A/N: Guess whose back! :D I missed you guys.
*warning for the chapter: Violence & Swearing.*
Guest: I'm so glad you like it so far. :) thanks for reviewing!
kimbee: haha Natasha doesn't play. Vacation was awesome. I'm ready to go again.
AvengerGal: Don't mess with Romanov and her team. haha. I'm so glad you like it. :D
Avengerscrazygirl: Absolutely! Both Talbot and Ross need a good beating.
Rayner Fox: Thank you so much! Natasha is so fun to write. And this chapter clarifies some of those things we were talking about with some of Talbot's reasons. It gets clearer as things progress I promise. :)
Stay Strong
Tony stood ready for action, aiming his fire at the same person both Barton and Rogers were ready to destroy. Natasha stayed to the side, taking charge for the most part as she held a pistol towards Ross;
"Drop your weapon Talbot!"
Glen thought for a brief moment before slipping his own pistol into his pocket. He still hadn't recovered from they're grand entry, which included breaking a few doors and Clint's slitting the throat of one individual in a lab coat.
Stark took over once the revolver was out of sight. He took a step forward, gripping Talbot by the scruff of his neck; "Where's Banner you lousy bastard!"
Talbot reaches in his pocket for an I.D, "Air force-"
"I know damn well who and what I'm dealing with so talk!"
Clint chimes in from behind, "Just let me shoot him and get this over with!"
Steve raises his hand as he mumbles towards the two assassins, ready to charge;
"Hold up, not yet."
Natasha rolls her eyes, tossing Ross into Barton's hold before firing twice in Glen's direction. She grits her teeth, eyebrows lowered as glass shatters around them;
"Want to be next? I strongly suggest you surrender."
Tony leans forward into the Colonel's face, "Believe me when I tell you that you will suffer twice whatever you put my teammate through-"
He clenches his teeth in reply, eyes burning with pure hatred, "Believe me, I already have. If you knew half of what that monster put me through, you'd understand."
"Pretty sure you deserved it."
His eyes widen as he shouts, "To have my heart broken because the woman I love chooses his affections over my own?! To have my sister, killed!? Brutally murdered, shredded to pieces in a serious of unfortunate circumstances at the hand of something that will always be a threat to society!' his voice cracks midway, 'And you stand there to defend the heartless beast whose taken everything away from me, trusting that the mutant will never turn on you or your initiative!"
Stark shuts his eyes, tugging harder on Glen's top, "Bruce Banner, is not a threat-"
"Check the records Stark! Watch the footage of Margret's death! I'm damn sure Fury's got a hold of it someplace!"
Steve retorts from his quiet state;
"And yet you complain about the very thing you yourself have become; A heartless, inhuman, disgrace to the nation."
The Colonell retorts back defending himself as he points to Ross, "You've got more of a reason to be angry with him when he's the one caling all the shots!"
Tony rolls his eyes when he mumbles, knocking the General in the jaw when he takes a step back;
"And let's not get political Rogers. We've got better things to do."
Barton jumps, tugging an unconcious Ross along with him, "Oh snap! Where's Glen?!"
"Damnit!" Natasha runs after Talbot with her pistol raised as she fires after the escape.
Clint charges forward leaving Ross with Steve as he chases Romanov. Tony quickly ties a rope around the general, quickly and far from efficiently,
"We'll take care of him later, c'mon!"
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
"I still do not understand, why such an extravagant facility would be needed for such a criminal."
Rhodes glances over his shoulder as they dash through the hallways, keeping an eye on Pepper and Betty when he answers the demi-god;
"I know, Thor is it? Yeah, this is giving me a bad vibe as well."
The taller man swings his hammer to rid the path of unwanted company. He points to a serious of doors;
"Such a decoration, seems redundant."
Potts grabs Rhodes' arm as she mumbles to herself, spotting a separate hallway the instant she opens one of the doors;
"Come with me. Betty, stay with Thor and keep in contact. I'm going to check out the laboratory down the hall."
Ross just nods, as they run off, eyes wide as she fiddles with another door. Her slender fingers grip the keypad, swiping through every code she's ever needed to memorize only to end in failure. The demi-god takes it upon himself to attempt to opposite door;
"What is the pattern of letters Lady Ross?"
She holds her head, still typing;
"It's 9 letters and numbers. Try '48427L9K1'."
"It does not work."
She yells, punching in her last attempt, "Oh c'mon!"
The door clicks, swinging heavily towards her;
"Thor! It's 'Elizabeth!,' Her eyes widen when she realizes he's surrendered to breaking the door with his hammer, 'That works too."
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Barton abandons his pistol, loading the bow he's been dragging along with him as he focuses on his target now stationed inside an aircraft;
"I've got him Nat!"
His heart drops when she gasps, balance taken from her as the assassin spots blood off her arm. She swears, firing from her knees with her teeth clenched in Glen's direction.
Clint shakes his head, staying to the side of her though he takes a step forward;
"You've still got it. You alright?"
She yells over the noise, eyes narrow, "Hey, I've had worse."
His arrow pierces the heart of his ship, smoke filling the area as a flame erupts. He reaches for her good arm, helping her to her feet, "Come on Nat when that thing hits the ground it's history."
Her eyes lift up towards the top of the building, aiming her fire towards the top. If calculations are correct, it should land right over Barton's dirty work;
"If, it hits the ground."
He nods, "But if not there's a tracker in the arrow I shot towards that jet."
"Won't need it." She fires, debris covering over Talbots ship until it spirals out of control. She grabs Clint with her good arm, dragging him behind her as she runs back towards the half demolished facility.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Pepper and Rhodes make their ay through the lab, gasping in shock when they enter. Potts takes slow step over the tables, eyes roving about the peculiar room;
"Was he making weapons?"
Rhodey steps carefully through, spotting vials and tubes filled with blood. He covers his mouth when he spots a huge machine and exactly 12 large extravagant boxes;
"Miss Potts, I think, Fury might want to take a look at this."
She steals papers from the table, shoving them into her pockets when she stands beside Rhodes;
"Someone's been working overtime. What is this?"
He shakes his head, mouth dropped open, "I have no idea,' he points to some of the creations, human like 'robots' stationed in height order, 'And what's with all the Frankensteins?"
She widens her eyes, "So that's why he took Banner. All of this has to be his blood..."
He looks at her in disbelief, "So he wants to create monsters? I thought Tony said his whole argument was to get rid of something that threaten society?"
Pepper gives a shrug, "That was over my earpiece. And Stark tends not to get the details right, you and I both know that all to well."
He shake his head, "I don't believe this. And how come I get roped into all this stuff?!"
"I don't know. But for the record, Frankenstein was the name of the doctor, not the monster."
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Betty charges forward, dashing through the rooms with her head pounding;
"This is madness Thor! How am I supposed to find him..."
"Have confidence my lady." He tries to smile, offering a hand to her in a comforting way even though she refuses to stop for a minute.
"I can't! Bruce is probably dead and it's all my fault! I feel so lost, and confused, and...angry!" She covers her face with her palms, eyes filling.
He takes the initiative and gently takes up her hand, "Come. I am far from prepared to surrender, as are you."
She remains stern, running beside the demi-god until they reach a dead end. The room is dark, but Thor wastes little time in crushing the people ho get in their way. Ross clenches her fist, knocking one individual before she spots that cold, unforgiving table.
Her mouth drops open, running forward to the dark-haired man she almost didn't recognize. His shirt and left hand covered in blood, arms bruised as they weakly clutched his torso. His skin was pale, cheeks flushed from their color with a cut over his bottom lip, completely unaware of anything around him.
Betty felt her hands shaking when she checked the pulse of his better arm, opposite hand running over his forehead as she brushed his damp curl locks. He couldn't breathe, struggling to inhale through his broken ribs and damaged flesh. She whispers tears slipping over her cheek as she flipped a switch from under the cold table to free him;
"Shh, Bruce! Bruce it's me, Betty. It'll be okay."
Thor took a step forward in utter shock, hesitant to touch him due to the injuries;
"I feel far from qualified to lift him myself in such a situation."
She nodded nervously, realizing her lover was slowly fading, unable to reply or open his eyes to recognize anyone around him, "Call Stark."
Thor complies, doing the best he can with an earpiece he's only learned to use within the past hour. Betty stays busy, firmly pressing a cloth over what she feels is his worst injury to stop the bleeding. She's careful to avoid direct contact with his blood, though at this point she doesn't care even if it is loaded with radiation. Ross feels like crying when she hears his weak shrill, a sound she's struggled with in every nightmare since they parted.
She's no doctor, but she knows enough to understand this is far from over. Betty gently stops him in his instinct to curl up, pressing his knees away from his torso. While it might ease his pain, she knows it's more important to stop the bleeding.
Betty whispers to Bruce, even though she knows he won't respond, ready to stop struggling when his breathing becomes far too shallow;
"You're going to be okay I promise! Hold on Bruce, please. Don't give up on me."