Chapter 57

"My name is Maggie Stark, and I'm here to put an end to twenty five years of silence."

The words felt like freedom, and Maggie's nerves began to fade. The reporters, already silent, leaned in.

She cleared her throat. "In 1991, when I was five years old, I was taken by an organisation called HYDRA. They…" she frowned, and steeled herself. "They turned me into a weapon." A low murmur rippled through the crowd. She could see most of the reporters scribbling on notepads. The video cameras were trained on her, and every few seconds there was a snap and a flash of light as her picture was taken.

"I killed people," she continued, keeping her gaze fixed on her audience. "Spied on people. Stole. Intimidated. Fought in wars. I didn't want to, but I did it." She pressed her lips together, and gripped the podium. "But that's not why I'm here. I'm here because I want to offer a chance at justice for my victims. For the families of my victims. I want to give resolution to people who don't know what happened to their loved ones. They deserve answers." She took another long, slow, breath. "My memories are… fragmented, but I recall more and more every day. I've been complying with investigators from government agencies across the world, but…" she trailed off, aware that she was treading a dangerous line here. There was a difference between expressing a commitment to public accountability and sounding like an anti-government conspiracy theorist.

She straightened her shoulders. "I spent twenty two years of my life suppressing the truth for HYDRA, often violently, and I'm not comfortable complying with institutional secrecy any longer." She let go of the podium and spread her hands. "So here I am. I won't hide behind the State Department, or the Accords Committee, or the Avengers. I'm going to come clean about the violence that I spent most of my life perpetrating, and I'm going to put an end to HYDRA's remaining secrets. I'll leave the form that takes up to the State Department and the Accords Committee. A hearing, a trial, a public investigation, it doesn't matter – as long as it's publicly accountable." Most of her audience were on the edges of their seats now, alternating between glancing at each other out of the corner of their eyes and staring up at her.

Maggie nodded once. "In the meantime, for the people out there searching for answers, you can reach me at margaretastark@gmail.com, and I will work to the best of my ability to help you." She straightened her spine and gave her audience a steely-eyed look. "I'll take questions now."

She'd prepared herself for it, but the sudden roar of noise as every reporter in the room flung their hands into the air and shouted questions almost made her take a step back. But she planted her feet and pointed to someone in the front row, relieved when that seemed to make the uproar die down.

It turned out she'd chosen the representative from a huge national broadcast corporation, a brunette woman in a blue blouse who lowered her hand and then spoke. "Ms Stark, why are you only breaking your silence now, months after your arrest?"

Maggie nodded and rested her hands on the podium. "Well I'm actually not supposed to, I'm doing this against the wishes of the Accords Committee. They… didn't know this was going to happen. No one did. But like I said, I'm coming forward because it's time the things I did in the dark came to light." She hesitated, then added: "Also, I don't know if I was ever arrested? No one ever read me my rights." The reporters muttered amongst themselves, and Maggie steeled herself. "Next question?"

The flurry of movement didn't startle her so much this time, and she pointed to someone sitting a little further away. The reporters instantly quieted – they seemed to sense that they had limited time with her.

This reporter checked their notepad before glancing up again. "You mentioned that your memories are fragmented, can you elaborate on that?"

Maggie kept her face blank as she nodded. It wasn't really the sort of question she wanted, but she supposed it was fair. "HYDRA used a device called a Memory Suppression Machine on its assets," she explained, and couldn't quite keep the thread of nervousness out of her voice. "It… it was a chair. It used targeted electrical shocks to attack the neural pathways that create and store memories. It was used on me before missions, after missions, anywhere from once a day to every three weeks. Once I got out I started to regain my memories, but it's been a long process." She swallowed. "Next question?"

Her next choice was a balding man wearing a blue tie. "How exactly do you intend to give resolution to victims?"

"The HYDRA information dump shed a lot of light on what they were doing," Maggie answered, "but I believe I can offer more information. I was HYDRA's weapon for twenty two years, they used me for everything from assassination, to intelligence, to protecting their most senior members. The world deserves to know the extent of HYDRA's influence."

As Maggie chose her next questioner, she had a sudden flash realization of just how much her life had changed – a few months ago she'd have fled at the very idea of public scrutiny, and here she was, inviting it. She shot a quick glance at Pepper. The other woman looked even more anxious than she had at the beginning, but she hadn't stepped in to shut the press conference down yet, so Maggie took that as a good sign.

She chose someone in the front row again. "Ms Stark, do you believe you should face justice for your crimes?"

"Absolutely," she replied. "That's why I'm here. I want the justice system to do with me what it thinks is right. And in the meantime, bring the details of my life under HYDRA to light."

Aware of how much time she'd already been in front of the cameras, she chose her next reporter quickly.

"Why did you fight against the Accords?"

Maggie took a moment to answer that one – it wasn't a question she'd anticipated. "I didn't intend to fight against anything," she eventually said. "I knew that Helmut Zemo was the man behind the Vienna attack, and I wanted to bring him to justice."

They seemed to accept that, so she nodded to another reporter.

"Ms Stark, Secretary Ross assures the public that the investigation into your criminal activity is progressing well, are you saying that he's hiding things from the public?"

She kept her face blank. "Not at all, I–"

At that moment the door to the briefing room burst open, admitting a team of facility security who filed in and made a beeline for the podium.

Maggie turned back to her audience and offered them a polite smile. "Sorry, I think that's all we have time for today." The first agent reached her the moment she finished her sentence, putting his hand on her shoulder and steering her away from the podium. The crowd of reporters exploded into noise once more as they all jumped up and started shouting questions after her.

Maggie could take the agent down – could probably take the whole team down, if she felt like it – but she allowed herself to be propelled out of the room to a cacophony of shouts and cameras flashing. She felt dizzy, the steady influx of adrenaline rushing through her veins and mingling with her thundering emotions.

Once she'd been rushed out the briefing room door the security agents slowed down, as if their only orders were to get her off camera. They kept their hands on her arms, though.

Tony was there, his eyes as round as coins as he rushed to meet her. The security agents luckily let her stop when he approached, and for a few moments they just stared at each other. Tony looked utterly blown away – his mouth slightly ajar, his face blank with shock, and his eyes flashing with dozens of unreadable emotions, one flickering into life after another.

Peter and Happy stood a few feet behind Tony with similarly astounded looks on their faces. Vision and Rhodey had also appeared, Rhodey looking flustered and Vision's expression etched with concern.

Maggie didn't know what her face revealed as she looked back at them, but she was aware of her chest rising and falling as if she'd just run a race, and her fingers trembling by her sides.

Tony opened and closed his mouth, as if he couldn't decide what to say first. He eventually settled on: "Gmail? Really?"

She let out a shaky laugh, and reached up to brush her hair away from her eyes. The movement luckily got the security agents to let go of her. The four of them hovered by her side as if she would bolt at any moment.

She collected her thoughts, then met Tony's eyes again. "Um. Sorry about going behind your back on this."

He shook his head. "I know why you did. I definitely wouldn't have let you do this."

"I figured."

Rhodey sighed. "Jesus Christ, Maggie, what did you do?"

Her eyes flashed up to him and her words were edged with iron when she replied: "the right thing." That seemed to take Rhodey aback. Vision didn't say anything, but the lines of concern in his face deepened.

Tony glanced at the security agents, who seemed to be listening to something over their comms, and put a steadying hand on her shoulder. "You okay?"

She inhaled through her nose. "I, um… kind of feel like I've got pins and needles… in my brain? Does that make sense?"

"No," Peter piped up from a few feet away. Maggie closed her eyes and laughed to herself, feeling a wave of emotions crash through her. She needed to go for a long run or sleep for like, ten hours.

It seemed the security agents had another idea in mind. A hand appeared at her elbow again, making her flinch, and the guy in charge shot Tony an apologetic look. "We've got orders to move her to a secure room, Mr Stark."

"Okay," Maggie breathed, cutting off the argument she could see sparking in Tony's eyes, and they steered her away again. Tony, Peter, Happy, Vision, and Rhodey kept pace with her and her guards, and seconds later Pepper left the briefing room and hastened to catch up with them, her heels clicking on the floor. As they walked, Maggie looked over at Pepper.

"Hey."

"Hi," Pepper breathed, speed-walking to keep up with the security agents' pace. Her eyes were wide and her face was flushed, but she seemed a little more with it than Maggie felt. "Are you okay?"

"People keep asking me that," Maggie noted. "It's almost like you all think I did something crazy."

She heard Peter's high, slightly hysterical laugh from somewhere behind her, and Rhodey's groan. Pepper's eyes widened further before she gave her a tentative smile.

Maggie swallowed. "How did I do?"

"Great," Pepper replied, as if she'd been waiting for the question. "Honestly, you…" she shook her head. "I couldn't look away."

"People usually say that about seeing a car crash happening," Tony grumbled, his voice edged with the frustration she'd expected.

Her entourage didn't seem to know quite what to say, and a minute later she was ushered into one of the meeting rooms overlooking the lake. The agents wouldn't let anyone else into the room with her, so she was abruptly alone with her thoughts, in a room with nothing but a conference table, office chairs, and a pot plant in the corner – a ficus, if she wasn't mistaken.

Maggie let out a long breath and went to stand by the window. The sudden silence jarred her senses, and she let the aftershocks of her emotions flow through her, making her heart pound and her fingers shake when she reached out to touch the glass. She could hear people arguing in the corridor outside, but she couldn't focus on that. She fixed her gaze on the glittering river and considered the enormity of what she'd just done.

Ross was, to put it mildly, displeased.

He stormed into the meeting room forty minutes later, his face flushed red and his hands clenched into fists by his sides. He was flanked by the facility security agents and five soldiers, who fanned out around the room as he marched straight toward her. Tony slipped into the room before the door closed.

Maggie turned around and met Ross's fury with calm.

"You conniving traitor," he spat. He strode right up to her and got in her face, his eyes dark and his mustache actually quivering. "I don't know what you were thinking, but you've just destroyed any chance at goodwill from me – I hope you enjoyed the Raft, Ms Stark, because you've just signed your transfer form."

Ross continued to shout in her face, and she distantly realized that she'd never seen him this angry. But his anger didn't scare her, and neither did his words. Because she could see that he didn't really mean them. Despite his shouted accusations of thoughtlessness and stupidity, she'd thought this through. She'd pushed his hand today. She'd stood up in front of the world and asked to be seen, and she wouldn't be forgotten so easily – the world was expecting answers now, and if Maggie went missing then they'd know who was to blame.

Ross paced like a caged tiger, and Maggie reached down to touch the knight chesspiece in her pocket. Move in ways they don't expect.

Tony glared at Ross, but he took Maggie's silence as his cue and kept his mouth shut.

"You've jeopardized our entire investigation," Ross fumed. "You don't get to decide how justice is done, Ms Stark, you're the criminal here-"

"You're right," she interrupted, her voice a calm undercurrent to his shouts. "The people decide. That's all I asked for."

A vein jumped in Ross's forehead. "Oh, shut up-"

"Hey," Tony cut in, glaring, but Ross turned on him now.

"Don't get me started on you, Mr Stark, you're clearly incapable of being her jailer, I don't know why I trusted you in the first place-"

"Leave him out of it," Maggie said. "I did this. Not him."

Ross obliged and went back to shouting at her, and Maggie weathered the words like a statue in a storm. She didn't have anything to say to him – she'd made this bigger than him, now. Tony kept watch with a deep scowl on his face, ready to step in if Ross's anger went further than words.

Eventually Ross seemed to tire of her calm response to his anger, or he shouted himself out, because he stopped yelling and turned to face her fully, shoulders heaving. "Fine," he said, and his tone made Maggie start paying attention again. He worked his jaw, glaring at her. "You want justice? You'll get it."

He made a gesture to his men and turned to walk out, his rage still crackling in the air around him like a thunderstorm.

"Stark, out!" Ross shouted as he walked out the door, but Tony hesitated. He met Maggie's gaze, brow pinched and eyes wide. She nodded and he left.

"No one in or out of this room!" she heard Ross shout to his soldiers, who took up positions by the door. "And under no circumstances is she to have any access to a computer or a phone."

The door slammed shut, and Maggie pulled out a chair. She didn't know what was coming, but she'd made her move. Now she had to wait.

She waited two hours this time, and was starting to get hungry, but it wasn't Ross who came through the door next. In fact, it wasn't the door that opened.

She was slumped against the table, head resting on her folded arms, when she heard a faint, high-pitched sound. Her head jumped up. It sounded familiar, but she couldn't quite place it… She glanced around, and her eyes widened when she spotted a dark, smoldering line creeping across one of the meeting room walls. As she watched the line it glowed red and widened, carving out the shape of a door.

She suddenly realized that the sound was Iron Man's gauntlet laser, and jumped to her feet. Seconds later, the door-shaped hole in the wall detached with a muffledcrunch and fell backwards, revealing Iron Man himself. He caught the falling section of wall and lowered it to the floor, no doubt to conceal the noise from the soldiers and guards outside, and then the suit retracted to reveal Tony, his hair askew.

"Tony, what the hell," Maggie breathed, staring at him as he rushed through the newly-created door.

But Tony ignored her. First he moved to the room's actual door and put his ear to it, checking to make sure the guards hadn't heard anything, then rushed to Maggie and grabbed her elbow. "You've gotta go," he urged in a low tone. He steered her to the hole in the wall, eyeing the closed door.

"Wait, what?" She dug her heels in and jerked her arm so Tony had to look at her. "What are you talking about?"

"Maggie, come on-"

"No, explain! Are you…" she glanced up at the hole in the wall, and then the dormant Iron Man armor. "Are you breaking me out?"

"Yes," he said, his brow furrowed and a muscle in his jaw jumping. "I don't have time to explain it all but Ross called your bluff, Maggie, he's teamed up with the DOJ and the US Attorney's Office, they're calling a Grand Jury today." His eyes darkened, and she suddenly realized that he was terrified. "They're going to charge you with murder and espionage and a whole bunch of other crap – they're on their way right now to take you to jail, c'mon."

A wave of shock overwhelmed Maggie and she allowed herself to be dragged a few steps toward the next room, but then she planted her feet again. "Stop," she breathed.

Tony shook his head. "It's okay, Maggie, I was selfish before, I didn't want to let you go – but you need to run, now." His voice was low and earnest. "Peter's going to cause a distraction, and Rhodey and Vision are working on a way to get you through the forest and up to Canada. I'm going to call Steve, look-" he fumbled in his pocket and presented a flip phone, showing her the one number on it. "He gave it to me in case I ever needed him, I know he'll make sure they don't find you, just… trust me, we need to move now."

Maggie stared at the flip phone. All this time, he'd had a way to speak to Steve. And he was going to use it now to - to...

She reached for the flip phone and met Tony's eyes as she closed it carefully. "I'm sorry, Tony. But I'm not running away."

He met her eyes for the first time since entering the room, and his expression darkened. "Dammit Maggie, you don't have to make yourself a freaking martyr, there's no purpose-"

"I'm not making myself a martyr." She handed the closed phone back to him, and laid her palm over the hand still clutching her arm. "It's just… this is what I have to do. I know it. I've been hiding my whole life, it's time to stop."

Tony looked into her eyes, and she saw the moment he realized he couldn't change her mind about this. The urgency drained out of his eyes and his body slumped, shoulders sagging.

"Maggie," he croaked, searching her face. His chin quivered, just once, and his dark eyes shined.

"I'm sorry," she breathed, and now it was her turn to tug him, pulling him into her arms and holding tight. His chest heaved and his fingers scrabbled for purchase on her back before holding her against him just as tightly. Maggie looked up at the ceiling and fought back tears, her heart pounding against her ribs. "Thank you," she whispered. "For offering. I know it must have been hard."

He made a sound that was either a laugh or a sob. "Would've worked, if you weren't such a principled pain in the ass."

"I know, I'm sorry."

"Why'd you do it, Maggie?" She couldn't see his face because his chin was tucked over her shoulder, but she knew what he was talking about.

She sighed. "I meant everything that I said. I did it because I want to help people. But I also… I don't want to be Ross's pawn any more. Doing this means he can't hold me over your head." He let go of her and took a step back to stare at her face. His own face was crumpled with pain. She smiled at him. "Don't let him bully you anymore. Run the Avengers – and your own life – how you want."

The look on Tony's face was similar to the one he'd given her when she was escorted out of the briefing room this morning: surprise, mingled with amazement, frustration, and a little bit of pride. "You didn't have to do that," he eventually gritted out.

She shrugged. "But I did."

He swallowed again. "I'm going to get you lawyers. A goddamn army of lawyers. We're going to fight this, Maggie, they can't send you to jail."

"Thank you, Tony," she said softly. She hadn't even thought about lawyers.

Suddenly, F.R.I.D.A.Y.'s voice cut through the moment. "The US Marshals are on their way up, Boss. Mr Parker is asking when you'd like him to begin the distraction."

Tony closed his eyes for a second, his fingers flexing by his sides. After a long moment, he opened his eyes and looked right at Maggie as he said "call Peter off, F.R.I.D.A.Y. And ask Pepper to start looking for the best goddamn lawyers in the country."

"Sure, Boss." There was a brief pause, and then the A.I. added. "Best of luck, Ms Stark."

"Thank you, F.R.I.D.A.Y." Maggie took a breath. "Tony, don't let them search my room, please. And…" the ticking seconds suddenly hit her, and she thought frantically about whatever loose ends she might have left. "Thank Peter, Vision, and Rhodey for me. And tell Vision I think I might beat him at chess next time. And… be nice to Dum-E and U. And you – don't try to lose yourself in work, and don't do anything stupid to protect me, and-" she could feel herself getting worked up at the mention of the friends and family she'd made here, and as the knowledge that everything was about to change hit her.

"I'll take care of it," Tony reassured her, his brow pinching. "Come here." He pulled her in for another desperate hug.

"Thank you," she mumbled into his shoulder. "For everything. And I'm sorry for… for not coming home after HYDRA, and for everything that happened with the Avengers, and I'm sorry for Siberia, I-"

"Stop that," he murmured, giving her another squeeze. "You're going to jail, not a firing squad. If you want to chat just send me a collect-call, I can probably afford it."

She chuckled wetly, and that was the moment the door opened to admit ten well-armed, grim-faced US Marshals. Maggie let go of Tony and allowed them to fasten an enhanced restraining device around her wrists. She got one more look at her brother, with his slumped shoulders and ashen face, before the Marshals marched her out of the room to meet her fate.