The Other Stark

Chapter 21

"Where to?" Steve shouted to Tony, out of breath. It turned out they had a lot more than only twenty men to take down.

When they entered the palace, there were countless agents, and every corner they turned, there was a bunch more waiting with loaded guns, probably trying to retard the both of them, so whatever was happening downstairs wouldn't be interrupted.

"There should be stairs on your right," Stark answered as his helmet opened to show his face, knocking down the last two men that still stood to fight.

"F.R.I.D.A.Y what's happening down there?"

They walked to the door where Bucky had broken the lock, looking at each other as they stepped inside the tunnels, the sound of multiple gunshots clearly been heard.

"I suggest the both of you activate your masks again. The gases are been released and I still need 5 minutes to deactivate the weapon," the AI reported

With that done, Tony and Steve ran to the direction of the sounds. As they arrive at a round room full of other entrances that led to a dozen or more tunnels, both men looked around, the machine in the middle of the room was clearly working, a thin white gas coming out of it. Stark stared at the old computer set on the wall, thinking F.R.Y.D.A.Y was probably trying to hack into that. He looked around noticing the unconscious body laying next to that old junk, the sensors of his suit capturing movements where the light couldn't reach.

"Tory? Buck?" Rogers exclaimed, seeing two bodies on the floor. Before he could approach them, someone pulled a trigger, making Steve instantly lift his shield as a reflex, four bullets falling to the floor.

He looked around, and saw a shadow hiding behind one of the pillars, stepping closer with a defensive stance, Cap saw Rumlow with a pistol in hand.

"Thought..." the HYDRA thug was about to say, stepping into the light, but Tony just appeared behind him, hitting Brock's head hard on the wall, the man falling on the ground with no further words.

"Sorry, but we don't have time for your bullshit," Stark said, F.R.Y.D.A.Y. instantly scanning the bodies that were covered in blood. Rogers knelt down next to the woman's body, taking her cold hand in his, looking for her pulse. Bucky looked much better than she was, his chest slowly rising and falling as he breathed.

"T-Tony!? Is she..." Steve whispered as if just asking him to give the bad news already.

"S-she..." Stark stuttered, holding back tears. He kneeled next to Steve and took his sister in his arms, ready to take her to the quinjet as fast as he could.

"Steve, we need to go. Take Buck and Rumlow and meet me in the jet. I-I don't think she can stand much longer."

Steve nodded sadly as the billionaire flew to the exit. He looked around, breathing loudly, hand reaching the comm on his ear.

"Wanda and Sam, need you down here real quick. The rest of you just get back to the quinjet as fast as you can. We need to get back to New York."

...

No one questioned the desperate tone in Steve's voice, as they obeyed the orders without question. They knew something was wrong.

"The weapon is on the tunnels underneath the palace. We're taking Rumlow with us," Romanoff informed Sharon, as the woman ordered her agents around as they arrested all the HYDRA men that didn't run away.

"Where are you going? There's still a lot of things to do here," Sharon said rudely, as her attention went to something behind Nat.

"We need to go back to NY. Steve says it's urgent. Wanda cleared the atmosphere from the few gases that scaped. Few people were harmed, Stark's sending antidotes to the hospitals for anyone who appears with symptoms from poisoning, so there are not that many things to do," Natasha replied, looking over her shoulder to see what Sharon was staring at.

Steve and Sam carried Bucky out of the palace, as Wanda followed, using her powers to lift Rumlow. Nat instantly ignored the blond woman that started talking, running to her friends with concern, seeing Bucky bleeding out and unconscious, she instantly put her hands on the wound, trying to stop the bleeding.

"What the fuck happened?" Romanoff asked, all of them never slowing their pace to answer her. Sharon looked at them with an incredulous look on her face.

"Who knows! We'll know when one of them wake up," Steve answered her, wishing both of them would just get conscious again.

"What do you mean... One of them? Where's Tory?" Wanda asked, trying to control her impulse to just read his mind, know what was going on.

"In the jet. Bruce and Stark are doing what they can, but we need to get to NY and let Dr. Cho do her best," Rogers explained, the words almost not leaving his mouth. He didn't want to think the worst.

Sam, Nat, and Wanda looked at each other with scared eyes. What had they done for them to be like this?

Seen the quinjet on an open area in front of the Buckingham Palace, they tried walking faster, walking up the ramp, two voices coming to their ears.

"Tony, I can't do better than this! I'll try keeping her alive until we get back to New York, but she's beyond my capabilities!" Bruce reasoned. Tony stood there, looking at the woman that was all plugged in machines, wires and bloody bruises all over her body, as he finally cracked.

The rest of the group entered the jet and saw that their attention going to Tory's body, surprised sounds echoing inside the jet.

"My God... Is she... she's not..." Nat said, swallowing a hiccup, tears running down her face as she stared at her best friend's pale body, getting near.

"Steve, get him here please," Bruce breathed, leaving Tony who sat on a bench crying silently and giving attention to Bucky, cleaning his arm and putting an IV there.

"F.R.I.D.A.Y. inform Pepper of our current situation and ask Dr. Cho to meet us on the Tower," Clint ordered, lifting the ramp and starting the quinjet.

"Ms. Pots will be waiting for you on the hangar, as will Dr. Cho. She already has her lab ready for surgery and a team to take care of Sergeant Barnes," the AI talked back as they took off.

"Surgery?" Sam asked, helping Wanda to clean the cuts on her arms. Steve helped Nat to take off her suit, helping her take care of the bunch of wounds around her body, the mission to keep himself occupied working. Meanwhile, Bruce took the bullets from Barnes' arm, checking Tory from time to time.

"Yes. I sent her the scans I took from Ms. Stark and Sergeant Barnes, and she's preparing her team for everything that needs to be done."

Tony looked up, cleaning his face from all the tears. Everybody on the jet was trying to keep their selves busy, helping each other out through the flight, wishing for everything to be okay.

"Why was Helen on the Tower? She was meant to be back in Korea," Tony questioned, getting up from the place he sat, pain on his ribs and arm making him hiss, as he walked to the table that his sister was laying.

"Ms. Stark asked her to head to the Tower as we left."

"We land in 30," Barton said from the pilot's seat.

Nat sat beside Steve, her arm that wasn't broken going up and down his back, trying to comfort him. He stared at both tables in front of them, his head in his hand as he breathed heavily.

"Wanna talk about it?" she asked cautiously, not sure if talking was the best option. He just shook his head no, still hiding on his hands.

She took a deep breath and got up, heading for the copilot's seat, needing to do something rather than stare at a tearful Steve or a miserable Tony.