Summary: After suffering a crippling and devastating betrayal from someone he trusted, Clint struggles with his demons as he goes on a quest for vengeance. Grace Melnychenko Drăgoi struggles to cope, after a traumatic ordeal that collides her with a vengeful archer. Co – Written with snowqueen79. Clint/OC, Bucky/OC, Steve/Natasha, and other pairings. Rated M for violence, upsetting scenes and eventual smut.
Warning: This chapter has mention and a scene of involuntary breeding, between an unwilling woman and willing man. If that makes you uncomfortable, scroll down.
I do not own Marvel, although I own my OC characters.
Downfall Of Us All
Chapter 10
Back in the compound, Tony slumped in the chair behind his desk, doing everything he could to try and find some electronic trace of Pepper. Every route he tried came to a dead end. Something had happened to her, he felt it. The loss of Happy, one of his dearest friends just felt the like the opening salvo to something else coming, something darker and far worse. Though how anything could even come close to the tragedy and desperation they'd faced at the hand of Thanos, he didn't know.
Pepper might. He still loved her. She maybe didn't love him now. Maybe she didn't want to be with him anymore. But he could live with that if she was out there, alive. He fought for her too each time he donned the suit. He couldn't make her see that, but it didn't make it any less true for him.
All he could do was hope the team found something, some clue to where she might be. And God help anyone who had done anything to hurt her.
"Mr. Stark?"
Glancing up, he saw the young woman he'd taken with him to the police station earlier.
"Lilia?"
At least he thought that's what her name had been.
She nodded, ducking into his office. She really was a young woman and she had an amazing resume from what he'd found when he looked up her employee records.
Why did he do that?
"I'm getting ready to head home," she told him. "Is there anything I can do for you before I leave?"
Tony shook his head. "How was your first day?"
She blew out an exhale. "It's been good, Mr. Stark, but…"
Her brow had knitted which meant something else was coming and he just wanted her to spit it out, so he could go back to worrying. It just wasn't a good time.
"We ended up going into Ms. Potts' office to find my paperwork earlier," she began, "and we were going over the items on her desk and computer."
Pepper? She had his attention.
"The lady who helped me panicked because she said that Ms. Potts may be missing and didn't want me to access anything, but I was already in. I'm so sorry."
"You were already in?" His brows shot up. "How'd you manage that?"
"Her password was tonysadork4," Liliya told him. "It wasn't that hard."
"And?" There was a reason she was mentioning this.
"The last entries on her computer showed what she'd accessed before she left," Liliya explained. "She had accessed two files, each person with a strange last name. Melnychenko Drăgoi, at least I hope I pronounced it correctly."
Tony's heart dropped.
"Did they make copies?"
Lilia nodded grimly. "I don't know if that would help but I thought I should mention it. And explain what I was doing there. I'm so sorry. If you need to fire me…"
Tony sprang up from his desk.
"You're working overtime now," he told her, taking her by the elbow. "Let's go take a look."
The young woman looked relieved. "Overtime it is. Let's go."
Before they could make it out the office, Tony's phone buzzed. It was Clint.
"Just a minute. I need to take this," he told her.
"Clint, it's me what did you find out?" Tony asked quickly, his stomach twisting in knots. He had a bad feeling that something awful had happened to Pepper.
"Me and Grace searched Pepper's penthouse, and office. And we found out she left for London, she's also left a letter for you, but we think it was forged." Clint said grimly, Tony felt his stomach drop in dread at his words.
Someone had taken Pepper?
"What else did you and the team find out, Clint?" He asked urgently, feeling a shudder go up his spine at what he was hearing. Something was clearly going on.
"Natasha, Bucky and Sophie found a used syringe in the driver's seat, Sophie found a disposable phone with a voicemail message. We're sending it to you, and Lilia now, and Bucky found 10mm Auto shell casings. It's not looking good, Tony." Clint admitted grimly.
Tony felt his stomach sink.
"When you and the team get back, me and Lilia need to talk to you all. It's urgent," He said finally, feeling uneasy.
"You got it, take care Tony." Clint said quietly and hung up as Tony looked at Lilia who looked worried as they walked to her office and she unlocked the door.
A black Toshiba Satellite laptop sat in the middle of a comfortable dark cherry wood desk. There were four framed photographs on the right-hand side, with a notebook, and a black fountain pen.
"These are the files I found on Ms. Potts' history, she was reading information on two women called Sophie and Grace Melnychenko Drăgoi. And she was trying to access their medical files, and Peter Parker's file." Lilia explained worriedly, as Tony logged into Pepper's laptop.
Sure enough, she'd accessed the files last night an hour before Happy had been murdered. She'd logged out at 11:30, the time Happy had been killed.
Why would Pepper want to access their files? She didn't even know Sophie or Grace, and she barely knew Peter.
"Jarvis pull up everything that Ross, and Fury gave us on Anya Melnychenko and Adam Drăgoi!" Tony ordered urgently, Jarvis immediately pulled up files on the two individuals.
Lilia watched anxiously, having an odd feeling that she'd stumbled across something very dangerous.
"Patient Twenty-seven should be waking up soon, sir. When do you want me to start?" The male voice asked the man sitting behind the desk calmly, looking completely at ease.
"When was her last menstrual cycle?" The doctor asked patiently, it was regrettable that they didn't have patient twenty-four, but they had three young women who were perfect healthy. He observed the latest test subject through the observation glass, she was currently sedated having had blood tests taken, and her IUD taken out.
"Two weeks ago." The agent confirmed smugly, having studied his prey meticulously. He had studied the three women well and learned their routines.
"Wait until she's had another one, but you can start on patient twenty-five. She's just finished her menstrual cycle, and patient twenty-six is on hers currently," the scientist instructed smoothly, and they exchanged a look.
"Hail HYDRA." He said resolutely, and the man nodded at him in agreement and saluted.
"Hail HYDRA."
The agent calmly walked down the hallway to his room and locked the door firmly behind him. He pulled out a photo of a young woman with light wavy blonde hair, and smirked.
"You'll be mine again, soon." He growled darkly and left the room as he found subject twenty five's little bedroom. She'd been cleaned up and was wearing a hospital gown.
All ready for him and HYDRA.
He pulled down the bedsheets, and slid up her hospital gown carefully, feeling her shudder under his touch. He cupped her left breast, feeling how hot it was. She struggled in the cuffs they'd used to secure her to the bed, her dark eyes shiny with tears.
"Why are you doing this?" She twisted trying to pull free of his grip.
He chuckled at her efforts, squeezing her breast harder now.
"Because I can," he growled at her. "And because you're going to be a very important part of our research."
Panting from her efforts, frantic to get away but unable to, the young woman glared up at him. "How dare you call rape research, you –"
"Ah-ah," he cut her off. "Don't start lecturing me again about how you're a real scientist and what real research is. No one here is interested, understand?"
Tears ran down her face now and he had to give her credit, she was a fighter. Not that it would do her any good.
"Your arrogance will be what brings you down," she said with conviction. "They will come for us. And they will shut this entire nightmare down, once and for all."
He nodded. "Maybe. Or maybe we wouldn't have taken you and your little friend and the businesswoman in there if they hadn't stepped into on our territory and taken what was ours."
"What?" Confusion clouded those pretty brown eyes. "What did they take of yours?"
"Not what. Who." He patted his girl's picture in his pocket. It wouldn't be long now.
He was done with her stalling. He wasn't here to have a conversation. "Now, I don't want to gag you, but I will if you keep running your gums, you got that? Relax and this will be over faster. Piss me off and I'll take my time."
He grabbed one of her thighs with his other hand, felt it tremble beneath him. He watched with more than a little satisfaction as she dropped her head down onto the pillow and tightly closed her eyes.
Tony called a meeting and gathered everyone in the compound's primary conference room. He finished off his Scotch as he watched them drift into the room around them. Liliya grabbed his glass, smiling at him as she did.
"I need a refill," he told her.
"No, Mr. Stark, you really don't," she told him.
Steve smirked at her.
"Yes, I do for this meeting," he pressed on playfully, just to see what she'd do. "Fill the glass."
Her smile was dazzling. He watched her carry the glass from the room, happy to have won one small skirmish today. Confident he was getting his Scotch, he called the meeting.
"Everyone, I gathered you here today because we have problems. If you haven't heard, I'm sorry to say that Happy Hogan, my assistant and… " Tony fought to keep the tears out of his voice "and just the best friend a man could have… was murdered. We have reason to believe that it might be HYDRA and that they might also have taken Pepper…"
Lilia re-entered the room with his glass, the clear contents looked suspiciously like water. Taking the glass from her, he took a generous drink. Yep, water. She was getting the lecture for that.
"We're pretty sure it's HYDRA," Steve threw in. "Pepper's not the only one missing. Peter and I were following leads and found out that Dr. Erik Selvig was attacked in Oslo. He's unconscious but expected to survive. The two people who were with him at the time have been reported missing. Dr. Jane Foster and Darcy Lewis. The perpetrator seems to have a similar MO to what Sophie, Nat, and Bucky found."
Tony swiped at his mouth with the back of his hand. Things were so much worse than he thought. Lilia blew out an exhale next to him, then pulled out a bottle of Scotch and set it next to his glass.
He gave her a grateful smile, and she nodded at him quietly, before sitting down next to him. He felt sick, why would HYDRA want Pepper, Jane Foster and Darcy Lewis?
The two women didn't really have anything to do with them, after the whole fight with Thanos. Jane had broken up with Thor and didn't want anything to do with them.
"But why would HYDRA take them? What are they doing, that causes HYDRA to kidnap them?" Bruce asked concerned, he dreaded to think what HYDRA wanted with the three women.
"That's what we're trying to find out, Bruce. Thor and Loki are on their way from Norway, Thor's worried about Jane and Darcy." Steve said grimly, he had a bad feeling about this.
"Was Dr Foster working on anything in particular? Any research that might gotten HYDRA's attention?" Sophie asked worriedly, she saw Grace looked worried, but also concerned for the three women.
"She was working on the Bifrost bridge but was forced to drop it after the fight with Thanos. Thor, and Loki should be arriving soon." Bucky explained quietly, feeling uneasy.
"Sir, Director Fury is on the line." Jarvis announced gravely, and Fury showed up on the screen. His expression was grim, as he looked at the team.
"Coulson's team have located a recently abandoned HYDRA base in Wyoming, they've found a lot of equipment." Fury informed them gravely, Steve nodded.
"We'll be on our way, thanks Fury." Steve said quietly, Fury nodded, and Steve looked at all of them grimly. This was serious, and he hoped they could find Pepper, Darcy and Jane.
Grace had gotten suited up in the uniform that Tony had made for her, it was red and black, with an orange spider in the centre. And very comfortable, she was grateful that Tony hadn't made it sexual.
She grabbed the mask, and it partially covered her eyes as she put the two batons strapped across her back. She took in a deep breath and looked at herself in the mirror. If something had happened to Jane, Darcy and Pepper because of her...she'd never forgive herself. They were innocent, why would HYDRA go after them?
"Grace, you ok?" Clint asked quietly, she took in a deep breath and quickly opened the door, letting Clint in.
"I'm ok, it's just... Clint what if HYDRA took Jane, Darcy and Pepper because of me?" She asked worriedly, feeling responsible, but Clint shook his head violently.
He wouldn't let Grace blame herself for this.
"This isn't your fault, Grace. You aren't to blame, none of us think that. HYDRA went after them because of what they do, Pepper's associated with Stark Industries. It's not your fault." He said firmly, Grace gave him a brace smile.
She was a tough young woman.
He held out his left hand, and Grace took it tightly as they both left the room and she saw he was wearing a black and gold samurai looking uniform. He even had a sword strapped across his back, next to his quiver and she remembered what he had called himself in the dream two days ago.
Ronin.
They boarded the quinjet, and Grace was amazed to see Sophie dressed in her uniform, which was dark crimson red with a white spider on the front if her uniform.
"Lilia's going to be giving coordinates with us, from the base. Hopefully, the base will give us a clue where Pepper, Jane and Darcy are," Tony said quietly, as he checked his Bleeding Edge armour. Everyone nodded quietly and buckled up as Clint and Natasha piloted the quinjet to Wyoming.
Sophie felt nervous, as they landed the quinjet and got off. She was afraid of what they would find once they entered the base. Horrible images visualised in her mind. And she hoped it wouldn't be a massacre.
"The base is clear; Captain Rogers looks like they left hours ago. We've found four bedrooms, and a lab." Lance Hunter said grimly, he looked at Clint quietly.
"Hey Clint."
"Mind if we look around?" Steve asked Lance.
Lance shrugged, motioning towards the rooms he found. "Nah. Help yourself."
Grace had stayed just behind Clint up to this point, but as they moved closer to the lab, she watched her sister dart around them and head into the lab first.
"So who are they?" Lance wondered aloud, as Clint passed him.
"New," Clint said simply.
Sophie followed Nat into the lab. Grace was pulling open drawers, doors to cabinets, looking under the exam table in the middle of the room. The look on her face was a blend of determination and fear.
"Gracie, are you okay?" She asked quietly. Grace didn't reply, walking around her and Nat, to head for the bedrooms. Steve was in the first one with Bucky when she darted in there, pulling off her mask.
Immediately she headed for the bed in the room, looking under it, reaching under the mattress and rumpled bedding. Sophie watched her along with the super-soldiers.
"Is she okay?" Bucky mouthed when he caught her glance.
Sophie was honestly afraid of what the answer to that question might be.
When Grace pulled a restraint out from the bedding, her mind seemed millions of miles away. "There it is," she whispered.
Clint walked in just as she pulled gloves out of her pack, sliding a finger along the edge of the cuff. There were traces of blood there. It yanked free with a vicious rip in her hand and she tucked it into an evidence bag.
"Gracie, what are you looking for?" Sophie came to her side, kneeling next to her.
Her hands smoothed through the bedding, finding traces of blood in different places, then a mostly lube container. She didn't think her sister was even aware of the tears sliding down her face.
"Are you okay?" Sophie asked gently.
Finally, Grace's attention turned to her. "No, I'm not. Do you know what happened in here? Do you know what they're doing to her?"
Dropping to the floor she seemed frantic to get under the bed, half her body was under there before Sophie could think of what to do, glancing up at Bucky and feeling more helpless than she ever had. Her concern was mirrored in his handsome face.
When Grace emerged, something dark was in her hand. A navy blue knit cap.
"Darcy?" Steve asked.
"Is that her name?" Grace wanted to know. "Is this hers?"
Steve even took a step back and they all saw the fury building behind her blue eyes, eyes set exactly as their father's had been.
"Do you know what they are doing to them?" Grace demanded of anyone in the room. "It takes time. It takes patience and they must be so frustrated that they had to pack up and abruptly move. They need seclusion for the experiments. A place where you can't hear them scream and they have no chance of escape, no way to get help."
Clint moved closer and Grace stepped back as if she were afraid he was going to touch her.
"No, you need to listen and understand," she told him in a pain-filled voice. "They are taking them for the experiments. They are trying to impregnate them. Don't you get it? They'll experiment on those babies, just like they did with us. And some of them, like Sophie's twin, won't make it."
Clint braved another step and though Grace's blue eyes flashed at him in warning, she allowed it.
"And these women, Pepper, Darcy," she held up the cap as she said the name, "Jane, even if they survive this, a part of them will have died in one of these rooms. A piece of their mind will always be trapped in this darkness."
Bucky's eyes began to shine, his face turned away.
"We have to find them," Grace insisted. "We have to free them and stop these motherfuckers from ever doing this to anyone, ever again."
Natasha and Steve exchanged a worried glance. Grace whirled on Sophie.
"They all know, right? It was in our files and tossed around just like we were when we got thrown into this mess. They know what happened to me," her voice grew angrier. "They know it happened to me. That's where my son came from and then he was taken to. Why? What did I do to deserve this? Any of this?"
Grace pointed at Bucky. "What did he do to deserve what they did to him?"
"Grace," Clint moved closer still.
Finally, she started to break. "Just… help me find them. Please."
Sophie and Clint wrapped their arms around her as she broke into sobs, sinking to the floor. Steve gently ushered everyone else from the room. Nat remained.
"We're going to find them, Grace," Nat said with a voice that wasn't perfectly steady. "We'll make them pay for it."
Grace nodded, hanging on to Sophie and Clint.
"We're gonna make them pay, Gracie. For what they did to us, to our parents, to Natasha, Clint and all the team. They'll suffer." Sophie vowed darkly, her grey eyes flashing dark amber for a moment.
HYDRA would feel their wrath.
AN: Enjoy, and review :)