24. Commitment

My eyes are locked onto the screen of my phone. This is not the way I wanted to find Barnes. Hell, this is not the way I think anyone — Steve, me, or government — wanted to find him. Releasing a shaky exhale, I find my knees to be weak and unstable as I decide to sit down on the soft grass. It's just all too much to handle. And to add to the fact, it was apparently Barnes who detonated the bomb at the Accords signing, according to the Global Catastrophe News Report I receive on my phone. I don't know what I want to do now. My head is spinning as I try to come up with any logical reasoning as to what's happening.

My next thought is to call Steve. See if he's heard from Natasha as she's the one Avenger who's number I don't have. I mean, I've never needed it before. That and I honestly think you have to earn her phone number.

Swiping all the information from my phone screen, I dial Steve's number before lifting the phone to my ear. I'm trying oh-so-hard to remain calm but it doesn't seem to be working. My heart feels like it's going to explode, my stomach feels like it's doing flips, and my brain is starting to hurt from all the thinking I'm doing. I lift a hand to my forehead and place it there. I feel extremely hot and I'm pretty sure it's just due to the stress I'm feeling currently. When the ringing on my end of the line stops as the phone is answered, my brain seems to disconnect from my mouth immediately.

"Oh God, Ste- Steve? Crap. Oh, man. Oh-" I start to ramble. My pulse becomes thready and increased, which probably means I'm either on the brink of a panic attack or passing out. When I accepted Steve's plea to help find Bucky nearly a year ago, I was not expecting this. I was not expecting to deal with a madman with the skills of an assassin. I was not expecting to deal with this. From all I've read, and from how defensive Rogers gets about his friend, I expected that Barnes would be better than this. But somehow in the midst of all that, I forgot that he isn't exactly Bucky Barnes anymore. He's still fighting the effects of HYDRA and being the Winter Soldier. Therefore, I don't know if this is just an episode or if this is who he really is now. If this is who he is now, I don't think I can go on helping Steve. This is just way above me and my skills...and my pay grade.

Actually, I don't get paid. I just get harassed by the governments of the world for my efforts.

"Iris, what's going on? Calm down." I hear Cap's voice through the phone. I cannot fathom how he's so calm right now.

"Did- Oh gosh- Did you get the information I sent you?" Is all I manage before Steve cuts in.

"Did you find him?" He asks with a twinge of hope in his voice. In the background, I hear Sam speaking.

"Cap, you gotta see this." Wilson says. That's when I begin to assume he hasn't seen the news yet.

"Have--no, Steve, you gotta turn on the news. Rig-right now. Oh, man. It's a mess." I stutter, tripping over my own words as I fight to make just one clear, coherent sentence.

"Iris, what's happened?" He questions as I hear him shuffling on the other end, probably following Sam to what I hope is a television.

"You..you just gotta. The news- watch. Watch the news." I manage to get out, although my sentences still seem to be fractured due to my current state of anxiety. I lower my face and begin to take as many deep breaths as I can, trying to calm down. "Have- Natasha. Is Nat ok? Have you talked to Natasha?" I quickly ask.

"No. Iris, you're starting to-" And then he falls silent. I assume he's finally made it to a television and is watching one of the biggest stories in the country right now. Possibly the world. "Iris, I'm gonna need you here." Is all he says as a bad feeling erupts in my stomach.

"Steve, I don't think I can do this."

"Iris, I know what we discussed but I'm going to need you. Please." I'm hesitant. I don't know if this is worth it. Is it going to be too risky now? "Iris, I know this isn't him. He would never. It doesn't make sense. Think about it." I close my eyes as I fight with my inner conscious. He does have a point. Why hide out for so long and then create a big mess for seemingly no reason? If that's not what convinces me, it's the desperation I detect in Steve's voice that sways me.

"Alright. Where?" My thoughts finally settle now that I have a task. A goal, a mission, something to work towards. My brain finally reconnects to my mouth as I begin to feel my strength come back to me. Taking a calming breath, I decide I might as well get up and go get whatever I may need if I'll be traveling. I force my legs to support me and push myself off the ground into a standing position.

"Vienna." Steve says. "Get here as fast as you can."

"Aye aye, Cap'n."



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When I manage to get back to my room I grab a small bag. I proceed to throw some clothes, my suit, my laptop, chargers, and some snacks into it. Also, my passport as that's important. The compound has been relatively silent so far and I'm wondering where exactly everybody is. But the less commotion around here, the better. Gives me a better chance to leave quickly. Or at least that's my hope.

"Sparky!-" I jump before spinning on my heel and grab the person by the collar of their shirt. I force them into the wall with my arm across their throat. My other hand is reeled back and curled into a fist. I quickly realize it's Tony and let him go before taking a step away from him. Pietro zips down the hall with Wanda in his arms a second later, stopping right outside my door. I slowly lower my arm and give a relieved sigh. "I didn't know Natasha taught you the principle of shoot first questions later, Impulse." Tony says sarcastically before brushing the non-existent dust from his suit as he moves further into my room. I only scowl at him. "You took off pretty fast back there, didn't ya?" He continues, tilting his head at me.

"Yeah, well someone had to inform Cap that Natasha was possibly injured. He's closer to Vienna than any of us, so he might as well get over there and check up on her." I grumble, continuing to sort my things inside my bag. I'm honest, but don't voice the full reason why I shot out of the living area so quickly.

"Is that it? Nothing else you wanna say?" He motions to the bag I'm packing. This causes me to sigh dramatically before I regard him again.

"I figured you'd need to stay here and deal with the politics and damage control of these issues while somebody needed to go make sure Steve doesn't do anything completely stupid." I offer while crossing my arms over my chest defensively.

"What makes you think you should go?" He asks seriously.

"Because Steve trusts and listens to what I have to say, Tony. That and Pietro and Wanda don't have passports. It'd look really bad if we sent them out there without them, no offense guys." I say evenly.

"What if I were to send Vision?" Tony pushes.

"You need someone to hold down the fort here when you do have to leave to answer to the UN, am I correct?" I fire back with a smile. "Plus, you wouldn't trust the three of us to stay here all by ourselves. We'd probably blow it into the next dimension." This causes Stark to sigh and roll his eyes. "C'mon, Tony. You and I both know I have a better chance at keeping Rogers out of trouble than Vision would."

"Fine." The billionaire gives in.

"What? No." Pietro shakes his head sternly. "There's a madman there." The male twin states firmly, looking at Stark for backup.

"She's right, Pietro. I've gotta send her over there. I'm sure she can handle herself." He nods to me before pointing towards me. "You leave in ten minutes. I'll go find you a pilot." He exits the room, allowing Wanda to enter.

"C'mon, Pietro." I sigh, hefting my bag off my bed and over my shoulder. "I'll be fine, I promise." I smile at his disgruntled expression.

"I thought we talked about this. It's too dangerous. You could get seriously hurt." He grumbles and Wanda shoots me a sneaky smile from behind her brother.

"Pietro, my plan is to keep Steve out of trouble. Besides, I could literally walk outside and trip and scrape my knee. I can literally get hurt anywhere. I could trip down stairs, I could get shot by a sniper-" Before I can go on, Pietro grabs the sides of my face gently before forcing me to look at him as he shushes me.

"Stop." He sighs exasperatedly, my point obviously getting across to him. "Just promise me you'll be fine? You won't get hurt?" This causes me to smile up at him. He knows I'll somehow end up in the middle of this mess. I can see it on his face.

"You and I both know I can't promise that because the risk of becoming injured is incredibly real. I can promise you, however, that I will do everything in my power to stay safe and try my best not to get injured, okay?" I say seriously, although my tone is gentle.

"Okay." He finally says even though it's hesitant.

"Okay." I smile before lifting my hands to gently pull his face down so I can kiss his forehead. "Now, you have to stay safe also." I tell him before he nods.

"You know, you missed." He comments, which causes me to roll my eyes.

"I never miss." I reply.

"Yeah? Neither do I." He leans down and presses a kiss to my lips. It's a nice sweet kiss. Nothing forced and nothing uncomfortable.

"You and I both know that's a lie." I comment as we part.

"Iris, please, you're ruining the moment." He sighs.

"Yeah, well I'm sure this is not the show your sister wants right now." I joke before pecking his lips and move to his sister. Once I'm close enough, she draws me in for a hug.

"Be careful. Steve's friend isn't who he was back then." She whispers and my eyebrows pull together.

"You been in my head, Wanda?" I quietly ask, not moving away as we continue to hug.

"More than you know." This causes me to crack a smile.

"Thanks for not saying anything, then." I say.

"I trust you."

"Thank you, Wanda."

"Be safe, for both of us."

"I'll be back before you guys know it."

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