The Mimic (HE/HIM VERSION)

77

"If Zemo wanted to take the Avengers down, he wouldn't have moved y/n too far away. So we need to start on surveying the city. There's going to be sightings of him, there has to be. He's still in his outfit from the party last night, people will recognise him." Bruce commanded, pulling up a detailed map of the city. There were an overwhelming number of buildings to search, but it was worth it. They had to get y/n back. Bruce begun to highlight buildings without cameras, and any cameras that faced the streets. Everyone wanted y/n back as soon as possible, but at the moment it didn't seem to be looking good. Y/n could be anywhere, and she might not even be in the city.

Bucky was sat on the edge of one of the tables, a look of complete focus on his face. He was trying to fix y/n's broken necklace. His tongue stuck out slightly as he worked on the small thing. It was tiny in his hands - far too fiddly - but he tried his best anyway. He had a jewellery kit from Natasha's room beside him, trying to figure out what tool to use. Nat had broken a lot of jewellery during missions, so she always kept the kit nearby. Steve had tasked Bucky to fix y/n's necklace, just wanting to keep him occupied for a while. His best friend was so stressed, and rightly so, but his anger and stress wasn't going to get y/n back any faster.

"You understand how many buildings that is, right?" Tony asked with raised eyebrows, crossing his arms over his chest as he listened to Bruce. There was no way they could search all of those buildings in time. Plus, the public would start getting suspicious. Sam shrugged, staring at the map. "I could send redwing in." He offered, earning a few nods of agreement from the team. Redwing would definitely make the whole process a lot easier.

However, the sound of sniffling and shuffling feet quickly hushed the whole room into silence. They all turned toward the doorway, a tense look on their faces. They weren't expecting anyone, so who was it? Steve slowly picked up his shield, taking careful steps toward the open door, ready to fight whoever it was. Wanda formed an orb of energy in her palm as she stepped forward to follow Steve, but Vision held her back. He didn't want to see her get hurt. Tony quickly pulled the hand part of his suit on, holding his hand out as he prepared to fire at whoever it was. But, as the person turned the corner, looks of tension shifted into looks of concern.

"Peter?!"

Peter looked terrible. He knew y/n had definitely left marks, but he didn't know how bad it really was. The darkness of the warehouse and the lack of a mirror wasn't really helpful. The cut on his cheek was still bleeding pretty heavily, causing blood to drip down onto his dirt and dust-covered suit. He had a pretty mean gash on the back of his head from the many times that he was slammed against pillars, but he hadn't noticed that yet. The red handprint across his neck was obvious, sticking out to the rest of the team despite the rest of the damage to the poor kid. Peter clutched his side tightly as he stumbled into the missions room, barely able to walk straight. The whole room was spinning around him, he wasn't even sure how he arrived at the compound, but he was determined to warn the team about y/n. Peter took in a shallow breath, pointing toward Tony in attempt to get his attention. Not realising that the whole team was already watching him. "That... That is not y/n." He mumbled, slurring slightly with his words due to all the blood loss.

As Peter stumbled further into the room, he touched the back of his head, raising his eyebrows slightly as his hand came back covered in blood. "Oh... That's fun." He murmured, beginning to pass out at the sight of the blood. Steve quickly lurched forward, catching the kid before he could hit the ground. "We've got you, bud." He murmured, holding Peter up as Wanda and Nat quickly cleared a table.

The whole team were shocked at the sight of Peter, watching as he was sat down on the cleared table. Bruce rushed off with Vision to get some medical kits and equipment from the lab, eyes widening at the sight of the trail of blood Peter had made in the hallway. If it wasn't Peter, Pepper would've gone crazy at the sight of blood across the white floors.

Tony cupped Peter's face in his hands, a look of pure concern and worry on his face. "Keep those eyes open, Pete." He said seriously, trying not to touch the gash on his cheek. This was exactly why he didn't want Peter to get involved. Steve had a hand on Peter's chest and one on his back, keeping him upright whilst he sat on the table. "I'm not feeling too hot..." Peter murmured with a frown, blinking slowly as he tried to stay awake. Tony nodded, glancing at the doorway to see if Bruce and Vision had arrived yet. "I need you to focus for me, kid. Can you do that?" He asked, trying to keep Peter's attention whilst Bruce tried to locate the gash on the back of his head. "What do you mean by 'that wasn't y/n'? Did you see him?" Tony asked, hushing the kid when he hissed at the feeling of Bruce cleaning the gash. "I- Ow. I saw him, yeah. But it wasn't him. He tried to kill me. He was like a robot." Peter murmured, the horrible sting of the wipes seeming to wake him up a little. Tony's eyes widened, sharing a surprised look with Steve. "Y/n did this to you?" Tony asked, letting go of Peter's face so Vision could work on the cut on his cheek. Peter nodded, flinching as Vision begun to clean the cut. Steve scanned around the room, everyone seeming as shocked as they were, but, the sight of Bucky caught his attention more than anything else. He'd frozen, staring at Peter with terrified eyes. "You okay, Buck?"

Bucky didn't respond, just staring at the handprint on Peter's neck in horror. He knew exactly what had happened. He'd seen that burnt handprint thousands of times during his time in Hydra. "He has his code words." He said, finally speaking up. "He's brainwashed him again. He's doing all of his dirty work." Bucky explained, standing up from where he was sat. Memories of his and y/n's time in Hydra flooded back into his head, all the terrifying sights they saw, all the endless times of mind wiping and brainwashing, it was hell. And to think that y/n had been taken back to that state was horrible. He didn't deserve that. He didn't deserve to be used a weapon. He was supposed to be free.

Steve frowned at the mention of Zemo having y/n's code words. That man was ruthless. He kidnapped him for the sole purpose of using him as a weapon. If Peter didn't make his way to the compound, he could've easily bled out. What did that mean for the rest of the team? Who was Zemo planning to strike next? "What do we do next, then?" He asked in a nervous tone. The whole team now listening to Bucky. They all knew what he was going to say, but nobody wanted to think about it.

"We fight y/n."