The Teen Avenger (Book 4) (Avengers X OC)

(6) The Winter Soldier strikes again

Steve's POV:

I was watching Bucky being kept hostage when Tony came up to me.

'Hey, you wanna see something cool? I pulled something from dad's archives. Felt timely.' He asked, holding something in his hand. 

'FDR signed the Lend-Lease bill with these in 1941. Provided support to the allies when they needed the most.' He said, opening the small box and inside were two pens. 

'Some would say it brought our country closer to war.' I said.

'See? If not for these, you wouldn't be here. I'm trying to... What do you call it? That's an olive branch. Is that what you call it?' Tony asked, sitting across from me. 

'Is Pepper here? I didn't see her.' I said. 

'We're not kinda.. Well not kinda-' Tony started to say.

'Pregnant?' I asked.

'No, definitely not. We're taking a break. It's nobody's fault.'

'I'm so sorry Tony, I didn't know.' I said.

'Few years ago, I almost lost her, so I trashed all my suits. Then, we had to mope up HYDRA and the Ultron. My fault. And then, and then, and then, I never stopped. Because the truthe is, I don;t wanna stop. I don't wanna loose her. I thought maybe the Accords could split the difference. In her defence, I'm a handful. Yeah, dad was a pain in the ass, but he and Mom always made it work.' He said.  

'You know, I'm glad Howard got married. I only knew him when he was young and single.'

'Oh really, you two knew each other? He never mentioned that, maybe only a thousand times. God, I hated you.' he said, putting that jacket of his suit back on. 

'I don't mean to make things difficult.' I said.

'I know, 'cause you're a very polite person.' He said, walking towards me.

'If I see a situation pointed south, I can't ignore it. Sometimes I wish I could.' I said.

'No you don't.' Tony said. I smiled.

'No, I don't. Sometimes...' I said but Tony cut me off. 

'Sometimes, I wanna punch you in your perfect teeth. But I don't wanna see you gone. We need you Cap. So far nothing's happened that can't be undone, if you sign. We can make the last 24 hours legit. Barnes gets transferred to an American psych-center, instead of a Wakandan prison.' He said. I was considering signing for a few moments. I took one of the pen from the case and stood up. 

'I'm not saying it's impossible, but there would have to be safeguards.' I said.

'Sure. Once we put out the PR fire, those documents cane be fired. I'd file a motion to have you, Wanda and Mia reinstated.'

'Wanda and Mia? What about them?' I asked, I looked around and saw Mia fiddling with the collar, I saw her wince and removed her finger from under it. I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion.

'Wanda's fine, she's confined to the compound, currently. Vision's keeping her company.' 

'God Tony, every time. Every time I think you see the right way...' I started to say.

'It's a 100 acres with a lap pool, it's got a screening room. There's worse ways to protect people.' He said.

'Protection? Is that how you see this? Its internment Tony. What about Mia?'

'They're not US citizens Steve, and they don't grant visas to weapons of mass destruction.' He said, raising his voice.

'They're kids!' I yelled. 

'Give me a break! I'm doing what has to be done. To stave off something worse.' He said.

'You keep telling yourself that. Hate to break up the set.' I said, putting the pen back and walking away. I went to the room where and Sam and Mia were. Bucky was being evaluated with a psychiatrist.

'A receipt for your gear.' Sharon said, coming in.

'Bird Costume? Come on.' He said.

'I didn't write it.' Suddenly, the video footage of Bucky came on the TV of the room we were in. I looked at Sharon, who had done it.

'I'm not here to judge you. I just want to ask you a few questions. Do you know where you are, James? I can't help. you if you don't talk to me, James.' 

'My name is Bucky.' He said. I was looking at a file when the UN was bombed in Vienna. It was a photo of Bucky that was shown in the news. 

'Why would the task force release this photo to begin with?' I asked.

'Get the word out involve as many eyes as we can?' Sharon said.

'Right. It's a good way to flush a guy out of hiding. Set off a bomb, Get your picture taken. Get seven billion people looking for the Winter Soldier.' I said.

'You're saying someone framed him to find him?' Mia asked. 

'Steve, we looked for the guy for two years, and found nothing.' Sam said. 

'We didn't bomb the UN. That turns a lot of heads.'

'Yeah, but that doesn't guarantee that whoever framed him would get him. It guarantees that we would.' Sharon said. 

'Yeah.' I said, my suspicion growing. 

'Tell me Bucky, you've seen a great deal, haven't you?' The psychiatrist asked. 

'I don't want to talk about it.'

'You fear that, if you open your mouth, the horrors may never stop. Don't worry, we only have to talk about one.' he said. Suddenly, all the lights went out.

'Where is he?' Mia asked, getting up.

'Sub-level five, East Wing.' She said and we rushed out. When we reached, the entire floor was littered with unconscious or dead guards. 

'Oh god.' Mia muttered. I heard someone groaning and saw the psychiatrist.

'Get up.' I said, pulling him up and pinning him to the wall.

'Who are you? What do you want?' I asked. 

'To see an empire fall.' He said. Suddenly, I heard a loud bang and turned around to see the Winter Solider fighting with Mia and Sam. He got Sam and threw him at the cell Bucky was kept in. Mia dodged the hit and kicked him in the ribs. Before he could attack, she ducked and dodged the hit. He kicked her and she hit the wall. 

He then turned to me and punched my jaw, I ducked just in time. I caught his hand and punched him in the face. I dodged the punch with his metal arm and he kicked me to the ground. This kept on going for some time and I banged on the door of the elevator. After that, he tried to punch me and I caught his metal arm. Suddenly, Mia came out of nowhere and wrapped her legs around his neck, trying to get him to get down. He caught her and hurled her across the hall. He then, punched me and I fell down the elevator shaft. Just after that, I head a groan and someone else fell down the shaft of the lift, banging on the walls and kind of breaking their fall by holding onto a pipe. It was Mia.

'Ouch.' She muttered, holding her forearm. 

-X-X-X-X-X-

Word Count: 1180 Words