Chapter 8
A couple of days had passed since Sam, Steve and Natasha had sat down to analyze the Siberian security videos, and the emotions had been running high on the team ever since.
Sam was still fuming, he was enraged by this whole mess he was in the middle of. Looking back, if someone had told him a year ago that he would be a fugitive with international charges, and that he would be directly involved in the disappearance of one Anthony Stark, he would have laughed at the absurdity of it. But now, the reality of it all haunted him. With each passing day he questioned his motives to stick with this group of people he now found he had not much in common with. He was far from the days where he knew himself to be a hero, and sometimes he couldn't help but wonder what his mother thought of him now. But he told himself he had to keep going, because as much as he hated to admit it, he knew he at least owed that much to Steve, the man that had plucked him from his ordinary life and had put him in the path to become an Avenger.
Natasha for her part was becoming tired of this entire ordeal. She had no other place to go, so the thought of leaving had not really crossed her mind. But she was becoming increasingly weary; exhausted of following a man that seemed lost himself, of trying to find someone that was probing to be almost impossible to track, and sick to the bone of having to put up with a child-woman that put them all in danger with each of her comings and goings.
But above all, she was tired of their squabbles, of the constant arguing with one another, when they all perfectly knew they needed each other to survive this ordeal. So far, she had been keeping a close eye on both Steve and Sam, worried that another confrontation between them could take place. Fortunately, both seemed to have established a silent truce, averting each other as much as they could.
But as it was their luck, the relative calmness they had achieved was shattered that same morning, when a certain redhead had made her reappearance. Wanda had come back knocking on their front door earlier that day, fresh as could be, as if she hadn't abandoned them for a couple of weeks without a word. And just like that, the balance had been broken once again.
Wanda seemed to sense the tense atmosphere in the team, but for once, the woman had had the good grace not to comment on it. So far, no one had told the witch about the videos, but there didn't seem to be any need, after all, Wanda hadn't shown a trace of interest on helping them find Tony so far, and none of the others believed that would change anytime soon.
Putting away his breakfast plates, Sam stood still on the threshold of the kitchen in their small apartment, watching from afar at Steve's barely visible silhouette on the darkened living room, eyes closed in apparent meditation. The man had spent the last two days locked up inside his room, and this was the first Sam had seen of him. He suspected Steve hadn't slept more than a couple of hours the entire time.
Both him and Natasha had started to worry about Steve's behaviour. The man seemed more obsessed than ever to find out what had happened to Tony. He seemed convinced that someone had taken Stark against his will, keeping him in captivity.
Neither Sam nor Natasha were entirely convinced of Steve's theories, but they couldn’t just dismiss the possibility, they all knew Tony had a lot of enemies after all, and with their only evidence a strange glow on a grainy security video, they couldn't discard any options.
That same day Wanda had returned, Steve had seemed to shake off his lethargy and had called them to a meeting, where he had asked them to help him go over a list of Tony’s most prominent enemies. The three had begrudgingly agreed, none of them entirely convinced the task would be fruitful, and after only an hour they had decisted their search. Their records indicated that most of these villains were either dead or imprisoned, leaving the rogues with no real clue as to anyone in particular that could be out for Iron Man's blood.
Refusing to give up, Steve’s next option had been to contact Zemo. This time, Natasha had firmly disagreed, resulting in a heated argument between them. Zemo was being kept in one of Russia's maximum security prisons, and they couldn't risk another international incident, at least not while having so many eyes looking for them, waiting for the slightest error to capture them. But Steve had been unyielding. The only thing the group had managed to make him agree on was that they couldn't contact the terrorist directly.
So, Natasha had come up with an alternative. Zemo's arrest had gone under the radar for most news media, but not for the UN. The organization had kept a close eye on the russian government, making sure the man was subjected to a closely overseen judicial proceeding, therefore, the whole ordeal would be fully documented. With such a high profile case attracting the attention of so many politicians, it greatly minimized the risk of the russian government trying to deal with the terrorist themselves, and forcing them to share their findings with the rest of the world. This represented the perfect opportunity for the rogues to access this information and learn whether the man had been involved in Tony's disappearance or not.
Accessing Zemo's files had been both easier and harder than the rogues had anticipated. The man's proceeding was being overlooked by a lot of people in several governments and organizations alike. It had been a matter of hours for Natasha to find a list of UN delegates and other government representatives that were involved in overseeing the investigation. Accessing the actual files, however, had taken considerably longer.
"I'm done here" said Natasha into her earpiece, putting away her laptop and making sure she was leaving behind no trace of her presence in the office.
Natasha had opted to infiltrate a UN ambassador's office based in New York. The place lacked any sort of high tech security measures, making it the ideal place to gain access to the files.
With deft and swift movements Natasha exited the building without being noticed, making her way to the basement parking lot, where Steve was waiting for her in a small and inconspicuous rental car.
Once back in their hiding place, the rogues had begun the tedious work of meticulously looking at each file Natasha had obtained, in the hopes of discovering whatever useful information they could.
Surprisingly, even Wanda had joined in on the efforts, and throughout their research, the rogues had found the authorities had been at a loss as to how a single man had managed to cause the amount of destruction Zemo had achieved, for he was not only responsible for provoking the bombings where dozens of people had lost their lives, he had also managed to discover one of the best kept secrets of the Kremlin: the location of the Siberian Hydra base and the Winter Soldier program.
That alone had opened a pandora box inside the Russian government, who were currently trying to assess just how deeply Hydra had infiltrated inside their ranks.
“Guys, listen to this” Said Sam suddenly, breaking the silence that reigned in the room.
"What did you find?" asked Steve, putting aside the file he had been studying and stepping closer to the man.
"Zemo admits to having some 'blackmail material in case he needed to turn the public’s opinion against the Avengers', he must be referring to the security cameras he planted on the bunker... Let's see, there’s also a list of Zemo’s associates in here"
"That's good! We could go over that list, see if any of them was involved in Tony's disappearance" said Steve with renewed hope.
"Wait" said Wanda with an uncertain voice "I think I found something else..." clearing her throat, she read what was on her folder "Zemo admits that once he realized he had accomplished what he had set out to do, he had tried to commit suicide, and was only prevented from it by the intervention of the enhanced human known as the Black Panther..."
A heavy silence filled the room, everyone's eyes were on Steve. The man had his jaw tightly clenched, processing what Wanda had said.
"Steve... this means Zemo had no other goal than to turn Tony against you. This... this implies he had no other plan. I don't think he's behind Stark's disappearance at all..." Wanda finished with a pitting voice.
"I... he might be lying. He could have planned this, he might know where Tony is..."
Wanda turned to look at Sam and Natasha with incredulous eyes. She could see the others didn't believe Zemo was behind any of this either, and she couldn't comprehend why Steve couldn't just accept it.
"Steve, Stark is gone, why can't you get over it?" she said with an annoyed huff.
A tense silence filled the room.
"No! I can't jut get over it Wanda! Tony could be out there, he could be in trouble, he-"
"He's dead Steve!" she said with an exasperated voice. She was getting tired of this game, of how everyone bent over themselves trying to make Steve feel better, joining him on a ridiculous hunt to find a dead man, and what for? Just to ease Steve's guilty conscience. The man ought to be glad Tony wasn't around anymore, the world should be thankful they didn't have to deal with the likes of Stark any longer.
Steve levelled her with a glowering gaze. He felt his temper rising dangerously at this spoiled brat that only cared about herself. How could he have been so blind? The woman had hated Tony from day one. She had gone to extreme lengths to gain her powers, all in an effort to seek revenge on a man that was no more guilty of her parent's death than anyone on that room. He remembered how Tony had been afraid of her, after Ultron, after she had played with their minds. But Steve had only seen a misguided kid. He had dismissed Tony's warnings, thinking the man was being paranoid. But now, now he could see how blind he had been. Wanda had constantly antagonized Tony, had made them all think of her as a child that could do no wrong. But that was over! Steve should have realized something was amiss the moment she had refused to help them find Tony, she had the power to track down people for god sakes! and yet she refused to help him find the missing man.
Wanda's powers gave her the ability to sense people's thoughts and moods at a subconscious level, and Steve's rage hit her with an unexpected intensity. Taking a step back, her eyes widened in a shocked expression.
"I'm leaving" she said, turning around and making a quick exit through the door.
"Wanda, wait" called Sam with a worried expression. Looking back at the others he saw neither Steve nor Natasha made any effort to try and stop her. Shaking his head he went after the younger woman.
"Steve..." Natasha said with an emotionless voice.
"I'm fine" he said, taking a few steps down the hall towards his room.
"You can't keep making enemies Steve" she said without turning to look at the retrieving man.
Steve stood frozen on the hallway for a few seconds, before reaching for the closed door.
Natasha stood in the middle of the empty room. She could feel how their precarious situation was starting to crumble around them.