episode 10 fanfic title: It's a small world after all.
(Author's POV): the next day...
"I don't need to tell you that Stark Industries is crushing us."
A man wearing a light white business suit, spoke up whereas he had black hair and blue eyes by the name of Simon Williams, "Energy was our major initiative at Williams Innovations. Ever since you came out with the arc reactor technology, we've got nothing that can compete!"
Tony, however, pays no attention to him, as he is more fixated on uncovering the glaring hole in his security that is failing to register as a breach.
"/Security Image: Not Found...Error/"
JARVIS' voice fizzes in and out, trying to find the source of the breach. "We're going under, Tony." A man by the name of Simon urged him, who began slamming his palms against Tony's desk.
"But you know that. After all, you've been buying up shares of my company. We don't know each other, but I came to ask you personally. Don't do this... I built Williams Innovations from nothing; It's all I have."
'Damn it, how the hell did this intruder manage my hack the mansion?!' Tony thought.
"Was, actually." He finally spoke up from his thoughts, and Simon stood in disbelief, but also confused at what he just said, "What?..." "I'm the majority shareholder as of 15 minutes ago," Tony comments without any sort of empathy.
Which earned him a hard gaze from his guest, "No. I'm not going to let you do this. Do you hear me, Stark! I'm not gonna let you destroy my entire life!" The now former head of Williams Innovations storms out of the office in anger, bubbling in him.
" 'Destroy'? What? No, wait, Simon! Let me-"
But before Tony could try and justify his actions, Simon was already out the door with a slam behind him, leaving him to grunt out of frustration: "Explain...Great." "Your real piece of work, Tony," Hank remarked sarcastically.
Rummaging through the circuitry of the Mansion's security hard drive in Tony's office, he emerged while staring up at him with a deadpan expression, as Tony continued to work on fixing his orb with JARVIS.
"Don't start, Hank."
But the little man doesn't stop there: "Do the words 'business ethics' mean anything to you?" He stares up at him, waiting for an answer, but unfortunately for him, Tony just flat out ignores the subject and asks: "Did you find anything in the hard drive?"
"You just crushed that guy, Tony." He continues without changing the subject, placing one hand on his hip while the other gestures open, as if trying to explain himself, "What kind of man so callously disregards another human being like that?"
"I've got a plan that you wouldn't understand, Hank." Tony paused, a sly smirk spreading across his face as he confidently typed more code on his computer, "Wasp would understand. Maybe I could explain it to Jan over dinner, and then she can explain it to you."
Hank stood in shock, unable to believe Tony Stark would say something like that, and shot him a deadly glare of jealousy. But then, he had an idea that came to mind, as it was his turn, to slyly smirk, and let it spread across his face as well.
"Or, how about I have Mia explain it to you?"
Tony froze instantly, stopping what he was doing and glaring down at him with a look full of jealousy that Hank recognized all too well, and continued, "And convince you to stop being such an idiot for not preventing the shareholders from buying Williams' company-over lunch?"
"Explain to me again why you're bringing her up?"
Hank grinned, knowing he just caught him off his game.
"Because she's the only hacker skilled enough to break into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s files undetected." He grinned, sitting on the hard drive with his legs swinging over the edge. "I mean, c'mon, Tony, you really need her help with this. Maybe she knows something about the intruder-."
Tony cut him off, "No," he bluntly points, "Fury made it clear she's not allowed to hack the mansion or anywhere else unless it's absolutely necessary. Besides, she needs rest. With that stab wound, she can't do anything."
"Did Fury say that, or did you just say that because she's better than you?"
He gave up, shaking his head as he just put his frustrations into fixing the hard drive for the mansion.
𝘽𝘼𝘾𝙆 𝘼𝙏 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝘼𝙑𝙀𝙉𝙂𝙀𝙍'𝙎 𝙈𝘼𝙉𝙎𝙄𝙊𝙉...
Having already cooked breakfast, Mia had gone looking for Steve's room with one arm holding a tray of food, while the other one was supporting herself with a cane that Stan had given her when he came to visit yesterday.
"/Miss Lightwood, may I remind you that Mr. Stark would not approve of you walking around as he specifically said 'not to move much, and stay in your room/." JARVIS tells her.
She continues carrying the tray while walking up the stairs and responds with: "Tony ain't here, Jarvis." Mia rolls her eyes, "So I can do what I want with or without supervision. Now, excuse me, I'm going to check up on Steve."
With that being said, Mia had used her free hand with her cane to push up the glasses that she just got from Tony; thanks to him, she can see better.
A/N: The glasses have UV eye protection when she goes to the sun.
Already made it to the hallway of the second floor as she felt uncomfortable, but used the wall with her right shoulder as a way to rest from time to time, and get back on her feet by making her way to Steve's room.
Unfortunately, her stitches were opening, and it made it harder for her to move, but she used enough strength to finally find it, and before she could knock, Mia couldn't help but lean on the door and hear a faint voice saying.
"What are you doing, soldier?" Knowing full well where it could lead to, so, to cheer him up, and on cue, Mia interrupts him by knocking on his door, only for Steve to be startled and quickly compose himself before he opens the door.
Revealing to be Mia at the door, wearing no makeup, hair neatly brushed, while dressed in a black long-sleeved sweater layered under a beige fuzzy tee, paired with black jeans, and a cane being held on her right arm.
*Remember she wore it for the first time in the other chapter*
"Oh, um, hey, Mia."
But then he noticed the tray of food in her arm and the other one with a cane. He widened his eyes as soon as he spotted her discomfort, and instantly grew worried, "Here, let me help you." "I'm fine, I just-"
Cut short when Mia felt the same discomfort in her wound again, Steve raised an eyebrow at her, who sighed in defeat as she finally gave in, and handed him the tray.
"I hope you like spaghetti," she muttered. He chuckled at her stubborn attempt to mask her pain. "I'm sure it's delicious," he replied, pushing the door open wider before taking the tray off her hands, setting it on his bedside table, and going over to her.
Helping her walk a bit so she could settle on his bed to sit down, Mia made herself comfortable and smiled a bit as he did the same. "You shouldn't walk too much," Steve began, "It's not good for you, especially in your condition."
"I'll be fine, Steve," she reassured him. "Besides, I managed just fine without any help when I went downstairs, especially in my condition." This made them laugh together, until they both fell in silence, staring at one another for someone to say something.
Of course, Steve averted his gaze and cleared his throat, but didn't say anything.
But Mia ,on the other hand, looks down at her lap before she cuts the silence with, "Are you okay? You seem... quiet," She suddenly asked with concern for the war hero. Steve let out a deep, tired sigh before continuing, "Forgive me, but... I kind of heard your voice through the door."
Steve stiffened.
"What did you hear?"
She glances up at him, "The part where you, and I quote, said 'What are you doing, soldier,'" Mia responded casually, just as Steve was about to answer.
"/You have a visitor in the foyer, sir./" JARVIS announced.
Earning both Mia and Steve's confused looks at the AI's voice echoing in the room, "A...visitor? They asked for me?" Steve queries slowly, almost disbelievingly.
"/Not just you, sir. But also Miss Lightwood./" Mia glances at his expression, and then decides to ask: "Did the visitor say anything else?" To which the AI replied with, "/Yes, to come downstairs./" Widening her eyes in surprise at the unexpected comeback.
Mia couldn't snort a laugh before getting up with the help of Steve, of course, who already slips the hood mask of his suit over his face once more; Whereas she (Mia) then follows and begins to frown.
Knowing full well where this might go, and who the visitor was.
*Scene changes*
Entering the living room/theatre room, Steve and Mia arrive to meet the visitor, who is standing in front of the fireplace. They stand together, and as he turns around, they see him-"Captain America."
Fury, unexpectedly, reveals his amazement at the living legend, a war hero. "So, it's true." Taking out his hand for Steve to shake his hand, Mia watches the interaction and hears him, "I'm sorry, do I know you?"
"No. My name's Nick. I'm the director of a peace-keeping organization called S.H.I.E.L.D."
Mia scoffed out with an eye roll, "Last time, I checked." She continues, "I wasn't put in a 'peace-keeping organization'." "I'd like you both to come with me." Nick Fury ignores her: "I've been saving something for you and Mia."
"Isn't Mia like, in house arrest?" Steve questions him, to which the S.H.I.E.L.D. director takes out a special device, kneels to press it onto her ankle, and the ankle tracker is taken off. Freeing Mia from it.
Who instantly widened her eyes at this, confusion was written on her face, and she asked: "What? I thought-"
"I'm letting this slide just this once, Miss Lightwood." Fury continues, "Since you are a Liaison to this team, it's best if you know the 'what's' and 'where's' of what I'm going to show you. Today, it is important that you know about this."
*Scene changes again, the trio has already headed to a barber shop*
(Mia's POV):
As soon as we got to our location, Steve and I exited the car with Nick Fury, who leaned against a lampost with his arms crossed as the war hero looked up at the Barber Shop. "I can see why Iron-Man told me not to trust SHIELD. You guys aren't very forthcoming."
"Neither is Iron-Man." Fury walks towards the place, as Steve follows him.
Pretending that I didn't know that the barber shop was a secret FREAKING underground security room made for S.H.I.E.L.D. to use so they could keep an eye on the entire city. Streets, alleyways, buildings, houses, you name it.
"So again, what are we here for exactly?" I asked, suddenly.
The only thing I got from the one-eyed man was, "You'll see,"
Only for me to groan tiredly, and roll my eyes, as it earned a certain blonde man chuckling at my reaction.
Using my cane for support due to my stab wound, I was helped inside by Steve, while Fury had already entered. As soon as we followed, the barber ceased cutting the customer's hair, stood up, and exited with sunglasses on.
Suspicious, Steve didn't move, whereas I had immediately taken a seat next to Fury, and offered a small smile at the touch of the red chair. "Well, at least the barbershop has good taste in furniture," I commented, glancing at the barber, who nodded with a smile.
"Grab a seat, Captain." Fury motions to him the seat next to me.
Steve furrowed his brows and replied, "I think my hair is already regulation length." A snort escaped my lips at that response, as I had already pressed a button to go down without them watching me; Once I got to the underground room, I secretly began to gasp.
"Steve! This place is amazing! You've gotta check this out!" I happily yelled.
Only for them both to come down, and see me jumping up and down in excitement, but it cost me my injuries to open slightly, "Ow." "Mia, you ok?" Asked a worried Steve, I smile once more: "Y-Yeah, just keep forgetting that I had to not overly excite myself like that."
I sweatdropped when Fury walked passed us and placed both his hands on the computer console without saying a word, until Steve turned to him with a serious expression.
"You want to tell me what this is all about?" He asked, only for Fury to turn off the cameras, and turned around to show us his smirk, as we were led to another room with a door on it; Opening, we both entered, and Steve was the first to gasp.
I, on the other hand, stayed near the door, and watched the whole episode play out: "My dad passed this down to me. He said it belongs to you." After Fury turned on the light shining above Steve's 1942 Harley-Davidson WLA Liberator motorcycle. "My motorcycle..."
"Is that the 1942 Harley-Davidson WLA Liberator motorcycle?"
Pointing at it, already at the brink of fangirling over the vehicle that Steve seemed to notice real quick, and raise an eyebrow: "You know motorcycles?" "Are you kidding? I'm a huge sucker fan of these bad boys!" I grinned, sauntering over to it by circling the bike slowly.
Eyes wide, filled with nothing but excitement rushing over me.
"Bet this baby has seen lots of things!" Steve tilted his head to see where I was kneeling before walking over to it, kneeling on the other side to touch the engine of his motorcycle, with a smile on his face, "It has...But how?" He turns to Fury.
Who then explained, "My father's name was Sgt.Jack Fury. You saved his life in the war." He continues, "I grew up hearing all the stories. He idolized you. And so did I." Steve stared at his motorcycle when the realization hit him, "Nick Fury..."
"Anything Captain America needs, ever, SHIELD will provide for you." Fury told him, before taking out his hand for Steve to return it by shaking his hand, "It's an honor for me to serve you, Captain."
"So what Iron-Man said... Can I trust you?" I glare menacingly at Steve, even though I knew he was already hooked with Fury's words, I can tell that it was now my turn: "When it counts, absolutely."
Does someone have a rifle I can shoot myself between my eyes?
After that, we left the room, and Fury gestured for Steve to wait outside. I wondered why, as he explained, it concerned my job and "personal information that needed to be filed," a lie I recognized immediately.
Steve pats my shoulder gently, saying he won't mind waiting for me, and leaves me with Fury, whose kindness had disappeared in an instant: "I'm guessing, your whole 'kindness' was an act to get him on your side to join S.H.I.E.L.D., huh?" I told him while I leaned my body on my cane.
"Do you always believe that I act when he's around?" Fury asked.
I nod.
"Well, sorry to disappoint, but no, that wasn't acting." I raised an eyebrow at his response, "Really? Then why did you ask Steve to wait outside for us to talk? Especially about my 'personal information', that you need to 'file'?"
Mocking his words in the process while using air quotation marks with my fingers to emphasize his lie, Fury sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose before looking back at me: "Alright, you got me." He said.
"Damn right I did." I scoffed.
He then says, "Look, Mia, I know you're not exactly thrilled about being a 'Liaison', or working with SHIELD in general." "Not thrilled is an understatement," I crossed my arms, leaning heavily on my cane.
"But you're damn good at what you do," Fury continued, ignoring my interruption. "And Steve trusts you. That makes him trust us a little more. We need him, Mia. The world needs him." "And you think manipulating him with nostalgia is the way to go?" I retorted.
Gesturing back towards where Steve had left, as tension in the underground room thickened, and I knew for sure that there was more to this since my arrival: "No." "Then what is?" I hummed in question to his answer, "Because I'm sure as hell that doing something I don't want to do is gonna bite you in the ass."
"No, I was actually going to shorten your house arrest into 2 weeks." Fury's words hung in the air like a challenge: 'Shorten my house arrest? After everything? After the ankle monitor, the restrictions, the constant surveillance? And now he was just... rewarding me?'
I clenched my fists, my nails digging into my palms.
"You're joking," I said flatly.
Fury didn't blink. "Do I look like I'm joking?"
"No, you look like a man who's trying to buy my cooperation with a half-assed reward," I snapped. "I was fine with three months. I accepted it. Now you're cutting it down like it's some kind of gift?"
His eye narrowed. "You haven't tried to escape. You haven't hacked anything-"
I almost laughed.
Oh, the irony, and if he thinks I haven't hacked anything, then he's dead wrong because I did hack, but I doubt he's gonna know, "-and you've been useful." Fury continued. Completely unaware of the fact that I'd already hacked the mansion's cameras.
Multiple times, just because I wanted to mess around.
"Consider this an incentive to keep playing nice, and for being honest." He finished.
I exhaled sharply through my nose, forcing my temper down: 'Honesty? I'm always honest, but not when it comes to doing something I'm doing is the reason why I want to protect them and all the heroes in the shadows. For now, play the game, Mia.'
"...Fine," I muttered, crossing my arms. "But don't think this changes anything. I'm still your Liaison, not your agent." Fury smirked. "Noted." He turned to leave, but I wasn't done. "One more thing."
He paused, glancing back.
"If you ever try to manipulate Steve-or any of the Avengers-like this again, I will make sure you regret releasing me from my cage."
My voice was low, dangerous, and serious enough that I walked up to him with my cane to support me, and met his eye. "And trust me, Director. You won't like what I can do to destroy what you've accomplished."
For a second, Fury's expression flickered-something almost like respect-before he schooled it back into neutrality, "Understood." With that, he left. The second the door shut behind him, I let out a slow breath, my shoulders sagging.
'God, I was this close to punching him in the face.' I thought. 'But no-I couldn't. Not yet. Not while the timeline was still playing out the way it was supposed to. But one day...there will be a time when I will get to meet the Skrull version of Fury, and my wish will come true.'
A slow smirk curled my lips as I reached into my pocket, fingers brushing against the USB I'd conveniently brought with me: 'One day, I'll get my chance.' Glancing around the computer room like it was my kingdom, I spotted the security camera in the corner-perfect.
With a quick flick of my wrist, I plugged the USB into the nearest console, fingers flying over the keys as I copied the CCTV feed that's watching everyone and everything around the world just to have it coded for me to keep and put it in my secret room.
'Gotcha.' By the time I was done, I pulled the USB out and slipped it back into my pocket, my smirk had widened: 'Everything's falling into place.' With one last glance at the room, I turned and headed to the chair as I pressed the return button and reached the barbershop.
As soon as I got outside, Fury had already left for the helicarrier, leaving me and Steve in front of the barbershop. The first thing he said was, "So, Fury just informed me that you are free for today, just so you could give me the tour around New York."
"Yeah, but also not," I sighed.
Confusing him in the process, I don't blame him; I guess it surprised him to hear someone like me say that. "Why? I thought you'd be happy." He said.
"I am, but..." I turn to him, as he turns to face me, "I'm... I'm still processing that my house arrest was reduced from three months to two weeks. I guess...maybe it's because I've been more focused on staying in the shadows that I got used to it."
I paused, before continuing, to look to my right, where a family was passing by with happy, cheerful, smiling children, and I softened at the sight as I began to search for Mia's explanation of what she would say about it.
"Back in the orphanage, I already knew what it felt like to stay put and never come out unless it was an event or something important like getting adopted." I turned and saw Steve's facial expression filled with nothing but sympathy and genuine interest.
I swear that I almost lost the words I was going to say if he didn't suddenly tell me, "You don't have to tell me. And I understand that we just met," Steve's voice was gentle, reassuring. "But... I'm here if you want to lean on my shoulder or someone to talk to. Always."
"Thanks, Steve." I swallowed, a lump forming in my throat as I managed to offer a small, genuine smile. "I appreciate it."
We both stare at one another until, "So," he said, trying to lighten the mood, "about that tour of New York? You gonna show me the sights, or are we gonna stand here all day reliving orphanage memories?"
"Alright, alright, let's go, Captain." I chuckled, playfully shoving him with my shoulder, "But fair warning, I'm not holding back on being honest and straightforward." "Wouldn't dream of it."
And that is where I began giving him the tour.
*Scene changes to Tony at the STARK TOWER in his Lab*
"I'm not judging you." Hank starts off saying, staring at Tony's machines, refixing the helmet while using a pen as a mouse to point and write down other stuff that needs to be added, "I'm just saying that you value money and business over people."
Tony stops at what he was doing after being told that and questions, "How is that not judging?" "I've seen it before, that's all." He tells him, only for the billionaire to have enough of it, and stand up from his seat, and stop him from talking.
"All right, enough." Tony cuts him off, "You've been glaring at me for weeks, ever since the breakout. This isn't about Simon. This is about Ultron." Trying to divert the conversation into Ultron, and not his job.
Whereas Hank didn't back down from finishing the subject: "No, it's about you valuing money and business over people. Ultron was just the first time I realized who you really are." "Who I was." Tony looks down at the floor.
"Five years ago, you asked me to help you change the world." He continues, actions filled with determination, "Your tech with my ideas for mapping a human mind onto a machine."
Tony's back faces the scientist, and he responds with: "I get it, Hank." "But it was all to make weapons." Hank continued, his tone a mix of anger and disbelief, "Were you even going to tell me that you were shopping Ultron around to the military?"
"I'm a different person now." He tells Hank.
Who, in turn, continue to push his buttons, trying to convince him that what he did was Simon was wrong. "Right, you say you've changed." Hank looks down, "Now, maybe you're not making weapons anymore, but you're still hurting people. Just ask Simon Williams."
"What else am I supposed to do, Hank? Tell me!" Tony snaps as he loads himself into the new armor. "Try not to be a self-involved, egocentric, money hungry-" "Everything I do is to help people!" The millionaire growls through his suit.
"Everything you do is to clean up a mess you made!" Hank loudly remarks, pointing a finger at him, "And you know who else would feel the same way as I am? If Mia heard what you did with Simon William's company?-"
Tony angrily shouts, "Don't you dare put her into this conversation, Hank!"
"What? It's true, isn't it?"
Hank shouted back, inadvertently mentioning Mia again, this time regarding a fake comment he intended to make, just to make sure that Tony would admit his mistakes, "I remember hearing her conversation only to herself that you should get your ass in gear and-"
"I said stop!" Just when a verbal fight was about to turn into a physical one, out of nowhere, the entire building shook. Breaking the two apart from their shouting match. "Well, I didn't do that." Tony suddenly comments.
As he then blasts off from his underground lab, leaving Hank there without bringing him along. While trying to find the source of the sudden earthquake, Tony was welcomed to see a large hole that had been busted through the wall of his top-floor office.
"Okay...I didn't really need an office anyway."
He jokes, as he does, in the face of possible danger. Scanning the room, he comes face-to-face with all purple with nothing but red eyes; Turning around, the unknown man calls his name again. "Stark!" Simon calmly exclaims.
"Have we met?" Iron Man queries, cautiously approaching the energy humanoid but also confused by him, "I told you I wouldn't let you take my company." Taken aback, he recognized the owner's voice and took a step back.
Processing who he was seeing in front of him, Iron Man gasped.
"Simon? Simon...Oh, man...What happened to you?" With his bare hands, Simon didn't say anything other than seize the billionaire, tearing his armor apart with ease, his enhanced strength making short work of the suit.
Iron Man cried out in pain as the shattered remains of his armored suit barely clung to his battered body, and was thrown across the office floor, "That's...that's not possible." He sits up, grabbing the side of his head with a grunt, and turns to see him, "Simon, what have you done?!"
"You should be more worried about what I'm going to do!" Unaware of the ongoing war conflict between Simon and Tony, Pepper walks into a warzone and witnesses Tony's head being shoved through a wall.
He grunts in pain and immediately shouts upon seeing her, "Pepper! Go! Get out of here!" Pepper did as told and immediately took off back out the door.
"Pretending to care about people like that," Simon yanks Iron Man back and slammed him against the Pollock painting in his office that collapsed after that one throw: "I built my company from nothing! It was all I had, and you took it from me!"
He then swings him at the large window, just hard enough to crack on impact instead of breaking under his weight. Iron Man wince but struggles to get up, "You didn't...let me finish." He grunts.
"Believe me, you're finished." Simon continues, by lifting Iron Man's large desk from the floor, only to let it disintegrate into nothing, "You're going to feel helpless! You're going to know what it's like when someone powerful crushes you!"
Suddenly, he stopped when someone out of nowhere spoke from which came from a tiny man on top of a flying ant, "Not that he doesn't have it coming, but I can't let you hurt Tony."
Just then, it was reveal to be Hank the one who's flying on top of one of his flying ants, covering his path from reaching him.
"You! You're one of the Avengers!" Simon reels back.
Hank nods, flying towards him, "I am. I'm hoping we can sit down and talk this out, scientist to scientist. And I wouldn't mind taking a look at you." The tiny man in red takes a good look at him, smiles, and geeks out slightly, "Is that ionic energy you're made of?"
"Hank!"
Iron Man shouts a warning, but Simon swats away the scientist before he can react, the punch sending him flying off his ant. The billionaire then activates the computer system, blasting the purple humanoid into it, giving him time to recover.
However, Hank stops him, now in his small form. "I'll deal with Simon; you get to safety!" Hank recovers on his ant, blocking Iron Man from confronting the purple ionic-enhanced man named Simon.
"I'm not going to just leave you!" He refuses.
He turns to him and shouts, "I didn't say don't come back, now go! Avengers: Assemble!"
With Steve and Mia...
"As you can see," Mia was walking towards the Captain America museum, where people were exploring the place for excitement, and for history field trips for students to come, "There's lots of things that are fun around the 21st century, Steve."
Steve hummed, "Like what?"
"Well, you know," Mia shrugs, a playful glint in her eyes. "We got these things called 'smartphones' that have the entire internet on them. You can watch cat videos for hours if you want."
Steve raises an eyebrow, amused. "Cat videos? Is that what people do with their time now?" "Not all of it, but it's a big part." She laughs, "And there's, like, a million different kinds of food, music, movies, etc." Seemingly impressed by what the 21st century has to offer, he can't help but be curious.
"And are we going to one of those places?"
They walked until reaching a crowded museum, where they stopped. Mia shook her head in response to his unasked question. "I was going to, but thought a museum was a better choice." They entered, and she noticed his suit was still visible to the naked eye despite the brown leather jacket covering it.
Mia glances to her right to find a black cap and tells him to wait there before rushing over to the stand to buy one. She then pulls him somewhere in the room, where there's a wall that covers them.
Surprising Steve in the process with her sudden grip by the collar, she began looking around them from side to side before turning back to look up at him since he was tall, and heard him ask, "What's wrong?"
"Put this cap on, and zip your jacket." She ordered, giving the black cap to Steve. Confused as to holding the black cap in his hand, he asked: "Why? Are you worried that someone might see me?" Trying to make it sound like a joke, he realizes that her expression was serious.
And Mia went into great detail as to why he should conceal his suit from the crowds, "Do you want to be surrounded by many fans who know your secret identity or be stalked at night before you go to sleep so your enemies can kill you at any given moment?"
Caught off guard by Mia's probing question, Steve blinked, his easygoing expression faltering for a moment. He had assumed she was just being playful (like earlier) or overly cautious, but the intensity in her eyes told him otherwise.
She wasn't joking—she was dead serious.
For a brief second, he considered brushing it off.
After all, he was Captain America.
He could handle a crowd, a few overzealous fans, or even an ambush if it came to that. But then he really looked at her—the way her fingers tightened around her cane, the slight tension in her jaw, the way her gaze kept flickering around the room as if assessing threats.
This wasn't just about him.
Mia, having survived the TV show by remaining unseen while inhabiting her doppelganger's body—imprisoned, freed, and then under house arrest, now cut short to two weeks—understood the dangers of wielding power or knowledge.
She wasn't just warning him about his safety because of the timeline and her interference but because she was making it clear that his visibility endangered others as well. Steve exhaled slowly, the weight of her words settling over him.
He hasn't spent much time adjusting to this new era, trying to find his place, and he hadn't fully considered the consequences of walking around like a living relic on display.
"You're right," he admitted quietly, turning the cap over in his hands. "I wasn't thinking."
Mia's shoulders relaxed slightly, but her voice remained firm. "It's not just about you getting swarmed. If someone recognizes you, they might follow you. And if they follow you, they find the others." She hesitated, then added, softer, "Or me."
That last part hit harder than he expected.
Steve's grip on the cap tightened.
He hadn't even considered that.
The idea that his carelessness could lead someone back to her—back to any of the people he was trying to protect—made his stomach twist.
Without another word, he pulled the cap low over his brow, then zipped his jacket up to his collarbone, concealing the star on his uniform. When he met Mia's eyes again, he offered a small, grateful nod.
"Better?"
She studied him for a second, then nodded in approval: "You look like a guy who's trying too hard to be incognito, but it'll do." Steve chuckled, shaking his head. "Guess I'll take what I can get."
Mia nudged him with her elbow, her earlier tension melting into amusement.
"C'mon, incognito. Let's go see how badly they messed up your exhibit."
As they walked further into the museum, Steve couldn't help but glance at her sidelong: 'For someone who claimed to hate working with S.H.I.E.L.D., she sure had a knack for protecting people—whether they asked for it or not.'
And he was starting to realize just how much he appreciated that.
He nodded, "Right. So, what's the plan, Agent... oh right, what am I calling you these days?" "Just Mia is fine, Steve, no need to call me Miss Liaison—" she said, then stopped, distracted by a picture on the wall that she instantly had hearts popping out of her eyes at the male brunette.
"Oh, hello, gorgeous!" Mia whistled, pushing up her glasses by walking toward it.
Steve followed her eyes to where she was staring at, and saw his old buddy in the photograph: Bucky Barnes.
"Now, who's this handsome man I'm looking at? I bet he must be good-looking in person." Mia comments, Steve's smile faltered, his gaze glued to the black and white image. "That's...that was my best friend, Bucky," he said, "He uh...he was my sidekick."
Mia turned, her eyes softening as she noticed the shift in his demeanor. "Was?" she asked gently. "What happened?" Steve hesitated, his hand instinctively reaching up to rub the back of his neck. "It's a long story," he admitted, "That I think you would sleep on."
Pretends to be offended by his words, she playfully glares at him.
"Try me," Mia challenged, tilting her head to the side, and turning around to face him with her arms crossed. "I'm a good listener. Besides, you promised to do the same for me, don't tell me you're breaking your promise already."
Steve chuckled, knowing full well that promises were meant to be kept, not broken. And so he began to tell her the story, "It was during the war," he lowly began, "We were on a mission...one that could've stopped the war for good."
"We were stopping the bomb that was going to destroy millions that Skull made it, he intended to flee in one of the rockets he made, and began to launch off. I told Bucky to stay behind... he didn't listen."
Mia watches him walk over to the picture so he could stand beside her, as the memories begin to show him how it happened like it was on replay, as he continues on the story, "And so, we climbed aboard the rocket while I went to confront Skull, so I could take him out..."
"However, when I got there, Skull looked at me like he had been prepared for this, and immediately ejected from his pilot seat. Leaving us with the bomb, I knew that someone had to stop the rocket from killing millions. I told Bucky that I was going to stop it myself..."
Pausing, the Liaison glanced at the war hero, noting his gloved fist clenching. "But then Bucky told me the world needed Captain America, and kicked me out of the way. As it was the last thing I saw when I was falling into the icy ocean...was my best friend sacrificing himself through the explosion."
After everything he said, Steve frowned, guilt and grief weighing him down as he mourned the loss of his friend in the war. Mia could see it was eating him alive, and knew what he had gone through during his time in a frozen state in the Arctic was painful.
But what really got to her was the fact that she knew that he was going to alter reality with a certain cube in the future...just to unknowingly bring Bucky back, but as the Winter Soldier, made her feel moved to tears that Mia was too late to hide it or compose herself.
"I'm sorry," she choked out.
He turned, surprised by her apology. Wiping her tears, she met his softened gaze. "Bucky would have liked you."
"Really? Even though I'm not sixteen?" Her surprise was evident, sadness had gone from grief to interest, and Steve nodded. "Yeah, he wouldn't have minded going on a date with you. Plus, he was very good with the ladies back then."
Mia snorts, "I bet he was charming." Steve chuckled again, a sound of fondness coloring his voice: "Charming doesn't even begin to cover it." He continues, "He could talk his way out of anything...or into anything, for that matter."
He paused, his gaze drifting back to the photo.
"He had a way of making everyone feel like they were the most important person in the room." Nodding in agreement, she went back to studying the picture again, trying to imagine the man Steve described.
She fell for Bucky the moment she saw CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER, the charming soldier who always had Steve's back everytime, but when his friend became the hero, Bucky was kidnapped, freed until his fall from the train made it hard for her to cry.
As that image, when she remembered that in CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER came out back in 2013, the movie wiki fandom mentions how Bucky was alive, and had become a chilling assassin with no emotions.
Following orders like he was a weaponized ghost that'd do anything for the sake of the mission, but in this dimension, Bucky pushed Steve off a rocket so he could go back to New York and continue protecting others without him.
But it backfires way too quickly.
"Maybe you're right," she admitted, "I think I would be swooned by his charm in an instant." Both of them laughed, as they had already left the Captain America museum.
Suddenly, Mia's ID card began beeping.
Confused looks were exchanged between them before Mia groans and takes it out of her pocket, only to see it blinking a light blue neon arrow directing it near the auto voice saying, "Avengers: Assemble!"
Steve looks over her shoulder, and narrows his eyes at it, "I'm guessing that I'm needed instead of you."
"I guess so. I mean, I got stabbed and am still healing." She said.
Shrugging at it like it was normal, he nodded before he thought of something, "Mind if you call Fury?"
Somewhere in New York...
Simon gained the upper hand multiple times in the fight, even knocking Iron Man onto his back despite his near-invincible armor. "Goodbye, Tony," Simon said coldly, red energy gathering at his eyes, preparing to obliterate him.
But a timely intervention from a war hero, arriving on a sleek motorcycle, blocked the blast with his shield.
"I don't know who you are, pal, but this is over." Simon's body suddenly begins to lose shape, and another beam from his red gaze is shot, but this time not of his own will. Cap blocks the attack with his signature weapon.
Iron Man comes in from behind, snatching up Simon in his suit's grasp.
"Cap! Iron Man! Stop fighting! We can talk this-" Ant-Man is cut off by noticeable bursts of ionic energy coming from Simon's form, and widens his eyes in silent horror at what he was seeing, "Something's not right."
"/Warning: Energy flux detected./" JARVIS warns.
Simon's body begins to lose its humanoid shape, while screaming in pain, becoming more like wisps of smoke being lost to the wind that Iron Man took note of this and instantly widened his eyes underneath the mask.
"Simon...Oh, no." He warns. "Simon, you're energy! It's destabilizing! Whatever you did to become this, it's tearing you apart!" Still bitter, Simon shrugged off the billionaire's warning, and hurled the suit like a ball.
If it wasn't for Hank going giant again, Iron Man would've been flung through more buildings, and lost consciousness; At the same time, Simon's body continues to lose its shape, "Simon's ionic field is unstable; I think he's going into critical," He explains. "Hank, we've got to save him."
"I-I d-don't know if we can. Look at the ions; He's too far-"
"Hank, please!" Iron Man urges him, who then began to think of an idea, "Okay. We need something to contain the energy, to stabilize it."
"Got it." Iron Man affirms, and everyone left for the STARK INDUSTRY TOWER.
Time skipped bc I'm lazy at making dramatic stuff...
Mia, having already known what happened, had just made it back to the Mansion on her own in a struggle with her cane as she had to take a couple of benches from different places to rest her walk so she wouldn't overdo it. But even so, she made it back.
Before she was welcomed by Nick Fury, holding an ankle tracker in his hand; Already knowing what's next, she nods, and watches him kneel to place it back on her ankle. It hurt, but then the pain subsided.
"Don't overwalk yourself, Miss Lightwood," he said. "It won't heal your stab wound."
After he got up, and stood in front of her, "At least I used benches to rest." Mia narrowed her eyes at him, only for him to chuckle in amusement. "I know, I've watched you. Now, have a good day."
Nick Fury's ride parks in front of the gate of Avengers Mansion from one of his agents and drives off. Leaving her alone at the gate as she winces at how she runs back inside just to make sure not to set off any alarms with her cane.
She shut the front door behind her, and bit her lip from how she forced herself to secretly run but didn't care. The fact that she made her way inside was enough for her to relax to go to the kitchen, and make tea.
Mia sighs in relief as she's finally in the kitchen, with the blasted ankle tracker on her, "Tea sounds good," she mutters to herself, already filling the kettle with water and placing it on the stove.
The familiar clatter of the kettle and the soft whoosh of the gas burner are comforting sounds in the otherwise quiet mansion. While waiting for the water to boil, she carefully rummages through the cupboard, searching for her favorite tea bags.
"Gotcha." Mia happily smirked, and took the Earl Grey tea bag before placing it on her tea cup, when finally the hot water was ready, "Mhmm~, now this is a peaceful tea time."
She happily said before she got a call through JARVIS, which made her groan that her peace had been interrupted, "/Miss Lightwood, you weren't answering the card when Captain America was looking for you./"
"Tell him that I'm safe and I'm at the Mansion."
Mia takes a sip of her Earl Grey tea.
"/Of course./"
With that, the message had been sent, and Mia then stopped before calling it back, "Hey JARVIS, mind if you play some relaxing jazz instrumental music for ambience until I finish my tea?" She asked.
Only for the AI to agree and play it.
Leading her to hum in delight, and continues drinking her tea in peace.
Scene changes as she was already refreshing her bandages for her stab wound in her room with the help of one of the guiding books she brought during her first time at the mall with Tony from weeks ago was The Survival Doctor's Guide to Wounds by James Hubbard.
It was a great help for her, and Mia was glad she got some useful books to have lying inside her box of books she's yet to place on the shelves. "And now that's done! Now let's see if I can contact Pepper."
Not containing her excitement, she dialed her burner phone, and Pepper answered after a few rings; they began discussing the confirmed workers who were going to come over to create the secret room.
As night fell, Mia ended her call with Pepper, who mentioned their arrival would come around 11 PM to begin a confidential, well-compensated job, after which they'd be taken home. And of course, telling her about the tragic news of Simon's demise and Tony's failure to save him.
Shutting off her burner phone before returning it to her bedside table drawer, where Mia had kept the USB drive recovered from both the helicarrier and now the underground barbershop she went to, and began putting the book guide back on one of the shelves in her room.
"So, everything went according to plan." She starts saying with no one in particular, "Enchantress has already gained Zemo, and a 'now-returned' Wonder Man a.k.a. Simon Williams, with a spell that keeps him alive. Glad it all worked out without getting involved."
Carefully, Mia changed into her black pajamas and fluffy white socks to avoid the cold floor. She then picked up her book, which transformed into the page she left off, and carefully descended the stairs with her cane so she could read in the theater/living room where the fireplace was lit.
Settling into one of the plush red couches, Mia sighed, super content. The fireplace warmed her up as the fire crackled, plus the dim light from the theater room made it perfect for reading. She opened the book and began to read.
Only to be interrupted when she hears the front door shut open and shut closed coming from behind her, and lifts her eyes before pushing her glasses up to look over; Carefully, trying not to open her stab wound, and spots the whole team. (Except Hulk, Black Panther, and Hawkeye)
"Hey guys." Mia starts, "Everything ok?"
Tony glances at me before walking up the stairs without saying a word, leaving Mia confused by the sudden frown of sadness written all over his face, as even his eyes were shining, indicating that he was going to cry if he stayed standing there.
"Did something bad happen?" She couldn't help but ask, to which no one said anything, except Hank, "You should ask Tony about it." He avoids eye contact, shuffling his feet: "He's... not in the best headspace right now, Mia. Just give him some space."
Mia's brow furrows before nodding slowly, understanding the situation, "I see." She looks towards the direction Tony went, a flicker of concern in her eyes as she couldn't help but ask again, "Is there anything I can do?"
He shakes his head.
"Just... be here, I guess." He offers a weak smile.
Before heading back to his place with Janet following him out the door, whereas Steve and Thor had already left for the night, leaving only Mia alone in the theater/living room so she could continue reading her book when she felt her stomach turn.
'Maybe I should go check up on him... What? No! This is great, this is just part of his character development for him to know about how he shouldn't play with responsibility or not explain to the person about it before doing something rash.'
She groans tiredly at the thought of going to see him: 'If anything, I should be worried about the timeline and the secret room. That's it! But why does it feel bad when I say it like that?' Until Mia gave up before carefully getting up, took her cane, and went upstairs.
"I can't believe I'm doing this..." She goes up the stairs until she makes it to the top, which tires her out, but she doesn't care about it as she begins to search for him until finally, she finds him entering his new room for the time being, so she calls out to him: "Tony."
Tony froze, midway through entering it, and turned to see her, showcasing a smile she knew that didn't reach his eyes, "Oh, hey, Mia." He said, "Can we chat some other time?"
"You shouldn't blame yourself for what happened and feel guilty about it, Anthony..."
Taking a quiet, his smile falters, and he instantly sighs, "Nothing gets passed you, does it?" He dryly chuckles, looking down at the door handle like it was interesting, whereas Mia began to walk over it, her cane in hand, and shook her head.
"No." Mia replies, "And speaking of which, wanna talk somewhere else other than being inside the mansion?"
This piqued his interest.
*Scene changes to Mia and Tony on top of the mansion where the pool was located*
As they both were staring out at the city view in silence, the night air was cool, carrying the distant hum of the city below. The skyline glittered, a sea of lights stretching endlessly—beautiful, yet indifferent to the weight pressing down on Tony's shoulders.
He exhaled sharply, his breath visible in the chilly air, fingers drumming restlessly against the railing.
Mia stood beside him, silent.
Too silent.
Tony Stark was used to noise—the whirring of machinery, the chatter of teammates, the constant buzz of his own thoughts. But this? This quiet was *unsettling*. Mia was never this still, this wordless.
She was the one who filled spaces with dry remarks, playful jabs, or even exasperated sighs. Now, she just... watched, and she had called him Anthony.
Not Tony.
Not Stark.
Tony, for his part, kept stealing glances at her. The way she had said his full name—Anthony—earlier had done something strange to him. It wasn't just the sound of it; it was the weight behind it, the way she had spoken it with a quiet firmness that made his chest tighten.
Not only that, but for some reason, he liked the way she said his full name.
His arc reactor flickered faintly in response, a brief pulse of light that he willed back under control. He cleared his throat, shifting his weight. His name on her lips sent an unfamiliar jolt through him.
Something warm and sharp all at once that his arc reactor flickered briefly in response, a soft blue pulse beneath his red dress shirt. He clenched his jaw, forcing it steady:'Get it together, Stark.'
"So," he finally said, voice too loud in the quiet, "you dragged me up here just to stare at the view?" He forced a smirk, but it felt brittle, as a way to break the ice. Sadly, Mia didn't answer immediately, nor respond with a laugh like she usually does.
Her gaze remained fixed on the horizon, her fingers tightening slightly around her cane.
Tony shifted, suddenly feeling like a kid caught doing something wrong.
The silence stretched, and he fought the urge to fill it—with jokes, with deflection, with anything to stop the tension growing. But something about the way she stood, the way her expression remained unreadable, made him hesitate.
It made him feel like a kid caught doing something wrong, waiting for the inevitable scolding. The thought almost made him laugh, but he didn't: 'Since when did Mia make me, the Tony Stark, feel like I was in trouble? And yet, here I am. Waiting for my upcoming doom.'
Finally, Mia spoke, her voice quiet but steady. "Fury lessened my house arrest." Tony blinked, caught off guard as he wasn't expecting that to happen, "What?"
"Two weeks instead of three months," she clarified, still not looking at him.
A grin spread across Tony's face, "That's great! Why aren't you celebrating? This is what you wanted, isn't it?" Mia exhaled sharply, her fingers tightening slightly around her cane. "It doesn't feel right."
Tony frowned at that, "What do you mean? Mia, this is freedom." He continues, "You've been cooped up in here for weeks. You should be happy." She turned her head just enough to meet his gaze, and Tony faltered at the conflict in her eyes.
"Just because Captain America showed up doesn't mean I should get special treatment," she said. "It feels like cheating the system." Tony scoffed at that, and rolled his eyes at her, "Come on, don't tell me the idea of going outside hasn't crossed your mind."
She stiffened, and with one look on her expression.
Tony's smirk faded when he realized he'd hit a nerve, "Mia? I—" "...It has," she admitted quietly. "But that doesn't make it right." Tony shook his head, reaching out to squeeze her shoulder.
"You're overthinking this. You deserve this. You've been—"
Mia shrugged his hand off and stepped back. The abrupt rejection surprised him, causing a pain he masked as he listened, "I don't want to distract anyone," she muttered, more to herself than to him.
Tony's brows furrow at her, slightly confused by what she meant with that.
"Distract them from what?" Mia hesitated, then shook her head, "Never mind." She turned the conversation sharply: "What happened today, Tony? Hank told me you should be the one to explain."
Tony's breath caught.
The weight of the day—Simon's destabilization, the failed attempt to save him—crashed back into him like a physical blow. His throat tightened, and for a second, he couldn't speak. Mia, on the other hand, was watching him closely, her expression softening.
As she saw the cracks in his composure: The way his jaw clenched, the way his eyes glistened just a little too brightly under the rooftop lights. Tony swallowed hard, forcing the words out. "Simon—he's gone. We couldn't... I couldn't save him."
His voice cracked on the last word.
Mia didn't say anything, but listened, and watched him let out a shaky laugh, rubbing a hand over his face as he tried to hide the hurt being written all over his face, "I had him. I had a way to stabilize him, but—" He cut himself off, shaking his head. "It wasn't enough."
The silence stretched between them, heavy with everything Tony wasn't saying—the guilt, the frustration, the grief. Then, without a word, Mia stepped forward. Slowly, carefully, she wrapped her arms around him from behind.
Resting her forehead against his back, right between his shoulder blades.
Tony froze.
For a heartbeat, he didn't move, didn't breathe. Then, hesitantly, he turned in her arms, his hands hovering awkwardly at his sides before he finally gave in and pulled her close. Mia tucked her head against his chest.
Right over the arc reactor, where the steady hum of the machine mixed with the rapid beat of his heart echoed silently, and for a moment, Tony had closed his eyes while exhaling shakily as he held her.
He didn't trust himself to speak.
Hell, Tony didn't trust himself to admit just how much this meant—how much she meant to him.
Because somewhere along the way, Mia Lightwood had become more than just a friend.
And that terrified him.