Tyler O'Brien and Peter Parker excitedly bounce into the Avengers Headquarters after school. They enter the kitchen with wide smiles as they see Hecate nursing a cup of coffee as she paces. Tyler's excited expression falls as she observes her mentor.
"Cattie?"
Hecate turns to them with a smile, "Hey, kids, how was school?"
"Yeah, it was good. We have loads of makeup work to do from when we went to Berlin." Peter informs with a chuckle as he grabs a cookie from the cooling rack.
"Well, you're welcome to work on it before we start practicing." Hecate smiles before twisting her hands together.
Tyler observes her further, "Cate, where's Mr. Stark?"
Hecate lets out what sounds like a snort, "That's the thing, we have no idea. We just know that he went after James and Steve. That little red witch put a cloak over them."
Tyler tries not to laugh at the goddess' obvious dislike for Wanda Maximoff. "You can't get past it?"
"Oh, I can. It's just that it's taking longer than absolutely necessary. Speaking of which." She says as she starts walking out of the kitchen and into Tony's personal lab. The teens rush after her. They enter to see a hologram that is a mixture of technology and green magic.
"Whoa." Tyler and Peter approach the table with awe-like expressions. Hecate looks at them with a small smirk, the smirk is immediately replaced with a determined link when something pings. The trio look over and see a blinking "Location Found" notification for somewhere in Siberia.
Hecate runs off from the table and out of the lab. "Cate, where are you going?" Tyler yells as they run after her.
Hecate is at a closet that's filled with winter clothes and she is throwing a heavy jacket on and some gloves. She is grabbing a slightly bigger version of both clothing items. "Wait here until I get back. Won't be long, okay?"
"But where are you going?" Peter asks.
"I'm going to get Tony and I'll bring him back here. I'll need help getting him to the medbay. I'd bring him straight there but he'll want to see the two of you and I'm sure you two feel the same way." The two nod in agreement and the witch gives them hugs before vanishing.
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Hecate reappears just outside the bunker we saw during the fight in the Civil War. She rushes through the whole facility and towards the opening to see Bucky's arm that had been blown off. "Buck-" She is cut off when she hears a broken groan that is coming from a little further down from her. She takes off in that direction, barely even sparring a glance at the broken shield on the floor. Tony lets out a small cry when he sees her running. "Tony!" She calls and squat in front of him.
"Cattie..." He grunts out, barely able to breathe.
She looked him up and down, letting out a strangled whimper as she sees the blood and the damage on his arc reactor. "Anthony, what happened? Who happened?"
Tony gives a slight shake of his head, "Just get me out of here, please." He begs.
Hecate disengages his armor as quickly as possible, careful not to jostle him around too much. and helps into the coat and gloves she brought. He breathes a sigh of relief and leans into her and the coat. "It hearts, Catie." He whimpers, glaring at the shield and blasted off arm.
"What does?"
"My chest, my arm, everything."
Hecate holds him close, wanting to reprimand him but knows he's losing consciousness. "I need to get you to the medbay. You know how my teleportation works and how it feels."
Tony weakly nods his head and clenches up as she helps him off of the cold floor and they vanish in a puff of green smoke.
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Back at the Avenger Compound, Tyler and Peter are waiting with bated breath for their mentors to return.
"How bad do you think it is?" Peter asks.
"I don't think it's too bad or else Cate would've been back a lot quicker." Tyler tries to give some sort of comfort. Peter nods and goes back to just staring at the floor. Tyler sighs, not really knowing what to do to help.
Thankfully, green magic swirls in front of them and then they see Hecate and a severely injured Tony in front of them. Hecate practically throws the torn up Captain America shield away from her. Tyler and Peter run up and Tony looks at them with relieved looks, seeing them unhurt and recovered from the fight. "Hey, kids." He gives them a weak smile.
"Hey, Mr. Stark." They manage to get out before the three of them start shoving Tony towards the medbay.
Later on that day, Tony is in surgery to fix his chest and everything that was broken during the fight. Tyler and Peter go back to their anxious pacing while Hecate is silently fuming. Tyler walks over to Hecate, “What happened?”
“He got his ass kicked.” Hecate almost snaps before letting a breath, “I don’t know. I asked him and he wouldn’t tell me.”
“Is there anyway to find out?” Peter pipes up.
“Yeah, I can ask FRIDAY to show me the fight from his point of view. They’re not going to like it but we need to know.”
Peter hesitates as Tyler nods, “We need to know or else we won’t be able to help.”
The two look over at the still hesitant Peter. Peter considers for a moment before nodding. The group heads into a small room and Hecate calls, “FRIDAY! Show us the helmet footage from the fight.”
“Ms. Cate, I don’t think I will be able to. Boss has blocked it from viewing. He wouldn’t want me to show you or the children.”
“Override his blocking then and trust me, they’ve seen a lot.” Hecate spares the teenagers a glance of something that vaguely resembles sympathy.
FRIDAY lets out what sounds like a sigh before a projection of Steve, Bucky, and Zemo on a television screen pops up.
“I lost everyone. And so will you.” Zemo hisses to the super soldiers and the genius. He plays surveillance footage that features a car driving down a long, deserted road. Steve steps over to the screen. “An empire toppled by its enemies can rise again. But one which crumples from within? That's dead . . . forever.”
The footage becomes closer and clears to the group, signifying Tony approaching the screen. The date shows the “December 16 1991.” “I know that road. What is this?” Tony growls.
Hecate shakes her head when Peter and Tyler look at in confusion. Hecate has a suspiciously blank and calm face.
A motorcycle sounds and you see a metal arm holding a gun, pointed at the car. The arm shoots and the car crashes into a tree. The soldier exits his motorbike and comes closer to the car, Howard Stark lies on the ground closest to the car. He’s crying out for his wife. “Help my wife, please. Help.” He begs. Howard is picked up by hair by the Winter Soldier. His face is completely bloodied as he looks up at him. Howard’s face turns to awe and confusion, “Sergeant Barnes?”
Tony’s breathing gets heavier as we hear Maria calling out, “Howard!” The we see present Bucky’s face watching, looking remorseful. The video returns and Howard is getting his face beaten by a metal arm. After it’s obvious that Howard is dead, the Winter Soldier returns him to his seat. The Winter Soldier then approaches the passenger seat, towards the sobbing Maria. He grips her throat and squeezes. She barely has enough energy to put up a fight before she goes completely lax. The Winter Soldier walks around and shoots the surveillance camera.
Tyler jumps as the shot goes off and lets out a shaky breath. Peter wraps an arm around her and glances at Hecate. She’s covering her face and shaking, though Peter can’t tell if she’s crying or if she’s completely pissed.
Steve watches Tony anxiously. Tony lunges towards Bucky, Steve stops him. “Tony. Tony.”
Tony looks over at Steve. “Did you know?” he asks in a broken voice.
“I didn't know it was him.”
“Don't bullshit me, Steve! Did you know?”
Steve gives him a pleading look before nodding, “Yes.”
Tony steps back, his chin jutting upwards twitchy. Tony reengages the Iron Man helmet. He punches Steve to the floor and deflects gunfire from Bucky, disarming him. he grabs Bucky and flies across the chamber. He slams him onto the floor, then jumps on his arms. Steve's shield hits Iron Man, distracting him. Steve barges him backwards, Iron Man shoulders him to the floor and shackles his ankles. Bucky punches Iron Man who just lifts him and slams him against a machine. Iron Man raises a fist but Bucky twists it. A rocket shoots out of Iron Man's arm, a fireball explodes. Steve slices his shackles as a towering structure of pipework collapses. Tony and Bucky are thrown down a level as twisted metal falls around them, showering sparks.
Steve calls out to Bucky. “Get out of here!”
As Bucky bolts Iron Man fires, but misses. Steve lands in front of him. Bucky hits a control panel and the silo-styled door overhead starts to open.
“It wasn't him, Tony. Hydra had control of his mind!”
“Move!” Tony barks.
“It wasn't him!” Steve pleads. Steve grabs Iron Man's ankle in mid air and smashes it. Iron Man blocks Steve by shooting down rubble, then falteringly flies up the tower.
“Left boot jet failing. Flight systems compromised.” FRIDAY reports.
“Ah crap.”
Above him Bucky leaps from platform to platform. With stuttering jets Iron Man gives chase, then kicks Bucky and takes aim, but the energy bold rebounds off Steve's shield onto himself. Iron Man drops like a stone and lands on a lower platform.
“He's not going to stop. Go.” Steve commands.
As Iron Man soars upwards, Steve leaps and shoots a wire which wraps around Iron Man's neck and drags him back down. He deflects Steve's shield, then tries to target Bucky.
“Come on, come on.” Tony tries.
“Targeting system's knackered, boss.”
“I'm eyeballing it.”
His helmet retracts and he shuts one eye, taking aim at the opening hatch. He fires and hits the giant hinge which explodes, cutting of Bucky's escape route. He flies up, blocks two swings from an iron pipe from Bucky, then grabs him around the neck from behind.
“Do you even remember them?”
Bucky looks him the eyes. “I remember all of them.”
Bucky pushes them both from the walkway, Steve jumps into them to deflect their fall. Bucky lands on a platform while Tony and Steve land on the concrete floor besides opening in the wall where snow drifts in from outside.
“This isn't gonna change what happened.” Steve says, trying to plead with him.
“I don't care. He killed my mom.”
They trade punches and Iron Man ends up pinning Steve down. Bucky picks up Captain America's shield and leaps down to help. As the two super soldiers fist fight with Iron Man the shield changes hands between them until Tony manages to zap Steve who is thrown back into the wall. Bucky struggles to hold Iron Man at bay as he unleashes an energy beam, then he forces Iron Man against the opposite wall and grips the glowing core in the chest of the Iron Man Suit. A blast of energy knocks Bucky down, metal arm completely blown away. Tony zaps him again. Steve rushes him with his shield up and Iron Man fires right at it.
“You can't beat him hand to hand.” FRIDAY shouts.
“Analyse his fight pattern.”
“Scanning! Countermeasures ready.” FRIDAY reports.
Tony grabs Captain America's shield. “Let's kick his ass.”
He flings the shield away then zaps Steve backwards, head over heels. Steve rises and Tony blocks his punches then zaps him to his knees, right in front of Bucky who's lying on his back.
“He's my friend.” Steve says, breathing heavily.
“So was I.” Tony breates. He punches Steve then throws him back towards the gaps in the wall. “Stay down. Final warning.”
Steve struggles to his feet, his face bloody and his gate weary. He raises his fists and stares Iron Man down. ”I can do this all day.”
Iron man raises his left palm ready to fire. Bucky grabs his leg and Tony spins, kicking him in the face. Steve grabs Iron Man and lifts him over his head, then throws him down, punches him and bashes his mask off with his shield before striking down hard on the suit's core.
Off of the hologram, Tyler screams the minute the shield and the core meet. Peter shuts his eyes and wraps his arms around Tyler tighter.
Tony looks horrified and glowers fearfully at Steve who pants for breath. Both have blood spattered across their faces. Steve looks back at Tony then shuts his eyes and slumps down. The shield remains upright, stuck upright in the center of the Iron Man Suit. When Steve struggles up again he takes hold of the shield, gripping the edge and pulling it free. He steps away from Tony who rolls painfully onto his side. Bucky lies bloodied but conscious, Steve reaches out and pulls him to his feet, holding him up as Tony looks on.
“That shield doesn't belong to you.” Steve turns his back. “You don't deserve it. My father made that shield!” Steve stops, raises his chin, then drops the shield and walks away with Bucky's arm around his shoulder.
There’s a beat of silence for a moment as the screen goes black.
“Oh my god.” Tyler breathes as tears stream down her face.
A chair scrapping against the floor breaks the next silence this time and the teens look over. “Hecate, where are you going?”
Hecate doesn’t turn around as she coldly says, “I’m gonna go kill Captain America.”
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Steve stands in front of the now rogue Avengers with a stern look as they all speak with Bucky about his plans to stay in Wakanda.
“Are you sure about this Buck?” Steve asks.
Bucky gives him a small and apologetic smile, “I can’t trust my own mind right now Steve. This is the best option, for me and for everyone else.”
Steve gives an understanding nod.
The group in interrupted by Hecate stomping in and just straight up punching Steve in the face. Bucky shoots up at the sight of the obviously angry goddess and grabs her waist, pulling her back. Hecate continues to escape his grasp anyway.
“Успойкойся, в чем дело?” Bucky whispers in her ear in Russian.
Natasha obviously starts listening to the conversation.
“он чуть не убил Тони.” Hecate hisses back and Natasha whips her head towards Steve, “You did what?”
Bucky quickly lets go of Hecate.
Steve gets back up, cradling his obviously bleeding nose and gives the girls a glare. “What do you mean?”
“She said that you almost killed Tony!” Natasha snaps.
Steve pauses for a moment before turning a glare solely at Hecate, “You didn’t see what he did! Aren’t you wondering why Bucky only has one arm right now?”
“NO, I saw the footage. Which means I know why James got attacked as well. Before you rudely interrupt me and say that it wasn’t actually James, I know that too. So does Tony now. But, hell, how would you feel if the face of who killed your parents was right in front of you. Hecate hisses before turning over to Wanda. “She knows how that feels. Maybe not the same situation but ya know, she just in turn help torture James in retaliation. And she didn’t have to deal with someone she loved being the person that didn’t have the balls to tell her the truth.”
Steve flinches for a moment before meeting Hecate’s cold gaze and ignores the accusations of she’s making towards Wanda, “Are you going to yell at him too? Since you’re all about being fair.”
Hecate scoffs, “We’ll see if I get the chance.”
“Wh-what?” Steve stammers.
“Cap, you nearly killed him and then you left him to freeze, he might not make it out. Don’t know if you realised this but he’s not a damn Super Soldier.”
“Do they-uh, do they think he’ll make it out?” Bucky speaks up out of worry and guilt.
Hecate looks over at him, “They don’t know what the exact outcome will be yet.”
Bucky nods before sitting down.
“Cattie, can we step out into the hall? Or somewhere private?” Steve asks, trying not to let the emotion slip.
Hecate seems to take some sort of pity on him and nods. The two walk into what looks like a conference room that’s a little ways away from where the Rogues are currently.
“Do they really not know if he’ll make it?” Steve asks, emotion getting the better of him.
“They think he will but they don’t know for sure.” Hecate now, instead of looking like a fearsome goddess, looks like a worried best friend. She sighs and rubs her face before looking at Steve, “Look, Stevie, I get why you’re doing what you’re doing, I do. James is your best friend, you’ll do what you can to protect him. But Tony’s my best friend and my family and you are too but you hurt him. I never picked sides before and I’m not completely sure I am now but I gotta do what I can to protect him.”
Steve nods his understanding. “I get it, Cattie, I do. I love Tony too because he’s apart of my family but Bucky is- he’s-“
“Part of your past?”
“Yeah.” He breathes. “And so are you. So the thought of potentially losing either one of you or all of you is killing me. Please, Cattie, just talk to him for me? At least help him forgive Bucky?”
Hecate gives him a soft smile, “He isn’t the one who he needs to forgive. He’s not really upset, you can tell. He was just so angry at that moment and put what you did on top of that? It was too much.” Hecate looks at the sadness in Steve’s eyes. “Write to him, I know you can’t call or see him, but write to him? Okay?”
“I will, thanks.” They let a comfortable silence fall over them before Steve remembers something else that Cate said. “What did you mean when you said that Wanda helped torture Bucky? I know you don’t like her, but I didn’t think you’d go that far?”
“I looked into her time at Hydra, found the connections between her and Bucky. I was suspicious when I saw how he reacted to her magic before so I did some more digging.” Hecate snaps her fingers and a folder is on the table. It has Wanda’s name on it with the Hydra symbol.
Steve takes the folder cautiously, “Thank you. I’ll look at it when it won’t hurt to do so.” He cracks a smile that she returns.
“No problem, Steve. Oh, and the reason I don’t like her? It’s because you all treat her like a child to where she acts like one. She isn’t, she’s an adult who’s made her decisions. She lost her family but she found us, just like the rest of us have. There’s no excuse for being a brat and doing those things.”
“She really is just a-“
Hecate shakes her head, “Steve! She’s in her twenties and has been for a while now. I’ve taught her how to get into control of herself and she doesn’t listen. She’s not a kid. The only one who’s a kid is the spider you dropped an airport hanger on. And the fiery girl who kicked your ass.”
“There’s no way-“
“They’re 15.”
Steve pauses, “How the hell?”
“I’m just as confused as you are.”
Steve lets a stunned laugh. “Damn, I should check them out after all of this is sorted.”
“They’re great kids. You’ll love them.” She says fondly.
Shuri walks by the conference room and gives Hecate a smile before turning a serious look to Steve, “Captain, your friend is ready.”
“Thank you.” He gets up. “Keep me updated on Tony?”
“Keep me updated on James?”
They nod to each other they start to head in opposite directions.
A few days later at the compound, Tony groggily wakes up from his medically induced coma and groans. He looks over to the side and sees Hecate smiling at him as his vision clears.
“Hey.” She says.
Tony smiles weakly back at her, “Hey… what happened?”
“You were an idiot and went after two super soldiers by yourself. And then got your ass handed to you.”
Tony lets out a broken chuckles. “Yeah, I did.” He makes eye contact with her, “You saw the video.”
“Yeah, I did.”
“The kids saw it too?”
“Yeah they did.”
Tony nods before trying to get back up. Hecate lays a cold hand on his shoulder and eases him down. She shakes her head, “Let yourself heal.” She says, giving him a kiss on the forehead and placing the blanket over him. His eyes start to close, “Get some rest.”