I miss you, I'm sorry - Gracie Abrams
Said forever, in the end, I fought it
Please be honest are we better for it
Thought you'd hate me but instead you called and
Said, "I miss you," I caught it
...
Nothing happened in the way I wanted
Every corner of this house is haunted
And I know you said that we're not talking
But I miss you, I'm sorry
I don't wanna go, think I'll make it worse
Everything I know brings me back to us
I don't wanna go we've been here before
Everywhere I go leads me back to you.
"This is Raft Prison Control. You're cleared for landing, Mr Stark," the voice of a guard came through the radio on the helicopter.
"Landing where, exactly? We're in the middle of the fucking ocean!" Amara exclaimed, clearly stressed about the conditions that Ross had subjected her friends to.
"Calm down, it's okay," Tony said to his daughter.
When she looked out the window again, she noticed a ring of white lights rising up, quickly, towards the surface of the water.
Amara scrunched her eyebrows and moved her head closer to the window as a large black, circular shaped building emerged from the middle of the ocean.
She looked at her father in disbelief, "The Raft is underwater?! Ross, figuratively and literally buried our friends!"
Water rushed down the sides of the large structure as an opening at the top of the building unfolded allowing them a place to land.
Once the helicopter landed, the doors closed behind them.
As the blades slowed down, Amara and Tony walked out of the chopper and were faced with Ross' figure walking towards them.
"So? You got the files?" Tony asked Ross. "Let's reroute the satellites, start facial scanning for this Zemo guy."
"You seriously think I'm gonna listen to you after that fiasco in Leipzig" Ross scoffed.
Amara'a fists hands curled into fists, her fingernails digging into her palms to stop her from lashing out at the man.
"You're lucky you're not in one of these cells," Ross' lip curled in a way that showed how he looked down on the father and daughter.
"Cause that's what we do now, right?" Amara stepped forward, but was held back by her father. "We stick the heroes who defended us into high security prisons."
"When they break the law? Yes, Miss Stark that is exactly what we do," Ross' condescending tone spreading across the room. "And if you keep talking like that, you'll be next."
"Hey!" Tony intervened, stepping in front of Amara protectively. "You wanna watch your tone?" He exclaimed, angrily. "Back off my daughter."
Amara grabbed onto her father's arm; now she had to hold him back.
"I wanna see them," Amara said, sternly.
"Follow me," Ross nodded, leading them through another door.
When they walked through, they were faced with a surveillance room for the raft.
After skimming across the screens, Amara's eyes landed on the cells that housed her friends.
Clint, Sam, even that new guy, Lang. But no sign of Wanda or Pietro.
She stopped when she saw Wanda, on a separate floor to the others. She had been put in a straight jacket and was sat on the floor. In the same room was Pietro, glowing cuffs had been placed around his ankles and wrists, most likely to stop him using his powers.
Amara's eyes widened, "What have you done to them?" She asked quietly, in shock, first, but when she heard no reply, she said louder this time, "Why is Wanda in a straight jacket? And why is Pietro cuffed so he can't move? On a separate floor to the others?"
Ross turned to her, "Mr Maximoff ranks as a level 7 threat and Miss Maximoff ranks as a level 8 threat. We can't take any risks."
"She's an Avenger! He's an Avenger! You can't just put them in chains and lock them away!" Amara exclaimed.
"They were Avengers. Now they're criminals, just like the others. This is how you treat criminals, Miss Stark," Ross answered. "Besides, you were the one who put them in there."
Amara was seething, and Tony had noticed, having been broken out of his trance from looking at the others. He moved over to Amara and Ross. He put his palm on Ross' chest, pushing him away from Amara.
"Come on Ross, you never told us they'd end up here," Tony said.
"You're a smart man Mr Stark," he gestured to Amara, "And she's just as smart. Where did you think they were headed after capture?"
Amara looked back at Wanda's screen and breathed in deeply. Ross had gotten in her head. Had she really not known, at all, where her friends would end up? She just assumed they'd be locked up at the compound, like the Hulk currently was. But the Raft? Did the possibility really never cross her mind?
"Be grateful I'm even letting you talk to them," Ross added.
"Please. You just want us to get information out of them," Amara scoffed as she mumbled to herself.
"What was that Miss Stark?" Ross asked.
"Nothing," Tony replied before she could answer.
"You have ten minutes," Ross said, leading them towards a large door and signalling for one of the crew members to open it, "Make it count."
"Believe me, we will," Amara muttered to herself, before shoving past Ross and walking through the door.
—————
Tony and Amara stepped out into the containment area.
Amara looked around at the familiar faces that were now trapped behind bars because of them.
Ross had denied them access to Wanda and Pietro's cells, for "fear of what might happen."
Amara felt that all too familiar sinking feeling in her stomach.
She looked over her shoulder as the door slammed shut behind them.
They walked into the middle, looking around the room.
Clint stood up in the cell behind them and began clapping, "The Futurist, gentlemen! The Futurist is here!" He said sarcastically. "He sees all! He knows what's best for you whether you like it or not."
Tony walked over to stand in front of his cell, "Give me a break Barton. I had no idea they'd put you here. Come on."
Clint spat on the floor in front of him, "Yeah, well, you knew they'd put us somewhere, Tony."
"Yeah, but not some super-max floating ocean pokey," Tony replied.
"Yeah, we were kind of hoping for a nice, simple house arrest at Avengers Tower," Amara said, stepping forward.
Clint's expression softened, "Hey, kid," He said, dejectedly.
"Hey, birdbrain," Amara smiled, weakly.
"Besides, this place is for maniacs. This place is for..." Tony continued.
"Criminals?" Clint asked. When Tony stayed silent, Clint stood up, "Criminals, Tony. Think that's the word you're looking for. Right?" He looked between Tony and Amara, who was looking at the floor in shame. "That didn't used to mean me. Or Sam, or Wanda. But here we are."
"Because you broke the law," Tony said, simply.
"Yeah," Clint scoffed and Amara walked away to face the opposite wall.
"I didn't make you."
"La La la, la la la..." Clint droned our Tony's voice.
"You read it, you broke it."
"La la la, la," Clint continued, completely ignoring Tony's remarks and sitting back down.
"You're all grown up, you got a wife and kids. I don't understand, why didn't you think about them before you chose the wrong side?" Tony finished as he moved onto the next cell.
Clint stood back up and said, louder for everyone to hear, "You gotta watch your back with this guy." Clint slammed his hand onto the bars of his cell. "There's a chance he's gonna break it."
Amara watched the slight flinch in her father's eyes at the memory of his best friend lying unconscious in the hospital.
Tony moved on and walked past Scott Lang's cell. He was leaning on the bars as he said, "Hank Pym always said you never can trust a Stark."
Tony, who was already walking past looked back at the man, "Who are you?"
Scott looked back in front of him, "Come on, man."
Amara would've laughed or even smiled on an ordinary day, but this wasn't an ordinary day. Her friends had been locked away.
Tony stopped in front of Sam's cell and Amara turned around from facing the wall after composing herself and walked over to there as well.
"How's Rhodes?" Sam asked, facing away.
"They're flying him to Columbia Medical tomorrow, so fingers crossed."
Sam looked down, shaking his head. Clearly he was wracked with guilt.
"What do you need? They feed you yet?" Tony asked.
Sam finally turned around to face them and when he did, the large bruise that covered the whole left side of his face was seen by Tony and Amara.
Amara breathed in shakily, just looking at it.
"You're the good cop, now?" Sam asked.
"I'm just the guy who needs to know where Steve went," Tony shrugged.
"Well, you better go get bad cop, and there's no way it's the kid, because you're gonna have to go Mark Fuhrmam on my ass to get information out of me."
Tony tapped his watch a few times and Amara stood next to him, blocking the view of those watching behind the cameras.
"Well, I just knocked the A out of their AV. We got about 30 seconds before they realise it's not their equipment," Tony said.
"What are you doing?" Sam asked.
"We're trying to help," Amara answered.
"Just look," Tony said gesturing to his watch, as he pressed a few more buttons and brought up a small hologram of the real psychiatrist, dead in a hotel bathtub. "Because that is the fellow who was supposed to interrogate Barnes. Clearly, I made a mistake. Sam, we were wrong."
"That's a first," Sam said.
"Cap is definitely off the reservation and he's about to need all the help he can get. We don't know each other very well..." Tony started.
"Hey, it's alright," Sam shook his head. "How do I know you're actually gonna help?"
"You don't," Amara jumped in. "You just have to trust that we want to help Steve. That I want to help Steve. Please, Sam. Let us help."
Sam sighed, deeply, "Look, I'll tell you, but if it's gonna be anyone, it has to be just you two."
"I'm headed back to compound, I have to keep Ross off our trail," Amara said.
Sam nodded, as he looked back to Tony, "and as a friend."
Tony shrugged, "Easy."
—————
The helicopter had powered up, quickly, it's doors opening and waiting for the Starks to step back inside.
"Stark?" Ross' voice came from behind them. "Did he give you anything on Rogers?"
"Nope. Told me to go to hell," he said.
"And you, Miss Stark? You expect me to believe that the 'Avengers' Sweetheart' didn't find anything."
"No, sir. Nothing. They're loyal to Steve," Amara said, stepping into the helicopter.
"We're going back to the compound, instead, but you can call me anytime," Tony stood on the side of the door frame, holding onto the handle inside. "I'll put you on hold. I like to watch the line blink," he said before stepping inside.
Tony gave Ross a smug smile and Amara gave him a false salute before the door closed behind them and the copter took off, back into the sky.
"I'll head back to the compound. Don't worry about me. But you be careful. We could barely handle one winter soldier, now that there's more..." Amara trailed off, a deep, worrisome frown settling over her features.
"I'll be fine. Besides I have to make it back for a debrief on your situation with the spider kid," Tony raised his eyebrows at her.
"Dad, drop it," Amara rolled her eyes, before signing and leaning forwards to wrap her father in a long, tight hug. She buried her head in his shoulder, "I love you, Dad. Be careful, okay?"
Tony stroked the back of Amara's hair before planting a kiss on the top of her head, "I love you, too. I'm so proud of you and no matter what you do, I'll never stop, okay?"
Amara nodded and pulled away, "Good luck. Kick some ass."
"You know it."
Tony Stark pressed a small button next to him on the arm rest between them. His suit materialised over his finger and spread to the rest of his body and the next second he was ejected from bottom of the plane, fully suited up.
Amara smiled as she watched her father zoom away.
Please, god, let it all be okay. Please.
And with that small, short prayer, she rested her head on the window and fell asleep.
—————
It was dark. Not just with the absence of light but there was also a cold darkness in the air. Something ominous.
Amara walked through the empty halls of what appeared to be done kind of empty, abandoned base, her footsteps echoing each time she took a step.
Where the hell am I? She thought to herself.
"Dad?" She called out for Tony, but heard no answer.
She kept walking down the hallway, listening for any sign of another human, but all she heard was the quiet dripping from the pipes.
"Steve?" She asked, quietly. Still no answer.
She finally made it to the end of the corridor and was face to face with a large, reinforced door.
"This is why Tony didn't want you to go on missions," she mumbled to herself as she put her palms on the door.
"Warm," she whispered. She reached for the large lever in the centre and pulled it all the way down until she heard a click.
She took a shaky breath and stepped back as the door slowly opened.
She stepped inside and was shocked at what she saw.
A large room lined with some form of preservation pods that had a person in each of them. And in the centre of it all, the machine. The one that was used to torture that man in her dream. There it was in the centre of the room.
That was when it dawned on her. That was the machine that was used to create the winter soldiers. The man in her dream had been Bucky. Her dream was warning her. Warning her that they had been wrong, and she was too ignorant to listen.
She stepped further inside the room and turned to look at the preservation pods. She had no desire to look at the very thing that had caused so much pain for Bucky. The pain that she had merely felt a fraction of in her dream.
Each person was hooked up to what looked like a blood bag, except the liquid that was being pumped into their veins was a bright shade of blue.
"What the fuck?" She said to herself as she stepped closer to one pod.
Suddenly that colour that she found so familiar and comforting became alien to her. Laced with a coldness that gave her chills.
These were the winter soldiers. The others that Steve had tried to warn them about. The others that Zemo was trying to get to.
Suddenly, she heard footsteps, once again. She gasped and looked towards the door she had just walked through and saw the man himself with nothing but a duffel bag. The one who had impersonated and framed Bucky. The one who murdered the psychiatrist. The one who caused all of this.
"Zemo."
She watched as he looked around the open door frame that lay in front of him. He stepped inside and quickly scanned the room in front of him, his eyes moving right past Amara.
She breathed a sigh of relief, Thank God It's not one of those dreams.
She watched as he walked around the room and looked at every one of the unconscious soldiers.
Amara began to panic, Steve and Bucky should be here. Where are they?
Zemo stopped in front of one of the chambers and touched the glass. He tilted his head with curiosity at the woman inside the chamber.
That was before he got out a large gun from his duffel bag and turned off the safety.
"No!" Amara shouted lunging for the control panel, where she assumed he was going to shut down the system and wake them up.
But while she made her way to control panel, Zemo quickly aimed and shot his gun at the glass, the bullet landing right between the woman's eyebrows.
Amara stopped in her tracks, gasping in fear.
She was forced to watch as Zemo walked around the room, nonchalantly shooting each Winter Soldier in the head, a scream erupting from her throat each time the gun went off.
Amara tried to gain control of the bullets as they flew, but she was well aware she was in a dream; nothing she did would make a difference.
She fell to the floor as sobs left her throat, her hands on her mouth as she closed her eyes to try and block out the brutality of the situation, but it was no use.
She was only released from her torture after every bullet was finished firing, and ever soldier was dead.
The last thing she saw was the twinkle of determination and ugly satisfaction in Zemo's eyes, before she lost consciousness and sat upright in her seat seconds later, safe and sound on the helicopter.
She breathed heavily and shakily. Tears falling down her face as her hands and legs shook with fear.
She stumbled to front of the helicopter and sat in the pilot's seat.
She put on the headset and switched off autopilot, taking control of the vehicle.
Her shakes had calmed down, quickly and she was running purely on adrenaline as she swerved the helicopter and began heading in the direction of the location that Sam had told them.
Zemo was planning something, Amara didn't know what, but she somehow knew that it was far worse than waking up those super soldiers and she wasn't going to let it happen.