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"After a thorough investigation, we have concluded that Howard Stark is innocent of the theft and sale of weapons to foreign enemies. All charges against Mr. Stark have been dropped."

Thompson's voice boomed through the entire street as he spoke into the microphones set in place for the press conference. Howard remained unusually quiet through the ordeal, though the smug smile on his lips never wavered and he made sure every photographer on the scene got a good luck of it. Mr. Jarvis and Sousa stood on either sides of them, facing the crowd and the nosy reporters all huddled together in the outside of the building. (Y/N) and Peggy were mixed in between the crowd as an attempt to catch any signs of the three people they were looking for.

"We owe Mr. Stark a tremendous debt of gratitude, and his assistance in our current investigation is invaluable."

"'Hero'," Howard leaned down to whisper into Thompson's ear. "'He is a hero.'"

"He is. . .a hero for all Americans," Thompson's voice sounded strained, as if he disliked saying them out loud. His smile toward the crowd transformed into a grimace. "Mr. Stark will be working in concert with the SSR to bring those responsible for this crime to justice."

"'Humbled by his genius.' No," Howard did the same thing, only this time he struggled to find the proper words to describe himself as. "'Brilliance'. 'Humbled by his brilliance.'"

"We are humbled," The annoyance was audible in Thompson. "Here's Howard Stark."

He stepped aside and Howard didn't hesitate to take the podium all for himself. The audience saw his approach and huddled closer ( if that was even possible ) to the podium to get a good look of the billionaire. His hair blew back due to the wind and his hands were stuffed inside his jacket's pockets, eyes skimming the crowd in hopes to hear a question he wanted to answer.

"Mr. Stark!"

One reporter raised his voice amongst the rest of them to ask his question. "Is it true that you were hiding at the residence of Barbara Stanwyck?"

"For too long now, the name Howard Stark has been dragged through the mud," Howard completely disregarded the last question. "Today is a day of reckoning for anyone who doubts — "

A gunshot noise interrupted his words, alarming everyone at the scene of an attacker. The people in the crowd and the pedestrians walking by all shrieked in fear and ran into the nearest building for protection. Luckily, the bullet missed Howard a couple inches higher and broke a hole through the window behind him, but Thompson still tackled him to the ground and guided him to an alley. (Y/N) was already looking up at the skyscrapers all around her to get a view of the shooter, but in between all the commotion, it was difficult to do so.

"Who's got eyes on the shooter?" Thompson asked through the radio.

"It's coming from above," she heard Sousa respond.

(Y/N) hid behind a taxi cab and pulled the gun out of her holster in case she needed it. What was strange to her was that the shooter did not stop firing despite having missed the prime target. She followed the line of sight where the bullets were coming from, and saw an open window on the higher floor of the hotel across the street. Thompson and Peggy were the ones who ran in the direction of that room to catch the shooter, meanwhile (Y/N) scanned the crowd in case she stumbled upon Louis, Fennhoff or Dottie.

People were still screaming in fear of getting hit by a stray bullet, but fortunately the shots had stopped after a while. She and Sousa were still between the fleeing crowd on red alert, but there was no sign of their prime suspects. (Y/N) thought they'd be lucky and catch all three in one play, but that sounded unrealistic. She just hoped that Howard was taken out of harm's way before Fennhoff could find him.

"Miss Dewitt!"

(Y/N) turned around at the sound of Mr. Jarvis's voice, and both Sousa's eyes and hers widened when they noticed that he was alone.

"And Stark?"

"He's been taken."

Just when she was about to question how that happened, Sousa brought the radio to his lips. "All agents, Stark's been grabbed."

(Y/N) and Sousa were instructed by Thompson to search for the car through the streets along with the police officers. An APD on the car had been issued and they received a hit no more than ten minutes later. The car was fortunately found, but Howard was not inside. The driver had been shot in the back of the head and his body was draped over the steering wheel, but other than that, there was no sign of force on it.

"Car's near 42nd and 9th," Sousa spoke into the radio. "No Stark."

"42nd and 9th, copy."

(Y/N) felt a knot in her throat at the thought of running out of time to save Howard. If she had tried to convince him longer that the press conference was a bad idea, they wouldn't be in this situation. She did not want to think of a scenario in which they were late to stop Fennhoff from his plan and hurting Howard.

"This isn't good," Mr. Jarvis commented under his breath after he watched the car getting surrounded by other police officers.

"No, it isn't."

"It was a diversion."

Sousa and Mr. Jarvis snapped their heads in her direction. "What?"

"Think about it. From the angle the shooter was firing from, they could've hit Stark easily, but they didn't," (Y/N) defended her point. "They hit right above him. They knew we'd lose time trying to find them and remove Stark from the scene, and we played right into their game."

"You mean they had planned this from the beginning?" Sousa asked, interested in her theory.

"No," she shook her head. "They couldn't possibly know he was going to show up here until the press conference."

Thompson and Peggy caught up with the three of them in the alley where the vehicle had been found. They had come to the same conclusion that (Y/N) had; that the shooting was a diversion to grab Howard, and how Fennhoff was planning to punish him by using his own inventions. The test run had been the movie theater, and if they were right, they were planning to hit Times Square. An easy target, especially today, since there'll be an enormous celebration for VE Day.

"Guy at the coffee shop saw a blonde forcing a man matching Stark's description into the back of a black Sedan," Sousa walked back to the group after talking to various possible witnesses. He held out the notepad to read from what he had written down. "They were last seen heading west towards Lincoln Tunnel. I radioed their descriptions to Port Authority. See if we can snag them at the tolls."

"They're trying to leave the city," Peggy realized, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Why?"

"Maybe we were wrong about the target."

"Just talked to every muckity-muck in the city, trying to call off the VE Day celebration," Thompson joined them as well. "They won't do it. Already 10,000 people packed into Times Square. We won't have enough time to evacuate."

"He could've stashed those canisters anywhere."

(Y/N) shook her head to correct Sousa. "The gas was designed to be deployed by air."

"Which is why we just down all the airports."

"And every private airfield in the area."

"I think I know where Dr. Fennhoff is headed."

All eyes fell on Mr. Jarvis, who had been uncharacteristically quiet through the entire conversation before that. He avoided eye contact with anyone around him, and found the floor rather interesting.

"Where?"

"If his intention is to place blame for the attack on Mr. Stark, would it not be most effective to use one of Mr. Stark's own planes?"

"He can't," Thompson stated as a matter of-fact. "We confiscated them all."

Mr. Jarvis was quiet for a beat before he dared to speak again. "Not all."

"Hmm?"

"There is another vault," he confessed. "Considerably larger than the first."

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They were too late. By the time they had driven to the private airfield, Howard was already inside an aircraft and headed into the dark sky, no doubt convinced by Dr. Fennhoff to do it.

"Howard!"

(Y/N) could only watch as the aircraft took off and blended in with the pitch dark sky. She could feel the knot tightening around her throat again, that hopeless feeling in her veins all over again. She would not let Fennhoff finish his plot, she just wouldn't.

"How long until he reaches New York?" (Y/N) questioned and accepted the shotgun Peggy gave her from the trunk of the car they'd driven in.

"Twelve minutes," Sousa responded urgently. "Maybe less."

"Maybe we could talk him down," Thompson suggested as he cocked the gun in his hands.

"You think he'd listen?"

"Chief did."

Peggy slammed shut the trunk of the car and turned to Mr. Jarvis. "Radio room?"

"Second floor of the hangar."

She turned back to face the other men. "I need someone to take one of those planes up."

"Why?"

Peggy stayed silent at Thompson's question.

"Shoot him down with a plane full of poisonous gas?" Sousa asked incredulously, as if he didn't believe that was a good idea.

"You'd have to do it over the water before he reaches land," Thompson added instead of acting opposed to the idea, which was expected.

"Well, I'm not your guy," Sousa let out an exasperated breath and looked amongst the group. "I never flown a plane before."

"Likewise."

"I have," Mr. Jarvis confessed.

Peggy snapped her head in his direction. "Mr. Jarvis, I cannot ask this of you."

"Mr. Stark would want to be stopped by any means possible," Mr. Jarvis defended his decision. "We have little time."

"Help him get off the ground."

Peggy and (Y/N) headed toward the second floor of the hangar as Mr. Jarvis instructed, rifles in hand. The trip up the stairs was tense and silent, alert for any sign that their enemies were nearby. When they finally reached the second floor, (Y/N) closed the door that led to the stairs behind them, making sure she didn't make a single noise. Radio chatter was heard in the radio room down the hall, the door halfway closed but it gave them the perfect view of the people inside.

They crept forward with the guns aimed in the air for any sudden attacks. As (Y/N) got closer to the room, she recognized the blonde curly hair that belonged to Dottie Underwood and Dr. Fennhoff hunched over a chair, but she could not find Louis anywhere. The rational part of her brain thought he was on the other side of the room that was blocked by the door, but a side of her prayed he wasn't there. She didn't think she'd be ready to fight him.

"Signal is still holding strong. Changing course to be bearing 2-6-9."

"Focus, Howard," Dr. Fennhoff spoke into the microphone. "You're doing very well."

Peggy took the lead and stepped inside the room, alerting the two of the new presence. "Hands up."

(Y/N) checked on the other side of the room, even behind the door for Louis, but he was nowhere to be found. Meanwhile, Peggy did not remove her eyes from Dottie and Dr. Fennhoff, both slowly raising their hands in surrender.

"Ah, ah, ah," Peggy tutted when she saw Dottie reach inside her clothes for a smaller gun. "Lose the gun."

Dottie had no other choice but to grab the gun and drop it far from her reach.

"Move away from the radio slowly."

(Y/N)'s eyes kept darting across the room for any possible sign that Louis was around, feeling bile rise to her throat at the mere thought of fighting him. She missed how Dottie exchanged a brief look with Dr. Fennhoff as the blonde turned around, just like Peggy indicated.

When Dottie came face to face with the brunette, she plastered a fake smile on her lips. "Peggy, it's so swell to see you."

(Y/N) clicked the safety off the gun. "Where's — "

Her own question was answered when someone struck her in the back with the barrel of a gun. (Y/N) stumbled forward, caught completely off guard by the attack and her vision turned blurry for a few seconds. Peggy's distraction at her friend's state gave Dottie the perfect opportunity to kick the shotgun off her hands and toss it into the corner of the room.

(Y/N) turned around to face her attacker and came face to face with Louis, who was smiling at her the same way he did so days ago. It made her sick to her stomach. She hadn't lost grip on the shotgun in her hands, but when she raised it to aim a shot at him, he roughly removed it from her grasp and tossed it aside. Left defenseless, her eyes skimmed for any possible way to defend herself against a larger man like him.

Louis held his own gun in one hand and aimed it at her, but (Y/N) reacted quickly and caught her wrist. She squeezed it enough for him to drop it, and with her free hand she balled it into a fist and delivered a set of blows to his abdomen. He doubled over at the pain and this gave her enough time to roundhouse kick him directly in the stomach. Louis stumbled back, but he grabbed a hold of (Y/N)'s hair before she could attack back and used his free arm to wrap it around her neck.

"I thought you'd be better."

(Y/N) felt her blood boil at his words and did not know where she mustered all the strength to head butt Louis. The blow made him wince and lose the grip he had on her, giving her the opportunity to kick him several times. This bought her enough time to search for the tossed gun on the floor, but Louis caught on to this and grabbed her by the ankle and made her lose her balance.

She groaned when she roughly hit the floor and looked up to see Dottie and Peggy still fighting on the other side of the room, Dr. Fennhoff long gone. She did not want to distract herself from the fight, but it was too late — Louis saw her lose her focus and towered over her. He set his weight on top of her and now used both hands to strangle her, completely devoted to try and choke the life out of her.

(Y/N) knew it was worthless to try and push him off, since he was heavier than she was, and her strength was weakening by the second. She could see the madness in his eyes, attention solely on her eyes and how they'd change once he completed his objective. (Y/N) instead reached one of her hands around her in search of the gun, praying that she might be lucky and stumble upon it, just when she heard the sound of a window breaking in the distance.

The noise was enough to distract him for a few seconds, his grip loosening and his eyes elsewhere. (Y/N)'s peripheral vision allowed her to see the position of the forgotten gun, and her hand reached out for it on the only opportunity she would have to pull this stunt. It worked. She felt the gun cold in her fingertips as she aimed it at Louis's abdomen and fired.

The gunshot rang in her ears and she was sure they were still ringing even though the sound had already faded. Louis hadn't realized what happened, but when he felt the blood pool on his white dress shirt, his eyes fell on (Y/N), angered.

"You — " he coughed out blood.

(Y/N) pushed herself off the ground, the gun still held tightly in her hands. She knew that it would be hard for him to make it out of this place in a state like that, but she couldn't risk it. She raised the barrel of the gun and smacked him in the back of the head with it. This knocked Louis out cold, satisfactorily.

When she turned around to see the state of her friend, (Y/N) saw Peggy leaning over a broken window, with Dottie nowhere in sight. She joined the brunette's side just in time to see Dottie's unconscious figure laying on the wing of an airplane, a pool of blood surrounding her head.

"Fennhoff's escaped the radio room," Peggy directed her attention somewhere else, remembering the task in hand.

"We'll get him," Thompson replied over the radio.

"Dropping at 2,000 feet."

(Y/N) left her friend's side and ran over to the microphone, sitting down on the empty chair. "Howard, it's (Y/N)."

"(Y/N)! I found his signal!" His voice raised a pitch after hearing her voice. "I'm almost there!"

"No, listen to me."

"I'm gonna bring him home, (Y/N)."

"Fennhoff has put this fantasy in your mind," she reasoned, her hands growing sweaty as she held the microphone in her hands. "He's trying to get you to drop the gas over civilians."

"Don't worry about that, (Y/N). There are no civilians where I am."

"Howard, you must turn the plane around."

"I know this sounds crazy, but that, that guy, Fennhoff, he actually helped me." His tone sounded genuine, as if he truly believed it was real. "He showed me how to do this. I'm bringing Cap back, (Y/N). Just like I promised."

"Howard, turn the plane around," (Y/N)'s voice faltered as she got hit with a crushing wave of deja vu. "Come back, and we'll talk about this."

"I can't do that," Howard argued back. Even now, he remained stubborn. "Done talking."

"No, wait!"

"Miss Dewitt, Miss Carter, I have Mr. Stark's plane in my sights." Mr. Jarvis's voice was heard on the other radio. "We are one mile from land."

"Should I take the shot?"

"Miss Dewitt, can you hear me?" His constant call of her name was not easing the pressure on her difficult decision. "Miss Dewitt!"

"Please, answer me!"

"No, give me more time."

"We don't have more time."

"Do not take the shot until I tell you, Mr. Jarvis!"

(Y/N) returned her attention back to the microphone where she had Howard on the line.

"Howard. Howard, Steve is gone," it pained her to say those words, but the truth would help him snap out of it. "He died over a year ago."

"There's something up ahead." He completely dismissed her words. "It's him!"

"I can fix this!"

"You don't have to fix anything."

"All I've done my whole life is create destruction." "Project Rebirth was. . .He was the one thing I've done that brought good into this world."

"Howard, I know you loved him. I loved him, too. We all did," (Y/N) inhaled a sharp breath to contain the cry that was threatening to leave her lips. Her salty tears stained her cheeks. "But you can't bring him back. You are one of the few people on this Earth who believes in me. I cannot lose you. Steve is gone. He. . .He made a choice, and we're gonna find a way to live with that. And even though it pains me to say it, we have to let him go."

There was silence on the other line and it terrified (Y/N) more than any other noise would. She found herself back at that base, sobbing as she called her best friend's name and there was nothing she could do about it. She was about to press the button to speak into the microphone again, her voice stuck in the back of her throat as she tried to call for his name.

"(Y/N)?" His voice suddenly returned to the line, making her jump out of her skin. "He was good before I got a hold of him, huh?"

"Yes. Yes, he was," she didn't know she'd ever feel so relieved to hear his voice. He didn't sound lost in the daydream like before, but she had an important question to ask. "Where are you?"

"Evidently flying a plane to Manhattan," he replied back in an utterly confused tone. "I guess you can explain that to me once I land."

(Y/N) felt like she could finally breathe again. "Mr. Jarvis, he's all right. Stand down."

"Thank goodness," she could hear the relief in his voice. "Tell Mr. Stark to follow me back. I'll bring him home."

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To get back outside, (Y/N) and Peggy had to walk past the aircraft where Dottie had fallen to her death, but when they got there, they realized she was not there anymore. The pool of blood was left intact, but there were various bloodied footprints that stained the white tiled floors as a silent hint that she had escaped. The women exchanged a look between the two — if Dottie was out there, there was a great chance she would come back and take her revenge. But they didn't know when, so (Y/N) thought that was a problem for tomorrow. Now, she had to —

"You were gonna shoot me out of the sky?"

Howard's voice made her turn her head toward the sound, not expecting to see him so soon.

"I thought that was what you would have wanted," Mr. Jarvis defended himself.

"No! No, it's not," Howard shook his head in disapproval. "And for future reference, under no circumstance would I want anyone to shoot me or otherwise hurt me. You got that?"

"Your point is amply made, sir."

Howard halted in his step and turned around to embrace his butler. "Aw, you're all right, Jarvis."

The man seemed startled by the display of affection, but he didn't push him away.

"As are you, sir."

When Howard pulled away, (Y/N) thought it was the appropriate time to step forward. He turned at the sound of her footsteps approaching and he took a step back, afraid she might hit him like last time. Instead, she threw her arms around him with enough force it made him stumble. Howard's arms were frozen in midair, not knowing where to place them. After a moment, he relaxed underneath her touch and pulled her closer, if that was possible.

Mr. Jarvis and Peggy exchanged a mischievous glance of their own but did not say anything. Howard set his jaw on her shoulder and inhaled the scent of her perfume, an action that did not go unnoticed by Peggy. She raised her eyebrows in a teasing manner that had him glare at her, but he had to hide it when (Y/N) finally decided to pull away.

(Y/N) smiled at him, relieved to see him without a scratch, alive and well. Howard opened his mouth to say something — probably a smug remark — but the words caught on his throat. Speechless. Howard Stark was left speechless.

After a minute, he finally regained his voice and composure. "If I knew you'd hug me like that I'd place myself in life and death situations more often."

"Shut up," (Y/N) gave him a playful glare at his teasing words. "It's just, I was worried about you, Howard."

"I owe you another one, pal."

"To be honest, I've stopped counting, Howard."

Out of the hangar walked Thompson, firmly holding onto Dr. Fennhoff, who had a gag on his mouth to prevent him from speaking. Sousa was on his left, a hand holding his crutch and the other pulling a bloodied Louis along into the back of a police vehicle. (Y/N) sighted the forming bruises on his face and smirked to herself, satisfied with her work.

"What are we gonna do about this guy?" Howard asked out loud, referring to Dr. Fennhoff.

"I suggest we put him in the trunk until we can find a permanent way of preventing him from speaking."

"And the other guy?" Howard gestured toward the younger man, who was glaring daggers at them from inside the car. "What's his name?"

"He called himself Louis, but I doubt that's his real name," (Y/N) replied this time. She crossed her arms over her chest. "We'll have time to figure it out, though. He's gonna rot inside of a cell for the rest of his life."

"What about Miss Underwood?"

"I'm afraid Dottie escaped," Peggy answered Mr. Jarvis's question. "I'd wager we haven't seen the last of her."

(Y/N) watched how Thompson and Sousa drove away in their vehicle with Louis and Dr. Fennhoff in the back, and she let out a sigh of relief at the thought of it being over. The sabotage, the double life, and most importantly, the lying to her colleagues.

"Ida," Howard blurted out of nowhere with a snap of his fingers as a wave of realization hit him. He let out a laugh, completely unbothered by the looks they gave him. "That's her name. I knew I'd remember."

Mr. Jarvis, Peggy and (Y/N) all exchanged a look amongst themselves, though they did not say anything. Howard looked between his acquaintances for a clue of what he said wrong, but all they did was shake their heads and walk away.

*in loki voice* your savior is here !!

sorry for disappearing for months, it's been a rough couple of weeks. in return, i give you howard content !! this is the foundation to what's next so, be ready.

- see you soon, bex <3