Disclaimer: as always, I don't own Marvel, MCU or any characters in this. I am not getting paid, no copyright, yada yada.
The fight was pretty evenly matched, though HYDRA was starting to crumble from the power the Avengers emitted. Nat had managed to corner Rumlow on the roof of a building as the others worked on thinning the HYDRA agents. Tucking and rolling away as he tried to shoot her, she managed to spring up and aim a well placed roundhouse kick to his hand, the gun flying from his hand off the side of the building. Nat stood with her hands up in front of her to defend herself, bullets long gone for her gun. Flipping her hair out of her face as she glared at him, Natasha tracked him as he moved in a circle around her.
"Where's your newest spider at? Or was a third spider with a love of HYDRA too much for the team?" Rumlow mocked, not seeing the woman he had helped train among the ranks of Avengers.
"I'd be more worried about how you plan on getting away. You're on every Avenger's shit list and your team's ass is getting kicked." Nat growled, trying to catch him off guard by running forward to try to punch him. He was ready for it, catching her by the forearm and twisting her arm until it was pinned behind her back. Walking her towards the edge of the roof, Rumlow leaned forward so his mouth was by her ear.
"I'd tell you to pass the message on that we're going to bring her back one way or another, but I fear you won't make it that far."
Nat's head turned sharply as her eyes landed on his, eyes narrowed. Jess would rather die than go back to HYDRA... but now that she was pregnant, would that change? "I don't know who you're talking about." the red head mocked back, picking up her foot and stomping on the man's who gritted his teeth but tightened his grip.
"We will reclaim what belongs to us. Too bad you're the spider who can't spin a web." Rumlow growled before shoving her off the side of the building and walking away from the edge.
Nat was gasping as she tried to catch her breath, looking around for a way out of ending up splattered on the sidewalk. She couldn't speak as she barreled towards the ground, unable to use the piece in her ear to call for help and not seeing any of her teammates around. Closing her eyes as the ground got closer, Nat was surprised when she didn't feel anything. Maybe she had died on impact, the only feeling she felt was pressure around her waist like she was being hugged. Opening her eyes, she laughed as she saw she was flying above the cars and sidewalk. Err, swinging. Moving her head, she caught sight of the red and black mask pulled over the person's head. "Stark is going to be furious." she yelled over the wind rushing past them.
Jess let the woman slide from her grasp as they neared the ground, shooting her web up so they were dangling from a street light. Natasha landed on her feet lightly next to Clint and Steve who still had their shield and bow up, looking at the woman next to them in relief. Jess sat crouched lithely on the street lamp, tilting her head and taking off her mask as she looked to Nat. "Stark is lucky I get more motivated when I'm furious otherwise there would be a splattered Black Widow on 14th." Jess pointed out, smiling at her friend.
"Thank you." Natasha said firmly, smiling back at the woman.
"Now, you guys stay here and play nice. I have a date with an asshole, and it's not the one I willingly chose." Jess winked and put her mask on, ignoring Steve who had started to argue. "I'm the only one who can track him and catch him, no offense but you're all sort of useless in the sky." Steve stopped arguing but looked on in disapproval, watching as the woman shot a web out with her hand and was pulled up to go swinging building to building.
Jess kept her eyes open and went back to the top of the building Nat had been tossed off of, deciding to start from there and work her way out. Landing on the roof, Jess listened intently, knowing that the man was human so there were only a certain amount of options on which way he went. He could've gone down on a grip-hook, but propelling down buildings had never been Rumlow's favorite. Pussy. He could've gone inside and down the long way but again, not Rumlow. Efficiency was key. He'd want to be making his way back down to the fight, but in a sneak attack style.
Looking across the building, Jess nodded. "Across it is." she mumbled, looking up and seeing Thor and Tony nearby in the distance, fighting in an open space. Gazing across the buildings, Jess glared as she saw a shape crouching down with a sniper, facing towards her team mates. No, not happening. She ran and jumped off the building, using her web to shoot across the openings to the shorter building, using all her power to pull herself down towards the person. They turned around in time for her to slam her fist into their face, landing on the roof and kicking the gun off the building as the person groaned.
"Ahh, there you are, Arachne. Have you convinced the others you're a harmless garden spider yet?" Rumlow spat blood out from where he laid on the ground, chuckling and wiping the blood from his mouth.
Gritting her teeth, Jess kept her hands raised up in defense, not letting his jeers taunt her into making the wrong move. "It's Spider-woman."
"Of course it is, of course. At least until we bring you back in. You can take the person out of HYDRA, but you can't take HYDRA out of the person."
Jess yawned, rolling her eyes though he couldn't see that of course. "God, you're annoying. There's a reason you're sent out so much, Rublow. And it's not because of skill. Trust me." She kept her stance as the man stood to his feet, shaking his head, hate burning in his eyes before engaging her in a tussle.
She was quicker than him, lighter on her feet. He had been fighting for so long, she could admit (to herself) that he did know what he was doing. He had somehow managed to grab her by a web slinger, making her have to disengage it nimbly to twirl away from him. Her other one was crushed when she was thrown to the ground and had thrown her hand out to catch herself. Rolling away from his foot, she jumped to her feet and put her hands up.
"What are you without your gun and webs, Arachne? Just another assassin. Nothing special. You can act like a hero all you want, but in the end you'll always be property of HYDRA. Cut off one head and-" Rumlow's body was blasted to the side and crumpling before he could finish the dumbass saying, making her frown even more.
"I had it." She looked up at Tony who was putting his hand down, face mask already sliding up to reveal his face that was trying to hide his emotions.
"You did, but you weren't kicking his ass fast enough and God, he's annoying." That made her smile a bit, though she was still pissed at the man so she was glad her mask was still on. "What are you doing here?" Tony groaned, walking towards her and bringing an arm up that the red steel parted from so his hand could touch her masked cheek. Sliding her mask off, Jess looked at him.
"Saving Nat, stopping the bad guy; you know, hero stuff." Jess couldn't help but feel complete again being close to him, letting him cup her face as she stared up at him. "I'm not a princess who needs rescuing, Stark. I'm the one who does the rescuing, you have to let me be who I was meant to be."
Tony bent down and caught her lips in a burning kiss, hand traveling down to her wrist. Before she realized what was happening, a metal cuff was on her wrist as he pulled away to look at Rumlow who was raising a gun. Tony pushed the woman off the roof, Jess letting out a gasp as she started shooting downwards. Tony threw his hand out so the suit was ripped off his body and was already forming into a suit of armor around her.
"TONY!" Jess screamed, trying to turn and twist out the suit that was flying her safely to the ground. "No, no! FRIDAY!" Jess yelled, seeing the digital system pulling up in front of her eyes.
"Yes, Miss Drew?"
"FRIDAY! Take me back up!"
"I'm afraid I can't do that, Miss Drew. I was instructed to take you safely to Captain Rogers and only let you control Mr. Stark's suit after Captain Rogers clears it."
"What?!" Jess growled, still trying to rip the suit off with little success, her heart racing as she flew through the streets towards Steve. "He's going to have to make a SATURDAY when I'm through with you, FRIDAY!"
"Your heart rate is highly elevated, Miss Drew. I recommend calming down so your heart rate can re-calibrate."
Unbelievable... a AI system was sassing her as her boyfriend could be dying. "Rogers! I'm coming on your 6."
There was silence, for a moment she wasn't sure the stupid genius computer had connected her with Steve but when she got a concerned "Drew?" she realized he was just confused to turn around and see Tony's suit but Jess' voice. The suit landed next to him, Jess wobbling a little as she tried to get used to it. "Jess, is that you? What's wrong? Why are you in his suit?"
The woman was surprised when the mask slid up so she could see Steve, gasping as the adrenaline ran through her. "Rogers! I need you to tell this stupid weekday that I can be in charge."
"What? Hold on, tell me what's going on. And why would FRIDAY listen to me?"
"Tony is in trouble, damnit! I can't explain, he could be dying! He has no suit and Rumlow is up there! He told Siri here that I can only control the suit if you give the all clear. Please, Steve!" She couldn't even get out of the suit, she was locked inside and trying not to panic from the enclosed feel of the suit.
Steve looked at her, looking to Thor who had come next to them, looking just as concerned as Steve. Nodding to her finally, he put his shield on his arm strap. "Fine, but you're taking me with you. No arguments."
"Yes, yes! Fine! I don't care! Come on!" Jess whined, taking hold of the man's arms in front of her and waiting.
"FRIDAY? We're safe, please allow Jess to take the controls back."
"Yes, Captain Rogers. Mr. Stark requests that you verify by saying what his favorite nickname for you is."
"Capsicle!" They both yelled at the same time. Jess almost snarled, pissed that the man had to always joke around even in a life or death situation. He had obviously planned on him needing to protect her at some time, building in fail safes and the works.
"Thrusters!" Jess shouted, the mask sliding back down as she gripped onto Steve and told him to hold on as the suit shot up. "Whoa!" It wasn't as easy as Tony made it look, they went way too high the first try and almost crashed down all the way to the ground on the next. Eventually, with only minimal trouble that felt like it took longer than it really did, Jess landed on the roof and let Steve go, running over to where Tony laid on the ground.
"Oh my God. Oh no, no no. Stark!" Jess snapped, sliding to a stop and throwing herself to her knees, "Face mask!" she said to FRIDAY, reaching out and grabbing hold of Tony's bloodied face. "Stark! You wake up, you asshole! You pushed me off a building! What were you thinking?" Jess' heart felt like it was being ripped out of her chest as she tried to take stock of his injuries. He was lying in a pool of blood that was behind him and his face was a mess of cuts and scrapes, he seemed to be breathing but his eyes remained closed. "You are always so dramatic, even when you're putting yourself in danger you big idiot. You didn't have to push me off, why couldn't you just push me to the side? You needed the suit more than I did." Jess whined, not paying attention to Thor or Steve who were standing behind her, looking grave.
"I... you can't die. You hear me? You can't leave me. I don't even know if I can raise a kid, let alone by myself. You can't die. Steve, tell him! Tell him it's an order!" Jess had tears in her eyes as she turned to look at the two men behind her, shrugging off Thor's hand as she refocused her attention on Tony. She hadn't even noticed the Hulk standing to the side, looking at the scene. "You can't leave me Tony, because... because I love you. I love you more than I've ever loved another soul, I love you. Please, please don't leave me to deal with the others knowing I have feelings." Jess blinked as her tears fell onto the man's chest as she sat next to him.
Jess looked up as the Hulk meandered over to stand above her, looking down at Tony before letting out a loud roar. Tony's eyes shot open as he breathed in deeply. "Why does he do that?!" he breathed out, trying to scowl at the green beast before letting his eyes connect to Jess'. "I thought I told you red and yellow was my thing, Drew..? Even if it does look good on you."
Jess laugh was more of a sob as she leaned forward and hugged the man who had sat up, the gun shot to his shoulder obvious now as he winced and hugged her back. She kissed him and closed her eyes, heart still thumping in her ears as she let out a relieved sigh. "I hope you heard that, I'm not saying it again." Jess sniffled, pulling away and letting Thor and Steve help the man up. Getting to her feet with less difficulty this time, Jess smiled despite herself as Tony winked at her.
"You'll have to run that by me again, Cupcake. Was that... the L word...? I think I heard wrong. Thor, Captain? Hulk? Did the Jessica Drew say she loved me?" He groaned as he stood now, waiting as Steve called for Clint to bring the Quinjet around.
"I have no idea how you fooled everyone into thinking you're a genius... but I love you anyways." Jess whispered as he smiled at him. "Now get this fucking thing off me and let's talk about a new AI system because this one almost let you get killed." She huffed as the others laughed, Tony in pain and the others in relief.