WYWF

Chapter 3

Warnings: I am an arts student. My scientific education in limited to high school chemistry/Biology and science fiction novels. Stuff will be made up.

Word Count: 1,543

General Ross, it appeared, did not like being disturbed this early in the morning. Tony did not give two hoots. Situated in a military base out in the open plains, Ross made all the promising recruits and soldiers into special force teams. It was technically "sideways movement" but everyone knew it was to keep the man out of trouble. There was nothing by ambition and cunning behind the stupid moustache he wore. Steve and Tony didn't miss that he didn't offer them a drink when they entered his office.

Steve didn't like Ross from the first moment he saw him. He could tell that Tony didn't from his aggressive posture and excess of… Tony-ness. This guy just looked like a bully. A sell your soul simply because it's not mine bully. He stood next to the 'Iron' suited man and gave the general a hard stare though he kept quiet. This was Tony's round.

"So. What can I do you boys for?" Ross' tone suggested that unless the thing that they wanted was for him to plant a boot up their asses, it probably wasn't going to be obliged.

"We're trying to find Banner. He was kidnapped and we think some of your tech has been used to do so. "

Ross gave a bitter laugh "you mean your tech, Stark. It's got you name all over it." Steve was aching to hit him. "And I'm not allowed to find Banner any more. Remember? I know you had a hand in that too."

"The grenades, Ross. It was you who developed a gas to sedate The Hulk. It was you who came up with the idea. I just designed the launcher. It's your tech". It hurt, sometimes, for Tony to be reminded of his past. Some things couldn't always be wiped out, not every invention could be unmade.

"It's no longer in my possesion." There was more bitterness. Neither of the two heroes doubted that if he had the tech, that he would be out there chasing Bruce again.

"Why? Did you lose it? Gone geriatric already?" Tony gave a sarcastic smile. "Though I guess it's always been a bit late for that, hasn't it?" "Don't let it get to you" Steve muttered. He had a sinking feeling that this was going to end in bloodshed.

"You think they let me keep any of it? Bastards at S.H.I.E.L.D took it all. Besides, that gas never worked. We tried it on The Hulk once, trapped him in a library, of all places. He just jumped right out at us." Ross was getting angry now, the corner of his eye was twitching. If this ended without someone getting hurt now, Steve would eat his shield. He thought about Banner and how much the guy reminded him sometimes of his littler self. They made the Hulk because of him, he thought. If he hadn't agreed to the experiment, would they have given up? If he had not been frozen in the ice, would they still be trying to recreate him?

Tony was getting visibly pissed off too, but Ross continued. "Bastards. We were damn near certain the latest batch was going to work too. Then they stopped our research, told us to clear out. All I wanted was that guy's head on my wall. And not for selfish reasons either like everyone seems to think. The Hulk is a menace. A monster, just you wait. One day he will tear everything apart and I won't be there to stop him. It always happens, and then you'll be sorry, you'll see!" He broke out into a gruff, malevolent chuckle.

In the end, it wasn't about breaking Tony's control but Steve's. He punched the guy out before Tony's propulsion beams could injure Ross, hitting the wall behind him instead and showering the general in shards of broken glass from the window above him.

He was getting far too used to casually walking out of broken buildings for his liking.

"So what now?" Steve questioned.

"We find out where Ross' stuff has gone."

"So, back to Fury?"

"You go. I'll get JARVIS to track down the files and see how the analysis of the gas is going."

Back in the lab, Tony looked at the results. He'd read up on the subject of human/mutant sedation last night along with the relevant case notes. He found that it was nearly impossible to fully sedate the Hulk, owing to the chemical mix that flooded the mutant body along with all the gamma. Most of the research was purely hypothetical, speculation on the composition of the Hulk's blood as well as a few assumptions made on the variables of the experiment. Not just anyone could manufacture a product like this, Tony realised. He got JARVIS to compile a list of prominent chemists and bioengineers while he took a closer look at the composition of the gas, projecting a swirl of molecules up around his desk. The blue glow from the compounds reflected off the clean, white surfaces of what was going to be Bruce's lab, the eerie but now long past familiar light didn't throw shadows. Tony sorted through the shapes with ease, casting off the easily obtained chemicals with a either a gentle wave of his hand or by picking up the orbs and throwing them at the literal waste basket. It took almost an hour of sorting and researching before he made any progress. Tri-methylsiloxphenyl, not something your average chemist would stock. Laboratory made, highly dangerous, the merest whiff could cause comas. Tony had to be impressed, despite what it had been used for. To modify that to be human friendly but Hulk tranquilising, that took more than smarts. It took genius. He wondered when it had started to affect Bruce. Was it right at the start of his transformation or did he have to be fully transformed? It was a complex thing that happened, and he hoped desperately no permanent damage had been done. Or was being done now.

He exited the lab and wend up to the penthouse, where their rooms were, and guiltily crossed to the bar. Bruce wasn't here. No one would tell him off for having a drink now. Among Tony's abundant virtues, self-control was never one of them. He relished in the burn that stung his throat, marking it as much more preferable to the lump that had been lingering there all day. It was like being back in the old days. In the days before Pepper, when he had no one and nothing to stop him from sliding off the cliff of rationality. Back then he had gone over gladly; he had succumbed to drink, to sex. He had killed people. He had thought that some people deserved to die, but that was before he had been placed in the grips of death himself. He was different now, he kept reminding himself he was better. But that didn't stop the second glass. Or the third. He rationalised it out. He did his best work while drunk, look at JARVIS, Dummy, and the rest. It cleared his mind by silencing the hole in his heart.

Oh. Right. Shit. His heart.

The random-ass stalker candy, as he like to call it, made sense now. That crazy serial killer that Fury told them about. The one that removed his victim's hearts.

See? We was good when he was drunk.

The rest of the Avengers, minus the obvious, burst into the room. Steve gave the glass in his hand a look as Natasha spoke

"Tony. We think we know who took Bruce."

"Does it have to do with the stalker candy? "

Clint chuckled at 'stalker candy'. "Yes, actually. How did you know?"

Tony gave them his best 'are you stupid?' look before answering. "Because I'm a genius. The real question is how did you know?"

Natasha gave a sigh. It was back to this was it? She hid a smile when she thought about calling Pepper. She wouldn't take any more of this. But that was a bit cruel. On Tony.

"There's been another one" she replied, stepping forward to take his glass. There was another chuckle from Clint when Tony pouted at the loss of his glass and she threw a killer's glare at him.

"Another one? Where?" Something had finally provoked a near-serious response from Stark.

"On the door in from the Avenger's Tower heli-carrier." Steve produced an identical envelope to the one before. Tony took it and opened it. Another candy was revealed.

I've got ur heart

"I don't think that's standard issue." Everyone turned to look at Clint who shrugged a bit and rather notably kept his eyes of a certain Russian agent. "Not that I'm an expert or anything."

"Right." Said Steve. "So we think the heart guy is the candy guy? There's a theme, but could it be a coincidence?"

"Maybe no one looked properly? We all know what agents are like. JARVIS, get me the photos of the crime scenes, scan for white envelops and heart shaped candy." The photos in question were projected onto the darkened windows of the penthouse, boxes flashed around the aforementioned objects and enlarged. Every single one had a white envelope and more than half showed the heart shaped candy.

"Seems like we have a connection" said Natasha softly.

A/N: Fun fact: Tri-Methysiloxpheynl Dimethione is an ingredient in my lipstick. Also, I failed organic chemistry at school.