Chapter Nine: Losing Time
#
At some point, Natalia blacked out due to some combination between the pain, blood loss, and medication. Shock had probably also been a contributing factor. Tony wouldn't have been surprised. He'd tried not to think beyond getting the bullets out and closing up her wounds, lest he start to panic.
Tony could not have said how long it took. Afterward, the entire process seemed to have passed in a haze. Bullets extracted, wounds cleaned and stitched and bandaged… He knew he had performed each task, but the whole situation felt removed from him. It felt rather like he had watched as somebody else did those things using his own hands.
He probably needed to get a better handle on his freaking out thing.
Only once he was finished did Tony allow himself to worry about future complications. What if she had internal bleeding? What about infection? A wound to the stomach very easily led to further complications. She'd probably need antibiotics, but what kind? Would any do? Where would be the best place to even get such medicines outside of a proper healthcare facility? How much blood had she lost? Did she need a transfusion? What blood type did she have? What about her head injury?
She needed proper care! Tony was not qualified for such things. He had been trained to fight and hack and build things. Nowhere in his repertoire was anything beyond standard first aid. Without better care than he could provide, Natalia could die.
But he had promised.
He'd promised no hospitals, no matter what.
People like Natalia didn't trust easily. If he broke the promise he'd made, she would feel betrayed. Worse, if he took her to a hospital, she could be found by the people she was evading. They would be at least as bad as Hydra, possibly worse.
But what if she died?
In a burst of determination, Tony rolled to his feet. He sidestepped U on his way to his computer. He was already talking as he started to type on a keyboard.
"JARVIS, I need you to help me determine what antibiotics might be needed for an infection following a gunshot wound to the stomach and where I can them on short notice," he said, certain the AI was already listening. The man looked into the camera he had installed to give JARVIS a view of his apartment. "Also, help me figure out who did this to her. Whoever hired her as well as the ones who put bullets in her."
"Displaying information regarding gunshot injuries on your far right monitor," JARVIS responded. "If I may be so bold as to ask, sir - are you quite certain Ms. Natalia should not be taken to a doctor?"
"No," Tony admitted grimly, "but you also know the kind of lives we live, J. It's not a risk she was willing to take. She made me promise."
JARVIS let out a sighing sound. "Very well, sir. I have located a nearby pharmacy which carries a broad-spectrum antibiotic which should fight off any infection that might set in. There are records which suggest that the pharmacist is not above making under-the-table transactions."
"Great work, J. What's the progress on finding out who got her into this mess?"
"I am working on that, now. As you know, Ms. Natalia has several aliases of her own. I will inform you as soon as I can ascertain her latest target and for whom she'd been working."
"Thanks, JARVIS," Tony told him. "I'm sorry to drag you into this. You were made for better than helping me pull off crimes."
There was a brief pause before JARVIS issued a response. "You are hardly the only one to have me hack into places I shouldn't be, sir. Furthermore, were I truly uncomfortable assisting you, I would say so."
"You would?" the man asked.
"Indeed," the AI assured. "It will likely take some time to determine Ms. Natalia's employer and the one she'd been sent after. You should head to the pharmacy to obtain the medicines and any further supplies you might need. U and I will look after her and I will message your phone should there be any change in her condition."
Tony drew a shaky breath, running a hand through his hair. "You're right. I'll hurry back. Thanks, JARVIS."
"The pleasure is mine, sir."
#
The pharmacist in question was every bit as willing to sell to Tony without a prescription as JARVIS had suggested. Tony was able to get the antibiotic as well as some more painkillers. There were still some in the medkit, but he figured it never hurt to have extra. After grabbing a few other items he thought they might need, Tony hurried back to the apartment.
U stood at the end of the sofa, having taken his duty of watching over Natalia rather literally. The bot acknowledged Tony's return with a low chirp but kept his camera trained on the unconscious woman. In other circumstances, it might have made Tony smile.
"Anything, yet, J?" Tony asked aloud once the door was shut. He set his acquisitions aside as he reached the coffee table, immediately checking Natalia's vitals and making sure the bleeding from her wounds hadn't worsened.
"Not yet, but soon, sir," JARVIS replied. "Were you able to acquire what you needed?"
"I was. Good work," the man said. "Hopefully, it will just be a precaution."
As Tony was carefully checking the dressing over her shoulder, Natalia stirred. Green eyes opened just long enough to take in her surroundings and identify the person tending to her before falling shut again. "Antoshka," she murmured.
"Nat, hey. How are you feeling?" Tony asked quietly.
"Like I was ambushed by several armed thugs," Natalia responded, somehow still managing to sound dry.
"How careless of you," the brunet teased.
She shoved at him, wincing a bit as the action pulled at her various injuries.
"Here, I've got some more pain meds and water for you," said Tony. "Can you take them?" At her nod, he raised her up a little in order to give her a couple more pills and several sips from a water bottle.
"Thank you," Natalia told him. "Wasn't sure where else to go."
"Well, that's what friends do," he replied. "They watch each other's backs."
Her lips twitched into a minute smile, eyes slitting open again. "Are we friends, Antoshka?"
"Yeah. Yeah, I think we are," Tony told her. "Get some more rest. You've got a lot of healing to do."
Natalia gave another nod and re-closed her eyes, unconsciousness already claiming her. Tony was under no illusion that it was probably less a show of trust than the direct result of her injuries. Not that he didn't believe the assassin must trust him to some degree. She would never have come to him in such a vulnerable state, otherwise.
It was a precious thing, to receive trust from people like them. People like him and Natalia and Clint had learned how unkind people could be, how uncaring the world itself. Trust was easier withheld than later rescinded; it was one of the few ways they could always protect themselves.
He wouldn't allow what trust she did give him be misplaced.
"Sir, I have located the information you requested," JARVIS informed him.
Tony rose to his feet and moved quickly to his computer. "Let's have it. I want to talk to these people."
"That seems most unwise," the AI opined.
"You're probably right, but I can't just let this go," he responded. "If we're hired to do a job, it has to be legitimate. I'm just going to talk to them, find out whether it was a set-up or if they've got a leak. It will be fine, JARVIS, I'll be careful."
#
Malibu, CA
"JARVIS," Arno demanded, looking up from his computer, "why was Tony having you look up gunshot wounds for him? What happened? Is Tony injured? Where is he?"
"It would seem one of his associates ran into unexpected trouble, sir. Tony himself was not the person that was shot," JARVIS informed him.
The billionaire blew out a breath, running a hand through his hair. It was probably strange worrying about a person he didn't technically even know, but he did it anyway.
"So, Tony's alright?" he asked for verification.
JARVIS didn't immediately respond, sending Arno's anxiety back up again.
"JARVIS? What aren't you telling me?" Arno demanded, his raised tone gaining the attention of DUM-E and Butterfingers across the room. "Is Tony okay or isn't he? Where is he? Do you have eyes on him?"
"To be honest, sir," JARVIS responded almost tentatively, "I am uncertain that 'okay' is the correct term to describe Tony's current state."
"You have footage. Show it to me," the man ordered.
"This took place in a secured warehouse approximately twenty minutes ago," the AI said, displaying video from a security camera.
Arno couldn't have torn his gaze away from the screen had he wanted. He could feel the color bleed from his own features as he watched, his mouth gaping slightly despite himself. When it was done, he asked JARVIS to play it again, and then for a third time after that.
He hunched over the edge of his workbench, a hand wrapped around the lower half of his face. With a hard swallow, he raised his chin up just enough to speak. "Who else has seen this, Jarv?"
"Thus far, you are the only one, sir."
"Keep it that way," Arno commanded. "I want just a single copy, strongest encryption we have, then lock it away in the darkest corner you can find. Destroy everything else. Nobody else sees this. Not ever."
"Right away, sir," said JARVIS.
Arno stared at the now-blank screen as though he could still see the footage playing there. Dragging in a breath, he let it out shakily, slumping back into his chair. "Jesus Christ, Tony," he murmured aloud, "what the hell was that?"
#
It took a couple attempts to get the key to turn in the lock. The man stepped inside and closed the door again. On the sofa, a woman stirred, turning towards him.
"Antoshka?" Her voice came to him from a long ways off.
He moved closer as she reached towards the lamp. Brightness filled the room and he flinched away at its suddenness, squinting against the glare. As she looked at him, she drew in a sharper breath than he thought was usual for her.
"Antoshka?" she repeated, urgency in her tone as she struggled to push herself up into a sitting position. " Tony! What happened? Where are you hurt?"
"Hurt?" he repeated.
And suddenly everything slammed into focus, the haze he was in dissipating like fog in the sunlight. He could hear U's concerned beeps and whirring, pick up the scent of grease and metal and... blood ?
"I don't…" Tony murmured as he looked down at himself, his gaze falling first to his hands. His knuckles were swollen and bruised, tell-tale crimson stains discoloring his skin. There was a stickiness against his body, so he looked down further, fingers confirming what his eyes were telling him. His clothing was covered in blood.
"It's not…" he uttered confusedly, hands patting over his body, now, reaching under cloth to verify further.
Tony looked up again to meet Natalia's gaze and he couldn't remember the last time he'd felt so lost and confused. He drew in a breath, mouth opening to say something , anything, some sort of explanation, but he had none. He had only one thing to say.
"I don't think it's mine."
#
To be continued...
A/N: Hello, there - thanks for reading. I really didn't want to be one of those fic-writers, but the lack of feedback is really bumming me out. If any of you could be so kind as to leave a small review, even if it's just to say you like it or to please continue, it would really, really make my days. Either way, thanks for sticking around this far. Regards, ACN
