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Chapter 26: Eye of the beholder
Dim light was coming through the large room windows. Pang. Pang. Pang. He could feel his strength failing him, his rib cage still bothering on occasion, the stitches on the back of his head still not healed. Pang. Pang. Pang.
Two days. 48 hours. He should be healed by now. His ribs should've stopped hurting long ago. He shouldn't get agitated running up the stairs. Pang. Pang. Pang.
Two days. Still no sign of the Hulk. Pang. Pang. Pang. He really wanted to believe Penny when she said that Bruce had got it right. Take a leap of faith and trust her guts. He really did, still the Bridge was partially a wreck and hundreds of cars were destroyed. Pang. Pang. Pang.
Though there had been no casualties, only minor bruises here and there. Two broken arms. A minor concussion when someone knocked someone else away from Hulk's way. "No casualties. He avoided crowded streets, he went straight for the bridge because it'd be a display and he could swim away!" Pang. Pang. Pang. That had been his second fight with Penny. The first since they had started… dating? Making out? Being partners? Pang. Pang. Pang.
Bruce was gone, somewhere up North. His gamma radiation was being shielded somehow and no one in the building could find him. That was a good thing he thought. If our geeks can't find him, the Army won't either. That gave Bruce some time. Steve had promised him they'd find him before Ross did. Pang. Pang. Pang.
Ross. How could such an asshole have such a kind and endearing daughter? She was sweet mannered, broad smile and undying love for his friend. Pang. Pang. Pang.
The moment Betty reached SHIELD HQ she started working on the sample Bruce had forgotten at the office. "Of course he didn't forget it, he left it for us to find. He left it on the far side of his office, safe from harm!" Penny's wishful thinking was borderline denial. She had her back bruised, she couldn't perform surgeries for at least 4 weeks but she was still sure her friend hadn't gone in a crazy rampage. Pang. Pang. Pang.
"Can I have a go at it?" He held the punching bag and turned around slowly smiling at her. "Sure, but can you handle it?" She had her hands wrapped ready to start hitting it, but he got between her and the bag "Oh no you're not missy"
"Excuse me?" she crossed her arms over her chest. "You need to rest your arm, 4 weeks at least" She raised her eyebrow. "I don't think so."
He got closer to her "You know you shouldn't, you're probably on painkillers"
"I can't really take many of those, so no. Just sheer pure will" she was smirking at him, staring deeply at his eyes. He cleared his throat "Brandon, kill the cams"
"Right away Sir. Done" he cupped her face with his hands and kissed her softly. She kissed him back, slowly caressing his back. His kisses became deeper and more rushed when her hands moved under his shirt. He brought her closer to him and gave her a little kiss on the tip of her nose. "Someone missed me last night"
He gave her another little kiss, this time in the forehead and let go of her. "Always" She came closer to the punching bag and held her from behind "C'mon Penn, you can't"
"I still need to train with my right arm, and bad guys won't stop hitting me because I had a dislocated shoulder" but he wouldn't move and wouldn't let her near the bag. "Rogers, c'mon"
"Nope" she lifted her eyebrow in a menacing way and he giggled. That was his first mistake.
In a second she had her ankle locked on his knee, pushed him to the floor and straddled him, looking triumphant. "You know I just let you do that, right?" He brought her closer to him "Sure you did" and in a swift move his body was on top of hers, his hand tracing lines on her skin slowly, moving from her waist through her ribs. She liked this new feeling of his hands on her skin sending shivers all through her; he enjoyed feeling how she trembled under him.
But it was too much too soon. He had to stop. But how could he when her nails were now tracing on his back and she was nibbling his lower lip? His shirt was half way out and he had found a soft spot under her earlobe that made her particularly agitated. This felt so good, so very good.
But it was a training room in SHIELD HQ. And they had kissed for the first time only 3 days ago. And yes, he wanted this, god he needed to feel her, to kiss every inch of her, to love her… But not now, not like this. He wanted it to be special, not in a rush move on the training floor.
And then he saw her again with her flushed cheeks… Her skin was so soft… His shirt was somehow on the floor and she was again on top of him. He started running his fingers through uncharted territories in her back when he felt a scar, two scars, three… He stopped kissing her neck and looked at her without removing his hand from her back "Lviv. Long story" she rushed a kiss on his lips trying to change the subject. "Pen, wait, I- we can't do this like this"
"Do what? We're just"- and now he blushed thinking he was assuming the wrong thing. She half smiled clearing her throat but keeping her hands on him "Yeah, I guess we're getting more carried away by the minute right?"
"We are on a training room during lunch break. We shouldn't"- she nodded but didn't move from her straddled position on top of him, and he didn't stop caressing her back slowly "I'm seeing that storage Stark mentioned I could borrow today, wanna tag along?"
She smiled "I'd love to" and he smiled back kissing her fully on the lips, bringing her closer to him again.
Not asking Brandon to lock the room door was his second mistake.
"Am I interrupting second base? Please don't stop on my account" Steve practically jumped away from her when he heard the stranger's purry voice. Penny half smiled at the guy at the door "Hello, we were training. I thought the door was locked"
"Clearly" the smug look on the stranger's face was getting on Steve's nerves. "And you are?" Penny grabbed Steve by the hand while he was getting his shirt and walked towards the man standing at the door. "Steve Rogers, this is Phil Stan, Brandon's maker." The men shook hands, "I thought you were in Whitehall by now"
"Had to wrap up a few things here and there. Do you have the samples I left during the weekend?" She looked puzzled "Didn't you hear that Bruce snapped into Hulk right next to my office?" The dark blond man seemed to ponder for a minute "Yes, well, he didn't pass out. He would've passed out if the pen was broken. I need it. I'm trading gadgets with MI6, among other things"
Penny smirked and seemed to have forgotten they were in one of the most used floors of the building because she wasn't letting go of Steve's hand "Oh, you mean you want to show to young Q your exploding pen? Pun intended" Steve couldn't help feeling a little shiver when he heard her purring voice, even if it was meant to be a mock towards some other guy. "Touché" Stan looked to Steve with the corner of his eye "Dark looking geek from MI6, Q is like a Handler"
"Hopefully he'll accept to handle you Stanny" she giggled while getting into the elevator and pressing the 10th. "You will water my plants and take care of Kato right?" Penny rolled her eyes annoyed, "I told you I would already" she paused and looked mischievous for a second, "Do I get the Black Beauty too?" Stan took a deep breath "Okay. But no parking with your boyfriend anywhere. I want it on pristine condition when I get it back Missy" and just like that he handed over the keys of his most precious possession.
Penny was shocked. And no, it wasn't about the clear "don't have sex in my car" implications, it wasn't even about calling Steve boyfriend. "You're letting me have your car?" She stopped the elevator, while Steve asked Brandon to make sure they were radio silenced, he figured she wouldn't want anyone listening, probably not even him.
"You never lend me your car. Ever. You've had that car for 8 years and never lend it to me. What's going on Stan?" It wasn't a question. It was a demand. Stan took a deep breath and looked at Steve and then back at her. "I'm not sure Nellie"
"Mutants? Mr. O? Lakin?" Stan's expression changed from worried to sad when she said that last name. It took Steve a second to remember it. Alexander Lakin. Russian mobster, head of the organization she had infiltrated years ago, ultimate responsible for her imprisonment. They never managed to get enough evidence to convict him and his last known location was a non-extradition country.
"All I know is that Señor Furioso wants me out of here" Steve realized that the guy was a terrible liar. When they reached the 10th he decided to give them some space and went to talk to Betty Ross.
"Lakin's making a move here, not in England" –"I know Nellie, but Fury wants me to go, what can I do? Please be safe okay? I'll be too far to do anything" she nodded. "I guess it's time to poke my frenemy into action"
Stan nodded, "I gotta run. I left your Halloween costume in the trunk." She frowned confused and he winked. "I'm sure it'll look great on you under the moonlight Mocky" he kissed her on the cheek and she held him close "You are coming back soon right? Thanksgiving remember?"
"I wouldn't miss it Nellie" he looked towards the office in the back and saw Steve with his arms crossed over his chest "Take care of her Cap" Steve nodded at him and Stan got into the elevator.
The doors closed behind him and she couldn't shake the feeling of goodbye. She walked into the office and met Steve's eyes, trying to hide his hundreds of questions. She had to tell him everything. Every single thing. But he'd hate her for lying, for keeping those things from him. He would, she was sure of it.
And she'd lose him too. She was getting tired of losing people.
One more day, just one more day.
The Conference room seemed bigger with so little people in it. Hoban was giving the team the latest updates on his Extremis research. Only 2% of the world population could successfully take the nanotechnology and live to see another day.
As it turned out, Tony was one lucky bastard. But they all knew that already.
"All the more reason to find Mandarin sooner Stark, we're running out of time" Barton's face in the video feed looked tired, clenching his teeth. His new partner was probably getting on his nerves. He clearly missed Natasha and she missed him by the looks of both.
Stark was stunned. He wanted to believe that Maya was still a prisoner, but everything was pointing against her. Still, he wouldn't admit it to them, no fucking way. He needed a drink.
"We burnt down the house, and before you ask, we took samples for you docs" Fury crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Did you find anything actionable?"
Major Danvers decided to speak, for some reason she was all smiles towards everyone. Bad day to be the newbie on this team "We found strong indicators of another base, near the Lviv border. We'll be heading that way as soon as you clear us for it Sir"
When they heard Lviv, Penny's eyes moved from Romanoff to Barton, and stayed staring at her ex husband. It was hard to swallow all of the sudden. Barton nodded at her, everything was coming full circle. Bad things always come in threes. Shit.
Steve's hand found hers under the table and that calmed her down a bit. She needed to talk to Romanoff, they needed to smoke Lakin out of his rat hole. Somehow, he was related to all of this. No one sets an operation in Lviv without his blessing. Not even Mandarin.
Fury cleared them for duty and kept bantering with Stark while Barton kept staring alternatively at Penny and Natasha. It was getting hard to breath there. Steve decided to speak, without letting go of her hand under the table "I hate to be the one bringing this on the table but"- he looked at Stark,
"Maya is in on it? Is that what you're gonna say?"
"No, but it's nice to hear you accepting the possibility. No, are you sure they're gonna be there? What if he's planning to attack somewhere else? You're on the other side of the world, and the EU leaders meeting is taking place next week. Maybe this is a diversion"
Fury disregarded Steve, "We have the EU meeting covered. MI6 is helping and we've sent key team members from our staff" Penny gritted her teeth. Stan better made it back.
"Well, do MI6 agents have a vaccine against Extremis sir? Do EU leaders?" Fury didn't like Hoban's tone. "No Doctor, they don't"
"Can we cancel it Sir?" Steve knew Fury would say no. "You expect me to warn the World Security Council and force them to cancel the meetings of World Leaders? That's just one meeting. Mandarin could strike anywhere now" Romanoff spoke "He'll strike soon enough, must be getting restless by now. We'll need to do damage control."
"Precisely agent Romanoff. Stark, you'll be running point on acquiring Mandarin, along with Barton and Danvers. Try not to break much civilian property" He kept talking, without leaving Tony time to respond "Doctor Hoban, you'll run point on a cure. Get us a cure." He wasn't asking, he was telling. Hoban nodded.
"Dr. Ross, I understand that you're concerned about Dr. Banner, but we need your help with this" Betty sighed and agreed, she understood how bad it was. She wasn't getting much sleep anyway so she figured she could work on Extremis and Bruce's work at the same time. "Agent Romanoff will be running point on disaster recovery, if it were to happen" before Penny could retort about Natasha not being fit for duty, Fury continued "You're not cleared for active duty agent. Desk only duties" Natasha nodded clenching her teeth. "Rogers and Dr. Morse will help with the cure and disaster recovery"
Fury looked at Penny. He couldn't ignore the elephant in the room for much longer. "I've been informed by the Tech Team that Dr. Banner's gamma radiation is not being picked anywhere in the globe" He stood still in front of the screen, staring intently at Stark "You don't happen to know how's that possible, do you Mr. Stark?"
"Maybe Bruce found a way to replicate his own signal in all the satellites making it useless. That's what I would've done" Fury turned around and exchanged looks with Penny. "He got rid of the GPS the moment he left the building, can't track him with that either"
Fury started talking again, walking around the room, without looking at anyone in particular "Do you realize that if General Ross finds Dr. Banner before we do it would not be beneficial for him?"
Steve decided to speak "I don't believe anyone in this room or in that room would want that, Sir. We'll find him. He left for a reason; we just need to figure out what the reason was."
"And then we'll find where he's going and intercept him before General Ross does" Penny finished his line brushing Betty's arm. "We will find him before the Army does"
"And if you don't? What if you find him at the same time? What if my dad gets him before you do?" Fury's hands were over Betty's chair. Steve looked straight into Fury's eyes "We rescue him. We leave no man behind"
"You mean to say you're willing to break into an Army facility in order to break out a highly dangerous asset from it?"
Penny's voice raised slightly, apparently there was only so much she could take "He's not an asset. He's our friend, he's her boyfriend. He's not dangerous anymore, didn't you see the feeds?"
"You mean the feed where you're hanging from a Bridge and giving both him and Spiderman a chance to run?"
"Ross was getting here and they wouldn't stop fighting, I produced a diversion" She paused "We'll get to Bruce before General Ross does. As Steve said he's going somewhere, this wasn't random."
"How can you be so sure? You saw the cars thrown over the bridge, damn it, you were right there Barbara!" before she could answer, Steve's hand on her leg made her stop. He talked, "Because he's not just Hulk Sir, he's also Bruce" Both Penny and Betty looked at him perplexed while he walked to the screens. Betty had been witness of their argument about Bruce being himself or not on the bridge and she was under the impression that Steve didn't agree with Penny at all.
Steve brought up the video and froze the image on Hulk's face "His eyes are light brown" He stood there, waiting for the reality of his statement to hit everyone. "Bruce's eyes are brown Captain. What"-
Stark interrupted finally getting what Rogers meant "Hulk always has green eyes, Bruce's eyes turn green even when he's a little angry, does that mean that"-
"Whatever he did, it worked. He knows what he's doing" Steve came back to his seat and now her hand was caressing his slowly under the table. She looked at him and said a voiceless Thank you.
Steve squeezed her hand and smiled with the corner of his mouth, taking a deep breath. I just hope we find him in time.
