AN: Sorry that this took so long, I was really busy learning for school. Anyway, it goes on!
Then the phone he picked up rang again. A SMS.
"Did you really think you could fool us? Now she's gonna die because of you."
For a moment, there was complete silence. Then, Clint, Thor, Steve, Rhodey and Bruce demanded to know what happened. With shakily voice Natasha told them:
"For some reason, Hammer got the plans are fake. They want to kill her."
There was another moment of silence, before everybody started talking. Rhodey was suddenly right next to Tony, a hand on his shoulder and talking to him to calm him down.
He looks like his whole world was just shattered to pieces, Natasha thought. And of course, that was sort of what happened. Pepper was Tony's world.
Then, suddenly, Darcy shouted:
"Hey. HEY! LISTEN TO ME! I FOUND SOMETHING!"
She waited until she could be sure the others listened, and then started talking again.
"You know we all just concentrated on Hammer. But we also all agree that he is not really somebody we think could pull something like that off. So I checked his last visits from prison with the criminal data bases of SHIELD and the Pentagon."
"How did you get into those data bases?" Steve asked.
"JARVIS hacked it for me. Not the point. The point is that I found a match. SHIELD doesn't have a name, but the dude showed up on something AIM related. Saying: I think AIM has its fingers in it."
"That makes sense. They've got the sources and the intelligence to do something like that. Also they have people who know technology." Natasha said.
"Anyway, I had JARVIS do some search and did some myself and found two buildings in the a ten mile distance around New York that SHIELD thinks belong to guys who they think are AIM."
"Very good, Darcy. Clint, Thor, you come with me to the first building. Tony, Rhodey, Bruce, you go to the second building. Hammer gave us a two hour limit. There are still 19 minutes. Hurry up!"
It's really not looking good, Pepper decided. The water was at her shoulders now and no sign of either Hammer or Tony or some other Avenger yet.
She fought hard not to lose her faith, but with the water rising and her hands still tied to the wall it's not easy.
"Come on, Tony, come on." She whispered into the empty cell.
The air in the jet was thick with tension. Clint was constantly fiddling with his bow, while Thor shifted his hammer from one hand into the other and Steve just stared into the empty air.
The pilot probably picked up on the tension, because he didn't ask any questions and just did what he was told.
"Five minutes until destination." It's the first thing the man said. Steve glanced at his watch. 15 minutes left.
"Okay, here is the plan. Thor, I need you to pull up some kind of distraction. A bit thunder and lightning would be a great help. Hawkeye, according to Darcy, there are no high buildings close to our target, so your coming with me. We stay together and try to get in through the roof. We try not to be seen, because chances are that they will kill Pepper if they notice us. Is everything clear?"
"Clear, Captain."
"I will do as you command, Captain."
"Good."
"Two minutes until destination."
"Thor, it would be good if you would start with the lightning."
Steve took a deep breath. He saw Pepper before his inner eye, kind, clever, warm hearted Pepper who always listened to him when he needed somebody to talk to, the woman who always did her best to help and protect every single one of them in her own way.
And now she was gone. Somebody took her. They would get her back, Steve silently promised himself, and then they would lock up everybody who was only the slightest bit involved. At least that's what Steve hoped they'd do. But thinking back to how Tony had looked and considering how Clint looked now, he wasn't sure if those terrorists would live long enough to see the prison. The scary part was that Steve wasn't sure if he'd stop the two men.
Finally, they were there. The building didn't seem special, but on the other hand, such buildings rarely did. Covered through the lightning and the thunder, nobody saw them as they dropped out of the jet.
The building was empty. Completely empty. He and Clint searched every single floor. There was nobody in it.
"Let's hope the others have her."
Tony and Rhodey both wore there suits. Rhodey also carried Bruce, who decided he hated nothing more than this way of traveling. But for now it was the fastest way to get to the place where they suspected Pepper was held.
Tony was deadly calm. Bruce had thought there was nothing worse tan a frantic Tony, but no he knew he had been wrong. This absolutely calm Tony was the most frightening thing Bruce had ever seen. If there is as much as a scratch on her, he's going to kill them all, Bruce thought.
There was no elaborate plan like when Steve led them. This was Tony's game, and now the only plan was to attack and to take out as many of them as possible.
The house stood at the shore, an ugly beton building that looked like it was from the eighties.
They didn't try to hide themselves. They just dropped out of the sky, blasters ready to shoot anything that moves. The warehouse seems empty, though, and while they stormed through it Bruce gets the horrible feeling that they are in the wrong place. Suddenly, Rhodey spoke up:
"Hey, isn't it flood right now?"
"Yeah, why?" Bruce asked.
"Because then, we need to look in the basement!"
Of course, the basement. Letting the flood drown Pepper was just cruel, but clever.
And they had only five minutes left.
They parted, trying to find the way into the basement separately. They opened every door, every single one, until suddenly Bruce looked right on the stairs.
"Guys, I found it." He shouted towards the others.
In an instant, both Tony and Rhodey were by his side. They walked in, Tony first. After a few steps, the stairs took a turn left and were suddenly standing full with water.
"Stay up there, Bruce. Rhodey, your suit is waterproof. Just put on the helmet and you're good." Tony said, in this unnatural calm voice Bruce hated. He obeyed, though, he would be no use down there.
Tony was scared. He was scared out of his mind, but he wouldn't panic now because that would really not help Pepper at all. Pepper needed him focused, and so he didn't panic, even when he found the basement flooded. He just thought a moment and then told Bruce and Rhodey what to do. Both men followed him without a word, and that was good, because even though Tony appeared really calm, he was a mess right now and would have probably lost it if anyone said anything.
He walked right into the water, and it was easy, because the suit let him breathe. There was a very slim gap between the water and the ceiling, which was good, because it meant that Pepper was maybe still able to breath. He didn't even want to consider the other possibility, that maybe she's already dead, because he simply wouldn't be able to live without her. So he kept calm and kept walking, even though the gap became smaller and smaller.
And then he saw her. She was swimming in the water, tied to the wall, motionless and not conscious, and he felt like he was going to break, but he wasn't allowed to do that, because there is no way she is dead, and that meant he had to bring her up to Bruce right now. He quickly but carefully cut the ropes and then moved her out, swimming faster than any human could, but he was in his suit so he didn't even notice.
The next moments passed in a blur. He only saw her. She lay on the floor, Bruce hovering over her, her eyes closed and she looked so fragile, so small, so breakable that he almost lost it.
And then... and then she was coughing and it's the sweetest sound that ever reached his ears, because if she was coughing that meant she was breathing what meant she was alive. He took her in his arms instantly, just held her close while she opened her eyes and then she whispered "Tony" and he didn't even realize he was crying and anyway he didn't care because right now she was in his arms and at least for this moment, his world is alright again.
But tomorrow, tomorrow he was going to start hunting those guys down. And when he found them, there would be hell to pay.
AN: Yes, she is alive. Next chapter will be up soon, I hope.