123 The Winter Soldier
A/N: Reminder that I've stopped writing new chapters, and will only upload the old ones. The story is officially dropped!!
Read on!
—
Tony Stark had done a lot of thinking these last two days. After the latest revelations, he had nothing else to do. Or more accurately, he couldn't do anything else. He couldn't focus on anything else.
His parents didn't die in an accident, they were murdered. By HYDRA, no less, which had infiltrated SHIELD.
Tony knew however, that if he was in Mason's place, if his loved one had disappeared for years, with no clue as to where they are, he would have been the same. If Pepper or Rhodey or Happy had disappeared, and no matter how hard he looked, no matter what he did, he couldn't find them, he would have ignored everything else as inconsequential too.
So he did understand where Mason Aves was coming from.
Even still, Howard Stark was Mason's friend, one of the very few people who still knew he was alive when the entire world thought him dead.
"Sir?" The voice of his faithful AI companion, Jarvis, calls out. "There's something I think you should see."
Tony blinks, and shaking his head, he says, "Hit me."
At once, the screen on Tony's table transforms, and shows a newspaper clipping. Apparently, some highly armed people dressed as Cops had attacked a highly protected SUV, in the middle of the day. The NYPD cops say it wasn't them, the government leaders are saying the investigations are going on, and the FBI is on the task. No one knows who was inside the car, and if they're even alive.
"What am I looking at, Jarvis?" Tony asks, frowning. While worrying, this terrorist attack on some government official was not that important.
"The car belongs to Col Nick Fury, Sir." Jarvis says, making Tony pause in shock. "He was just declared dead at 5 AM today, with a gunshot wound to the chest."
"Jesus." Tony whispers, as he looks at the autopsy report Jarvis had pulled from the FBI's database. "How the fuck did it happen? And who?"
A few more strokes of keys gives him the answer of exactly how it happened. Fury survived the assassination attempt in the streets, and escaped to Steve Rogers's house, where he was shot by an assassin. The Assassin escaped, and Nick Fury died during surgery.
Jarvis takes a short pause, before saying, "I can only speculate, Sir, that if HYDRA is a part of SHIELD, then they are responsible for this. Killing Nick Fury could be their first step towards taking over SHIELD completely."
Tony rubs his head, a headache slowly creeping in, and says, "We.. We need to get the team together. If they're daring enough to attack Nick Fury in broad daylight then who knows what they'll do to the Avengers."
'Pepper.'
Picking his phone, Tony calls a number and as soon as the person picks it up, he says, "Platypus. No time, I need you to get to Stark Tower ASAP. Bring the suit."
Before the other person could even say anything, Tony shuts the phone off, and calls Pepper.
"Tony?" Pepper answers, a bit hesitant.
Tony bites his lips, and says, "Listen, Pep. Something's happened. Something big, I can't tell you what. But I want you to stay in your office, and keep Happy close."
"Tony? What's wrong? You're scaring me." Pepper says softly, her nervousness showing in her voice.
Tony shakes his head, and says, "There's a threat coming, Pep. That's all I can say for now. Just.. stay safe, and keep Happy with you. And when Rhodey gets here, ask him to do the same. I'm.. We're taking care of it."
"I assume you've heard about Fury then." A voice suddenly says from behind him.
"AAARGH!" Tony yells, jumping up with an arm extended. Seeing only Mason Aves standing there, Tony says, "Jesus Christ, Aves! Are you trying to kill me?!"
"Tony! What's wrong?!" Pepper repeatedly calls out from the phone.
Putting his hand on his chest, Tony forces his heart to calm down, and says, "Just Mason Aves. Our Wizard has no regard for privacy, or doors. He just came in, and startled me." Shaking his head, he stresses the point, and says, "Listen, stay safe Pep. I'll call you later."
Tony closes his eyes, and counts to 10, his speeding heart slowly calming down. First he got the news that Fury was dead, and that Rogers was involved somehow. Pepper might be in danger of being taken hostage, again, and Mason just.. startles him.
"You okay?" Mason asks, thankfully staying away.
Tony raises his hand, one finger extended, and snarls, "No. I am not fucking okay!"
Taking a few deep breaths, he continues, "You.. I won't be trusting you anymore. Not that I did so before completely, since we've met just once, but no. You've lost your trust privileges. A bond forged through fighting together and all that crap, you broke it because of your one hidden truth."
Mason nods, not arguing at all, and sighing, he says, "Yeah, I'm trying to fix that. 30 years worth of hidden facts, and I'm just now beginning to try and fix them. I understand, Tony. I do."
"What? There's more you've hid?" Tony sarcastically asks, after scoffing.
Mason nods, which does make Tony pause, and says, "Yes. Some things that Steve needs to know, that I'll tell him when we meet."
Tony stares at him, and says, "You're a bastard, you know that?"
Mason smiles, and says, "Yeah. Yeah, I know. I'm.. not as nice, as selfless, as the UK Government tried to portray me as, am I? I mean, I knew that, but I suppose you've just now learned about it."
Tony scoffs, and says, "Yeah." For a few seconds, no one says anything, and Tony begins to wonder if they're really doing this. Waging a war on Hydra. On Shield. Shaking his head, he says, "Tell me about them. About my parents. What do you know about their deaths?"
Mason sighs, and sits down on a chair. Closing his eyes, maybe to remember, Mason says, "Your dad.. he was working on something for Shield. The Super Soldier Serum. And around November 1991, he finished it."
"Really? My dad, the mechanical engineer, recreated the Super Soldier Serum that the top Biochemists could not, and still cannot?" Tony asks, raising his eyebrows in surprise.
Not too much of a surprise though. Tony knew he could do it, crack the Serum he means, just like he did Extremis and the antidote to the Extremis. But it was a hell of a feat for Howard to have done it in 1991, when the technology wasn't as advanced as it is today.
But to be fair, he was there when the Serum was first made in 1940.
Mason smiles, and says, "Yup. He did it." Shaking his head he continues, "SHIELD asked him to bring the Serum to the Pentagon for a presentation, or a test or something, and since they didn't want to bring attention to it, they didn't provide a guard. Alexander Pierce was the Director of SHIELD then, and he contacted the Russian branch of HYDRA. The Russians sent their best assassin after them. He crashed their car, killed your dad first by punching him repeatedly at the same exact spot, and then he strangled your mom. The Assassin stole the Serum for HYDRA, and Pierce covered it all up."
Mason sighs, and says, "When Peggy called me to tell me about this incident, I was fresh into depression, just beginning to look for Selene since the last 6 years. I went to her, and learned that she bad carried a separate autopsy before your parents could be buried, and learned about the assassination and the subsequent cover-up. The Assassin was long gone, and the camera feed was stolen. It took me a few days to find out who ordered it, track down the people, and I just.. handed it all off to Emma and Peggy, and went back to looking for Selene."
'So he gathered information and then left once again.' Tony angrily notices, but doesn't voice it out.
"Peggy.. her investigations got her the bad kind of attention. Hydra came after her, and the MIS hid her and her family away for a few years after the first Assassination attempt. When Fury took over in 1995, Peggy contacted him and they set up another safehouse for her. Emma.. she just kept a list of those involved, kept an eye on them all, and made sure they didn't cause any more harm."
"Emma still keeps an eye on Hydra, running Counter-intelligence from the background. She couldn't just act openly against HYDRA, you know. She still can't. SHIELD is still an International Peacekeeping organization. But she's at least made sure the UK had minimal interference from Hydra. Can't say the same for SHIELD and the USA."
Tony listened to the tale, making a list of people that he needed to kill. Alexander Pierce was at the top of it right now.
"Who? Who was the Russian who ordered it? And who was the Assassin?" Tony asks, clenching his fists in anger.
While still furious at Mason, he understands where Mason's coming from. Understands the dilemma of having his wife stay missing.
Mason gives him a look, as if knowing exactly what's his aim in asking for that list, and says, "The people involved are all far too important for you to go after them. One of them's a general in the Russian Army, one's MIA, and Pierce is the bloody Secretary of SHIELD. As for the Assassin.."
Before Mason can finish, there's a bright flash of light in the room. When the light disappears, they're no longer alone, as right next to Mason, now stood a hospital bed. An old woman laid on the bed, looking around with wide eyes, a strange fearful look on her face.
"Mason…" she whispers, her voice rasping.
Mason immediately approaches her and places his hand, which begins glowing green, on her forehead. "Take a few breaths, Peggy. And then speak."
"Peggy? Peggy Carter?" Tony interjects, taking a few steps towards them. "Is she a Wizard too?"
"No." Mason mumbles, focused on using his Magic on Peggy. "Peggy's very much extraordinary, but a normal human being. I just gave her something to bring her to me if her life is threatened."
Peggy looks at him, slowly calming down, and says, "You're.. Tony. Howard's son. Steve told me about you. He praises you." Shaking her head, she turns towards Mason, who was frowning at her, and says, "Mason.. he came after me. I saw him, Mason. He tried to kill me."
"Who?" Tony asks, unable to hold himself back.
His emotions were already unstable, and it was only because Mason had already shocked him with his Teleportation that he didn't get startled with Peggy's sudden appearance. But someone from HYDRA came after the last living Founder of SHIELD?
Peggy looks at him again, and whispers, "The Winter Soldier. HYDRA's greatest Asset."
A beat skips in his heart when he hears it, and slowly, Tony turns towards Mason. Mason looks at him, his eyes suddenly even more furious, as Tony asks, "That him?"
Mason just nods, but that's enough for Tony. Another person on his list. Whoever this Winter Soldier is.
"But.. that's not all, Mason. I.. I recognised him." Peggy says, looking at Mason once again.
Tony watches Mason tense, as his own head snaps up to look at her. The green glow on his hand receding, he asks, "What do you mean you recognise him?"
Peggy gulps, and as her eyes become tearful, she says, "He came to my room, to shoot me. He didn't wear a mask, or anything to hide his identity. He pulled the trigger, and I.. came here. Thank you for that. But Mason.. He.. It was Bucky. It was Bucky! Bucky is the Winter Soldier."
Mason freezes, his fists clenched together, and Tony suddenly feels fear. Fear for his life, fear for Peggy Carter's life. Everything around Mason starts shaking, even Peggy's bed, as anger literally leaks out of Mason's form.
"HYDRA.." Mason hisses out as everything stops shaking. Mason takes a few deep breaths, and with a simple wave of his hand, breaks the laws of Physics to carve a hole in space.
Tony blinks, watching an actual, real-life, stable wormhole at work, as the view on the other side becomes clear. There's a woman there, beautiful beyond reason, who immediately steps through the portal and approaches Peggy's bed.
"Selene." Mason says, greeting the woman with a kiss on her cheeks, and Tony realizes that this smoking woman is probably his wife. "Keep Peggy at Sanctuary, will you. Hydra.. they tried to kill her."
Selene looks at him, concerned, and says, "Be careful. Just because they're mortals, you shouldn't underestimate them and go running after them."
'Mortals?' Tony says, knowing that he should be offended. But his mind was still far too busy being angry at everything else.
"What will you do, Mason?" Peggy asks, as Selene waves her hand to make the bed float.
Tony blinks again, shocked to see so many laws be broken in such a short amount of time.
Mason smiles at her, and says, "Don't worry about it, Peggs. You just focus on your health. I'll bring your husband to you later."
And then, Selene disappears through the portal, taking Peggy with her.
Tony looks at Mason, trying to remember who Bucky could be, and only one name comes to his mind.
"Bucky Barnes." Tony mumbles, adding the name to the title of Winter Soldier.
"No." Mason says in a warning tone. "You will not be killing Bucky."
Tony glares at Mason, and says, "You don't have a say in this, Aves. When I get my hands on him, I will kill him. I don't care that he's your old friend, Aves. He killed my mom."
"Tony, I saw Peggy's memories of her latest assassination attempt. Yes it was Bucky in the flesh, but it wasn't him in the mind. There was no recognition for Peggy, no sadness at wanting to kill his old friend, no anger for some perceived reason for killing her, nothing. There was no emotion at all on his face." Mason calmly says, but Tony could tell that Mason was still warning him not to go after Bucky.
Tony snorts, and shouts, "And what the fuck does that matter!? He still killed my mom! He still killed my dad!"
"Because he might not be in his right mind, you twat!" Mason yells, getting angry at Tony in return. As Tony stays silent, Mason takes a breath, and says, "Look, I get it. Okay, I get it. When I found out who caused my mum's death, I cursed him to live the last years of his life in complete, incurable pain, until he eventually died of said curse. But first I made sure that it was him. Made sure that he was actually the one responsible for it. Allow me the opportunity to find out why Bucky killed your parents, allow me to find out if Hydra has him under Mind Control or something, if he's actually the one responsible, and if not, have at it."
Mason then steps in Tony's space, glaring down at him, and whispers, "But if Bucky's not in his right mind, if he's under Hydra's control, then you will let it go, and go after those actually responsible instead. Understood?"
Tony glares back at Mason, not giving in, although he could admit that he was afraid right now. But still, he was more angry than afraid. Tony scoffs, and says, "We will deal with HYDRA, get Barnes, and then you will give me hard proof that Barnes was not himself when he killed my parents."
Mason nods, and then, he disappears.
Tony sighs, drops down in his chair, and says, "What the fuck, dad? Why'd your old KIA friend join fucking HYDRA? Things just don't make sense anymore."
A few hours later, Tony is looking through the cameras, running facial recognition for Bucky Barnes. He had met with Rhodey, Pepper, and Happy, and told them about HYDRA, so they could be ready. Rhodey would still stay with Pepper, the suit at the ready, just in case Hydra tries something against Pepper.
As the Software keeps working without any use, Jarvis interrupts him with the news that Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff had been declared traitors. The reason, they were apparently complicit in the murder of Nick Fury.
Tony immediately brings up pictures of his fellow Avengers, and starts looking for them too.
"It seems Cap has learned, or will soon learn, about Hydra, eh Jarvis?" Tony muses to himself, as the software keeps running.
Let's just hope he finds them before HYDRA does.
—
Steve could clearly remember when things began going wrong. Or more accurately, he could clearly remember when he finally realized that things had been going wrong for a while now.
Just a couple weeks ago, when a Black Widow Assassin was caught by him trying to assassinate Peggy Carter- Peggy Stevens, he reminded himself. She was happily married, with multiple children, grandchildren, and even a couple great-grandchildren to her name.
It really should have been clear to him that SHIELD was not all it had advertised itself to be, when the WSC sent a Nuclear Bomb at New York to deal with the aliens, sacrificing not just the Avengers, but also millions of innocent civilians.
But never in those moments of conflict did he even think that SHIELD was compromised. That it had been infiltrated, and taken over by an organization. And not just any organization, but one he had fought hard to defeat during the Second World War.
HYDRA.
And now, here he was, sitting beside Sam Wilson as he drove the car, with Natasha Romanoff and Agent Jasper Sitwell, an Agent of HYDRA, sitting in the back, as they went in the direction of the Triskelion.
Sitwell wouldn't try anything, Steve knew. Not when both Captain America and Black Widow were sitting right there.
But he didn't need to do anything right now, not when something like this 'Zola's Algorithm' exists in conjunction with Project Insight. Anyone that MIGHT threaten HYDRA's goals would be killed if Insight succeeds, a few million at a time if Sitwell was to be believed. Which meant it was just that important to stop Project Insight from launching.
But there was something else on Steve's mind. Something that he had been thinking about since he had learned about HYDRA at Camp Lehigh.
"Who can we trust?" He asks loudly, not even realizing that he had spoken the words out loud.
If HYDRA had been a part of SHIELD since its very beginning, who can they trust to be on their side? Were any of the Avengers a part of HYDRA? Was Mason? What about the X-Men?
As much as he wanted to believe in Mason's innocence in this matter, even Steve knew that a lot of Mason's actions were suspect. Mason.. wasn't the same man he remembers fighting alongside. It could be that HYDRA got to Mason after the war, manipulated him through some means or another. Steve couldn't discard the possibility.
And even if Mason wasn't HYDRA, it was highly unlikely that he didn't know about Hydra's existence. He was just too smart to not see it in these last 70 years.
"I trust Clint with my life. He is not a part of HYDRA." Natasha answers from the back, immediately realizing exactly what he means.
Steve trusted Natasha. Sure, he knew that she had done a lot of harm in the past, but as of now, as of the future, she was on his side. She was against HYDRA. So when she says she trusted Clint, Steve doesn't see any other choice but to accept it.
He hums, and says, "I don't see Tony being a part of Hydra. Or Bruce."
Tony and Bruce are too smart for their own good, and far too selfless to be Hydra agents. Tony would have taken the Nuke through the Portal in New York if Mason wasn't there.
As for Bruce, Hydra's methods are not something Bruce will agree with, ever. Not even Hulk would agree to work for HYDRA.
For a few seconds there's silence, but then Natasha says, "I don't think Aves is Hydra either."
It makes Steve's heart skip a bit, wondering if she could read him that well.
Sitwell scoffs, and says, "Of course he isn't. If Hydra had him do you really think we wouldn't have ruled the world already?"
For some reason, that makes sense to Steve. Mason's already shown that he is far stronger than he had originally shown himself to be, during the war. And there were very high odds that he was hiding even more Power.
For what, he didn't know. But at least they can be sure that Mason was not Hydra.
"Thank God for small mercies." Natasha mutters to herself, but Steve hears the same. "Should we contact them? Aves and Tony at least? HYDRA's their fight too."
Least of all when Zola had revealed that thing to them. That Howard and Maria Stark were assassinated.
From beside him, Sam shakes his head and says, "We might need their help, but how would we even do that? SHIELD would no doubt be monitoring all methods of communication."
Steve frowns, and says, "Let's just hope that Tony's kept up with poking his nose where it doesn't belong and sees what's happening at Shield. He's our best bet at getting more help right now."
Sitwell leans forward, making Steve tense, and says, "Hydra doesn't like leaks."
"Then why don't you try sticking a cork in it." Sam answers in an annoyed tone, barely even glancing at the man.
Chuckling nervously, Sitwell says, "If Stark so much as sniffs anything that even hints at Hydra's existence, he will find himself relieved of living privileges faster than he can put on the armour. Who do you think sent AIM after him?"
Before Steve can ask him to elaborate, Natasha says, "Don't." Even without turning around, he knows that was for him. "Insight's launching in 16 hours, we're already cutting it a bit close."
Steve looks at Natasha and says, "I know. We'll use him to bypass the DNA scans and access the Helicarriers directly."
A couple years ago, he would have accused anyone who used such words of Witchcraft.
"What?!" Sitwell exclaims. "Are you crazy? That is a terrible idea!"
Suddenly, something lands on top of their car, and the next thing Steve knows, a metallic hand slams through the window, and pulls Sitwell out. Steve sees the hand throw Agent Sitwell into the ongoing traffic only to be crushed by a truck, and the next events happen too fast for him to stop to think.
Sam slams the breaks as Natasha saves him from being shot in the head, and their assailant is thrown off the car. A wide eyed Steve looks at the man, the same one that had killed Fury, skid to a stop using those metallic fingers of his to dig into the road.
BOOM!
A car slams into their backs, as the gun drops from Natasha 's hands. Steve notices that the wheel of their car has become unstable, and that the car was going to flip soon. Picking his shield, Steve latches on to Natasha, pulls Sam towards them, and then slams his head on the door, breaking it off right before the car goes completely out of control.
Sam is the first to get loose, as he rolls to a stop some distance away from them, and Steve and Natasha follow soon after. Steve looks towards the assailants, multiple gun wielding enemies no doubt from Hydra, only to widen his eyes in shock.
As Natasha runs to the side, Steve lifts his shield to block the grenade shot by Fury's killer. The bomb explodes right as it hits the shield, and while the Vibranium blocks much of the force behind it while also protecting him from the shrapnel, he hadn't gotten enough time to properly anchor himself to the ground.
And so, before he can even curse himself, Steve gets thrown off the bridge, and through a bus window, unwittingly causing the bus to crash, and within seconds, unconsciousness claims him.
—
It didn't take him long to wake up, and start running from the machine gun wielding Hydra agents, the Winter Soldier nowhere to be seen. Steve killed most of the Hydra soldiers by ricocheting bullets off of his shield, before Sam had joined in, asking him to go after Natasha, who he had found out was being pursued by the Winter Soldier.
And now, Steve runs towards the Winter Soldier, whom he had just seen shoot Natasha in the shoulder. His run isn't the least bit silent, but it does the job of distracting the assassin from Natasha.
As the Winter Soldier punches his metal arm towards him, Steve blocks it with his shield, causing a loud gong to sound. Steve winces as his legs get pushed down from the force.
'He's fast, and he's strong.' he realizes. 'But is it him, or that metal arm of his?'
Suddenly, the shield is slapped aside by the same hand that punched before, and a harsh kick lands on Steve's chest, throwing him flying back onto the road.
'Definitely him.' Steve mused, wincing, as he placed the shield between himself and the Soldier, saving him from being ridden by holes by the assault of bullets that fired at him.
Steve runs forward when the bullet fire stops, and ducks behind a car when it begins again. Seeing the Soldier start reloading, Steve jumps over the car he was hiding behind, and lands a kick straight on the arm holding the gun, making him drop it.
The Soldier is ready, however, and he pulls another handgun out. Steve maneuvers the shield to block every bullet shot at him, and forces the Winter Soldier into an unarmed fight.
The Winter Soldier is strong, maybe even as strong as him, and that makes him dangerous. But the guns make him even more dangerous, and so, the first goal was disarming him.
But as Steve fights the man one on one, and finds himself disarmed of his own Shield, he realizes that even disarmed, this man was something else.
He was definitely a Super Soldier, like him.
Steve ducks to the side, dodging the shield thrown by the Soldier, and runs forward, engaging in a hand to hand combat once more. But while the Soldier has a knife, as well as his Metal arm, Steve has just his body, and clothes not designed for fighting in them.
He still ducks, blocks, and weaves through the man's hits, punching and kicking back whenever he can, but Steve could tell that unless something good happens, he was losing this fight.
Their fight takes them close to the Shield, which had remained stuck to the side of a van, and after kicking the Soldier down, Steve pulls the shield out. Now once again armed, Steve takes the fight to the next level, and starts attacking the metallic arm.
It was good, durable, strong, but it held nothing on Vibranium. And so, as Steve lands another hit on the joints of the metal arm, Steve feels the Soldier get shocked into pausing when the metal bends.
Taking advantage, Steve holds the man by the neck, the face mask getting in the way, and pulls, throwing the man over himself, and on his back.
Steve stops, does not take advantage of the pause in the fight. Something's wrong, he knows. Something tells him to not kill the Winter Soldier right now.
As the Soldier turns towards him, Steve stops breathing, understanding exactly why his instincts told him not to kill the man. He couldn't believe it, didn't want to believe it.
Here was the man, one believed to have died a month before he himself had dropped the plane. His oldest friend, his best friend, and someone he loved more than he loved anyone else in the world. Maybe even more than Peggy.
"Bucky?" He softly calls out when his body remembers how to breathe.
"Who the hell is Bucky?" The Soldier- no, Bucky- asks, as he lifts his hand. It held a gun now, one that Steve had unwittingly thrown the man towards.
Steve lifts the Shield once again, but then there's the sound of wings, and a flying Sam drops a kick into Bucky, throwing him towards a van. Suddenly, the van Bucky had been thrown next to ripples, and the maroon coloured metal extends out, only to cover Bucky completely.
Even before Bucky could try to escape, he is bound completely, leaving only his head free to glare at them.
THUNK!
With the subtlety of a raging bull, Tony's Iron Man armour drops down next to the barely struggling Bucky, with his arm extended towards the naked head of his old friend, a small missile already armed and ready to fire.
"Tony." A familiar voice calls out, in a warning tone, making Steve look up.
And there, floating right above them with his hands crossed over his chest, was the man whose loyalty Steve had been questioning before. A man who Steve had a lot of questions for.
"Yeah, yeah, Aves. Don't get your panties in a twist." Tony grumbles, and the armour depowers, as Tony's head becomes free.
As Steve watches, a bit confused about everything, Tony grins at Steve, and says, "Cap! Natalie! What's this about you being declared a fugitive without me?"
Steve snorts at Tony, and as he starts walking towards Bucky, -'And by God, he's Bucky! How is he alive?! Did Mason know this too?',- he calls out, "Bucky?"
The man just glares at him, and then looks behind Steve, not saying anything.
Mason Aves was now floating down towards them, and Sam was supporting Natasha as they approached too.
"He does not recognise you. He does not recognise me either." Mason softly says, staring at Bucky with a weird look in his eyes as soon as he lands.
Steve could read emotions well enough for him to recognise Guilt, and anger. But was it anger at Hydra, at Bucky? And what about the guilt? Did Mason know and not do anything? Or was it just guilt for not knowing that Bucky was Hydra?
"What do you mean?" Sam asks, as Steve couldn't find it in himself to say anything. Steve was thankful for that.
"Aves is inside his mind." Natasha says, narrowing her eyes at Mason. And that makes things a bit clearer to Steve. "Whoever the Soldier used to be, it isn't him anymore. Am I right?"
Mason nods, and without turning around, he says, "There's very little of our old friend Bucky in there, Steve. He's.. he's just the Winter Soldier right now, the Weapon of HYDRA."
No.
Steve couldn't believe it, didn't want to believe it. Bucky, a weapon of Hydra? That's impossible.
"Great, so I can't even kill my parents' killer now." Tony mumbles, none too softly.
Steve snaps his head towards Tony, but before he can say anything, he hears the sounds of sirens and stops.
Right. HYDRA.
Mason finally looks away from Bucky, looks at Steve, and says, "It's not safe to be here right now. SHIELD is coming to arrest us, and we don't want that now, do we?"
Steve could agree to that. He had questions, a lot of them, but they can wait until they're not in danger.
"Where will we go? And how?" Sam asks, still supporting Natasha.
Mason looks at them, frowning at Natasha's wound, and says, "Where? The safest place on Earth. As for how.. I am a Wizard, you know."
Suddenly, the air in front of them lights up with Orange sparks, making Natasha, Sam, and Steve jump a bit. The light forms into a Ring, and Steve recognises that the view on the inside of the Ring was not the same as that outside it.
A Portal. Like the one from New York, except.. stable.
The Portal moves then, and before they can do anything, it expands and goes over their heads, thereby taking them all through the portal and on to the other side.
Steve looks around at the Forest he had found himself in, only to stop when a gigantic Castle comes into view right behind them. The forest was noisy with a lot of roars, screeches, and even the howl of wind blowing, but Steve had eyes only for the Castle, just like he knew everyone else did.
Mason starts walking towards the Castle, the bound body of Bucky Barnes floating right behind him, and says, "Welcome, friends.. to Sanctuary! Come, Selene's waiting for us."
Steve and Natasha share a doubtful look, while Sam just keeps staring at the castle, dumbfounded. Not knowing what else to do, but trusting Mason to not lead them into a trap, Steve takes the first step to follow after him, the rest following right behind.
—
A/N: I was originally going to let Bucky escape, but since Mason and Tony were on task to find Steve, I decided not to do it. Letting Bucky escape is not something that Mason can excuse, and there's no way they wouldn't find Steve before then.
Sorry about still keeping the canon plot mostly intact even when the timeline has shifted a bit ahead. The Winter Soldier movie originally happened in 2014, but this time it happened in 2013, a year earlier. Even still, Fury's suspicions still made him dig deeper, and like in the movie, found himself "killed".
Thank you for your support, your love, and your patience! Tata!
