Possibility of Tomorrow - 15

Cont...

 It was in Brussels when trouble caught up to them again. It was March, and they were planning on staying the week for Bucky's birthday. In fact, he and Steve were on their way to meet up with the others for dinner to celebrate his birthday when trouble found them. 

Trouble in the form of a young girl screaming, the squeal of tires, and a struggle. Steve didn't even think twice and was running over with Bucky quietly cursing, and he followed. They rounded the corner to find a group of masked men trying to shove an Arabic girl into a van while two bodyguards tried to hold them off.

 Steve sent two of the masked kidnappers flying upon contact. Bucky sliced through three of them at the same time. The bodyguards held their own, taking down one each, but when they turned to find the girl, she was being dragged towards the van with a knife to her throat. There was a bang, and the man crumpled. Darling stood behind him and shifted to shoot the driver also before lowering her weapon. There was silence save for the girl sobbing. 

"Who are you?" One of the bodyguards asked. 

"Save it. We need to move." Darling cut in, walking over to the van and the carnage, "Someone's going to notice."

 Steve nodded towards the back door into the restaurant they were meeting the others, "This way."

 Bucky finished digging through all the would-be kidnappers' pockets and rose, "We need to get out from the open. There may be more."

 The two bodyguards gave in and followed them into the reserved back room of the restaurant. They came in, and instantly Sam and Nat were clearing the table, "What happened?" Nat pulled out a chair for the shaking girl.

 "Attempted kidnapping. Sam check them. Where's Wanda?" Steve closed the door behind them.

 "In the restroom. Back up and explain." Nat came around the table. 

"That," Darling nodded at the girl who was in shock, "Is the Princess of Jordan. And this was almost the start of World War Three." 

"What?" Bucky whirled around to face Darling, "Are you serious?" 

"No, I'm the Queen of England." Darling deadpanned, "Yes, I'm serious." 

"Okay, so you're saying that someone tried to kidnap the princess of Jordan. Why? Who?" Steve pinched the bridge of his nose. 

Darling held out a phone with a symbol on it, "Going once, going twice."

 Everyone leaned over to look at it before Sam leaned back and groaned, "Heck no."

 "Sold." Darling shoved her phone back in her pocket. 

"I'm sorry, what was that?" One of the bodyguards asked.

 "That is the symbol of the Ten Rings. They're a terrorist organization that specializes in using Stark tech. They've been trying to come back into power, but it's been an uphill battle. It would seem though that they've finally succeeded." Sam rubbed his face. 

"How do you know this?" The second bodyguard asked with a thick accent.

 "I dealt with them back when I served in Afghanistan. They're the reason Tony Stark is Iron Man." Sam sighed. 

"Okay, great, so we have a terrorist group trying to kidnap; who'd you call her?" Steve nodded to the now calm young woman. 

"I am the princess of Jordan! I demand to know what is going on!" The princess snapped.

 "The Ten Rings are trying to kidnap you." Darling was blunt. 

"But why?" The princess shook her head. All in all, she was doing pretty well with the whole ordeal. Surprisingly well. "My country does not negotiate with terrorists. What do they hope to gain?" She elaborated. 

"They don't need to negotiate." Bucky rubbed his face sitting in a chair, "Not if they frame someone else for it." 

Nat was nodding in agreement, "That would work." 

"Work with what? What would framing someone else do?" One bodyguard, without a middle eastern accent, asked. 

 "If they frame Iran, then it's safe to say Israel, Jordan, the US, and whoever else is scared of nuclear war will rain destruction. If they frame Israel, then..." Nat trailed off, thinking it through. 

"Then it'll be a hundred times worse than Hiroshima and Nagasaki." Bucky finished nodding, "And that's just for starters. The possibilities are endless and unanimous." 

 "So either way, it's World War Three? Great. Just what was on my to-do list this week." Sam tossed up his hands. 

"So, how do we stop it?" Steve asked, a deep, thoughtful look on his face. 

"First things first, we get into their phones. I want Wanda to get into their subconscious. I want to know their motive. Second, we get her back to the embassy." Darling tossed Nat the phone as she spoke.

 "Then?" Sam prompted. 

"Then we call Tony." Darling nodded to herself.

 "That's fair. My question is why you are out here without an entourage and only two bodyguards." Steve nodded to the princess. 

The young woman sighed and rubbed her forehead, "I got into a disagreement with my father. I just wanted to, I don't know, rebel a little." 

"Well, your act of teenage rebellion almost got you kidnapped." Sam deadpanned, rising. 

"What now?" The other bodyguard, with an accent, asked, "What is the plan?"

 "Embassy first." Bucky decided, "We need to control the variables. Getting her to a safe location takes president."

 "Why are there five unconscious terrorists outside our restaurant?" Wanda asked, coming into the room. 

"Because Steve went running headfirst into trouble, again. Why else?" Darling answered sarcastically, thumbing through her phone. 

Steve scoffed, faking annoyance, "Seriously?"

 "She's got a point, Steve," Nat murmured, not looking up from the phone she was hacking into. 

Steve rolled his eyes and tossed up his hands dramatically, "Golly! I'll try to be a less caring guy next time! Goodness!" That got a chuckle out of the princess. 

"Shut up, Punk." Bucky huffed, getting out of his chair, "Darling?" 

"You and Steve look over these." Darling handed him her phone, "They're the building schematics for the embassy and this building plus the road map from here to there. Nat, how are we looking on the phone?" 

"They're good but not as good as me. Give me time." Nat's eye didn't leave the screen. 

"Alright, Sam, Wanda." Darling looked over at the remaining two, "Go get us some info." They hurried out as Sam explained what Darling wanted to Wanda.

 "And what about us?" The unaccented bodyguard asked. 

"You two are going to secure the restaurant, discreetly," Darling emphasized the last word. 

The two bodyguards eyed each other and then the princess. 

"Don't worry, we can handle ourselves," Darling assured them. It seemed to help the two since they left a moment later.

 The young woman groaned and buried her face in her arms. 

"You good?" Darling asked, hopping up on the table next to the young woman near her age. 

"Yes and no." The princess looked up, "You?" 

Darling shrugged, "Been worse. What's your name?"

 "Ziena. You?" The princess answered.

 "Darling. Pleasure to meet you, Ziena." Darling stuck out her hand. 

Ziena shook it, "Darling? Really?" 

Darling let out a small laugh, "Not all of us have the pleasure of tasteful names." 

"To be fair, we did warn you." Nat smiled over the screen.

 "No, you told me not to let Sam chose you didn't say anything about Barnes." Darling retorted with a grin. 

"I would think that's self-explanatory." Steve deadpanned from across the room. A moment later, there was a whack, and then, "Owwww! Jerk!" 

"Run your mouth again at it'll be more than a smack up the head, Punk," Bucky muttered, but you could hear him smiling. 

"Are you two done?" Nat asked, amused, finally looking up from the phone.

 "Nope. You got something?" Bucky came over with a smirk. 

"Well, at least you're honest. I was able to get into their messaging system, and it looks like Iran was the likely bankroller on this little operation. As far as I can tell, the Ten Rings are still trying to secure enough funding to begin recruiting again. But get this, there is a whole deleted conversation about setting up a cell in the US. Namely New York." Nat explained. 

"Oh great. This is just getting better and better." Steve muttered sarcastically from across the room. 

"What, you have more bad news to add to the party?" Bucky turned back around.

 "Pretty much. There is no way we can get to the embassy without getting ambushed. The whole entire area from here to there is a bottleneck, and any other offshoot is worse. We try and drive through; we'll be fish in a barrel." Steve gestured to Darling's phone that was lying on top of a paper map he had found. 

Bucky rubbed his face, "Great."

 There was a thick silence as Nat came over to look at their predicament. She frowned at the map also. It was a bad idea all the way. 

"What if we don't drive?" Darling asked. 

The adults all turned to look at her like she had three heads. 

"We'll be dead before we even make the end of the block. We'll be exposed." Bucky voiced the opinion on all of their faces. 

"Not if we set a hard perimeter and stick to the shadows. Old school." Darling leaned back. 

"It'll take all night to get there on foot. Not to mention we're not equipped for a gun battle if that's what it comes to." Steve pointed out. 

"So we don't get caught? I mean, we have two master spies and a girl who can rewrite minds by willing it so; is it that hard to say it can't be done?" Darling pointed out. 

"Wait, rewrite minds? You mean the Scarlet Witch? You're traveling with the Scarlet Witch?" Ziena cut in.

"Oh great," Bucky muttered. 

"Technically, we're supposed to be here for a birthday dinner altogether, but yes Ms. Maximoff is part of our party. Is something wrong?" Darling played it cool, but there was an edge to her voice. 

"So if she's the Scarlet Witch, that means you," Ziena looked over at Steve, "Are Captain America."

 Steve stifled a sigh and rubbed his forehead, "Guilty as charged."

 There was a beat of tense silence before Ziena let out a squeal of undiluted excitement, "I'm gonna freak out!!!" They all watched, amused as she let out a lot more unrecognizable sounds and grinned.

 "I was not expecting that." Bucky smiled. 

"Comes with the territory. I thought the beard was helping." Steve shrugged, stroking his semi-maintained beard.

 "Face it, Rogers, your face is almost the best known in the world. A little bit of hair isn't going to hide that." Nat teased.

 "Are you finished?" Steve retorted playfully.

 "Not on your life." Nat grinned back before turning to Darling again, "How about you walk us through this suicide plan of yours?"

 "It's not a suicide plan. If we stay in the shadows and remove the obstacles, we can make it to the embassy. Granted, it will take all night, but it's better than the alternative." Darling hopped up.

 "It risky. Really risky. If we get caught, we'll be dead." Bucky shook his head. 

"And if we don't, we'll be dead anyway. They'll probably just blow up the car." Steve braced his hands against the table and leaned forward to look at all the maps at once. Bucky made a displeased sound but shifted so he could see the city layout also. 

Nat shifted from foot to foot, arms crossed, looking over the problem, "Hate to say it, but unless we have a better plan, this is all we've got." Steve looked over at Bucky expectantly. 

Bucky frowned at the map a long moment before deflating, "Fine." 

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