Johnny and Tony flew out into the dark clouds from the hatch of the helicopter. With Tony in his suit and Johnny encased in an inferno, the two headed for the icy mountain top. Snow layered the Siberian HYDRA base, and the sharp wind chilled through the two men. T'Challa was able to lock on to Johnny's heat signature, following him in a quinjet with Sue onboard. Steve and Bucky were said to be at the base in search of the mad scientist who was behind Bucky's apparent mind control.
The Secretary of State had issued a sudden change of mind to the Barnes, after he scoffed at Tony's attempt to suggest their next plan of action. When the man turned his back on the Stark, Johnny made sure to set a small flame on the hem of his blazer. They headed into the cell to speak with Clint, while Ross's cries for a fire extinguisher echoed throughout the building.
Sue was excused from the flight due to her newfound pregnancy. Tony and Johnny were reluctant to let her come along at all, but they were no match for the woman's persistance. They tried to send her back to the Stark tower in New York, while they headed to Siberia. But she duck her heels into the floor and argued that,
'I took on you-' she pointed at Johnny. '-and Wanda! All while unknowingly pregnant. I am not sitting this one out.'
'You took on the least combat-specialised members of the Avengers. That's not an achievement.'
Sue had sent her fiancé a fierce glare before she crossed her arms with her mind made up. Johnny and Tony had no choice but to cave on the exception that she flew in the quinjet. Sue wasn't opposed to this, as the idea of sitting on either of their backs through the Siberian terrain sounded unfavourable. She happily put on her seatbelt in the hanger while T'Challa drove the aircraft after the two flying dots through the clouds.
'Stark told me about your pregnancy,' T'Challa said without taking his eyes off the sky. 'Congratulations.'
'Thank you!' Sue yelled over the noise of the engine. T'Challa's face was yet to be covered by his Black Panther mask and Sue was in her blue suit. There was no guarantee that there wouldn't be any violence on the mountain, but Tony had made it clear that he would do everything to keep her secluded from any fights. FRIDAY was monitoring all her vitals with a small screen permanently placed in the corner of Tony's mask. If she was hurt by so much as a bee sting, he would be alerted in an instant.
'I'm sure you and Tony are very proud,' the Wakandian called over his shoulder, his hands on the controls. He prepared to land on the mountain side as they broke through the grey clouds. T'Challa would have to land on a large enough ledge nearby, as Steve and Bucky's escape quinjet was on the only available helipad. The landing would be difficult, but not impossible.
Sue let out a hum that she wasn't sure if he heard. Her seatbelt kept her safe as the quinjet swayed into a landing. Her hair was tied back in a low bun and despite her capability for a fight, the jellybean-sized mass inside her hindered her confidence. Sue looked down at her hands, her leather gloves covering the engagement ring that sat on her ring-finger. She pressed her palms to her stomach, the thought of Tony's baby beneath her fingers warming her heart with joy.
When Tony proposed in Sokovia, Sue's desire for a normal life became one step closer. Although there were countless reasons why she and Tony couldn't have a normal family with a normal life, Sue still dreamed. She dreamt of spending her days in a warm, urban house, where her superhero days were in the past. The sound of her children's calls for her attention was like a melody to her ears. Their sweet voices would harmonise while she made home-cooked meals and waited for her husband to come home from a day in the lab. It was a fantasy she hoped would become a reality. Even if Tony continued his Iron Man prodigy, she would still have a life of serenity and peace.
'Are you okay, Miss Storm?' T'Challa stood in front of the woman who smiled to herself in the grounded quinjet. She whipped her head up at his voice and realised she was still sat with her seatbelt on. T'Challa had lowered the ramp to allow them to head into the HYDRA base, Tony and Steve already inside.
'Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay,' Sue nodded, easing T'Challa's worried expression. The sight of the woman sitting with her hands on her stomach and staring down at her knees had unnerved the man. But a sparkle sat in her eyes and the glow in her smile showed him that she was more than okay.
They deboarded the quinjet and headed into the base, the mountain's chill gracing them for a moment too long. Hanging lights lined the corridor's ceiling and the floor was an extension of the grey walls. Sue and T'Challa walked side by side, the Wakandian's mask over his face and claws at the ready. Sue was tempted to press the button on her collar to shield her face from the cold air that infiltrated the base's concrete walls. Her cheeks were flushed, and the tip of her nose was numb, but she did her best to ignore the cold's effects.
They arrived at a caged elevator that took them down into a bunker, where they saw double doors at the end of the hallway. The doors were dented from being forced open, leaving them to sit separated. T'Challa and Sue wordlessly followed the corridors, taking the turns cautiously. It wasn't long until they saw the backs of the men they were searching for.
Johnny, Tony, Steve and Bucky were stood in a chamber. Capsules were planted around the room filled with yellow mist and the corpses of experiments. A 1991 experiment led to the creation of enhanced humans who would do the bidding of Helmut Zemo, the scientist who brought Bucky into the current world with a warped perception of right and wrong.
As Helmut Zemo explained his master plan through the speakers, Sue and T'Challa slipped into the chamber and into the shadows. They weren't sure whether the situation could turn sour and could use the unexpected to their advantage. Tony's helmet was retracted into his suit, showing his confused and bewildered expression at the sight of pickled soldiers. Johnny's gaze jumped from capsule to capsule, aware of Bucky's past, but still horrified from the grotesque preservation of the experiments.
Zemo made himself visible from a control room that was protected with by shatter-proof glass. Steve hurled his shield at the man, but it bounced back without even a crack in the barrier. Steve caught it on his arm and the scientist let out a cackle.
'Please, Captain. The Soviets built this chamber to withstand the launch blast of UR-100 rockets,' Zemo gave the men a pitiful look.
'I'm betting I could beat that,' Tony prepared to power up a missile from the shoulder of his suit.
'Oh, I'm sure you could, Mr. Stark. Given time. But then you'd never know why you came.'
While Helmut bought time, Johnny caught movement from the corner of his eye. He turned his head and saw Sue, T'Challa having slipped away to find a door into Zemo's control room. Sue met eyes with her brother and wordlessly communicated that she was there if she was needed. Johnny pressed his lips together, uncertain on whether a fight was about to break out. Tony's truce with Steve and Bucky seemed genuine, but Johnny could never be sure with Bucky's lack of control, and Tony's desire to always come out on top.
'You lost someone?' Steve asked Zemo, receiving a tick from the man's tongue.
'I lost everyone. And so will you.'
A screen in the chamber lit up with footage of a suburban road. The men looked at the screen where the date of December 16th, 1991, was displayed in the corner. Steve and Johnny looked at the footage with confusion, unaware of Helmut's exit at the distraction. But Bucky and Tony stiffened, both for different yet similar reasons. From where Sue was stood, she could see the men's faces light up from the footage that she couldn't see. She let her invisibility take over as she stepped out of the shadows. With her footsteps light, she stopped behind the four and looked over Bucky's shoulder. She saw an old-fashioned car pull up into view before being run off the road. The vehicle plowed into a tree, its headlights remaining active and airbags released.
'I know that road,' Tony mumbled before The Winter Soldier arrived at the scene on a motorbike. A metal arm gleamed through the surveillance footage, making it known that the man was Bucky Barnes. Bucky headed towards the car, the bonnet crushed from the crash and the driver falling out on to the road.
'Help my wife. Please. Help...' Howard Stark's voice slipped through the speakers.
The Winter Solider was seen taking hold of Howard Stark's hair and allowed his face to be recognised. Howard's pixelated expression looked at the soldier, before he said,
'Sergeant Barnes?'
Howard Stark's wife, Maria Stark, screamed for her husband as Bucky's fist collided with his face. Maria was forced to watch Howard die at the man's hand, and The Winter Soldier put the Stark back in the car with his face against the steering wheel. Maria met her own horrendous fate with Bucky's hand around her throat, the woman suffocating next to her husband's corspe. Bucky staged the scene as a car accident, before looking up to the camera that filmed the evidence.
The footage ended with The Winter Soldier shooting the surveillance camera and the screen went blank. The chamber was silent as its occupants processed the footage. Sue felt the anger seethe off Tony, as he turned his murderous gaze towards Bucky. Her heart ached at the tears that flooded his eyes and she feared that he would be unstoppable in the next few moments. She took a step back from Bucky, who dared to look away from the screen of his sins and look to the Stark.
'Tony. Tony,' Steve stopped the man who attempted to lunge across him. Bucky stook a step back, his eyes filled with guilt. Johnny heard a scuff on the floor next to him that went unheard by the others. He knew Sue was there, but he wished she wasn't.
'Did you know?' Tony looked at his friend. His grief made Steve falter in his hold on his armoured arm. Steve knew that he couldn't delay the inevitable.
'I didn't know it was him.'
'Don't bullshit me, Rogers! Did you know?!'
'Yes...'