Summary: As the team try to come to terms with Michelle's death, a new terrifying threat is looming over them. Clint and Grace are forced to confront their darkest fears and enemies, as they prepare for their baby's arrival. Co – Written With snowqueen79. Clint/Grace, Bucky/Sophie and other pairings.

The Cradle Will Fall

Chapter 11

The team that was going scrambled onto the jet. Clint had gotten Grace to reluctantly agree to stay at the compound with the kids. Nat and Sophie looked ready to take HYDRA down all by themselves.

Steve wasn't happy.

"You're really going to let him do this?" He asked their captain.

"If you can think of a way to stop him, I'm all ears," Steve's tone was testy. "If I try to leave him here, it's just going to be worse."

"Any idea what we're walking into?" Clint looked at the screen Steve was studying.

"Not a clue," Steve told him as Bucky joined them. "But we need to be careful. There's an edge to this, something…"

Bucky nodded grimly. "I don't have a good feeling about it either."

"What do you think Hammer wants with Lilia?" Clint asked. "I thought he was some sort of engineering hack that tried to best Tony years ago."

"He's using Lilia to get at me, Clint. It's his and Pepper's sick way of getting revenge on me by hurting Lila." Tony said quietly from behind them, he'd suited up in his Bleeding Edge suit and looked ready to kill someone.

"We'll get Lilia back, Tony. I promise," Steve said reassuringly, he couldn't imagine what Tony must be feeling right now. The thought of Natasha being in Lilia's position, made his stomach roll in nausea.

Tony nodded in thanks, he just hoped that they found Lilia before it was too late. He and Howard loved her, all of them did and she had been there for him, and he was going to save her.

And when he got his hands-on Hammer and Pepper, they were going to regret taking Lilia and threatening Howard. No one threatened his family, and lived.

Steve, Clint and Bucky nodded at him as they got ready to rescue Lilia. Clint couldn't help but get the feeling that they were walking into a trap, or something bad was going to happen.

He just prayed that Lilia was alright, and that Bruce had managed to come up with a cure. If Lilia was really sick, then Tony would lose it completely.

It was four hours before they landed in Kotor, Tony was nervous but determined as they saw that the base was guarded lightly. Clint, and Bucky took out the guards and snipers posted on the watchtowers.

"Did you hear that woman screaming last night? Hammer didn't go easy on her; boy was he rough on her. I wonder how Stark's gonna feel, knowing that Hammer's been experimenting on her with that Devil's Breath." A guard commented disturbed, Tony had heard enough as he blasted the man into a tree with his repulsors.

The man hit the tree with a sickening thud, Tony kept on walking as they entered the base. All of them were nervous, and weary about what they would find in the base.

Clint and Bucky covered Steve, Peter and Tony, as they were guided to the room that Natasha guided them towards. Tony was trembling with nerves, as he opened the door and saw an unconscious Lilia lying on the bed.

She looked frail, almost close to death.

"Lilia, can you hear me? It's me, Tony and I'm going to get you out of here, sweetheart. Just hang on, alright." Tony said softly, Lilia's face was pale, and she moaned in pain.

"Ton...Tony, I really did try to stop him. I'm sorry, so sorry," she whispered weakly, Tony held her gently in his arms. He was feeling more and more anger towards Hammer and Pepper, they were going to regret coming after Lilia and Howard.

"No Lilia, this isn't your fault. I'm not going to let anyone hurt you, sweetheart," he said distraught, Lilia smiled weakly and squeezed his hand lightly.

"Tony, this isn't your fault either. I need to be put in quarantine when we get back to the compound, Hammer injected me with a brown widow spider." She said tiredly, getting weaker by the minute and Tony rushed her to the quinjet, Steve, Bucky, Clint and Peter closely behind them.

The base had been abandoned but Clint had found video recordings, that might be useful. He just hoped that they could help Lilia.

Sophie waited anxiously for Bucky and the others to come back, her body was restless, and she just wanted everyone safe. She saw the quinjet land and saw Helen rushing over with a medical team, and Bruce next to her.

"Let's get Lilia straight to the medical centre, you're going to be alright Lilia. Shuri's here, and we'll help you." Helen said softly, and Sophie almost stumbled at the sight of her friend.

Lilia looked like she was dying, dying from a terrible illness. Her face was pale, and her usually lustrous dark brown wavy curls, were now limb and tangled. She had an oxygen mask on, and Tony was talking to her softly.

What on earth had Hammer and Pepper done to her?

Tony had been sent to the quarantine showers along with Steve, Clint, Peter and Bucky. All of them were looking at him with concern, but Tony felt numb.

He'd failed Howard and Lilia, he knew things weren't looking good for Lilia. Whatever Hammer had injected her with, it was making her seriously ill and making her lungs drown in blood.

But Hammer...he'd touched his Lilia, his little hacker. That bastard might have raped her and recorded the whole thing. He punched the mirror in a rage, his knuckles becoming bloody, but he just kept on punching the mirror until it broke. He buried his face in his hands.

Pepper had used Lilia to hurt him, and now Lilia might not survive, and this wasn't fair. He just wanted to be happy, to have a life with Howard and Lilia, marry her and have more children.

As he left the showers, he saw that Steve had waited for him.

"How are you holding up?" Steve asked carefully.

Tony was grateful in that moment for his friend. Yeah, he and Steve didn't always get along, but no one was more loyal than his perfect, blond friend. Steve understood loss, understood the value of love. It calmed his nerves.

"I feel like I'm coming apart on the inside," Tony said angrily. "That fucker came in here, took the woman I loved for revenge against me. They tortured her, might have even killed her, just because of Pepper's sick obsession with trying to destroy me. I'm barely hanging on."

Steve nodded, not a note of surprise in his expression. "Nat, Grace and Sophie are with her right now. It sounds like Shuri might be onto something so there's good news."

"Thank God," Tony muttered, dressing and following Steve back to medical to see his girl.

"JARVIS," Tony spoke to his AI on the way. "I want you to bump up Howard's security. Nuclear option."

"Already done, sir," JARVIS' soothing voice answered immediately.

"I want the Iron Legion guarding him wherever he is at all times," Tony added.

"Consider it done," JARVIS told him.

It was something. Because if somehow, they were able to break in and take his son, he didn't know what he would do. How Pepper could intend to harm her own child? He had no idea. He just knew she didn't deserve to breathe the same air as his son. She didn't deserve anything at this point but a slow, painful death for all she'd done.

If Lilia didn't survive the torture, Hammer and Pepper put her through? There'd be hell to pay.

He followed Steve into Lilia's room and she looked so frail on that bed, so small surrounded by the other three women who hovered with something like barely concealed terror on their faces.

Nat spotted them first, rising from her seat right next to the bed. "Tony, sit here."

Nodding his thanks, he took a seat and Nat saw the tremor in his hands.

"Tony, Shuri thinks she has a good chance of pulling through," Nat told him. "She's working with Bruce on antidote for this. We're not sure what problems there might be a result of all of this, but we'll deal with it as it comes."

Tony's gaze locked with Nat's. "Was she raped?"

The pain that flashed in the beautiful spy's eyes gave him the answer before she said, "Yes."

Tony was going to kill them. He was going to kill them both in the most horrifying ways he could imagine. And he was a genius. He could imagine quite a bit.

And should Lilia die? There was nothing in this realm or any other that could protect that sniveling weasel and his bitch of a former partner from his wrath.

"Let's go get something to eat," Steve spoke to Nat, but it was clear he meant to clear the room as his gaze shifted to the sisters. "I'll bring you something back, Tony."

Tony nodded but didn't look away from Lilia. Didn't speak. He took Lilia's cold hand in his and held it, willing her to fight, to stay with him and Howard. He was trying to shift his focus on her recovery and away from the hatred he was literally choking on.

Whatever Shuri and Bruce were doing, he hoped they'd hurry up.

He couldn't lose Lilia. Nor could Howard.

They needed her.

Sophie felt her heart break as she cooked dinner with Grace, all of them were shaken and horrified about what had happened to Lilia at the hands of Justin Hammer.

She knew this had to be bringing back awful memories for Grace, of what Rumlow and those other men had done to her. Lilia didn't deserve this, she thought angrily as she finished preparing the Beef Stroganoff as Grace finished preparing the dessert, a blueberry pie. They put the beef stroganoff in the industrial oven and set the timer for the food, as they sat down in the living room. Sophie saw Clint sit down next to Grace and wordlessly hold her, and Connor lovingly and smiled.

Bucky sat down next to her, a pain expression on his face as he let out a deep breath and she squeezed his left hand reassuringly. He smiled at her gratefully and shook his head at their questioning expressions.

"Steve is with Tony and Lilia, she still hasn't woken up and Howard is with them. Helen, Shuri and Bruce are working on the antidote. But she's getting worse." He said finally, everyone looked saddened and worried at hearing this.

"Poor Tony, he deserves to be happy after everything and so does, Lilia," Peter said sadly, upset for his father figure and Lilia, they had both gone through so much and thus wasn't fair.

Everyone privately agreed with Peter's words, Sophie however would not let Justin Hammer die quickly, if she saw him. She'd kill him in a way, that would make him beg for mercy.

Tony had been sitting by Lilia's bed with Howard asleep in the bassinet, she was stable but critical. Her lungs were getting worse, and Helen was worried about internal bleeding to her uterus and ovaries.

"Ton...Tony, Howard?" Lilia asked weakly, Tony moved closer to her and held her hand tightly, Lilia looked relived at seeing him. His voice was thick with emotion, as he looked at her.

"It's me, Lilia. Me and Howard are both here, we love you so much, sweetheart. We're going to help you get through this, I promise," Tony said firmly, feeling his eyes burn with unshed tears.

Lilia simply smiled, and held his hand tightly as she fell back to sleep, the painkillers taking affect. She was in serious pain from the spider blood in her system, and the sexual assault had clearly hurt her as well.

Tony stroked her hand gently, while Howard slept soundly by the bed, he swallowed and held her hand tightly. Justin Hammer and Pepper would regret going after his family, and by god would they.

The next morning, Lilia had taken a turn for the worst and was suffering from internal bleeding to one of her ovaries. She'd been rushed into emergency surgery, and now all of the team were waiting in the hallway for news in comfortable chairs but no one could bring themselves to speak.

Grace's mind was flashing back to her own stay in hospital, how terrified she'd been for Zach who hadn't even been born. She cuddled Connor, and Clint kissed her hair as they all waited anxiously for news.

It was three hours before Helen came out of the operating room, and the hallway fell silent. Clint saw Tony stand up with Howard in his arms, and Helen looked at all of them.

"Lilia's stable now, but we did have to remove her left ovary. It was too badly ruptured, and she was suffering from an infection. We've got her on the antibiotic, but it's too early to see if she'll suffer any problems but we'll help her." Helen said reassuringly, Tony nodded and thanked her honestly.

"Can I see her, Helen?" He asked quietly, Helen shook her head and smiled gently at him.

"We're just taking her for a CAT scan, but you can see her once we've gotten her settled in a quarantine room," she assured softly, Tony nodded and watched her leave.

That fucking animal had hurt Lilia, Hammer had hurt her so badly, that one of her ovaries was damaged beyond repair. The thought actually made him nauseated. He felt like punching something, he wondered if Clint had felt like this when Laura had been revealed to be a Red Room agent. Had he been consumed by a dark, murderous rage?

Justin stretched his back as he headed to the conference room. He was supposed to have been there ten minutes before, but he didn't care. He was in no hurry to get his ass chewed.

Pepper smiled from her seat at the head of the table when he walked in. Oh, how deceptive that smile was. It thinly veiled a sharp mind, a ruthless nature and a black heart. Somehow when he'd been offered the chance to work with the infamous Pepper Potts, he thought it would go differently. Back when she'd been with Tony, he'd always thought she was somewhere submissive. Tame. He thought he'd have her for a plaything.

The situation couldn't be more different than what he pictured.

"Have a seat, Justin," she bid him.

He hated, absolutely hated when she did that. Ordered him around like her trained monkey.

Might as well get this over with.

Pulling out his chair, Justin took a seat at the other end of the table. He wasn't going to show weakness. He wasn't going to capitulate. He could just about script everything she was about to say, and he wasn't putting up with it.

"Want to tell me what the hell happened?" Pepper's face flooded with ugly colour. "Want to explain to me how the fucking Avengers just walked in here, easy as you please, and walked back out with Lilia?"

Justin glared at her. Pompous bitch.

"I don't think I'm the one who needs to offer an explanation here," Justin said casually.

"Excuse me?"

"When we entered this little partnership—"

"Stop right there." Pepper held up a hand like a traffic guard. "This is not a partnership. I am not your partner. You work for me."

Justin grinned at her. "That wasn't my understanding."

Pepper glared at him. "Want to try that again?"

He snorted. "No, I really don't. It was, my understanding, a partnership. We each had our separate jobs, right? Your job is to provide the money and the muscle for what you want to do. It's my job to maintain the science end. The science! So where the fuck do you get off demanding an explanation from me when keeping the Avengers off our asses is your job!"

Pepper's eyes narrowed but otherwise, she didn't react.

"Nothing to say?" Justin went on. "We were making pretty good progress with Lilia. I had hours and hours and hours invested in that one and I think, maybe, she has the potential to be our first successful test subject with the brown widow venom. Maybe had. She might be dead. Fragile as she was at the point you let Tony fucking Stark walk in and take her out of here."

"You couldn't have been that worried about her fragile state as you put it," Pepper bit back. "I've heard from several techs now that you were fucking the shit of her. So which thing was she in a fragile state from?"

Justin saw red. "You said you wanted her dead. Did you grow a conscience since then?"

"Corporations test on monkeys and rats every day," Pepper shot back. "But they don't fuck them. If your experiment is so precious to you, why risk it by sticking your dick in it Justin?"

Oh, how he hated this woman.

"Then again, maybe it wasn't enough to make a difference," she finished.

His hands curled into fists. It was all he could do not to leap across the table at her.

"What are you going to do about getting my test subject back, Pepper? It seems it was just oh so easy for them to walk in here and grab anything they wanted. Tony Stark himself, your former lover, walked in here and took your prize."

Pepper chuckled. "We'll get her back. Don't you worry about that. In the meantime, you have other test subjects. I want Devil's Breath back on track immediately. When we bring her back here, or what's left of her, you'll either be able to resume your experimentation, or you do the necrophilia. It doesn't matter to me."

Justin shrugged. "Yeah, I have other test subjects, but Lilia was so close. So close. What guarantee do I have if I resume my work that it won't be arbitrarily disrupted again?"

"You don't," Pepper told him, looking him in the eye. "I don't owe you any guarantees. Got it?"

Oh, he had it alright.

"Do we have an ETA on getting her back?"

Pepper rolled her eyes. "I'm putting together a strike team now. It's going to be tricky because we've hit their compound more than once and if I know Tony, he's going to have that place impregnable this time."

"Then I hope your plan is a good one." Justine rose from the table and winked at her just because he knew it would piss her off. "I've got work to do."

He couldn't get away fast enough. Why the hell had he ever though working with Pepper was a good idea. She was all revenge, rage. If she'd been doing her job, the Avengers wouldn't have been able to pull up like his lab was a fucking drive up window and take his things.
He had toxins to develop, creatures to make, undermining to do.

When he reached the lab, his gaze moved over the line of test subjects on the gurneys lined up for inspection. The blonde in the middle watched him with worried green eyes.

She would do until he got Lilia back.

It had taken some long, exhausting hours but FRIDAY had found Pepper and Justin's latest location and pulled up satellite footage of the location.

"So, far what we know is that Pepper has been gathering a strike team, they want Lilia back because she's lasted the longest. We have sixteen hostages, and two of them are young teenage girls who are both pregnant." Fury said grimly, his expression dark as he looked at everyone in the room.

"When do you want us to leave, Fury?" Steve asked finally, his voice grim but he had a look of determination on his face. Grace and Natasha wouldn't be on this mission, as both were breastfeeding, but Sophie would be going.

"As soon as possible, Cap." Fury said grimly, everyone nodded and got ready to suit up for the mission.

Before getting ready to leave, Tony visited Lilia in the hospital room to see Natasha and Grace sitting with her. She looked so pale under the dim lights, and so small. Machines gently whirring in the distance, as he took her hand.

"Lilia, I'm going after Hammer and Pepper with Steve, Sam, Clint, Peter, Bucky and Sophie. Scott, Hope, Adrian and Wanda are staying here, you'll ok. I love you, sweetheart. I love, you and Howard 300." Tony said thickly, he kissed her on the lips tenderly and felt his eyes burn with tears.

A dark sense of rage took hold of him, when he got his hands on Pepper and Hammer, they would regret going after his loved ones.

"Be careful, Tony." Grace said quietly, she was looking at him knowingly and he nodded in thanks, before leaving the room. He knew Grace, Natasha and Wanda were keeping guard.

The flight to Colorado, Gunnison was quiet, Bucky checked his sniper rifle, while Sophie made sure her batons were in working order. Clint put the quinjet into stealth mode and landed the plane in a part of the forest.

"Clint, you and Bucky take out the snipers that are guarding the rooftop entrances. Sam, Sophie, and Peter, you two grab any stragglers." Steve instructed firmly, everyone nodded and split up into teams as Tony flew into the air.

Almost instantly he was being fired at, but he was ready, Rhodey flew next to him as they took out the RPG towers. Bucky, and Clint taking care of the snipers who shot at them.

"Hostages are secure, Cap but Hammer and Pepper are on the move!" Sophie said grimly, Tony didn't even wait to hear Steve's response. He was going after them.

"Jarvis, give me their location!" He ordered firmly, Jarvis pulled up two heat signatures and he found them. He fired his repulsors at the helicopter that Hammer was trying to reach.

Hammer stumbled back, as Tony landed in front of him and he glared at him with an expression of pure hatred. He was going to make him suffer, especially Hammer for what he had done to Lilia.

Scum like him didn't deserve to live.

"If you kill me, you can't save your girlfriend, Stark. Do you really want to risk killing me, and your precious Lilia dying?" Hammer taunted cruelly, causing Tony to freeze.

"Where's Pepper?" He asked finally, ignoring his taunt as Steve and the others arrived to help him. Rhodey watching his back, and Hammer laughed bitterly.

"Breaking out Zemo, and the other guys who raped Hawkeye's baby momma. She's got a real grudge against those two women, not to mention the Winter Soldier's girl and your girl," he said mockingly, Tony punched him hard across the face.

"We need to get back to the compound, now!" Clint shouted urgently, terrified for Grace and Connor. Everyone nodded, Sophie and Peter wrapped Hammer in webbing as they ran to the quinjet quickly.

Tony just hoped they reached the compound in time.

Grace had just bathed Connor and was now breastfeeding him in the bedroom for her baby boy, when she heard Clint calling out for her and Connor frantically.

"Grace?! Connor!" He shouted urgently; Grace hurried out with Connor in her arms to greet Clint. She saw him running into the living room of their large suite.

"Clint, what's wrong?" She asked worriedly, Clint said nothing as he strode over towards her and pulled her, and Connor into his arms tightly. She could feel him taking in deep breaths, as he held onto them tightly.

"We caught Hammer, but Pepper got away, Grace. She fucking broke Dmitri, Zemo, Misha, and Pietro from the Raft," he whispered darkly, and Grace held onto him.

"So, they'll be coming after me?"

Enjoy, and review. We hope you enjoyed the latest chapter :)