in the shadows ? steve rogers

061 ? i love you, i'm sorry

"Rhodey got—"

"It was your stupid robot that hit Rhodey!" she snapped in frustration. "Tell me where Sam is."

"I can't!"

"Both of you, shut up, okay?" Tony and Adelaide looked at Grace who held her head in her hands. "I get that you're both frustrated, but this issue is much bigger than the two of you alone. We all have friends in prison and as much as we want to help them, we can't because it's not in our control.

"The fundamental issue has been arguing rather than talking which brought you guys to fight in a German airport." She shrugged. "Though I choose to place all the blame on Secretary Ross, but still..." She looked at her nephew. "You know where they are, don't you?"

He met her gaze and his anger melted away as soon as their hazel irises met. He nodded slowly and she let out a breath, glancing between Tony and Adelaide. "Can you take us there?" she asked quietly and he pressed his lips together. "Can she at least see him for a minute?"

Tony turned to Adelaide who still had her arms crossed in frustration. "Okay. We'll just have to deal with Secretary Ross first..."

"Hmm." Grace hummed in amusement, stepping away from them. "It's my favorite pastime, apparently."

A helicopter and an angry Secretary Ross later, they found themselves walking into a floating prison in the middle of the sea. Grace looked around the room, sighing quietly to herself as many thoughts went through her mind.

When she agreed to help create SHIELD and later, the Avengers, this was not how she thought things would go.

She had that thought a lot.

"Pietro!"

Grace turned when she heard Adelaide's voice and saw her run to one of the cells, gripping tightly to the bars that separated them. Clint, the twins, Kennedy, Sam, and Scott Lang were all locked in different prison cells. Wanda was strapped into a magic-dampening vest that caused her to look ill and Pietro was shackled to the floor to prevent him from running away.

"Oh, God..."

"The Futurist, ladies and gentlemen!" Clint exclaimed, clenching his jaw while leaning against the metal bars. "The Futurist is here! He sees all! He knows what's best for you, whether you like it or not."

"Clint—"

"Give me a break, Barton!" Tony snapped, rolling his neck. Grace looked between them and rested her hand on Tony's shoulder. "I had no idea they'd put you here. Come on."

Clint scoffed. "Yeah, well, you knew they'd put us somewhere, Tony."

"Yeah, but not some super-max floating ocean pokey," he replied, glancing around him. "You know, this place is for maniacs. This is a place for—"

"Criminals?" Clint finished, looking him in the eye. "Criminals, Tony. Think that's the word you're looking for. Right? That didn't used to mean me, or Sam, or the twins. But here we are."

Kennedy shrugged. "It did mean me."

"You're not really helping," Grace told her with a sigh.

"Because you broke the law!" Tony said to Clint.

"Both of you, please stop shouting at each other." Grace stood between the two men. "Tony, we came to see them, not snap. And Clint..." She let out a breath and faced him. "I've made sure that Laura and the kids are well taken care of while you're... gone." He nodded reluctantly. "They'll be okay. And they're waiting for you to come home."

"Thanks."

She looked between the men. "Behave, you two." She locked eyes with Sam and her hazel eyes softened. "Sam... I'm sorry." He shook his head. "This shouldn't have happened. I'm so sorry, Sam."