Bonjour! Here's the new chapter and we finally get into the serious stuff and learn more about who is after Tony (just a bit). That chapter also explains a little Fury's attitude that was kinda hostile but you'll see what I mean.

Thanks for the reviews last chapter and I loved reading what you thought would happen, your theories were great. Don't hesitate to give them to me again if you want - who knows, maybe one of you could give me an idea (even though I have already tons of those). ^^

Disclaimer: Still not mine, just borrowing for a little while longer...

Enjoy! Bonne lecture!


Discoveries

When Tony woke up, he decided it was going to be a good day. He was in his oh so comfortable king-sized bed, Pepper in his arms, sun rays lightly warming them through the windows of their Malibu room. He had a eight-hour long night sleep after a small dinner and a walk along the beach with Pepper and only her on his mind. Temperatures were on the positive side, almost going as high as ten degrees at this hour of the day, sun was shining, soft marine breeze in the air, the sound of the waves crashing against the cliff echoed in the distance – yep, he decided, a very good day.

He opened his eyes and took in the sight of his beloved girlfriend still sleeping. He smiled and kissed her shoulder softly. He could stay all day there. But he couldn't of course.

Slowly he disentangled himself from her, making sure not to wake her up, and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. He stretched and stood up, idly scratching at the back of his head, while he made his way to the door. He opened it without making a noise and closed it behind him before padding down the corridor to the stairs. His lips curled up when he heard the sound of the water fall he had in his living room. It was silent.

He didn't remember the last time he woke up to a silent home. No superheroes talking over breakfast, no TV on. Nothing but the sound of water hitting water and the distant sound of waves. It didn't mean he didn't like waking up to find people so at ease and at home inside his kitchen but… He wasn't much of a morning person and so waking up to silence and not people talking and trying to make conversation with him was nice once in a while. At least he wouldn't get exasperated and annoyed looks thrown at him for grumbling and snapping at them because he couldn't drink his coffee in peace.

He made a bee-line for the coffeemaker once he was in the kitchen and started it up, putting the beans and the water inside. Once the hum of the working machine could be heard, he grabbed a mug, put it on the counter before sitting at a stool around the isle. He took a pad he had let down there and switched it on. "Jarvis? Was the analysis done?"

"Yes, Sir, shall I send you the results?"

"Yes please." Numbers and graphs filled the small screen and he frowned, as he took it in.

Vacation meant he could also search for whoever was after him without the Avengers finding out what he was up to. Pepper wouldn't take more than a look at it, assuming he was reviewing current projects, making sure nothing was wrong; he wasn't working after all and she knew he couldn't stay completely idle.

He didn't want anyone to know someone was after him. It wasn't unusual, people sent him threats on a daily basis and rival companies wish him ill often enough that someone making huge deadly humanoid creatures with a 'hello' sign was just taking it a step above.

Unfortunately for whoever did it, it meant he could be found more easily. The guy needed too many high-tech material and a secured lab for it to be just no one. Plus, he was smart and well-versed in genetics. Mechanics wasn't his forte judging by the robot. He knew his way around chemistry from the acid/drool which could burn through metal but didn't do anything to the fur and whatever skin the DASC had. He probably wasn't working alone of course, but if you added all those things, the list of people with the means shortened greatly.

He had taken a sample of the creatures (several actually: fur, piece of scale, acid and skin) to try and identify how they made those things. He assumed SHIELD would have done the same thing but he had the advantage of being able to do it more quickly. And well the things were sending him a message so he took it a bit personally.

And from what he could gather, he had guessed several parts of it already. The DNA was a mix between chameleon (ah, ah, no surprise there), snakes (the scales probably though they were thicker than snakes'), wolf (the fur? Strange cause he didn't think a wolf was protected against acid by its hair) and… human. The rest wasn't anything known, so he assumed it was created by those geneticists, who were freaking-ly good. He wasn't an expert on genetics (he could use Bruce's help on that), but he could see the beautiful hard work of those people, creating a DNA mixing so many different species and managing to actually get some kind of viable result. It was breathtakingly impressive.

The beep coming from the coffeemaker made him put the tablet down. He filled his mug and went back to the isle. "Jarvis, could you look for the best geneticists in the world? Give the… fifteen best ones. Think it'll be enough."

"Right away Sir."

He looked back at the results and scrolled down through the numbers, and words, reading them, analyzing them, looking for something that would help him. According to the analysis, the acid was brand new, mixing old known ones (hydrochloric, nitric, sulphuric, perchloric) – God he was lucky it didn't pierce the suit because it was like a drop or there would have been nothing left of his leg. Whoever did this was dead or plain lucky because he couldn't imagine what kind of reaction must have resulted from that particular mix.

Sipping his coffee, he kept digging through all the data, frowning more and more at the sick combination those people made. They really were crazy if they'd gone to those lengths for what exactly? Send him a message? Kill him? He had no idea, but he sure as hell was going to find out.

"Sir, I have the names you wanted."

"Send them to my tablet." The information went up on the screen. He was about to look through them when the sound of steps heading his way made him look up. He saw Pepper walking towards him and shut down the tablet, smiling. "Good morning, beauty."

"Good morning to you too, handsome," she smiled coming to a stop in front of him. She put her hands around his neck and raised an eyebrow. "Do not think it means you can make me forget you were on your pad when I walk in. Sweet compliments will lead you nowhere."

He grinned and wrapped an arm around her waist. "I was checking the running tests of the suit. It did have a hole in its leg and that's never good."

She rolled her eyes and went to the coffeemaker. Tony glanced at the pad, frowning. He had had time to see one name. But it was enough because that name had rung a bell. He'd seen that name before and if he remembered well (which he did because hey Tony Stark here), it didn't bode well for him.

Thomas Lang.


Steve looked around at his teammates, wondering why Fury could possibly have called them all so early. He knew they were probably wondering the same thing themselves. It wasn't unusual per see, but if it was urgent-urgent he would have made them come yesterday when he sent the message. He didn't so it meant it was about some undergoing project they didn't know about and were about to find out. Sometimes he could understand Tony's frustration with the man and his secrets. He felt more like a pawn of SHIELD than an active member of a team of superheroes.

"Have any ideas?" Clint suddenly asked.

"None," he sighed, resting his elbows on the table.

"Think it's about Tony's ah… vacation?" Bruce questioned, glasses in his hand, fingers rubbing his tired eyes.

The door opened suddenly, preventing them from answering. Fury strode inside, hands clasped behind his back. He looked over at them, his eye lingering on the empty seat, before he stood at the end of the table. They all straightened up a bit and moved their eyes to him, carefully putting on a blank expression, not giving anything away.

"I see most of you have answered my call." His voice was emotionless and businesslike. But they could tell he wasn't surprised by Tony's absence and was in fact angry. "Is he going to be late as usual?"

Steve leaned forward, thinking it might be best if he answered that one. "He is not coming. He's…"

"At a meeting for Stark Industries," Natasha finished. "Pepper wouldn't leave him alone with it, saying it was in his very best interests." She smirked a little. "If you know what I mean."

Steve would have believed her if he didn't know better. It was completely plausible. And it would definitively be something Pepper would do if she needed to get what she wanted from Tony. It worked too, usually.

"Very well. Is he making the weapons I asked for?"

Clint frowned. "No, he's not. He told you he wouldn't make them."

Fury's eye narrowed. "Then what has he been doing?"

Steve put his hand forward on the table. "He's been working on his projects. Tony is a business man and an inventor. He's not one of your agents, he does other things."

"Why did you call us?" Bruce asked, not wanting to beat around the bush any longer.

Fury sighed and sat down on his chair. "We've stopped two attacks on Stark in the last two months."

"What?" They all exclaimed, suddenly more attentive, ready to jump out of their seats.

"We don't know who's ordering the attacks but two groups of mercenaries and assassins were caught. They didn't know who had hired them. They simply received a name and a very good amount of money with a promise of more once their job was done."

Steve clenched his fists. "Why didn't you tell us? Tony must know."

"No. If he knows then they might change tactics and we won't find them anymore. We don't know what they want with Stark." Fury was frustrated but suddenly his attitude with Tony made sense.

"You were trying to protect him," Steve whispered.

"If there is one thing I know about Stark, it's that he never does something he doesn't want to do. Even more so if someone he dislikes pushes him into doing so." Fury smirked. "He will go as far as to do something else in the very same place he would have done what I've asked of him."

"But at least you knew where he was. The workshop." Bruce closed his eyes and pinched his nose.

"Or the offices of SI. But under constant protection." Steve glanced at the others, biting his lip. "Anyway I'm telling you now so that you, in turn, keep an eye on him as well as Miss Potts. The order they received was to abduct him, but they could go after her to get to him."

Clint crossed his arms and looked at the ceiling. "There's something you may want to know."

Fury raised an eyebrow. "I have a feeling I am not going to like it."

Natasha leaned forward, clasping her hands in front of her. "As you may be aware, following one mission, Tony has stopped trusting us."

"Something I am not happy with. I hope you will solve this problem soon." They all did too.

Natasha inhaled and kept going. "Seeing this, he chose to take some time away with Pepper."

Fury clenched his fists. "He what?"

"He's at his home in Malibu. He's fine I'm sure. We can call him if you want," Bruce added, offering a smile.

The director looked at him unimpressed. Steve wondered what they were supposed to do. They couldn't make him come back, not without telling him why and that was something Fury didn't want to do. He didn't agree with it of course. Tony could take care of himself and you couldn't hide anything from him for long. He would know something was going on and eventually found out. It wouldn't end well – especially not with the whole trust thing. He didn't even want to think about what would happen if it came down to that.

"We have a lead though," Fury suddenly said, choosing not to comment on Tony's vacation. "One of the mercenaries got a call. They gave him the place where they would leave him. It's an apartment in Washington. It belongs to a man called Thomas Lang, a geneticist."

Clint frowned. "Why would a geneticist go after Tony? They're… They don't have anything in common."

Fury sighed, acquiescing. "I know. But that doesn't mean he's alone. He's probably not. Stark has pissed off too many people without even trying by being who he is." Fury ran a tired hand on his forehead. "Don't call him. I'm sure they're both safe. When do they come back?"

"In two days I think." Natasha nodded at Steve. "He needs it and well it's been doing us some good too."

"Make it work. But remember this," Fury stood up, looking at each of them turn by turn. "You'll never fully have it back. You can do everything possible, prove to him it'll never happen again – it'll never be enough to have it all back."

Steve and Thor frowned. "How can you say that?" The soldier asked.

Fury sent them a bitter smile. "Trust is something Stark gives when it's earned. You might deserve it again, but you'll never earn it back completely. 'Fooled me once, not twice' is more than a saying here. The only way Stark knows to protect himself is to make sure people don't get too close." He shook his head. "I'm not trying to get you down. I'll be glad to be proven wrong but… Don't get your hopes too high."

On those words, Fury left the room, leaving the teammates to shoot each other sad and torn looks. Steve closed his eyes and sighed. He thought it would be hard but he never thought about the possibility that they'll never get it back. It didn't seem to be an option and Tony had said they would get it back, that he just needed time. It wouldn't work out, the team, the missions… Nothing will work if Tony never trusted them fully again.

He didn't know about the others but he wouldn't be able to take it. Knowing he had destroyed what they had and it would never be back to what it used to be… The guilt would destroy him.

"What would you say about searching by ourselves who's after Tony?" Clint wondered, probably anxious to change the subject and get their minds away from the possibility that they may have ruined everything completely and definitively.

"I'd say I'm all for it," Natasha answered.

"Then we should go back to the tower." Thor stood up, the others following swiftly, and they all left the room behind. But none of them forgot Fury's words and the truth they could feel ringing behind them.


Pepper wrapped a towel around herself and got out of the shower's cabin. She grabbed another and wrapped her hair in it, twisting and rubbing it to make most of the water get out. She sighed and walked to the mirror. She wiped the mist away and sighed. They would go back to New York tomorrow and, while she felt that Tony was better and had his control back on his emotions, she wasn't sure he was ready to get back to them. Three days away couldn't erase a month of mistrust and pain, no matter how much they wanted it.

She grabbed her clothes and put them on before taking the towel off her hair. This was their last night, she had to make sure he would keep his mind away from the trip back and seeing them again. She combed her hair before tidying up everything. She then walked out of the bathroom and headed towards the living room where she knew she would find him.

She walked in and froze immediately.

Tony was on his knees, a gun pointed at his head, facing her. There was blood dripping from his temple on the side of his face. Two men were behind him, both holding guns. A third one was at his side – it was the one threatening Tony.

"I suggest you don't move, miss Potts."

She nodded, hoping her fear wasn't as obvious as she thought it was. She felt someone grab her arm and turned her head to see two men. What did they want? Who were they? Questions were running through her head, but no answers were coming her way. She looked back at Tony, locking eyes with him.

Be careful, do what they want.

She swallowed. What do they want?

He closed his eyes for a second before opening them again. Me.

She blinked her tears away and then pain exploded at the back of her head. The last thing she saw was the man hitting Tony as well on the back of his head.


Please don't hate me or kill me!

Now that's said, you can shoot reviews (I have no problem with those) and reactions. (I can accept mild threats, cause I'm nice that way :D )

A la prochaine!

AngelShep