Hi,
Another week has passed. And I give you a new chapter.
Hope you like it. Enjoy
He never heard the ringing of the cell phone.
BruceBruceBruceBruceBruceBru ce
The two scientist weren't making a lot of progress. They had thought of multiple plans to escape, but apart from Bruce hulking out, they weren't doable. They needed something to help them. A cell phone. A screwdriver. Even a paperclip would be useful at the moment. But they had nothing. Not nothing a bottle of water. But they hadn't been able to create a useful plan around it.
Tony was still in pain but he was hiding it better. The wound wasn't bad. Bruce had checked it again and it showed no signs of infection.
Footsteps on the other side of the door made both scientists tense up. Last time they had visitors in their little cell it hadn't up very nice. Bruce stood, but Tony had no intention of standing anytime soon. If they wanted him, they would have to come and get him. He was their intended target anyway. No point in making it easier to hurt him.
A look at Bruce showed that his friend having problem containing his panic. Tony sighed. He wished Bruce would just let go. He trusted both the scientist and the hulk to not kill him. Too bad Bruce didn't.
A key in the lock. The door opened. Erikson looked at Tony still sitting against the wall. 'How are you doing?' He sneered.
'Your hospitality sucks. Maybe you should think about upgrading.' Forget Clint's self-preservation lessons. This guy was really starting to piss him off. The kick to his side didn't surprise him. 'No? Too bad.' Tony said after his breath returned. He was really hanging around Clint too much.
Erikson had one of the guards pull Tony to his feet. Tony stumbled a bit. The kick hadn't done much damage. Nothing broken, he would have a big bruise though.
'I was thinking.' Erikson started. Tony snorted. Erikson glared at Tony, he continued. 'Thirty-six hours was very generous of me.'
Bruce definitely didn't like where this was going. Last time Clint had just barely finished the job. Just in time to save Tony from major injury. He just hoped Clint had hurried again this time.
'But it wouldn't be fair of me to change the rules again, would it?' Erikson continued.
Erikson didn't want an answer. Bruce held his breath. This wasn't over yet. Nothing good could come from a visit from their captor.
'But I was thinking. Perhaps we should give the hawk a little incentive to hurry.' Erikson had that gleeful expression again. He was sizing up Tony.
Bruce felt the breath rush out of him. 'That won't be necessary. Clint will hurry.' Unlike Tony he wasn't above begging to prevent pain. He didn't expect it to work tough.
It didn't. 'Nice try doctor.' Erikson shot a glance at Bruce, before focusing on Tony again. 'Yes. A little motivation should help. Perhaps it will help against that smart mouth as well.' He pulled his phone and speed dialed the untraceable burn phone he had given to Clint.
He heard it ring. And ring. And ring. He waited until Agent Barton would pick up. He didn't. After the last tone he reached voicemail. Bruce shrank back at the look of hatred Erikson was giving them.
Tony glared back. 'What happened? You're phone broken?'Bruce glared at Tony. Telling him with his eyes to shut up. He didn't have high hopes. Tony never listened. Tony gave a smile. Maybe Clint had wizened. Had he chosen to save his own skin instead of theirs?
'What are you smiling at?' Erikson shot. It was the first time they saw him loose composure.
'Hawkeye is smarter than you think. Perhaps he decided to come after you directly.' Tony shot back. The smile still on his face.
Erikson closed the distance. He grabbed hold of Tony and shook him violently. Tony felt his teeth rattle, but he didn't lose the grin. Erikson aimed a right hook at Tony's face. Tony, still being held, had no way to duck the blow. His head was knocked back. His lip split. Blood was streaming down his chin. He still managed a grin. Erikson lost it completely. 'Even if Hawkeye comes after me.' Punch. 'You won't be alive.' Punch. 'To see it.' Kick.
After that last kick Erikson let Tony go. Tony stumbled into the wall. He slowly slid down. Erikson stormed out of the room. The guards followed. The door closed with a bang.
Bruce was frozen. He had no idea why he hadn't hulked out yet. Perhaps the other guy understood that Bruce would be more helpful now. Bruce took a deep breath and hurried to his friend.
'What were you thinking?' He sounded angry, completely justified he thought.
Tony pulled something from his pocket. 'You said we needed a cell phone.' He held up the phone he had lifted from Erikson.
NatashaNatashaNatashaNatasha Natasha
When Steve was debriefed and understood the urgency of their mission, the three of them took off. Steve had been getting flying lesson in one of the jets. Officially he hadn't passed the test yet to be allowed to fly, but Natasha and Phil were happy to let him fly. As long as that meant that they were on their way.
'Where are we going?' Steve asked. He had Europe as destination. They needed to fly across the ocean so they had a little time to figure out with country would be most useful.
'The official base was in the Netherlands. But we don't know if they moved since Clint killed their leader.' Phil explained.
'So we start in Amsterdam and track them down from there.' Natasha clearly wasn't happy with this idea. It would take a lot of time. And they didn't know how much time Clint of Tony had. She didn't bother worrying about Bruce. The worse that could happen to the alter ego of the hulk was another guilt trip. She just hoped that the reason wasn't a dead Tony.
They were silent for a while. Deep in thought. 'This is the last time Tony and Bruce leave without us present.' Steve muttered. He had argued against going. But Tony had thrown some science speech his way and he had given up.
Natasha opened her mouth to agree with the captain. She was certainly staying close to Clint for a while after this, when her phone started ringing.
'You brought you phone. We needed to be of the grid that thing can be traced.' Phil, no Agent Coulson scolded.
'Shut up. This is a Stark phone. Only Jarvis can track it. And only four other people know this number.' Natasha pulled the phone from her pocket. They hadn't bothered teaching the numbers to Thor. After he broke his third phone, Tony had just told him to order Jarvis to call them if needed.
'Yes.' She answered the phone.
'Oooh thank god you answered. Do you know where Clint is and why he isn't answering? Where is he? Where are you?' Bruce rambled.
'Slow down Banner. I don't know where Clint is. We are coming for you. Do you know where you are? Any information is useful.' Natasha shot her own list of questions back. She stored the information about Clint away for later. She needed to concentrate.
'We are just outside of Paris. Close enough for the hulk to destroy most of the city. Tony is hurt and I don't know when they will return for the phone. Where is Clint?' Bruce asked again.
Natasha took a deep breath. 'Our first priority is getting you and Tony out of there. Take away any leverage. Is there any way to hide the phone?'
'Not in the cell. I can put it in my pocket. They haven't been close to me since we were taken. But if he realizes it is missing he might search us.'
Natasha cursed. 'Can you toss it out? Throw it through a window?' She didn't believe it was an option. But if it helped them, she had to suggest it.
'No the room can't open. I'll try to hide it on me. They might be too scared of the other guy to risk it.' Bruce sounded braver than he felt.
'Alright. Let me know if you discover something more on your location. Don't risk getting hurt. Tell Tony if he antagonized your captors I will personally train his in anti-interrogation. We need to hang up. They might have the means to check on radio signals.' As long as they didn't realize the phone was missing, Tony and Bruce might be safe. Safer at least.
'Alright.' Bruce sounded tired.
'And Bruce… We are coming to get you.. sit tight.' She hung up. And turned to Steve. 'Change off course. We're going to France.'
Slightly longer. Sorry for the delay.
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