Slight title change folks! I couldn't get it out of my head and I just had to
I apologise
Please keep reading <3
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The next day was a chaotic rush. You barely got a chance to even look at Bucky while the team swapped intel, and planned the route through the holographic map of the manor that had been constructed from the data of everyone's goggles. Then it was suddenly the evening, which spurred the rush of weapon gathering, getting changed and heading to various addresses nearby for the cars to pick you up in.
You were now paired with Clint, which, while it was easing your nerves slightly, it was also making you more antsy that you hadn't been able to speak to Bucky. Since your mini talk last night, it was like you were filled with some kind of adrenaline. Like you were minutes away from something big happening. You didn't want to wait to talk properly to him. You wanted to get it over with now. Pesky missions are always getting in the way.
The car drove you and Clint right to the entrance of the manor, which had already been overwhelmingly ostentatious since the gates opened an acre back. There was a doorman who greeted you, and two security guards right behind him, their eyes running over you as you stepped inside.
If you thought the Ball from your first mission was beautiful, then this place was surreal. The walls looked like they were made out of marble, the floors almost an iridescent white with some kind of gold ingrained in it and making it shimmer as your heels clacked across it. The stairs were grand and winding up the wall opposite you. The windows were giant and ornate, with velvety curtains framing them. The staff were all in crisp tuxedos, walking around like they were gliding across the floor, effortlessly holding platters of tiny obscure foods that didn't even look like real food.
"Close your mouth woman." Clint chuckled as he passed you a flute of champagne, which you pulled a face at. "We need to get to the main hall."
"Is this not the main hall?!" You squeaked.
"This is the entrance hall, Luka."
"What?!" You gasped, allowing him to guide you to the left into an even grander room. In your shock and awe looking over the room, you caught sight of some of the other team members.
No one really looked like themselves, with slightly different hairstyles and a touch of expert makeup that subtly changed the angles of their face - just enough to make people double guess themselves if they thought they noticed The Avengers.
Enough to make you remember you are here on a job.
Over the next hour, you and Clint wandered, and danced, and talked and ate and talked some more. The people you were meeting and talking with gave you the creeps, but after each interaction, Clint confirmed that while they weren't exactly upstanding citizens, they weren't the baddies you were looking for. They were just generic people involved in criminal activity, hence the creeps they were giving you.
There were no ear comms on this mission, to eliminate the risk of anyone catching on that you weren't actual guests here. It meant that you weren't too sure how the others were getting on, which also meant that you weren't sure how much longer you needed to stay here. What you did know was that you needed a breather. So you whispered to Clint that you needed the bathroom, and headed off.
The bathroom was thankfully empty, and after you came out of the cubicle, the door swung open.
Relief flooded through you when you saw Nat and Wanda walk in, their arms linked together. They froze when they saw you, then Nat separated from Wanda and she pushed open every cubicle door until she was satisfied that they were all empty.
"Thank god." Nat muttered. "This whole thing is too stuffy for me."
"Right?! The tiny food and the people - ugh." You agreed. "How are you guys getting on?"
"Not great." Wanda huffed, leaning against the sink. "Me and Vis are hitting nothing but dead ends."
"Same here. No leads." Nat said. "I had to pretend like me and Wanda were bonding over each other's pearls just to get out of there. Although it looked like Sam had been talking to the same guy for about 20 minutes so maybe he's onto something."
"Well we can't all go out there and flock to Sam." You said. "Maybe we should look at tailing the guy, who he speaks to after Sam leaves him alone?"
"Yeah, okay." Nat nodded. "Keep your eyes on me, I'll give you a signal when the guy is heading off. Luka, tail him while you're invisible, then head back to us with what you find."
"Done." You replied. A second later, the bathroom door swung open, and the three of you whipped round to the sink and started looking busy. Wanda fixed her eye makeup, Nat readjusted her outfit, and you reapplied your lipstick. One by one, you exited the bathroom, and you quickly found Clint and whispered the new plan to him.
You both wandered, nodding and smiling snobbishly at the new friends you'd made this evening, until you could clearly see Nat from across the room. She made a weird hand gesture, which took you a few seconds to realise where she was pointing to. Then you saw the guy Sam was just shaking hands with, then the guy walking away from him. Nudging Clint with your elbow, he followed your line of sight, then gently kissed your cheek before loudly announcing that he was off to get you both more drinks and leaving you alone.
You started slowly stepping in the same direction that the guy was heading in, using a sudden gaggle of people to cover your shiver to turn invisible. It felt like slipping into familiar, fluffy pyjamas, using your power to tail someone in a crowd hoping to steal something off them. Granted, the thing you were stealing now was just information, but you enjoyed that the rest of the situation was familiar.
The guy was leading you to a side room, which was still kind of full of people, and you spotted Steve talking to a group of older looking men, and Tony by the small bar, arguing with the bartender over a bottle by the looks of it. The guy you were tailing was now skulking around the side of the room, so you got a little closer. You watched him press on a panel on the wall, which caused a hidden door to click open, and he ducked behind.
Catching the door just before it closed, you slipped in, and found yourself in a small, dimly lit room, the guy walking up to two people sitting on the only table in there.
"Well?" One of the guys sitting down said.
"They're here. I'm sure of it. They've augmented themselves to look a little different, but I definitely saw Widow and Stark." The guy you followed answered.
"Perfect." The sitting down man grinned, before he and the second guy stood up. "Then tell Rumlow to begin."
You straightened up as you realised that Rumlow was the guy you had all been looking for.
"They won't know what hit them." The second guy said.
"That's the point. We'll be free to continue our experiments once all the Avengers have been arrested and locked up, like the unhinged vigilantes they are."
"It's admirable how confident they were thinking they would ever leave this manor once they stepped inside."
The panic flooded through you. These were clearly the guys you had all been looking for, but they also clearly had a plan to get rid of the team tonight. So what were you supposed to do now? Tell them that you found the guys, or tell them all to get out while they still could? Or maybe you should follow these guys some more?
You had to wait until they started leaving through the secret panel before you could also leave, but once you had reentered the main event, your mind was made up. Get the team out, and once you were on the Quinjet, you could tell them then what you found out. If they were all locked up, you couldn't tell them shit.
Except now Tony and Steve weren't in this side room anymore. Pushing past people, shivering visible as you went so that you could use all your brainpower to focus, you almost ran into the main hall and wildly looked around.
Finally, you spotted Sam.
Walking as quickly as you physically could (without full on running) through the Ball, you made a beeline for Sam, who you noticed, as the crowd parted, was talking to Bucky.
You appeared in front of them, panting hard and cheeks warm, and they just frowned as you grabbed their arms and tugged them closer to the wall.
"Hello, ma'am," Sam said, looking unconvincingly around him. "Are you okay?"
"You guys need to leave." You hissed.
"What do you mean?" He asked, his eyes now full of concern as him and Bucky stepped closer to you to ensure the surrounding guests couldn't hear your conversation.
"It's a trap. They know you're here!" You whispered as quietly but as clearly as you could. Bucky started looking around. "They have a plan to get all of you. Tonight, it was all planned."
"How do you -"
"Does it matter? Just get out, I'll explain it later!"
Just as Sam nodded and turned to Bucky to put a plan of action in place, there was a sudden scream. You all turned to look across the room, where a lady you didn't recognise was running into the centre of the room, her hands covered in something red.
"He's DEAD!" She screeched, before collapsing on the floor in a sob. "He's dead! They killed him! The Avengers killed my husband! They're all here and they KILLED HIM!"
You had no idea who this woman was, but it seemed everyone else did as the gasps and anger spread through the other guests. Her wails got louder, as did the murmurs from the crowd. Then, each of the doors surrounding the room filled with security guards, scanning the crowd and stepping forward.
There were no words exchanged between you, Bucky or Sam. Bucky just grabbed your arm and dragged you across the room, Sam following closeby. The movement caught the attention of the guards, and Sam just pushed you and Bucky ahead of him.
"Go!" He hissed, but before you could retaliate and argue, Bucky tugged your arm harder.
"Invisible!" Bucky said in your ear.
"What?!"
"Turn invisible!"
"Oh!" You shivered instantly, then checked his hand was still on your arm before you both continued walking, slipping past the guards who were now heading towards Sam and running up the stairs in the entrance hall. Bucky tried three doors, finding them all locked until the fourth one finally opened. He shoved you inside, closing it behind him and letting go of your arm so he could lock it. You shivered visible again.
"What the hell is happening?" He asked angrily, storming up to you.
"I don't know!"
"You knew enough to warn us!"
"Honestly, I don't! I followed this guy to some creepy side room - the one that Sam was talking to earlier - and there were two other guys then they were all talking about how all of you were here and they were gonna lock you up and Rumlow -"
From the other side of the door, there was now loud shouting. You both stopped talking to try and listen, but then you just heard loud footsteps running up the stairs.
"Luka, you need to tell me, what guys?" He questioned.
"I really don't know! I never saw them before, they didn't say their names and -"
Then there were gunshots.