CHAPTER ONE
the mission assignments
　

THE AVENGERS INITIATIVE had saved Tony Stark's life in more ways than one. If it hadn't been for Agent Nick Fury having come around when he did, Tony wasn't sure how much longer he could have survived in the darkness, consumed by his own grief and finishing bottle after bottle of her favourite bourbon just so he could feel like she was still with him.

But now that the man wasn't drinking himself into an early grave (at least not as often as he used to) and was out saving the world from gods, aliens and whatnot, things were a little better. That hollow feeling in his chest remained, as did the pain beating within his broken heart, but saving lives and making the world a better place as an Avenger distracted him from thinking about her.

Ophelia Southerns. That was her name. The brilliant, witty, and beautiful woman he had met during his last year at MIT was the greatest thing that had ever happened to him. But then the world had to take her away from him, just a few months before they were going to be married.

Tony knew he should have gone with his fiancé to Vienna that day. He had wanted to make a romantic weekend out of it and take her to all the best spots. Instead, Ophelia had convinced him to stay home and help Pepper Potts oversee the company. But maybe if he had been there things would have ended differently. Maybe, just maybe, her private jet ⎯⎯ his company's private jet ⎯⎯ wouldn't have crashed and she wouldn't have died. Or at least they could have died together.

Anything was better than life without her.

And what a cruel life that followed.

It had been almost fifteen years since she died, since her flight never made it to Vienna and crashed, since her body had not been discovered and they buried an empty casket. But even now there wasn't a moment where Tony Stark did not think about Ophelia Southerns, for he had loved the woman since the very moment he laid eyes on her. He always would until the day he died.

There had been no one else in this world more perfect, more right for him, than Ophelia Southerns.

He used to be the type of man that would never admit that true love existed, or that soulmates were real, or that you could fall in love with someone with just one look. But now that over a decade had come and gone since Ophelia Southerns had been ripped away from his life, Tony felt like screaming it from the rooftops. Because if all of those things existed, then what they had was true love at first sight and he lost his soulmate.

And even now, after over a decade had come and gone, Tony Stark still saw her. Whether it was in his dreams or his imagination playing a sick joke on his heart, she was still with him. The man would wake in the morning and find her lying there beside him, arm curled beneath her head, lips pulled back into the gentlest of smiles. Sometimes Tony saw her standing on the balcony outside their bedroom, her long chestnut hair blowing in the wind, along with her violet-coloured silk robe. Other times he swore he heard her voice, her sweet laughter, echoing through the emptiness of their home.

But maybe that was just the bourbon.

Though, if drinking all that bourbon really was the reason why he saw his fiancé as often as he did, Tony was fine with that. He'd do anything just to see her one more time, even if that meant going into liver failure. He knew Pepper and Rhodey would throttle him for even thinking that way, for putting his health on the line like that, but Tony couldn't help it.

His heart longed for Ophelia Southerns.

Today marked exactly one week until her birthday, and that meant she was only on his mind and haunting his dreams even more these days. Tony already had a glass of bourbon over breakfast, something he knew Steve Rogers had smelled on his breath the moment he showed up for work, but thankfully they had more pressing matters.

"Everyone in the lab," Steve said. "Banner's got something."

All at once, the group of heroes dropped what they were doing and followed Steve toward the lab, and sure enough Bruce Banner was standing there at one of the monitors.

"What's going on?" Natasha asked once they had all piled inside. She leaned up against one of the workstations and crossed her arms over her chest.

"It took a while, I know, but I found him," Bruce announced, pressing a button on the monitor and bringing up a photo of an all too familiar man. "He must've been laying real low for a while, but one of our satellites finally picked him up."

Doctor Eldrick Karlov was someone they haven't stopped searching for. After taking out some other HYDRA bases, they found some files on the man and discovered that he was a scientist. An engineer that HYDRA brought in to study Loki's scepter. They knew if they found Karlov then there was a good chance they would find the scepter too, so for the past two weeks their satellites haven't stopped scanning the globe for the man.

"Where's he headed?" Clint asked.

"Paris," Steve replied, and that one word alone was like a knife to Tony Stark's heart.

It had to be fucking Paris.

It had been one of Ophelia's favourites places in the entire world and also where he took her for their very first romantic getaway together.

His heart twisted painfully within his chest, and Tony brought a hand up to rub at the area through the fabric of his shirt. He kept his head down, hoping nobody would notice that he was beginning to fade away from the conversation. God, please don't notice. I don't need this. Not today. Not ever.

Strands of curses began flowing through his brain as Tony wondered why the world was being so cruel to him for making him have to revisit that place. He hadn't been to Paris since the day Ophelia died, and he never planned to go back there ever again. He didn't want to be reminded of her even more, so tried to avoid going to Europe as much as possible.

But Tony knew if he pulled himself from the mission right now in front of the entire team so he could go home and drink some more that it would only draw suspicion, and that was something he didn't want or need.

You've got no choice, Tony, he told himself. You have to do this. Man up. Just don't think about her and you'll be fine.

"Satellites also picked up others with him," Steve continued. "Most likely a protection detail to oversee his transportation to one of their bases, so he won't be alone. Which means we have to do this right if we don't want to lose him."

"And the base," Maeve spoke up, twisting her platinum blonde hair into a braid, which she then draped over her shoulder, "do we know where that is located?"

Steve shook his head. "All we know is they're transporting Karlov through Paris to one of their nearby HYDRA facilities."

"No matter," Thor said, raising his hammer. "Once I get my hands on Karlov, he will tell us everything that we will need to know about where to find Loki's scepter."

Maeve raised a brow. "Well, unless you plan on putting some lightning up his ass or something, I don't think we're going to get any answers. I mean, the last few HYDRA agents we've managed to get our hands on would rather die than talk about the scepter."

"I have not yet tried that," Thor said. "But no. I have other persuasive techniques."

Steve looked across the room before crossing his arms. "Everyone, suit up. We leave within the hour."

"Aye, aye," Tony mock saluted, before turning away and leaving the lab to get his suit ready.

"Tony, hold up," Steve called, jogging after him.

"What is it, Cap?"

"We need to talk," Steve said, lowering his voice so that only Tony could hear.

"About?"

"This morning."

Tony's jaw clenched. So he had noticed. "No need, Cap. Everything's fine," he assured. "More than fine, actually, because it looks like we might finally find Loki's scepter. Don't forget to remind me when we get back to pop open the champagne⎯⎯"

"Tony," Steve interrupted, more firmly this time. He reached out and grabbed the man by the arm, stopping him dead in his tracks. "Pepper told me you might . . ."

"That I might what, huh, Cap?" Tony asked, ripping his arm free. His eyes were blazing. The very last thing he wanted to do was talk about Ophelia Southerns. Not right now. Not here. And certainly not with Steve Rogers. "I'm fine."

Steve looked even more worried than before. "You've been showing up and smelling like bourbon for the past three days. Pepper's worried. Rhodey, too. We've all noticed how uncharacteristically quiet and distant you've been, Tony."

Tony felt a surge of anger run through him. He couldn't believe that Pepper would call and tell Steve Rogers, of all people, what was going on with him right now. He knew his best friend was doing it out of love and concern, but he didn't need everyone in Avengers Tower treating him like he was a porcelain doll on the verge of shattering.

"I get you're hurting, Tony, I really do," Steve said, his voice sincere. "I've lost people I cared about, too. And you can deal with your pain however you choose. But I need to know that you won't compromise the mission because you've been drinking. I need to be able to know that this team is sharp."

"Like I said," Tony replied with a forced smile Steve saw straight through. "I'm fine."

With that being said, he walked away.

Meanwhile, across the globe on a HYDRA base within the mountains of Siberia, the woman that the world had known as Ophelia Southerns was waking up from a very long nap.

The cryostasis chamber opened, chilly smoke spilling from the rising glass, and two HYDRA agents stepped forward, taking the woman by her arms and lifting her out. Still drowsy from her long sleep, the woman's naked feet dragged along the cold floor as they carried her across the room, her head bobbing from side to side.

The HYDRA agents transported the woman to a chair in the center of the room and shoved her down. She shivered the moment she leaned back, goosebumps rising on her skin as her bare shoulders brushed against the cool metal of the chair. Her vision had cleared by now, but her brain was still so fuzzy.

The woman didn't struggle as they pinned her down and strapped her wrists to the chair. Nor did she struggle when a HYDRA agent reached out and gripped her jaw with his calloused fingers, forcing her mouth open so they could insert a mouth guard for her to bite down on as they brought the memory suppressing machine forward.

Her head was lowered, a bright light filling her vision from the luminescent lamps on either side of her head. Two devices came down on either side of her head, covering the sides of her face. On instinct, she clenched her jaw, biting down on the mouth guard so hard that her teeth almost shattered, her chest moving rapidly.

One of the HYDRA agents flicked a switch along the control console, and the machine whirled with life. Her body tensed and muffled screams ripped from her dry lips as the electroculvsion therapy ripped away any lasting memories of the life she had once lived, further erasing the woman that used to be.

Picking up the Winter Soldier book from the chrome table to his left, Colonel Chazov Yakovich opened up the red cover and began reading whilst circling the screaming woman.

"Самолёт."

She squeezed her eyes shut.

"Вена."

Her toes curled.

"Тождество."

She clenched her fists, knuckles turning white.

"Красный."

Her entire body was convulsing.

"Змея."

Her head was pounding.

"Кольцо."

The pain was endless, it seemed, and her throat was raw from all the screaming.

"Обязательство."

The machine shut down, the devices on either side of her head lifting, and her pain faded.

"Тридцать."

Though the pain had gone away by now, a dull throb remained, pulsating beneath her glistening skin like another heartbeat.

"Память."

They lifted her head once more and ripped the mouth guard out.

"Две тысячи."

Everything faded the moment that word slipped from his tongue, something inside of her flipping like a light switch, and almost instantly the woman's muscles relaxed and she grew still.

And then she said only three words while catching her breath.

"Готовность к соответствию."

a/n: holy crap it took me FOREVER to finish this chapter, but here it is!! i really hope you guys enjoyed it and are ready for the long-awaited reunion of tony and viper 😊