A/N: I am on fire! Two posts in one day, partly cuz you were all so nice by reviewing, partly cuz I'm in the mood, and partly cuz I might not be able to update tomorrow and break is ending, which means less posts :(
Disclaimer: To those of you who have short term memory loss, I don't own the avengers, I thought I already made that clear.
BTW: Again, switched to Clint halfway through, so don't freak out, peoples! :P
The harsh lights made Tony's eyes hurt and he blinked to try to focus on the equation he was working on. The last time he had checked, it was only 8 at night and already dark. He twisted uncomfortably, rubbing his eyes again and groaning. Despite acting otherwise, the lab was uncomfortable, the cold from the outside had seeped through the walls, and the constant bright lighting always messed with ones perception of time. There was a new message on the computer screen, and it took a couple readings to understand what exactly it meant. It read: Flight to Malibu scheduled for 11:00 PM today, sir. Tony didn't know how much time had passed since the last time he had checked so he called out, "Jarvis, what time is it?" He actually winced at how rough his voice sounded. "It is now 10:20 sir." Jarvis informed him, and that got Tony into a frenzy. Paranoid as always, Tony made sure he looked casual as he tucked any necessary technology he didn't have in Malibu into a briefcase, then made his way to the lab's bathroom with it.
He had gotten paranoid when he had gotten back from Afghanistan, and even Pepper didn't know the extent of the changes he had made. He took out his Arc reactor, Quietly hissing in pain, and pressed it against the drain in the sink. The sensors caught the glow, there was a loud click, and the mirror swung open. Behind the mirror was a panel, and tapping in the code, Tony watched as the door to a passageway opened, disguised as a wall in the small shower he kept in there. Grimacing at the pool of water a couple inches in (he hadn't got to completely sealing the cracks near the floor from the water), and picking up a suitcase of essentials that he kept stored in case of emergency, Tony was far away from the Stark tower within minutes by accessing the unused sewer tunnels.
Jarvis rung out from the tablet that Tony kept tucked under his arm, "Sir? Are you sure you want to leave?"
"Yes, Jarvis, I just need to be alone." Tony wasn't so sure what he needed anymore, in truth, but still, he trudged on, determined to finish what he had started. Jarvis spoke again, "What should I tell the other inhabitants of the tower if they ask after you?" Tony sighed. He didn't want to leave them in the dark, but any information would set them on his tail. "Just tell them that I am safe. Nothing more, Jarvis, not times, not anything, not even this conversation; understood?" "Yes sir."
And with that glum announcement, Tony boarded the plane under the cover of dark.
THIS IS A PAGE BREAK BECAUSE THERE IS NO OTHER FREAKING WAY TO SEPARATE PARAGRAPHS
Clint tumbled out of the ceiling with a curse. "Damn it Stark." He swore, then moved towards the bathroom that he had seen Tony enter. He hadn't wanted to invade the man's privacy, but it had been 10 minutes of no-show, and he was worried. To his complete and utter shock, the bathroom was completely empty, and there were no signs of any possible exit. "Shit, shit, shit, shit!" Clint repeated under his breath as he gave the room another once-over and started to search the lab in a panic. The others had opted for him to keep watch for now, because the vents were a convenient way to follow Tony, and, being an assassin, he was good at keeping quiet, but now he had lost his quarry, something that had never happened before. The others were not going to be happy.
"You lost him?!" was the collective cry of outrage from the group, and Clint flinched at the glare Natasha was pinning him with. He protested, "How was I to know that he would magically disappear in the bathroom?" but underneath the tone of outrage was one of guilt and regret, and the others eased off. Steve paced back and forth, Natasha chewed on her bottom lip, almost unnoticeably, Thor gripped his hammer, and Bruce stood, worry glimmering in his eyes. "Jarvis, where is Tony?"
"I'm sorry, but I'm unable to tell you. He is safe." Real regret could be heard in the electronic butler's voice, but he was programmed not to go against a direct order from Tony. "That man…" Natasha hissed, but Clint knew that she was just expressing her frustration.
"Tony, what have you done now?" moaned Bruce, and Clint could see how harshly Tony's depression had affected the man. Steve didn't say anything of the sort, only turned pale, and went to directly addressing the problem, "We need to find Tony, which means bringing in Fury. He has the resources, it only makes sense." Clint felt his jaw clench at the mention of Fury, but it was Bruce who argued. "As much as I want to find Tony, you know that Fury would ask too many questions and just end up arguing with the council for hours instead of searching. And if the director finds him, he'll only send a swat team in, which you know that Tony can outrun and we'll lose him forever. I think we should try to find him by ourselves before calling SHIELD in." His reasoning made perfect sense and no one argued.
Surprisingly, Thor was the one who took immediate action, calling out, "Jarvis, can you not tell us anything about the Man of Iron's disappearance?"
"I'm afraid I cannot. Mr. Stark was very thorough in prohibiting me from telling you anything. I cannot find any loopholes."
"Is there any security footage?" Bruce chimed in.
"There are neither security cameras nor sensors detecting Mr. Stark's exit, nor are there any existing files of transportation."
"Can you tell us how Tony left the building?" Clint asked in turn; he was still frustrated that he couldn't find out how Tony left the tower without being seen.
"I am afraid not, Mr. Stark is very protective of the secrets within the tower."
"This conversation's not going to get us anywhere. It's time to do some real investigating." Natasha snapped, and stalked out of the room. After exchanging glances, they followed her down to the lab.
As soon as they got in by using a security override code, Steve took charge. "Bruce, check for any missing technology that Stark might've taken with him and search for any trace of information that would help us know where he's going or what he's planning to do. Clint, Natasha, you two scour that bathroom, find something, anything. Thor, I need you to get an overhead of the city, maybe check some bars, just some general search. Keep me updated." From the harsh tone in his voice that they rarely heard, Clint knew Steve was about to snap with tension. The only other time Clint had heard him sound like that was while Tony was flying the missile into the portal.
The first thing he did was check the ceiling and the vents, but was surprised to find that the ceiling was thick all the way through, and that the only vent was one on the wall towards the floor, but much too small to climb through and bolted shut. They tried the floor next, but to no avail. Clint stared at the shower head and drain and asked, "do you think he went down the drain?" Natasha didn't respond, only unscrewed the drain cover and fished around. Nothing, nothing and more nothing; He wanted to slam his head against a wall. After thoroughly inspecting the whole room, top to bottom, they still had no luck. Without warning, Natasha slammed her fist into the mirror, the shards raining to the floor. She continued to stare forward, no emotion on her face, but Clint could tell that she blamed herself for Tony leaving. "Tasha, there is no way you are to blame for this. We all were being jerks, and even still, Tony might still have tried to do it." He assured her, but still, she stayed focused forwards. "Come on, don't be stubborn," he began again, ready to launch into a rant just to convince her, but she said in surprise, "I found something." Clint rushed forward and helped her clear the rest of the pieces from the frame. Instead of a backing, there was a hollow space in which some of the shards had fallen into, and in it, there was an inset panel that asked for a code. "Banner!" Clint shouted, even though the links were working fine, "Get in here!"
"What is it?" Bruce panted as he entered the cramped space, and the two agents just pointed. They both backed away to give him room. "Cap, we found something." He said softly, and then started examining their discovery, muttering to himself as he went. "Normal code, 20 digits, long with a secure hacker firewall, hmm, difficult to get through. I wonder, how did he access behind here? The glass was firm before they got here, some sort opening device on the edge of the panel, would swing open…" He pried at the frame and looked at the wires embedded in in, following the progress with his finger, down, hidden through carved inlay tunnels in the wall down into the sink. He detached the drain, and inhaled sharply, he had discovered something. "What is it?" Clint asked him, and Bruce ushered the two forward.
"Tony would take out his arc reactor, let it shine down there," Bruce pointed into the drain, "and the reactors would recognize the energy pulse emitted by it. That would trigger the frame and mirror to swing outwards, and entering the right 20 digit-long code would do something."
"What?" Clint asked but Bruce gave a frustrated sigh, running his fingers through his hair, "I don't know, I can't find out until the code can be found."
"Everyone, get up to the living room." Steve announced over the link, and the weariness in his voice made Clint feel the exhaustion of the night sink into his skin and weight his bones.
3 minutes later, Clint was sprawled on the couch, Natasha sitting on its arm, Steve sitting in his high-back chair, Bruce sitting on the floor with his back to the couch, and Thor in his huge plush chair. They couldn't help but stare at the red and gold chair that Tony usually occupied. Steve started with a sigh, "I talked to some people," At their defensive looks he assured, "Not SHIELD, just some personal friends, and they have nothing." The room suffered from the silence that should've been filled with Stark making a crack about Steve having friends. "Me and Tasha found the first step of how Tony would've left without being noticed. There was some sort of code that would do something; we just don't know what it is yet." Clint reported softly and Natasha nodded. "I looked, Tony definitely took some of his gear, but I can't find any plans, he was thorough; as always." Bruce admitted, looking downcast, "I looked briefly at the code, and I already know that I can't hack it. We can't pry at it with any force, any tampering and a security system will go up, and I don't want to risk that." Thor too, looked upset, and quietly reported, "I am sorry, I searched for the man of iron, but I could not find anything important. Despite Steve's frown, the leader comforted them, "I'm sure we'll find something soon, and we've already made a good amount of progress. Tony probably isn't too far away yet, and Jarvis told us that he's safe, which is the important thing. We all need sleep, Don't argue, we'll figure out what to do next tomorrow." Nobody had the strength or heart to argue, and they made their separate ways to the suites that Tony had given them when they had moved in. It took him what felt like forever to fall asleep, mind plagued with worry for his disappeared team-mate.
Again, long, but what can I do? It's either long, or ridiculously short, so, long again. I am high on reviews and views, and if you want me to try to update tomorrow, I need energy from you guys. Reviews= Energy= Words. So, review, even a couple words would work, and I'll try to get some more out as soon as I can! Hope you enjoyed!
