IT FELT LIKE he was there before, like déjà vu. Only a single light from the ceiling shined on him as he examined the room with narrow eyes. He felt the same feeling of the unknown from when he first woke up and was questioned by Nick Fury years ago. He half-expected the same scenario to play out again, but nobody came into the room. Instead, a voice spoke from within the shadows in front of him.
"Don't be alarmed."
The voice sounded feminine and had a thick Russian accent. The only woman he knew with similar speech was Natasha, but he knew it wasn't her.
Natasha...where was she?
"What is this? Where am I?" Y/N asked.
He could see a faint silhouette sitting down within the shadows in front of him. The voice spoke again.
"Do you know how you got here?"
Y/N tried to think back, but it was all fuzzy.
"I want to know what you remember." She added.
"Why?" Y/N asked.
There wasn't a response, the silence giving him an uncomfortable feeling as he tried to think back.
"Uh...I...uh..."
"I'll help." She said. "Do you remember Sokovia?"
The mention of the name immediately brought back a memory of that time.
Strucker.
The Scepter.
The twins.
"Yeah. Yeah, I do." He answered.
He could see the silhouette nodding her head and jotting information down on a notepad. She spoke again.
"Then let's start with that, shall we?"
• • •
THE VEHICLE RACED through the snow. Black Widow manned the truck with Freedom Fighter beside her and Hawkeye rode in the truck bed, shooting from his bow at any enemies he could see.
An truck with HYDRA soldiers rolled up beside them, but luckily Thor landed on their hood, striking their engine and stalling the vehicle. He continued on towards a watch tower to take care of that too.
Hulk was nearby running through the trees, taking down as many soldiers as he could. He pummeled two HYDRA soldiers and threw them into the snow before letting out a roar.
Captain America traversed through the forest on his motorcycle. He threw his shield and struck several soldiers before bouncing back to him. He placed it back in front of his bike.
Iron Man flew above the trees, charging his repulsor and shooting at at the vehicles and groups of enemies.
A jeep with HYDRA soldiers rolled up beside Natasha's truck again. This time Y/N leaped out of the passenger's side and onto the back of their jeep.
An enemy raised his rifle to shoot but Freedom Fighter quickly disarmed him and hit him across the face with it before kicking him off the jeep. The second grabbed him from behind, but was headbutted by Y/N and elbowed right after. He grabbed the HYDRA goon by the collar and threw him off as well.
The soldier in the passenger's seat fumbled to get his gun, but Y/N took out his batons and struck him in the face. He grabbed his head and hit it against the dashboard, knocking him out.
The driver was still manning the vehicle, oblivious of the fact that his colleagues were just dealt with. Y/N electrocuted him with the tip of his baton, a feature the one and only Tony Stark added to his arsenal. The soldier went limp and Y/N leaped out of the car before it crashed into a tree.
Freedom Fighter used his batons to grapple on a tree branch and he swung towards Natasha's truck, which was luckily nearby. He landed in the back with Clint, who continued to load his bow with arrows.
"You are insane." Clint remarked.
"What? Can't do that anymore, old man?" Y/N jested. "Knees buckling?"
Clint scoffed. "That's ironic."
They were getting close to a barricade and the three took notice.
"Time to abandon ship!" Natasha exclaimed.
She made a sharp turn, causing the truck to slide and giving them momentum to jump off. Steve, who was right behind, made it over the barricade with his motorbike. Tony and Thor glided by and Hulk let out a roar as he stormed through.
Tony soared through the forest, shooting at agents ahead of him. He located the fortress and flew towards it, but suddenly collided with the invisible force field surrounding it.
"SHIT!" Tony exclaimed.
Steve, along with the rest of the Avengers, heard his curse.
"Language!" Steve scolded through his comms. He started speaking to JARVIS. "What's the view from upstairs?"
"The central building is protected by some kind of energy shield. Strucker's technology is far beyond any other HYDRA base we've taken."
An agent rushed Y/N and tried to attack, but Y/N dodged his swing and grabbed his arm before striking him in the head and back with his baton. He threw him aside after dealing with him.
"Loki's scepter must be here. Strucker couldn't mount this defense without it." Y/N spoke into the comms.
Thor was close by taking down HYDRA soldiers as well. He let Mjölnir strike an enemy before retrieving it.
"At long last." He joyfully replied.
Natasha grappled a soldier and kicked the other before bringing them both to the floor. She turned back around and shot another one with her gun.
"At long last is lasting a little long, boys." She spoke through her earpiece.
Clint went behind a tree to take cover. He equipped an explosive arrow and shot it at the bunker in front of him.
"Yeah. I think we lost the element of surprise." He replied.
Tony flew by a group of soldiers at the fortress and took them down with his repulsor blast.
"Wait a second. No one else is gonna deal with the fact that Cap just said Language?" Tony asked. "Forrest, does he let you swear?"
Y/N didn't reply as he threw a baton that struck two HYDRA agents in the face before retreating back into his hand.
"I know..." Steve spoke back as he spotted an enemy vehicle ahead. He front-flipped while holding the handle-bars of the bike and heaved it at the truck. It hit the front of vehicle and caused it to topple over.
He let out a sigh, "...just slipped out."
Clint peeked out of cover and shot at the bunker before quickly getting back behind the tree. After hearing no explosion, he peeked back out and shot another, but a blue streak dashed by and intercepted the arrow.
"What the...?"
Clint was then pushed back by the same blur. He fell on the floor and looked up at his attacker.
The young, white-haired man looked down at him. "You didn't see that coming?"
He dashed away and Clint got back up as he held his bow. He was confused but suddenly felt a burning pain in his side. He dropped to the floor again, barely realizing that he was shot by the bunker's laser cannon.
"Clint!" Natasha exclaimed as she ran over to him. She knelt beside him and was soon joined by Y/N.
"What happened?" The young man asked.
"Barton's been hit." She replied.
Steve spoke into his comms, having just encountered the blur as well.
"We have an enhanced on the field."
"Great." Y/N sarcastically muttered.
The laser cannon in the bunker still tried shooting at the heroes who were behind the tree.
Y/N spoke into his earpiece. "Need some assistance here, Hulk."
In no time, Hulk stormed in and ran towards the bunker. He crashed through it, easily taking down the guns and soldiers behind them.
"Thanks." Y/N reported back.
Two more HYDRA goons stumbled upon Natasha, Y/N, and Clint and raised their rifles. The young super-soldier took it upon himself and quickly engaged them, taking one down with a spinning kick that heaved him into a tree. The second goon was prepared to fire but Y/N pushed the nozzle away and caused him to misfire. He kneed him in the stomach before flipping him over, ultimately knocking him out with a stomp to the face.
Y/N exhaled as he walked back to his friends, Natasha still treating Clint as best as she could.
"Less than 10 seconds." Natasha remarked on how long it took for Y/N to take down the goons. "Thought it'd take longer."
"I only take my time with certain things."
"That being?"
"You should know."
Natasha glanced at him with a smirk before looking back at Clint's wound. The archer laid his head back and groaned not only because of the pain but from their exchange.
"For my sake, please get a room." He said. "Or just kill me already."
Tony suddenly spoke through the comms.
"The drawbridge is down people." He gleefully stated.
Steve spoke next. "Stark, we're going for the scepter. Thor, Y/N, escort Romanoff and Barton back to the jet. There's still stragglers in the area."
"On it, Captain." Y/N reported back.
"For gosh sake, watch your language." Tony joked.
Steve sighed, his comms now off. "That's not going away any time soon."
• • •
THE SCEPTER RESTED inside the case in front of them. Steve crossed his arms as Y/N stood beside Thor.
"Guys, I think it's speaking to me." Y/N joked. "It...it says Thor needs a haircut."
Thor chuckled. "Why, son of Steve, would I dare sheer off my golden mane?"
"You look like a surfer in a beach movie."
He raised a brow. "What is a beach movie?"
Natasha was speaking with Banner nearby, who was listening to opera music on his headphones in an attempt to calm himself after being the Hulk.
"Thor, report on the Hulk." She called out.
Thor turned to Romanoff as he pumped his fist. "The gates of Hel are filled with the screams of his victims."
Natasha gave a look to Thor, since it wasn't what she wanted to hear. Bruce buried his face into his hands as Steve looked down while Y/N sighed and scratched the back of his neck.
"But not the screams of the dead, of course. No, no, wounded screams." Thor tried to save face. "Mainly whimpering, a great deal of complaining and tales of sprained deltoids and gout."
Thor then turned back and faced the scepter, avoiding further conversation.
After Stark enabled auto-pilot on the Quinjet, he went over to the three Avengers and joined them by the scepter.
"Since when is Strucker capable of human enhancement?" Y/N asked.
"Banner and I will give it the once over before it goes back to Asgard." Tony looked over at Thor, "Is that cool with you? Just a few days till the farewell party."
The God of Thunder placed his hands on his waist as continued looking at the staff.
"You're staying, right?" Tony asked again.
"Yes, yes, of course. A victory should be honored with revels." Thor answered.
"Yeah, who doesn't love revels?" Tony remarked as he leaned on the table. He looked over at Rogers, "Captain?"
"Hopefully this puts an end to the Chitauri and HYDRA. So, yes, revels." Steve replied.
Tony looked over at Y/N. "And you, Forrest? I mean, your dad's coming so if you don't then I'm making him disown you."
Y/N laughed and gave a nod, "A celebration sounds nice. When?"
"In few days. May 2nd."
"Sounds good." The young man replied. "I'm expecting drinks...music...the whole nine yards since your hosting it."
"Of course." Tony stated as he pat Thor's shoulder. "With this guy attending, I have to make sure we're stocked."
The team made it back to what used to be Stark Tower but now remodeled and renamed to Avengers Tower. Each member left the jet with medical professionals escorting Barton out.
Maria Hill walked into the aircraft, the former S.H.I.E.L.D agent now working for Stark and the Avengers after what happened over a year ago in D.C.
"Lab's all set up, boss." She spoke.
Tony turned to her and pointed at Rogers and Y/N.
"Oh, actually, they're the boss. Like a co-Captain kind of thing. I just pay for everything and design everything and make everyone look cooler."
Steve got up from his seat and walked up to Hill. Y/N followed them out of the jet.
"What's the word on Strucker?" Steve asked her.
"NATO's got him."
"What about the two Enhanced?" Y/N asked.
Hill pulled out her tablet and showed them the information. "Wanda and Pietro Maximoff. Twins. Orphaned at 10 when a shell collapsed their apartment building."
Steve grabbed the tablet and scrolled through footage of the twins and more files.
"Their abilities?"
"He has increased metabolism and improved thermal homeostasis. Her thing is neuroelectric interfacing, telekinesis, mental manipulation..."
The three stopped by the elevator, and Steve expressed a look of confusion upon Maria's description.
"He's fast and she's weird." She simplified.
Steve nodded and handed Hill back the tablet. Y/N called the elevator.
"Well, they're gonna show up again." He stated.
"Agreed. File says they volunteered for Strucker's experiments. It's nuts."
The doors opened and the two super-soldiers entered while Maria stayed behind. Steve pressed their floor's button.
"Right. What kind of monster would let a German scientist experiment on them to protect their country?" Steve remarked.
"We're not at war, Captain." Maria replied.
"They are."
The elevator doors closed and the two started ascending. Y/N crossed his arms.
"The twins." He began, recalling his remark from moments ago. "That's how you think of them?"
Rogers felt sympathy for the two siblings. Their country had endured non-stop wars and he understands their stance on the current world and the Avengers.
"They found HYDRA as a way to get their message out, showcase what they felt." He answered. "And HYDRA exploited that, like they always do."
He nodded at his father's words, and the two continued on in silence as the elevator took them to their floor.
• • •
BARTON WAS BEING treated by Dr. Helen Cho. Y/N walked with Banner towards the room and ran into Tony.
"How's he doing?" Bruce asked.
"Unfortunately, he's still Barton."
"That's terrible." Y/N replied.
"He's fine. He's thirsty." Tony said as he went over to work with JARVIS.
Y/N walked into the room with Banner, seeing Natasha beside Barton who was laying on a table beneath a device. Helen Cho was operating it.
"Are you sure he's gonna be okay?" She asked her. "Pretending to need this guy really brings the team together."
"Oooh, burn." Y/N said and pointed at his injury. "Make that two now."
"Very funny." Clint scoffed.
"There's no possibility of deterioration." Cho replied as she typed into the device. "The nano-molecular functionality is instantaneous. His cells don't know they're binding with simulacra."
"She's creating tissue." Bruce said in his own awe.
"If you brought him to my lab the Regeneration Cradle could do this in 20 minutes." Cho said.
Tony walked into the room with drinks. "Oh, he's flatlining. Call it. Time?"
"No, no, no. I'm gonna live forever." Clint laughed. "I'm gonna be made of plastic."
"Yeah, yeah. Here's your beverage." Tony handed him a cup.
Dr. Cho smiled. "You'll be made of you, Mr. Barton. Your own girlfriend won't be able to tell the difference."
"I don't have a girlfriend." Clint quickly rebutted and sipped his drink.
"That I can't fix."
Barton darted his eyes at Natasha and Y/N beside him, the two being the only ones with the knowledge of his real family.
Cho started to talk to Stark. "This is the next thing, Tony. Your clunky metal suits are gonna be left in the dust."
"About time. If Cho could do this then iron is getting obsolete." Y/N said a he sipped his drink.
"It's a titanium alloy, genius." Tony corrected then looked at Helen. "And that is exactly the plan, I expect to see you at the party."
"Unlike you, I don't have time for parties." She looked at her tablet and thought for a bit. "Will Thor be there?"
Y/N let out a chuckle. "He is. Plan on being his plus one, Doctor?"
Helen let out a soft laugh as Tony turned to Y/N. "Oh, so we're bringing dates now? That makes things more fun."
"Who's on your mind, Lieutenant?" Natasha asked.
"I was mostly kidding. But I...uh...got someone in mind." He replied.
Natasha took a sip from her cup and looked at Y/N as she walked out of the room.
Tony noticed the silence afterwards as Y/N continued sipping his drink.
"The tension..." He swiped at the air with his hand. "...you could cut with a knife."
Y/N rolled his eyes as he went for the door, the billionaire chuckling as he followed.
"Oh, come on, Forrest. Who you taking? Cher? Barbra Streisand?"