Tony stared at the cellphone in his hands, completely shocked. The sound of a gunshot, and then nothing. No Laynie. No Hammer. Static. He wanted to cry, he wanted to hit something, but all he did was sit and stare.
"Next time, it won't be a warning shot." Hammer growled. "Now, Tony, all you have to do is provide me with what I want and you get your dear daughter back. It's not that hard."
Tony choked out a breath, taking a few deep ones before snapping back toward the phone. All he could hear were Laynie's quiet, terrified sobs. "When do I bring it?" he asked harshly.
"Oh, as soon as you can, whenever you feel like it. Within the week," Hammer said casually. "Goodbye, Stark, I'll send you some coordinates."
"Ham-" The phone clicked off before he could get a word in. With harsh, shaky breaths he stood up, one hand clenched around his cellphone.
"Tony?" Bruce said nervously.
He suddenly screamed in rage and threw the cellphone across the room. It shattered on the far wall. "How could this have happened? How could I have let this happen?"
"It's not your fault, Tony. It's no one's fault, but Hammer's. He's the one to blame here." Bruce said calmly.
"Blaming yourself isn't going to help Laynie." Tony ran a hand through his hair and sighed.
"You're right." Steve cleared his throat, "What are we going to do?"
"We do what he asked," Natasha said. "I've seen these situations, and I've seen Hammer. He isn't stable. We know nothing about Laynie's condition, about Hammer's location, about the guards. We give him the tech and deal with the repercussions later. That's what I say."
"We don't know he'll give her back," Tony said in a small voice.
"Worst case scenario, we have to make him," she spat.
Natasha was a spy, an assassin. She was trained to keep her emotions checked and separate her personal life from her work. And she was cracking. Moving in with the team was probably the worst tactical choice she had ever made.
"How long will it take you to get what he needs?" Tony shook his head.
"Two, maybe three days. Some of the stuff isn't even sold in America. And..."
"And what, Tony?" Steve asked.
"It's all things that Arthur wanted for his project."
Carter was laying out on the couch of her apartment, staring at the ceiling when JARVIS came to life. "Miss Banner, Miss Potts has asked me to make you aware that your friend James is coming up to visit."
"Thanks JARVIS."
It wasn't long before she heard the familiar beep signalling the elevator arriving at her apartment. She looked up and saw James standing there with a sympathetic smile.
"Hey..." she said quietly.
"Hey," he walked over to sit beside her. "How are you feeling?"
Taking a deep breath, she shrugged. "Worried, angry..."
James took her hand in his, "I'm sure everything will be alright."
"Everybody is saying that, but I don't think they actually believe it." Carter muttered. "I just want my best friend back."
James sighed. "I know. But I mean, you live with some of the most powerful men and women in the world. They care about Laynie just as much as we do, and they can do a lot more about it. I don't think they'll give up until Laynie's safe."
"Yeah, yeah..." Carter replied. "So, how are you doing?"
James smiled, "I miss Laynie obviously, but as you can see I was worried about you too."
"You shouldn't be. I'm safe." Carter answered.
"But you're scared for Laynie." He pointed out.
Carter stuck out a tongue. "I asked how you were didn't I?"
James grinned. "I'm fine."
"Good."
"Let's see about getting your mind off this. Feeling up to a movie?" He reached into his bag and pulled out none other than whole Batman trilogy.
Carter shrugged. "Why not?" She pointed to the TV. "DVD player is over there."
After putting the first DVD in James sat plopped down next to Carter.
Halfway through the second movie, James felt a weight on his shoulder. He looked down and saw that Carter had fallen asleep on his shoulder. He thought about waking her up, but decided against it.
He sighed when the credits started to roll across the screen. Gently, he shook Carter's shoulder. "Carter, it's time to wake up."
Her eyes flashed open.
"Morning, Sleeping Beauty." James smiled.
She rolled her eyes and pushed herself off him. "Sorry about that."
"It's not a problem. But, you should probably get some sleep." He looked at his phone.
"And I should be getting home."
Carter told James goodnight, then crawled into her bed. Her last thought before she fell asleep was that of her friend, and wondering where she had to lay her head.
At the bottom of Laynie's backpack, her phone vibrated constantly.
"Laynie, please answer the phone." from Tony.
"Laynie, we still on for Skype?" from Shawn.
"I miss you." from Carter.
But miles and miles away, Laynie couldn't hear it.