The Angel and The Billionaire

One

Tony

If I try hard enough, I can listen to the sound of the metal shield smacking against the rocky floor, even though it's been over 15 minutes since Rogers tossed it. I'm freezing here, lying on the ground on a destroyed armor in a Siberian HYDRA base, but for some reason I don't move.

There's no way to tell where Rogers and Barnes went. They won't make it far in this weather, super soldiers or not we're still in the middle of nowhere. Unless they took the jet. In that case, I'm fucked. Honestly, I'm tired of this bullshit, if Ross tells me to go after them, I'll tell that asshole to kiss my ass.

What the hell was I thinking going against the two of them all by myself? I'm lucky to be alive. Not to mention there were probably a million ways I could've handled the situation better. I just couldn't think straight after seeing my mom...

Frustration crawls on my skin as I force myself stand up. I can hear an aircraft in the distance, engines tossing snow against the rocks. My suit is beyond ruined so I step out of it to gain mobility. These things are not cheap. I'll have to see if any pieces are salvageable.

Even without FRIDAY it's easy to tell I broke something, a few ribs at least, probably an arm as well. I'm silently praying my A.I can sense I'm in trouble and find me when I hear a noise coming from the back of the base. It's a stupid thing to do, walk into a place like this alone, but even geniuses are bound to be idiots at times.

I follow the sounds and see a girl climbing out of one of the cryogenic tanks. There's blood all over her hair, neck, and clothes, but weirdly she doesn't look harmed.

- Hello. - I try to speak calmly, so as not to startle her, but fail miserably. - It's ok. I'm not here to hurt you.

Her eyes are wide, she's shaking and soaked in blood. There's a circle on her forehead where the gunshot wound was supposed to be. Her skin is pale like she hasn't seen any sunlight in years and she's very thin, obviously malnourished. The girl can't be bigger than 5'2.

- I'm not here to hurt you. - I repeat slowly, then realize I don't even know if she speaks English.

It seems like she understands what I'm saying, I think. She takes big steps back, so if she does understand, she clearly doesn't believe me. I raise my hands and stop a few meters away, trying to show I mean no harm. The poor girl looks terrified. Once her back hits the wall she slides to the floor, hugging her knees. I crouch down next to her, making sure not to get too close.

- I'm Tony. Tony Stark. - I state calmly and her eyes flicker with recognition. - Can you tell me your name?

- My name... I'm not... - She scratches her head and sees blood on her fingers. - I'm bleeding.

- I don't know what happened. - I lie. This can wait. - It wasn't me. I didn't hurt you, I swear.

She looks around and it's like this is the first time she's seeing this place. I saw her climb out of a tank so she must be part of the Winter Soldier Program. But unlike any of the others, including the other women, she's small. No muscles or overall soldier appearance. Is she like Barnes? Unlikely.

- Tell me your name. I can help you. - I insist and she lowers her head. The realization hits me a second later. - You don't remember it, do you?

She shakes her head and hugs her knees tighter. Her long sleeve shirt probably used to be white, but now it's more maroon. That plus the gray pants means she's severely underdressed for -30°C.

- Stark? - A voice calls out from afar and she quickly stands up to hide behind the tank.

I follow her with my eyes before walking to the entrance. There are blood stains on the floor and King T'Challa is staring at a bigger one next to his foot. He took off his mask, but kept the rest of the Black Panther suit. The vibranium structure probably keeps him warmer than regular fabric.

- Do you have a way to return? - T'Challa asks, his eyes pausing on the destroyed suit. - The Captain left the quinjet so...

- I'll take it. - Thank God. At least I can go home. - Did you get Zemo?

- Yes. And he'll face justice. - He nods firmly. - I must go now, but we'll be in touch.

He gives me a quick goodbye before leaving and not even 2 minutes later, his plane takes off. I'm not stupid, he took Rogers and Barnes with him, that's why the Avengers plane was left behind, but those two aren't my problem anymore.

Speaking of things that aren't my problem, I go back to the inside of the base and see the girl slowly step out of hiding. There's no one else here, the other people in cryo are dead in their chambers. I have no idea how she's still alive.

- What's happening? - Her voice trembles as she sees the corpses.

- I don't know. Please, come with me. - I point to the plane and she visibly hesitates. - What's the alternative? There's not another living soul here.

She looks around at the dead super soldiers, coming to the same conclusion I did, and reluctantly nods. We walk out in silence and on the way I grab the wrecked suit and Roger's shield. Once we're inside the aircraft, I steal some clothes from Romanoff's locker.

- Here. - I put a hoodie and sweatpants in front of her. - You must be freezing.

- Thank you. - She puts it all on in record time. The clothes are big on her, and that's not because she's much smaller than Romanoff. She's so thin she could star a Gucci campaign. I don't mean that as a compliment.

- Don't worry about it. - I take a seat in front of her. - Look, we're in a bad situation here. If the government finds out where I found you, they might arrest both of us.

- What?

- I won't let that happen. - I do my best to sound firm. - I'm only saying this because when we get there, we'll need a cover story. At least until you get your memories back. It's the best way to keep you safe.

- There? Where are we? - She glances outside. The snow is falling so fast that it's hard to see anything other than white.

- Siberia. Does it mean anything to you?

- No. - She shakes her head. - There's nothing in my head. It's all blank.

- That's ok, we'll figure it out. But we can't tell anyone where I found you. I could get in a lot of trouble for this. - I get cut by her stomach making a noise. When was the last time she ate? - I'll get something for you. Hold on.

I go to the back and look through the lockers. Surprisingly, the only person that carried food was the witch, some granola bars and chocolate candies. There's also a water bottle in Roger's locker, so that'll do the trick.

- Here. - I hand everything to her. - You need to eat.

She looks suspicious at first, but the hunger ends up being stronger. In less than 5 minutes she eats everything and chugs the water like she hasn't had any in years. Maybe she didn't, God knows how long she was frozen.

- Grace. - She whispers, avoiding eye contact. - I think... My name is Grace.

- It's nice to meet you. - I extend my hand. - I'm Tony.

Once again she hesitates, but eventually we shake hands.

- What happens now?

- I'll fly us to NY. I have a house there. We'll take a few days for you to recover your memories and take it from there. Sounds good? - I propose and she nods, trying to clean her bloody hands with napkins. - Come on. To the cockpit.