END-GAME

A few minutes prior to Natasha's informing of the landing, Steve was still sitting alone in that room. Only then did Tony manage to find him without raising suspicion to any of the rest, and his opening the door made Steve raise his glance.

“Finally”,murmured Tony in a sigh, “You'd think a jet this small would only have so many rooms..”

Steve didn't comment on that, nor did he greet Tony. Not that Tony would get offended by such lack of action. He wasn't so senseless. He sighed once again, more silent this time as he walked further into the room.

“I'm sorry”,he confessed. “It wasn't really up to me Cap..”

“I know. I know,I just.. what the hell even happened Tony?”

Tony pursed his lips, grimaced as to try and narrate the events that had taken place in a way that would actually make some sense.

“Honestly bud- I got no fucking clue. We were in the middle of a mission,and as soon as we got them cornered their leader started blabbing about Ian. Said she knew him,that they were friends- she even showed Bennet a picture of them together. Told her it was one of our people that had killed him”.

Steve took a deep breath. Just listening was enough, although as Tony had said himself, it barely made any sense. Not that it mattered all that much. Daisy had no idea about his stunt, she had no idea that helping Theo out would mean more than just trouble at that point.

“She went nuts.. Punched three walls to dust”,he whispered.

Steve closed his eyelids closely. He had noticed how both her hands were bandaged, but didn't think it was anything out of the ordinary for her.

“It's too risky for her to be here, with me”.

“Think Fury's gonna help on this one? We've gone completely rogue,Rogers. Hell- I'll be damned if I knew how the fuck we're gonna get out of this...”

As they both knew, they didn't have the luxury to worry about one thing at a time. There were too many problems gathering up on that pile, and they had to be both quick and cautious. Efficiency was their only option.

“Was this really the only choice?”,asked Tony,a question mostly directed to himself.

“Doesn't matter. You should get that mask back on,Cap. Something tells me this is gonna be a hell of a day we gonna get”.

He grabbed the tossed mask Steve had previously thrown down, and softly placed it by his hands, on the table. His eye gestures were enough. Steve certainly couldn't afford being seen at this point. He carefully placed it around his face, waiting for the system to work as it slowly changed his features again.

“Also- what's with the accent? You already got a voice chip”.

“Can't be too careful”,he simply stated, no color whatsoever in his voice.

Tony motioned his brows. He didn't say anything else, but only stopped by the door; they had realized the loss of altitude, thinking it was time to get ready. He opened it, yet stood there frozen for a few seconds.

“I really hope this works out for the best here, Steve”.

After that,he got out,closing the door behind him. Steve took a deep breath. He stood up slowly, his body suddenly too heavy for him to work his way through.

“So do I..”,he whispered in a low voice.

Tony had found himself wondering about both his loyalty and his consciousness quite a lot these days. More often than he cared to admit,surely enough. As Natasha had noted to Theo upon visiting her apartment the first time- she wasn't the only one Steve had left behind.

And, despite keeping appearances, Tony had to admit – if only to himself, that he was feeling rather lonely.

“You brought your good suit for this one Tony?”

“What? Do they come out in Gucci or something?”

Natasha and Theo's voices came out somewhat loud and a tad muffled, since the wind coming from the opened door was rather sharp. They were both fixing their parachutes, and Tony turned around to arch an eyebrow. In a matter of seconds, both the teams were there.

“Actually I'm more of an Armani kind of man, Bennet”.

“Good to know. 'll make sure we bury you in one”.

Tony's mouth formed a big 'o' at that comment of hers. Looking nothing more than purely offended, he was still starring at her, awaiting for at least an apology. But Theo merely smiled, her dimples showing.

“What do you think Bennet?”,Naveen asked, his glance wondering down. “We got this one?”

Theo's eyes fell down as well. The bullets wouldn't stop firing, a constant buzz through the air making it next to impossible to hear without an earpiece on. Cars were turned upside down in order to serve as cover for the opposing teams, while civilians were still running up and down, trying to not get caught in the crossfire.

“We've had worse..”,sighed Theo.

She exchanged a look with Natasha, and with a motion of both their shoulders, they jumped down. Soon, Marcus and Naveen followed, Marcus joking about something as they jumped, forcing Naveen to crack up.

Pietro was still trying to make sense of how the parachute worked, to which Wanda rolled her eyes. She motioned her fingers from afar, simply giving him a push down, making sure he'd be covered by the red mass as to not fall down to his death.

Pietro's yells echoed as a rather loud curse escaped his lips, making Wanda chuckle; Peter looked at Pietro,still falling, with uncertainty in his eyes.

“Y'know, sometimes you can get really mean”.

“Only way for a girl to survive,Peter”,said Wanda in a soft smile.

His lips were pursed,eyebrows upwards. Wanda's eyes glowed red as she slowly jumped down; Peter himself sighed,did something which almost seemed as crossing his heart- and jumped as well.

“Perhaps you should sit this one out”,Bucky suggested as soon as anyone not knowing of the situation got out the jet.

“Little too late for that, Sabrina”,Tony noted. “It'll look suspicious, if not to Theo then certainly to Romanoff”.

Steve tightened the straps of his parachute,taking a few steps ahead. Tony, Bucky and Sam were all left watching him, waiting for a response of some sort. Any word at all, although they couldn't exactly push it, all things considered.

“Let's just get this over with”,said Steve,his face stiff and muscles tight.

He jumped before anyone could say anything else. Tony nodded to himself, forcing a grimace upon his face. He turned around momentarily, as to share a look with Bucky, to which Sam replied by looking rather lost.

“Are we gonna die?”,asked Sam, a certain amount of seriousness in his voice.

Tony pursed his lips before smiling – although it seemed quite fake, “Well, my feathered fella- if Bennet finds out, death's gonna be the least of our troubles”,he huffed.

His helmet slowly closed off around his face; he walked backwards before falling down, his repulsors starting off after a certain amount of altitude. Bucky simply shook his head, muttering something Sam did not understand. He fell down – not wearing nor needing a parachute.

“Right. So,we are”,he exhaled,some disbelief in his voice.

Theo had found refuge behind some debris. Sitting down, her back against the stone, she took a few breaths. She tossed her used pistol, seeing how it was already out of ammo, and grabbed her second one, kept inside a strap around her ankle.

As soon as she attempted to turn around and take a look and an estimate of the situation, a blast forced her to jump behind, landing on her back. She let out a deep groan,supporting her body's weight on her elbows.

“Oops”,Tony's voice sounded through the intercom. “My bad”.

“You idiot”,she spelled out,obviously furious.

She attempted standing up, her knees bent as to first make sure the field was clear. It was still quite the havoc though; Theo grabbed her pistol, making sure it was loaded.

“Sorry,Sorry. That one was on me”.

“No shit”,said Theo sarcastically.

“C'me on fellas. Have some finesse, will ya?”,Daisy was heard through the intercom.

She tilted her head all so slightly, her eye catching a certain person in the far behind. Theo started shooting, hitting his right shoulder and left thigh- enough for him to fall down, but not die, as was the mission presumably,she thought.

Before she could turn to shoot anyone else, a knife was thrown at her- which she managed to catch right before it could hit her ear. She looked at the woman who had thrown it, gave her quite the offended look. Her face was covered by a dark hood and a mask, leaving most her figures hidden.

“Thought you people were into guns”,commented Theo.

“So stereotypical”,the woman sighed,her Slavic accent obvious.

Theo grimaced as she nodded. She swirled the knife around her fingers, thinking that she could play by the game's rules quite alright. She threw it, started running as soon as it escaped her grasp.

The woman managed to dodge, but while she was busy doing that Theo had come too close. She kicked her stomach, forcing her to take quite the few steps back,almost falling down. The woman took a few deep breaths, tightening her fists. Before long, it turned into a close range attack, everything allowed.

The unknown woman managed to land quite the few punchs, one after the other. Theo's head was thrown behind all those times, but after the fourth one, she caught her fist in her palm. Theo smiled all so slightly, blood dripping from both her nose and mouth.

“Shit, that's exactly what I needed”,she huffed out.

The woman tilted her head a little, very much confused over that comment. But Theo thought this had been the first time after a long while when she felt alive. She never particularly like violence, but she had to admit- it was the best way to let go. And she was far too angry, far too frustrated and heartbroken by now. Enough to make sure each punch, each kick and lock was covered in all those emotions.

Sam was flying over, making sure there was a perimeter set. Tony on the other hand had chosen to stay down, raise a few shields and blast anyone he could. Thing was, it was already getting out of hand. Too many guns, too many angry people shooting. They didn't seem to care about the consequences at all.

“Yo- does she look angrier? Yeah, she kinda does, doesn't she?”

“Get back to work Parker”,Pietro rushed his words in a breath giving out all his exhaustion as he stopped by him.

He only stopped by due to some curiosity as to take a look at both Theo and the masked woman. Truth was, after her crying session – the emotionally raw outburst she had had back in the jet while flying to Belgrade, was still lingering on Peter's mind.

He couldn't help but feel just a tad responsible over her. Not that he could actually do anything to help her ,as things were – and as they were, Peter had no idea what had happened – but he could at least keep his eyes open for her.

As Peter had noted, Theo surely looked very angry. Her every movement emitted hatred, as if each hit was meant to kill. Still, it was quite the spectacle. One Pietro always enjoyed watching, even from afar.

But, he was tired. Pietro felt nothing but exhaustion, not only physically. Lately it seemed like he'd been looking for ways to make his life messier. His sudden interest on her alone was enough to give him that idea. He was confused, but his eyes still couldn't leave her.

But, he had a job to do, as he had just told Peter. This thought forced him to keep moving, and to take small notice on that British man he'd never seen before, suddenly on Bucky and Sam's team, who seemed to be starring at Theo quite a lot.

“You didn't get too rusted,guys. Did you?”,Natasha's voice echoed through the intercom. “This is an arrest; not Disneyland”.

“Yeah, thanks for the kind reminder Romanoff”,Tony shrugged.

Theo had her arm around the same woman's neck, locking her from behind. Her breath cut short since she had quickly realized that this particular person was quite the fighter. The woman elbowed Theo on the ribs, forcing her to fall back and groan in pain, although she managed to grab her mask right before she escaped her grip.

And as her hood fell down and her features came to light, Theo's eyebrows got knitted together. For a moment she stood there watching her. She'd seen her face before; most recent image being a few hours ago.

“What the hell are you doing here?”,she yelled in a harsh voice.

“What's wrong?”,Naveen asked through the intercom, his tone concerned.

“That's.. That's Kira. Nikolaevna- she was in Macao...”

“Hm? You know her Bennet?”,Daisy asked from behind her screens, quite confused as to the connection.

“..Yeah, you could say that”.

Kira motioned her brows. “So much for going undercover”,she mumbled.

But Theo still didn't have her answer. Soon enough, sirens started echoing throughout the roads. Most of the people who were shooting began yelling, ready to flee. Tony and Sam had managed to put down quite a lot on their end- Steve with Bucky as well.

Pietro had cut down the damage, and Peter was helping anywhere he could, while Marcus and Naveen had taken on anyone left on foot. Wanda was trying to hold everyone down with a red mass covering them like chains down to the road while the policemen were coming in.

Theo was about to go Kira's way, ready to ask any question,beat it out of her if she should. But the man she knew to be Brett appeared out of nowhere. He engaged on a close range combat with her, his attacks in perfect alignment with hers. This forced Theo to stop and watch, for some reason, as something seemed odd to her.

Favoring his kicks, he quickly managed to push Kira back, giving her quite the hard time to adapt- both in manners of speed and force. He wasn't being violent though; he was methodical. Clean movements, efficiently executed.

Theo wasn't doing it intentionally, but she couldn't help observing them- both Steve and Kira. Although she was very ferocious, as a woman her caliber ought to be, Brett – as she knew him, was barely fazed by her. If anything else, he looked as if he was even pulling his punches. Each hit she'd make, didn't even seem to be hurting him as much as it should. Like he was much stronger than he looked, inhumanly so.

As soon as Pietro thought no civilians were in place any longer, he joined in. Along with Wanda and Tony they made sure they made an arrest,along with the help of the Belgrade state police. Everyone else joined Theo,looking at Kira and Steve.

“Hey- isn't she on the killing dudes squad?”,Peter mumbled, scratching the back of his head as he watched from afar.

“Hm? Ah.. yeah, hol' up”,Marcus rushed his words, “What th' hell 's she doin' here?”

“Fuck this”,Theo huffed out.

She rushed there, only to fight alongside him. She'd already lost Kira back in Macao; she'd make sure they'd at least catch her here. Besides, her being there in the first place was unbelievably odd to her.

“Romanoff- a little help, if you may”,Tony hummed to her.

“Yeah- yeah,i'm coming..”,she mumbled, though her eyes remained stuck on Theo and that man.

Just like Theo, Natasha couldn't shake that certain idea off her mind, that this scene looked awfully familiar. Nevertheless, the mess was quite big, and so she joined Tony along with most the others.

Theo and Steve were in complete harmony with one another.

So much, that Kira found it hard to keep up. Steve kicked her down, forced her to land quite far with her back. Quickly, and as Kira was standing up, as if they had talked about it without words, Theo started running right past him.

He pulled a knife from his ankle's strap, and threw it upwards, made sure it had quite the right angle. Theo jumped up, caught the knife and had Kira not been quick to act, she'd have a hole in her shoulder right now.

Steve ran back to her, this time Peter and Naveen joining as well. Peter threw his webs, trying to contain her movements as much as he could. Surely enough, Kira was in a rough position. She managed to get out two daggers, cut through the webs stuck on her leg and quickly went to kick Peter on the stomach.

He was tossed back, grazed the cement with his back as he groaned in pain. Now it was just Naveen, Steve and Theo.

“Any idea why she's here Bennet?”,he managed to ask right before getting punched on the jaw.

“Does it look like I do?”,she shouted.

Just then Kira saw an opening; she used her fist to give Theo quite the hit on the cheekbone, and as her body was forced to turn, Kira kicked her down. Theo let out a huff,along with a muffled exclamation. It had hurt quite the bit, if she was to say so herself.

Steve elbowed Kira, and before she could act, forced her down. He used both fists together to hit her sternum, and Kira groaned as she soon – after a few more hits- looked as if she had lost consciousness.

“At last..”,he sighed.

Theo stood up groaning a little. Soon enough everyone else joined them, with Natasha heading towards Theo. She wiped some blood off the corners of her mouth, slowly and hesitantly touched some grazes on her cheekbones; she took her fingers away, as it stung.

“Hey- you alright?”,Natasha asked.

“Yeah.. I'll live”.

“Look, Theo.. I think there's somethin-”

“Yes”,she stated in a harsh tone. “Yes,there fucking is”.

Theo formed fists with her hands as she walked down the road. Her eyes were sharp, her jaw completely clenched. Natasha didn't know what exactly she thought about doing, but she wasn't as foolish as to try and stop her.

The shield was thrown down,a little over Sam's feet. He had been talking to Bucky about something, seemingly between serious and joking,on his way to lift up the shield himself.

Theo kicked down,strongly enough to force the shield to get up and on her grip.

“What the hell are you-”

It happened all too fast. Before Sam could finish, Theo curved her waist; she twisted her entire body as she jumped and swirled in the air to throw the shield with all her power.

The shield was thrown with great impetus, as it cut the air while going on a straight line. Before any of them could grasp what she had done, Steve raised his glance.

It was only out of pure habit, motions he would make without putting even a bit of thought into.

He caught the shield with his hand, it's force making him get back by a couple of steps.

As soon as he did that, his eyes got up,landed right on Theo's. Her teeth seemed grunted, despite her mouth completely shut. Her fists still tight and her chin raised. Steve's lips parted.

“Wait-”

Bucky tried to put an arm on her shoulder, but Theo caught it, twisted it and kicked him right on the chest. Bucky fell down,quite the few feet away,grazed the pavement with his back as he groaned in pain.

Acting as if there was no one there, Theo walked in heavy steps towards Steve. She had to make sure she was completely certain before accusing anyone. Before allowing herself to fall down yet another hole.

“Wait, it's not as it-”

Steve didn't have the time to finish speaking. She kicked his stomach, then turned her body to kick his ribs repeatedly. He wasn't attacking, he wasn't even trying- he merely raised his arm as for a rather poor defense system.

This only made Theo angrier.

Naveen caught Marcus' arm,going in between him and Pietro,with Peter right next to him,seeming as if he was too focused on what was going on.

“Theo what the fuck are you doing?”,Daisy shouted. “Stop this at once- what the hell is going on?”

But Theo's response was to get the earpiece out and crush it in her palm. Daisy fell back on her chair. Surely enough, if Theo had caught up on something, it would be quite catastrophic as of now.

“Since when can she fight like that?”,Naveed huffed out.

He asked that question right when Theo used her body to lift Steve entirely, pulling him from the upper arm as she turned her whole body all the way, and threw him on his back.

“Sinc' always”.

“Man, she's gonna kill him, isn't she?”

“Ya. I think so”,Pietro nodded,not doing anything else as to stop them.

“Who the fuck are you?”,she demanded to know, no room left for questions or formalities of any sort.

Steve wouldn't speak a single word; he could feel his entire world crumbling under his feet. He'd prefer to get shot right there and now. He'd prefer if she was to beat him to a pulp. Anything but her reaching the conclusion of what is the truth like that.

Theo tightened her fists. Marcus raised his back, forced the men next to him to take a step behind. Naveen took a good look at him; he could swear this was the first time in their joined career he had seen Marcus so damned serious. If not scared.

“Hey- Pietro, man?”

“Yeah Parker”.

“I don't know what's goin' on but my gut feels funny”.

“Yeah..”,he shrugged, “Mine too...”

Wanda and Sam helped Bucky stand up. He seemed quite beaten, as he placed his arm around Sam just to straighten his leg. He groaned, took a rather deep breath as his eyes remained stuck on both Theo and Steve.

“This is it- ain't it?”

But Bucky didn't respond to Sam's question. It wasn't even a question at that point- more like a rhetorical statement. Wanda looked especially concerned. After making sure Bucky could stand on his own, she quickly rushed over to Natasha. This all seemed like one bad situation after the other. Like it was premeditated.

“You know what this is about. Don't you?”,she asked quietly.

Natasha clenched her jaw. “Just a hunch ,Red”.

Wanda turned her glance over to those two again. Truly enough, no one dared to cut in, no one even thought of getting in between them. Tony in particular was having quite the internal battle.

He was very much aware that something was awfully off, although no one knew exactly what was it. Still, Theo going at Steve like that, even without knowing his true identity was bad enough on it's own.

That was the moment Kira found a loop. She managed to slowly stand up, regain as much power as she could while a dead silence was stated in between Steve and Theo. He was starring at her as much as she was starring back at him.

“I told you”,he said quietly. “I'm Brett”.

Theo made a single step forward. “You move like him”,she almost growled, her voice gradually growing deeper as she got more furious. “You punch like him. You kick like him. Don't kid me. Who the fuck are you?”

Steve took a deep breath, as to channel some courage. She was many things, but dumb wasn't one of them. Nor was she naive. Had something gotten stuck on her mind- Theo wouldn't stop until she got her answers.

Steve knew that much.

But Theo had had enough by that point. Be it Tony's secrets, Steve's leaving her, Fury's secret missions, her ex-husband's supposed death, his apparent connection to a terrorist group, Kira's sudden appearance and link to both top secret cases – it was all too much for this to be added on the list.

This was the point Kira stood up, a dagger on her arm as she run towards Theo. Theo herself didn't even move at first, causing Steve to flinch, to feel his blood getting awfully cold even at the thought of what was about to happen. He started running as well, hoping he'd make it in time, seeing how Kira was getting very close to her.

“Tee-”,he yelled her name.

At that point, and while her eyes were still glued on his, he noticed traces of those dark thunderbolts in them. In a matter of only one second Theo turned around her entire body. She curved her waist backwards as she raised her leg.

“Stay- the- fuck- out- of- this”,she spelled out through grunted teeth, loud as she could.

Just then, and as her foot was embraced by the dark matter, she kicked Kira right on the stomach. A blast got through, enough to make the pavement shake quite a bit and the entire road to get dyed in a purple shade.

Kira was thrown back, the impetus incredibly strong. She was thrown in great speed, about to crash on a building. Pietro was quick to act, running with all his might only to make sure their most valuable witness wouldn't die a horrific death.

Surely enough, It wasn't his brightest and most thought- through plan. Pietro caught her from behind, though his strength alone wasn't enough to block the attack's impetus. He, along with her, was thrown right inside and through the building's walls, going all the way to pass through two more buildings before Wanda could use her powers on them and stop them.

He had managed to protect Kira enough for her not to die and merely pass out, but he himself wasn't any better. If it wasn't for enhanced durability and strength beyond the simple human lines, Pietro would have died.

As of now however, he simply coughed out blood, his entire body bruised and in tremendous pain. Wanda and Sam both rushed his way, but Theo seemed awfully unfazed as she turned over to Steve again.

Steve had to admit- this complete apathy and lack of sympathy over Pietro's injury had almost frightened him. Surely enough, even with such tremendously shocking news as the ones she had just gotten, Theo couldn't have changed all that much in just two months.

“You better tell me the truth. I won't ask nicely again. Who are you?”

“I'm not who you think I am”.

“Not who i-”,she opened her eyes widely, her eyebrows knitted. “You have got to be shitting me”.

Steve pulled his lips to a thin line. This was it- he could feel it. There was no point in trying to prolong this charade any more at that point. He opened his mouth, but before he could speak Tony appeared out of nowhere, landing right in between them.

“I believe that's enough”.

“Get the fuck away Stark”,she warned him.

“Know what? No, I won't”,he raised his voice at her. “You gonna shoot me down as well? Like Pietro? Then what's next Bennet? Gonna blast away Romanoff too? Each of us one by one till you get what you need? And here I thought they were the fucking terrorists”.

Theo clenched her jaw,pulling he body backwards a little at that remark of his.

Then, all of a sudden, she started chuckling. Pure laughter echoed through her lips as he let her head fall behind.

Natasha was watching from afar, as most the other had gotten to make sure Pietro was alright and getting medical attention. Naveen ,her and Marcus were the only ones there. Bucky standing alone on a distance.

Tony opened his helmet, watching her with one arched eyebrow. “Havin' fun over there?”,he asked sarcastically, some hints of anger in his voice.

Theo took a deep breath, as to cut her chuckle down.

“Yes, actually. Quite a lot”,she said in a low,harsh voice in contrast to her laughing just one second ago. “Tell me, Tony.. Remember what happened the last time you and I got on opposite teams like that?”,she asked quietly.

Tony clenched his jaw. He felt his chest getting tighter, for in all actuality, he did remember.

“There has got to be a better way to solve this. This is childish Stark you know it. The Sokovia Accords are nothing but a leash, you know he's right on this one”.

//

“You're gonna lose this war, Tony”.

“I'm not the one who started it”,he huffed out, trying to dodge any attack coming his way.

“No”,she chuckled bitterly. “You're just the one forcing us to fight our own”.

//

“I knew you were gonna come to your senses, at some point. Nice to know you still believe in the team after all this time, Stark”.

//

“You are not a murderer, Tony. Stop this madness before you do something you're gonna regret!”

//

“You're gonna kill him- Steve! Get the fuck off him!”

Theo went on,kicking Steve off him, right as he had plunged his shield right on Tony's reactor; on his heart. Then, and while he himself was too injured to stand right back up, he stayed there and witnessed Theo attacking Steve.

He witnessed Theo attacking a man she believed in despite everything and anything. Despite being on the same team since the beginning. She managed to put Steve down, forced him to land on his back, and just as she made sure he'd stay that way, and as Tony had finally stood up- she then went ahead and punched him. Enough to force him back down.

“You're both shameless”,she spat out. “Both forcing us to fight our friends. To fight on a war noone wanted in the first place. If you wanna kill each other- be my fucking guests”,she turned to look at both Tony and Steve. “I, am done”.

Tony raised his glance enough to fall on her eyes. Sharp and harsh as they seemed, still glued on him. If the point of her question was just how catastrophic it would eventually be to make a war out of something like that once again, then it was quite well taken.

“It's not one of the same, Theo. This is not happening again”.

“Then”,she huffed out, “move”.

They were starring into each other's eyes for quite the long period of time. It almost felt like hours. Steve wished he could somehow put a stop to this entire thing, but at the same time he feared that saying anything alone would only cause more damage.

“Get out my way Stark”.

Before Tony could close his helmet – as he had bitterly come to the realization that there was only one way out of this, Theo pulled a pistol out her waistline's strap. Tony's eyes widened, and although Natasha was the first one to run, Theo had managed to shoot his suit's joint on his leg.

It wasn't meant to hurt him, as it didn't, but the repeated shots – as she had almost emptied out all her bullets- surely managed to cause a malfunction , as Tony suddenly found it hard to move at all.

Bullets alone wouldn't cause such a thing,of course, seeing how Tony's suit was well advanced. But Theo knew better than to carry normal bullets on that specific pistol. She'd always carry one gun full of vibranium bullets, custom made, straight from Wakanda- a kind gift, offered to her not long ago by T'Challa.

Natasha caught Tony right before he'd fall, as he had now lost all balance.

“Shit-”,he shouted.

Steve was more than just shocked at that point. No, he was utterly stunned by her ability to go beyond reason and loyalty- apparently for the first time in her life, as he thought and knew.

She tossed the gun away, turning as to continue. She started punching Steve, quite mercilessly. He didn't do much to avoid her hits, mostly due to the fact that he was quite aware of just how much he deserved said hits.

“I have been around Fury long enough to know all about his derisory trick shows”,she spelled out,much to his surprise.

Before he could even make the connection, Steve felt a faint electrical shock over his face. The connection made by the nano mask was beginning to faze out,long before he'd realize it.

The masked face was quickly fazed in and out, as the signal had been destroyed. Theo pulled away her fists, now looking at him with a face filled with nothing but betrayal shown in her eyes. Along, obviously, with disgust.

Steve closed his eyelids slowly. He picked the mask and pulled it out, since there was no point anymore. Natasha took a few steps closer, her eyes big as she left Tony behind her,not caring at all as of now.

“Steve?”,she gasped out in a low voice.

Peter was too shocked to even make sounds, although he managed to get his mask off his face, only to make sure his eyes didn't pull any tricks on him.

“Hey- shit. Isn't that..?”,Naveen asked, whispering although quite stunned.

“Yeah..”,Marcus said in a harsh tone. “Yeah,he is”.

Her eyes had began getting watery, although she was too furious, too much of everything and anything – enough for her to know there were no words to even begin and describe how she was feeling – to allow herself and cry in front of him.

“You rotten bastard”,she spat out,through her teeth.

Her voice alone was enough to make something crack inside him. Steve took a deep breath, his eyes just as red as hers were. But before Tony he speak, a red mass pushed his aside, forced him away in quite the distance. Wanda came down, landing with red covering both her eyes and fists. Theo knitted her eyebrows, and Steve though it to be wise to take just one step backwards.

As he noticed, they had become quite the spectacle. The police was trying to hold a perimeter around them, only to force the civilians out as they also made the arrests at the same time.

“Wanda. Please be the better man on this one. My ass is on the line here”,Daisy told her as quietly as possible.

But Wanda didn't seem to mind her. No- Wanda had managed to get quite angry in that time in between Theo's fits of pique from before. The image of her brother's lying body as he was bleeding and coughing was enough. Before anyone could speak, Wanda pushed her arms out.

A red mass cloaked Theo entirely, forcing her against a wall, keeping her there unable to move. One more pushed Steve away.

“Don't do this kid”,Theo almost pleaded, although her tone was still coming out sharp. “Don't force me to fight you”.

“Don't worry”,Wanda said lowly. “You won't”.

Before Theo could realize anything at all, she firstly felt a sharp pain on the back of her head. A loud buzzing from each side of her ears forcing a vortex to form inside her head. And, lastly, a wet spot around her hair, as the blood came dripping down.

Steve was sitting on a chair by the bed they had placed Theo. Daisy and Natasha patched her up pretty well, and now a series of bandages was wrapped around her head. Although Wanda hated to admit it, she hit her quite harder than intended.

Quite a few hours had passed, and given that Steve had realized and figured that she hadn't had a good night's sleep in a while, it looked as if her body was exploiting this passing out in the best way it could. She was in desperate need of rest,either way. Not that it made him feel any better.

He had tucked the nano mask deep inside his pocket, not caring about the after effects of any lost connections since it had a certain case to be folded inside for a reason.

In the entire flight back, he had been by her side,although she was passed out. Tony was supposedly taking care of all questions asked, and every anger fit, even though it was Natasha whom was throwing most of them.

Steve,however, had had enough. He was very certain at this point that indeed, his heart couldn't take it any longer. With Theo seeing his face clearly, and of her husband's death- although all yet to be determined in her mind, Steve figured it was time for this charade to end.

Still, he couldn't make the call. For once in his life, Steve couldn't tell apart the right choice from the wrong one. Would it truly be better to be upfront about everything and anything, resulting to a heartache unlike any other either of them had ever felt- or should he leave once again?

“That's a scary look you got there, Velma”.

Steve raised his eyes,turned all so slightly to look at him. Tony was leaning against the door frame, watching them both from a distance. It could have been the awfully heavy silence from Steve's part, or the fact that he had known him for over a decade now, but Tony was sure he had an idea about what Steve had been killing his brain with.

“You're gonna tell her. Aren't you?”

“Shouldn't I?”,he asked,his voice slightly raised and quite irritated. “This has all been a mistake, Tony.. I.. I should have known better than to do this. All of this”.

“Yes”,he said. “But.. and humor me on this one, Cap. Are you truly up for what's to come once she finds out the truth?”

Steve didn't reply to that. He needn't do so. Tony could trace all the wrinkles around his face. The slight heaviness of his eyelids, the stiffness spread all over his body. Steve was on the verge of having a breakdown.

“I love her”,he muttered.

“I know”.

“How could I do this to her...”

Tony took a deep breath. The responsibility he felt upon his shoulder seemed unreasonable, but also to be expected. Tony had helped him. Tony knew about everything. And yet, despite all his efforts to stop Steve, he wasn't able to do so. And that, was his deepest regret at the moment.

“Morgan said the language thing again the other day,you know”.

Steve raised his eyebrows. A slight,yet short smile appeared on his lips. “She did..didn't she now?”

“Mhm. Yeah, was rather awkward. Dead silence for a minute, Pepper trying not to have a mental breakdown while explaining to her she shouldn't say it.. Still, Bennet here handled it quite nicely, if you ask me”.

Steve felt his chest heavy. A burden he couldn't escape from. A sin he'd have to carry on him throughout his entire life. One he'd never let go of.

“She would have made an amazing mother”,he whispered, although the words barely made it out his mouth.

“Maybe she'll understand”.

“You are many things,Tony. But a liar has never been one of them”.

Tony pulled his lisp to a thin line, taking a deep breath. Surely enough, Theo would not understand. And, as Tony though so himself, how could she? One would need to be unbearably inhuman to do so.

“Then don't tell her, Steve”,he said forcing Steve to raise a set of austere eyes on him. “We'll tell Daisy. She'll cover it up. We'll-”

“We'll lie to her,once again”,he stated.

Tony sighed. “She's not the only one who feels betrayed here, you know”.

Steve turned his head all so slightly, his chins resting upon closed fists. “How's Nat taking it?”

“Very harshly”,he huffed out,humming. “I swear, I'm gonna find bitemarks on me at some point”.

He placed a faint smile upon his lips, but of course it didn't last as long as a second. Too much noise on his mind for him to find the courage and pretend he could pull off something as exhausting as a simple smile.

Tony could understand that much, but he still tried either way.

“Want me to speak to the others? Prepare the soil, or something?”,he then asked. “Romanoff 's gonna kick your ass pretty damned bad though. Two times' worth of shit. Will be quite the spectacle, if you ask me. I'll make some popcorn”.

“Do what you want, Tony”,he simply said, his voice empty. “I don't care about the others as much as I do about her”.

Tony snorted silently. He'd figured that much already. Still, he couldn't compromise Steve's cover merely on a decision poorly made. One made based on a rough, purely emotional state of him watching her while she was passed out. It would have been gravely irresponsible, even for Tony.

“Figure your shit out first, Cap. Then, we can talk”.

He said that, surely not expecting an answer as he left the room. Steve crouched his body a little, letting out a big huff of air. He leaned towards her, gently brushing some hair off her face.

It surely seemed like centuries had passed since the last time he had felt her skin against his own. His fingers traced the trails her scar had left on her eye. Slowly, awfully soft touch against her skin. Theo wrinkled her nose, suddenly moving a little.

Steve moved his arm, but he didn't flinch, nor did he stand up or anything. Time was closing by, the clock was ticking. He'd either leave while he had the chance- or he'd let her find out the truth. Either way, his guilt would rot him.

Still, he wasn't as heartless. He figured he should at least offer her some space. Some time to at least let her act out. To react on such news, on such realizations. Steve hated leaving that room, upon the moment she was opening her eyes, but he couldn't bear doing this to her anymore.

If she wanted to,and when she was ready, he'd get clear with her. He'd tell her everything she needed to hear. Every detail, everything he had done.

Theo opened her eyes soon enough to catch a glimpse of the door closing.

She quickly got up on the bed, straightening her back. Placing a hand upon the bandages, she felt quite the stingy pain running across her head. Wanda had done quite the number on her.

But then, she froze. It took her a moment to piece all her memories together, but she eventually did. She didn't cry, although she most certainly needed to do as much. She didn't scream, she didn't hit the wall.

Theo was in no position to do anything anymore. She felt small, so much that the room was big enough for her to get lost inside. Both the room,and her mind. She quickly picked up her phone and called a certain person's number.

She didn't take the time to think about it. Nor to calculate her options. She hadn't called him when Steve left, nor any of the times she'd felt like she needed him before.

But Theo couldn't do this anymore. She couldn't do this alone. She lacked both the courage and the strength. She wanted someone by her side, someone who could actually help her. Although she'd hate to admit such a thing, Theo felt nothing but weak. Utterly so.

She listened to the line's beating,one after the other, as if her own pulse was coordinated to it. One part of her hoped he wouldn't pick up, the sole reason being that just a phone call alone would most probably cause her quite the roller coaster of emotions. It was a jump she wasn't so sure she wanted to take; one she was most certainly in no right or clear mind to understand whether it was worth taking at all.

Nevertheless, this other part was hanging from that beating. Was desperately needing for it to stop, and his voice to be heard. A husky, rough voice she'd learn to associate with many things through the past. Theo needed to hear him, to listen to that voice- now more than ever. No matter the consequences.

She began biting her nails, uncontrollably so. Her eyes getting that same old stingy feeling, as she could sense the redness on them. Before long, and causing her blood to go cold- the beating stop.

She could hear the huffed out smirk all across from the other line.

“Missed me Theodora? Or is it that this time you actually murdered someone,and thus need my help? Either way...”

“..I need you”, she simply said, her voice indicating someone too close to break into tears.

As she understood, having lived with him long enough to know, his smirk disappeared rather quickly. He took a deep breath, and for a few moments, he remained silent, probably thinking of what to say to such a thing.

“What happened?”

“Does it really matter?”,she asked, the tears already coming down. She hadn't even realized just how much she was crying by now. Her throat was full,and thus her voice came out low and muffled.

He chuckled a little bitterly, “No. I guess it never has”,he said.

“Matt.. I need you”.

Matt formed a thin line with his lips. He brushed his hair behind, and pulled his glasses off his face. For a moment, he was merely rubbing his eyes as to calm his mind a little over her sounding so utterly messed up.

“Theo...”

“I don't care if Maya's got a problem with this. I don't fucking care if-”

“Maya's gone,Theo”,his strict tone interrupted her maddening shouts.

Theo closed her mouth. She tried swallowing down, but her throat was too swollen, too dry for her to do so. Matt sighed, almost regretting getting Maya into this conversation, at least as long as it involved Theo.

“I told you i'd always be a phone call away. I … just never thought you'd actually call”.

“Will you come?”,she asked, her voice coming out weak.

“I'll always come to you”,he said quietly. “Where are you?”

“Belgrade”.

Matt's lips opened a little, and for a while he did not speak at all. He put his hand out,making sure there was a chair behind him, and sat down. Theo licked her lips, as the dryness was preventing her from forming words.

“I know it falls a little far from Hell's Kitchen-”

“I'm coming. Give me an address, Theo. I'll be there tomorrow morning”.

She managed to form a smile, though it did not last all that long. Closing her eyelids, she cursed herself silently. Bringing Matt into this would cause a mayhem,she thought. It would end up hurting him as well,possibly. But,unfortunately, Theo couldn't afford to care about anyone else's feelings but her own at the moment.

She had no spare room inside both her mind and chest to care about anything else. All she needed was a familiar face. Some she'd trust enough to keep close. All things considered, she knew Matt cared for her. And this was enough.

“I.. I don't know where we are exactly”,she said,sniffing her nose and taking a breath in. “We're in the middle of a mission, Daisy has-”

“Johnson?”

“Yes”.

“I'll give her a call- I'll ask Foggy to take care off it, don't worry Theo. I got you”.

“I'm sorry”,she then said. “For asking and for..”

Matt chuckled,much to her surprise. “And here I thought I was the blind one, Theo”.

“What..what is that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing”,he smiled, even though she couldn't see it. “I'll come to you. Sit there, and try not to kill anyone till I get to you. Okay?”

“..I.. Okay”.

And just like that, he hung up. Theo was left with the phone still on her ear, unable to even move. Alone in that room, only thing she could do be to cry. There wasn't much to it, as much as there is only so much one can say about heartache.

It is utterly unbearable , but one still has to bear it. Theo cried, and she cried again and again. All she did was sit and cry, and not have a single care about what was to come.