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“Thirty-six hours… fucking Ross.” Tony muttered as he went back into the room where Natasha and Rhodey were waiting.
“So what’s the plan?” Natasha asks, and Tony bites back the urge to bristle or snap at her. The manipulations were painfully obvious in hindsight, but at least he was aware of them now. Of course, he still didn’t really have a good solution for what to do with her, so for now he was following the ‘enemies closer’ doctrine. He didn’t believe for a second that she sincerely supported the Accords- she had pretty much said herself she supported them because they were an inevitability, not because she agreed with them. Honestly, he was halfway hoping she would betray him now so that he could finally be rid of her.
“I mean, it’s pretty obvious.” Rhodey said. “We try and talk Rogers down, get him to come in peacefully. But if he doesn’t, the three of us can take him, Barnes, and Wilson.”
“It’s not that simple though.” Tony said frustratedly. “Yeah, you or I could just blow them up, but at that point we might as well let Ross have at them. None of us are good at taking people alive. I could outfit Iron Man or War Machine with tranqs, but that would take at least three days. I’ve got a sonic taser, but if I’m close enough to use it, I’m close enough to get punched by a super soldier, plus the armor isn’t exactly built for using a handheld weapon the size of a pen. And Nat, you’re good, but I don’t like your chances against two super-soldiers at once. Especially if you’re unwilling to kill and they are.”
“Steve would never.” Natasha said confidently.
“You know, a few days ago, I would have agreed.” Rhodey said disdainfully. “But a few days ago, I also would have said that Rogers would never have tossed a police officer into oncoming traffic to steal his car, but there’s a corpse in Romania that would beg to differ. And even if Steve wouldn’t kill you, Barnes blew up a bridge to cover his escape during rush hour. What’s one more kill after the dozens he’s already made since he supposedly broke his programming?”
Natasha looked somewhat uncomfortable with Rhodey’s blunt assessment, but Tony knew better than to try and figure out if that was sincere, faked, or sincere but allowed to show because it serves her goals. “So what do we do then? Anybody have backup they can call?” she asked.
“I suppose.” Rhodey said uncertainly. “You could call up Clint, I know Tony made him some taser arrows that could take down super soldiers. Tony could get Vision? And I could try and find the Panther guy?”
Tony hummed consideringly. “Getting backup is a good plan, but maybe not them. Panther guy didn’t blow the bridge, but he sure as hell wasn’t de-escalating the situation. I’m pretty sure he wants to kill Barnes, which brings us back to ‘might as well let Ross have them.’ Vision said he didn’t want to be called for anything less than the end of the world when he left after Maximoff died, which is fair, even if it puts us in a bit of a bind. And Clint’s got his family to think of. I guess you can call and give him an update and an offer, since he’s your friend more than anyone else, but I’d feel bad pulling him out of retirement for anything other than invasion part two.”
“Do you have any other backup, then?” Natasha asked.
“You know, I just might.” Tony said thoughtfully. “You go talk to Clint, I’ll call my guy. Rhodey can just sit here and look pretty, I need some pretty after talking to Ross.” Rhodey and Natasha both rolled their eyes, but did as he said. Tony pulled his phone out and scrolled down in his contacts to ‘Toby R.’
“Tobias! How’s it going, man?” Tony asked, with his added dramatics hopefully emphasizing that Tony called the other man by his ‘people name’ rather than some variation of ‘Agent 47’ or ‘Ted Mendez.’ Ideally, that would clue 47 in to the fact that someone else was listening in.
“Tony. I’m a little busy at the moment.” 47 replied, and that indicated to Tony that 47 wasn’t alone either, since he never used his first name, but calling a Tony was much less conspicuous than calling a Mr Stark.
“Of course, when aren’t you? Listen, how soon can you get to Germany? We could use an extra pair of hands catching Rogers without blowing him to hell or putting a bullet in his head, and you’re good at non-lethal, right?”
There was a pause on the other end of the line. “I’m sorry, are you talking about Steve? As in, your teammate Steve? What’s going on?”
“Have you not been seeing any news from the past week?” Tony asked incredulously.
“Correct.” 47 said.
“Oh, okay. Well lemme catch you up. It all started when Rogers, Romanoff, and Wilson went on an unsanctioned mission to Nigeria that ended with a suicide bomber trying to take Rogers out with him. Rogers threw him out a window and he landed in a crowded marketplace. And that bomb was a big boy, so there were about 80 dead. Nobody’s happy about that, so the powers that be decide that since public opinion is currently that the enhanced are scary and out of control, it’s a good time to unveil the Sokovia Accords, which basically establishes a legal framework for superheroes to work within and creates an oversight committee that superheroes answer to so that they aren’t operating with no checks to their power. They’re not perfect; they’ve got some real assholes involved with them, in fact, but people can be replaced and laws can be amended.”
“If you need me to accelerate the replacement process let me know.”
Tony chuckled. “No, we shouldn’t- well, maybe Ross- no. We really shouldn’t. But anyways. Rogers is hiding away because Hill would bend him over her knee if he set one toe out of line before PR was done with damage control, but then Bucky Barnes, AKA the Winter Soldier, AKA Steve’s bestest friend from back in the day, blows up a UN meeting in Vienna. Interpol had been keeping an eye on Barnes where he was holed up in Bucharest, but he hadn’t caused any trouble so Interpol basically decided to let him be rather than risk starting a fire fight in the middle of a dense urban area.”
“Hold on. I’m familiar with his work. How did you know Vienna was him?”
“He was caught on camera. So anyways, Rogers-”
“No, wait. That’s highly unlike him. And how did he get from Vienna to Bucharest so fast? Something’s off.”
Tony paused and mulled it over. “That’s a good point. Hold on a sec.” He put his phone down. “Hey Rhodey, think you can look into how Barnes got from Vienna to Bucharest so quickly? He would have needed a quinjet or something. And FRIDAY, can you check the security footage that supposedly puts Barnes in Vienna.” Rhodey nodded, frowned, and left to make calls of his own, while FRIDAY flashed a thumbs-up emoji on his phone in acknowledgement. “Alright, I’m checking out the weird bits of Vienna, but Vienna and Lagos are really just the context for Bucharest.”
“Let’s hear it.”
“So the cops go to arrest Barnes, but Rogers got to him first, so the two of them fight their way through the cops, and then go on a chase through the city that ends with Barnes blowing up an overpass to try and get away from the cops chasing him, and also an African prince in a cat suit. Don’t even get me started on that guy. But anyways, they’ve killed a bunch of people and caused hundreds of millions of dollars worth of damages, so not even Cap’s reputation can keep him and his buddies from getting arrested. They get brought to Berlin, refuse a deal to sign the Accords, break out, and are currently on the run. But we’ve got a trap laid out for them, a quinjet at Leipzig-Halle airport. But right now, it’s just me, War Machine, Black Widow, and maaaaaybe Hawkeye. I know this isn’t your usual schtick, but you’re good at non-lethal, and my only other idea is bringing in this teenager running around Queens in his PJs, and I think it’s pretty obvious why that is Plan Z. So, you in?”
“I’ll be there in a few hours. I just need to finish here. Text me the details.”
—
The man Tony called as backup didn’t make much of an impression on Rhodey when he first walked into the conference room. He was bald, in a business suit with a blood-red tie, and carrying a briefcase. At first, Rhodey thought the most interesting thing about him were his icy blue eyes. But then he noticed how Natasha had tensed up next to him, going from her ‘we’re all friends here’ posture to her ‘I can kill a man seven ways with my bare hands’ posture. The backup noticed it too, if the tiny twitch of a smirk on his face was any indication.
“Great, now that we’re all here, we can start!” Tony said, either oblivious to the change in Natasha or pretending to be. Rhodey would bet on the latter.
“Hold on Tony, aren’t you going to introduce us to your friend?” Natasha said, and Rhodey had to admit he was impressed by how steady her voice was.
“I can introduce myself.” the backup said as he sat down at the conference table and set his briefcase on the floor next to him. “My name is Tobias Rieper. I am an independent security contractor and analyst. I specialize in identifying exploitable holes in the security set-ups of people or buildings, but I am also more than capable with hand-to-hand combat and firearms.”
Natasha narrowed her eyes. “And what do you do with the security holes once you’ve identified them?”
“I make sure the right people become aware.”
That was an odd way of phrasing it, Rhodey thought. Almost like… “You’re an assassin.” Natasha accused, hand going down to the most obvious gun on her hip.
“So are you.” Rieper said blandly. “Shall we move past the posturing and solve your problem now?”
“It’s not posturing to ask why the hell we should trust you, especially with a sensitive, non-lethal mission. How did you even find him, Tony?”
“Well, after the data dump, I pulled out a lot of burned SHIELD agents, and some of them decided they’d rather stick with SI than go back into espionage. One of those agents was owed a favor by Mr Rieper, and passed that debt on to me as thanks for saving him and his family.” Tony said breezily. Rhodey was pretty sure Tony was lying, and the frown on her face said Natasha thought the same, but neither of them had any way to call him out on it.
“That doesn’t tell me why we should trust him.” Natasha said. “People betray each other all the time in this game.”
“He’s done work for us before.” Tony said, and Rhodey’s eyes widened. He really should not be hearing this. “Remember when we found those documents in that HYDRA bunker connecting that one guy to HYDRA? The ambassador’s daughter? Who we reported to the authorities and who got off scot-free because of diplomatic immunity?”
“Jergenson? The one who drowned?” Rhodey asked, remembering the incident.
“I told Toby here to make sure no one else got hurt. And he did. As far as anyone outside of this room knows, Rachel Jergenson made the very unwise decision to go swimming at night while under the influence of drugs, and tragically drowned. He can accomplish objectives without blowing up buildings or turning things into a firefight, which honestly is more than I can say for Rogers at this point.” Tony said, and great, Rhodey was now definitely complicit in a crime.
“Alright, look.” Rhodey said, pinching the bridge of his nose. “We need help to catch our super-terrorists, and Tony’s assassin is help. I can justify frying the bigger fish first, but the second the fighting’s done, you should probably get gone or else I’m in a Difficult Position, you get me?”
“Understood, Colonel.” the assassin said. “Shall we move on to the actual planning now?”
—
Clint frowned as he and Sam made their way through the crowded airport towards the private terminals where the quinjet should be. This whole situation was bullshit. First he gets called away from vacation with his family to save the world from HYDRA assassins. Fine, that sucks, but he’s a hero, and the water skis will still be there when he gets back. Then it turns out that there’s a decent chance he’ll also be fighting Stark, Rhodes, and Nat, and Steve seriously should have mentioned that before Clint got on the plane, because yeah, maybe he would take a swing at Tony Stark, but Iron Man is an ally despite its pilot’s sins. And he certainly doesn’t want to get into a fight with Nat or Rhodes, and not just because he doesn’t like his chances. And now they’re going through a crowd of civilians and there are too many security guards. Just regular airport security, but still not good. He told them this smelled like a trap.
And now one of them was directly approaching them, a big bald guy. Well, the bigger they come, the harder they fall. An announcement started in German just as guard came up to them. “Mr Wilson? Mr Barton? You need to come with me.” the guard said in unaccented English. At the same time, the intercom announcement repeated in English, announcing that the East Wing terminals, including private terminals, were currently frozen due to a potential security threat and asking all passengers to calmly move to the central hall or the West Wing.
“But sir, that announcement just said we need to evacuate here.” Sam tried as the message repeated in a language that Clint vaguely recognized as Chinese.
“Very cute, Mr Wilson. You are the potential security threat. Now please, come with me. If you choose to start a fight here, any bystanders who get hurt are on you.” the guard said.
He wasn’t entirely wrong, Clint thought, although choosing to confront them during the evacuation was his choice. Or his boss’s, whatever. Still, that just meant they had to stall. “Listen man, I don’t know what they told you, but we’re the Avengers. We save the world. And this is important, we don’t have time for this right now. Can’t we sort out any legal issues after everyone is safe?”
“What threat is it this time?” the guard asked, voice flat. Clint had no idea if he was skeptical, or just trying to hide his fear, but the crowd was noticeably thinner already, so he kept pushing on.
“Brainwashed HYDRA super-assassins. I realize that doesn’t sound as simple as ‘alien invasion’ or ‘evil robot’ but it’s the truth. A rogue actor has gotten the codes to activate them, and we don’t know what his goals are, but he’s already killed multiple people to reach them, and you don’t use assassins to solve world hunger. So please, just stand down.” Clint said.
The guard smiled as the rest of the guards began moving towards them, and Clint cursed internally. They knew he was stalling, and played along because they didn’t want civilian casualties either. But now they could press their overwhelming numbers without anyone in the way. “Helmut Zemo was arrested by Russian authorities in Novosibirsk twenty minutes ago. UN peacekeepers are assembling to raid the bunker with the Winter Soldiers. You have no reason to fight other than to resist arrest. So once more: please come with us.”
Clint sighed and held out his hands to be cuffed. “Clint! The plan!” Sam exclaimed.
“The plan was to stop Zemo. Sounds to me like Zemo’s already been thoroughly stopped. And frankly, I don’t want to fight twenty airport guards just doing their jobs. Even if we could somehow take them, it sounds like they’ve been coordinating with Stark, which means that the final boss is probably Iron Man or War Machine, and that’s a fight we can’t win. So just stand down, and let’s do what I always tell my kids and solve this with our words.”
—
The moment Steve heard the announcement that played even in the parking garage, he knew the jig was up. The plan was for Sam, Clint, and the shrinking guy (Scott! That was his name) to sneak through and get the quinjet ready, since they were much less recognizable than Captain America and the fugitive with the metal arm. Once the quinjet was ready for takeoff, they’d let them know and him and Bucky would make a break for it. But clearly that wasn’t happening. Time for plan B.
The two of them were unopposed as they sprinted across the asphalt towards the hanger where Scott’s hacking had located the quinjet as being stored. That seemed a little odd to Steve, but who was he to look a gift horse in the mouth?
There was nobody in the quinjet’s hanger, either. Presumably the others had gotten caught on the way, which must be why they evacuated. But it was definitely weird that there were no guards or mechanics or even a janitor. Well, it didn’t matter. “Power on, authorization Steve Rogers.” Steve ordered as he entered the cockpit. There was an angry electronic buzzing as the screen flashed the words “ACCESS REVOKED” and a winking Iron Man mask.
“Alright Steve, fun’s over. How about you and your buddy come on out with your hands above your heads?” Tony’s voiced boomed through the hanger. Steve sighed. Though he’d hoped otherwise, he’d always thought it would come to blows between him and Tony. For a while after New York, Steve had thought Tony had proved himself despite SHIELD’s analysis and his own impressions, but then Ultron tore all that to pieces. He stepped out of the jet, but ready to fight rather than surrender.
“Steve Rogers, James Barnes, you are under arrest. Put down your weapons, including that shield.” Rhodes ordered.
“I can’t do that, Rhodes. Bucky is innocent, and there are more Winter Soldiers out there.” Steve replied.
“We’re aware that Barnes was not responsible for Vienna, but he still needs to answer for Bucharest. As for the Winter Soldiers, Zemo has been arrested by the Russians and is going to be handed off to INTERPOL. The UN is getting ready to raid the bunker with the Winter Soldiers as we speak. You have no reason to keep fighting.” Rhodes said.
Steve hesitated. Surrender was so tempting. He could stop fighting. But that would mean trusting more acronyms like SHIELD. Could this INTERPOL thing really hold a man as devious as Zemo? Could the UN be trusted with the Winter Soldiers? And who’s to say they wouldn’t kill Bucky?
“I’m sorry Rhodes, but we need to see this through. We can talk once I’m sure the Winter Soldiers have been dealt with, but for now, Bucky and I need to go.”
The machine gun mounted on War Machine’s shoulder tilted down into a ready position, pointed as Bucky. “You’re being stupid, Rogers. We caaaaan’t…” Steve was confused by Rhodes trailing off mid-sentence, and Tony’s lack of reaction, as Natasha stepped out from behind them, holding a small device that looked like a bulky pen.
“That’ll buy us a few minutes, come on. Don’t make me regret this.” She said as she strode into the cockpit. “Power on, authorization Natasha Romanoff.”
There was a rumble as the jets powered on, before a massive explosion shook the plane and threw its passengers to the floor. Steve recovered first and looked out the cockpit to see the jets and wings of the plane were a flaming wreckage on the ground. “Well, shit.” Bucky said as he stood up and saw the same thing Steve did.
“Yup.” Natasha said as she stood up, leaning against the wall to take the weight off one of her ankles which was a little twisted from the fall. “I thought I’d convinced them that revoking your access was enough to disable the jet. But I guess Tony didn’t trust me as much as I thought he did. In fact… damn, he set this whole thing up to give me the perfect opportunity to betray him. Fury himself couldn’t do better.” she said bitterly.
“What now?” Steve asked.
Natasha shrugged. “I don’t know about you, but I’m surrendering. Tony might go easy since I fell into his trap, but if Rhodes wasn’t in on it, he’ll kill me for betraying Tony with the same weapon Stane did if I give him half an excuse.”
Bucky stared at her for a couple seconds before giving a sharp nod and getting on his knees with his hands behind his head. “Natalia was always a clever one. Maybe not clever enough, but she knows the enemy. I will surrender too.”
Steve was at a loss for what to do. He’d been thoroughly outplayed. He had faith that things would right themselves in time, but for now, he could only see one option. Slowly, he got on his knees and put down his shield.