the coming wave

The grand hall in the Avengers mansion was decorated tastefully for the Maria Stark Foundation annual charity ball. The main colours were red, gold, and blue, in deep and rich hues. The Avengers had decided that this would be a great ‘coming out’ as it were, for the team and for Steve too. They wanted the public to feel comfortable with the team and Pepper had decided that this event was the best option.

Hosting it in the Avengers mansion was the just the icing on the cake. 

The chandeliers were glittering, illuminating the draperies and guests in a beautifully gold glow.  Stephen was peering out the window and watching the press clamour about outside, camera lights flashing in a slightly dizzying way. 

He looked to his left and saw Steve's overwhelmed face, looking out the window.

Stephen reached over to rest a firm hand on Steve’s shoulder, “It’s a good thing Tony put that fence up.”

Steve seemed to startle at the contact and his voice, blushing slightly, before turning to respond with a laugh, “..yeah. I’m not ready for all of that.”

Stephen smirked at him, before turning away from the window and gazing at the crowd. Steve turned with him, the both of them seemingly locking onto the same target. Which is unsurprising because half the guests were watching his show.

For Steve, it was his first time seeing anything of this sort so, it was understandably mesmerizing. Stephen privately thought that it was just as mesmerizing the hundredth time around.

The men stood, watching Tony dance through the crowd. He was an enigmatic presence, he was inviting, sarcastic, warm, and dazzling all at once. It was so different from the Tony they knew, yet so similar at the same time. 

“He’s amazing,” Steve muttered, sipping his drink.

“What’s amazing is that they can’t tell how much he hates this,” Stephen laughed, putting his drink down. 

Tony had finally broken away from group of dignitaries that’d ambushed him and made a beeline towards them with a carefully neutral look on his face.

Steve snickered as Tony got closer and started making faces at them.

“Y’know. If I have to do it, so do you,” he drawled, reaching for Steve’s tonic water and downing the glass. 

“Well, I’m here, aren’t I?”

“Oh yes, thank you for gracing us with your presence, Dr.” Tony then turned towards Steve, handing him the empty glass, “and what’s your excuse, Mr. America?”

Steve hunched a little with a conspiratorial smile, “I don’t think anyone has noticed me yet.”

Tony punched him in jest, “Well, you’ve got 5 more minutes of anonymity, make it count!”

Tony then turned and pranced away before either could respond. The two men watched as he was very quickly bombarded again by another faceless group of suits. 

Stephen sighed, “I guess now I have to mingle.” He nodded at Steve before making a beeline towards the entrance where Christine had just entered through. 

Steve looked around, suddenly struck with nerves. Here he was, in an entirely unfamiliar environment, with no one to hold onto like a buoy.

He did a quick sweep of the room, finally sighing in relief when he made out the back of Dr. Banner’s head near the opposite side. He began his trek through the crowds, but was quickly stopped by a woman who looked vaguely familiar. 

She had coppery hair and was wearing a silky black gown that caught the eyes of several nearby men. Her green eyeshadow framed her green eyes beautifully, the light dancing on the shimmery quality of the makeup. 

“Steve Rogers?” she asked, voice sounding coy, but Steve could see the glint of calculation in her eyes. She was no civilian.

“Yes, ma’am, how can I help you?”

“A dance?” She offered her hand with an amused smile. Steve looked down at her hand and up to the centre of the room which was currently empty. 

He looked back down with an unsure look, “I’m looking for a friend, but I’d be honoured to join you when the festivities begin.” He scratched the back of his neck, feeling a little uncomfortable. 

She laughed brightly, “I’ll be counting on that, Soldier.” She flitted away gracefully leaving Steve feeling off balance. Before he could continue on his journey, Tony rejoined him, with an unreadable expression on his face.

“What were you both talking about?” he asked, sounding far from nonchalant. Steve raised an eyebrow, “you know her? I didn’t get her name.” 

Tony’s mouth quirked into a small, but genuine, smile which told Steve that that was someone he knew. Steve tilted his head in question.

“Natasha. Romanoff. Agent of SHIELD and Avenger,” he whispered softly, so low that only Steve would catch it. “A friend. Not yet, but soon.”

Steve nodded in understanding, eyes roaming the crowd to find her again. She stood at the edge of the room—back to the wall—beside a blonde man. She was watching him right back. He tried his best not to startle obviously, but she still smirked in response. 

Tony clapped him on the shoulder, “ready to come out to the world?” Steve’s eyebrows shot up in response, making Tony pause and then laugh lightly, “as Captain America, of course.”

Steve nodded lightly, “No time like the present.” He huffed a breath, standing up straight and mentally preparing himself.

Their interaction seemed to gain the attention of several guests, so as they walked towards the back of the room, several eyes followed them. 

There was a stage set-up which they approached and situated themselves near. Beside the stage was Pepper who was talking to another woman in rapid tones. She looked up at them after dismissing the woman and smiled sweetly.

“You ready?”

“Yep, yep, yep,” Tony sang out, popping the P’s in each word. He then stepped forward to sling an arm around her waist. “Let’s do this, babe.”

Pepper snorted in response, elbowing him in the gut, and climbing onto the stage to introduce them

She commanded the room instantly, the crowd settling and waiting for her response. 

“Hello, everybody. The Maria Stark foundation is close to both my and Dr. Stark’s heart and we want to thank you all for joining us in supporting it’s many causes. That isn’t the only reason we’re all so excited tonight, of course, and with that I’m happy to introduce Dr. Tony Stark to the stage,” she held her hand out towards Tony, who immediately began walking towards her

He reached for the mic, smiling brightly at Pepper, “Thank you, Pep, for the lovely introduction.” He kissed her on the cheek and watched her retreat for a beat before stepping into the centre of the stage like a showman. 

“As you all may know, I find myself donning the Iron Man armour part-time to help the world however I can. I think we can all agree that I alone cannot bring about world peace and it would be arrogant to think so,” Tony punctuated the statement by laughing heartily. “Well, luckily for you all, several extraordinary individuals made themselves available to me, and offered to join me in my mission.” 

Tony puffed his chest slightly, eyes sweeping the crowd. “We wanted to build a team. And to do so, we need a leader. One who is fearless, righteous, and hopeful. With that, I’d like to introduce you all to Captain Steve Rogers, or ‘Captain America’.”

The crowd clapped politely at the statement, but as they watched Steve approach Tony they realized the veracity and began amping up their response. 

Steve stood politely on guard beside Tony, with a poster-board smile taped to his face. He was sweating lightly.

“Hello, Hello. Thank you for that flattering intro, Tony,” Steve laughed lightly, patting his back. 

“I never thought that something like this was possible. Especially as a man from a different time entirely, all this glitz and glamour and fantastical science still boggles my mind. But having been rescued from what I’d thought was a sure death, I can only say that I’m endlessly thankful to be here in front of you all, pledging my service to the pursuit of goodness.” Steve took a breath, eyes panning through the crowd. 

Briefly, they stopped on Natasha, then Bruce, then Loki.

“I also want to extend my most sincerest thanks to the friends I’ve found in this unfamiliar time. The Avengers. They rescued me, and I hope to pay them and you all black in spades. Thank you, and enjoy your evening!”

Steve turned to his left, looking to Tony for some direction. Tony pulled him into a brief hug before leading him off stage and towards a door he hadn’t noticed. 

Soon, they were stood in a back-stage-like area where Tony handed him a water bottle and gave him time to regain his bearings.

“Not bad as far as speeches go,” Tony murmured. “Maybe a little sappy.”

Steve looked up at him through his lashes with a smirk, “Hope they got a coupl’a shots of you crying, Shell-head.”

Tony laughed heartily at that, reaching out to punch Steve lightly on the shoulder. Just as he was winding down, Rhodey entered through the door. He was dressed in his mess dress Air Force uniform, entirely symbolically as he had retired from the service.

He quirked a brow at Tony’s huffing laughter while approaching, stopping right beside the man. Rhodey turned to look at Steve with a kind smile, “How are you doing, Steve?”

Steve cleared his throat, standing up straight. He had finally broken to habit of being overly formal with Rhodey, but the uniform kicked his instincts back in momentarily.

“I’m alright. I’m sure in my decision to join the Avengers and to let the world know my identity. It was just a little overwhelming with the lights and all,” Steve took another chug of water, downing the rest of the bottle. “I’m glad it was on my own terms though, thank you again for changing the venue.”

Rhodey smiled, raising a hand to rest on his shoulder, “No worries, man. It was a big step, glad you were comfortable.”

Rhodey dropped his hand, bringing his elbow up nudge Tony in the gut, “It’s time to rejoin our guests unfortunately. We’ve got to schmooze.”

Tony yelped at the jab, “What is with you and Pep!” He rubbed the area exasperatingly, “You guys know I’m not actually made of Iron right?”

Steve snorted at that before joining Rhodey in his retreat. They both crossed the threshold and turned to nod at Tony as he muttered about taking care of something first.

Tony dusted off his shoulders and walked further into the back rooms of the ball room. He doesn’t exactly remember why he made the catering section so extensive, but he found himself glad for it now. 

He brought a finger up to tap his glasses, a silent command to JARVIS to bring up his thermal-vision.

He could make out the distinct figure waiting behind the next turn in the hallway so he stopped and took a second. He began his approach, not willing to surrender his advantage.

Right as he planned to turn the corner, Ivan Vanko stepped into view. He wore a tuxedo, likely using the catering as means of getting in. 

Just as Tony predicted, he was significantly less armed than before. Tony had the advantage of time and Ivan was likely still in the beginning stages of development on his Arc.

Ivan began reaching behind him, likely for a weapon, as he yelled, “You think you can buy me off?”

Tony opened his mouth to respond, but before he even registered the movement a red haired woman pounced on Ivan from behind. She managed to immobilize him entirely before he had the chance to gain his bearings and mount any defence.

She moved to disarm him and to both Tony and her surprise, Ivan had been reached for a wad of paper rather than a weapon. 

Tony laughed, finally looking up at the woman’s eyes. 

“You’ve got terrible security, Mr. Stark.”

Tony smirked at that, “Clearly. I want to know how they let in some sort of assassin.”

The woman barked a sharp laugh, clearly amused, “I’m no assassin.” She rose from her spot now that Ivan had stopped squirming and was clearly unarmed. 

Standing to her full height, she ran her hands down her gown to settle the ruffles before walking up to Tony and offering a hand, “Bethany Cabe of Cabe & McPherson Security Specialists.”

Tony shook her hand with a glimmer in his eyes, “Well Bethany, I’d love to talk to you about working for Stark International, but me and Mr. Vanko have a beef to settle first.”

Ivan, who had been standing on the sidelines of the interaction looking both awkward and vicious, met Tony’s eyes as he turned. He approached threateningly, undeterred by Bethany’s attempt to step in front of Tony.

Tony quickly raised a hand to stop Bethany, who frowned at the ridiculousness of the request. Ivan finally stopped directly in front of Tony, reared his arm back, and socked him in the face.

Tony reacted by bowling over with a groan, but quickly righted himself at Bethany’s exclamation, “It’s fine, it’s fine. I owed him that one.”

Ivan nodded in agreement, stepping back to a respectful distance, “He did.”

Bethany looked between the two with a concerned expression before grabbing Tony’s handkerchief and dabbing at his bleeding cheek, “What the fuck.”

Tony laughed at that, grabbing the handkerchief to resume dabbing and looking at Vanko, “Alright, now that that’s taken care of.” Tony raised his hand in a handshake, “Would you like to come work for me?”

Bethany made another noise, high in her throat, to indicate her surprise, or disapproval, Tony wasn’t sure. She watched Ivan approach and shake his hand firmly while muttering an agreement.

“I didn’t know SI needed employees that bad,” she muttered as she turned to walk back to the main hall. 

Tony moved to follow after her, a few paces behind, after nodding to Ivan who turned to leave through the service entrance.

“You know Bethany,” Tony called out, making her stop in her tracks and turn towards him. “I’d love to hire you and your company to consult on an investigation. There’s a company I need you to check out, Advanced Idea Mechanics.”

Bethany frowned, “Is this a competitor or something?”

Tony huffed at that, stopping in front of her. He looped their arms together and they continued to walk through the hall “No, they’re into some bad stuff, human experimentation, terrorism, etc.” He waved his hand nonchalantly as he explained. 

Her expression turned thoughtful before she nodded, “I’ll have my assistant send over our hourly rates. I’m sure you can afford it,” she said with a coy smile. 

They soon found themselves back in the main hall, where many had began dancing. 

Bethany leaned to plant a kiss on each of his cheeks before murmuring, “try not to get attacked again until you hire us,” and slipping into the crowd.

Overall, the event had been a success. At least in Tony’s eyes it was, nobody else really agreed once they heard about his recruitment tactics. 

Once Tony’d settled back in the ballroom he’d networked his ass off. So far, public opinion could be described as incredulous. They weren’t sure about Steve, nor the Avengers as a team. 

Which is fair considering the rest of line-up decided to maintain their anonymity. Dr. Stephen Strange, Dr. Don Blake, Dr. Bruce Banner, and Loki Friggason were in attendance, but in civilian capacities.  Although, they did display their allegiance clearly in the way they seemed to congregate around Tony, Rhodey, and Steve. Unfortunately, Tony had learned that he missed Steve's attempt to keep up with Natasha on the dance floor. That had spoiled his mood briefly, but was silently pleased that Steve had come away from that with her contact information—even if she hadn't revealed her true allegiance as of yet.

Tony had taken a chance by inviting delegates from Wakanda, knowing fully well that they’d show up, but really holding out hope for someone he recognized.

He didn’t count on running into a T’Challa in his mid-twenties. It was a real trip, which made him feel exceptionally old. He had planned to initiate some level of contact and partnership with Wakanda, but he’d been thrown off his game. He chatted him up lightly and then shoved 7 business cards in his pocket when he turned to leave. Subtle, yet effective. 

He’d also collected the cards of some companies which seemed like good potential business partners. He looked down at the business card that read ‘Tamara Robinson, CEO of Imperio Techworks.’ Plenty of potential in their company, he thinks he vaguely remembers some headlines regarding their work.

He flicked the card onto the table, a problem for another time. In the meanwhile, he’s got to analyze mission reports. 

He grabbed his tablet, rapidly swiping through each report Steve had prepared before settling on the first. 

“JARVIS? Pull these up on the big screen, would’ja?”

He dropped the tablet and leaned back in his seat with his clasped behind his head, “Alright, hit me.”

MISSION 1: Report

Date: 10/05/2009 19:20 - 20:45

Location: Innsbruck, Austria

Objectives: Information recon + base destruction

Completed by: Captain America, Loki, and Thor.

Report:

Instantaneous transportation enabled by Loki. Members left Avengers Mansion (NYC) and arrived at HYDRA base (Innsbruck) at approximately 1900 hours. Base appeared abandoned initially, but upon initial recon communications were active. Communications deactivated remotely via FRIDAY and *magical* interference. 

Two guards placed proximal to each entrance were eliminated (4 total) before Avengers entered facility. Once present, portable virus inserted into first floor console by Captain Rogers—via programmed USB chip—allowing FRIDAY to enter enemy systems to collect, catalogue, and destroy data banks. Once digital infiltration was completed, Avengers carried out destruction of base. No sign of cryogenic storage or data on the Winter Solider.

MISSION 2: Report

Date: 27/05/2009 14:20 - 23:15

Location: Gloucestershire, England

Objectives: Information recon + base destruction

Completed by: Captain America, Iron Man, and War Machine.

Report:

The Avengers quinjet departed Avengers Mansion (NYC) at approximately 1400 hours, reaching Innsbruck at approx 1800 hours. As per initial research, base was active. FRIDAY reported 2 guards stationed per entrance, 1 roaming first floor offices, and 2 more protecting scientists in the basement (group of 6). Reports and communications collected from Innsbruck base indicates active Winter Soldier program.

Iron Man and War Machine disarmed guards while FRIDAY disabled ability to communicate externally. Once perimeter was breached, Captain America infiltrated first floor and eliminated guard and inserted portable virus in nearby console. FRIDAY’s infiltration was unsuccessful, relevant systems were seemingly located on private on sight servers.

Captain Rogers lead the (stealth) assault on the lower floors, clearing through both guards before remainder of team disabled scientists. Comments of note: “You’ll never find him,” “It’s not here,” “Strucker will find you.”

Iron Man used existing tech in suit to infiltrate on sight servers. Claims to have recovered ‘heap-fulls’ of information pertaining Winter Soldier programming and Super Soldier programs. Servers were assimilated to Avengers’ existing stores and physically decimated. 

War Machine located a secret contraption which revealed several cryo-storages which were empty and unused. They were promptly destroyed by Captain Rogers. Avengers departed Innsbruck approximately 1900 hours.

MISSION 3: Report

Date: 01/06/2009 16:00 - 21:15

Location: Siberia

Objectives: Infiltration of Winter Soldier program + Information recon + base destruction

Completed by: Iron Man, Captain America, Loki, and War Machine.

Report:

Knowledge acquired from Mission 2 and Iron Man indicate the presence of live Super Soldier subjects in Siberia. Base blueprints were studied in planning and team was chosen accordingly. 

Instantaneous transportation enabled by Loki. Members left Avengers Mansion (NYC) and arrived at HYDRA base (Siberia) at approximately 1600 hours. Base was confirmed to be active upon arrival. Aerial team comprised of Iron Man and War Machine. Stealth team comprised of Loki and Captain America. FRIDAY reported 3 guards per entrance with 10 guards scattered throughout. Scientists are thought to be armed and moving (group upwards of 10). Heat detection indicates that there are active cryo-containers deeper in the base (unsure if occupied).

FRIDAY disabled bases ability to communicate externally before Aerial team advanced on perimeter and entrance guards. Once cleared, Stealth team infiltrated base to map out current guard posts. Once mapped, Iron Man and War Machine joined to help disable all guards and scientists. Unidentified scientist/handler attempted to delete files, but was neutralized by Loki. 

Once all live HYDRA operates were neutralized, base exploration began. War Machine took care of data collection while Iron Man lead the teams approach towards back cellars and possibly frozen Super Soldier subjects. Encountered a storage room with 4 Super Soldiers frozen in cry-chambers. Subjects were killed by Loki upon discovery, reprimand issued by Iron Man and Captain America. Further discussion upon debrief. 

Deeper exploration revealed another room with cryo-storage machines. 3 appeared out of use, but 1 was in use. Loki was stopped from neutralizing the subject and aided in transporting (teleporting) her back to Avengers Mansion for further study and possible defrosting. Base was destroyed after collection of subject and data catalogues into Avengers Mansion databases.

Tony rubbed his eyes with a fist and sighed at the final report. They hadn't taken the time to really explore the Siberian base the last time around, which means they hadn't found this woman.

He spent so much time thinking about what happened to her in the future-past. He groaned again, hunching over.

"Alright, FRI, pull up whatever you can from the HYDRA files on young woman with dark hair under the age of 30 and the cryo freezer."

Wordlessly, he pulled up the feed from the basement where the occupied cryo-machine was being kept. He really didn't know what to think, they'd been sure it was going to be Bucky. Tony remembers the devastation in Steve's face when they found this woman instead. At least they were able to destroy the base efficiently.

Luckily, the Siberian base hosted a lot more information of the Winter Soldier program, and it seemed to be one of the the main touch points for the Asset and the associated HYDRA scientists. 

“Found some results, Boss. There were two profiles flagged, one of which is that of a HYDRA recruit and the other is unrelated to HYDRA’s operations.”

FRIDAY pulled up two files side-by-side, “Photo-matching and an assessment of the machine she’s stored in suggest that it is likely the latter.”

The HYDRA operatives profile disappeared, leaving only that of a young woman who couldn’t be older than 25. 

“Her name was Jessica Drew,” she began, the file expanding into multiple files and a contract. “She was born in 1959 in England to geneticists with research pertaining to spiders. She fell sick from Uranium exposure when she was 10, which lead to her father injecting her with an untested serum to immunize her from the Uranium in her blood.”

As she continued to explain, documents and scanned written reports flashed through the screen. They were seemingly pages from a journal of her father. “The serum was seemingly effective, but extremely slow so Jonathan Drew contracted anther scientist who created a genetic accelerator.”

The blueprints for the machine popped on the screen, “It stopped her from aging, but continued to work at a slow rate so Dr. Drew paid upfront for storage and maintenance for at least 50 years. Him and his wife died 20 years later, unfortunately.” 

The contract appeared in front of Tony’s face. He frowned at it for a second, “Wait so, we didn’t find her in 2016 because what? the contract elapsed and they killed her?”

“Dr. Herbert Wyndham joined HYDRA’s ranks several years after this contract was signed, which is what lead to her presence in Siberia. I cannot presume what they planned to do should the contract elapse, Boss.”

Tony grunted, “Did they even check if she’s okay?”

“Reports suggest that once Dr. Wyndham joined HYDRA he did not maintain routine checks on Ms. Drew.”

Tony groaned, head thumping onto the lab table. “Get Bruce in here and pull up the notes Dr.’s Drew and Wyndham made on the checks.”