Thank you so very, very, very much for all the feedback from the prologue. If you've read any of my past stories, you know how I roll. I show no mercy haha. So, the first chapter is three years into the future so the events Iron Man 3 have happened and I'm assuming so have Thor: The Dark World and Captain American: The Winter Soldier. I've seen Iron Man 3 so I've used plot points from that in this chapter but based on the summaries for Thor 2 and Captain America 2, I just mentioned some small information. But just this chapter will include plot points from Iron Man 3. The rest of the story won't. Also, you can expect some Pepperony and some Stony (platonic and bromantic) in this chapter. Okay, enough of my rambling, but I had to mention that so you wouldn't get confused. Anyways, enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own the lyric below. They belong to The Calling.
And maybe, I'll find out,
The way to make it back someday.
Three years later…
"Stark, I need you to report to base for a mission briefing."
Tony Stark, genius-billionaire-playboy-philanthropist, dropped the bottle of champagne he had in his hand, the bottle shattering into a million pieces on the tiled floor of his perfectly polished kitchen.
"What the hell, Cyclops?" Tony spat at the director of SHIELD before turning his attention to the ceiling. "JARVIS, how could you let him up here without my consent?"
"My apologies, sir," the A.I. stated. "But it seems that he temporarily overrode my controls."
Tony scoffed. "Well, what use are you then?" he scoffed before turning back to Fury. "Look, I don't work for you, so why are you asking for my help?"
"You're an Avenger. And we're short staffed," Fury deadpanned.
There were things Tony would rather be doing than go on a mission for Fury. Celebrating his recent engagement with his fiancée, Pepper Potts, was at the top of the list. But Stark would make up an excuse that he had to do laundry if it meant that he didn't have to go on this mission.
Before Tony could even open his mouth, Pepper strolled into the kitchen, holding two champagne glasses. She glanced at the broken bottle on the floor – rolling her eyes at Tony – before turning her attention to Fury.
"Nick, it's so good to see you," Pepper said with a smile.
"Ms. Potts," Fury greeted with a nod. "I believe congratulations are in order."
"Thank you, Nick," Pepper said graciously. "What can we do for you?"
Fury clasped his arms behind his back and then strolled further into the kitchen. He sidestepped the shattered champagne bottle on the floor and approached Tony and Pepper. "There is an issue in Iran. Tehran, to be exact. We're short staffed and I've asked Tony if he would take on the mission."
Tony's eyes immediately flitted to Pepper to look for the reaction on her face. Tony could tell that Pepper was conflicted. Of course she wouldn't want him to leave. Due to their recent engagement, they'd been celebrating as much as possible. Tony couldn't even fathom what the actual wedding would be like if they were celebrating this much right now.
But at the same time, he could understand if she wanted him to go off and do the mission. Ever since getting the shrapnel removed from his chest and tossing his arc reactor into the ocean, Tony had lived a relatively normal life. Every so often, the world would need Iron Man and only then would he come out of hiding. But generally, Tony spent his time with Pepper and toiling away in his lab to invent some new technology.
"Hmm, I think you should do it, Tony," Pepper finally said.
"Ha! See Fury! She said – wait, what?" Tony sputtered as he turned to Pepper.
"I think you should do it. It would get you out of the house, get some fresh air," Pepper said with a shrug.
Tony rolled his eyes. "Whose side are you on anyways?"
Pepper shrugged. "Seeing as you broke our last bottle of champagne, you might as well, because there will be no celebrating without it," she said with a sly grin.
Did his fiancée just give him an ultimatum? Go on this mission or we will not celebrate this engagement anymore? Then again, he did drop their last bottle of champagne. And damn, it was expensive champagne from France. There was no way they'd be able to get another bottle for a while.
Tony groaned, pushing the heels of his palms into his eyes. "Fine," he growled. He pulled his hands away from his face and glared at the director of SHIELD. "I'll go on your super secret mission."
"It's not a secret, Stark," Fury said. "And you're not going alone anyways. Rogers will be going with you."
Tony's eyes widened. "Well why didn't you say so!?"
Pepper sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger while Fury just continued to stare without emotion.
"Well let's go Cyclops!" Tony exclaimed as he stepped over the broken champagne bottle. "We have a mission to complete!"
Fury shrugged and turned on his heel to head to the elevator. Tony, on the other hand, stopped dead in his tracks and turned back to face Pepper. The strawberry blonde seemed pretty pleased with herself. She had a smug smirk on her face and her arms were folded across her chest.
"You're Satan, you know that?" Tony said.
"Call me that again and the engagement's off," Pepper shot back with a devilish smirk.
Tony gasped. "You wouldn't!"
"I would," Pepper said. "Besides, we've been celebrating too much. I need you to get out of the house so I can get some work done. The budget's not going to work itself out."
Tony rolled his eyes. "Fine," he griped and then leaned in to press a kiss to his fiancée's lips.
"Be careful," she mumbled.
Tony nodded and then jogged to the elevators. He reached Fury just in time for the elevator doors to open, welcoming them inside for the short ride to the lobby. Tony and Fury stepped in and Fury pressed the button for the main lobby.
As the elevator began its descent, Fury pulled a small electronic tablet from his black trench coat. He powered up the device and tapped away before handing it to Tony.
"Umm, I don't like - ."
"Stark," Fury growled.
"Okay, okay," Tony whined as he took the tablet from Fury. He began to scroll through the documents and photos, but all of it seemed like gibberish to him. He didn't give a crap about the people he was targeting. If they were bad guys, it was all Tony needed to know to take them out.
"HYDRA has popped up on our radar again," Fury said. "That's why Rogers is coming. He requested this mission."
"And what exactly are they doing?" Tony sighed as he skimmed the articles on the tablet.
"They're trying to redevelop Extremis."
The tablet slipped from Tony's hands and the billionaire grew stiff. For a split second, Tony felt his blood run cold. He thought this was all behind them. He couldn't let this happen again. He still had nightmares about losing Pepper. The feeling he had when he thought he'd lost her was still buried deep inside of him.
"See why I came to you for this mission?" Fury gloated.
Anger radiated throughout Tony's body. His fists clenched and his shoulders tensed up.
"It's at a very early stage," Fury continued. "That's why we're eliminating them now."
Tony shook his head. "This is fucking ridiculous."
"We're going to eliminate them, Stark. You and Rogers make a great team. I don't doubt that you will deliver."
Tony nodded. The Avengers had been through far too much in the past three years. After they assembled, defeated Loki in the Battle of New York, and then went their separate ways, it seemed that everything fell to shit. The whole ordeal with Killian and Extremis nearly cost Tony his then girlfriend-now fiancée. Thor, supposedly, had to battle Nine Realms and nearly lost some woman from Earth named Jane Foster. Steve had to deal with the return of his best friend as the Winter Soldier, Bucky Barnes.
And then there was Clint and Natasha. But Tony wasn't going to think about that. The disappearance of the archer had been particularly hard on the whole team, but especially Natasha. Three years had gone by and still there was no sign of him. Though it was assumed that he was killed in action, Tony – and many of the other Avengers – still held out hope that he was out there somewhere.
Even though the Avengers were in shambles – physically, emotionally, and psychologically – they would always be around to take down the bad guys. It was their job. It would always be their job.
Tony sighed and then bent down to retrieve the tablet. He brushed the dirt off of the screen and then unlocked it to continue skimming through the documents.
"Still angry, Stark?" Fury asked.
Tony shook his head. "No," he said. "In fact, I'm determined. Let's take these bastards down."
After an uncomfortably long flight in a SHIELD Quinjet, Tony and Steve suited up and readied themselves for drop-in. The HYDRA base was located deep within the mountainous region of Tehran. Apparently, there was only a discreet entrance carved into the side of the mountain that was barely visible to an average citizen, but not for SHIELD. HYDRA couldn't hide from SHIELD.
"Drop point in 30 seconds!" Agent Maria Hill shouted over the roar of the engine.
The back of the Quinjet began to lower, revealing the mountainous terrain below.
"When you guys drop in, you'll have less than 30 seconds to infiltrate the base. The entrance is concealed but it's heavily guarded," Agent Hill yelled.
"Got it, Mrs. Fury!" Tony shot back. He lowered the face plate on his helmet before jumping out of the back of the Quinjet.
Steve shook his head at Tony's immature behavior. He checked his parachute pack, making sure it was tightly fastened to his body.
"You better go, Rogers, or you'll miss it!" Agent Hill shouted.
"Got it," Steve said. "See you, Agent Hill."
"Good luck, Rogers!"
Steve got a running start before launching himself out of the Quinjet. He felt his stomach drop as he felt gravity push him towards Earth.
"Stark, what's your location?" Steve said into his earpiece as he plummeted to Earth. He was reaching land more and more now so he would have to pull his parachute soon.
"Nearing 30 feet above land," Tony responded.
"Stark, you can't get too close. You'll blow our cover!" Steve shouted as he pulled the strap to release his parachute. He was tugged upright as the parachute caught onto the air and he started slowly floating down to Earth.
Suddenly, Steve heard several gunshots, followed by a round from a machine gun.
"Uh, Capsicle," Tony said. "Going to need your help right about now."
Steve groaned. "Stark, if you had just waited…"
Several more gunshots rang throughout the night and Steve let a curse word slip from his mouth. He struggled to maneuver the parachute in the right direction as he floated closer and closer to Earth.
When he was about ten feet above solid ground, he cut himself free from the parachute and plummeted to the ground. Landing on the balls of his feet, he unhooked his shield and thrust it at the guardsmen in one swift movement.
"Nice of you to show up," Tony snapped as he landed next to Steve and blasted a guard through the entrance of the HYDRA base.
The chaos died down, but only for a split second. From inside the base, an alarm sounded and Tony and Steve could hear the pounding of boots moving closer.
"You hold them off and I'll go find the lab to destroy the Extremis virus," Tony said.
"Got it," Steve said as he picked up his shield and tossed it through the entrance, taking out at least four HYDRA agents.
While Steve held down the fort outside, Tony rocketed through the tunnel, blasting several HYDRA agents in the process. Zooming through the tunnel, he turned into one of the first rooms and blasted all of the HYDRA agents before exiting the room. The more he took down, the less Steve would have to deal with. Besides, he might as well do it anyways. He had a long ways to go until he reached the lab they were experimenting with the Extremis virus.
Barreling down the hallway, Tony continued to blast several HYDRA agents. Many of them stayed hidden in the rooms but they couldn't hide from Tony. He wove in and out of every room, taking down every agent that cowered in fear of him.
After taking down a group of five agents in one room, Tony bolted from the room and turned a sharp corner, only to face a long hallway with a door at the end.
That's got to be where Extremis is, Tony thought.
Loading his thrusters to full power, he zipped down the hall and landed right outside the door. The door was colored pitch black and made of some sort of steel. There was a large bar across it that locked it from the outside, as well as an enormous padlock.
Tony shrugged. Extremis had to be behind this door. Why else would it be locked so efficiently?
The billionaire took a step back and charged his thrusters up to their highest capacity. He aimed his palm at the door and fired. The steel door flew off of its hinges and into the room with a clang.
Pretty pleased with himself, Tony marched into the room only to find it empty. In fact, it was dimly lit. Puddles of water on the floor reflected the dim light as well as a shadowy figure on the opposite side of the room.
"Stark, you find it yet?" Steve's voice echoed in Tony's ear.
The billionaire jumped. He'd practically forgotten he was on a mission. The disappointment that he still hadn't found Extremis was hitting him hard. "No, not yet," the billionaire said. "I'm in some sort of room at the end of a hallway that branches off from the main one. You finished outside?"
"Done," Steve answered affirmatively. "Heading in now. I'll start making my way straight down the tunnel."
"Good. I'll meet you there," Tony said. He started to turn when a moan echoed from inside the empty room. Tony stopped dead in his tracks. He had planned to leave the shadowy figure alone, but that moan sent chills up his spine.
Tony turned around and squinted through the darkness in hopes of getting a better look at the figure. The figure didn't make another sound and Tony knew he should walk away. He had a job to do. However, deep down, he couldn't just walk away. What if this shadowy figure was someone that HYDRA had been experimenting on? What if they were being experimented on against their will? Tony couldn't leave them behind.
As if there was some sort of gravitational pull, Tony stepped further into the room. The water underneath his feet splashed with every step he took and he could hear the drip-drip of a spigot from somewhere else in the room.
"Hey, uh, buddy," Tony said hesitantly. "You alright?"
The sound of chains rattling only confirmed Tony's suspicions that this was someone here against their will. This was a prisoner, an innocent. This was Tony's job. He had to rescue him.
Tony took several steps forward in order to get closer to the person in the shadows. They didn't move, nor did they make a sound, but Tony hoped they knew he wasn't going to hurt them. He hoped they knew he was here to rescue him.
Tony could tell he was about a foot away from the prisoner but he could barely see a damn thing. The dim light was only shining near the doorway so the prisoner was shrouded in darkness.
"JARVIS, some light please?" Tony asked.
The suit complied and shined some light on the prisoner. It took a couple seconds for Tony's eyes to focus. When they did, Tony gasped and stumbled backwards. Landing on the hard ground with a thud, Tony gaped at the sight in front of him.
His wrists were chained above his head and his feet barely skimmed the floor. He was only wearing a pair of black pants to shield himself from the elements. His chest was spattered with black and blue splotches while several cuts and wounds were healing up. On his temple was a fresh wound, the crimson red blood caked into the side of his face and smeared into his hair.
He didn't move. He didn't lift his head. He didn't say a word to Tony and Tony didn't say a word to him. The billionaire simply sat on the floor, staring in awe at the person in front of him.
"Tony, I've found the Extremis lab," Steve's voice cut in, snapping Tony back to reality.
Shaking his head, he stood and wrapped one arm around the man's torso. He blasted one of the chains free, the man's arm falling limply at his side. The man let out a pained whimper as Tony shifted his grip and blasted the second chain. Both Tony and the prisoner fell to the ground, landing in a heap of metal and flesh on the wet floor.
"Tony, I've destroyed the lab," Steve said. "Where the hell are you?"
Tony lifted up his face plate to get a better look at the man in his grasp. With the exception of the blood caked on the side of his face and the fact that he'd been held captive, he looked peaceful. His eyes were sealed shut and there was no sign of pain on his face.
"Stark! Where are you? We've got to get out now!" Steve shouted in Tony's earpiece.
"Rogers," Tony's voice cracked as he spoke up. "I need you to contact Fury."
"What? What's wrong? What happened?" Steve asked frantically.
Tony glanced down at the archer, who was still either fast asleep or unconscious. "Tell him I've found Barton."
There was a pregnant pause, an eerie silence, from Steve's end. "I'm sorry," the blonde sputtered. "Come again?"
"Barton," Tony said. As inappropriate as it seemed, a smile spread across Tony's face. "I've found Clint Barton."
In the SHIELD base cafeteria, Natasha Romanoff sat at a table in a secluded area, reading the debriefing packet from her last mission and absentmindedly eating some yogurt. It had been a simple mission, seduce and destroy. The guy barely saw it coming when she whipped out her gun and eliminated him. The look on his face had been priceless.
She was just turning the page to read about the elimination when her phone buzzed in her pocket. Natasha hoped it was another assignment. She was growing restless. It had been two weeks since the last mission and she was itching for another one.
She swapped the spoon from her left hand to her right so she could dig into her pocket and retrieve her phone. She screened the caller ID and saw that it was Fury. Suddenly, she was excited. He had to be calling about a new mission.
She swiped her thumb across the screen to unlock it and she pressed the phone to her ear.
"Agent Romanoff," the red head greeted.
"Natasha," Director Fury said from the other end.
Natasha stiffened. Fury never used her first name. He always called her "Agent Romanoff" or simply "Romanoff." The last time he addressed her as "Natasha" was…
"Natasha," Director Fury reiterated. "They've found Clint."
Her phone and the spoon clattered to the floor.
Oh boy, they found him! I promise they weren't experimenting Extremis on him haha. But Clint's back and Natasha knows. Think this will go well? Of course not! Read the summary. It's going to go horribly! Haha.
As always, thank you for adding this to your favorites, signing up for alerts, and reviewing. Reviews are very much appreciated so please review, review, review! I'd really like to know what you guys think!