The hurried heartbeats of every single HYDRA agent in this base were enough to add more fuel to the fire that Theresa liked to call her anxiety.

Ever since they had continued their experiments on her, her anxiety issues had gotten worse and worse.

Especially since she was now able to hear each and every heartbeat in a ten mile radius, without rest. She didn't even have to try anymore. It was there, even in the moments in which she wished to just be able to rest in peace and quiet – but the pounding would always be there.

Theresa would just have to learn to deal with it.

Wanda took hold of the other woman's hand, startling her just a little.

The Stark glanced at the Maximoff, thankful for her trying to give her some sort of solace, trying to calm the thrumming of her nerves.

Theresa closed her eyes, trying to calm her nerves on her own, trying to drown out the sound of the commotions outside.

Though, sadly, most of the time the things she wanted to happen won't turn out as planned.

"There's no need to be so tense, Doctor."

Theresa huffed a silent laugh and opened her eyes, a twirl of violet in the brown of her iris as she glanced at the Baron.

"You say that as though you are able to hear every single persons fear in this room. Oh wait, I forgot, you aren't."

Strucker flashed a short grin at the woman as he approached the trio of wonders, his main target the Stark.

"I doubt there is anyone in this room who fears anything."

"Half your soldiers fear the awaiting threat outside this building, the other half fears of what the twins and I can do. I'll let you choose who fears what."

Strucker shook his head at that, acting as though he took her words for some foolish child tricks.

"I have a task for you, Thasia."

Just the usage of her codename was enough for Theresa to guess what would await her now – nothing good.

"What is it?"

"I want you to go out, distract their leader."

Theresa rolled her eyes and raised a brow at her opposite.

"And you think that will work exactly why?"

"You are his relative. How could he shoot at his family, his own flesh and blood?"

"Anthony will not see me as his family and he will not hesitate to harm me when it comes to getting what he wants."

"Then give him a reason to hesitate."

The Stark knew just what he meant. 

Use her ability to make him stop. Give him a stroke while she was at it.

A new surge of energy came from Wanda, as if to show her it was okay, that she and her brother would be fine and would know how to handle themselves.

The Stark glanced at the twins, their determination making her sigh and turn her gaze back towards Strucker.

"Alright. But under one simple condition."

"You are not in the position to ask for things."

"You and I both know very well that I am capable of doing so. Now, will you listen to what I have to say or will you risk your failure?"

The German scientist sent a glare her way, obviously showing how unsatisfied he was with this short debate's ending.

"What do you want?"

His voice was low, as if to hide his failure in negotiation.

"You pull off the men outside. Let those, who still can, retreat and let the Avengers come close. Re-station your troops inside this compound and let me handle them alone outside."

"Compromise. I will not pull those off who are already out on the field, but I will call those back who are just outside this building and are less likely to have already come face to face with the threat outside."

Theresa could tell that he was anything but satisfied with her proposal, so he tried to negotiate the best he could. 

And since Theresa was not in any mood for further negotiation, she decided it would be fine as he proposed it.

"They will not disturb me once the Avengers are close. Understood?"

Strucker seemed to hesitate for a split second, making it quite obvious that he had something planned that she would not like, most likely some backup plan for the case that she might fail.

"Understood."

Theresa nodded and then turned her attention towards Wanda and Pietro. The older twin looked down at her with determination, his gaze telling her he'd take Wanda away if things went downhill. 

Wanda squeezed her hand one last time, before the Stark then turned and made her way towards the nearest exit to reveal herself to her nephew and his crew of superheroes.

Theresa watched in disdain as some of the HYDRA agents still outside began firing at the city below, but she was not the only one to take notice, as she realized her nephew soon followed in realization.

It didn't take long for him to figure out a countermeasure against the civilian-problem, before he moved to take out most of those soldiers gathered outside. Those who hadn't yet received the order to retreat.

Theresa just let them run into their own demise, letting Anthony do for a little while as he pleased, until he turned towards her direction for a split second.

The doctor could tell by the way how his entire body turned towards her for a split second, that he saw her and would most likely deal with her in a moment, as he then flew off once more, most likely to clear the other side.

Theresa walked towards the railing, glancing down towards the forest in which the rest of the Avengers were fighting with the HYDRA agents still flocking on them.

When she noticed a dash of blue flying through the trees, she couldn't help her sigh.

Of course Pietro would try to go out into the open field.

Theresa could only wonder where he had dropped off his sister. She, most likely, was still in the building and waiting for the moment one of the Avengers would enter. So she could finally prove on the enemy that she was ready.

The harsh sound of metal meeting concrete made Theresa turn around and come face to face with her nephew in full armor, mask not taken off-

"If you are keeping your mask over your face, because you believe that I am unable to control your body when I can't see any piece of flesh, then you are wrong. I was able to hear you approach this compound the moment you and your team entered these woods, before the foot soldiers down there even knew you were there."

"You make that sound like it's something really special."

Tony's mechanical voice was dripping with sarcasm and just by that notion, Theresa could tell that he was not very fond of his aunt.

"If you would let me explain what happened, you might understand just how special this situation really is."

The male was about to retort something, but he seemed held back by what she assumed to be an announcement – most likely the announcement of Pietro's presence on the field.

"He is not the only enhanced. He has a sister, who is now also gifted. Now, guess who was their assigned doctor."

"I am not in the mood to play any guessing games, but I'll just assume that was you."

"You're right. And now guess who Strucker's favorite test subject was when the twins were in no condition to continue the experiments for a day or two."

"He was able to one-up your abilities? Wow, are you asking me to be impressed now? Because, in all honesty, we kind of expected this to happen."

"You expected this to happen?"

A short laugh left Theresa's throat. His argument of having expected this was completely invalid due to one simple factor.

"Until, let's say, two minutes ago, you didn't even know that there were enhanced ones in this field. Until your last HYDRA base raid, you didn't even know that Loki's scepter was here, in Sokovia. So, since you knew neither of these things until some while ago, you also couldn't have expected them to continue their experiments on me. After all, before the scepter appeared, I was as perfect as I could be."

"You say perfect, but I can present you a list of things imperfect about the oh-so-perfect you."

"We are not talking about my flaws here. Not about my constant heartache, leading to the use of narcotics to somehow mend to the pain. That was and still is irrelevant. As long as I appear as a usable weapon against others, I am perfectly fine. They found out how to control my pain and how to use it to control me. To them, I have no flaws. And if I do, they work hard to find a way to fix them."

Finally, Anthony's mask retreated, giving the other Stark a full view of her nephews face – face to face for the first time since his birth.

Theresa noticed the conflict in his eyes, though his brows were furrowed to make it seem like he was glaring at her. His entire facial expression meant to show anger, but his eyes sang a whole different song.

"I can understand if you hate me."

"If you can understand that I hate you, then why are you okay with it?"

Theresa flashed a soft smile, meant to be calming.

"Because I would do, too, if I were in your position. Since you were born you've heard stories of an aunt you never got to meet, because everyone thought her dead. Then, all of a sudden, a fiasco happens and you find your aunt on the bad side, with what seems like no intention of neither switching to the right side, nor being forced to tag along with the bad guys."

Tony's expression softened for a split second, but he was quick to shove that glint aside and let his scowl return.

"You know, you did ruin my dad's life a little, not being there and all."

"I know. And I wish I could have done anything else. But now it's too late. And even after today, after this base falls, I will still have a hard time reconciling. Nobody will trust me. Nobody will want to be associated with me, unless I am behind bars for the crimes I have committed."

"You know, Banner sees some good in you. He wouldn't tell us why he let you go, he just said he had his reasons. He'd be the first to welcome you back with open arms, I bet."

"As harsh as this might sound, but he at least took the time to listen and understand. We do not have the time now, but when this is over, will you sit down with me and let me explain?"

Tony looked hesitant, almost like he wanted to say yes, but something was holding him back.

Then, after what seemed like a good minute, he finally nodded.

"Alright. I will listen."

Theresa smiled at the male before her, obviously glad he accepted her proposal. Then, she took a glance down at the field, noticing how almost the entirety of the battle had ceased.

"I suggest you continue with your work."

"What'll you do?"

"I'll make sure to survive so you can take me back with you. After all, I owe you lots of explanations."