Chương 53: Chapter 52: Raid on compound
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Argus base
Afternoon
Tony groaned as he came to. Blinking, he sat up as he realized that he was in some sort of cell. The door to the cell opened and a dark haired woman walked in.
"Mr. Stark," she greeted him formally as she walked in, the cell door closing behind her.
"Where am I? Who are you? What's going on?" Tony demanded trying to gather his thoughts.
"In order, you are in a cell that used to belong to a man called Floyd Lawton. My name is Lyla Michaels, director of an organization called Argus. You are here because you have a tendency to put innocent people in danger and bring chaos wherever you go," Lyla said bluntly and Tony looked away, knowing she had a point but wondering how she knew that. "You reached out to your former teammates for help. None of them trust you anymore. Bringing you here was the middle ground."
The cell door opened again and Tony looked up, surprised to see Steve standing on the other side.
"He's all yours. Guards will be stationed outside the door in case there's any problem," Lyla told Steve as he entered.
Steve nodded as Lyla walked out, the door sliding closed behind her. It was silent for a moment, as the two former teammates, who had imagined this moment for months, realized they didn't know how to start the conversation.
"Hey Cap," Tony said awkwardly and winced, knowing that was not how this conversation needed to start.
"Tony," Steve greeted calmly.
"So, what is this exactly?" Tony asked.
"None of the others trust you anymore. Not sure I do either. This was the only way we were comfortable that you wouldn't try anything, wasn't my idea. What happened Tony?" Steve asked and Tony sighed.
Tony sat down on the bed in the cell and it was then that Steve noticed just how tired Tony looked. Not just physically, but mentally as well.
"Pepper, she's dead," Tony said and Steve was stunned into silence for several moments.
"I'm sorry Tony," Steve said, knowing it wouldn't be enough and Tony nodded. "How?"
"She and Happy were on their way home from work and someone attacked them. This guy, I don't know Cap. He operates like Shield and uses weapons like Hydra. I wasn't able to find any usable footage to determine his identity. I know, you guys, you don't owe me anything. But I need your help Cap."
Star Labs
Later in the afternoon
"Is it me or are they all…tense," Wally whispered to Caitlin and Wally as they eyed The Avengers.
Indeed, all three of them had noticed something off with their friends. Barry had been extremely hard on Wally in training and he'd been short with all of them all day. Clint had been tersely managing his arrows and Sam and Natasha had had one of the most intense training sessions any of them had ever seen. And Cisco wasn't sure, but he thought he might have heard Wanda destroy something with her powers earlier but was too afraid to ask.
"Yeah, and you're boyfriend took off earlier," Wally said, directing this to Caitlin.
"He's not my boyfriend," Caitlin flushed and they both gave her incredulous looks.
"Well, your not boyfriend went somewhere after Lyla showed up, said something about a precaution. And they all had this big meeting I wasn't allowed in, looked serious," Wally mentioned as Caitlin and Cisco exchanged concerned glances.
They all heard footsteps and everyone looked up from what they were doing as Steve walked in. But while Caitlin and Wally didn't recognize the man with him, everyone else sure did.
"W-what's he doing here?!" Cisco exclaimed as he pointed at Tony accusingly, his Vibe coming back to him.
"Exactly what we'd like to know," Sam said as he glared at Tony.
Before Tony could open his mouth, his head whipped to the ide and he had a metallic taste in his mouth. He spat out some blood and turned his head towards Clint, who had punched him.
"Clint," Steve said, giving him a look that said 'I understand but listen'.
"Let's hear him out," Barry said, giving Tony a guarded look as Wanda crossed her arms, glaring at Tony.
Which caused Tony to get a good look at her.
"Hey, you're…" Tony trailed off as he stared at her swollen stomach.
"Pregnant, yes," Wanda said stiffly.
"You kept a pregnant woman locked up. Feel proud of yourself Stark?" Clint sneered.
"Enough. You need to hear what he has to say," Steve said as he looked over at Tony. "Tell them what you told me."
Avengers Compound, Earth-66
Night
The blond haired man jumped down from the ceiling, beginning to make his way towards the med bay. As he rounded the corner, he ran into a doctor. Before she could even react, the man pulled out a pistol and fired. The doctor dropped dead, blood pouring out from the wound in her head, and the man entered the med bay. He walked over to a bed before a voice spoke up behind him.
"Why are you here?" the man turned around to face Vision. "You have infiltrated my home and killed a member of the staff. Why?"
"I'm afraid I can't answer that. But you'll find out soon enough," the man said.
"I'm afraid I can't allow you to leave," Vision told him.
The man simply smirked before he dropped a ball on the floor. It rolled over to Vision and flashed. Vision looked around, surprised to find himself in some sort of force field.
"This will not hold me," Vision told him.
"I know. But by the time you escape, I'll be long gone," the man said confidently.
The man reached for his belt and pulled out what looked like a disk the size of a tennis ball. He threw it passed Vision and out into the hall. Rhodey was hit in the leg, specifically his mechanical brace. The brace broke in two and Rhodey, no longer able to stand, went down as the disk flew back to the man's waiting hand. He caught it and put it back on his belt.
"Tell Tony Stark and Steve Rogers what I did here today. Tell them that Savitar will walk among them soon," the man said.
Star Labs, Earth-1
Not long after
Everyone was silent as they all processed what Tony had told them.
"I'm sorry for your loss. Pepper, she was a good woman," Barry said, having come to greatly like Pepper in his brief time undercover at Stark Industries.
Tony nodded turning away as he put a hand on his face. No one said anything, giving him time. Even Clint found himself sympathetic to Tony in this moment.
"Look, this guy, he operatives like Shield and uses weapons like Hydra," Tony said as he turned around to face him. "As much as I don't want to say it, I can't take him on alone with just Vision. I need your help."
"Last time you needed their help, Barry was on the ground being electrocuted while you tried to kill Steve and Barnes," Cisco pipped up.
Natasha crossed her arms, giving Tony a guarded look as Barry took Wanda's hands, mostly so Wanda wouldn't attack Tony. Cisco knew he was being a little dickish, but all he could see was his Vibe of Savitar killing Wanda. The faster he got Tony off this earth, the better a chance he had of preventing that future.
"Guys," Steve said and they all looked at him. "Mistakes were made on both sides. I'm not saying Tony's innocent, but neither are we. Whatever our personal issues with each other, Pepper was murdered. We owe it to her to find her killer and bring him to justice."
As everyone looked at each other uncertainly, there was a beeping sound. Everyone looked confused until Steve pulled out his inter-dimensional extrapolator.
"Rhodey?" Steve said as he answered it.
"Cap, we have a problem, a major problem," Rhodey said and everyone could tell from the sound of his voice that it was bad.
"What happened?" Steve demanded.
"The guy who killed Pepper, he broke into The Compound," Rhodey said and The Avengers all started. "Vision and I are fine, but he said to tell you and Tony what he did. And to tell you that Savitar would walk among you soon."
"Savitar? You're sure he said Savitar, absolutely sure?" Barry asked as everyone but Tony looked stunned and horrified at the news.
"Yeah. Why, who's Savitar?" Rhodey asked.
"Oh, just an evil speedster from the future who wants to kill us," Clint said sarcastically.
"What?" Tony said stunned and confused.
"We'll fill you in later. Rhodey, what did he do?" Steve demanded.
"He killed one of the doctors and made off with someone. You might want to be sitting down," Rhodey advised.
"Rhodey, who did he take?" Natasha asked.
Unspecified location, Earth-66
Not long after
"You've been asleep for a long time," the blond man said as he picked up a syringe filled with a green liquid. "But it's time for you to wake up."
The man walked over to Pietro, who was asleep on a medical table. The man put the needle in Pietro's heart and injected the liquid into him. Pietro's eyes snapped opened and he cried out as the man yanked the needle out.
"Welcome back Pietro," the man said as Pietro breathed heavily, his body recovering as he shook off the effects of his coma. "You've missed a lot while you've been asleep. Let me catch you up."
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