END-GAME

As Natasha had thought, Bucky wasn't all too happy to see them there. The underground facility they had taken as a safe-house was cold, the humidity of the winter forcing it's way in as it attacked the walls fiercely.

Theo didn't mean for this to be a heartfelt reunion, but she wasn't so cold as to not at least have missed them- Bucky most of all. Although his glances at Natasha were still rather sharp, he put on a much softer expression for Theo.

“Hey kiddo”,whispered Bucky as he gently placed a hand around her. He then tightened the hug, as to let them sit in for a second there.

Theo pulled away after a while, only to take a look at him. Bucky had known her for quite a long time now, and he'd be an awful liar if he was to say he didn't get her at least by a bit. His glance slowly and discretely fell on Steve – although his face completely changed by the nano mask – whose eyes were stuck on the ground.

This was a really cruel twist of fate; Natasha ought to had warned him before hand, at least. Sam on the other hand, with Steve's shield on his back, looked a little embarrassed. Although Bucky would say the word “ashamed” would be more fitting.

“You look...good”,said Theo, and although through a voice weakened down, Bucky could tell she was surprised as she spoke.

Surely enough, not two months ago Bucky had lost his only recently found again best friend. The person growing up with him, the one that helped him out of a brainwashing agency, who went through a war with the rest of his team only to help Bucky.

And so, Theo really just said the first thing she thought of as she saw him. Bucky looked all too good, too refreshed, too calm down and serene ,considering he had just lost the only remaining friend he had from his childhood.

His lips formed a short, nervous smile. Theo motioned her eyebrows; she couldn't afford to deal with anything other than the reason she had flown to Belgrade in the first place. And so, she turned over to Sam, just to be polite.

“That shield as heavy as I remember it to be?”,she attempted a joke.

Sam's lips parted as he scratched his head; he would have expected her to be snarky, or caustic the very least. It came down as a rather pleasant surprise that she wasn't like that. Nonetheless, it didn't make him feel any less guilty.

“Nah. It's light as a feather”.

“Each feather on your back weights 20 pounds”,she commented.

She was quick to turn over to Daisy, only to get this over with. She did notice a third man in the shadows, keeping a notable distance between himself and everyone else. Tony had been starring at him for quite a while, but Theo couldn't care enough to take notice.

“I need your help Daisy”.

“What for? You people do realize we're in the middle of something here- don't you?”

But Theo's face didn't change, she didn't falter at all. If anything else, she looked as tired as she did the second she stormed inside, and much more than any time before. Daisy was aware of Steve's stunt, although she did not know any of the details – Fury's orders regarding confidentiality.

She had to admit though- if there was anyone that hated being lied to so shamelessly , this would have to be Daisy. It felt unfair, incredibly atrocious to put Theo in the same room as Steve while she believed him to be long gone.

“It's important. And.. it involves you going behind Fury's back”,stated Theo,wishing to be as upfront and honest as possible.

Daisy pulled her body behind a little as heard the second part. To go behind Fury's back was a place she'd draw a line to. Usually.

“Why?”

Theo arched an eyebrow; she wouldn't expect it to be as easy as it seemed. “I need to know if he fucked me over- or not. Because if he did, Daisy, I swear not even you will be able to hold me back”.

Her words were all pressed out,emphasized down to the point. Daisy's lips parted; if she knew anything about Nick Fury,this would be that there were no lines he wouldn't cross to make ends meet.

Daisy bit her lower lip. Despite her loyalty to him, she didn't have the heart to not help Theo. There was still a chance Fury hadn't done anything. The scale was leaning on both sides, and they both resulted on it breaking in the end.

“What do you think he did?”

Theo's lips curved downwards; her eyes narrowed all so slightly, enough to force a few wrinkles under them.

“He ordered a hit on my husband”.

This sentence, this arrangement of words coming out her mouth forced Steve's heart to almost stop working. Bucky's glance turned to meet Steve's, but his eyes were almost blankly white.

If she had managed to find out that in such little time, then there was no guarantee his secret would remain hidden for much longer. This would go against all his efforts to spare her heart some ache, all his soul-breaking endeavors to make amends.

Steve eyed Tony, as if to mentally asked him what exactly had happened. As if to find some consolation, to get reassurance that not everything had gone to waste. But Tony's expression wasn't all so promising, as he could tell.

Bucky understood that much, and although Sam didn't know what had happened exactly, he could read the room. Only Daisy had remained excluded from that eye-communication circle. Daisy had her own struggle to overcome.

“That's quite the accusation,Theo”,noted Daisy,her voice low.

“Will you help me?”,Theo repeated, her lips stiff.

Daisy remained silent for a good few seconds; she had no choice but to fear for the worst possible outcome. She was torn; if she was to help Theo, then chances were the entire agency would get a tremendous hit,quite similar to the Avengers' Civil War, all these years back- if not worse.

Daissy huffed out some air, “Our mission is a priority”,she said. “And what you want me to do isn't easy. All protocols changed after Thanos' last battle. I'll have to be smart about it, orelse it's my ass that'll get burned here”.

Theo tilted her head all so slightly. She pulled her lips to a faint half smile, although it did not last all that long on her face. As long as she could trust Daisy with this, she could rest assured. But then again, Theo did not trust most people nowadays.

Suddenly,and before she could at least thank Daisy, they were interrupted by a beeping noise, one resembling an attack alarm. Daisy run her way until she almost jumped on her seat, rolling into her place by the computers' screens.

The entire background frame was glowing red,and after she typed something, a footage came to be seen. She enhanced it only to get a glimpse of an attack,of a group of people pulling out guns on each other right in the middle of a high traffic road.

“Shit”,exhaled Daisy.

“What's wrong?”,asked Sam worried as he rushed to the screen.

Daisy motioned her eyebrows,scratched the back of her head, not sure where to begin in this one. Bucky patted Steve's shoulder, indicating they couldn't afford to sit around anymore, nor to deal with anything else going on. Steve nodded,his face stiff as they began gearing up.

“Seems like the guns deal went to hell”,Daisy mumbled, “The Russian and the Asians are a nasty combination when it comes to deals going bad, fellas”.

“Are we to engage?”,asked Sam cautiously.

Daisy motioned her lips. Hell if she knew,she thought to herself. The same footage appeared on every screen,all from different medias and angles,as to show a more spherical image of what was going down.

Esme hadn't shown herself, nor would she care enough to do so – Daisy figured. And yet, these two groups were raging in the middle of the high road, having closed off the entire traffic, shooting at each other. If Daisy was to not give an order, things would go south pretty soon. There would be tremendous losses.

“Go”,said Daisy.

Sam nodded as Bucky and Steve had just prepared themselves to go out. They all shared a look, but before they could go out,Daisy's words stopped them.

“You better get ready as well”,she hummed.

“Excuse me?”,asked Natasha in an arched eyebrow.

“You heard me,lil' widow. You barged in asking for help, I told you this mission is a priority. If you get there, we'll be able to wrap this much sooner. So.. chop chop,'Tasha”.

Natasha sighed as she crossed her arms. They hadn't even had the time to at least rest a little. Not a power nap, not anything. She could still feel a stinging soreness all over her body from their last fight. Tony had hoped this trip would be fruitless.

He had hoped- he had wished that Daisy would not find anything. That they would not stay in Belgrade any longer, for the longer they stayed, the more chances something would go wrong. Notifying Fury had crossed his mind as well; it would get really messy,really soon, but at least Steve would be on the clear- and Theo too.

“Fine”,said Theo. “We'll go. And you'll help me then. Right?”

Daisy's lips curved to form a sly smile as she leaned back on her chair. “A smart woman never backs out from a deal, Bennet “.

Theo arched her eyebrows, but she soon figured she lacked the courage to humor Daisy. The crying and the storming she managed to get out of her when in the jet with Peter had helped quite a lot, only by the means that meant she had began realizing there might be an end to this.

She truly hadn't come to the actual realization just yet- she refused to do so, but the thought that she may come to get a closure helped a little. She just wished she wouldn't get to it, as much as it made no sense at all, for it also did.

“Just make sure you won't make too much noise”,Bucky noted as he placed his daggers in his belt.

“Yeah, we really don't wanna compromise this entire thing. Our asses will be on fire if Fury or Hill find out we messed up this one. Esme won't be there, that's sure. So, just bust in as many as you can”,Daisy admitted.

Theo pulled her lips to a thin line, and although her eyebrows knitted, she looked at Natasha with eyes tired and just a little distressed. Natasha motioned her eyes,as to communicate with her, only to agree with Theo's emotions over this.

Tony hadn't had a chance to speak with Steve just yet, as they both shared a same thought: they feared that if Steve was to even cough, Theo might catch up onto something. They just couldn't risk anything.

But with all of them so caught up on their own thoughts, Wanda was left with her own ones. With the images Emma had sent to her mind, pictures played out like a faded cassette coming from an old age. Memories distant yet close, something hers but also strange.

As if they were lived by another version of her. A feeling of deep nostalgia,like she was missing something she never knew to even have in the first place.

Wanda was torn over these thoughts, but if she had to be honest about it, she was afraid to share them.

“I really doubt we're getting payed enough for this. Are we?”,murmured Peter as he turned to Pietro.

Pietro in return held a blank expression,only to show how annoyed he felt at that time,all things considered.

“We're not”,he simply said.