen as a bad thing, ‘tis only natural when you are in such a situation.”

Fury watched the back and forth quietly, not interjecting nor offering his own opinion, but it was pretty obvious which side he was on when he started smiling near the end of their argument. Once everyone went quiet again, Fury crossed his arms and asked,”Well, we’re all in agreement, then?”

The group of Avengers all nodded along with a few muttered words, and Fury hummed in agreement as well. He turned to Dr. Muller and firmly said,”Time to wake him up, doctor.”

“Alright, I will remove the IV,” The doctor agreed,”But it may take him a while to wake up, considering how strong the sedative was. But that’s not a bad thing, it’s better that he wakes up slowly and easily.”

Muller left the room, the door sliding shut behind him. Once he was gone, the awkward silence seemed to seep back into the room again. The heroes looked at each other but couldn’t seem to find any conversation starter to cut through the tension.

After a pregnant pause, Steve hunched forward with a groan, burying his face in his hands. “This is all my fault…” He whispered, his body beginning to shake as he tried in vain to hold back tears.

The rest of the group watched, but none of them made a move to comfort him, Bucky wasn’t even looking at him. It was hard to try and make someone feel better when you with why they feel guilty.

Bruce turned his back to Steve, towards Fury, and asked the director,”Will you be staying to observe his recovery too?”

Fury sighed and shook his head. “I’m afraid not. Ever since Ross was killed and SHIELD was brought back, I’ve had a lot more on my plate,” He explained,”I’ll visit or send Maria as much as possible. Believe me, I want him to recover just as much as you… He’s like a son to me.”

Natasha felt her heart tighten with sadness for her boss, as she knew his words were true. Fury had known Tony since he was a child, and Tony was one of the first people to be approached for membership on the Avengers. They had been connected for a long time, just like the Avengers had been too.

They were all family, and yet things had fallen apart so quickly, so spectacularly.The assassin wondered if they would ever be able to go back to the way things were before…

This is our chance! Natasha reminded herself. He’s here, and so are we! We’re going to help Tony, we’ll fix what those bastards did to you, and everything will be okay. Nothing in the world will stop us!

The door suddenly flew open, slamming against the wall, and jolting the heroes out of their conversations or stupors. A wide eyed, frantic looking Muller stood in the doorway. He stuttered out random noises for several seconds, and then finally managed to yell,”He’s- He’s gone!”

“Gone?!” Fury exclaimed,”What the fuck do you mean gone?! He was knocked out with the equivalent of an elephant tranquilizer!”

Muller made many wild gestures as he replied,”I don’t know! I went in to his room and- and then he wasn’t there! The IV was on the bed!”

“But you said that sedative would hold him no matter what!!” Bruce said, practically dashing out the door. “We have to find him! What if he got lost?! What if someone took him!?”

The other Avengers quickly leapt to their feet and funneled out of the room, all beginning to search the compound for their missing teammate.

Bucky watched their frantic scramble with slight amusement. They were looking in the most random places, as if their brainwashed friend was a lost dog, and didn’t seem to be really thinking about what could have happened thoroughly. Bucky recalled his own experiences, and then went to the elevator.

He knew that Tony had a lab in the basement of the compound specifically for himself, Bruce had sadly mentioned it many times when he came back. Apparently Friday wasn’t letting anybody in except for Rhodey and Pepper, no matter what they tried.

And Rhodey was missing from the meeting… Bucky recalled, waiting until the elevator closed to ask,”Can I go to Tony’s lab?”

The AI didn’t respond at first, long enough that Bucky felt the need to say,”Friday, please. I just want to give him the help nobody was able to give me.”

All of a sudden, the elevator began to descend. Bucky’s anxiety fell away as well, and he let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. “Thank you…” He whispered, hoping that she was able to hear him.

The ride down seemed to take years, and the elevator doors seemed to open in a slow crawl. As soon as they finally opened wide enough, Bucky scurried out and over to the lab. The light next to the door was already green, so he let himself in and took in as much information on the spot as he could… None of it was good.

The room was a disaster. There was broken glass, broken furniture, and shards of metal everywhere, Wanda and Rhodey were practically pressed against the opposite wall, looking worriedly across the room. Bucky followed their gaze and had to stop himself from jerking back in surprise

Tony was on the other side of the room, legs curled against his chest and arms wrapped around them, his whole body was shaking. Those wide brown eyes watched all of them, and yet his eyes betrayed no emotion.

The young man had shoved himself into the corner of a room, an overturned table right next to him and one of the many sharp tools that the lab possessed was held in his shaky hands, pointing right towards the three other people in the room.

“What happened?” Bucky demanded, looking towards the other two with a worried glance.

Wanda wrung her fingers together while Rhodey firmly answered,”We took him because we knew that leaving him drugged up wasn’t going to help.”

The young woman continued,”He woke up, and he kind of... Freaked out. He hasn’t tried to hurt us or attack us, it’s only been self defense.”

Bucky couldn’t bring himself to be mad at them since he knew they were correct about both things; Tony acting in self defense was true and that leaving him sedated was a foolish idea.

“I understand,” Bucky said, and turned to look back at the shaking young man. “I’ll talk to him. Can you guys give us a few minutes alone?”

Wanda and Rhodey nodded, both smart enough to understand what Bucky was thinking instead of arguing like other Avengers normally would. He knew that they’d still be watching off of Friday’s live feed, but he didn’t care.

Bucky looked back at the young man, and saw that Tony was staring at him with those wide eyes. He knew that the brainwashed genius was examining him, probably wondering what Bucky was going to do.

The ex-winter soldier kicked some of the debris on the floor away, and then sat down with his legs crossed. He didn’t try to slowly creep up on Tony or scoot any closer, he knew that the young man wouldn’t handle that well. Instead, he started talking.

“I know how you feel,” Bucky began,”Your whole world has been turned upside down, everything you thought you knew was wrong. Now you’re in some place completely foreign, and you don’t know what to do.”

Tony had stopped shaking, and Bucky could see that his head was tilted slightly as he listened to those words. Knowing that the young man was listening very intently, he kept going.

“The same thing happened to me. After… Well, around seventy years of being the Winter Soldier for Hydra, I found out that my life was never supposed to be that… My life, my true life was ripped away from me by them, by Hydra, and by that damned Chair.”

Tony’s eyes widened and his whole body tensed up at Bucky’s last words, and the super soldier noticed that the sharp tool was lowered and not pointed directly at him. But, he was more focused on something else.

He frowned, a feeling of sadness and anger washing over him. “Oh… They used The Chair on you too, didn’t you?” He asked, his hands tightening into fists in his lap.

The young man across from him frowned as well, his eyes flashing with the first emotion Bucky had seen: Pain. He nodded the slightest bit, his arms tightening in the grip around his legs.

Bucky’s heart felt like it was being crushed, he never wanted anyone to have to go through the torture he did. But Hydra had managed to destroy another innocent person again. He swore that one day he would get revenge, but Tony was more important.

“They’re monsters, Tony,” He whispered, forcing himself to hide the anger he wanted to let out. “That never should have happened to you, or me, or anyone else. Not just The Chair, But everything else they made you do.”

Tony’s looked like he was struggling not to cry, and he nodded in agreement again, this time with a little more confidence.

Bucky forced a smile onto his face, and he quietly said,”I know that a lot of things don’t make sense right now, and I know recovery is going to be tough. Hell, I’m still trying to get over a lot of shit myself. But, I know that we’ll be able to help each other through this.”

The winter soldier reached out the slightest bit as the metal tool clattered to the ground, and he gently finished,”But I’m not going to force you to do anything you don’t want to. It’s up to you. Will you let me help you?”

For a full minute, Tony didn’t do anything, he simply stared at Bucky with empty brown eyes. There were a few times where his body would relax, as if he was going to start to move, only to suddenly tense up all over again. Bucky knew that the young man was battling against himself and what his warped instincts told him.

Eventually one side seemed to win, and Tony’s hands dropped to the ground. He slowly began to scoot closer to Bucky, stopping every few inches to check and see if the super soldier reacted in any way. Bucky made sure that he didn’t move a muscle, even when his arm started to ache.

After what seemed like hours, they were finally only a foot away from each other. Tony slowly sat down in a position that would let him get up quickly if he had to, reached out toward Bucky’s waiting hand, but then he hesitated. He reached out again, making the distance between their two hands mere centimeters, and then suddenly yanked his hand back as if he had been burned.

Bucky didn’t move his hand, watching Tony press his hands against his chest. “Do you want to touch my hand?” He asked his fellow super soldier.

Tony looked at him with fear and pain shining dimly in his eyes, his hands shaking against him as seemed to tense up again, not trying to answer his question, and instead waiting for a bad reaction. It made Bucky wonder just how much his own answers to questions had been used against him…

Slowly, Bucky pulled his hand back into his own lap, not missing the flinch Tony gave at his casual movement, and said,”If you don’t want to, then you don’t have to.”

The super soldier’s eyes widened, looking into Bucky’s eyes for a split second and searching for any sign of a trick. Bucky just gave him a small smile, and it seemed to calm the young man a little more.

Then, Tony slowly changed his position and moved to sit with his leg crossed like Bucky. It seemed insignificant to others, but the super soldier knew exactly what Tony was telling him.

Thank you for trusting me… Even if it’s only a little bit. Bucky thought. I promise I won’t betray it. This time, I won’t let them get you.

After all, now we are one and the same.

Chapter Text

After over a half hour of searching for Tony, Fury and the other Avengers were ready to call in the reinforcements and start attacking Hydra from every front until they found the friend that they had just gotten back.

Just as Steve and the rest of the Avengers were heading to do so, the elevator by the conference room opened, and Rhodey and Wanda stepped out.

The super soldier quickly skidded to a stop and whipped around to face them. “Guys, where have you been?!” He demanded,”Tony is missing! We have to find him before-“

Rhodey held up his hand and cut them off. “Tony is fine, me and Wanda were the ones that moved and woke him up,” He explained,”He’s down in the lab right now with Bucky.”

The group exchanged shocked and confused glances, as they all knew that the last time Bucky and Tony had been together it had been when the genius found out that Bucky had killed his parents.  

Fury narrowed his eyes as he said,”He was supposed to remain asleep until we decided how to help him. Why would you disobey orders?”

Wanda glared at him and angrily snapped,”Because it wasn’t helping him!! Leaving him asleep while you all struggled to figure out what do do wasn’t going to do anything! This is gonna be difficult no matter what solution you come up with!”

“Was he panicked when he woke up?” Dr. Muller asked,”Or was he still in a comatose state?”

Rhodey nodded to the doctor’s first question. “He did freak out and broke some stuff, but it was only because he was scared. And unlike some people ,” He snarled, glaring at Steve and the other rogues. “I don’t run away from a friend when they’re going through trauma.”

Steve and the others had the decency to look ashamed and lower their eyes to the ground. Wanda ignored this and continued,”Bucky figured out what happened and came down to help us. He’s down there with Tony right now.”

The Avengers all stayed silent for a couple seconds before Clint bravely asked,”Aaaand… How is that going?”

Rhodey smiled a bit and started heading towards the conference room with Wanda, making sure to ask,”Friday, can you turn on a video feed of the lab in the conference room?”

“Of course, Colonel,” Friday responded as they filed into the room, and a blue screen popped up

into existence, showing several different angles of the lab that was housing the two super soldiers.

The Avengers, Fury, and Muller gathered around the screen with rapt attention, instantly catching sight of Tony and Bucky sitting next to each other. From the sound of it, they had caught Bucky in the middle of telling a story.

“... And get this, after I’ve finally calmed the thug down and told him that it wasn’t worth it to beat up a scrawny kid, Steve jumps at him again! We ended up having to fight the whole gang of punks before we could even think about walking home! All because he heard one of them call him a stick!”

The group of onlookers turned back to glance at the mentioned man, who quickly looked away and coughed into his hand, a bright pink blush climbing up his cheeks.

When they turned to see Tony’s reaction to the story, they were disappointed to see that he hadn’t. He was merely sitting on the floor by Bucky, his wide and almost innocent brown eyes staring at Bucky with rapt attention.

“Hey,” Rhodey snapped, having noticed their disappointed looks. “Don’t act like this. He’s already doing better than he was when he first woke up.”

Wanda nodded in agreement. “He wouldn’t even let anyone within twenty feet of him,” She said, recalling the scary, shadow-like powers that the traumatized Avenger had used against them.

Dr. Muller stared at the screen for a while longer before nodding. “This is good progress,” He agreed,”He’s actually moving around and not shut down on himself. Very good progress indeed.”

All the Avengers breathed out a sigh of relief, having expected to hear the worst from the doctor. After all, the past few weeks had been filled with nothing but bad news and stress. Even the tiniest bit of good news equated to great news in their book.

Muller then turned and looked at Rhodey and Wanda. “Is it alright if I go down there and give him a quick check up?” He asked nervously,”Even if he is a super soldier, traumatic events can have consequences on both physical and mental health.”

Rhodey looked a little hesitant for a moment as he weighed his options. He wanted to give Tony time to relax and get a little more comfortable, but he also wanted Tony to be as healthy as possible. Finally, he sighed and said,”Fine, as long as Bucky stays. Tony is most comfortable around him right now.”

“Of course, I wasn’t even going to suggest it,” Muller promised, grabbing his bag and hurrying down to the elevator. Friday took him down without a word, but he noticed that the ride seemed a little rougher than normal. Almost like she’s mad at me… He thought, guilt immediately pooling in his body. Not that I wouldn’t deserve it…

He shook himself out of the stupor he was in when he landed on the floor he wanted, steeped himself with a deep breath, and headed to the lab.

— — — — — —

Bucky and Tony both instantly went alert when the sound of the door sliding open reached their enhanced ears. They turned towards the door, both prepared to leap to their feet and attack whatever may be trying to invade their space.

Instead of an enemy, a familiar blonde doctor walked through. He noticed the tension in the room and have a weak wave along with an even weaker smile.

Bucky sighed in relief, relaxing back onto the floor. “You know, you could have knocked, or had Friday let us know,” He mentioned teasingly, a smirk on his face as he turned back around. “Right, Tony?”

But Tony was obviously not finding as much amusement in the situation. His eyes had changed from blank to completely terrified, he was staring at Muller, and shaking in completely and utter fear. Except for the shuddering of his body, he seemed to have been petrified.

Muller realized immediately that Tony was reacting badly to his presence, but he pressed forward. “Tony, everything is okay,” He tried to soothe.

The brainwashed man didn’t seem to agree, as when Muller took a step forward he dropped to his knees, cringing and shutting his eyes tight. He seemed to be waiting for something… Something like a…

Bucky gasped quietly, his own experiences flashing through his mind as he whispered,”He thinks he’s in trouble for something…”

“Yes he does,” Muller whispered, the sadness seeping into his tone. He rubbed a hand over his face and groaned. “I just don’t know what it could be, his Handler and the other soldiers sometimes punished him for the most insignificant things…”

You don’t have to tell me that little tidbit, I’ve experienced it firsthand. Bucky thought, looking back at Tony with an empathetic gaze.

Muller quickly looked over at Bucky again. “Has he done anything major?” He questioned. “As in… Has he done anything very… Extroverted?”

Bucky thought for a moment, going back to what happened when he first arrived and what Wanda and Rhodey told him. Coming to a conclusion, he suggested,”He used those powers again. When he woke up, he was scared and so he made… Almost like a shield around himself.”

The doctor’s confused gaze instantly turned into one of understanding. He dropped his medical bag, moved over to Tony, and knelt down at his level. “Look at me,” He ordered.

Tony didn’t disobey, looking into Miller’s eyes with his own terror-filled ones, despite his fear, he was resigned. The doctor knew he was waiting for the pain to come, and it tore him apart. I did this… He told himself. I took an innocent man and turned him into this…

Knowing that guilt wouldn’t help calm Tony down, Muller shook off his dark thoughts and focused on the main issue. “Did you use your powers?” He asked, keeping his tone as level and gentle as possible.

Tony flinched a bit, but he quickly nodded to the man’s question and shut his eyes tight again, waiting for the pain he was so sure would come… It still didn’t.

“Tony, I told you to look at me,” Muller firmly stated, making the young man slowly raise his brown eyes back up.

“Who told you that you couldn’t use them?” Muller questioned curiously,”Was it your handler?”

The super soldier nodded again, his shaking increasing along with his panic. Whether that was due to the current situation or the fact he had killed that handler, Muller didn’t know.

The doctor waited until Tony had calmed down a bit to say,”Tony, your Handler is dead. He is not in charge of you anymore. You don’t have to follow his orders.”

Tony’s eyes widened in shock and, instead of relaxing, he seemed to panic even more. He hugged himself and started heaving out quick breaths, looking around the room frantically.

Muller knew right away what was going on, and he continued,”I gave orders to you before I ever order you to not use your powers?”

The super soldier froze, and seemed to be rummaging through his memories to figure out if Muller had ever said something like that. After a couple seconds, he slowly shook his head.

“Exactly,” The Doctor agreed. “In fact, I’m telling you that you can use your powers at anytime you want. You won’t get punished for using them. Do you understand?”

Tony nodded quickly, his shoulders slumping in relief as he realized that he was not going to be punished and that he’d finally gotten some orders.

Muller smiled a bit and reached behind him, pulling his bag closer and opening it up. “Good, now let’s get your checkup started.”

— — — — — —

Meanwhile, upstairs, the Avengers were still watching the screen as the doctor poked, prodded, and examined the super soldier; He wrote down something on his pad of paper after every tiny examination and then kept going.

Steve watched the scene with a guilty frown, crossing his arms, and muttering,”I just don’t like it. Why did he have to order around Tony like that? He didn’t have to.”

“Yes he did,” Natasha firmly said back, narrowing her eyes at him. “Do you think that Tony in his current state as a slave of hydra, would be able to handle all that freedom at once?”

“He might shut down again,” Clint worriedly continued,”He wouldn’t know what to do. Didn’t you see? When Muller gave him an order, he calmed down quite a bit.”

“It’ll be like weaning someone,” Bruce said,”Slowly, very slowly, we will give him more options and choices. Overwhelming him will send us many steps back.”

Rhodey nodded in agreement. “And unlike you, Captain I-Do-Whatever-I-Want, I don’t think Tony even knows what freedom is. At least… Not in this state.” He explained, lowering his head with a sad sigh as he thought about his friend’s current situation.

Clint noticed the somber mood and quickly said,”But- But it’ll get better! We just have to be patient! Baby steps!”

Steve still couldn’t help but feel a little pessimistic. Even after several years, Bucky was still trudging through a slow, difficult recovery. The handler had said that they’d perfected the winter soldier project when doing it on Tony, and it made Steve worry… How long would it take Tony to recover?

Would he ever?

— — — — — — —

The doctor slid his tools back into his bag, giving Tony a gentle, comforting smile. “You did very well, Tony,” He praised,”You’re my favorite patient.”

Tony didn’t outwardly respond to his kind words, but Muller didn’t seem to expect him to. He grabbed his clipboard and turned to face Bucky as his eyed scammed over it.

“His wounds are all healed up, which I was expecting. He shows no sign of any pain, which also means they all healed correctly,” Muller explained, tapping one thing on the clipboard. “The main issue I have with his physical condition right now is his weight.”

Bucky turned his blue eyes over to Tony, noticing just how skinny the genius was. His cheeks were sunken in a bit, and the hospital clothes he was in were sliding off his shoulder.

“As you can see, he is extremely malnourished. That in part is because of his time at Hydra and the fact I couldn’t get him to eat while we were hiding,” He explained guiltily, lowering his head with a sad sigh.

The doctor quickly shook himself out of his stupor and continued,”But that is something that we can fix now. I’m going to go upstairs and create a meal plan for him that will get his weight and diet back on track.”

The doctor headed towards the elevator, but Bucky found himself getting up and following after him. He turned Tony and asked,”Do you want to come upstairs too?”

With a quick glance at the doctor, who was not facing Tony, the super soldier shook his head quickly. Bucky wasn’t surprised, he doubted Tony was ready to face everyone anyways.

The ex-Winter Soldier gave him an understanding nod and said,”Okay, you don’t have to. I’m going to go upstairs too, but I’ll be back in a few, Okay?”

Tony nodded again, but Bucky could see the anxiety growing in his eyes. As much as the man wanted to stay and comfort the younger, he had things he needed do.

He wasn’t afraid to leave Tony alone, though. He knew that Friday would keep an eye on him until he got back.

However, in reality, Friday would do a lot more than that…

— — — — — —

When the elevator doors closed, Asset found himself alone for the first time since he had woken up. Things were so strange… He felt so confused.

Doctor Muller and the other man kept calling him Tony, and he didn’t understand why. That wasn’t his name, right? It was Asset, that’s what Handler told him, and handler’s word was always law.

He looked around the room nervously, scooting away from the middle of the room and back against the wall. He hugged his legs again, resting his chin on his knees.

His eyes examined the room, looking around at all the tools, vials, and machines around him with hidden interest. He had often been ordered to make weapons and different machines by handler, perhaps this is what they wanted him to do?

Before he could try and figure that out, a strange trill of electronic beeping, and then a woman’s voice declared,”Dum-E has been fully charged. Activating now.”

There was a whirring sound, and one of the machines in the middle suddenly rose up, revealing itself as a robot with a claw and a camera at the end of it. Asset stated at it with wide eyes, but didn’t move or make a sound.

The robot looked around and released what sounded like a confused, curious buzz. He rolled out of his charging port and around the room, turning in a circle until his camera caught sight of Asset. He let out a curious noise again, and rolled over to him.

Asset’s eyes widened and he quickly pressed himself further against the wall, afraid of what the machine might do to him.

It hesitated when it saw his fear, cocking its head… Claw? Like a curious dog would. Then, it leaned closer and gave a small whir, his claw closing and remaining that way.

When he realized that the bot wasn’t going to hurt him, Asset slowly leaned off the wall a bit and looked at the mechanics of the bot. Asset felt confused… Why was this bot build so similarly to his own creations?

The bot suddenly squeaked happily, backing up and rolling away quickly. He grabbed something on the ground and then sped back over to Asset. He dropped it down into the young man’s lap, making him flinch in surprise.

After taking a second to calm down, Asset realized that the toy had dropped a wrench in his hand. He frowned and held it up, looking at the bot to see what the reaction was.

The bot had backed up a bit, and seemed to be wiggling excitedly, his claw opening and closing in anticipation.

Asset still didn’t understand, and he didn’t want to be caught with anything he shouldn’t touch, so he threw the wrench as far away as he could.

To his surprise, the robot practically squealed in excitement and sped over to where the wrench had landed, snatching it, and rolling back over to Asset. He dropped the wrench in his lap again and backed up, waiting.

The super soldier tilted his head, hesitating for a moment, and then threw the wrench again. Just like last time, the robot gleefully chased after it.

They continued this routine over and over, and Asset had been expecting to grow tired of the activity… But he hadn’t, in fact he felt strange every time the bot brought the toy back.

What was this warmth inside his chest he was feeling? Why did it feel so good? And why didn’t he want it to go away?

— — — — — —

Meanwhile, upstairs, the Avengers listened to Bruce and Muller as they built a meal plan for Tony that would help him get back in shape. It was quite extensive, including all the food groups and how many calories he should have in a day.

Once they had created most of it, Muller started to look guilty all over again. He lowered his eyes and said,”I probably should have mentioned earlier but… This is going to be harder than you guys think, considering how he was given nutrients before.”

“How did he get nutrients before?” Scott asked innocently, but this gained a confused look from the doctor.

“Seriously?” Muller demanded,”You don’t know? Didn’t you read the file I gave you about what was done to him? I thought you would have at least skimmed it by now.”

Fury narrowed his eye towards the group of heroes. “Yes, they should have…” He ground out. “In fact, I distinctly remember ordering them to do so…”

Everyone made extra sure to avert their eyes in any direction other than Fury’s and several people suddenly needed to clear their throats.

To that, Fury rolled his eye and muttered expletives under his breath.

Muller watched the exchange quietly before he continued,”Well, the reason this is going to be difficult is because… Well… I’m not exactly sure Tony even remembers what food is…”

That was enough to shake the heroes out of their embarrassed stupor. They looked towards Muller in shock, and Sam exclaimed,”What the fuck does that mean?”

“We didn’t… Feed him. At least, not in the traditional sense,” Muller continued shamefully. “He was given daily injections with the nutrients that he would need. The Handler didn’t want him to be slowed down, so he never ate physical food.”

There were mixed reactions to this declaration, some buried their face in their hands while others preferred to slam their fists into the table. One emotion they all did share was rage.

Rhodey got to his feet and angrily pointed at Muller. “Listen, I know you had a change of heart and you’re helping us and everything… But fuck you,” He snarled,”Fuck you and everything you did for them!”

The doctor didn’t even try to defend himself, he just lowered his head and accepted the hatred. He knew that he deserved it, especially after what he had done.

The tension in the room was almost too much to handle as Rhodey trudged over to the paper they had been writing.

Bruce, hoping to cut through the thick atmosphere,declared,”We have to take this slowly, though. If he has a bad experience with food, it might take us back several steps. We can’t afford to have him refuse food, not in this state.”

The Avengers nodded in agreement, especially Bucky. Rhodey listened to Bruce quietly as he thought of the plight of his old friend and, suddenly, he got an idea.

Turning to Muller, he said,”Doc, I know that we want him to eat healthy and everything, but I think I have an idea for how we can get him a little more excited about food.”

The doctor looked at him, then back at the meal plan, sat back down, folded his hands, and said,”I’m listening.”

— — — — — — —

Bucky, Muller, and Rhodey headed back down to the lab, this time with Rhodey holding a bag of food. The super soldier looked at the bag, then back at Rhodey with a raised eyebrow.

“Are you sure this is going to work?” He asked the other man.

Rhodey, despite the determined way he had spoken in front of the other Avengers, gave him a nervous smile. “It’s worth a try, right?” He replied quietly.

The door of the lab slid open again, just in time for them to see a wrench go flying past them to the other side of the room. Before they could even register what had just happened, Dum-E sped past them as well with a happy squeal.

Bucky quickly looked back at Rhodey again, and saw that the man was smiling hopefully. They entered the room quickly after that, and saw Tony was back to sitting against the wall. His hand was extended outwards in a throwing position as he stared at them with a terrified look on his face, as if he had just been caught doing a crime.

But that’s probably what he thinks… Bucky realized, having to stop himself from running up to the younger super soldier and pulling him into a tight hug.

Thankfully, Rhodey was able to save the day. He dropped the bag on a nearby desk and said,”Oh, you’re playing with Dum-E? Thank god! Now he’ll stop bothering me every second of the day!”

Tony still seemed a little nervous, but he wasn’t cowering from them, which was a good sign. Feeling a little hopeful about their chances, Rhodey grabbed the bag again. “I bet you’re hungry, I know I am,” He declared.

The brainwashed genius tilted his head at Rhodey’s words, and then looked at Muller and held his arm out. Miller’s eyes instantly filled with guilt, and the two Avengers in the room had to stop themselves from losing their temper.

“No, Tony,” Muller quickly said, keeping his hands in view and shaking his head. “No injections, not anymore. Instead, we’re going to be eating our food now.”

Quickly, Rhodey went into the bag and pulled out some food, and unwrapped it to reveal a cheeseburger. “This used to be your favorite,” He explained, but didn’t try and push to see if Tony actually remembered.

He placed the cheeseburger on a plate and then slid it towards Tony, who pressed himself against the wall when it got closer. He looked over at Muller, asking for permission.

Muller nodded, giving his best comforting smile and motioned for Tony to take it.

The super soldier slowly reached out, picking up the plate and staring at it in confusion. He looked up at them again, seemingly lost and unsure of what he should do.

Rhodey had come prepared for this. He grabbed another cheeseburger and said,”Here, Tones. You eat it like this.” He took a huge bite of the meal, making sure to exaggerate his movements so that Tony saw exactly what he was doing.

After the man took a few bites, Tony looked down at his own cheeseburger and slowly brought it to his mouth. With every movement he made, he would look back at Muller to see if he was in trouble. Muller simply encouraged him to keep going.

It seemed to take forever, but eventually he managed to take a bite of the food. He chewed it for a few seconds with no reaction whatsoever. But then all of a sudden, his eyes grew misty, and tears began to fall down his cheeks like a dam had been broken.

His whole body seemed to relax, he almost looked happy as he kept eating, even with the tears that were streaming down his face and the people who were watching him.

Bucky and Miller’s jaws were dropped in shock, but Rhodey was grinning with pride. The doctor looked at the war machine and whispered,”This is progress. Good progress… How did you know?”

Rhodey gave a gentle smile, his eyes shining with barley held back tears as he responded,”No matter what’s happening or what he’s going through, Tony Stark could never resist a cheeseburger.”

Chapter Text

Getting Tony to eat the cheeseburger was a huge victory for them, considering that the young man didn’t even know what food was a few hours ago. Everything about the experience had been positive, even the tears (according to Dr. Muller) were a good sign. They were all very confident that Tony would be willing to eat food on a daily basis.

Unfortunately, that was where the victory ended. Since Tony obviously hadn’t eaten in so long, his stomach was not used to food, but he was too scared to stop eating without permission.

At first they didn’t notice, they just thought that maybe he was excited for the food. Dr. Muller, however, caught on quickly. He was always observing Tony, after all.

After the first few bites, Tony’s hands had started to shake and his face went pale. His chewing was slower, and he cringed with every swallow. The doctor quickly realized what was happening and jumped to stop him.

“Tony, you can stop eating now,” He quickly said, before Tony could take another bite, and the brainwashed young man instantly stopped, putting the cheeseburger back on the plate.

Rhodey sent the doctor a slightly angered look, but Bucky understood immediately why he had done what he did. He took the plate away, letting the doctor kneel down in front of Tony.

“Listen to me,” Muller ordered,”When you are eating, you are allowed to stop when you are full. In fact, I order you to stop eating when you are full. Do you understand?”

With wide, red rimmed eyes, Tony nodded quickly, and turned to look back at the ground without a word. It was subtle, but someone like Muller was able to tell that Tony was feeling saddened.

The doctor gave a small smile, placing his hand on Tony’s head and ruffling the messy hair. “Don’t worry, Tony,” He said,”You can eat again tomorrow morning, once your food has settled, okay?”

Tony nodded again, seeming to perk up a little bit, much to the doctor’s relief. He then grabbed what was left of the food, and headed towards the elevator. Rhodey looked between him and Tony, then leapt up and followed after the doctor.

Bucky watched them both look back at him. He waved them off and said,”Go without me, I’ll give Tony some company.”

Rhodey gave him a grateful look, and Doctor Muller nodded in agreement just to make sure Tony knew he was okay with it. He was worried about Tony takin any of his words the wrong way, considering the young man very obviously saw Muller as his new Handler.

I don’t deserve the name Handler, I don’t even deserve to be within 100 miles of him after what I did… But it’s impossible right now. He thought sadly. We’ll fix that eventually, but for now he needs to have that structure. He thinks he needs a handler, eventually he’ll realize otherwise.

But as the elevator went up, Doctor Muller’s spirits went down. But… I can only wonder how long it will take for that to actually happen.

— — — — — — —

As soon as the elevator opened, they were bombarded by the curious, hopeful glances of the many worried Avengers.

Strange… I thought they would have been watching the security feed. Rhodey thought for a split second, and then remember exactly who they had to ask to see the security feed.

He smiled the slightest bit and shook his head. Oh, Friday… He thought fondly. I never would have believed AIs could hold a grudge if it wasn’t for Jarvis, and you are helping carry on the grudge legacy. I’m so proud of you.

His smile made the Avengers grow hopeful and courageous, as Wanda softly asked,”Well, did he eat?”

Holding up the plate with the half eaten cheeseburger, Rhodey proudly said,”He ate! He didn’t eat much before he started to get sick and Muller had to stop him, but it’s a start.”

“Any progress is good progress, considering the situation we’re dealing with,” Scott optimistically said, but his wringing hands betrayed his true nervous emotions.

Steve was the next to speak, as he softly asked,”When can you bring Tony up? He’s making progress, you said so yourself. Maybe….”

“No, he can’t come up now,” Muller firmly said,”Seeing too many new faces at once might freak him out, and he’s made the lab his safe space.”

“Safe space?” Fury asked,”What do you mean by safe space?”

Muller, thankfully, was willing to explain. “He sees the lab as a place that he can be safe, a space where he can’t be hurt, and it’s the only place he really knows. He doesn’t remember the hospital room, Hydra was never a safe place for him, all he knows is the lab.” He explained,”If we force him out of the room, he’ll panic and shut down.”

Bruce caught on pretty quickly, mainly due to his own experiences. “And even after he gets a little better, we should still let him have the lab as that safe spot,” He said,”If he has a place to go where he knows he’s safe and alone, he can have time to calm down. If we’re always following him and watching him, he won’t relax.”

“ And if we let him come out on his own, he may trust is more,” Scott suggested,”Because then he knows he has the freedom to come and go, and that he doesn’t have to do anything because he was ordered to.”

Dr. Muller nodded in agreement. “Exactly,” He agreed. “So for now, leave him be. Let him come out at his own pace, we’ll take this one step at a time.”

Some of the Avengers still looked a little uncertain, which pissed Fury off even more. Knowing the Avengers and their tendency to act out, he firmly declared,”And my orders to you guys are changing. Nobody here gets to see Tony until you have read through that file and the flash drive. Understand?”

They all jerked towards him with shocked looks. “But- But Sir…” Sam stuttered out,”All that stuff in there… I don’t know if I could handle it.”

“It’s what Tony went through because of what you all did to him,” Rhodey sneered, joining the conversation. “If you can't even handle reading about the consequences of your actions, then you shouldn’t get to see him. I don’t even know if you’re guilty about it.”

Steve quickly jumped in, a defensive but broken look on his face. “We are sorry, Rhodey,” He promised,”Every single damn day we are sorry about what we did.”

“Then prove it,” The colonel snapped, glaring at Steve with a look that could melt vibranium before he turned and stormed towards the nearby conference room…The very room that held the file they were avoiding.

There was such conviction, such strength in his voice that the Avengers felt they had no choice. They turned and followed after the man into the room, and found him already sitting at one of the chairs expectantly.

Slowly, they filed into the room and sat down, and Natasha sat in front of the file, her hands shaking as she pulled open the cover. She took a deep breath, and then began reading aloud.

“Entry One…”

— — — — — — —

Asset felt quite relieved when the elevator went up without Bucky. He didn’t exactly know why, but he trusted Bucky. Perhaps it was because of their similar circumstances, or maybe it was simply because the fellow super soldier had been kind to him.

As he stared at the older man’s smiling face, Asset found that he felt… Confused. Why was Bucky even here? Why did he care so much about Asset? Handler had told him he was just a tool to be used and nothing more, surely handler couldn’t be wrong. Handler’s word was law, it always was.

He heard a sigh from Bucky, and quickly turned to face him. “I’m kind of glad that they’re gone,” Bucky admitted,”I like being alone, there’s less pressure on what you have to do. Of course, having friends is still important.”

Friends… Friends… What did that word mean? Asset didn’t think he’d ever heard it before. It didn’t sound familiar at all, he felt no emotions from it. He so desperately wanted to ask Bucky what it meant… But he couldn’t, he was too scared.

The man looked down at him with a small smile. “You know, Tony, you have tons of friends,” He mentioned,”And they missed you a lot, they’re glad to have you back.”

There it was again… That name. Tony. Why did they keep calling him that? Why were they saying he was Tony? Maybe Dr. Muller didn’t tell them his real name? No, Dr. Muller should have… But he also was calling him Tony…

Asset didn’t understand, but he wanted to… So very badly. Badly enough that he would do anything...

Bucky, meanwhile, watched the internal conflict on the super soldier’s face. He looked so lost and confused, and it took Bucky all his strength to not pull the younger into a hug and comfort him. He knew the torment that Tony was going through, how scary everything must seem…

He sighed and turned away, not wanting to watch the lost look on his face anymore. It mirrored his own expression several years ago, and it left him wondering what he could do to help.

“Wh…” A soft, quiet voice said, sending a jolt of adrenaline through him. Bucky jerked his head back towards Tony, but the sight he was greeted with was not a good one.

Tony’s shaking hands were now covering his mouth, his face a pale ivory, and eyes wide with fear. He looked absolutely terrified, and Bucky was starting to figure out why he didn’t speak at all.

Those fucking bastards… What did they do to you? He wondered. Nobody should be afraid to speak…

He moved closer to Tony, ignoring the flinch that the young man gave, and softly said,”Tony, it’s okay, you can speak. You’re allowed to speak here.”

His wide eyes looked towards Bucky with a myriad of emotions. He wanted to believe Bucky, that much was obvious, but his mind was poisoned thanks to Hydra. His eyes started to become misty, and he shook his head back and forth with a vigor.

“Tony…” Bucky began, only to freeze a few moments later. He knew it was a lost cause, the young man wouldn’t listen to him. Bucky wasn’t the one who could tell him what was right or wrong, it was Muller.

But it shouldn’t be Muller, it shouldn’t be anyone. He thought. Tony, you’re your own person, you have the freedom to make your own choices now. I just wish you understood that…

Sadly, he didn’t, and Bucky knew that. He also knew that he couldn’t expect Tony to completely recover right away. But what he could do was be there for him, whether Tony would talk to him or not.

He sighed and scooted away the slightest bit, giving Tony the extra space he was sure the young man needed, and then quietly said,”Want to hear about my first time eating food again?”

Tony looked up at him, his eyes having reverted to their more emotionless state and hands still covering his mouth, and gave the tiniest nod he had ever seen. It was still a nod, and that’s all that Bucky was wanting.

He smiled, letting the young man know that he had seen the agreeing motion, and began to speak,”Believe it or not, it all started in the back alley behind a McDonalds…”

— — — — — — —

Meanwhile, the Avengers sat at the conference room with pale faces and wide eyes. They had barely made it through the first few entries, which were simply all about how they planned to kidnap Tony.

It had been so well planned out, it’s as if they’ve been planning this for years… Steve thought as he recalled the line in the folder that made him shudder. They said that they simply needed to ‘wait for an opening’... I gave them that opening… Oh, Tony…

After a few minutes of silence, Natasha forced herself to continue. “Entry Number Four: Asset was easy to take, he had been left in such a state in that Siberia base that we had no problems picking him up… He remained unconscious until we got him to the base.”

Rhodey’s flame filled eyes were once again on Steve, glaring at him with a rage that turned the tension up in the room a thousand times more.

Natasha ignored the guilt pooling in her own stomach as she continued,”Entry Number Five: Asset is proving to be more difficult than we believed. Despite the drugs in his system, he has managed to escape his cell three times in one day.

“It is only thanks to the drugs and the shock collar that we managed to subdue him. The plan to inject him with the serum has been postponed until further notice, and he has been put in a stasis chamber to prevent further escape attempts.”

When she finished speaking, some of the Avengers were smiling despite the heavy topic. Fury, surprisingly, was smiling fondly along with that. “At least we know that he didn’t make it easy for them,” He sadly muttered,”That was one thing he was always good at, being a pain in the ass.”

Despite the attempted insult, they all heard the sadness in his voice. They lowered their heads back towards the table, some of them wiping tears away as they did so.

“Keep going, Natasha,” Clint weakly begged,”I just want this to be over already.”

Natasha took a deep breath and nodded. “E-Entry Number Six: The plan has been changed. Giving Tony Stark the serum right now would only lead to him escaping, and likely this time for good. Physical torture is too risky to attempt with his weak body, but we have found other ways to break him down.

“We found files dating back to his days in Afghanistan, and discovered that he was subjected to w- Oh no… Oh no…” Natasha whispered, her voice breaking so badly that she couldn’t continue. She dropped the file and buried her face in her hands.

Fury leaned over to read what she had read, and even his face seemed to pale several shades. “Those motherfuckers,” He muttered angrily, beginning to pace back and forth. “Those fucking bastards.”

He whipped around to face Muller, angrily yelling,”You bastards waterboarded him!? What the fuck is wrong with you!?”

“It was the best way to start to break him down,” Muller blankly responded, his eyes empty of any emotion. “By using his Post Traumatic Stress Disorder against him, it would be easier to break him down…. And it worked.”

Natasha shakily grabbed the file again, skipping ahead a few pages. “Entry Number Ten: Every day he is waterboarded, and if he rebels too much he is waterboarded. He has stopped fighting us as much. After every session, we ask him what his name is and who he serves. He has started having panic attacks before and during the torture, but he still refuses to give up his identity. While this method has been effective in started to break him down, I think we need to move on.”

“Oh god… That wasn’t it?” Sam croaked out, looking towards Muller. “What else? What else did you do?”

Muller swallowed down the lump of guilt in his throat and weakly said,”Sensory deprivation, withholding food and water, long periods of isolation, hallucinogenic drugs, basically anything that would break him down further…. None of them broke him… Until we used White Torture.”

“White what?” Scott questioned,”What is that? I don’t understand…”

Wanda did, though. She rubbed her face and quietly answered,”It’s a mix of isolation and sensory deprivation… But it’s even worse. The room is white, their clothes are white, everything is white. Hydra has used it before… It’s supposed to make the prisoner lose their personal identity.”

Muller nodded, agreeing with her explanation. “And it worked too… That was what finally broke him down,” He admitted,”I remember everything about that torture…”

— — — — — —

It had taken months to finally break Tony Stark down using White Torture. At first, he stayed strong and used methods to beat their attempts to break up.

Using the secret camera, Muller and the Handler watched as Tony would sing random songs or recite things like the periodic table in an attempt to stop himself from going crazy.

At first, The Handler found it quite annoying. He wanted to start shocking the man like they normally did when he was talking, but Muller stopped him.

“The whole point of this torture is to isolate him,” He explained,”If you shock him, he’ll know someone is watching, he’ll feel less alone. If we don’t even punish him, he’ll lose it even more.”

He was right, too. When Tony got no reaction, he started to panic even more. He began trying everything to get anyone’s attention or even get punished, simply because it meant he would see another human being.

He would tear at his clothes, scratch at his arms until they bled, and bang against the walls in a desperate attempt to get anyone’s attentions. The Handler and Muller watched his downward spiral, never intervening.

The only time they would go into the room as after Tony fell unconscious, then they would inject him with the nutrients he needed and clean up any mess made. Tony would wake up alone, and it would look like nothing had changed.

It took weeks for Tony to finally break, the combination of all his tortures and the extreme isolation finally getting to him. He still lasted longer than they expected, but everyone has their breaking point. The Handler and Muller went into the camera room and saw Tony curled up in the middle of the room, shuddering and sobbing.

In between shaky breaths, they heard whimpering and begging. “Please… Let me out… Let me out.. Please,” He begged, continuing to shake with sobs.

“Let’s go,” The Handler said, standing up and heading towards the White Room. Muller quickly jumped to his feet and hurried after him. They got to the door, the Handler punched in the code, and the door slid open.

By the time it slid open, Tony’s wide brown eyes were staring at both of them. They weren’t filled with hatred or defiance, instead they were broken, and he actually looked relieved to see them. He crawled over to them, desperately reaching out.

The Handler backed just far enough out of the weak man’s reach, and demanded,”What is your name?”

There was no spark of defiance or even a sign of rebellion. The man simply lowered his head in submission, and quietly said,”Asset…”

The Handler grew a sadistic grin on his face as he continued,”Yes, your name is Asset. And who do you serve, Asset?”

“I serve Hydra,” The man emotionlessly responded, not moving or daring to look at them. “I serve Hydra and my Handler, Handler is my master.”

The man smiled even wider and knelt down, gently petting the man’s head. After weeks of extreme isolation, Asset practically melted from the touch. “Good boy, Asset,” He praised, and turned his eyes back to Muller. “It’s time, we can begin Phase Two now.”

Muller nodded with his own dark smile, and headed towards his lab. The Handler turned back to Asset and firmly ordered,”Asset, follow.”

And Asset did as he was told.

-- -- -- -- -- -- --

“Of course, at first he only did those things to avoid more torture, but after he got the super soldier serum we were able to use more serums and The Chair to make what we told him more.. Personal for him,” The doctor explained,”And… And that wasn’t the last time we used the White Room either…”

At this point, even Natasha looked irate. “It wasn’t the last time?! What do you mean?! I thought he was your ‘perfect creation’?!” She demanded.

Muller flinched a bit , also surprised by her angry tone, and quietly answered,”Eventually he was… But there were plenty of times that he remembered you guys, or Pepper Potts or Happy. He had a few more escape attempts, and then The Handler got even more violent with him. The Chair, The White Room, and many other methods broke him down and after he went a full year without an incident, that’s when he started to do field work.”

Clint suddenly jumped to his feet, the chair falling to the ground behind him, but he didn’t seem to notice. “I can’t do this anymore not today,” He weakly said, and hurried out of the room without another word.

The Avengers watched him go and then turned to look at Fury. Their leader looked sick to his stomach, his one eye staring off at nothing in particular. It took him a few seconds to realize that everyone was looking at him, but once he did, he sighed and shook his head. “We’re done for today.”

He then stormed out of the room in a similar fashion to Clint, and everyone quickly scrambled out after him. Natasha shoved the file away, not caring that it turned off the page they were on, and scurried out as well.

Steve went to follow them, but found himself hesitating as he passed by the file. Whether it as from a morbid curiosity or simply because it was right there, he found himself leaning forward to look at the page. His blue eyes scanned over it, and he stopped at the sight of a certain line.

‘Strangely enough, during his time in the White Room, Asset always calls Captain America’s name the most… Considering how their last meeting went, I can’t help but wonder why…’

The super soldier gasped, his hands going to cover his mouth. Oh… Tony, no… He quickly shoved the file further away, turned his back, and ran away

Away from the truth he didn’t want to face.

Chapter Text

The next few days passed by at an agonizingly slow pace for the Avengers, for many different reasons. The main of those reasons being that they still had to read through the file, Fury’s direct orders. It was taking a long time, they could only handle hearing about the torture their friend went through for so long before they needed to stop in order to register what they heard.

Another reason was that Tony seemed to not be making any further progress. He still hadn’t come up from the lab, and not even Bucky could convince him to come upstairs. He still hadn’t spoken, according to Bucky he hadn’t even tried, and he still followed the doctor’s orders without question; Often times, Muller’s orders were the only things keeping Tony on track. Muller refused to let anyone else go visit the brainwashed genius, claiming that it was too risky.

It wasn’t all bad, though. Tony had been gaining weight thanks to the diet. It was slow, but it was progress, and at this point they would take any that they could.

At the same time, the Avengers hated it. They wished that everything could go back to the way it was… When they were a team, when they were a family. Now, with Tony’s current state and the possibility that he would never recover…

Such bliss seemed impossible…

-- -- -- -- -- -- --

Asset wasn’t sure how much time had passed since he had woken up in the strange laboratory. There were no windows and no clocks, and he wouldn’t dare ask the Winter Soldier what time it was. He knew asking questions wasn’t allowed.

But even if he couldn’t tell the time that passed, he was able to figure out a routine. There were six small meals a day, and The Winter Soldier would show up before the first meal and leave after the last one. Asset came to a conclusion that when the soldier first appeared, it was daytime. When he left, that meant it was nighttime.

They kept trying to make him sleep, but not the way his old handler did. There was no stasis chamber or needles being shoved into his neck. Instead, the soldier brought down things called ‘pillows’ and ‘blankets’ and made him a spot to rest. It looked like a nest, and also looked extremely comfortable… But Asset didn’t use it, he hadn’t even touched it.

It made him feel guilty, he had watched the soldier work on it for over a half hour, but Asset couldn’t use it. He had never voluntarily gone to sleep, he had always been drugged. He didn’t… He didn’t know how .

Honestly, the meals, the attempts to make him sleep, and the appearance of the doctor and the soldier was barely even a routine, the one he had with his old Handler was a lot more rigorous, but it still made him feel better when he knew what to do.

After the routine happened several times, and Asset grew more comfortable, he started to grow curious. At first, it made him scared. He wasn’t supposed to question things, that was definitely against the rules… But he couldn’t help himself.

Every day Doctor Muller, The Winter Soldier, and the man they called Rhodey would come down from an elevator. What was up there? Was it the new base? If so… Why wasn’t Asset allowed upstairs? How was he supposed to be useful?

Asset wanted to scream and rip his hair out. Why? Why was he feeling like this? He never felt like this with Handler… Why was he suddenly so… Curious?

Eventually, this curiosity started to overpower him. He wanted so desperately to figure it out, to get rid of the curiosity he knew he wasn’t supposed to have. Maybe if he saw what was up there, then he’d stop thinking about it, and he wouldn’t be disobeying orders anymore.

But, once again, Asset didn’t dare ask to go upstairs. Questions weren’t allowed. He had to do it on his own, that way there’d be less chance of punishment. It took him a while to work up the courage… Several routine repeats to do so. Then, one day, he finally gathered up enough bravery.

It was after the last meal of the routine, Muller and The Winter Soldier went into the elevator, and the soldier calmly said,”Try and get some rest, okay?”

Asset stared at him for a few seconds before inclining his head forward, giving the smallest nod possible. The other soldier smiled towards him, pressing a button in the elevator, and said,”See you tomorrow, Tony.”

The elevator closed and they went upstairs. Asset watched them go with a frown. There was that name again… Tony... Why did they keep using that strange name? He shook it off, knowing it wasn’t time to think about that. He had a mission, a personal mission.

His fellow soldier had said that he would ‘see Asset tomorrow’... So surely that meant it was nighttime. If he waited a while, people would fall asleep and it would be empty.

Asset didn’t know for sure how long he waited, but it was long enough to throw the wrench for Dum-E (as Rhodey called him) approximate three thousand times. The little robot intrigued Asset, he never seemed to grow tired of the game.

After the three thousandth throw, Asset decided he had waited long enough. He slowly rose from his spot on the floor and crept over to the elevator. He heard Dum-E beep curiously, following after him. The super soldier quickly turned around and shook his head at the robot, waving him away.

To his surprise, the robot actually listened with a sad beep. It dropped he wrench and rolled away, watching from a distance.

Asset looked at the button and raised his hand, hesitating instantly. His mind was screaming at him. You’re not allowed to do this. You’re going to get in trouble. You’re not allowed to do this-

He slammed his hand against the button, going against his instincts for the first time since he’d woken up here. When he pulled his hand away, it was shaking violently along with the rest of his body. Asset wanted to run away, but he knew it was too late to take back his decision.

The elevator opened up, revealing an empty interior. He sighed in relief, thankful that nobody was inside. Then, he slowly shuffled inside the elevator.

The doors closed, making the further cementing his decision. He looked at the floor levels in the elevator and slowly reached out, pressing the button for ‘first floor’. Instantly, the elevator started to rise up and Asset flinched back in surprise, shoving himself into the corner of the elevator.

When it finally came to a stop and the doors opened, he stared out without daring to move. All he saw was darkness, which he supposed was a good thing, but it also made him incredibly nervous.

Press the button again, go back to where you’re supposed to be! The little voice in his head yelled. It’s not safe up here! You’re going to get in trouble!

Asset once again shoved the voice away, forcing his heavy feet forward as he hugged himself tightly in a desperate attempt to get a tiny bit of comfort. The strange curiosity that he was feeling kept him from running away.

The first thing he realized was that the place was much different than a hydra base. Despite the darkness, there were much brighter colors, and soft, plush looking furniture. There were several different rooms, some with glass and some without, that showed the other comfortable looking rooms.

The super soldier’s brown eyes searched for any signs of The Chair, or a place where Dr. Muller would do his experiments… But he saw none. This place… It was nice, it felt safe. He started to feel a little better about what he was doing.

His shoulders slumped a bit, and he looked around a little more. When he turned towards the left of the elevator, he found himself gasping in shock.

There… There were windows in this place. He could see the outdoors, and it wasn’t cold, white snow like when he was with Handler. It was green, and there were luscious trees. It was… The most beautiful thing Asset had ever seen.

He walked up to the window, placing his hand against the cold glass and staring out in awe. It’s so beautiful… I… I want... He gulped, his heart pounding as he frantically shook his head. No, not allowed. Not allowed.

Asset backed away from the window and blindly stumbled in a random direction. He didn’t even realize where he was going, just constantly repeating to himself not allowed, not allowed.

Suddenly, a light turned on, and heard a shuffling noise. He snapped out of his stupor, turning towards the noise and starting to panic. He wanted to run back to the elevator before he was seen, but it was too late.

A man with short brown hair, brown eyes, and that holding a deck of cards was now staring back at him with a surprised look. Neither of them spoke for several seconds, and then the man whispered,”Tony…”

This snapped Asset out of his stupor. He started to shake violently and backed away, towards the elevator. I have to run, I have to get away before he hurts me, before he tells Handler I was here-

The man realized what he was doing and frantically exclaimed,”Wait! Don’t go!” He took a few steps forward, reaching out towards Asset with a worried look.

Asset froze, unsure of what to do now that someone had given him an order. I’ve never met this man… Do I have to follow his orders? Is he a handler too? Perhaps, if he followed this man’s orders, then he wouldn’t be in as much trouble.

He put his hands back down at his sides, stepping away from the elevator. The man sighed in what seemed like relief, and gave him a gentle smile. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” He said,”I’m sure it’s gotten pretty stuffy down there, I wouldn’t want to be the reason you don’t get some fresher air.”

The man took a few more careful steps, all of which Asset watched carefully as the man continued,”I know you don’t remember me, but my name is Scott Lang. It’s nice to see you, I was starting to wonder if you’d ever come upstairs.”

The man, Scott as he called himself, then turned and looked around the base and after a few seconds returned his gaze to Asset. “Even the first floor is pretty big, I bet it’s kind of overwhelming. I know it’s pretty late, but… Maybe you’d like a tour? That way this place isn’t as intimidating?” He asked, leaning forward the slightest bit.

Asset, at first, was going to refuse and go back downstairs. But then, he realized that this was his chance to learn more about the base. He’d be safer and more prepared for unexpected circumstances, and he would appease Scott more. Slowly, he nodded his head and moved a few feet closer.

Scott grinned even wider, if that was possible, and his eyes sparkled with happiness. “Awesome!” He said as he straightened himself up and cleared his throat. “Welcome to Scott Lang’s first ever tour of the Avengers compound! Follow me!”

Asset did indeed follow him, taking part in the tour. Scott showed him everything on the first floor, including the communal kitchen, living room, conference rooms, and various laboratories and garages. He didn’t go up to the second floor, with the explanation that it was where the bedrooms were and he didn’t want to risk waking anyone.

At the end of the tour, Asset found that he felt a lot more secure. He knew what was above him when he was in the laboratory, and all the exit points. Despite the fact that the little voice was still yelling at him to run, he was glad he had gone upstairs.

Scott brought him back to the elevator, and he ended with,”And here we are at the end of our tour. I hope you all enjoyed and if you didn’t, you still paid for it! Thank you!”

He then stopped his bravado, turning around to face Asset with a smile. “That’s all I’ve got for you, at least related to tours,” He declared, moving to press the elevator button. “Would you like to go back down to the lab?”

It was a question, not an order. Did that mean he could decide? Scott was nice, he helped Asset and didn’t expect anything in return. Sure, the super soldier didn’t want to be surrounded by people, but he didn’t want to be alone either.

Looking up at Scott, and then back down at the floor, he shook his head frantically. Since his head was lowered, he missed the surprised and happy look Scott gave him.

“No?” The man queried,”You don’t want to go down to the lab?”

Asset took a deep breath, and hesitantly nodded. His hands started to shake again, he clenched them into fists to try and hide his fear. He was waiting for the inevitable, the reveal that it was a trick question and that he didn’t actually have a choice-

Instead, Scott surprised him again. “Okay, then you don’t have to, we can go chill in the living room for a bit,” He said casually, then quickly jumped and added,”As long as you’re okay with that.”

The super soldier wasn’t really used to having so many choices in one day, so he just gave a nod of agreement and followed Scott back to the living room.

The older man smiled and flopped back down on the couch when they got there, kicking his feet up on the coffee table. Asset stood nearby and wrung his hands together, unsure of what to do.

It took Scott a few seconds to notice Asset’s mental battle. When he did, he quickly said,”Hey, Tony, it’s totally fine to sit down. I’m sure your legs hurt anyways from the tour, considering I got us lost a few times. That’s why I’m Antman and not a tour guide.”

As the man spoke, Asset slowly made his way over to the light blue couch and sat down on the very edge of it. Even that tiny part of the couch was extremely soft, softer than anything Asset had ever felt.

He sighed happily and scooted a little farther onto the couch, looking over to Scott to see what else the man had planned. The second he laid his brown eyes on the man, he couldn’t help but tilt his head in curiosity.

Scott was shuffling that same deck of cards he had earlier in his hand, a cocky smirk on his face. “You know,” He began,”Not only am I an amazing tour guide, I am also a master magician. Wanna see a card trick?”

Asset wasn’t sure what a card trick was, but he nodded anyway and kept watching. Scott finished shuffling the cards and then spread them out like a fan in his hands, turning his head away.

“Okay, I’m not gonna look and you’re gonna pick a card, remember it, and then put it back in the deck. Once you do that, I’ll use my magic awesomeness to find your card,” He explained.

Asset did as the man said, pulling a card, and then placing it back in the deck. He watched as Scott confidently reached into the deck, spinning around a card and then flipping it to face the super soldier. “Is this your card?” He asked, revealing a ten of diamonds.

The young man shook his head, and Scott’s brown eyes widened in shock and horror. “Wait- What?” He muttered, quickly looking at the cards in his hand again. He frantically grabbed another one, a queen of hearts. “Aha! It’s this one!”

Asset shook his head again, making Scott grow even more frantic. He looked down and started searching through the deck at such a fast pace that the cards tumbled out of his hands and all over the couch and the floor. “Shit! Goddammit!” Scott grumbled,”Every time!”

As the man began to pick up the cards, Asset realized that his face was hurting. He frowned, and the pain went away. Curiously, he looked back down at the swearing Scott and felt his lips rose up once again, and the pain returned. Wait… Was he..?

It took Asset a second to remember the name of it. He was… He was smiling. I’m smiling, and smiling is something you do when you’re happy…? He placed his finger on the edge of his lip, tilting his head. Does that mean… Am I…?

“Aha!” Scott exclaimed again, pulling a card off the floor and showing it to Asset. “It’s this one! This is your card!”

The second Asset saw the card, his smile returned and he shook his head again. As Scott confusedly dug through the cards again, swears escaping his mouth every few seconds, Asset realized that yes, he was feeling that emotions. The one they called happiness.

And, strangely enough, Asset found himself hoping that the strange new emotion wouldn’t go away.

— — — — — —

The sound of the singing birds outside and the sun shining into his eyes was what woke Scott the next morning.

He opened his brown eyes the slightest bit, the light instantly invading them. He quickly blinked away the sleep in his eyes and stretched his limbs out with a groan. He looked around, expecting to see his usual bedroom, but he found himself lying on the couch.

Oh yeah… Scott thought, his mind moving faster than his body. I was up late, and Tony was with me… The cards… Wait- Where is he!?

Jerking up into a sitting position, the engineer quickly asked,”Friday, Where is Tony?! Where did he go?”

“After you fell asleep, Boss covered you with a blanket and then returned to the downstairs laboratory,” She explained,”He is there as we speak.”

Scott smiled a bit in relief, and swung his legs around so they were on the floor. “He came upstairs, I can’t believe it,” He whispered aloud,”I was starting to worry that it might never happen…”

If Friday could smile, Scott knew she would have as she said,”No matter what, Boss has always been a curious person. Even in his current state, it seems that his curiosity overpowered his fear.”

The engineer agreed with her, and then began to think. “If He was brave enough to come upstairs and be with me, he’s probably going to try again,” He predicted,”So I should probably talk about this with the Avengers. They need to know so that they can leave him alone when he is here.”

“Mr. Barnes and Dr. Muller are both already awake, I suggest you speak to them about it first,” Friday mentioned,”They’re both on the second floor.”

Scott smiled and pushed the blanket aside. “Thanks Friday, I will!” He declared, but stopped as he noticed what was on the coffee table. The cards that he had dropped multiple times over the course of the night were now stacked neatly and placed in the middle of the table. One card, however, was not in the deck and was placed face-up right next to it.

Tony’s real card? He wondered, leaning down and picking it up. He looked at the card and found a smile coming to his face. “A King of Hearts,” He whispered, a small chuckle escaping him. “For some reason, that makes a lot of sense.”

Scott placed the card on top of the deck, and then headed upstairs to go find Bucky and Muller. He had a lot that he needed to discuss with those two.

Chapter Text

“He did?! He really did??”

“Upstairs? all by himself!?”

The group of heroes were sitting in the second floor conference room together, almost all of them with wide, happy grins on their faces. It was the happiest any of them had looked in quite a long, long time. For some, it was the first time they had felt happy since Tony had first been reported missing.

Scott’s grin was the widest of them all as he happily replied,”He really did! I even gave him a tour of the first floor and he let me do a magic trick for him! He was smiling too! Actually smiling!”

Bucky listened to him and released a soft grin, looking at the other Avengers. “See? I told you that he would come out eventually, we just needed to give him time,” He pointed out, specifically looking towards Steve as he said that. The super soldier had the decency to blush and look away.

“So… So what do we do now? Can we meet him now? Now that… Now that he actually is willingly coming upstairs?” Clint asked nervously, looking between Bucky and Muller for an answer.

However, it was Bruce that spoke up. “I still don’t know if that is a good idea,” He carefully said,”It’s taken him this long to get brave enough, we don’t want to scare him bad enough to have him take steps backwards in his recovery.”

“I agree with Dr. Banner’s observation,” Friday piped in,”Boss did not attempt to journey upstairs until a few hours after Dr. Muller and Mr. Barnes left the lab. I suspect that he was waiting for you all to fall asleep before he attempted his venture.”

Natasha crossed her arms, letting out a soft sigh. “That makes sense,” She admitted,”Even if there are no windows down there, Tony would probably figure out the routine we have him on and what time it was pretty quick.”

Steve and Clint exchanged a glance, and then the super soldier stepped forward. “But what about Scott? He still ran into Scott and seemed to be just fine.”

“Steve, just because he ran into one person and didn’t freak out doesn’t mean he’ll be able to handle all of us at once,” Wanda firmly said,”Plus, he doesn’t really know Scott. It’s a neutral party, considering he’s fought all of us, but he never saw Scott’s face.”

Muller decided to add,”Just like before, we need to take this slow. If we make sure to encourage this behavior and not scare him, he could take leaps forward in his recovery. But, like I said, we need to take this slow and steady.”

The group went silent for a few seconds. Some were nodding in agreement with what doctor Muller said, while others looked like they were stuck in between agreeing and trying to argue with the ex-Hydra doctor.

Scott watched the struggle the Avengers were having, took a deep breath, and then walked over to Muller. “I have an idea,” He declared.

Perhaps it was the bravery that he held in his tone, or perhaps it was because Scott had managed to handle last night’s new development with style. Whatever it was he had done right, it was enough for Muller to give him a curious look as he said,”I’m listening…”

The engineer sighed in relief and then continued,”He is at least a little comfortable with me, and it’s obvious he’s going to keep coming upstairs. What if I’m down here every time, and I can help him feel safer about all of this. Then, after a while, I could introduce him to the others one by one?”

The group of heroes watched with bated breath as Muller’s bright eyes flickered in different directions, his brain obviously calculating as many possible outcomes of the plan as possible. After what felt like an eternity of watching, Muller’s eyes focused back on Scott and he replied,”I think that could work.”

Scott’s brown eyes widened, his eyes blinking rapidly. In all honesty, he hadn’t expected his idea to be accepted. “Wait, wait, seriously?!” He exclaimed, the other heroes looking just as surprised as him.

“Don’t act so shocked, your idea is a good one. Give yourself some credit,” The doctor firmly said. “After all, I don’t think I could make the plan work. He sees me as his new Handler; If I’m there, he won’t try to branch out because my orders matter more to him.”

Bucky nodded in agreement with the doctor. “And I’ll stay out of it for now. I can help him during the day, but at night I’ll stay upstairs. I don’t want him to stop himself from interacting with you just because I’m there,” He said,”But, if anything goes wrong, I will step in.”

The engineer smiled, simply relieved that he and his plan were being given a chance. He saluted the super soldier, and proudly replied,”Sounds good to me! I won’t let you down!”

That was a promise he intended to keep. Not only to Bucky, but to Tony as well.

-- -- -- -- -- -- --

Scott’s plan went into action the next night, and it was obvious from the very second the sun went down. Usually, the Avengers all went to bed at varied times, but only an hour after it got completely dark, all of them retreated upstairs except for Scott himself.

He sat on the living room couch, shuffling his deck of cards quietly as he waited hopefully for Tony to show up. It took a couple hours, but eventually he heard the sound of the elevator opening. There was a quiet shuffle of feet moving around, and then after a few minutes of that shuffle, he saw the small form of Tony at the front of the hallway.

The engineer shuffled his deck a little longer and then lifted his head slowly, a smile on his face. “Oh, hey,” He casually said,”It’s nice to see you again, Tony. How are you doing?”

Tony didn’t respond, he was still hugging himself and staring at Scott with an unreadable expression on his face. His eyes went from the engineer to the cards he was holding, and then back at Scott.

The superhero knew what Tony wanted, and he also knew that the young man was probably too nervous to actually say so. With this in mind, Scott quickly patted the side of the couch and said,”Sit down! This time, I’m going to get your card!”

The super soldier’s face instantly lit up, as if he had been worried that Scott wouldn’t want to be around him. He sat down on the edge of the couch, quickly reaching out and beginning their game once more.

— — — — — —

Over the next few days, things evolved past that simple magic trick. There were changes, only small ones, but Scott decided that those still counted.

One thing he noticed was that Tony was no long sitting on the very very edge of the couch, and often had his full attention on the game instead of on the many escape routes in the room.

He was also smiling a lot. At first, it looked like the sudden amount of smiling was causing him pain. But soon, he got used to it and made sure to smile as wide as he possibly could. 

After the first two days, Scott decided to switch the magic trick up. He had a theory, and the only way to test it was with a different kind of trick.

When Tony showed up that night, he looked confused when he saw that Scott was only holding a coin. Oh gosh, I hope that messing up the routine doesn’t put him off too much… He thought.

“Tony!” He called, patting the same spot. “Guess what! I learned a new trick! I’m gonna get this one right for sure!”

The super soldier once again sat down, seeming to trust Scott enough (or maybe he was just curious enough) to sit and find out where the magic trick would go.

Once the young man was seated, Scott proudly displayed the coin. “Okay, now watch this,” He began,”I’m going to make this coin… Disappear !” He waved his hands for dramatic effect as he said this.

He saw a disbelieving frown come across Tony’s face, his brown eyes watching the coin with what almost seemed like suspicion. Scott didn’t let that deter him, and instead waved his hand around, discreetly slipping the coin into his long sleeve.

When he showed his hands again, now empty of the coin, Tony’s eyes widened in shock and surprise. With almost childlike innocence, he grabbed Scott’s hand and looked all over it, searching for the coin. When he couldn’t find it, he looked back at Scott with curious eyes demanding an explanation.

It took Scott several seconds to actually respond, however, because he was marveling at Tony’s sudden action. He touched Scott! He took his hand! All by himself!

That curious look managed to break through his elation, and Scott smiled at him as he asked,”Wanna know how I did it?”

Tony nodded vigorously, that curiosity overflowing within the big brown eyes. Scott practically melted. He wanted to make sure that happy smile and curious look stayed, he wanted Tony to always be protected and happy. He would try his best to protect the person who should have been protected all along.

But, that stuff was not as important as what he had to do now. He had a magic trick to teach!

“Okay, so to start you’ll want to wear long sleeves, or just cover your arms…”

— — — — — —

Their visits evolved past that, with Tony now doing the magic tricks as well as watching them. Scott was pretty impressed by the young man’s intelligence.

Of course, he knew that Tony was crazy smart, but he had been worried about whether the young man would show it or not because of his current state. He shouldn’t have been worried, it was obvious that no matter what, Tony couldn’t help but be curious.

He was also very impressed by how quickly Tony caught on to the new things he learned. Usually, it took less than one or two tries for him to get it right.

As soon as he did the trick right, that excitement would return in his eyes and he would look up at Scott with those bright brown eyes, showing him what he had done. That was what helped him find out something else about Tony.

It started the first time that Tony got a magic trick right. He figured out which card was Scott’s, and held it up to him. Scott grinned at the sight of it, happily saying,”Yes! That’s it, that’s my card! Good job, Tony!”

Those last three words seemed to trigger something in the super soldier. His eyes widened, lowering the card the slightest bit and staring at Scott with a strange look. His eyes started to get misty, as if he was about to start crying.

“Tony?” He asked softly, reaching his hand out a little. “Are you okay?”

The super soldier jolted out of his stupor, and quickly rubbed his eyes to get rid of the tears that threatened to fall. Then, he gave Scott an even bigger smile, and held out the cards again.

Scott decided not to say anything else, the pain he felt in his heart was overpowering his desire to voice his feelings about what just happened. He was so happy… Just because someone praised him… Why did this have to happen to him?

But, looking at the happy face made all that anger fade away. He continued to play cards with the young man, his mind coming to a decision. Now is not the time to be angry, or to think about revenge. What those bastards did to him- as much as I might want to reverse it -is in the past. Now is the time to help him heal.

— — — — — —

After about two weeks of this routine, Muller decided that it was time for Tony to be introduced to someone else.

“He trusts you quite a bit, and he likely will also trust your judgement if you say that someone is a good person,” The doctor explained to the superhero.

Scott nodded, relieved that his plan was going smoothly so far. “So who will we introduce him to first?” He asked, looking at the group of hopeful heroes.

“Someone he knew and trusted before this happened would be best, just in case any memories resurface,” Muller stated. “So I believe a person like Banner or Thor would be best.”

“Why them?” Steve asked quickly, perhaps a little too quickly. He got many curious glances, enough that he was purposefully ignoring every glance except for Muller’s own.

Natasha snorted in response. “That’s an easy question to answer,” She snapped,”Because they didn’t betray Tony like we did. They were there during our fight over the accords. If Tony remembers anything, it won’t be something bad like leaving him to die in a snow-filled Hell.”

Steve went quiet after that, his cheeks flushed in shame. He nodded in understanding and then got up, hurrying away from the group. Bucky watched him go with narrowed eyes, looked back at the group, and then followed after the man.

The remaining group of people watched them go, and then turned back towards each other. “So, when do we want to do this?” Bruce asked, Thor nodding in agreement with his friend’s question.

“Tonight,” Muller ordered. “No more stalling. I know we’re all afraid of how he’ll react to familiar faces, but we have to do this eventually. Might as well start now.”

The Avengers swallowed back their fear and agreed. They knew they needed to be strong for Tony, and they needed to be prepared for how he might react to their faces… No matter what kind of reaction that might be.

— — — — — — —

It didn’t take Bucky long to track down Steve. He knew that the man only went to a few places when he was upset or frustrated, the gym being the main location. Sure enough, the super soldier was there.

Instead of destroying punching bags or using the equipment and breaking it, Steve was instead sitting on the sparring floor. In his hand was his old sketchbook, one from before he even knew Bucky was still alive, and he was staring at a sketch of Tony.

“Hey, punk,” The ex-winter soldier called, jerking Steve out of his thoughts. He looked up at Bucky with miserable blue eyes, sighed, and then slammed the sketchbook shut.

The blonde man quietly said,”I know I seem so selfish… Especially when this was all my fault… But it just hurts, knowing that I can help as much as the others because of what I did…”

Bucky slowly moved to sit down next to the man, not saying a word and deciding to let Steve talk instead.

Steve buried his face in his hands. “But what if Tony never gets better?” He asked,”What if he never remembers us? What if… What if he does… And then he never forgives me? He shouldn’t.”

Bucky watched the man lower his head, sighing sadly again. He looked over at the dropped sketchbook, picked it up, and then slammed it against the back of the man’s head.

“Ow!!” Steve yelled, jerking back up to glare at Bucky. “What was that for?!”

“You’re being an idiot!” Bucky yelled back,”Wallowing in your own self pity isn’t going to help Tony get better or erase the actions that you did! That we both did!”

He sped through the pages and landed on one of the sketches of Tony. He showed it to Steve. “See this guy? This is Tony,” He said, and then pointed down. “And the guy in the lab? That’s also Tony.”

Steve gave him a confused look, obviously not catching on with what Bucky was saying. The super soldier sighed, and put the book on his lap.

“My point is that Tony is still Tony. Sure, he probably won’t ever be the exact same person he was before, I sure as hell am not,” The brunette said,”But he’s still Tony. You have to have noticed; He’s still crazy smart and extremely curious. He’s still there, it’s just buried deep down.”

He pointed at the sketch again. “And I know that deep down, he still cares about all of you,” He firmly said,”You heard it yourself from Fury. He was trying to negotiate with Ross before the Accords were even brought to us. He went to Siberia to help us, even if things went bad after that.”

Steve sighed sadly, looking down again. “I know…” He admitted,”I remember how lost I felt… After the battle of New York, and how he gave us all a home. He paid for everything, took care of us… And we took it all for granted…. We took him for granted.”

Bucky moved closer, placing his hand on the man’s shoulder. “He was there when you needed him, and now he needs us,” He said,”We can’t change what happened, we can’t change the fact that we left him. But we can be there for him now.”

“But what if he never forgives us?” Steve asked fearfully, his heart pounding in worriedly. “What if, after he gets better, he never wants to see us again?”

“Then we’ll respect that,” The super soldier answered simply.

Steve looked absolutely heartbroken by this, and buried his face in his hands again. Bucky let out another sigh, moving closer to the man and handing him the sketchbook.

The blonde man stared at the sketch, his fingers gently rubbing against the image. “You’re right…” He admitted despite the pain in his soul. “I’m going to help and protect Tony, no matter what. And if he doesn’t want to see me afterwards, so be it.”

After all… Steve thought sadly, even as Bucky smiled towards him. After everything I’ve done, it’s the least I could do…

— — — — — —

The room was dark, save for the one light glow of the computer screen. A figure sat in a computer chair, twirling a knife in between their delicate fingers.

There was a frantic knock on the door, and someone ran inside. “Pardon the intrusion, But… But...” They took a few seconds to breath and then exclaimed,”We found him! He was exactly where you said he’d be!”

“The Avengers compound?” The person in the chair asked, gaining a hurried nod in return. The figure sighed. “And why is that a surprise? It was quite expected, in all honesty. A pity, I was hoping for something more… Creative.”

The figure started to laugh at his own words. Meanwhile, the soldier didn’t say anything in response, watching his leader with a nervous expression.

After a few seconds, the leader’s laughter calmed. “Well, either way, I am happy we at least know where our little Asset is now,” They said, standing up and walking over to the soldier’s meek form.

“My poor darling must be so frightened, trapped with all those disgusting little heroes,” They sneered, and then released a sad sigh. “I suppose it is my own fault. I should have made that damn Handler bring him to me sooner. This puts quite a dent in my plans.”

They spun back around, facing the soldier once more and pointing the knife at them. “Gather some men and prepare a Jet. You are to retrieve him tonight, don’t let anyone stand in your way.” They ordered,”I won’t accept any failure.”

With new orders, the soldier straightened up and nodded firmly. “Yes, Madame Hydra,” They responded, and then hurried out of the room to act on their orders.

The woman smiled as she watched the soldier scurry off before sliding the knife back into its pocket, and sitting back in her chair. She pulled up the files on her Asset, and smiled the slightest bit.

“Soon,” She declared,”Very soon, I will have what is mine. And this time, I won’t let him get away.”

Chapter Text

Despite everything that has happened to Bruce, including but not limited to exposure to Gamma radiation, becoming an Avengers, being trapped in space, and so much more, all of it paled in comparison to what he was about to do.

It had been five years since he had last spoken to his friend, and with Tony in his current state Bruce wondered… How would Tony react to him?

He wasn’t expecting Tony to remember him, he knew it was too early to have such a thing happen (And Muller himself wasn’t entirely sure if those memories could be retrieved). Still… He couldn’t help but be afraid.

After all, Bruce was the first of the original Avengers who would be reintroduced to Tony. In all honesty, the scientist thought that Thor should have been the one to go first (mainly because he was afraid of what Tony would do), but after Steve pointed out that Thor had choked Tony after the creation of Ultron, they all mutually decided Bruce was the best.

While the rest of the heroes stayed upstairs, Scott led Bruce to the living room. “This is where we always sit and do magic tricks,” He explained,”I want you to stay in the kitchen until he’s been out here for a little bit, and then I’ll call you in.”

Bruce nodded in response to the man’s plan. “That sounds good, we don’t want to freak him out the instant he’s upstairs,” He replied, turning and heading into the kitchen.

Once inside, he sat on the barstool with a nervous sigh. He ran a hand through his messy curls, his other hand rubbing the countertop. I’m afraid… He admitted to himself. What if Tony freaks out? This is so risky…. Ugh… Why did I have to be the first person he gets introduced to?!

The scientist, despite his complaining, knew exactly why. Out of all the Avengers, I was the closest to Tony. If anyone has a chance at getting a good reaction, it’s me. A surge of determination blasted through his veins… Only to quickly fade away all over again. With a groan, he buried his face in his hands. But that doesn’t make me feel any less nervous!

Bruce looked around the kitchen, his mind running a mile a minute. It usually takes Tony a while to come upstairs… I don’t want to just sit here for that whole time, I’ll talk myself out of this. He thought. His eyes roamed over to the stove, then the pantry, and then a smile climbed onto his face.

I have an idea. He thought, climbing to his feet and hurrying over to the pantry. When was the last time Tony had my cooking? He shrugged, for he didn’t know the answer himself.

“Oh well,” Bruce whispered aloud as he pulled out several different types of ingredients,”What better time than now?”

— — — — — —

After about an hour of waiting, the elevator came up to the first floor and Tony emerged once again. Bruce could hear them from where he waited, Scott’s eager voice and the sound of shuffling cards.

Tony still hadn’t spoken, a fact that worried Bruce quite a lot.  He knew why Tony wouldn’t speak, they had read the book, but it was still unnerving. Before, Tony had been so loud, so talkative… He missed that so much.

No. Stop it, stop right now. He ordered himself, crossing his arms tighter. Thinking about the past won’t solve anything. That’s not what Tony needs.

Just as he pulled himself out of his thoughts, he heard Scott start speaking again. “Hey Tones, we’re going to do something a little different today,” The engineer said, those words making Bruce’s heart seize with anticipation.

There was a shuffling noise. “I have a friend here, he’s been waiting in the kitchen and he’s really like to meet you,” Scott continued, his voice closer than before. “He’s a really nice dude, but it’s up to you. Would you like to meet him?”

This is it. The moment of truth… Bruce thought. If Tony reacted badly to him, or to Scott’s suggestion, he could only imagine how many steps back the man would take.

He quickly put down the things he was holding and sat back down at the bar, trying to look as non-threatening as possible. He made sure to keep his hands visible and face relaxed, not wanting to give Tony any reason to distrust him.

Then, after a few more seconds of waiting, Bruce heard Scott exclaim,”Great! I know he’s really excited to meet you! Follow me, he’s in the kitchen.”

There was the sound of footsteps, and Bruce’s heart started pounding. Their approach seemed to happen so fast and at the same time it seemed to take insufferably long. Bruce’s hands clawed at the countertop as their shadows appeared, and then he saw him.

Even though Friday’s cameras were very high quality, Tony looked much different when seeing him in real life. He looked much better than the last time Bruce had seen him. His body had filled out, he didn’t look extremely starved anymore. For some reason, that made it harder to look at him. With his face no longer sunken in, and ribs almost not visible anymore, he didn’t look like Tony Stark.

He didn’t look like the smart, sarcastic older man who looked Bruce in the eyes and teased him about the Other Guy. He didn’t look like the man who Captain America had left to die in Siberia. Instead, he looked like a teenager, an innocent child who never asked for such torture to happen to him.

Those big brown eyes looked at him with no sight of any of the old fondness that the genius had held for the scientist. He looked at Bruce with a wary, insecure glance and stayed behind Scott purposefully.

Bruce watched him for a moment, keeping a gentle smile on his face as he said,”Hello, Tony. I’m Bruce Banner. It’s nice to finally meet you.”

Tony flinched at the sound of the scientist’s voice, ducking a little further behind Scott and wringing his hands. His eyes never moved away from Bruce’s form, though, and the man knew that Tony was analyzing him.

Scott noticed this and decided to try and break the tension. He sniffed the air and then smiled. “Mmm! Something smells delicious!” He said, turning to look at Tony. “Bruce here is an awesome cook! Honestly, I don’t know how I survived without him.”

Bruce scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Oh please, don’t get his hopes up,” He replied,”I’m a decent cook at best.”

Scott leaned close to Tony’s ear and whispered,”He’s totally lying. He just doesn’t like to brag about things. Totally modest guy, sometimes too modest.”

Before Bruce could argue with the man, he popped back up into a standing position and asked,”So, what did you make Mr. Iron Chef?”

“I just made some chocolate chip cookies,” Bruce sheepishly answered,”It’s just… We had all the stuff and I knew I would have time so…”

“Ooh! Sounds delicious!” Scott replied, rubbing his stomach and turning to Tony once more. “Want some, Tones?”

The super soldier gave him a nervous look, wringing his fingers together even more. Both Scott and Bruce returned his look with a worried one of their own.

Why doesn’t he want to eat? Bruce wondered, but it only took him a few seconds to come up with an answer. Wait, I know. Because his ‘Handler’ hasn’t said that he could. A spike of anger ran through him, but he found that the Other Guy wasn’t even trying to take the chance to come out.

Confused, he quietly prodded. Hulk? Why are you so… Calm right now? Aren’t you mad about this too?

Hulk mad. He heard in response. But Hulk will scare tiny tin man.

If it hadn’t been for what happened at Sakaar, Bruce might have been surprised by the Hulk’s insightful statement. He had heard from Thor and Valkyrie about the things the Hulk had done, and it had changed his opinion on him.

Thankfully, while he was having his small discussion with the Hulk, Scott had gone back over to Tony and was gently talking to him.

“Hey, it’s okay,” The engineer said,”I know you got breakfast, lunch, and dinner. But do you know what dessert is?”

Tony looked at him curiously, tilted his head, and then slowly shook his head.

Scott gasped at this, making Tony jump slightly, and then placed his hand on his cheek. “Seriously?” He exclaimed,” Tony, dessert is the best meal of the whole day! You haven’t lived if you haven’t had dessert!”

Oh, I see what you’re doing! Bruce thought, a smile climbing onto his face. Scott was trying to rouse Tony’s curiosity, the whole reason Tony had started coming upstairs in the first place.

He saw that it was working too… At least a little. Tony was looking towards Bruce and the tray of cookies with that look that the scientist recognized from years ago. It was the same look that Tony would get when he was trying to understand asgardian magic, or alien technology.

The kicker, the main thing that seemed to get Tony to agree, was when Scott leaned closer and whispered,”I won’t tell Muller, I promise.”

Those weeks letting Scott and Tony bond alone came in handy in that moment. The super soldier looked at Scott with hopeful eyes, and then gave the man a small smile.

Without another word, he grabbed Scott’s wrist and pulled him over to the kitchen island. Scott grinned happily at the touch and Tony’s agreement, reaching the island and making grabby hands. “Give us cookies!”

Bruce snorted and handed Scott two, and then turned to face Tony, placing the one cookie on the counter for the super soldier. “I’ll only give you one for now, Tony,” He said,”We don’t want you to get sick from too much sugar.”

“Der’s no sush ting as too much chugar!” Scott tried to say through a mouthful of cookies.

Bruce rolled his eyes and leaned against the counter, looking at Tony. “And that’s why you pace yourself and don’t eat too much at once, you don’t wanna end up like him,” He teased.

To his surprise, Tony smiled and let out a few quiet giggles. It sent a rush of relief and warmth through Bruce, seeing that the young man could laugh let him know that he was getting better… That was all he could hope for.

“Ay!” Scott yelled, pointing accusingly at that man. “Dat’s inshulting!”

Bruce ignored the man again, and pushed the plate towards Tony and said,”I hope you like them…” Just like you used to…

Tony looked over at him, and then back at Scott. The sight of the man gobbling down the cookies seemed to help him feel better. He picked up the cookie, slowly bringing it up to his mouth.

Just as he was about to take a bite, Tony froze. He dropped the cookie back on the plate and spun around, staring out the large windows by the kitchen.

Both Bruce and Scott stopped, looking at Tony worriedly. “Tones?” The engineer asked, slowly reaching towards him. “Are you… Okay?”

Tony suddenly let out a panicked noise. He grabbed Scott’s hand and threw him across the island. Scott tumbled to the ground with a cry of pain.

“Hey! What-“ Bruce began, but had no chance to react any more as Tony slid across the island and shoved Bruce down as well as the sound of gunshots and shattering glass rang through the kitchen.

The three man quickly pressed themselves against the back of the island. “What the hell!?” Scott yelled, looking over at the other two. “What’s happening?!”

“What do you think!?” Bruce snapped back, his heart slamming against his chest. The food processor and the blender on the counters shattered suddenly as bullets hit them, making all the man jump.

Along with the shattered glass, Scott let out a loud gasp. “Hydra!” He realized, going to press where his suit’s button would usually be. His eyes widened, and he patted all over himself for a moment. “Shit! My suit! I don’t have my suit!”

The gunfire suddenly stopped, and they heard the sound of footsteps walking into the Avengers compound.

“Banner, Ant-Man,” A voice said,”Stand up right now, or we’ll come around and shoot you.”

They saw no way out of it, so they all did as the soldiers ordered. Bruce and Scott held up their hands, silently begging for the Avengers to come to their aid, while Tony stared up at the two of them with a terrified look on his face, seemingly petrified.

Before Bruce could even think of Hulking out, one of the soldier’s got very close to Scott, pointing a gun against the man’s head. “Try to change and he’ll pay for your actions,” He threatened.

One of the soldiers smirked at the sight. “Well, well. I see the Avengers have been taking good care of it,” He sneered,”It’s always so nice when someone takes care of the things they borrowed.”

“Tony is not a thing,” Scott snapped at them,”He is a person! And you are all monsters!”

The soldier rolled his eyes, as if such information was obvious, and then continued,”But when you borrow things, you give them back eventually. That’s what we’re here to do. We’re here to take our things back.”

Bruce growled, his heart pounding hard against his chest and eyes starting to turn green. “The others won’t be very happy with that!” He threatened.

“Oh, they won’t, but I doubt they’ll be here for a bit,” The soldier said, a smirk on his pointed face. “You really think we didn’t think about them?”

Now that he mentioned it, he did hear the sound of gunfire on the floor above them. Shit… Come on guys! I need you! Scott needs you! Tony needs you!

The soldier’s smirk got even wider at the sight of the panic on Scott and Bruce’s faces. He then smiled, happily saying,”I’m glad you all understand your plight. Now, we have orders to follow. Asset, come.”

Bruce and Scott had to hold back yells as Tony obediently stood. He started to walk around the island, his head hung low as he passed Scott. Then, his mood changed.

He grabbed the soldier next to Scott by the back of his vest, yanking the gun from his hand and kicking him backwards. The man flew and slammed into the nearby wall, leaving a crack.

The supposed leader gasped at the sudden rebellion.  “What are you doing!?” The soldier yelled,”Asset! Don’t you dare disobey! Come here right now!” He stepped forward, raising his own gun but not fast enough.

A single gunshot rang through the room and the man screamed, dropping the gun, and clutching at his upper arm. He looked back over towards Tony, whose gun was pointed directly at him. Those brown eyes burned with fury as he took a deep breath.

“No…”

Bruce’s heart skipped a beat, Scott audibly gasped. It was rough, it was soft, but it was Tony’s voice that had spoken. Tony was speaking!

The soldier looked just as shocked as they did. He took a few heavy breaths and then wheezed,”No?! What that fuck do you mean no!? You have no say in this.”

“No!” Tony snapped back, this time with much more vigor. “Not… Not going back!”

The leader seemed too shocked to speak, and all he could do was clutch to his bleeding wound. One of the others stepped up on his place, firmly saying,”Then we’ll take you by force!”

“You heard what he said!” Bruce yelled, his skin turning green and growing in height as the Hulk’s voice finished his thoughts. “He said no!”

The Hulk roared to life and ran at the many soldiers, attacking them with all the held back rage of both himself and Bruce. The soldiers scrambled and panicked like a herd of cattle.

Scott dove back down behind the island and frantically said,”What’s the plan!? What do we do!?”

Tony looked down at him, and then down at the gun. He aimed it towards them and shot, taking out as many of the soldiers as he could before he ran out of ammo.

The Hulk had his own plans. He threw his fists up, breaking through the ceiling and bringing the upstairs battle to them. Several hydra soldiers along with Clint cried out in surprise as they hit the floor.

“Holy shit, Hulk!” He exclaimed,”We were almost done!” He grabbed his bow, smacking one end of it against a nearby soldier.

Hulk growled at them. “Too slow!” He insulted the archer, throwing one of the nearby hydra men into the others like bowling pins.

Scott grabbed Tony, and quickly said,”We need to move, now! I need to get my suit, and we need to get you away from them!”

Tony dropped the empty gun and nodded, running with Scott to the nearby staircase. They didn’t look back, they just kept running. When they got upstairs, they dodged the whole in the floor, and then hurried over to Scott’s room.

As the superhero got into his suit, Tony stood by the door and looked around. For the second time in a long time, he spoke. “Handler… Where is Handler?” He asked.

Scott jolted in surprise, nearly falling out of his suit. “Muller? I don’t know! He was supposed to be up here!” The engineer said.

Tony’s eyes widened, his breath picking up, and he spun around. Before Scott realized what was happening, he was out the door and out of sight.

— — — — — —

Asset was thankful for his small form and speed, he was able to dodge through the many battles happening as he looked for his Handler. He had to protect him, that was what Handler would want, that was Asset’s job.

But all throughout the upper floor, he didn’t see any sign of the man that was his master. He was starting to panic, he needed to find him, he needed to protect him.

Then he saw it.

It was a long trail of blood, leading directly to the hallway. He dodged a Hydra soldier’s grasp and ran, following the trail into one of the empty rooms.

He skidded to a stop in the doorway, the blood rushing in his ears as he saw the white lab coat stained with blood, and the wheezing man laying against the wall. He stumbled over, falling to his knees in front of him.

His Handler groaned, and weakly looked up. “Tony, is that you?” He asked,”You’re still with us… You didn’t… You didn’t go with them?”

“No,” Tony responded quickly,”You are my Handler, not them.”

His Handler sighed and slumped down further. “No, I’m not your Handler…” He whispered,”Nobody is your Handler, Tony. Even if that was true, it wouldn’t be for much longer…”

Asset’s eyes widened and he looked down, seeing the several bullet holes in his Handler’s body.

The man laughed a small bit. “They waited until I was right by the windows to start shooting… They waited just for me,” He croaked. “Although, I suppose I should have seen this coming. I have cheated death too many times.”

Death? Asset realized, his heart skipping a beat as he started shaking his head. “No… No, no, no! No you can’t die!” He scooted even closer. “Please no!”

“I’m going to…” Muller whispered quietly,”It’s what I deserve, after everything I’ve done.”

Asset’s eyes burned with tears as he frantically asked,”What will I do!? Without you… Without you, what will I do!?”

His Handler smiled again, reaching out with his bloodied hand and taking Asset’s in his own. “You will listen to me now, before I have to go,” He said.

Asset sniffled a bit, nodding and clutching the man’s hand only a little bit, afraid that the man would shatter like glass if he tried harder.

Handler had to take several breaths before he managed to begin. “You are not an Asset, you are not a tool,” He declared,”You are Tony Stark. Please… Don’t let what Hydra did… What I did to you hold you back. Don’t follow our old orders, don’t let those monsters control you again. Be strong, and no matter how long it takes, become whole again.”

He turned his head the smallest bit to look at Asset. “Can you do that for me?” He asked.

The super soldier blinked back more tears and nodded. “Yes… I promise,” He whispered.

Handler smiled at him and then looked up at the ceiling. “Ah… Thank you,” He said,”Now… Now I think I’m ready to go.”

And within Asset’s warm, clammy grip, the doctor’s cold hand went limp.

— — — — — —

“Retreat! Retreat!”

For a while, it had looked like the soldiers weren’t going to give up. But that all changed when Fury and many shield agents arrived to help out. It only took seconds for the Hydra agents to have second thoughts and run away.

The soldiers ran away back into the nearby trees, the Avengers only bothering to make chase until the perimeter of the building and let the shield agents follow further.

Fury looked at them and their tired faces and firmly said,”We have to move you all. Now. It’s not safe here anymore.”

Looking at the state of the compound, with the broken furniture and shattered windows, floors, and ceilings, none of the Avengers argued. But then, the voice of Bruce (who had suddenly changed back) asked,”Where’s Tony!?”

A panic exploded through the room. Half of them went downstairs, the other half hurrying around the upstairs for any sign of the genius. It didn’t take long, and it was Fury who finally found him.

He was kneeling next to Muller’s body, still clutching the limp hand and hunched over to face the floor. Every now and then, he would see tears slide down onto the floor, mixing with the pool of blood.

He sighed aloud on purpose, letting his presence be known, but Tony didn’t even move. He stalked over, kneeling down next to the young man.

For what felt like an eternity, neither of them spoke. But then Tony released a shaky sigh, and whispered,”Why…?”

Fury frowned at the sound of the heartbroken voice and looked at the young man. “Sometimes things happen and we can’t stop them…” He explained,”But we can’t let them hold us back, and Muller wouldn’t want this to hold you back.”

Tony didn’t respond, it seemed like he was done talking. Fury had hoped that he would hear more of the familiar voice, but he knew they had more important things to worry about.

“We need to go now,” The director said, getting to his feet and moving towards the door.

The super soldier turned his empty eyes up towards him, and then looked back down at Muller’s body.

Fury felt conflicted. Even after all he did to you, you still have some compassion for him? He wondered, shaking his head as he said,”I’ll have some agents gather his body later, I promise.”

Tony didn’t seem to have enough energy to argue. He placed the limp hand on the ground gently, got to his feet, and blindly wandered out of the room.

Fury let him leave first, holding the door open and looking back at the body one last time. Oh, Tony… He thought, slowly letting the door shut behind him.

I’m so sorry, son…

— — — — — —

Steve sat in the helicarrier’s conference room, twisting his fingers together as he and the other Avengers waited for news on several things. It was hard to even think about those things though, they all found themselves in a state of shock.

“It… It all happened so fast…” Wanda whispered, her hands shaking against the wooden table. “I had thought we were safe, that maybe they’d given up… I was a fool…”

“It was nobody’s fault,” Natasha firmly replied,”We couldn’t have expected such an attack, especially such a bold one.”

Scott let out a bit breath. “Yeah, no kidding,” He said,”They went after the actual compound, pretty ballsy… And then Muller…”

They fell into silence again, just in time for Fury to walk in through the sliding doors. He looked angry as he declared,”Tony is in the medical bay being watched, so we have time to talk about our next steps.”

The ‘next steps’ seemed very intimidating to the group of heroes. The compound, their home, was now too dangerous to go back to… And what of Tony? The plan was for Muller to slowly pull away from the leader position he had in the genius’s eyes. But now that he was dead… The little bit of security that Tony had relied on was gone.

Steve groaned out in sadness, burying his face in his hands. “We should have been more careful…” He whispered,”Muller, I should have known they would go after him too.”

“You have a lot that you’re at fault for, Steve, but this isn’t one of them,” Bruce told him, tugging at the clothes the shield agents had let him borrow. “We were as prepared as we could have possibly been.”

Natasha nodded in agreement and continued,”Plus, they aimed for Muller before any of us, including Tony. We didn’t have a chance to save him.”

Fury looked at all of them and sighed. “Hydra is going to keep coming after Tony,” He said,”So, as much as I’d like you guys to all be with him, we need to start doing more missions. We need to weaken them. Of course, I won’t send you all out at once. But sitting around is not an option anymore.”

Even though the Avengers didn’t particularly like what Fury was saying, they knew he was right. Hydra was going to keep attacking, and they needed to be ready and be weakening their defenses.

After another pregnant pause, Bruce quietly asked,”Where will we stay? We can’t stay at the compound, and Tony definitely can't go on missions with us. Where will we live now?”

“Well the helicarrier or one of the shield facilities is always an option,” Fury casually responded, eyeing them all down. “But I have a feeling that those places aren’t what you want.”

Steve quickly shook his head. “No, but it’s not just about that,” He quickly said,”It’s about Tony. He had just started exploring the compound and opening up. I don’t know if this kind of environment is going to do him any good.”

Many of the other Avengers, including Bucky, nodded in agreement. “This place… It reminds me a little of a hydra base,” The ex-winter soldier admitted, and at the shocked looks he received he quickly continued,”I mean that as… As that there are tons of people always walking around, missions being planned, and a leader giving orders to all of them. It might not be the best imagery for him… Especially now that Muller is gone.”

The shocked looks melted away into understanding ones. Even Fury lowered his head a bit, nodding along to what the man was saying.

“Well then, where do you want to go?” Fury asked, his voice a little softer than before. “It still needs to be somewhere that we can keep an eye on things.”

Steve frowned, his mind jumbled from all that had happened. We need somewhere where Tony can be safe, but also where he can grow out of his shell more. Somewhere like the compound, that has the things he did there. A place where he can feel safe with us… But where?

Then, it hit him like a ton of bricks. Quickly getting to his feet, he looked towards Fury. “Sir!” He exclaimed, gaining everyone’s attention. With a nervous look around the table, he declared,”I have an idea.”

Chapter Text

The air in the quinjet was so thick that Steve felt like he couldn’t even breathe. Nobody tried to break the silence, they were all too afraid of what the discussion might bring.

Inside the jet there weren’t as many people as normal. Bruce, Scott, and Bucky had went with Fury to warn the occupants of Stark Tower about their impending arrival. They took Tony with them, and Steve could only hope that it was going well… He had only seen Tony for a few seconds after the battle, and the look on the young man’s face only made the super soldier worry even more. 

He still wondered how everything had managed to get out of hand so fast. One moment he had been speaking to Muller and then minutes later the doctor was dead and their home wasn’t safe anymore. 

Finally, he saw Stark Tower and the landing pad. “We’re here,” He called to the others, unable to hide the relief he had at the sight. Even though the next few days would be extremely hectic and stressful, it meant he wouldn’t have to think about the pain they had all gone through. 

As he landed on the balcony of the tower, he saw both Pepper and Fury waiting for them. Neither of them looked very happy… 

With a nervous sigh, Steve got up and led the way out of the quintet. At the sight of him, Pepper narrowed her eyes and Fury crossed his arms. 

“How’s Tony?” Steve asked quickly, worried about how he would be handling the sudden change in the routine that had only just been perfected. 

Pepper was the one to answer. “That’s none of your concern. Friday would let us know if something was wrong, and he has people with him,” She firmly said. 

The Avengers behind him exchanged nervous glances as Steve awkwardly said,”Um… Why wouldn’t I be allowed to know?” 

“Because you didn’t tell me!” Pepper snapped, suddenly losing all her composure. “You guys found him and DIDN’T TELL ME! I’ve been worrying the whole time about if we’d ever save him and when do I find out?! Right after he’s fallen back into a comatose state!!” 

Thor’s eyes widened at that. “C-comatose?!” He exclaimed,”The man of iron is like that again?!” 

Pepper cringed, as if realizing she had revealed too much, and then replied,”He’s… He’s not comatose. At least, not as bad as the first time. But Miller’s death is hitting him hard…” 

I was afraid of that… Steve thought sadly, lowering his head towards the ground. As he felt any joyful feelings in the environment get tossed away at the horrible news. 

“Great…” He heard Wanda growl. “Even if Hydra didn’t get him back, they still managed to mess with his recovery. What do we do now!?” 

Fury waved her off. “Plans can come later. Right now is about getting settled in and recovering from the fight,” He ordered,”Follow me, we’ll show you what we’re looking at.” 

The saddened group followed after their director, there wasn’t much else they could do. But even while doing that, they couldn’t seem to tear their thoughts away from the one they knew was hurting the most. 

— — — — — — — 

The small group outside the medical room watched quietly as the shield nurse checked Tony over. He followed her orders without a complaint, never speaking, never even making a sound when he was poked and prodded. 

To the untrained eye, it looked like he was wearing the same blank expression that he always did. Bucky, however, could see right through it. He had worn that expression for over seventy years, after all. 

There was a sadness, a mourning that inhabited his entire being. From the way his eyes remained downcast, his shoulders slightly slumped, and frown just a little lower than usual. 

“He’s not taking this well…” Bucky quietly told the other two. “Not at all…” 

Scott and Bruce didn’t even question why he would know, they both knew Bucky’s history after all. Instead, the engineer merely asked,”Is it because he lost his ‘handler’?” 

“Definitely,” Bruce said,”Anytime Muller was around, he always followed his orders. As much as I hate to say it, Muller was his rock during this whole change. He was the one thing Tony recognized from what he felt was his ‘normal life’.” 

Looking back at the downtrodden super soldier, Bucky said,”Now that he’s gone, Tony’s stuck facing the cruel truth. He has freedom, but he doesn’t know what to do with it. He may try to find someone else to be his handler.” 

Scott quickly shook his head. “We can’t let that happen,” He said,”Even if Tony wasn’t ready to face the truth, it’s already here. We have to keep pushing him forward, even if he hates us for it.” 

They all nodded in agreement. Moving forward was truly their best option at this point, they could only hope that Tony wouldn’t be too overwhelmed by the sudden change.

Once the nurse was done, she told Tony to relax and then hurried out of the room. She shut the door before turning towards the trio, her eyes staying on her clipboard.

After nearly thirty seconds without speaking from either side, Bruce finally gathered enough courage. “Well…? Is he okay?” He asked worriedly. 

“Physically? Yes,” The nurse said, still not looking up. “Mentally? No. He’s showing obvious signs of post traumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety. While all of this had been recorded on his medical records previously, I have reason to believe that recent events have only amplified these.” 

She flipped to the next page, and looked up at them. “I suggest you all be careful with him, he’s in a very delicate spot right now,” She ordered. 

Scott quickly nodded. “Don’t worry miss, we have no intention of hurting him any more than people already have,” He promised. 

The nurse shook her head at this. “It’s not you three I’m worried about. It’s the others on your team,” She revealed,”He’s allowed to leave, so I suggest you take him now so he can get situated as much as possible.” 

They watched her turn and walk away with blank faces, finding that they couldn’t really be angry with her when she had the same concerns as them. We can’t let the others push Tony too hard or try to act like everything is normal just because Muller is gone… 

With a nod at each other, they entered the hospital room, ready to brave whatever situation was waiting inside. 

Sitting on the cot, knees pulled up to his chest and chin resting on them was their shattered friend. He glanced at them the slightest bit, and then lowered his gaze back towards the ground. 

“Hey Tones…” Scott gently said, forcing himself to keep a smile on your face. “I know it’s been a rough day… Would you like to get out of here? We’ll go somewhere nice and safe.” 

Tony turned his eyes back over to them, taking a deep breath and asking,”The lab?” 

Scott cringed, quickly looking towards Bucky for guidance. The other super soldier stepped in and continued,”The lab and the building it was in isn’t safe anymore, we had to move. But we have a bedroom for you here, and you can visit the lab here anytime too. You just have to ask.” 

The younger man’s eyes clouded over with so many emotions that Bucky couldn’t even make them out. Then, he sighed and placed his head back down on his knees, tightening his grip on his legs. 

The trio exchanged another nervous glance and then Bruce gently motioned for Tony to follow. “Come on, let’s get out of this stuffy old room. You’ll like yours a lot better,” He promised, giving one of his famous comforting grins. 

With one more glance at them, Tony let his arms drop and slowly made his way off the cot. Once he was standing, he hugged himself and looked up at them waiting for what to do next. 

He’s already trying to use us as his new Handler. Bucky realized, a frown coming onto his face. This is bad, we need to fix that as soon as all this stupid relocation shit is over. 

“Alright!” Scott cheerfully said, interrupting Bucky’s inner monologue. “Let’s go! We have a little bit of a walk to your room! And we’re right next to you too, so you won’t have to worry about any annoying neighbors.” 

Bruce rolled his eyes. “Scott, I hate to break it to you, but you’re the annoying neighbor,” He teased. 

Scott gasped, placing a hand over his heart. “Doctor Banner, I am hurt!” He exclaimed,”And after I did card tricks for you on the ride here!” 

Their playful banter did nothing, it didn’t even make Tony glance at them. He just hugged himself tighter and followed more closely to Bucky. 

After a long, awkward walk, they finally found themselves at the bedroom. It wasn’t Tony’s real bedroom, as most of them worried about having a balcony so easily available. 

Still, the room was very nice. It had a nice queen sized bed, floor to ceiling windows that showed the city surrounding it, a connected bathroom, and plush red carpet. 

“I know it seems a little plain now, but you can come to us and we’ll help you add whatever you want, Okay?” Bruce gently said, letting Tony walk in without them and look around the room. 

Tony didn’t respond again, didn’t even glance at them. They were used to this by now, but something was off this time. Though his back was to them, they could easily see that his shoulders were shaking, in fact his whole body was shaking. 

After exchanging a worried look, Bucky was the first one to call out. “Tony?” He called, but that seemed to only make the shaking worse. “Tony are you okay?” 

“S-stop it…” 

The trio froze, the soft voice catching them all off guard. They couldn’t even make out the quiet words, so Bruce hesitantly asked,”What did you say?” 

Tony heaved in a huge breath, spinning around to face them as he yelled,”STOP IT!! STOP CALLING ME THAT!” 

“Calling you what?” Scott quickly stuttered out, trying to calm him down. “Tony? Why would we stop calling you that?” 

“That’s not my name!” Tony snapped back,”My name is Asset! That’s the one he gave me!” 

Bucky frowned, instantly realizing who he was. “Muller is dead, Tony. You don’t have a handler anymore,” He firmly said. 

Tony groaned, grabbing at his head and shaking frantically. “No!” He cried,”You have to- You should understand! I need one! I need a handler!” 

“I don’t have a handler,” Bucky quickly pointed out,”I don’t need one and neither do you-“ 

“YES I DO!” Tony yelled back,”I’m a tool, an Asset! I need to be used! Otherwise I’m just useless!! I’m useless!” 

Scott shook his head. “No you’re not!” He exclaimed,”Tony you’re much more important that you know! You helped us all out in so many ways, you’re full of talents and not you have the power to make choices and use those talents.” 

“No!” Tony yelled again,”No no no! I can’t do that! Choices are bad! Not allowed! It’s not allowed!” 

Bruce frowned at that. “But you’ve made choices before, didn’t that feel good?” He asked hopefully. 

Tony froze, his tearful eyes widening. “No… No it was bad! It’s all bad! Handler… He shouldn’t have died! If I hadn’t- He wouldn’t be- It’s all my fault! I’m bad! I’m bad!” He sobbed out. 

“Muller’s death isn’t your fault,” Scott declared,”He knew how dangerous it was from the beginning, your choices weren’t what killed him. It was his own.” 

Tony didn’t seem to have an argument for that. He cried openly in front of them, pacing around the room he was in frantically. “Why..?” He asked,”Why do you care so much?” 

“Huh?” Scott replied, confused at why the subject had changed so suddenly. Looking back at the other two and then towards Tony again. “Because… You’re our friend?” 

This set Tony off all over again. He yelled out in anger and shook his head again. “NO!” He snapped,”Handler said- Handler said monsters don’t have friends, nobody cares about Asset because I don’t deserve it. But you do- Why?! Why would Handler lie!?” 

Bucky sighed, taking a few steps closer. “Your Handler was a bad person, Tony, they never should have done that to you in the first place,” He said,”You’re a human being, not a monster.” 

“But… But…” Tony whispered,”Handler said… He said… ” All of a sudden, he stopped, and looked down at the floor. “I don’t understand…” 

He dropped to his knees, shaking all over as he covered his face with his hands and sobbed openly in front of them again. “I don’t understand!” He repeated, louder this time.

The older super soldier watched the scene with a painful sense of deja vu, easily able to see himself when he was in the same position. When he was first starting to battle his programming, and two different instincts were fighting for control. 

Bucky had failed to fight against the Winter Soldier side of him so many times, and every single time it was all alone. I’m not going to let the same thing happen to you. 

The super soldier moved over to the sobbing young man and enveloped him into a gentle hug. He felt Tony freeze up in his grip for several seconds, only to release it all in one huge exhale. 

“It’s okay…” Bucky whispered, rubbing his back in a circle motion. “I know things are hard right now, it’s difficult to tell right from wrong. But you just need to give it time, and I’m be there every step of the way, I promise.” 

No matter what it takes, I won’t let you suffer alone like I did.

— — — — — — — 

Sitting in the old communal living room was almost too much for Natasha, it brought back memories of when their team had been whole. She remembered movie nights, the food binges, all the fun they had when they were a true team. She would give so much just to be able to go back to those days. 

And by looking on Steve, Thor, and Clint’s face, she knew that they were thinking just about the exact same thing. 

There was the sound of a door sliding open, gaining their attention as they turned towards the entrance. They saw Bruce, Bucky, and Scott with less-than-happy looks on their faces. They looked at the men eagerly, hoping for news that Pepper refused to give them. 

“Well… He’s asleep,” Scott slowly explained,”But him getting that way wasn’t very pretty at all. He… Sorta had a meltdown.” 

At the panicked looks from the group, he quickly waved his hands. “No no no! It’s okay! It’s actually a good thing!” He quickly continued,”Bucky says that it’s a good sign!” 

Thor gave a confused frown. “Forgive me, but how would a meltdown be a good thing?” He asked,”I thought we were trying to avoid such a thing.” 

Bucky sighed in response, sitting down and running a hand through his brown locks. “We were, but this one was inevitable,” He explained,”He’s stuck in between two worlds right now, and he doesn’t know which one is right.” 

Some people looked rather confused by that, and it was actually Steve who caught on the quickest. “Oh, like you were when you had just started to remember me?” He asked hopefully. 

The super soldier smiled and nodded. “Yes, exactly!” He said, growing serious again almost immediately. “Tony is starting to recognize things around him and have more freedom, but he also has his life as Asset within him. It’s two completely different lives and he can’t really understand which is right.” 

“He yelled at us for calling him ‘Tony’,” Bruce mentioned,”He said that wasn’t his name, because it wasn’t the one Muller gave him. He also thinks that making choices is a bad thing, and that is why Muller died. He doesn’t know how to handle everything, especially without a ‘handler’.” 

The mood in the room instantly turned somber as the others found out more about Tony’s meltdown. It hurt them to think about how far gone their friend was, even though he was beginning to remember things.

Scott, noticing the mood, casually continued,”But the meltdown is a good thing, especially the fact that he yelled at us. He’s talking, and voicing his feelings. He sure as hell wasnt doing either of those things before. This is a step in the right direction!” 

“So are you saying that more meltdowns are possible?” Clint asked curiously,”If he’s still trying to remember everything, then another one is bound to happen, right?” 

Bucky gave a sad nod. “Yes, it’s pretty much a guarantee,” He admitted, then raised his head high. “But we need to be there for him during these. He needs to know that he isn’t alone, and he doesn’t have to be.” 

The determination in the room returned, all the Avengers giving nods and noises of agreement. Tony needed them now, more than ever, and they would make sure to be there for him. 

“But for now,” Bucky quickly continued,”Let’s let him sleep. He didn’t do much of that at the compound, so he needs as much rest as possible.”

Bruce, who quickly switched into doctor’s mode, declared,”And we all should be getting some rest too. The shield agents and Friday can keep an eye on everything for us. We’re not going to be any help if we’re just as exhausted.” 

The Avengers found that they also agreed the doctor’s words, so they slowly began filing out of the room and to their designated bedrooms. Even though the sun was just starting to set, they all had been up far too long and gone through far too much in such a short time. 

Hopefully some sleep would remedy that. 

— — — — — — 

When he woke up, everything felt soft and warm… It was strange, unfamiliar. He didn’t like it. 

His brown eyes slowly opened, and he found himself staring at the ceiling of an unfamiliar room. He sat up, noticing the soft bed he was lying in. He pushed against the mattress, watching it rise back up slowly. 

I don’t like it . He thought, quickly sliding out of the bed and letting his bare feet land on the soft carpet. He didn’t like that either, it was much too soft. His cell- no, his room, it was cold cement. That was what he was used to. 

There was a painful pounding in his head, making him groan and rub at his temples. He stumbled over to the bathroom, lifting his head and instantly freezing up. 

There was a mirror, and he found himself looking at… At himself. He had never seen himself before, he hadn’t been allowed to. 

He reached up, his pale hand tugging at the messy brown locks. His hand then slid down, rubbing at the young face while the his brown eyes watched every movement. 

It was him… It was Asset… No, Tony? No no… Why didn’t either of those seem right? Was he really only a teenager? Why had his life felt like such an eternity? Who am I?! 

His headache only got worse, making him lean against the sink with a pained groan. He wrenched his gaze away from the mirror and hurried out of the bathroom and away from the unfamiliar yet familiar face. 

For several seconds he teetered on the edge of panic, his arms wrapped around himself and chest heaving. He frantically looked around the room, wanting to find something, anything to distract him from the intrusive thoughts. 

Just like at the compound, he found himself attracted to the windows that showed him the outside world. He slowly wandered over, sliding down into a sitting position and staring out. 

It was different than the other place he had been, there were no pretty green trees or beautiful clouds. It was dark, and there were hundreds of skyscrapers with many different pretty lights. 

He placed his hand on the glass once more, wondering if he would ever be able to go outside and feel the breeze on his pale skin again. Probably not… He didn’t deserve it after all the things he had caused. 

With a sigh, he went to pull away from the glass… But then he saw something strange out of the window. He frowned, pressing his face closer to the glass and narrowing his eyes. 

Climbing up the side of the building was a… A figure? A person? Was it Hydra? Another attacker? Had they come for him? 

They were already very close to the landing pad, so high up and yet nobody had noticed? He knew he had to do something, it was his job to defend the base. Wait… Was it? No, yes? He didn’t know. But still, he didn’t want to be attacked again, he needed to protect himself. 

He jumped to his feet, running to the door and pulling it open with ease. Creeping down the hallway and past all the closed doors, he made his way to the entrance of the landing pad just as the figure was walking closer. 

They were talking, rather loudly, and their voice… Male, teenager, angry… Familiar? 

Yes, he did recognize that voice. It was so very familiar, and it brought a strange feeling into his chest. Why? Who was it? Why did he feel this way? 

Suddenly losing all sense of caution, the young man crept up to the door, desperate to face the strangely familiar person. 

— — — — — — 

“I can’t believe it! Those… Those jerks!” Peter angrily snarled, swinging his leg up onto the landing pad and hoisting himself up. 

He rolled over, laying on his back, pulling off his mask, and staring up at the night sky as he caught his breath from the long fall. He threw his hands up and exclaimed,”Can you believe them, Karen!? They promised they would tell me when they found Mister Stark and they didn’t!! They promised!” 

“It is quite ridiculous, I agree,” Karen calmly replied,”We are lucky that Friday was kind enough to give that information. She knew you would be worried.” 

Peter scoffed, climbing up onto his feet and walking towards the door. “Well at least someone realizes that,” He grumbled,”But now I’m here! There’s no hiding Mister Stark from me now! I’m gonna see him no matter how long it takes- AH!” 

The teenager gave a high pitched squeal and jumped several feet backwards and tumbling onto the ground as he turned the corner and came face to face with a frozen figure. 

“What the hell? Why are you-“ Peter stuttered out, forcing himself into a sitting position to look at the stranger. At the sight of another teenager, he hesitated and frowned. This person wasn’t someone he remembered seeing last time the Avengers were in town. 

The stranger slowly crept towards him, waiting until he was only a few feet away and then kneeling down in front of him, tilting his head. His brown eyes stared into Peter’s, as if examining every feature on his face. 

The superhero frowned nervously, scooting back the slightest bit. “Um.. Um..” He whispered, looking at the teen’s face curiously. Was he a new Avenger? No, Peter would have heard… In fact, this person looked strangely familiar… 

“Do I… Do I know you?” Peter finally braved, leaning closer to get a better look at him. 

Just then, those brown eyes widened in sudden realization. The stranger slowly raised a hand towards him, and quietly whispered,”K-Kid…?” 

The sound of that word sent a spark of familiarity through Peter, and he instantly realized who he was sitting across from. 

“Mister Stark…?”

Chapter Text

He knew him

He knew this kid.

He was painfully, horrifyingly familiar.

It was Tony Stark, the one who had given him the very suit he used to break into the tower. But… He didn’t look like Tony Stark at all. He looked like he was just some kid. What had Hydra done to him?

For several seconds all Peter could do was stare at the terrified form of Tony in front of him while he tried to understand the situation. No matter what he did, he just couldn’t seem to wrap his head around it.

“Mister Stark…” He whispered again, and reached out towards the man. 

When Tony flinched and whimpered in response, Peter quickly pulled back. “I’m sorry, please don’t freak out,” He said, and then let out a frantic noise. “I mean you can do whatever you want, I don’t judge but I’m kind of freaking out here too and I’m not sure if both of us freaking out is a good idea and-”

“Peter, you are rambling, and your heart rate is rising,” Karen’s voice mentioned.

He stopped his chatter right away, nodding. “Right, right, sorry,” The teen said, taking a few deep breaths. “Okay, I’m calming down. I’m calm...”

But Tony was not, and Karen’s voice seemed to only freak him out further. He let out a pained groan, grabbed his hair, and tugged on it roughly. 

“Whoa, Whoa, what’s wrong?” Peter worriedly asked, still not making any movements in the tense situation.

The young man in front of him shook his head. “I know you… I know you…” He whispered, his voice shaky.

Peter’s eyes widened, and stood up straighter. “You do?” He asked excitedly, but quickly faltered as Tony’s shuddering grew even more. 

“I’m not supposed to!” Tony replied through gritted teeth. “I shouldn’t remember, I’m not allowed…”

“What?” Peter asked in confusion, his head tilted to the side. “Why wouldn’t you be allowed to?”

Tony’s hands stopped tugging, and instead simply rested on his head. “Handler took those memories…” He whispered,”If Handler took them, I shouldn’t have them.”

Peter only felt even more confused now. “Handler?” He asked,”Who's your handler? What are you talking about?” 

Friday finally decided to speak up. “If I may interject, Peter, Boss was put through intense brainwashing similar to James Barnes. He’s only recently started to remember things and recover, but HYDRA attacked the compound and killed the scientist who Tony views as his Handler. He has since been taking steps back in recovery.”

The teenager felt his throat dry up, his heart twisted in pain for what his mentor was going through. “Let me guess, that’s the short version of what happened?” He asked nervously, afraid of the answer.

“Unfortunately,” Friday sadly replied.

“Can you send me the documents about it?” Peter asked,”If I’m going to help Mister Stark I need to understand the situation fully.”

“The Avengers would not approve,” Friday pointed out.

Peter instantly gained an angry frown. “I don’t care what the Avengers approve of or not. This is their fault anyways, and they didn’t keep their promise to me. Give me the files Friday.... Please....”

“Already done, Peter,” The AI replied,”There was no need to convince me when I was already planning to give them to you. I believe it is in the best interest for my creator.”

He sighed in relief. “Thank you, Friday,” He quietly said, and then turned his attention back towards Tony. 

The genius still had his head in his hands, and shuddered with obvious fear. It tore Peter apart to see the man he looked up to in such a state, and he was determined to help somehow. There has to be a way. He thought to himself. If the roles were reversed, I’m sure Mr. Stark would know what to do.

He bit his lip in thought, and then figured that he might as well go for it. He moved a little closer to Tony and gently said,”Hey don’t worry, It’s okay if you’re not allowed. Um… How about I remember for you then? That way you won’t get in trouble!” It sounded stupid in Peter’s head, but it was the best thing he could come up with. 

Tony stared at him suspiciously for several long, painful seconds before he nodded the slightest bit. “M’kay…” He quietly responded, still seeming unsure about the whole situation.

Peter brighetend happily at the agreement, and quickly sat down. “Okay so… It all started when I came home from school, and you were just sitting there chatting with my aunt! Imagine how freaked out I was, I was so shocked! And apparently you were there about some grant that I’d never heard of that you approved!”

The brainwashed genius listened intently, slowly moving to sit down as well as the teenager continued.

“So then we went to my room and you locked the door, and it turns out the whole grant thing was fake and you knew about me being Spider-Man! You even found my secret spot for my suit and everything! You called it a onesie, which was kinda rude… But then you gave me an upgrade! A brand new suit, and I went to fight against the Rogue Avengers with you! Pretty cool, huh?”

Tony’s blank face had slowly turned into a frown as he reached the end of the story. He shook his head. “It’s not…” He weakly said.

Peter’s enthusiastic tone stopped at that. “What? Why isn’t it cool?” He questioned in return. 

“It was dangerous… You could have gotten killed because of me… I shouldn’t have dragged you into it…” Tony replied, self-hatred burning in his eyes.

The teenager quickly shook his head. “No way, Mister Stark! In fact, I’m glad you did! Your new suit is awesome!” He said happily,”In fact, if I didn’t have it, I’m pretty sure I would have gotten in big trouble a few times… Okay, well, a lot of times. I’m still a little mad about that block you had on some settings. The name was mean…”

Tony’s eyes widened in recognition. “The- The Training Wheels Protocol…” 

Peter gasped and leaned forward eagerly. “Yes! Yes that was its name! Do...  You remember it?” He asked hopefully. 

The genius frowned as he nodded and whispered,”I-I remember that but… I shouldn’t…”

Peter sighed, and shrugged his shoulders. “I mean, sometimes you have to break the rules to do the right thing,” He said,”I broke through the Training Wheels Protocol to help stop a criminal, and it saved my life a lot of times. You didn’t listen to General Ross when he said Mr. Barnes was a bad guy, and helped him to try and stop Zemo.”

Tony whimpered again, grabbing at the sides of his hand. “I don’t… I don’t understand…” He whispered quietly,”I don’t know what to do…”

“About what?” Peter questioned.

“Handler… He turned me into Asset. I was an assassin and a soldier, I followed orders, that’s what I was supposed to do. I was supposed to listen to Handler. But when he died… He told me that I was Tony Stark, and that I shouldn’t follow Hydra’s orders... “ He explained,”I promised I would but… But it’s so hard …”

When he listened to Tony’s words, Peter felt himself gain a clearer picture of the inner battle in Tony’s head. It wasn’t two sides of him fighting for control, it was more like four. Asset, Tony, Old Orders, and New Orders. Peter could only imagine how difficult it must be for Tony to gain a clear thought.

In truth, Peter had no idea how to help with a monumental struggle such as that. He knew something like that was probably very hard to fix, and would take lots of time. But perhaps he could at least try to make Tony feel better while he worked those things out.

“Um… Friday, are the game consoles that Mister Rhodey let me borrow still here?” He asked.

The AI replied,”Yes they are, Peter. They are actually on this very floor in the living room. According to my data, they haven’t been touched since you last played it.”

Peter grinned. “So my Super Mario Galaxy game is still in there! Awesome!” He said happily, and pushed himself to his feet. He turned to Tony and asked,”Wanna come and relax for a bit? We can play video games for a while.”

“Video games?” Tony echoed, and gave a nervous frown. “I don’t know if I’m allowed to…”

The teenager replied,”Well, did someone say that you aren’t allowed to play video games? Any orders old or new say that say you can’t?”

Tony thought about it for a few moments before he slowly shook his head. “N-no..” He admitted aloud.

Peter grinned. “Then there’s no reason not to!” He said happily,”Plus the game is a lot easier if you have a player two! So, wanna play?”

The brainwashed genius bit his lip, thinking hard once more before he finally nodded. “Okay…” He said, and pushed himself to his feet and followed after Peter.

Once he got the Wii booted up, Peter handed Tony a remote and explained the game to him. Then, they began to play the game together. It was Peter who talked and came up with strategies to the game and Tony followed what he said and quietly listened.

They managed to play for an hour before disaster struck… All of Peter’s Pikmin got eaten by a Red Bulborb, and he couldn’t call them back in time. 

“Damn it!” Peter exclaimed, leaning back with a sigh. “Sorry, Mister Stark. The motion sensing on the wii isn’t the best. Sometimes that means Pikmin die when I should have been able to save them. The console and wii remotes are old too, so that doesn’t help.”

Tony stared at the Wii remote in Peter’s hand as he spoke, and then turned to look at the sensor bar of the wii nearby. Then, as he looked down at the remote in his own hand, he quietly declared,”I can fix it…”

“What?” Peter asked curiously.

“I can fix it,” Tony said again, and grabbed the remote from Peter’s hand as well. He got up and unplugged the sensor bar, dragging it with him to the closet nearby. He opened it up and pulled out one of the many spare tool cases hidden around Avengers Tower.

Peter watched it all in awe, unable to move from his seat on the couch. But as he observed, a thought occurred to him. “Hey Friday? Did you tell him where that tool case was?” He asked curiously.

The happiness in Friday’s voice was easy to hear as she replied,”I didn’t, Mister Parker.” 

In response to that, all Peter could do was smile.

-- -- -- -- -- -- --

Bruce hadn’t been able to sleep that night. The events that had occurred just hours ago were still fresh in his mind, and seeing Tony’s meltdown had cut him deep. He had seen Tony in some of his most vulnerable moments, they were very close friends after all… But, he had never seen Tony like this.

It made him sad and frustrated. He wanted so badly to understand what happened to Tony, but he couldn’t, nobody could. Sure, Bucky could to an extent, but there were still differences in how Hydra had tormented them.

Hydra had already caused a major dent in Tony’s recovery with the murder of Muller, a person Tony was connected to. Muller’s death was obviously affecting Tony greatly, and Bruce wasn’t quite sure what route they could take without harming Tony even more.

This left Bruce with a mind overwhelmed with fears, concerns, and copious amounts of questions. For once, The Other Guy was strangely quiet, which only added to how he was feeling. Before he knew it, it was five in the morning and he still was staring at the ceiling.

Eventually, he decided to just give up. He sighed and got to his feet, changed into something presentable, and headed towards the living room. He figured he should make some breakfast for him and Tony… Even if Tony wasn’t going to eat it, he could still try.

But when he opened his door, he was greeted to a voice he wasn’t expecting. It stopped him in his tracks, and he had to listen again to make sure he had actually heard what he thought. 

Then, he heard it again. A teenager’s voice as it exclaimed,”Oh my god this is so cool! I could play anywhere?”

Peter? What is he doing here? Bruce wondered as he managed to walk again, and turned the corner into the large living room. He was greeted by an… Interesting sight.

The teenage superhero was crouched on the ceiling with a wii remote in hand, and used it to play Pikmin on the television. Tony stood nearby with his own wii remote clutched weakly in his hand as he stared up at Peter curiously. 

Bruce let out a small amused chuckle at the sight, and was about to back away and let the two continue. But it was too late, Tony had managed to catch him in the act. He whipped around, his body instantly became tense, and he backed further away from the hallway. 

Peter noticed soon after Tony, and saw the change in his mentor’s demeanor. He dropped from the ceiling, stood in front of Tony, and said,”Good morning, Doctor Banner! Sorry about barging in but I hadn’t heard anything and I was worried, and I ran into Tony and we’ve been hanging out since!”

Bruce could tell there was more to it than that, but he was more focused on how Tony acted than what Peter was trying to hide. The genius had hidden further behind Peter, an obvious shudder ran through him. 

He decided it was best to act like he hadn’t seen it for now, and replied,”Is that so? Well, it sounds like you have been busy. Would you two like some breakfast?”

Peter brighetend excitedly at the idea. “Yes please! That sounds awesome!” He said happily, and turned to the genius. “What do you think, Mister Stark?”

Tony’s eyes never left Bruce’s form. He seemed confused, and suspicious of the doctor. With concern, Bruce gently asked,”Are you alright, Tony?”

“You’re not… Mad at me?” Tony asked him, his whole body shook with fear, his words small, and quiet.

Bruce gave him a confused glance. “Why would I be?” He questioned.

Tony’s frown grew bigger. “I yelled at you last night… I was…” He paused, and lowered his eyes to the floor. “Disobedient. I should be punished.”

Bruce kept his expression neutral, and quickly thought of his options. He knew how dangerous of a mental state Tony was in, and what words could do. The doctor was on a thin line, he needed to be careful.

He gave a soft sigh, and shook his head. “You were not disobedient, Tony,” He replied,”You were scared and upset, and you let out those emotions. I’m glad you yelled at us actually, bottling in emotions is never a good idea.”

Tony’s eyebrows knitted together in confusion as he stared at the floor. He didn’t seem to know how to respond to what Bruce had said.

The doctor decided to probe a little further, and see if he could make a little progress. “Next time you start to feel like that, though, I would appreciate if you were open with us,” He suggested,”That way we can help you more, okay?”

“Yes sir,” Tony quickly answered, his eyes still on the floor.

Bruce sighed and shook his head. “Not sir, Tony. I’m Bruce, remember?” He reminded the genius, and then turned to Peter. “You too, call me Bruce. Doctor Banner makes me feel older than I am.”

“Okay Doctor Banner,” Peter said, and then cringed. “Oops, sorry sir- AH! I mean Bruce! Sorry sir- Ugh…”

The doctor chuckled at the teen’s awkward demeanor. “You’ll get used to calling me Bruce eventually,” He said, and then motioned to the kitchen. “Now let’s go have some breakfast.”

Tony hesitated as Bruce headed to the kitchen, and only followed after he saw Peter do a happy fist pump, and hurry after the doctor.

Prep for breakfast would take a while, enough time for a few others to wake up. So before he started, he sent out a mass message to the rest of the Avengers and Fury to inform them of the new development. After which, he set some fruit on the table for the two and said,”To munch on while you wait.”

“Thank you doct- Erm… I mean Bruce,” Peter quickly fixed, and grabbed an apple.

Tony didn’t grab anything at first, instead he only stared… Particularly at the small bowl of blueberries. He reached out, picked the bowl up, and stared at its contents quietly. 

After almost a full minute of him staring, Bruce started to grow a little nervous. “Tony…?” He asked worriedly. 

The genius looked up at him, and then back down at the bowl once more. He got up from his seat and walked over to the doctor. When he was about an arms length from Bruce, he slowly held out the bowl to Bruce.

The doctor’s mind instantly flashed back to that memorable day on the Helicarrier, where Tony did something very similar. It brought back the familiar memories of Tony’s companionship that he had missed for so, so long.

Bruce smiled, reached out, and took a handful of blueberries as he softly whispered,”Thank you, Tony.”

Tony gave him a tiny smile back. The action was small, and would most likely be seen by others as just simple politeness… But that wasn’t how Bruce saw it. The simple action Tony had done was enough for Bruce to hope that maybe… Just maybe, his best friend was starting to remember him.