A.N This is the last chapter of this book, the next book will be up soon, I just need to think of a name and make the cover. The next book will include Agents Of Shield and Age Of Ultron. I will be doing a book for Civil War and most of Phase 3. To be honest this series is a never ending series but I'm sure I'll find a place to stop as I can't do this forever, I really want to but I'm neglecting my other stories and I'm getting to the age now where I can learn to drive, get a job and be legal for drinking alcohol in a pub. This series may suffer as time will be taken to do grown up things and make a life for myself. But until then, you can enjoy my writing for a while longer.
This is one of my own chapters so bear with...
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I stepped out my jet and onto New York tarmac. I smelled the air as I really missed New York smell. I smiled noticing Happy waving to me as he was taking me to Stark Tower. I walked quickly to him and hugged him tightly. I haven't seen Happy since the whole mandarin thing and I'm really happy he's back to normal.
"Welcome back to New York." Happy said in my ear before we came out of the hug.
"Thank you, Happy. Glad to see you back on your feet." I told him and he smiled.
"Yeah well, Tony was pestering me to get better. I know he was just joking with me though." He said and I smiled.
"Tony is Tony."
"Yes he his. Now, your car awaits M'lady, or should I say future Mrs Rogers. I saw. Congratulations." I smiled and he opened the car door for me. I enjoyed seeing New York again and how the people had cleaned it up after Loki. Some parts were still being worked on but most was already done. I smiled at my home city as Happy pulled outside of Stark Tower, but I noticed it had a big A instead of Stark on it. I frowned at that before Happy opened me door for me.
"What's with the A?" I asked Happy.
"Ask Tony." He said and I nodded. I said bye to Happy and went inside the building. I waved to Sarah at reception and got into a elevator.
"Authorization?" I heard Jarvis say.
"Agent Ashley Gomez. Come on Jarvis, we go way back." I joked with him.
"Ashley. How nice to see you again. How is Washington treating you?" He asked, I've missed his voice to be honest.
"It's good, Jarvis, thank you. How's being back in Stark Tower?" I asked him.
"Stark Tower is it's old name. Sir, changed it to Avengers Tower." I got confused at this and decided to ask Tony about it. "Should I inform, Mr Stark you are here?"
"Please do."
"Right away." He answered as he closed the elevator doors and I felt the elevator go up. "Mr Stark will be with you shortly." He told me as he opened the elevator doors for me to walk out.
"Thank you Jarvis." I thanked him before the elevator went back down again. I looked round the room and it was the same room we were in for Christmas, but he had added a lot of new things. I then heard footseps and saw Tony walking in with Pepper behind him. They were both walking straight towards me and looked worried.
"Hey-" Before I could finish my sentence, Tony pulled me into a hug and hugged me tight. I laughed and hugged him back. He probably heard what happened to SHIELD. "Nice to see you too." I commented before Tony let me go for Pepper to take his place. "You guys okay?" I asked them as Pepper let me go.
"We should be asking you that." Pepper told me checking me probably to see if I was alright.
"Guys, I'm fine. We handled it, we're fine." I told them and Pepper hugged me again.
"Wait! I see a ring, a very sparkly one." Tony came forward and Pepper held out my left hand.
"He didn't?" Pepper asked and I nodded.
"He did." She squealed and hugged me tightly again.
"Congratulations Ashley!" She cheered and Tony hugged me after Pepper let go.
"Congrats Ash." He said and I smiled.
"Thank you, you two. But that's not entirely what I'm here for." I said and they nodded.
"Right, Washington, umm, let's sit and talk. I'll get us drinks." Tony rushed to the bar and Pepper pulled me over to the sofa.
"What happened out there?" Pepper asked and I could see how worried she must have been.
"You know the organization me, Steve and Peggy stopped during World War 2?" I asked her and she nodded and Tony gave us drinks and sat on the coffee table across from me. "Well, turns out we didn't stop them at all. They were secretly inside of SHIELD for 70 years." I told them and Pepper looked shocked but Tony looked like he knew. "And you knew that and you tried to tell me but I cut you off before you could." I said to Tony and he nodded shyly. "Oh god this is all my fault." I put my head in my hands and Pepper rubbed my back.
"No it's not." Tony started. "You had no idea, you couldn't have done anything."
"But I could have. If I knew I could, I would and things wouldn't have happened like they did." I complained to him and Pepper kept rubbing my back.
"You can't predict that." Tony told me. I looked at him and I couldn't hold off telling him about his father anymore. I need to tell him.
"Pepper, can you leave me and Tony? I need to talk to him." I asked her politely and she nodded.
"No. Whatever you wanna say to me you say in front of Pepper too." I pleaded with my expression to Tony to let us be alone but he wouldn't have it. "You're keeping something from me, and it's important." Tony said and I looked at my feet. "Ashley, what is it?" He asked and I took a deep breathe to keep myself from crying again.
"It's about your parents." I said and his face hardened.
"What about them?" He asked and I took his hand in mine.
"You know they were killed in a car accident right?" I asked and he nodded. "Well it wasn't an accident." I looked at his face and his face fell. "HYDRA killed them and made it look like an accident." I wiped a stray tear and Tony ripped his hand from mine. "Tony-"
"I need some air." He said putting his drink down and getting up and leaving the room. I got up to go after him but Pepper told me not to.
"I'm sorry, Pepper." I apologized to her but she just got up and hugged me.
"It's okay, Ashley." She told me but I shook my head.
"It's not okay. I could have stopped it from happening. They could still be alive, but it's all my fault." I cried and Pepper shushed me.
"No. Don't you say that. You've been through enough already; you do not need to put something like that on yourself. Especially when it wasn't your fault. Even if it was it wasn't entirely you. The world may count on you but we know you can't do everything." Pepper told me but I shook my head wiping tears away.
"I'm the first woman super soldier. I'm the best agent in the world. All the things I've done before this amount to nothing now that I've fucked up this bad." I told her. "People are even asking if I'm Hydra. That shows that they can't trust me anymore, and after all of this, I can't trust anyone anymore." Pepper was thinking of what to say but I just waved her off. "I'll go see Tony." I walked past Pepper and to his workroom. He always goes there to think and settle down after an argument of he's been told bad news like he has today. I opened the door to his workroom and he was sat at his desk looking at old papers that reported his parent's death. He also had another screen with reports of what had happened in Washington with me and Steve.
"How long did you know for?" He asked me not turning to look at me.
"Not long. I found out during the whole HYDRA thing. I wanted to tell you but we had to sort the situation first. Tony, I am so sorry. I could have stopped it I know." By now he had turned to face me. He didn't look angry, just upset. "I failed you as not only your best friend but the person your father and mother trusted to keep this world safe. I did that, but couldn't save your parents because of it. I understand if you never want to talk to me again as I wouldn't talk to me either. I'm so sorry, Tony. If I could go back I would save them in a heartbeat. I'm sorry, Tony, again. I'll let myself out." I wiped a tear before turning to the door.
"Ashley wait." I heard Tony call to me and he jogged over and hugged me, letting me cry into his shoulder. I didn't think I could cry anymore. "It's okay, I forgive you. It's okay." He rubbed my back as I cried. We were like that for a while before we sat at his desk and looked at the old papers. I looked at an old photo of Howard and stroked it with my fingers.
"I'm sorry I failed you Howard." I said and Tony took my hand and smiled at me. "Are you sure you don't hate me?" I asked him.
"Ashley, shut up. I don't hate you at all. I hate HYDRA, not you. They did this, not you." He told me and I nodded. "Anyway, who was the Winter Soldier guy? He gave you a run for his money." I tightened my grip on his hand. "Ash, what is it?" He asked ripping me from my thoughts. I let go of his hand and rested my head in my hands.
"He is Bucky." I told him. I looked to Tony and he was trying to remember who Bucky was.
"Your best friend who was killed 70 years ago and you have his dog tags around your neck?" He asked and I nodded. "Holy crap." He was shocked that Bucky would do this to us.
"HYDRA wiped his memory and made him into a killer." I informed him.
"Well now HYDRA are definitely going down now." He said and I nodded with him. "Did he not remember you?"
"I think he did once, but HYDRA wiped his memory again. But he did save Steve so maybe he's remembering parts. I don't know where he is so I don't know." I wiped my eyes from the leftover tears.
"Jarvis, look for a James Buchanan Barnes." I looked and saw Tony had brought up an old photo of Bucky. "Look through every security camera, any photo's on twitter, facebook, instagram, anything to give us a hint as to where he is."
"Tony?"
"I know how much he means to you, Ashley, so I'm going to help you find him." Tony told me as he typed.
"Looking now sir, but it may take a while." Jarvis informed us.
"Fine, whatever, just find him." Tony urged.
"Tony you don't have to." I told him.
"Oh but I do. You've been through too much to lose him again. If you or Rhodey were in his position I would try and find you in a heartbeat. Even if Steve was urging me to do it I would. You guys are my best friends, I can't lose you like you have Bucky. You got Cap back, it's time for Bucky to come back home too." I smiled at his determination and hugged him.
"Thank you." I told him.
"Anything for you." I smiled at him and watched as Jarvis looked everywhere for him.
"Oh, and something happened with Indy. Gunna make you sad again, sorry." I said and Tony looked at me.
"What she do?" He asked.
"She was part of HYDRA all this time. She was keeping tabs on us, that's why she was so close to us." I wasn't even sad about telling him this, all the care I had for Indy was gone by now.
"Was?" He asked.
"I killed her." Tony was now more shocked than ever. "I had to Tony, I couldn't risk her being let go and carrying on HYDRA. She lied to us, about everything, I can't trust her or care for her anymore. When I found out Bucky was alive and it was HYDRA, I vowed to kill all of them, no matter how much they meant to me once time." Once I told him that he understood.
"How did you kill her?" He asked.
"Two shots to the heart." I told him and he nodded.
"No matches, sir." Jarvis said and Tony typed again.
"Try this one." He put in a more recent photo of Bucky that someone put on twitter. I appreciated that he was really trying to find Bucky, even if he has never met him. We then heard footsteps and we looked to see Rhodey making his way inside.
"Ashley, oh my god." He exclaimed making me get up and hugging him. "I heard what happened, you alright?" he asked and I nodded as we came apart.
"I see I owe Tony 20 bucks." Rhodey said noticing my engagement ring.
"You bet on it?" I asked towards Tony.
"You know me, Ash."
"Well congratulations, you two are perfect for each other." Rhodey smiled and I smiled back. He then noticed what Tony was doing and frowned.
"What's he doing?" Rhodey asked.
"The Winter Soldier is my best friend Bucky." I told him and Rhodey looked at me surprised.
"The one who died on a train 70 years ago?" He asked and I nodded.
"Tony's tried to find him." I said and Rhodey rushed to my seat.
"You got anything?" He asked Tony and I was confused.
"Jarvis is looking now." I crossed my arms and just watched them.
"We need to find him, Tony." Rhodey said and I smiled more at how they both were determined to find him.
"I know that, but Jarvis can only go so fast." Tony said and I stood behind them watching as Jarvis brought up many photo's of Bucky as the winter soldier. But there weren't very recent. "Anything more recent, Jarvis?" Tony asked and Jarvis searched again.
"Negative sir." I sighed and rubbed my face with my hands.
"There's gotta be something." Tony said before my phone started ringing. It was an unknown caller.
"Hello?" I answered.
"Ashley, it's Nick. I need you to meet me at my grave." I sighed and looked at Tony and Rhodey working hard still.
"I can't, I'm in New York with Tony. Why are you calling?" I asked him.
"SHIELD has a new director, and I'm sure you want to meet him." Nick said and I became interested.
"I sure am. Give me where he's situated and I'll go find him."
"Fine. He has a team you will meet there. But Agent May is part of that team." I sighed as me and May didn't exactly get on.
"I'll put up with her if I have to. See if she's as ignorant as she use to be." I said and Nick sighed at the other end.
"What happened wasn't her fault. And it wasn't yours either. To me, you two are being children about this and need to sort it out." I bit my lip and sighed once more.
"Fine. Give me the whereabouts and I'll try and act my age of about 93."
"Thank you, Ashley. And I'm sorry for not telling you." He said and I frowned.
"Telling me what?" I asked.
"You'll find out." He then hung up.
"Who was that?" Tony asked me.
"Nick, I'm meeting the new director." I told him.
"I thought you would be the new director?" I shook me head.
"Wouldn't be safe enough seen as everyone knows who I am." I said and he nodded. "Guys, I appreciate you doing this but you don't need to."
"But we do. You told us so many stories about him, he meant a lot to you and Steve, we need to bring him home just like Steve was." Rhodey said and I smiled at him.
"Thank you, guys." I said and they nodded to me. Tony then suddenly turned to me.
"You have nowhere to live do you?" He asked me obviously
"We're living with a friend." I told him and he acted hurt. Friend=Sam.
"A friend that isn't me? I am shocked." He joked and I smiled.
"He's a good friend though. Helped us with HYDRA. You don't know him but you will."
"You wanna live here?" Tony asked.
"Tony, I can't do that."
"Yes you can." He said getting up from his seat. "Plenty of room and I'm sure Pepper would love having you here."
"I know but what about you and Steve?" I asked and he rolled his eyes.
"If he stays out my way then I guess I'm okay with him staying here."
"Are you sure?" I asked.
"Yes. It's not the Avengers tower for nothing." Tony exclaimed.
"Yeah, about that. Why?" I asked.
"So everyone can live here and we can be closer to each other and have an actual HQ." He told me and I nodded.
"Everyone including...."
"Us, Bruce, Cap, Nat, Legolas, Thor if he can and anyone else who is cool enough to join." He listed off and I nodded.
"Sounds cool." I commented.
"Great, so we'll move you in tomorrow?" Tony asked.
"If you can, but you'll have to work with Steve as I'll be away with the new director." I said and he complained. "Can you do that?"
"Fine." He huffed. "But I built this place so I'm in charge."
"Go it." Tony smiled and he held his hand out to me.
"Welcome to Avengers Tower future Mrs Rogers." I smiled and shook his hand. Looks like this family is getting bigger. I'm still wondering what Nick meant though. I guess I'll find out.
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A.N So Tony's knows about everything and Rhodey and Pepper know about Ashley and Steve marking the end of this book. Thank you all for reading, voting and commenting on this book as it means a whole to me and it makes me happy knowing you guys are still interested in this series. It's going strong and I'm really happy.
The next book will be up in a while, I just wanna focus on my other FF's before I start the new one. Plus it may take a while in between AOS and Age Of Ultron so that will give me time to do my other FF's.
Thank you all again for sticking by me and this series. It means a lot. I love you guys.
-Emma x