Tactical Retreat
Rhodes didn't make any move to say anything once Stark and Vision were gone. Winter wasn't quite sure if he was expected to have a conversation or not, so he just turned back to watch the fish in the pool. His attention was still on Rhodes, however, there was no way he would be caught without being aware of his surroundings and the people around him.
Rhodes cleared his throat and Winter looked up at him. "What brought you here," Rhodes asked.
Winter studied him, trying to figure out the question. It was obvious Rhodes cared for Stark, much like a familial bond if anything that he had read and seen was to be believed. It wouldn't surprise Winter if within this conversation Rhodes would threaten him if he dared to hurt Stark.
Of course, Winter had no will to harm Stark in any way. "I was watching the team," Winter answered honestly. He did want Rhodes to trust him, especially if he was a close friend of Starks.
"Why?"
"To ensure the safety of Stark."
Rhodes studied Winter, probably attempting to figure out if he was lying. It would be a surprise, if Winter was actually lying, for Rhodes to figure that out. He was a trained assassin, and before he was sent to the Americans he was used as a spy for missions spanning for months.
When he was with the Americans, he sometimes missed being able to have the freedoms that a mission like that gave him. It didn't cross his mind often, seeing as the Americans never let him remember anything. He was still a little sad that the Soviet Union had fallen, he had helped to build it up. There was nothing Winter could do about it now, his new handler was Stark, so he shouldn't concern himself with thoughts about the Motherland. He wasn't truly even Russian, despite how comfortable the Russian language was.
Rhodes sat down on one of the benches. "And why do you care about Tony's safety?" he asked.
"Because he is my handler," Winter asked. Was it really not that obvious? Stark needed to be protected, not only because that was protocol, but because he was the one handler that Winter really wanted.
Rhodes rolled his eyes, Winter obviously didn't answer the way Rhodes had wanted. he had asked. "Why did you choose him to be your handler," he clarified.
"Stark knows how to handle weapons. He was obviously the best choice, an even better choice compared to my past handlers," Winter answered. Those were the reasons he had chosen Stark. What Winter would do if Stark had just sent him away he wasn't quite sure. He felt glad that Stark had agreed to be his handler. It was clear that he wasn't exactly comfortable in the role. He kept expecting Winter to make his own choices all the time and to have opinions and interests. Everything a human has.
While Winter's body was that of a human. It had been a while since he had even considered himself human since he was able to even think for himself. To be honest, Winter was perfectly happy in the situation he currently was in. He saw no need to no longer have a handler, not if that handler was Stark. It did look like that as time went on he would have to expect more people telling him that he didn't need handlers or orders. He didn't technically need them now, but it calmed his mind, and he wasn't keen on not having orders in this world.
Winter wasn't fully human, not in the ways that counted, after all. Hell, he wasn't even sure if he could be physically considered human, with the serum and all. "Why didn't you just choose someone from HYDRA?" he asked.
"Because HYDRA is full of incompetent idiots."
Rhodes nodded. "That they are," he said. It looked like Winter had passed whatever Rhodes was testing him on. Rhodes looked back at the pond. "So," he started, "how are you enjoying it here?" he asked.
Winter shrugged, it was definitely better than anywhere HYDRA had kept him, although there is the Witch. Winter couldn't wait until she was dead, or across the world, that would suit for now. She was a horrible creature that deserved to die in the most painful way possible. It would be so much simpler if Winter could simply just straight up kill her, although that clearly would not go over well with a couple of the other Avengers. Namely his Mission, and maybe the Archer. He wasn't quite sure about that one.
Rhodes nodded and looked over to where Vision and Stark had walked off to. Winter wondered what they were talking about, but figured if he needed to know Stark would tell him. It was nearing the middle of the day, the time when people would normally eat lunch. Winter doubted that Stark had eaten anything before coming outside and if he wasn't reminded he would forget. Or just drink more coffee which was not that good for his body. It would be more useful if Winter actually knew how to prepare food, then he would have to bring Stark out of his workshop and close to the Witch. Winter was almost completely sure that the Witch as using her powers on Tony. More reason to get rid of her faster.
Winter heard footsteps and looked over to see Vision and Stark returning. Stark looked a little troubled but didn't mention anything about what they had talked about. "Anyone up for lunch?" he asked. Winter nodded and Rhodes stood up.
"You're freaking me out Tones. Why are you actually doing better at taking care of yourself suddenly?" he asked. Winter guessed he was joking, although it wasn't one of his strong suits to figure out if people really meant what they were saying.
Unless it was threats, he was very good at finding out if someone was threatening him. And then killing them. Maybe it would be useful for WInter to learn some new things. Seeing as he wasn't trusted by his Mission he doubted he would be able to go out on any missions. Winter was going to have to remain in the compound for a while, might as well make some use of it. With new skills, he may figure out how to be more human.
They all walked back to the compound. No one was outside, although through the windows Winter could see most of the team gathered around the kitchen area. As soon as Winter entered the room he could feel the disapproving glares of both the Witch and his Mission. It would get annoying fast if they decided to do this every time Winter entered a room. He already knew that they didn't like him, they didn't need to glare at him any time they were in the same room.
Stark ignored them and walked over to the fridge, opening it and looking at the food there. He pulled out some containers of leftovers and put them into the microwave. "I'm updating the security," he said. "Don't get angry at me, I just finished refining Friday's sensors and now I need to check and make sure that they're working."
"Aren't the sensors working fine?" the Witch asked with a pout. Winter wanted to cut the expression of her face. It was obviously fake, yet it seemed that his Mission seemed to buy it and turned a worried expression onto Stark.
Stark rolled his eyes. "So far they are, but if they're working better than we have less of a chance of people sneaking in and killing us in our sleep," he said. Was that actually something that Stark was afraid of? Winter would need to do some perimeter checks tonight; make sure that no one can get in.
"Like the Winter Soldier," Barton said from his spot at the table. This was the first time he had actually mentioned anything about Winter. His statement seemed to brighten his Mission and the Witch up considerably.
"Clint is right," his Mission said. "We should be more cautious about the Winter Soldier," he said. The Witch nodded.
"I could also look into his mind and see if he has any plans to hurt us," she purred. Winter stared at her, practically daring her to try. As long as no one restrained him, he was sure he would have a good chance to take down the Witch. His Mission agreed with her, of course, he did.
Wilson frowned. "We need his consent for that," he said. "You can't just violate someone's privacy by reading their minds because you don't like them." Maybe Wilson wasn't such a terrible person after all.
The Witch frowned and looked over at Wilson. "If he doesn't have anything to hide then he won't have a problem with me looking in his mind. Unless he really is planning to kill us all," she said. Please, the only person he was planning on killing was her. Maybe his Mission if he got annoyed enough. She stood up, her magic curling around her hands. "It will only be a glimpse," she said, inching towards Winter.
As the Witch reached for him, Winter grabbed her hands, crushing them together. He wasn't quite breaking her hands yet, but she was coming pretty close. She gasped and the red magic dissipated.
His Mission stood up and seemed to be preparing for a fight. "He's attacking me!" the Witch wailed. Regrettably, Winter could see everyone tensing up. He didn't have enough of an influence to be able to get out unscathed from this confrontation with the Witch. She had too many people who cared for her.
"Let her go," his Mission growled at him. Winter scowled and tightened his grip before flinging the Witch away from him.
"She shouldn't have tried to use her magic on me," he said calmly, smoothing his face into a neutral expression. The Witch rubbed her hands ruefully and looked at Winter.
She looked at his Mission. "He isn't safe to be around," she said. "We should lock him back up." Everyone agreed with her, with the exceptions of Stark, Rhodes, Vision, and Wilson. They seemed to be the only ones who actually understood what was happening. He was a little hurt that Natalia wasn't on his side, but he had shot her multiple times. She might still be upset about that. Winter should probably apologize for that. Maybe then Natalia would actually start talking to him again.
"You went to read his mind without his permission," Wilson tried to reason with them. "Sure, he may have reacted a little harshly, but that's no reason to lock him up!"
"He could have broken my hands!" The Witch cried shrilly. Winter rolled his eyes, he would have but that might have been a little too harsh. He was trying to prevent getting thrown into the cell again, although it seemed like it wouldn't have mattered. He sighed and waited for everyone to stop arguing so he could find out what they were going to do with him.
After roughly thirty minutes of yelling, they seemed to have come to an agreement. "I'm not building that for you now, you're going to have to wait whether you want to or not," Stark growled at his Mission. On second thought, it didn't really look like an agreement, more like no one wanted to argue anymore.
Stark grabbed his arm and dragged Winter towards his wing. Rhodes and Wilson followed. As soon as they reached the wing, exhaustion set onto everyone's shoulders.
"I can't believe him," Wilson said. "Before we went up against the Insight helicarriers, he was going on about how he wouldn't stop at anything to save Winter over there. Now he wants us to build a restrainment chair so that Wanda can look into his mind?"
Oh, so that's what they were talking about. Winter really didn't want to be stuck in another chair, much less with the threat of the Witch entering his mind. It wouldn't end well for anyone. There's no telling what the Witch would do unless the restraints didn't hold. Winter's wish to kill the Witch was growing stronger by the second.
He almost wanted to just go ahead and kill her consequences be damned. Stark groaned. "I know, and he's going to keep pestering me until I make it."
"You should kick them out," Rhodes offered. "They aren't treating you like a team member. At worst you can move back to the Tower or one of your other houses." That would send Stark further from his Mission and the Witch. A much safer option. Winter believed it would be a great idea as long as Stark took him along.
Stark dragged his hand through his hair. "I know, although then they're just going to get angry and probably end up doing something stupid," he said tiredly.
"Then how about we make a tactical retreat and go to the tower for a couple days?" Rhodes offered. That wasn't a bad idea. And it would have the bonus of putting Stark in a more calming environment than the compound. The Avengers really didn't seem to be the best teammates.
"Yeah, you want to come bird guy?" Stark asked, turning to Wilson.
Wilson smiled and shook his head. "I would love to," he said. "But someone needs to make sure that Steve doesn't lose his few brain cells."
Stark chuckled. "Hold the fort while we're gone," he said. He turned to look at Winter. "You got anything you need to grab from your room?" he asked. Winter shook his head. He had forgotten to ask Friday where his weapons had been put, it looked like he was just going to have to wait a bit longer.
"Good luck," Stark said, turning on his heel to head down to the garage. Winter followed after him, although Rhodes stopped for a moment to talk with Wilson. It was a short conversation and Rhodes soon joined them as they continued on.
Instead of choosing the van they had used last time, Stark chose a much nicer looking car. Winter sat in the back, this time nobody leaned their seat back too much. That must be a trait that only Wilson had. They traveled deep into New York and Winter watched as buildings started to grow around them until it was difficult to see the sky. They parked underneath Avengers Tower and headed straight for the elevators.
"Is Pepper here?" Stark asked as they stepped into the elevator.
"She's heading over later today," Friday said. Winter felt a flash of pleasure that Friday was also in the tower. He might still be able to keep tabs on the Witch without having to be in the compound.
The elevator took them up to the penthouse. Once it opened Winter stalked out to check the perimeter. While he knew that Stark had one of the best security in the world, he still needed to check. Stark and Rhodes went straight for the kitchen against the wall. Winter joined them after he was content with what his search had turned up with.
Stark made a cup of coffee and leaned against the counter. "Looks like we have a couple of days of freedom, anyone want to do anything in particular?" he asked.
"We could watch a couple of movies," Rhodes offered. "And not worry about work or disappearing off to your workshop to build something," he added pointedly. Stark frowned although he didn't seem to be that upset about what Rhodes had said.
After it became clear that Rhodes wasn't going to change his mind after the expressions Stark was giving him. Stark sighed. "Fine, I won't work on any of my projects. Although, if we're going to do a movie marathon we need to be properly prepared," he said. Stark quickly drank the rest of his coffee before leading Rhodes and Winter back down to the garage.
"Don't we have everything we need already at the tower?" Rhodes asked as they got back into the car.
"Nope, someone here is missing a couple of the necessities for a proper movie marathon," Stark said.
"You've got to be kidding me."