(A/N) So here is the revision of tyesterdays chapter. With a nadded scene between Steve and Maria Hill. Sorry that it was so bad yesterday hope this makes up for it.
"What is it?" Steve asked Maria Hill as they speed walked along the halls of the helicarrier. They had passed the meeting room long ago and since he was still admittedly shaky with the layout of the helicarrier he had to follow her blindly. Figuring out where he was headed at the moment took second place to finding out what intel they had found on the missing teammate. "What did the search bring up?"
"Didn't stay long enough to find out," she explained as they rounded another corner. "Went to find you the second the result came up." They started to near the launch pad. "Heard Agent Romanoff give the order to prep a jet though, as well as a direct order from Director Fury to accompany the Avengers in the rescue of ."
"He doesn't trust us that much huh?" He asked mainly as a joke, but also slightly curious as to her answer.
"Tony Stark is the only man who knows how to create and, with the exception of Colonel Rhodes, knows how to operate it."
Steve stopped in the middle of the hall disgust etched onto his face. "So is that all his is to you? A resource? Didn't almost dying to save Manhattan mean anything?"
"These are just my orders Captain." Hill replied calmly. "Tony Stark is a valuable asset to S.H.I.E.L.D. just like his father was, but he was never signed on as a member of the Avengers protocol he is just a consultant."
"Last I checked consultants didn't risk their lives in battle."
"It's no secret that doesn't play well with other, or that he has textbook narcissism. That isn't what the Avengers protocol calls for so he remains a consultant. Isn't that the basically the same thing you said when you asked him who he was without the suit?" She wasn't trying to be the bad guy in the situation but her orders were clear and she was ready to follow them.
Though her words shocked Steve and he realised she was right. He basically accused Stark of doing nothing for the sake of others and being basically nothing. "I was wrong to say that. Tony Stark isn't just a man in a suit, or the genius who made it. He's an Avenger."
"You're angry." Agent Hill smiled. "Good, use that anger and get your team mate back."
Confused with her sudden change in mood Steve watch her befuddled. Then it hit him "Did you just play me?"
"Sorry Captain, but of all the Avengers you're the one who Fury was most concerned about saving due to your previous encounters. Just wanted to make sure your heart was in the right place."
"Did I pass?" Asked Steve defensively. He was annoyed that Fury would even think that he would do anything to jeopardize a team mate's life for any reason.
"With flying colors," she heard something through her earpiece. "On our way," she replied. "Time to get moving Captain."
The door to the launch pad opened with ease, a sight that was relieving after the lookdown that Violet Lansing had caused. A small spark of hope was ignited knowing that at least they had the helicarrier back under the control of S.H.I.E.L.D.. It was a small victory if anything but at this moment it was something that they needed.
Out on the launch pad it was windy and the atmosphere was thin enough so they had to wear oxygen masks. A single jet sat on the runway ready to take off. When the captain and agent reached the jet they found the rest of the avengers suited up- with the exception of Bruce for obvious reasons- and ready to go.
"What did you find?" He asked pulling the mask off once he was inside the jet.
Natasha flicked a few switches starting the engine. "Last time she was seen by any camera was on a dock of the coast of New Orleans boarding a large shopping vessel. She was seen loading a storage container on board. I did a quick satellite search of the area and found the missing quinjet a few miles away."
"Do we know where the ship went?" Steve asked not quite sure how satellites really worked. It was one of the things on his large list of things to research along with a few movies and other pop culture things that Tony had suggested.
"I tracked the ship to a few miles into the golf. That's where we're headed now." Natasha had the back door lift off and checked with Clint to see if they were ready to go.
As they lifted up Clint called through the P.A. system. "You might wanna buckle up. If you think we were going fast before you're about to be proven wrong."
A beeping noise went off and the electricity stopped. Tony breathed heavily going suddenly limp as the torture stopped. His mind was spinning so much that he could barely keep the choppy thoughts that went through his head. They were everywhere going from thinking solely about how screwed he was too about the randomest things that had nothing to do in his mind at the moment.
He was barely able to make sense of the words Melissa told him. "Well if your friends are acting like they should then their global search should be done. The Avengers are on the way." She looked at him expectantly seeming slightly disappointed when he said nothing. "Nothing to say have I really left you speechless?"
Tony attempted a shrug. "What do you want me to say? You're obviously three steps ahead of everyone here. It's like trying to beat Cap' in a race to download itunes, it's not even fair to be honest it's just funny to watch him struggle."
She laughed a bit. "You just think you have me all figured out don't you ?"
"I wouldn't say I have you all figured out," he said, "but I do have a working definition."
"Oh, do you?" She asked amused with him. "Then tell me who am I?"
It was a trap, he had been in situations like this with women before and they never ended well. But he had been tortured and shot twice so he felt like he didn't have much else to lose at this point. "Obviously you're intelligent, and badass if you don't mind me saying so I'm assuming you did intelligence work for someone. You had a son, but I'm guessing that the dad is no longer in the picture, or you wouldn't have gone all psycho."
"How do you know I wouldn't?" She asked defensively.
Tony knew he hit par with her; it was obvious in her eyes. "Because I've seen that look in your eyes all of my life. You're lonely, but you think you're too strong to need someone. Of course you're not though no one is, only a fool thinks they are."
"Are you forgetting who's in control here?" She asked.
"You're the one who asked for my definition of you and I can give you it in three words, You are foolish." He regretted the words even as they came out of his mouth.
The glare she gave him chilled his bones and created god bumps over his sweaty body. She kicked open the door to the container just in time for him to see a jet fly over them. "We're invisible to them, by the time the circle back to search all the ships nearby we'll be long gone. Everything is just how I wanted it; could a fool pull this off?"