"What?" Alba asked sharply, "What do you mean she's missing?" She felt suddenly breathless, leaning back into the kitchen counter for support. Steve appeared in front of her with a worried expression on his face.
"Joanna was in the safe-house one second and the next…she was gone."
"Well, did they check Gonzales? He has to be behind this."
Agnes responded readily. "Yes, that was the first place they looked. They searched his apartment, cordoned off his whole block and went through his phone records. He's coming up clean." Alba couldn't believe this. Where the hell was Joanna? Her heart dropped with the realization that somewhere out there she was in danger. She could be hurt this very moment. There was no question in Alba's mind, if they didn't find her soon, the girl was going to die.
"He can't be clean. Tell them to look for burner phones, search his known associates, they need to look in every place that man has stepped foot in since he's been out of prison!"
Agnes hummed in agreement. "I've reminded them of this, Ms. Herrera. But the Marshals are keeping us out of this. They don't want us stepping on their toes." Stepping on their toes? Someone was going to die and they were worried about being inconvenienced? Joanna was just a girl who must be scared out of her wits and these men are worried about protocols. Alba started seeing red.
She was going to step on their toes, all right. She was going to light a fire under their asses until the girl showed up. Alive. Alba hung up on Agnes and pulled up her guy at the Marshals office, huffing the whole time. Steve, understanding the gravity of the situation, faded into the background, quietly finishing up dinner according to the recipe Alba had left out on the counter.
The phone rung twice before a tired voice answered the phone.
"Hi, Alba."
"You lost my girl, Franc." Alba growled. "Don't act like this is a social call. Where are you on locating her?" The man hesitated.
"I'm not going to ask you again. Where are you?"
"We're…working on it."
"That's code for 'I don't have anything but I'm too ashamed to tell you that'." She wanted to throw her phone out of the window.
"C'mon, Aly, don't be that way." He protested.
"You lost my witness, Franc! She is a nineteen year old girl who has been abused and is scared out of her mind. I promised her she would be safe. You're going to find her."
"Absolutely. We have a thirty-six hour estimate—"
Alba cut him off with an angry laugh. "Oh, no, no. You have twelve hours to find her. Alive."
"But that's impossible."
"Is it, really? Franc, let me give you a heads up. If Joanna isn't back in that safe house by 7 A.M. tomorrow, I will be standing in front of City Hall bright and early giving a statement about how the U.S. Marshals allowed the key witness in a murder trial get abducted under their own nose." Franc sighed on the other end of the line. He knew her well, having worked with her for years, and knew she wasn't bluffing. Alba never made threats she didn't fully intend on going through with.
"Alba, you're going up against the U.S. Marshals. This is not a bridge you want to burn."
She took a deep breath and shook her head, done with this conversation. "If the Marshals can't even keep their own witnesses safe, then its clearly not a bridge worth keeping. I'm going to call you in twelve hours, Franc, and it better be Joanna answered the goddamn phone." She ended the call and threw the phone down on the couch agitatedly, running a hand through her hand anxiously. A noise from the kitchen suddenly reminded of her Steve's presence, and she turned around slowly. She almost didn't want to look at Steve's face. Alba was passionate about her job, and the last time she wigged out Marcus practically fled her apartment, disturbed with the fact that she let her emotions get caught up in the job. But this was who she was. She worked hard and she poured her heart into her job, especially on a case like this. Alba couldn't stand injustice, especially when the victims were defenseless people.
She had to cancel the date. She couldn't think of romance when Jo was out somewhere, possibly in grave danger.
To her surprise, Steve was already standing by the door, coat in hands. She suddenly felt like the worst date ever.
"Steve, I'm sorry. I can see you're heading out, so let me—"
"Alba, I'm not leaving. Not alone." She she gave him a confused look, he plucked her jacket off the coat hanger and handed it to her. "We are going to the tower."
Alba held on to her jacket meekly. "Stark tower? For what?"
"Your witness is missing. If anyone can find her, it's us." The Avengers.
They traveled through the bright street of Manhattan in silence, letting the idle chatter of the taxi driver fill the ride. Alba couldn't fight the feeing of guilt as she glanced over at Steve. She invited him to dinner and instead he ended up cleaning up her mess, so to speak. Alba's faults hinged on the fact that she was prideful. She hated asking for help, and she hated depending on others. But someone else's life was at stake. So she had to buckle up and swallow her pride.
Stark Tower loomed over the pair as they exited the taxi. Alba lingered behind Steve and he strode into the large lobby, following his footsteps gingerly. The large crowd of workers had faded away earlier in that afternoon, and the place echoed with their footsteps. The guards at the doors glanced up and recognized Steve, then went back to their business as the pair entered the elevator.
Alba stood quietly and flinched when a smooth, female voice rung out.
"Good evening, Captain. I see you have an unrecognized guest with you. Do you require special accommodations?"
"No, F.R.I.D.A.Y., thank you. Is Stark in?" Alba watched in amazement as they voice replied instantly.
"Yes, Captain. He is currently in his workshop. Should I inform him that you are searching for him?"
Steve jabbed a button assuredly. "No, thanks. I know where to find him." The doors opened with a flourish and they strode into the glass covered room. It took a second for Alba to recognize it as a high-tech workshop. There were things that looked like small mechanical cranes, and sparks were shooting out from an obscure corner.
Steve walked up to the touchpad next to the door and started punching in what looked like at override code.
"Captain, Mr. Stark does not wish to be disturbed while he is in his workshop. Can I—" The robotic voice stopped as Steve opened the door, giving up the fight to stop him. He stepped into the room and glanced back at Alba, who was looking at him shyly.
"What's wrong?"
She glanced through the glass nervously. "I'm just not sure I should be here." She whispered. He gave her a reassuring smile and tugged on her hand.
"You're with me. You belong where I belong." The sparking in the room stopped, and a darkly dressed figure walked in front of them. It was Tony Stark, standing before them in ripped up jeans and a dirty t-shirt.
He stared at Steve accusingly. "You broke into the shop."
"You gave me the override code." He defended.
Tony Stark rolled his eyes. "In case of an emergency, Cap. This is not an emergency." He glanced at Alba and did a double take, eyes narrowing when he saw her. "What is this?" Her face finally registered in his mind, and he rolled his eyes once more and threw his head back dramatically.
This is what Alba was afraid of.
"Are you here to sue me again?"
So just a quick note: FFN has been having some glitches where review numbers rise but the actual reviews don't show up. Some have been trickling in and I am starting to respond to them. If I haven't replied yet please be patient! I am doing the rounds lol.
Sooo question: Which avenger are you excited to see in the story?! As always let me know what you guys think!