The First Steps Of Worse
While Steve, Sam and Darcy were gone, the other team members, apart from Thor and Jane, went back to the property. They went during the day to make sure that they could see if anything came flying towards them. After they set up base camp for the umpteenth time, they split into groups. Bucky, Natasha and Rhodey went into the house as Tony, Clint and Happy walked the grounds.
"This is Natasha with Bucky and Rhodey. And we are back at the Pierce property", she said with a bored expression, "Again..." Bucky and Rhodey just shook their heads and didn't say anything. "Honestly, I feel like we need to split up to really cover the whole house", Natasha then said. Bucky and Rhodey looked at each other with wide eyes. "Yeah, ok", Bucky said sarcastically. Natasha nodded and then went off to the basement.
"I guess we should head upstairs", Rhodey said as he indicated the staircase. "Yeah", Bucky said hesitantly. Both men stayed close to each other. "Ok, so... I know that it's daytime. But this is creepy as fuck", Rhodey said. "I'm right there with you, brother", Bucky responded. They then split up to look around the second floor. Bucky had entered the master bedroom as Rhodey passed a row of bookcases. Just as he passed, a door on the other side opened.
"Right...", Rhodey murmured. He opened the door wider and saw another staircase. Rhodey quickly looked around before he decided to start climbing them. Once he got to the top of the stairs, Rhodey realized that he was in the attic. He didn't really see anything out of the ordinary and was about to go back downstairs until something caught his eye. Stepping closer to it, Rhodey saw that it was a portrait of Darcilyn in a wedding dress.
"Holy shit", he murmured. "Beautiful, isn't she?", a gruff voice said behind him. Rhodey immediately turned around to be face to face with Rumlow. He tried to jump back, but Rumlow grabbed his shirt and threw him through the window. Rhodey tried to scream, but couldn't as he hit the ground below.
"Platypus!", Tony said as he saw the entire thing. Immediately calling everyone on the radio, Tony ran over to Rhodey. "Rhodey! Rhodey!", he practically screamed. "Tony... I can't feel my legs", Rhodey said trying to catch his breath. "Don't worry, platypus. We'll get you out of here", Tony said as everyone started to show up.
"Another one gone", Brock said as he watched the team get Rhodey into a van and leave. "Soon, princess. Soon", he said before walking away from the broken window as the window started to mend itself.