Disclaimer: I still don't own Marvel.
A/N: The first chapter of 2018! I hope you all had a nice New Year's Eve, and that you enjoy this chapter. The first half is from Bruce's POV, and the second is Romanoff's POV.
Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose tiredly. Hours of searching with no results were taking a toll on all them. SHIELD had insisted on sending undercover agents to investigate the various buildings listed under the Farus name. It took more time, but he saw the logic in subtly. If they launched a raid on one building, and their teammates weren't there, then it might alert their abductors and put Tony and Natasha at greater risk.
"Agents have cleared Bourges."
Bruce looked up from the SHIELD computer as Clint entered the helicarrier's lab. Steve was close behind, looking disappointed and a little concerned.
"Just a bunch of wine," Clint added.
"Frankfurt, Germany is next," Steve commented. "We're not far from there."
"Marcus Farus has a jet in his name, as well a helicopter," Bruce told them as he went back to focusing on his research.
Clint raised an eyebrow. "How much do chemists make? Geez."
"He has several patents for medicinal drugs," Bruce explained. "And a large inheritance left solely to him, since his brother disappeared without a trace."
"Doctor Banner," JARVIS interrupted.
Bruce picked up the tablet that Pepper had given him that came fully equipped with JARVIS. "Go ahead, JARVIS."
"I have discovered a code which I believe is from Mr. Stark and Agent Romanoff."
"What kind of code?" Steve asked.
"It activates my search and rescue capabilities. It is a new program, which we had not yet had the opportunity to test."
Clint smirked. "Please tell me Stark didn't get himself kidnapped to test a new toy."
"Not to my knowledge," JARVIS answered. "If working correctly, and under desirable circumstances, the code would allow me to access the system which it was sent from."
"Would?" Steve asked.
"Unfortunately, the computer system which sent the code was disabled. A total shut down. I was not able to access the system. However, I was able to narrow down where it was sent from."
"That's great, JARVIS. Where?" Bruce asked, turning back to the computer and pulling up the list of Farus properties.
"The property in northern Ireland," the accented voice answered.
"We're the closest," Steve stated. "I'll get Thor and we'll meet you at the Quinjet."
Bruce nodded as the other two left. He wasn't sure where Clint was headed, but it probably had something to do with his most violent and dangerous arrows. He looked at the coordinates on the tablet and smiled slightly. "Good job, Tony," he muttered before heading off to join the others.
There wasn't much cover to be had in the wide open area. The land rolled with hills, but trees were sparse. "This will do," Natasha announced. The spot of land was far enough from the compound to insure they were safe from any residual explosions, and the few trees around would hide them from passerby's if there were any, which she doubted. They appeared to be in the middle of nowhere. The only lights came from the remnants of the building, fading sun, and the blue glow of Stark's reactor. "Are you sure the distress signal was sent?"
Stark kicked a few twigs into a pile before half-sitting, half-collapsing. "Not really a distress signal. Just a code I know JARVIS will recognize. And yes, I sent it. Whether it was received I don't know. Someone will have to be looking for it to find it. I'm sure by now people have discovered we're missing and are looking, so as long as someone put JARVIS on alert it'll be fine."
Natasha eyed the bag that Stark had tossed onto the ground next to him while he attempted to pile the twigs and sticks into what he apparently intended to be a fire. "Are those marshmallows?"
Stark smirked up at her for a moment. "Yep. Grabbed them on the way out. They had a box full."
"You grabbed marshmallows, but didn't think of grabbing water?" She sat down on the other side of his makeshift fire and selected a couple of suitable sticks that she could light it with. "What kind of genius are you?"
"The hungry kind who had more pressing matters than a little thing like water on his mind." He gestured to what was left of the building. "Do you want to go back and look for water?"
She rolled her eyes. There was no going back into the building now. It could collapse on whoever attempted it. She looked up at the sky, noting that the sun was nearly gone, and how the stars shined brightly down on them. Stark's reactor cast a blue light over them though, giving her enough light to finish lighting the fire. It was small, but it would do to keep at least some of the chill away. She would rather not have a fire, considering it could alert people to their location, but there didn't seem to be anyone around anyway and Stark didn't have a shirt on. Without something to keep him warm, combined with the blood loss, the night air could be dangerous.
Natasha arched an eyebrow while Stark ripped open the bag of marshmallows. "If there's no sign of an extraction team by morning we'll need to start walking," she pointed out. Her eyes flickered over Stark's chest and then his pale face. It was hard to see the extent of the damage in the fire light, but the blue glow of the reactor mixed with the yellow and purple bruises and the red lacerations, and made his torso into a colorful spectacle. She had noticed his trouble breathing as they'd run from the building, but even now it seemed his was having some difficulties.
"Is the reactor damaged?" she asked bluntly.
Stark looked up at her as if trying to figure out why she was asking, and gauging her necessity to know the truth. "Broken rib," he answered. "And I think one of the wires connecting the reactor to the base plate might be loose. It'll be fine as long as you don't plan on trying to kill me again. Then we might have a problem."
She looked away from him and to the fire. She hadn't thought about nearly killing him since their escape attempt. There had been too much going on. Now, however, she was forced to address the fact. Stark didn't sound accusing, but she knew him enough to know he wouldn't sound accusing. He was almost as good at disguising his emotions as she was.
"If I wanted to kill you, you'd be dead." It was true and they both knew it. The problem was that they both knew she nearly had killed him, and it was only luck that he'd managed to get through to her before she'd snapped his neck. She hadn't been fully in control. The drug had taken her logic and control and forced her into being open to suggestion. She hadn't been thinking straight, and it had nearly led to Stark's death.
His blood would have been on her hands, and as much as she tried to tell herself it would have really been Farus' fault, when it came down to it, it would have been her hands that had done it. She should have resisted the drug more. She should have been able to withstand Farus' manipulation. If Stark had died, it would have been entirely her own doing.
"Want a marshmallow?"
The question was so random, so at contrast with what she was thinking and how serious the conversation had been seconds before, that she could only look up at him and stare blankly.
"A marshmallow," Stark repeated, holding a stick out to her with two marshmallows on one end. "You know….sugary concoction of white pillow-y bliss? You hold it over the fire and…."
"I know how it works," she interrupted. She accepted the offered stick and stared at it a moment before following Stark's lead and placing the marshmallows near the heat.
"I guess we should probably sing a camp fire song. That's what people usually do, right?" Stark commented after a few seconds of silence.
"I wouldn't know."
"Yeah." Stark's eyes focused on the marshmallow turning brown as if it were taking all his concentration to make it absolutely perfect. "Neither would I."
Silence passed between them. They ate their marshmallows and Stark tossed her a couple more without comment. As the minutes passed she noticed him shift closer to the fire, no doubt to try and stay warm. Her thoughts wondered back over their captivity as she visually scanned their surroundings for any disturbances.
"What did you see while under the hallucinogen?" she asked, her gaze once again focused on the task of roasting the marshmallows.
Stark didn't give any indication that he'd even heard her, but after a minute or so he responded. "You weren't listening?"
"The audio was off. And once I was drugged….I stopped paying attention to the video feed. It's mostly a blur."
"Different things," Stark answered vaguely after another second's hesitation. "All ending the same way though."
She remembered seeing him grab his reactor at one point, and knew that it had been removed repeatedly by their captors. It wouldn't be far-fetched to think that, under the influence of Farus' drugs, that had been what he'd imagined happening. "The reactor?" she asked simply.
He nodded subtly.
She didn't ask for specifics. She wasn't sure if she even wanted to know right now. Not when she'd nearly killed him not too long ago.
Stark suddenly winced and one hand shot to his chest. She narrowed her eyes as if studying someone's tell. It wasn't concern she felt. No, the Black Widow couldn't afford to be concerned about someone, especially not Tony Stark. It was not worry that was twisting her stomach.
"Stark?" she asked. If emotion leaked into her voice against her will, it definitely was not because of her unexpected fondness for the genius across from her.
"Hope Pepper comes with the rescue brigade," he muttered. "She has small hands." As soon as the words were out a dark look crossed his face. But it was the distant look in his eyes, almost cold, that bothered her most.
"Stark, keep breathing."
"Don't start getting mushy on me, Romanoff. I know I'm irresistible, but…"
"Stark…" she deadpanned.
"I'm fine. If the wire wasn't connected I would be dead by now," he assured her. "It's just a little loose and is causing some arrhythmia."
She paused for a moment. "Anything I can do?"
He met her eyes for only a second, but in that time she saw a level of uncertainty that she wouldn't have expected coming from Tony Stark. "As fun as it'd be to have you sticking your hand into my chest, I think I'll pass."
"Then don't do anything stupid, like dying."
"I'll try to restrain myself."
Silence elapsed again. More marshmallows were eaten. After half an hour, Natasha wasn't sure if she preferred this silent brooding Stark or annoyingly talkative Stark.
An hour or so later though the sound of jet engines could be heard cutting through the silence. Lights appeared overhead as SHIELD carriers circled in the distance. If she wasn't so tired, if her head didn't hurt, and if she wasn't afraid to leave Stark unattended she would have gotten up to wave them down. Instead she sat with a marshmallow roasting in their small fire while Stark popped one into his mouth.
And that was how the team found them. Tony and Natasha, sitting by a small fire, eating marshmallows without a care in the world, and as if they hadn't just nearly died a few hours before.