During the events of The Winter Soldier…

Could the world become a worse place? After the Battle of New York, Tony Stark found himself in a pit. Unending nightmares about the New York battle, a demon from the past confronting him and almost destroying the one thing he cares for. The one question he kept asking himself throughout his confrontation against the Killian was the question about S.H.I.E.L.D.? Where were they? What were they doing? He was thought to be dead by the whole world and they seemed to completely uninvolved themselves in his problems. He had helped them with the Avengers initiative, he helped to defend earth and he even designed a new propulsion engine for the new S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarriers that he could see flying above the city, and in return they did nothing when he was being attacked, when his home was destroyed and when Pepper was kidnapped by Aldrich Killian. It outraged him that they did nothing to help him, unaware of the problems S.H.I.E.L.D. itself was facing at the time. He may have destroyed his previous sets of armor, but he was still Iron Man, and he used whatever spare time that wasn't spent sleeping, drinking, playing or with Pepper to rectify the flaws of the Mark XLII, so that he could refine the the next Iron Man suit, the Mark XLIII, because as long as S.H.I.E.L.D. didn't do anything, he had to look out for himself, and he had to look out for Pepper, and that was the only way he knew how.

But despite his commitment towards developing the Mark XLIII, he decided that it was time to take a break from being fighting bad guys and decided he had to give him self a hard-earned break in the rebuilt Stark Tower, now called Avengers' tower. It was supposed to be a big break from having been betrayed by Obadiah Stane, beset by Ivan Vanko, resisting an alien invasion and wounded by Aldrich Killian. So far, the Mark XLIII was still incomplete, even though he was previously manager to building thirty or so sets of armor in the same timespan. But now he was committed to Pepper more than anything else.

He got bored and decided to check his twitter feed to see if any other random news was worth watching out for. He poured himself a glass of bourbon and crashed right next to Pepper Potts on his couch.

"You can just tell me not to get in your way Tony. I'd hate to annoy you."

"After everything we've been through, that has to be the least of my problems."

"So what's been the news recently?"

"Well, Spider-Man not been sighted in over a month", read one headline. He wondered why the masked hero had disappeared, but he knew it was more than a mere coincidence that Spider-Man just happened to give up the costume after Harry Osborn's arrest and imprisonment. He quickly swiped to the next headline thinking it wouldn't be important.

"Think it might be something to do with Harry Osborn going to prison? He seemed like a potty mouthed little-shit with no clue on running a company. Oscorp's definitely going down the drain now…." Tony remarked. He paused for a second before continuing.

"I'm going to check my twitter feed for any other news", so he pulled the phone from his pocket and started scrolling for news.

"Portals to other realms open over Greenwich: The Mighty Thor saves the day", well now he knew what Thor was up to while he was in hiding. While he was hiding from "the Mandarin", Thor was busy fighting against Dark Elves who were trying to destroy the world.

Then something caught his attention. He literally saw it appear on his screen. "New evidence suggests Howard Stark was assassinated by HYDRA".

HYDRA? That was impossible he thought. They were defeated at the end of World War II, courtesy of his friend Steve Rogers. Then he found out the reason why S.H.I.E.L.D. didn't help him. It was because they couldn't.

"J.A.R.V.I.S., download all files relating to S.H.I.E.L.D. that has been uploaded in the past 60 seconds to my computer."

"Right away"

"Holy shit. Look at all these files J.A.R.V.I.S.. This could've been sold for billions, but it's being uploaded to the internet en masse. Now the entire world knows all of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s dirty secrets. Everything there is to know about S.H.I.E.L.D. is being uploaded to the internet. Everyone can find out everything about S.H.I.E.L.D." Tony told J.A.R.V.I.S.. He was shocked to see all that information being uploaded and wondered how such a leak could happen.

The influx of formerly-secret information presenting itself in front of Tony did not go unnoticed by Pepper. It was only online for less than a minute and it instantly became the most trending topic on twitter. S.H.I.E.L.D. was secretly being infiltrated by HYDRA. For seventy years. And no one knew about it. Tony knew that S.H.I.E.L.D. was an organisation that he couldn't completely trust, but for all his technological expertise and his scepticism for the agency, even he was completely taken by surprise by HYDRA's infiltration of S.H.I.E.L.D. He thought he knew everything about there was to know about S.H.I.E.L.D. during his time on the Helicarrier. He thought that he found out everything he needed to know after hacking the databases on the Helicarrier during the War for Earth, but he was completed dumbfounded by the one secret that flew right over his head (figuratively of course). Pepper could see the look of shock on his face, having found out that S.H.I.E.L.D. has been infiltrated by a Nazi science division after World War II. She herself had known S.H.I.E.L.D. since the incident with Stane and while she knew that she could not trust S.H.I.E.L.D. , she was completely aghast when she found out about HYDRA growing in S.H.I.E.L.D..

"Is this all S.H.I.E.L.D. information?" she thought in shock. She pulled her phone from her pocket, and saw all the information that was being released onto the internet for everyone in the world to see.

"Is there anything of particular interest that you would like to examine sir?" J.A.R.V.I.S. asked Tony knowing the value of the information being uploaded.

"I want to know what happened to my parents. What really happened." Tony told J.A.R.V.I.S., inquisitive to find out how his parents really died.

"Positive. Digging up all files relating to 'Howard & Maria Stark' that have been uploaded in the past thirty seconds."

"So what really happened here?"

Tony Stark read through the files concerning Howard Stark's assassination, and he was shocked to realise that Howard and Maria Stark's deaths were not accidental; they were planned by HYDRA, an organisation that was thought to have been destroyed at the end of World War II with the demise of the Red Skull.

He read through the overview of the circumstances surrounding his parents' assassination. They were murdered by the Winter Soldier. Tony was seething with anger, but his anger was short-lived as J.A.R.V.I.S. had more important information for Stark.

"Sir, while you're slamming your fist over something that happened twenty years ago, I think there's something you should really know, because this something's happening right now."

"Save it J.A.R.V.I.S., I'm going to find this son of a ….."

"Tony, you should really listen to J.A.R.V.I.S.…" Pepper interrupted

"Listen to what? My parents have been murdered, and it was covered up as an accident for….."

"I really advise you to heed this information. HYDRA's going to kill you…."

"What? Why did you say so…"

"I just did, and you told me to 'save it'. Anyway, those helicarriers you see flying in the sky right have been armed with more weapons than the first one for a reason; as part of Project Insight, HYDRA intends to kill twenty million people who they consider to be a threat, and you're one of them."

Well that was just perfect. The one time he'd actually need his armor more than ever and he was running for his life bare-naked without a suit.
After the Battle of the Norco, he'd promised himself that he wouldn't be as paranoid as before, and to spend more time with Pepper, he'd given up on the idea of building an Iron Legion and he didn't spend as much time working on the Mark XLlll as he did manufacturing the premore thirty-five or so sets of armor. He'd spent so little time on developing the Mark XLIII since those events that it wasn't even in it's prototype stage, so it couldn't even be used the way the Mark XLII was for all its flaws.

Pepper almost fainted at the news that Tony was a target for assassination. She'd seen how much he'd been suffering the Battle of New York. She'd seen how fearful that he had become. Now she was sure that Tony will definitely become the paranoid personality he was a few months ago once again.

"Damn it! Was that also part of the online leak?" Tony asked J.A.R.V.I.S., worried that his life was at risk.

"It was. If you don't mind, I highly recommend both of youseek safety. The best location would be at the very basement of the tower. It should be completely impenetrable from…."

"Right on it. Now would've been such a good time to have the armor..."

"I feel that I should mention that Bruce Banner has also been targeted. Would you like me to…."

"Of course J.A.R.V.I.S.! Our lives are at risk, and if he goes green, then we're all doomed, so send that damn warning. Actually I'll do it too just to be safe."

Tony and Pepper ran to the lift, and it instantly moved down to the very lowest level of the Avengers' tower. In the lift, he reviewed the information about Project Insight.

"J.A.R.V.I.S., find all available information there is about Project Insight. Who's being targeted? Why they're being targeted. How they're being targeted. Just hurry up. There are three Helicarriers flying in the sky, complete with enough firepower to for an army ready to wipe twenty million people who they consider a threat to a power, and they've got me in their sights. Sneaky sons of bitches too, targeting me at the right time when I've got no armor."

"The information I've gathered so far concerning Project Insight is that the three Helicarriers were built with the purpose of eliminating all opposition to HYDRA's new world order, starting with elimination of twenty million people who are considered a threat to HYDRA's power."

"Well who do they consider a threat?" Pepper asked, almost ready to vomit all over the lift at the thought of Tony being killed.

"These threats have been chosen by HYDRA through an algorithm created by Nazi scientist Arnim Zola. Targets for elimination include you, Nicholas J. Fury, Steve Rogers, Bruce Banner, Natasha Romanoff, Steven Strange, Maria Hill, Jane Foster, President Ellis, James Rhodes….."

"Shit! And all this time..." He paused, before giving what he thought would be one last order to J.A.R.V.I.S..

"J.A.R.V.I.S., send a warning message to as many people as possible. They need to know that that they are being targeted by HYDRA." He ordered to his loyal servant

"Tony, I couldn't possibly..."

"Do it J.A.R.V.I.S.. Send it to as many people as they can. S.H.I.E.L.D. will answer for this..."

He felt the elevator slam to the lowest level before he finished cursing HYDRA's secret infiltration of S.H.I.E.L.D.
They both ran to the bunker that had been built underneath the tower. Tony knew he had to prepare of every possible scenario, even nuclear war, and the Battle of New York confirmed that it was indeed possible that a nuclear weapon could befall New York City.

Pepper noticed a crowbar lying around, and her first thought was to pick it up and smash something out of anger that of the thought of those Helicarriers wiping millions of people from the face of the Earth, including Tony Stark. She'd flew into a rage and smashed the crowbar into a wall to the point where it might've actually bent into a slight curve. Somehow she still retained the physical strength enhancement even after having Extremis removed from her system.

"Woah, and I thought you were crazy when you had Extremis in your blood system..."

"Don't even start..."

They both came to care for each other very deeply after the Battle at Stark Expo, and neither of them could stand to even think of the very idea of losing one another.

"Tony…" Pepper struggled to finish her sentence.

"I guess this is how it's all going to end…."

"I'd really prefer if we weren't thinking about that."

"Which is why we're down here. Hiding from "that", right?", she retorted

"I just hope everyone else finds a way..."

Pepper could sense that all the effort Tony had expended into becoming more relaxed and less paranoid had become null as she saw the worrisome aspects of his personality return. Tony would become even more mistrustful than ever before, and she feared what the future would hold in store...

Despite the time he had spent on Midgard, Thor never truly did understand much about the culture of Earth, but now that he had all the time in the universe to try and understand the custom of this fascinating world he now chose to reside in. There was a time when wanted to become the king of Asgard, and protect the nine realms. But now he had become more humble and less egotistic.

He had willingly given up the opportunity to rule Asgard, and surrender responsibility to protect the Nine Realms simply for love. Of everything Thor Odinson knew, he never would've been able to foresee how much love and romance could change him. He no longer desired to become king of Asgard, wishing instead to remain on Earth so that he could be with his friends on Earth, but more importantly, to stay with Jane Foster. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever met, and he didn't think there was anyone on Asgard who'd match Jane, despite being a mere mortal compared to his godly lifespan.

Thor and Jane on a date at an undisclosed location, as to avoid attracting attention from the press and to avoid word from getting out that Thor and Jane were in a relationship.

Their date was short-lived when Jane checked her twitter feed, and she was utterly stunned by what she saw. Like everyone who had dealings with S.H.I.E.L.D., she knew not to trust the shady organisation.

For all her skepticism about S.H.I.E.L.D., she couldn't have predicted their biggest leak yet.

"Oh my god..." she gasped, before she continued to keep reading.

"What's wrong Jane? Is there anything that I can do for you?" Thor asked his lover with concern in his voice, sensing that something was clearly amiss.

"It's S.H.I.E.L.D.. They're..." she struggled to elicit a full sentence, still in shock that all the top secret information about everything there is to know about S.H.I.E.L.D. was being released to the general public, as a whole.

"Just take a breath and slow down. I need to know what's going on." Thor assured Jane with her best interest at heart.

"Alright. Remember S.H.I.E.L.D., that secret organisation that confiscated all my gear for no reason. Those secret guys in the suits working for the government?"

"I remember them. I never knew humans could be so secretive."

She saw on a nearby TV screen that there three S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarriers, each armed with the biggest guns she'd had ever seen, like it was something that she'd expect to see from Battlestar Galactica, even in a world where Norse gods who were for centuries thought of as nothing more than myths existed before her eyes.

"I remember that thing. I was on one of them during the Battle of New York. I even fought against Bruce Banner. He is as intelligent when he is calm, as he is ferocious when he is not. I've fought a lot of beasts and monsters throughout the Nine Realms, but only Bruce has really challenged me; a challenge that has no equal anywhere else..." Thor boasted before being interrupted.

"You met Bruce Banner? I wish I could've done that. Anyway, that's not really important because S.H.I.E.L.D.'s been compromised."

"Compromised? How?" Thor asked, with every suspicious instinct he'd previously held about S.H.I.E.L.D. returning to his mind, unaware on the full circumstances of the massive S.H.I.E.L.D. leak.

Jane didn't know how to explain to Thor what was happened to S.H.I.E.L.D.. She was an astrophysicist, not a 20th century historian, so she knew nothing of the context in which S.H.I.E.L.D. was infiltrated by HYDRA. She'd heard them mentioned a few times when she was in high school but paid so little attention to it she barely recalled anything about them. But if there was one thing she did know about HYDRA, it was that they were the bad guys. Anyone with any sense of history knew that. After all, they were Nazis. Which made it all the more difficult to explain to Thor, since he had absolutely no sense of the history of Earth, other than the Battle of Tønsberg which his father had participated in.

"S.H.I.E.L.D. is not what we thought it was"

"I knew there was something fishy about S.H.I.E.L.D.. Tell me something I don't know."

"They've actually been trying to establish a New World Order and..." she kept scrolling through her phone as the news continued to trend. She definitely had to find out all the leak information about S.H.I.E.L.D. now. This was an organisation that confiscated her research in New Mexico, and she was unsettled by the notion that he research was could've been confiscated by S.H.I.E.L.D. was being misused by HYDRA.

"New World Order?" Thor was unfamiliar with this expression.

"It means that they, want to take away our freedom, and they'll kill anyone who stands in their way." Jane explained to Thor, and that was really all he needed to hear. The expression New World Order was new to him, but the definition of the expression was not. It reminded him of Loki when he tried to conquer Earth.

As she continued to scroll, was sickened by what she saw next. A kill list for twenty million people they HYDRA considered a threat. That's when she realised what those Helicarriers that she saw in the sky were for.

"Oh god. They're going to use those Helicarriers to kill twenty million people."

"Twenty million?" Thor was absolutely astonished.

"They're going to kill twenty million people they consider a threat. There's even a list of targets..." she told him, and she started reading the names of those who sounded familiar.

"They're going to kill Tony Stark, Bruce Banner..."

Just the mention of S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarriers killing Tony and Bruce made him furious. He'd be stunned to discover who the rest of the targets were. Jane continued to keep reading some of the familiar names she'd heard of.

"This can't be real. Captain America's being targeted..."

Thor wanted to flip the table in front of him, but he'd learn to control his anger since his exile, but it was becoming a futile effort with the knowledge that the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarriers were being used to kill millions of people, including his friends.

Jane continued to read the list, and a single tear started to form in right eye. Then her left eye, and they both started to slowly run down her face.

"What is wrong Jane?" Thor questioned, trying to restrain his anger as much as possible.

"They're going to kill me..."

She started to shake uncontrollably at the very thought of her life ending where she stood, and to be killed in front of the first person she truly loved revolted her to her stomach. As soon as Thor heard this, he completely lost control of himself and single-handed slammed his closed fist over the table, causing it to collapse completely, his eyes becoming slightly moist and teary.

Jane couldn't bear seeing Thor angry like this after he found out HYDRA was going to kill her, and she fainted from the emotional shock.

London would later report seeing one of it's biggest thunderstorms in history.

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. If you did, please follow this fiction (and preferably favourite it as well), and leave a review. I even read PM's if you send them to me. The more e-mails I get, the more I know people enjoy my writing, which in turn leads to more chapters. So please show your appreciation in any way possible.