"What the hell was that?" Finn yelled in fury as he eyed his three Assets. "It was a simple command, to destroy the enemy. They are your enemy. So why the hell aren't they destroyed?!"
The Assets didn't speak, didn't move. They just stood there, staring at the ranting HYDRA boss without any emotion.
"Answer me!"
"Sir," a young man spoke up, head bowed as he took a step forward. "I think the wounds might be slowing them down, sir."
"Are you questioning my Assets, agent?" Finn threatened.
"No, sir. Not at all, sir. I'm just saying if they were to be properly cared for, sir, they might be able to accomplish more. Sir."
Finn looked back at his soldiers, eyeing the wounds and blood.
"Alright, get them to the infirmary. But no funny business! I'm watching you,"
The young agent bowed.
"Of course, sir."
"And stop saying sir, it's annoying the hell outta me,"
The agent bowed again.
"Of course, sir."
"Ulg, never mind."
With one last bow, the agent turned towards the assets to guide them out. The three prisoners followed without a word.
"Oh, and Agent?" Finn stopped them.
"Yes, sir?"
"I expect the Iron Soldier in the lab once he's done, got that?"
"Yes, sir."
--
"One hell of a Spidey-Sense you have, kid." Strange muttered to Peter after he'd checked on Wanda. Peter didn't need to look at him to know he was pissed. Peter couldn't help but wince at the name; it had been something he and Tony had thought of one day during training.
"My Spidey-Sense warns me for threats. They're not registered as a threat, they're my friends."
"Well, you better do register them a threat. Those people," he pointed at the door they'd disappeared through. "They are not your friends."
Peter looked down, fighting tears as reality sunk in. They were too late, his friends were gone.
Strange sighed at the defeated boy.
"I'm sorry, kid." he apologized. "I really am. But we can't go easy on them, because they won't go easy on us. They have one advantage: they're prepared to hurt us, where we're trying not to."
"But that's not fair..." Harley cut in. He'd been on the sidelines as the fight had taken place, but he had seen it all happen. "What happened to them, anyway? Tony would never... He would never hurt someone like that!"
"HYDRA happened to them," a new voice entered the conversation. They all turned around to see Wanda coming towards them, nursing the bruises on her neck. "We all met the Winter Soldier before, and he's nothing like Bucky. Now they have all three of them."
"But Mr. Stark isn't a super soldier." Peter pointed out. "I mean, don't get me wrong, he obviously has good moves," he added, holding his aching limbs. "but he doesn't have any superstrength or anything."
"Well, he can choke quite well," Wanda muttered, stroking her tender skin.
"That's because you hurt the girl, of whom he seems to be very protective," Strange argued.
"Michelle," Peter spoke through gritted teeth.
"What?"
"Her name is Michelle," Peter repeated, clenching his fists. Michelle wasn't just some 'girl', she was his girl.
"Right. Michelle," Strange repeated. After that silence fell between them. Peter took that time to look at everyone. Strange seemed deep in thought, his hands fiddling with his cloak. Harley seemed largely upset, but his fists were balled and his eyes hard. Peter didn't want to look at Wanda, at the bruises on her neck, so he moved to MJ's friends next.
Jason was nursing a sore shoulder, Skylar was limping slightly and Sam was helping her stand. It was in some way sweet to look at how comfortable and supportive they were to each other. It was just sad to see it in these circumstances.
"We have to do something," Harley broke the silence. "We can stand here, whining about losing. Or we can actually come up with a plan. Because they're getting stronger, and they won't stop until we're dead."
He let his words sink in, making sure he had everyone's attention before continuing.
"You saw what they did, and what they're capable of. And you saw the way they treated us, the way they reacted on us. Someone has control over them. It's strong, but not strong enough. Peter was able to break through. They care for each other, which I don't think is what HYDRA wants. Which means we can still win. We can get to them, we just have to be smart about it. We don't have to hurt them, we just need them to remember who they really are!"
The group was quiet after his little speech. Everyone seemed to think over his words. Slowly, Peter nodded his head.
"He's right," he told them, determination back in his voice. He looked around to the doubting faces of his friends. "We can save them. We're Earth's Mightiest Heroes, right?" He got a couple nods and yesses, which encouraged him to keep going. "Some of us have defeated aliens, gods, and robots. Some of us only some of those, and some of us nothing yet. But we've all fought our own battles in life, heck, some of us even died," he looked at Pietro briefly. "and we're all still here. Which means we won those battles, and we're still fighting. So what's to say we can't win this one?"
The responses were louder and more convinced than before, as people realized what he meant. But not everyone was convinced.
"That's all nice and well," Wanda spoke up. "But back then, Iron Man was fighting alongside us. And we were fighting enemies. Not friends."
"You're right," Harley spoke up again. "Which makes his battle exceedingly difficult. But not impossible. The odds have been against us before. But this situation is not going to solve itself. HYDRA's control will only grow the longer we wait. So I'm just saying that if we take them on now, we might still have a chance of winning."
Wanda was silent after that, and Peter took his chance to add his part.
"So I'm not going to ask you if you're with me, because you don't have to be. You can go home anytime you want, I'm sure Strange will transport you back. But just remember the reason we came here. Just remember how much those people have done for us, and what we actually have to pay them back. Mr. Stark helped all of us, in our own ways but also by giving you all a home without blinking or expecting anything in return. Even while some of you hated him." Wanda looked down in shame. "None of us here know Bucky really well," Peter wavered a bit. "But Cap, our friend, does. And he cares, Mr. Stark cares, and so do I. And MJ,"
Peter swallowed past the sudden lump in his throat.
"MJ is a good friend to many of us," Jason said, his friends agreeing. "None of you had to be here, and they didn't have to be locked up. But they are because they tried to save us, even if basically none of you know us."
"And we owe you and them for that." Sam joined in. "So I will not leave here without knowing that I've given it my everything."
"You go, girl," Skylar muttered, looking down at the smaller girl with a shocked but impressed expression. Sam raised her chin and straightened her clothes, trying to make herself look as tall as possible and still not reaching up above Skylar's shoulders.
"So," Stephen said. "What's the plan?"
Peter grinned as his heightened senses picked up a sound from outside.
"I think I might have an idea."
--
Well, wasn't that inspirational?
Next chapter ft. Team Cap
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The End Game | MCU FanFiction
Фанфик*set after the events that occurred up to Black Panther, but the Civil War has been changed* This takes place before Infinity War -- Michelle Jones has had a hard life. Being an orphan was never easy, of course. But her life had been good, up to a p...
