August 4, 2016

Bellona Drager strolled her way up from below decks of the yacht and onto the back deck where Tony Stark and Pepper Potts were lounging as the boat cruised to a halt just off the Italian coast. She was dressed in an expensive silk bathrobe, the color of the cheerful Mediterranean waves. Equally luxurious slippers were on her feet and a tall glass of champagne was in one hand. Her shortened hair rested against the tops of her shoulders with an envious liberty and a pair of aviator sunglasses, likely procured from Tony's own collection shielded her bright blue eyes from the late afternoon sun.

"I'm awake," she announced with a buoyant grin as she slid onto the padded outdoor couch across from the pair. "And feeling better than ever."

"Is that because the sedative is out of your system or because you chopped off three feet of your hair?" Tony shot back instantly, and it was as if the past decades had not even occurred between the childhood friends.

"Probably both," she snorted, swinging herself around to rest her feet across the couch. "So um, where are we?"

"Do you remember your dad's villa?"

"Uh, no. . . ."

"That's it," Tony pointed across the stern of the yacht, towards the cliffs of the peninsula. The villa he was referring to matched the boat they were on in terms of luxury. Made of white marble and beige stucco, it had rolling arches and wide windows that looked out onto the lapping Mediterranean. A swimming pool embedded into the foundation of both the house and cliff was clearly visible, as was a rolling balcony that encompassed almost the entirety of the coastside. She spotted a few statues of Roman gods scattered at aesthetic locations, and a three tiered water fountain that looked as if it hadn't had water flow through it in quite some time.

"Wow. . . when's the last time this place has been used?"

"I've been here a few times, last time was, say, five years ago now."

"It would be a cute honeymoon destination," Pepper observed, holding a hand up to guard her eyes from the sun. She then shot a glance at Tony, which went unnoticed by him.

"Yeah," Tony said offhandedly, "it's a safehouse right now, though. Bella. . . alright, first off, uh, well, uh, I guess I'm, well, no, I am sorry I blasted you. . . back in June."

"Oh," Bellona turned from staring at the villa, trying to conjure memories of it to no avail. With Tony bringing up the events of the past few months, her bubble of contentedness was burst and she was forced back into reality. "It's alright. It wasn't intentional. . . right. . . ."

"Right, obviously, of course it wasn't. Uh, I'm also, well, why were you in Cairo?" Tony fumbled his words, clearly trying to get information but also well aware of everything that had come in between them.

Bellona shrugged, "on the run."

"From?"

"Everyone?" her laugh was like a harsh whip. She was in no mood to mince words. "HYDRA found me and sold me to a bunch of terrorists, who tried to ransom me to a dozen different people and organizations, but then some group of workmen came along trying to dig for oil, killed the terrorists, found the videos, and went to steal their idea. It's been a wild few days."

"So they did get there. . . ." Tony muttered to himself, appearing to be musing off about something in the distance.
"What?" Bellona narrowed her eyes, "what do you mean?"

"He practically bought Exxon Mobil, then pulled some strings and had a team sent to dig in that site," Pepper jumped in. "Absurd, really."

"That's the stupidest thing I've heard," Bellona snapped her head to Tony. "You could have flown in and out in a few hours. No one would have known."

"I signed the Accords, Bella," Tony sighed, "I don't have the authority to operate in Iraq."

"Do you understand now, why I disliked the Accords," she practically seethed, the glass of champagne had been placed down and she swung herself forward so she was leaning across the table between them. "That and the fact that they probably want to incarcerate me in that stupid floating prison."

"So you were there," Tony snapped his head to stare at his reflection in her sunglasses.

"What?" she paused, drawing back a little, not expecting that expedition to be brought up. She preferred not to think about it.

"Someone broke them all out of that exact prison. It wasn't just Rogers, was it? He had help. I'm pretty sure it was the help that only you can supply."

"Are you gonna turn me in?" Bellona demanded, crossing her arms over her chest and straightening her posture. "For doing the right thing?"

"People died," he casually remarked. Neither of the two had noticed that Pepper had disappeared a few comments ago. The tension between the two was palpable.

"It was an accident, okay," Bellona ground her teeth, lips curled into a savage frown. "I couldn't control it. Barnes wasn't exactly around."

"Barnes?" he was quick to pick up on her usage of the Winter Soldier's surname.

"Bucky," she spat his name through her teeth, viciously reminded of how furious she was at him for going back under and not even informing her. "He's. . . obviously not with me right now."

"So where were you?" he pushed for information, refusing to back down.

"Cairo," she snapped, "you knew that."

"I saw HYDRA take you."

"And you didn't do anything?"

"I tried, okay! I'm here now, aren't I? Or would you rather be left in the desert, blowing up oil deposits in the middle of terrorist headquarters?"

"How do you know about that?"

At this, Tony leaned forward and tapped the glass table before them. It glowed to life at his touch; a few quick flicks and they were looking at a small article in a Saudi Arabian newspaper, attempting to describe the indescribable blast. "FRIDAY picked up on this after I had a team sent there. Knew something had to do it. Was it a big enough match for you?"

"The team didn't really help," Bellona shrugged, falling back against the couch and looking slightly more relaxed now. "As I said, they killed the terrorists but as soon as they found out who I was they wanted to do the same thing. Sell me like a weapon."

"So, you ignited the oil?" Tony confirmed, copying her motions; leaning back on the couch opposite her and studying her with a curious eye. She was still anxious, he observed; still on edge from all that had happened in such a short time. He didn't, in fact, couldn't blame her.

"Yes," she replied, staring down at her hands folded in her lap. "I don't really know how. But it happened."

A silence grew on the deck of the yacht, interrupted only by the warm Mediterranean breeze that wafted the salty smell of the sea over them. Then Tony broke it by pronouncing the question he was dying to know.

"What was it like?"

Bellona flinched slightly, as though she had not expected him to speak. She removed her sunglasses and snapped her eyes to Tony's. They glowed a brilliant blue, almost making him regret opening his mouth. "What? What was what like?"

Tony hesitated, avoiding her eyes for a moment before meeting them and spitting it out. "Playing catch me if you can with Barnes for years. And then knowing. . . . What he did to our parents, your parents-"

"Oh," Bellona reverted her gaze to look back down at her hands, now clenched together in her lap. She ensured that she had well chewed her lip before swallowing and beginning. "I actually didn't find out until a year in that right before he kidnapped me he killed mom and dad. We went back to the old house you know. Drank the alcohol you sent there. You remember Sofia Ottani?"

Tony blinked at this, not expecting her to be so calm about it all. "Uh. . . your parents housekeeper, right? Babysat us a lot, taught us Italian, made the sign of the cross all the time behind your back?"

"Yeah, her," Bellona froze for a moment, then put her sunglasses back on and decisively stated, "I killed her."

"Well, shit," Tony breathed, he had entirely forgotten about the old woman, having believed she was irrelevant, a relic of a past that was no more. "I was surprised when I went back two years ago and she was still there polishing the tables."

"She sold us out to HYDRA."

"What?"

"Yeah. For revenge, because apparently I accidentally killed her son when my dog was a puppy and ran into the street. There was a truck coming up the street and. . . ."

"And James Drager pushed the limits of his law expertise to ensure the witnesses' testimony convinced the jury that the explosion was not related to you or the Drager family. I remember that trial. That was like what, back in '83?" Tony was flabbergasted, but he could see all the pieces falling into place now, no matter how ridiculous it sounded; a housekeeper selling them out to HYDRA. . . .

"Yeah. But it didn't matter. HYDRA knew about me. They tracked me for years before kidnapping me."

"Bella," Tony's tone had dropped to intense inquisition. "All the stuff you can do. . . ."

"There's an explanation," Bellona cut him off, shifting uncomfortably in her seat. "Found it in mom's old files. I actually want to go back again and look through more of them. There's a lot of sensitive S.H.I.E.L.D. data there, I'm surprised no one's busted up the place looking for it. But, you know how Vision has an infinity stone in his forehead?"

"Yeah— wait, are you saying—"

"Yes," Bellona nodded and reached up to trace the outline of the pale oval on her throat, that had once been just a birthmark. "Right here."