Clash

- - - - -

The metal tapping echoed throughout the small area. Ana was pacing back and forth, her arms bound together by heavy and secure cuffs. They stopped at her elbows and inside her hands were stacked on top of each other as she held it to her chest. They had forced her in a clean blue shirt and trousers and took away her suit and weapons to god knows where.

She knew exactly where she was. The Raft. A prison built to hold super-villains and criminals no normal prison can contain. And currently, she stood in an interview room with a hot coffee and donuts set up on a table in the middle of the room.

What a cruel thing to do, place sweet beverages in front of a person who couldn't use her hands.

The door cracked open and the Secretary of State entered with a huge smile. Ana huffed and sat herself down on the silver chair, eyes locked on him.

"About time."

"I want to thank you for coming quietly despite the ruckus you and your friends made at the airport, Miss Michaels." Ross said, sitting down across from her. "I was very disappointed to hear about the dissolution of your team over the Sokovian Accords. Before the Avengers, you were an excellent agent, with the -"

Ana cut him off by throwing her shackled hands on the table with a loud boom.

"Look, Rossy, if you're here to give me medals of valour, I set up a PO box for these damn things with SHIELD. Which I have no doubt you have access to." She said.

Ross pursed his lips, a vein in his neck bulging. He didn't like being cut off. And And loved cutting people off. But he had to be patient, especially with this one. "You hungry? Thirsty?" He offered a hand that gestured to the beverages.

Ana exhaled and in a few seconds, her cuffs were broken with one simple pull. Ross looked at her silently surprised, deciding whether to run and call for help or be still and listen to what she had to say. She looked at him for a while, before reaching out and picking up a jelly donut.

"No need to butter me up — though it is heavily appreciated. You asked for a sit down, and I obliged because I think you know why I'm here." She took a bite out of the donut and closed her eyes, savouring the sweet taste.

"Agent Romanoff says you want to retire." Ross revealed, opening a file he had brought with him.

Ana squinted her eyes at him and the files with spaces needed for signing. "Why do I feel like you won't give me the satisfaction of leaving a free woman?" She wiped her hands and crossed them over her chest.

"Because you're a valuable asset." Ross replied, "We don't want to let go of your services just yet."

Ana flashed him a false grin, "That's very flattering. But serving the bidding of a bunch of politicians and bureaucrats on a daily basis don't exactly hold much appeal."

"You did it before wi-"

"With SHIELD, yeah I know." Ana cut him off again, "But that was years ago, before I really knew anything about Hydra or the real threats to the world. I was just happy I could do something good with my abilities."

"So, you don't consider yourself a threat to the world?"

Ana snapped her eyes to his and her gaze faltered. "What's that supposed to mean? Are you interrogating me, Ross? Is this what this is?" She pointed at the table and the small room the were in.

"We recently uncovered details from your past with Hydra. You're one of them." He said with disgust, "A weapon meant to be used for mass destruction."

"And look where I am... now." Ana sat up and leaned on the table, strikingly eyeing Ross as he calmly sat back. "In a small room with no restrictions, with a man who wants me to continue and serve when I don't want to. Hydra is deceased. I am not and will never be one of those weapons. I'm better."

"Are you?" Ross fired back.

It was silent. Ana's heart was hammering in her ears and a sharp knock on the door snapped her gaze from Ross. She showed him she was in control and sat down, allowing him to answer the door without having to look over his shoulder.

Ana kept her eyes on her clasped hands on the table. A draft entered the room and she looked up, craning her neck to get a better look at the visitor. She raised an eyebrow when she saw Tony.

"Surprised?" He pushed past Ross, his right arm stuck in a sling.

Ana's frown deepened when she set eyes on the sling. She heard about Rhodey's fall and when she wanted to find out how he was doing, they wouldn't tell her. She regrets fighting. She wished it never happened. Nobody would have gotten hurt.

When Ana took a while to respond, Tony raised a finger in front of Ross' face, "Give us a minute in private."

Ross glanced at him, "Just one, Stark. Then we're locking her up with the rest."

The door closed and only two were left. Tony picked up a cup of coffee and sat down in Ross' previous seat across from Ana. "You doing okay, little lady?"

"Did you know?" Came her quiet response.

Tony sipped the black coffee as Ana leaned forward, waiting for his answer. He placed the foam cup down. "Know what? That your little neighbour's a web-slinging, wall-crawling hero?" He questioned. He looked at her as she lowered her eyes and sighed. "He cares about you, a lot. The way he talks about you... you're his hero, Ana."

"He's his own hero now." Ana said.

"I told him about your decision, how you won't sign and instead rebel against the government. Not a very good role model now is it?"

"I'm trying to do the right thing here. We aren't politicians," She scoffed, "We're superheroes, Tony. We're the guys people can count on because they know they can't really count on anyone else. And they're counting on us to make them feel safe." Ana told him, desperately trying to get him to understand.

Tony tapped the screen on his watch and it projected a small hologram. Ana furrowed her eyebrows, "Who's the man?" She pointed at the picture of a dead man in a bath tub, he looked in his early forties.

"When the Task Force called for a psychiatrist, the UN dispatched Dr. Theo Broussard from Geneva. He was met by the wannabe psychiatrist that popped the lid off Barnes. Theo was found dead in a Berlin hotel room. The police also found a wig and facial prosthesis approximating the appearance of James Barnes." Tony revealed.

They shared a look and Tony continued to fill her in on the new information. He wagged his finger and images of the supposed psychiatrist came up with his real name and profile. "The fake doctor is actually Colonel Helmut Zemo — Sokovian Intelligence. Zemo ran EKO Scorpion, a Sokovian covert kill squad."

"When did you get all this?" Ana asked, taken aback with the sudden information.

"About half an hour ago. I shared this with Sam earlier and he told me to take you for a ride." Tony said.

Ana glanced at the door and her clothes. Her lips pursed and she shot him a look. "I don't think I'm cleared to go. You heard Ross, I'm not leaving."

Tony let out a low chuckle. "I don't think anyone can stop you even if you walked out. Especially Ross. He wouldn't want to argue with a young god who can level this entire set up." He smiled softly, standing up and offering his hand.

Ana grinned and slapped her hand into his. He gripped it and pulled her up. She smirked at the camera and winked at Tony who was smiling at her.

"The what are we waiting for? Let's go, Iron Man."

"Did you see the look on his face?"

Ana giggled as Tony pulled a false expression of anger then scrunching his face so he looked mad. He even did a little stomp on the snow covered ground in his Iron Man suit. She slapped his shoulder and nudged him forward.

"He was so red, I was waiting for the smoke to come out of his ears." Ana laughed, wiping the water from her eyes. Her gloves smoothly glided across her cheeks and she relished in the feeling of being back in her uniform. To her it meant everything was going to be okay, because every time she put it on, the bad guys fell down while the good stood up proudly above them.

"Speaking of smoke, what do you think happened down there?" Tony pointed his red armoured finger down the mountain. A large area of smashed concrete, debris and metal made Ana smirk.

She folded her arms across her chest, "My doing. That used to be my pre-school believe it or not."

Tony shot her a look.

She shrugged, "But that's a story for another time."

"Right. Hydra days." Tony rolled his eyes behind his mask and Ana lifted her carbine in warning. She rested the barrel against her shoulder as they walked further inside the base. When they approached double doors, Ana realised they were frozen in there place when she entered the code on the working keypad.

She handed Tony her rifle and jammed her fingers in-between the doors and pushed out. Tony stomped his way to her side and asked FRIDAY to read for any heat signatures that could be on the other side.

"I can hear two men. Probably Bucky and Steve." Ana interrupted the AI before she could confirm, forcing the doors to the side.

She grinned brightly, "There they are, looking ready to shoot."

Bucky locked eyes with her and his nerves settled immediately, but he kept his rifle he acquired from Natasha's stash aimed at Tony. Steve let out a breath and retired from his defence position, lowering his shield and walking towards the two.

Tony pulled his helmet back and looked at Steve, "You seem a little defensive."

"It's been a long day." Steve replied as Bucky stayed put, eyes on his girl as she made her way to him, carrying an identical rifle.

"At ease, soldier. I'm not currently after you." Tony told Bucky, waving his hand slightly.

"Then why are you here?" Steve shot back. He turned his head to get a look at Ana, "And how'd you get out?"

"How I always get out. I threaten people, smash a little and run." Ana shrugged.

Bucky lowered his gun as Ana pushed it down and smiled softly. "Told you we'd see each other again." She whispered.

"I'm glad you're here." Bucky nodded. He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her to his chest. She settled her hands on his chest and they closed their eyes.

"Maybe your story is not so crazy." Tony started, glancing at Steve, "Maybe. Ross has no idea I'm here, I'd like to keep it that way. He thinks I dropped Ana off at the nearest airport, which is clearly a lie. Otherwise, I got to arrest myself and her." He smiled at Ana as she smirked in his direction.

"Not a chance." She said.

"Well, that sounds like a lot of paper work." Steve said, lowering his shield and taking a breath of relief. "It's good to see you, Tony."

"Me too, Cap." He replied.

"He telling the truth?" Bucky asked lowly, aiming his rifle again at Tony.

Before Ana could reply, Tony huffed. "Manchurian candidate, you're killing me. There's a truce here, you can drop it."

Bucky lowered his rifle. Ana strapped hers against her back and removed her gloves, tucking them into her belt.

"We should get moving. This place gives me the creeps." Ana let her eyes wander around the dark and cold base.

"It should." Bucky said as the rest of them began to walk down the hall. He glanced at her curious expression, "All you did here as a kid was be tested. And it always ended up with you screaming until you passed out." He murmured.

"Why don't I remember any of it?" Ana asked with a frown. He grabbed her hand in his and squeezed gently.

"Like I said, you were just a kid."

- - -

"I got heat signatures."

Iron Man lead the others into the main floor. Ana shivered as her hands glided against the metal walls, trying to feel for any vibration that could indicate another presence. Something told her they weren't alone.

"How many?" Steve asked Tony.

"Uh, one." He confessed in confusion.

They walked into the chamber room. Six capsules containing people, one empty, were lit up and the frosty gas emitted from the pipes above. The first thing they all noticed were the single bullet holes in the glass. All the soldiers that were still in cryostasis had been shot in the head.

"If it's any comfort, they died in their sleep." Zemo's voice echoed throughout the main floor. "Did you really think I wanted more of you?"

Bucky stepped next to a capsule and gripped his rifle tighter, "What the hell?"

"I'm grateful to them though, they brought you here." A flicker of light turning on alerted them all. Tony raised his repulsors as Steve threw his shield. It bounced back, unable to break through the metal wall. Ana thought she could maybe punch through it.

"Please, Captain. The Soviets built this chamber to withstand the launch blast of one hundred rockets." Zemo chuckled, peering at the four through his place behind the stronghold.

"I'm betting I can beat that." Tony stated.

"Oh, I'm sure you could, Mr. Stark. Given time. But then you'll never know why you came."

"You killed innocent people in Vienna just to bring us here?" Steve stopped in front of the window and looked at Zemo.

"I thought about nothing else for over a year." Zemo revealed. "I studied you, I followed you. But now that you are standing here, I just realized..." He leaned in closer behind the glass window and smirked, "There's a bit of green in the blue of your eyes. How nice to find a flaw."

"You're Sokovian. Is that what this is about?" Ana asked, settling behind Steve and looking over his shoulder. Zemo must have a grudge against them for what Ultron had caused.

"Sokovia was a failed state long before you blew it to hell." Zemo shook his head, "No. I'm here because I made a promise."

"You lost someone." Steve stated.

"I've lost everyone. And so will you." He reached next to him and flipped a switch which triggered the computer monitor behind them to turn on. In Russian, the date of 16 December 1991 flashed in white across the screen.

"An empire toppled by its enemies can rise again. But one which crumples from within that's dead... forever."

Ana shuffled across to get a better look at the computer. It seemed to show camera footage from a road. A road Tony knew. He stared at it, "I know that road." He glanced down at the tape and to Zemo before shouting, "What is this?"

By the look on his face, Ana knew it was something that haunted him. She couldn't look when the cries of his mother played and glared at Zemo. It made her sick, the sight of him. He was grinning inside, she knew it, and the small twitch of his lips made her want to punch him until he saw the light.

Silently, she walked at the window and placed a hand on it. She stared at him without any kind of expression and pressed down. Zemo's eyes flickered to the glass, widening them when cracks began to appear like lightning.

"You should know the Soviet's only purchased the strongest metal to build this right here." Ana spoke lowly, "They couldn't find any glass to match the strength and settled with bulletproof glass. And I can get through this as easy as squashing a bug, Helmut Zemo."

"It's too late. I've set the war in motion and it will soon take full affect." Zemo responded. He then lifted the red book into her view and her hand left the glass like it had burned her. He opened it up and retrieved the loose paper. It was crumpled and teared apart, but anybody could easily read the Russian letters. "Your trigger words were hard to find. Vasily kept them seperate from the book, away from the Winter Soldier's. But I have it. And soon the monster inside of you will unleash hell just like Barnes had."

"You can't. It won't work." Ana gulped. It had to be almost twenty years since the Soviets last recited the chain of words.

"I'll test it out, then." Zemo looked deep into her eyes when she couldn't look away. She was like a deer caught in the headlights and as the first word left his lips, the deer started to transition into a predator.

"Nenavist."

But not in the way he wanted. She slammed her fist through the glass window when her mind didn't even flinch at the word and grabbed his shirt, pulling him closer. She grinned at him, "I knew it. Your trick is outdated."

"And your friends look murderous." He huffed out, clawing at her hand pathetically.

She tuned in on the way Tony spoke and let Zemo drop on the floor on his side of the wall. Tony sharply turned his head in Steve's direction when he denied his previous question. "Don't bullshit me, Rogers! Did you know?" He growled.

"Yes."

Tony smacked Steve, making him flip back and land on the floor. Bucky quickly aimed his rifle at Tony as the latter aimed to shot his repulser beam at him, but Ana stepped in the middle, protecting him from Tony.

"Don't, Tony!" She said, widening her eyes. "It wasn't his fault!"

"Move, Ana. This is between me and him." He said.

"I'm not going anywhere." She snapped.

Tony aimed his repulsors at her and she was shot in the shoulder, making her spiral away from Bucky and land into the railings connecting the catwalks. As Tony advanced on him, Bucky threw his metal arm at him, holding his armoured hand down as hard as he could. Ana looked at her shoulder and peeled away the material from the burn Tony gave her. She decided to rip off the outer layer so she stood in her undershirt. It wouldn't give her much padding, which meant she had to dodge every hit aimed at her torso.

Steve threw his shield before Tony could fire a beam at Bucky's face. He looked at the advancing soldier and was forced back when Steve smashed his shield into his side. He launched forward and bashed into Steve, making him fly across the room and drop in front of a pillar. He shot out two contraptions that clamped Steve's feet together.

Bucky punched Tony in the head and Tony dragged him up into the air and forced him into a pillar. Ana stood up and her movements were sharp as she turned. Unsheathing a dagger from her armguard, she launched it at Tony who slashed at Bucky. Iron Man's missile had ricocheted and exploded into the metal framework above the capsules.

The Warrior was swift in dodging the destruction and tackled the man in red, white and blue into the wall and away from harm. Steve huddled with Ana as the metal showered around them. The debris landed on top of Tony, separating him from Bucky.

"Get out of here!" Steve waved his hand in the air. Ana gripped the material on his back and coughed, looking at Bucky across from them.

"Go!"

"Come with me!" Bucky reached out for her with an open hand and Steve nudged her forward. She joined him and they locked hands.

Steve blocked Tony's direction into following Bucky and Ana. Bucky found a way out, and pressed the button that would open the hatch on the roof. Ana and Bucky looked up at the light sky as the concrete lifted open.

"I guess we could take turns getting higher." Ana said out loud.

Bucky lowered his head down and looked at her questionably. "You think it would work?"

Ana grinned. "First time for everything." She shrugged.

He squeezed her hands gently with reassurance and pushed her forward to get climbing up the metal levels that lead to the roof. "Okay," Bucky said. "Come on."