CHAPTER 83 - SETTLING PAST SCORES

You can find +15 chapters ahead on my patreøn

Patreøn.com/QuackVader

########################

I made a makeshift holding cell for Magneto and the teleporter using Sarah's gene-suppressing serum by filtering it into the venting system for those two particular cell blocks.

That action also gave me the inspiration to create something like the pipeline cell that was used for holding metahumans in the Flash series.

With Magneto out of the picture, I contacted Raven and informed her in case she wants to try and take a pie of what was the Brotherhood without Erik at the head.

I sent a structural blueprint of the design of the Ward to Stark since he was the one funding everything after all.

There was the Raft, a very secure underwater supermax prison in the Atlantic Ocean but that was just a super facility and there were some types of mutants that it couldn't hold and that was where the Ward was different.

I already plan to incorporate Sarah's gene-suppressing serum into every cell block and cuffs in the Ward. With Banner and Sarah doubling down on further exploring the serum, there is no doubt that they'll find a way to increase its effectiveness while I'll have ample time to build my own boomtube.

But before that, I think it's high time I start clearing our closets and airing everything out, specifically the closet of Steve and Natasha.

I understand Steve's apprehension but if it comes down to a fight between him and Stark, no one is going to interfere when they start duking it out. Sometimes a couple of good punches can simplify even the most complicated scenarios.

As for Natasha, hers was a lot simpler since it basically features a drug bust and a shakedown. The timeline can go to shit and I don't care, after all this isn't the MCU I grew up watching.

As for Ava Starr, she woke up when I was busy dealing with Magneto and waited for me until I came back before she left. At least this way she can live the normal life she always wanted.

{Steve, Natasha. I think we need to talk}

I sent them the message and a few minutes later they both entered inside my workspace with confused faces wondering why I called them.

"I'll keep it simple as much as I can." I said and brought up two different sets of holographic information. The first contained a few pictures of Bucky, while the other was of a woman with dyed white hair.

"What are these?" The first to ask was Natasha and the look on her face was a pretty cold one that demanded a good explanation.

Steve remained quiet but I could tell he wanted the same thing.

"The main focus here are James Buchanan Barnes and Yelena Belova."

"That doesn't answer why you are looking into them. Is that what we are doing now? Looking into each other's past?" Natasha cut me off with a glare but I remained unfazed.

"Yes, I do if both are working for terrorist organizations and tasked with assassinating high profile targets. From where I'm standing, it's only a matter of time before the entire group learns about this and… well, I think anyone can paint a vivid picture of what will happen then." I said before pulling up a video of Bucky killing Tony's parents, leaving the both of them stunned.

"Where did you get this?" Steve was uncharacteristically defensive but I wasn't about to budge or come to a compromise.

"Regardless of where I got it, the fact remains that we need to do something about the two of them."

"Why her?"

"Hmm?"

"Why is she one of your targets?" Natasha asked.

"Because just like Bucky, she's being mind controlled. It's kind of an overused plot but it's pretty efficient until it isn't."

Natasha grabbed me by my arm and stared at me seriously to see if I was joking, not that I ever had such bad taste in jokes. "You said she's being mind controlled, by who?"

At her words, another image file of a man she easily recognized but there was something wrong. "He's dead. Clint and I made sure of it."

Unfortunately for her, the man known as Dreykov was not only alive and healthy, he was running an advanced Black Widow program.

"Trust me, he's very much alive, his daughter too. Well sort of." I quipped.

I then turned back to them to address the main issue now that the introductions were out of the way. "Getting Barnes back is not a problem, even helping him get back his memories is something I can help him do but before you jump into heat of fire to bring him back, it is imperative that Stark knows about it."

"Tony wouldn't understand." Steve denied my suggestion but I wasn't having it. "Whether he understands or not, whether he aims to kill Bucky or not is up to him, not you Steve. Or are you going to hide this from him forever after you've rescued Barnes?"

He fell silent at my words but he was inwardly bubbling with frustration. My words might be harsh but that was the best, no, the correct thing to do.

The frustration Steve was feeling slipped through the cracks for a brief moment but that brief moment was all it took for Steve to put a dent in my wall before storming out to hopefully clear his mind.

'That's one done, now for the second.'

"Explain." Was all she said as she took a seat in front of me prompting me to roll my eyes.

"Other than verified surface information, I don't know anything else other than the fact that Dreykov restarted the Black Widow program and enslaved all the Widows under him with some sort of chemical, including your sister." I told her all what I knew, which was bare-bones at best.

After listening to all what I had to say, Natasha remained silent for a while before looking at me and asked a question I fully expected.

"Why? You had to have looked into my past to find out about this. Why did you do that?"

To her question, my answer was just as crispy and clear. "I think most people forget that I'm basically a somewhat good version of Ultron. All of Ultron's memories are available to me. You can do the math from there." While somewhat true, it was ultimately a lie. But there's no need to make this more complicated than it already is.

"You know, when I left the Room, I took it as cutting away that part of my life forever…"

"You abandoned her." Well yikes. I'm not that good with emotional pep talk so if that's what she was expecting then we'll just be stuck here looking at the other until one of us grows bored. Thankfully Natasha was someone who didn't need any to pick up her slack for her.

"Get a good night's rest, Natasha. You sure as hell look like you need it." She flipped me off with a laugh as she left the room, once again leaving me to my lonesome thoughts.

'In the meantime, let's get started on that boomtube.'

The first thing I needed to do was review the compiled data of my time in the Quantum Realm. Maybe a few experimental test drives down there to get a clearer understanding of how the coordinate mapping is interpreted down there.

...

I spent the whole night going through equations upon equations but none was viable and I haven't even gotten a direction on how to go about it.

The other thing I needed to do was build a machine that worked in an identical fashion as the Ant-Man suit, one that can go quantum since that's the route I'm taking.

"Come in." The doors automatically opened after I sensed Natasha standing outside wearing her combat suit, looking primed and ready for some kicking ass mission.

"Is it time already?" I joked before turning away from the screen in front of me and took in Natasha's current getup.

"Anyone else coming?" She shook her head and gestured a finger between me and her. "It's just going to be the two of us. Should be a piece of cake, right?" I didn't question the reason for her decision and just went along with it. It's her mission after all.

"Where is she now?" She asked as we boarded the Quinjet and took the pilot's seat. "Currently in Bucharest. Probably a mission."

"Definitely a mission." She corrected to which I nodded along. "Do you know who she's targeting?" She asked but I shook my head.

"Don't worry. We'll be able to immediately identify her once we touch down in Bucharest. I wonder what the reunion between two estranged sisters will look like." I said while muttering the last part in a whisper which she heard and snorted.

"Probably will involve a lot of guns and knives." She said with a fallen face before punching the Quinjet to accelerate at near its top speed.