So here we are, yet again, thank you for all the wonderful reviews and PMs…as always I love hearing from you, I hope you find this chapter interesting!
Tony finalised the last calibration to the suit and sat back to admire his work. He'd been called the Da Vinci of his time and he'd proven many times to himself and the world that he could do almost anything he put his mind to and this was yet again another testament to that.
'Is it finished, will it work?' Jack asked eagerly looking at the armour before him.
Tony nodded folding his arms across his chest, 'it should, let's test it.'
'J, start-up process please.'
'Very well sir.'
Tony held his hand out and watched in anticipation as the repulsors began to power up and hover above the desk, with a final mental push he called over the armour and it began assembling itself around him and the face plate locked into place last.
Jacks eyes were wide with awe, 'that is the coolest thing I've ever seen!'
'It's pretty cool,' Tony laughed as the face plate closed, 'and now we know it works.'
'Does this mean you're leaving now?' Jack asked quietly, the excited look on his face was replaced with what Tony could only describe as disappointment.
He ordered the armour to disassemble itself and looked at Jack, 'I'm still going to help your mom with her work, but then I have to go, yes.'
Jack hung his shoulders and dropped into his chair, 'everyone leaves us.'
Tony let a sigh escape his lips as he dropped into the chair beside him; he scratched his head and gathered his thoughts, 'you know that this wasn't a long term thing buddy.'
Jack shrugged, 'I know, but I guess I hoped it would be…' he trailed off.
'I have to get back to Malibu and find the people that did this,' Tony would have laughed at the absurdity of justifying his actions to anyone much less a kid, but he didn't, instead he felt he felt he owed him an explanation, 'they tried to kill me, fine, but they tried to kill the woman I love, that's not something I can stand for, I can't sit back and forget that, you understand?'
Jack nodded silently with a pout.
Tony rolled his eyes, 'someday you'll feel that way about someone, kid, trust me I never thought I would be that guy, but here I am.' He looked at him intently searching for any sign that he understood.
Jack nodded again, 'but you'll help my mom before you go, right?'
'I said I would, and then, once this is all finished I'll help you out at school,' Tony held his hand out, 'deal?'
'Deal.' Jack nodded finally allowing a smile to spread across his face.
'Now, I need your laptop, bring it to me.' Tony waved Jack away.
'Ok, ok.' Jack muttered.
As soon as he left, Tony smiled to himself and allowed a moment to check in with Jarvis, 'J, how's Pepper?'
'Sir, she is currently with the Avengers.'
Tony raised an eyebrow, 'The super-secret boy band, really?'
'Yes sir, she's been there for the better part of this morning.'
'Is she ok?'
'She is rather upset but Agent Romanov is currently with her.'
Tony nodded, 'good, keep me posted.'
He knew that Pepper would lose her mind if she knew he had placed trackers in her watch, she never took it off so he knew it would be the best hope of keeping her safe. As much as she would complain about privacy he didn't mind getting the brunt of it because he knew he that he could find her should anything go wrong, and at the same time he could keep his cool knowing that she was safe thus allowing him to focus his energy on the task at hand.
Jack came through the door and Tony quickly sat up, he replaced all of Jack's tools in the basket and took the laptop from him, 'thanks kid, can you tell your mom I'd like to have a chat with her again when she's ready?'
Jack nodded, 'sure, you'll say bye before you leave right?'
'I will, don't worry, I'll catch up with you later.' Tony clapped Jack's shoulder before clearing everything from the table and opening the laptop.
He worked for hours before he finally closed the laptop with a sigh and a drawn out stretch, he looked over the progress he had made and ensured Jarvis had made notes of everything he had worked on.
Of course he had left out several key components needed to finalise the formula, her idea was good natured, but the potential to do damage far outweighed the positive aspects.
He closed his eyes and bowed his head resting it in his hands, his mind wandered and came upon Pepper again.
'J, let me hear her voice.'
Fury had always suspected Tony had set up well placed microphones throughout the Avengers headquarters, but surprisingly never pushed the matter. After everything that happened to him Fury gave him the benefit of the doubt that whatever he was doing was for the greater good. So Tony did exactly what he was suspected of doing.
'Yes sir.'
Jarvis began the live feed.
"I miss him so much, how can I ever learn to live like this? I can't Natasha, at all; I can't even begin to imagine how this could ever be ok."
"It won't be ok, and it'll only get harder, but you know that we won't let you fall, or lose yourself, I won't let that happen."Natasha spoke quietly matching Pepper's tone.
A sigh broke the silence which lingered for a long time and then Pepper finally spoke again.
"He's gone, and the last thing I told him was that his obsession was out of control,"he heard her laugh, that same sarcastic laugh which she reserved for him, when he did something so irrationally insane, "his obsession saved my life, he died to protect me and I'll never forgive myself for that."
'End feed,' Tony pinched the bridge of his nose sighing heavily, 'J, what should I do?' Tony begged for the answers to come to him, he was so completely lost and for once he didn't know what to do.
'Sir, I believe you were planning to keep your distance, this is still a good plan.'
'Is it J?' He sighed, 'I don't know, it doesn't feel right.'
'It's not easy sir, but you're protecting Miss Potts by keeping your distance, you are doing the right thing.'
'I hope so.' Tony felt his chest tighten, 'are they looking after her?'
'Yes sir; and Doctor Banner is still looking for you.'
Tony shook his head, 'he'll find me, keep him off my scent, we can't risk anyone knowing.'
'Yes sir, I will leave a false trail.'
'Good work.'
Tony got up and collected his things determined to make things right one way or another.
Natasha closed the door behind her leaving Pepper to her own thoughts and another glass of scotch hoping that she would eventually fall asleep. She was trained in many things, but being a confidant to an emotional woman who had lost the love of her life was not one of those things. She found it difficult, to say the least, and highly uncomfortable when she knew that she was responsible for Bessler being alive. She was sure she didn't miss; S.H.I.E.L.D took him away which raised even more questions which she had no answers to. She ran her hands through her hair, there was no way she missed.
She continued silently down the hall searching for Bruce; she had so much she needed to discuss with him most of all what he was up to. Steve was beyond words, which is something she rarely saw, so he offered her nothing of use.
As she walked down the halls she spotted the Captain sitting silently by the window farthest away from the door.
She paused in the hallway deliberating what to do finally deciding on actually speaking to him, 'hey Cap, how you doing?'
He turned to look at her offering a weak smile, 'I don't know,' he sighed looking down at his hands, 'how are you?'
She shrugged and pulled up a chair sitting down beside him, she sighed looking around at the office, 'I feel guilty.'
Steve turned to look at her, 'so do I.'
'But,' she began, 'it's not about us, Pepper needs us, we should focus on that now,' Natasha said firmly before getting up and folding her arms across her chest, 'we need to make sure we do whatever we can to keep her safe, we owe him that.'
Steve nodded dropping his head into his hands, 'this shouldn't have happened.'
'No, it shouldn't have.' Natasha murmured swallowing the lump in her throat.
Her eyes flicked down to her feet, guilt had riddled her since Tony had shown her who was responsible for shooting down their jet. Memories of the accident flooded her mind; his vulnerability and the pain which flashed across his features as the icy wind ripped through his exposed body, he had wrapped his clothes around her to keep her warm, the soldier in her knew this was the logical thing to do, she was smaller and more exposed but she couldn't shake the feeling of overwhelming guilt which riddled her. She watched as the Extremis attacked him and weakened him watching the light fading from his eyes as he held on until he could tell her they were saved, his body became limp in her arms as she waved down the rescue team and watched through teary eyes as the Captain ran through the blizzard with a team of soldiers right behind him, Tony's arc a guiding beacon, she watched as Steve and another soldier carried Tony to the waiting helicopter as another helped her to her feet, the guiding beacon was fading, she squeezed her eyes shut willing the pain to subside, willing to know that he was going to make it, he had to.
Her thoughts snapped back to the present as she listened to Steve rambling on about the direness of their situation.
'Bruce isn't coping, he's going off on a Tangent saying Tony's alive and Thor doesn't know...you and Clint have this, this uncanny ability to carry the weight of the world unflinchingly and I have no idea what I'm doing, or what I'm meant to do?' He looked at her pleadingly, 'I'm your Captain and I'm lost, I don't…I've never lost someone like this, this attack, this was different.'
Natasha nodded, 'I know,' she sighed, 'it's different when it's off the field, but the game is the same, he's gone and it's up to you to lead, that's why you're here Cap, the Director thinks you can do it so show him that you can.'
'Can I?' Steve managed.
Natasha clapped him on the back and offered a disconcerting glance, 'sure.'
He replied with a weak smile.
'I'll catch you later Cap.'
She closed the door and leaned heavily against it, as "unflinchingly" as she took everything in her stride she wasn't ok, not in the slightest. She and Tony had their issues and almost all of the time didn't see eye to eye, but she respected him and what he did for the team, Pepper was a friend and this whole situation was out of her control. She pushed away from the door with a heavy sigh and continued down to the lower floors.
She came to a stop before Bruce's lab; cautiously she knocked on the door and waited. Historically between them there was so much tension you could hack at it with a butcher knife and still have some left over to play with. There was no telling how this had impacted the doctor or his less than happy counterpart.
Much to her relief a few minutes later a very rugged and tired looking man stood before her leaning heavily against the glass door, 'agent Romanov.'
She looked him over as discreetly as possible though she couldn't fail to notice the off color of his pallid complexion, or the harsh smell of chemicals which surrounded him in a mass of color which stained his fingers, unwillingly she looked at him with pity, 'can I come in?'
He shrugged and stepped back, 'sure, grab a seat,' he waved around the lab.
The mess which surrounded the usually pristine lab was hard to digest and she was frightened by the speed at which this man had unravelled at the seams, not only was his appearance haggard but his whole existence had become strained and threatened to simply cease.
She looked around picking things up and replacing them and silently running her hands along Tony's belongings and possessions feeling more and more guilt weaving its way around her body, she sucked in a deep breath and turned to look at Bruce, 'you think he's alive,' it was more of a statement to appease her mind than a question to the man who looked as though he was ready to break.
Bruce nodded, 'I do.'
Natasha studied him, 'how?'
Bruce cleared his throat, 'the footage of the attack doesn't show it in full frame and the armour he was using is a prototype so it wouldn't have had the usual repulsor signature, I think, making it harder to track,' he turned the monitor to face Natasha and he pointed to the final moments as the house went crashing into the sea, 'the armour would have gotten him out, see here, this, this has to be something right?'
Natasha took a seat and pulled up the feed again and watched it several times, slowed it down and sped it up, zoomed in then out finally switching it to infrared, 'I know this armour,' she considered the images before her.
She scratched her head and swiftly got to her feet and hurried over to Tony's desk, she rummaged through several files and brought back an unmarked folder, she held it out to Bruce, 'I've seen this armour before, he had the designs up a few months ago, he hadn't started on it at that point,' she gestured to the sketches in the folder and froze the image on the screen bringing them up side by side, 'this is it, it's fully piloted, Jarvis runs everything and it's designed for rescue ops, basically the same way he saved Pepper.' She explained to him without taking her eyes off the screen letting a small, satisfied smirk cross her features.
'So he could have gotten out?' Bruce asked looking over all the evidence before him, 'how could I have missed this?'
Natasha pursed her lips and focussed on the image before her, she quickly began typing trying to ignore Bruce who was still mulling over the situation verbally, 'the repulsor signatures are different, look at this,' she brought up footage from the Ivan Vanko drone attack and the infrared imaging of the attack on Tony's mansion showing the images side by side, 'this is it, it's him,' she said quietly leaning back in the chair.
'He's alive.' Bruce murmured.
She nodded, 'We have to find him.'
Bruce smiled, 'thank you.'
'Get everything together, whatever you've got and meet me at the location tonight, midnight.'
Bruce nodded, 'just us?'
'For now.'
'I'll see you then.' Bruce turned back to his work and Natasha left him in silence once again, this time with a hint of a smile.
Natasha walked through the hallways hurriedly, hoping to avoid anyone who would hit her with a line of questioning; any other time it was a game for her just something to pass the time, but today was not one of those days. She needed to get to the hangar and gather her things; there was no time to play cloak and dagger.
As she hurried past her room a soft voice calling for her caught her attention.
She stopped abruptly and turned on her heel, 'Pepper?' She looked back toward the room, 'what are you doing up, it's late.'
Pepper shrugged, 'I was going to head back, spend some time with Happy, is there anyone who can give me a ride?'
Natasha nodded, 'sure, I'll arrange for one of the Agents to take you, I'll inform Director Fury, come with me.'
Pepper quickly gathered her already packed things and followed Natasha staying close on the assassin's heel.
'Where are you heading?' Pepper asked curiously.
Natasha kept her speed up and turned her head slightly to answer her, 'heading out to do some surveillance, they'll be targeting you now.'
'Of course.' Pepper nodded solemnly.
Natasha swallowed the nagging urge to run down the hall and palm Pepper off to someone else, knowing that Tony got out of the house and was probably alive at this point made her anxious to throw everything down and leave to find him, alleviating some of her own guilt, selfishly so, but she didn't care, she had a chance to make things right and she couldn't pass that up.
Once they reached Fury's office she knocked the door a few times before pushing it open; 'sir, Miss Potts would like an escort to Colonel Rhodes apartment.'
Fury stood up from his desk and nodded at Pepper, 'of course, that can be arranged, I'll escort you.'
Natasha bowed her head knowingly before stepping back, 'heading out to run surveillance, sir.'
Fury nodded.
She closed the door and continued on her path, as she walked and walked the only thoughts crossing her mind began to irritate her, the annoying inner voice of reason which so often placed her at cross roads, "call Clint", "tell someone", "you'll need another set of eyes", "someone else who can back you up, Banner's great, but you'll need someone more specialised".
Once she reached the hangar she pushed the door open impatiently and walked over to the Quinjet and looked up at the marvel before her, just like Tony, she felt alive in the air soaring through the sky being above the world and away from it all. And just like Tony she hated being out of control of the situation figuratively or physically.
She turned to the wall and slammed her palm against it, 'damn it,' she muttered with a heavy sigh.
The voice of reasoning finally won and she pulled out her phone and called the only person she knew she needed to call, 'meet me in the hangar, now.'
Clint appeared almost five minutes later with the same suspicious look he always donned around her, 'what's going on?'
'Wheels up in five,' she said coolly and motioned for him to board the jet, once seated she called for clearance to take off and within minutes they were soaring through the sky, once they were at cruising altitude she set the coordinates for Malibu.
Clint, as her co-pilot double checked her coordinates and confirmed them with ground control, 'and what, exactly is in Malibu?' He asked as he flicked the switches above them
Natasha remained silent until she switched the gears into auto-pilot and leaned forward to switch off all com channels, she finally turned to him, 'Stark's alive; Banner is meeting us.'
Clint's mouth opened and closed in stunned silence, 'does anyone else know?' He finally managed.
Natasha turned back to the control panel and shook her head, 'only us, I needed to be sure before we bring anyone else in.'
'Ah, the Captain will be pissed.' Clint mused looking over the coordinates again and recalibrating them for Stark's old mansion.
'Yeah, probably.' Natasha agreed with a nod checking over the coordinates again.
Clint rubbed his head, 'oh man, how did this happen?'
'I think he meant for this, for us not to find him.' She offered, 'he's gone to a lot of trouble to stay silent.'
'Keep in the dark, keep safe.' Clint murmured eliciting a nod of agreement from Natasha.
'Pepper would be a target now that's he's out of the picture, Bessler is going to go after her.' Natasha said firmly.
Clint shook his head, 'where is she now?'
'She's with Fury, they're taking her to Rhodey's house.' She explained.
Clint sighed running his hand through his hair, 'how is he even alive?'
'I have no idea, your guess is as good as mine Clint,' she looked at him sideways.
She did shoot him, she's never missed a target in all her years of training and espionage and she'd never missed a vital organ without meaning for it. Her anger for Tony's "death" was only half of the issue, the other was pride.
Clint cleared his throat, 'Extremis, like Bruce said?'
Natasha shrugged, 'looks that way.'
'This is bad.' Clint said simply.
'Really bad.'
'If he's jacked up, we stand no chance; you saw what happened to Tony when he went up against one of those things.' Clint looked at her intently.
'It won't get to that, we find him and bring him home, that's all.'
'That's all?' Clint let out a sarcastic laugh, 'you're kidding right?'
She only looked at him before turning back, 'we have to.'
'Nothing is ever in and out with us or with Stark for that matter.' Clint berated her.
'Look,' she began with a deep breath, 'I brought you in because I wanted your help, if you're going to be whining all day, I'll take you home and you can go and shoot targets.'
Clint smirked, 'I'm not going anywhere.'
Natasha glared at him, his ever present smile and humour never failed to draw a smile, even the smallest hint of one, 'good,' she hissed trying to maintain her level of seriousness.
He saw right through it and it only made her want to punch him.
'Cheer up, kid, he's alive, you've got nothing to be mopey about now.' He grinned.
She swallowed hard and turned to him with a grin, 'I'm going to eject you from this jet, Barton, seriously.'
He laid his hand across his chest, crossing his heart, 'that hurts, deeply.'
'It hurts much less than hitting the ground at a hundred and twenty five miles an hour, I assure you.' She smiled sweetly.
Clint cocked an eye brow and turned back to the console, 'touché.'
Natasha looked straight ahead with a slight smile, he was right, Tony was alive and she should have been happy, nothing to feel guilty about anymore. Yet she did, she felt a heavy weight still pressing down on her, she shrugged it off as a compulsive behaviour which plagued her, her whole life.
'ETA?' Clint asked with the same smirk still present on his features.
Natasha glanced down at her watch trying to ignore his smile, 'seven minutes.'
Seven minutes until they reached ground zero, a war site, a bloody reminder of how quickly a life could be snuffed out. Seven minutes until she faced the cold hard truth.
She squeezed her hands around the control stick and paced herself, this was something which she needed to take control over and she would be the one to finish it. If Bessler was alive because of her, the she would make damn sure he would be ended by her.
I'm really looking forward to seeing what you think of this, and where it's going. Sorry for the delay between posts, I know I personally love having longer chapters to read when I'm waiting for something than quicker posts but not so much to read!
So I hope you're all still on board with me and please, as always like so many of you do, don't hesitate to PM me or leave some feedback about what you think about the direction of this story, or the charecterization.
I'm always up for chopping and changing what I can to make you happy, although, I am aware it's not possible to make everyone happy, but I aim to at least try :)
xxx See you soon xxx
SV
