THE TEAM, well what was left of them, all made their way into the compound. None of them uttering a word. Instead, uncomfortable silence filled the air, all that could be heard was the shuffling of feet and occasional sighs from some or the wincing from from Rhodes.

Carson unclipped his tactical belt that still held some of his weapons and tossed it over the side of the couch as he walked through the room. Tony quickly caught up to him and joined his side but Carson continued walking, not showing any signs of slowing down for him.

"Are you just gonna keep walking and ignore me then?" Tony asked in an amused tone to try and lighten the mood but when he saw the unimpressed look on Carson's face he dropped it. "Alrighty then... too soon for joking I guess."

Carson sighed and stopped walking, turning to look at Tony. "What?"

Tony paused for a moment, slightly surprised that he was actually talking to him. "What do you mean, 'what?' "

"What do you want Tony? Why are you hovering?"

"I just want to talk to you! Y'know, considering the whole trip back you've not said a word to me, barely looked at me." Tony said. "It's rather annoying."

Carson sighed and ran a hand through his hair as Tony continued his ranting and rambling. He understood where he was coming from, he did, but at the end of the day it didn't change the fact that he lied. Right to his face.

"You can't hate me forever bud."

"Hate you— What? I don't hate you Tony." Carson furrowed his brows.

"Wow, really? So this is how you treat people you like?" Tony shrugged. "Man I feel sorry for Wanda if that's the case."

Carson rolled his eyes at Tony's response. "You just... you lied to me Tony, for your own benefit. And you expect me to just forget about it? Just like that?"

"Yeah, well." Tony paused. "What about you, huh? That stunt you pulled back at the airport with Rhodes. Do you expect me to forget about that?"

"So it looks like we've both fucked up today then, hm?" Carson responded nonchalantly before turning to continue walking down the hall.

"Look I'm sorry alright?" Tony mumbled, making Carson stop and turn around again with a huff. "I really am, I shouldn't of lied to you. But I had no other choice!" Tony told him, his voice louder than intended. "If I didn't then Ross would've—"

"Ross?" Carson scoffed. "Since when did you become Ross' lap dog?"

Before Tony could say anything, Natasha appeared at Carson's side, looking between the two with an eyebrow raised.

"Okay, time out. Tony you go check on Rhodes." Natasha said, sliding her arm around Carson's and pulling him down the hall with her as she started walking. "And you, you're with me."

"We'll talk about this later!" Tony said over his shoulder as he reluctantly started walking away.

"Oh great!" Carson responded sarcastically, earning a nip on his arm from Natasha. "Ow... that was rude."

"More like deserved." Natasha rolled her eyes as she walked herself and Carson down the hallway, their arms still linked. "Honestly, you both act like children. Extremely stubborn and annoying children."

"Now wait a minute..." Carson faux frowned. "Does this mean I'm not your favourite anymore?"

Natasha looked up at him and narrowed her eyes at him for a few second before softening up her facial expressions, letting out a defeated sigh which made Carson smirk. "Shut it."

"Thought so." He grinned and Natasha removed her arm from around his and smacked his shoulder.

"So here's a thought," He rubbed his shoulder as he turned to look at her. "How about you maybe, I don't know, stop hurting me?"

Natasha chuckled and stopped walking, opening the door to her right and gesturing for him to walk into the room with her. He paused and leant on the doorway, giving her a confused look when he noticed it was her bedroom.

"You know, I'm more of a second date kinda guy. Sorry to disappoint Romanoff." He joked and Natasha rolled her eyes. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding. But can whatever you have to tell me... maybe wait? I kinda have to go find a way to break my girlfriend out of prison so..."

Natasha grabbed his hand and pulled him inside the room, closing the door behind them. She walked over to her desk and handed him a file, moving over to her bed and sitting down while she waited for him to read it.

"What is this?" He tilted his head in curiosity as he flicked through the pages.

"What I'm about to say has to stay between us. At least for now. Got it?" She checked before answering his question.

Carson nodded and looked up at her to make sure she knew he was being sincere.

She smiled at him in appreciation before speaking up once more. "Steve was right."

"About?"

"About everything. This whole situation." She replied. "I had a slight hunch in the beginning, but I had to be sure... so I did some digging."

Natasha stood up and and made her way over to Carson, leaning over and flicking through the pages of the file until she found the one she was looking for.

"The doctor." She pointed to the picture of a man that was in the top corner of the page. "He's a fraud, a fake. He really is behind all of this."

Carson squinted as he looked at the information on the page, studying the picture carefully. Everything about him seemed familiar but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

Helmut Zemo.

"I think he's ma— Hey, everything okay?" Natasha asked, searching Carson's eyes as he snapped out of his train of thought and looked up at her.

"Yeah, sorry, I was just thinking about something." He nodded for her to continue. "Carry on."

She held her gaze for a few moments before containing. "Rogers and Barnes were trying to stop him. There's a Hydra facility in Siberia with more super soldiers in, my guess is that he's planning on waking them up, possibly wanting to make more."

"Jesus..." Carson mumbled as he read the page.

"See look," Natasha flicked through the pages once more. "The real doctor, the one that was supposed to talk to Barnes before he broke out and went all crazy again, he was found dead in a Berlin hotel room."

Carson paused and look up at Natasha, things were starting to come together in his head. She nodded along to show that she agreed and to confirm what he was thinking was correct.

"But get this, the police also found a wig and facial prosthesis that approximated the appearance of Barnes, which means..."

"The bombing in Vienna was Zemo, not Barnes." Carson finished her sentence and she nodded. "This is.."

Natasha grabbed the file and dramatically threw it on her bed. "I know!"

"Holy shit.." Carson mumbled.

"I know!" She said again, running a hand through her hair. "Listen, I understand that you and Tony aren't on the best of terms but maybe letting him know this information could do some good. It's better than doing nothing—"

"I'm in." Carson nodded. "This is so much bigger than me and Tony fighting right now, just forget about that. If we show him this then we could clear Barnes' name, he can't go down for something that he didn't do. Hell, this could even help the others too."

Carson walked over to the bed and picked up the file before opening the door to the room, gesturing for Natasha to leave with him but instead she walked over to her desk and crouched down, reaching for something that she had hidden underneath it.

"What are you doing?" He tilted his head in confusion as Natasha walked towards him with a sheet of paper in her hand. She took the file out of his hand and replaced it with the paper.

"I'll take this to Tony. And you..." She smiled as she watched him read what was on the paper.

"Is this..?" He mumbled.

"Mhm." Natasha hummed. "Go and get your girlfriend, Swan."

Carson stayed silent for a few more moments as he continued ned to skim over to page. Wanda and the rest of the team had been taken to and underwater prison called The Raft. From the information that was on the page, he knew that it wouldn't exactly be a piece of cake to get in without being detected. But then again, it was a maximum security prison. He'd have to be careful. Avoid cameras. This couldn't be rushed or be sloppy, not if he wanted her out safe and sound.

"Nat, this is..." He looked up and her and pulled her into a hug.

"I know, I know, I'm the best." She chuckled. "Now I don't know how long they're behind held there for, so you should probably leave soon."

"I will." He pulled back and placed a kiss on the top of her head.

Natasha smiled and leant into his hand that was placed on the side of her face for a moment before pulling away and speaking up again. "Now go, I'll take these to Tony then make sure I get out of here before they come for me."

"Alright— wait what?" He furrowed his brows. "Why would they be coming after you?"

She paused and looked up at him, giving him a guilty small smile. It was then that it clicked in his mind what she was talking about. Steve and Bucky didn't manage to get away on their own, Natasha had let them leave.

"Oh I see what you did there." He smirked as Natasha shrugged and ran a hang through her hair. "Do you have a place to go?"

"I'll figure something out." She nodded.

"Once I'm done at the Raft, I'll find a way to contact you, to reach out."

"Carson you don't have to—"

"Natasha." He interrupted. "I want to. It doesn't matter the situation we're in, if you ever need me or my help I'll always be there. You're my family too."

Natasha inhaled sharply to try and control the smile the that she felt growing on her face so she could stay serious. "Alright, alright. Once we're both in the clear, we'll find a way to reach out and keep each other updated. Sound good?" She moved past Carson and stood in the doorway checking down the hall to see if anyone was coming.

"We're at home Nat, not some top secret base." He chuckled.

"Shut it." She rolled her eyes and pulled him into the hallway with her. "Now you be careful alright? I'd prefer it if you didn't get arrested, or die."

"I'm always careful, Romanoff." He shrugged as he began walked backwards down the hallway. "I'll be back before you know it. See you in a minute." He smiled.

Natasha playfully rolled her eyes and shook her head. "See you in a minute."

~~ ᗢ ~~

I'm debating on whether to add Black Widow to this plot or not... It's getting very tempting

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