Red Room

32: Anticipation

Anticipation. Bucky would always tell you to use it to your advantage, but it was being used against you...so now what?

You kept looking over to Tony every few seconds to make sure his confidence remained, and it had. 

Whatever he had planned needed to happen faster. 

Peter stood, still trembling in fear and his face turning a deep red. He was still breathing, but God knows how much longer he could last like that. 

Wanda's eyes remained glued to the floor, you couldn't even begin to imagine how she must feel. She had spent so much to get away from Hydra, and now she was back for you. 

Clint looked around the room, he seemed to be assessing it, looking for exposed pipes, breakable objects, basic assassin stuff. He didn't seem too scared. 

Natasha was doing the same, also sure that this plan would work. You wished you had that type of faith, but it was really hard to 'trust the process' when the process was unknown. 

Sam was tapping his foot and obnoxiously whistling, his ego was out on display and wanted it to be known that he was not afraid- classic sam. 

Bruce seemed to be considering your mother's words. It was no secret that he was ashamed of the Hulk, so he most likely took it to heart. You made a mental note to check up on him, should you walk out of here alive. 

Steve was staring at Tony through his eyebrows, patiently. Waiting for a signal maybe? 

Bucky clenched and unclenched his metal fist, your vision moving upwards, you studied his face- a slight smirk and one raised eyebrow contrasted from the anxiety habit with his hand. You could tell he knew there was a plan, but he probably was worried about how well it would work. 

"Is nobody going to respond? That's not very good manners." your mother scolded. 

Sam scoffed at her comment and rolled his eyes. He was such a diva. 

"Did they ever tell you what you did when you went haywire?" your mother asked, she seemed to be trying to taunt the team. 

You looked to Bucky for nonverbal advice on what to do. His eyes darted to his feet, a mix of sadness and guilt washed over him. 

Your mother smirked and continued to strut around the room, "Does anyone else want to do it? I'll be happy to."

The team's silence spoke for them. 

"Guess I will, then. Where to begin? Oh! you nearly killed your favorite super soldier, that's always fun.".

You gasped and looked to Bucky, "You said you were okay." you mouthed as tears filled your eyes yet again. 

"Oh but that's just the beginning," she said, snapping your attention back to her, "Pretty sure that arm was in the shop for a while, it looked pretty bad. Nice work, doll."

She was taunting you. She was trying to get you worked up, and damn she was good at it. The mocking tone in her voice, the passive aggrieve glances, the way she said doll. Maybe that part seemed dumb to anyone else, but it sounded like an insult coming from her mouth. 

"You don't get to call me that." you growled. From the corner of your eye, you saw the corner of Bucky's mouth turn up into a lopsided grin. 

Your mother ignored you, continuing her ramble, "You also happened to injure...pretty much everyone? In the process, you snapped back for I'd say maybe a minute and realized how fucked up in the head you were. Not saying you were wrong for this, but I do remember a mention of wanting to die. Yeah? Hmmmm, what else? Oh, you exposed your powers to SHIELD, which is how we got you here so easily, thanks for that, by the way.  And almost got Stark to murder your boyfriend. I think that''s about it." she said, puffing out the last of her breath as she finished. 

You had so many questions, but only one managed to form into a sentence, "How did you know all of this?". 

She laughed, "Simple really, when you turn to Mercy, we gain access you your sight and hearing, like mini cameras and mics, part of the surgeries. It's really quite convenient."

Deciding to take this one at a time and process later, you moved on, "What was that ball-grenade thing from the tower?"

"It monitored your emotional state, I managed to work behind the scenes to get you a mood swing watcher basically. It ensured that you ended up in SHIELD and ultimately my hands."

That honestly made sense, next question. 

"How did Stark almost-"

"I was waiting for you to ask!" She cut off.

Tony stepped forward, earning a jerk form one of the agents, "That doesn't need to be shared." he said simply. 

You looked to him in confusion. 

"Well you don't all have to be alive still, either." she said. 

"That remote isn't connected to me, or Sam, or Barton, or even Cap and Vision." he challenged. 

He was stalling. That son of a bitch was stalling because he knew that this plan was about to go into action. Stark, you're a blessing. 

Your mother ignored the genius and reached for the remote, "No but it does work for-"

That's all she could get out before being crushed but the ceiling caving in, and a recognizable blonde god standing atop the rubble. 

"This is why you're my favorite, Thor!", Tony shrieked in excitement. 

You looked to him in shock and gratitude and proceeded to elbow the nose of the agent behind you. 

Everyone else took your initiative and began to eliminate guards, one by one. Nat shot the one holding Peter and he dropped to his knees, rubbing his neck and coughing for air. 

You ran to him and put a hand on his back to let him know you were there. He shot up and flung his arms around you, "I missed you!" he said, voice awkwardly cracking. 

"I missed you too kid, but we still have a whole base to take down."

"Right.".