(A/N: sorry this took so long to get out. I wanted to have it up last weekend but a big exam in class and writers block delayed me. Still not completely happy with it but I don't want to make you guys wait any longer and its still pretty good.)
Disclaimer: still not mine, which is probably a good thing.
Twisted Metal
Chapter four: Can't not locate file.
Pepper and Tony stood in the fog, straining their senses for any sign of someone lurking in the fog. But everything beyond a few feet merged into uniform gray shadows and any sounds there might have been were twisted into a shallow moan.
Tony slipped on the glove in case something should suddenly materialize from the surrounding haze. "Come on, we better keep moving."
Pepper slipped her hand into his as they started walking. "So we don't get separated, the rope might break, or get cut again."
"Good idea."
They walked on in a general uphill direction for awhile without any noticeable change in their surroundings. Occasionally a tree emerged from the dense gray mass they were walking in but it was hard to tell if they were making any kind of headway. If it hadn't been for a watch Tony had built into the glove for some reason it was doubtful they would have even had a sense of time.
As they moved on they also moved closer together until they arms were touching. Then the fog began to clear and they thought their luck might have finally changed. That is until the rain started. It was only a drizzle at first but quickly turned into a down pour.
To escape the rain they hide under a large tree with thick foliage that kept most of the water off of them. As the rain continued the remaining fog slowly dissipated and they could see the forest had thinned out considerably given way to more rocky terrain.
Unfortunately along with the rain came the wind and soon they were both shivering. Even Peppers jacket couldn't do much to fend off the damp air. In fact the only part of her that was warm was her hand, which was still held in Tonys.
"Come on don't you have something in your pack that'll keep us warm? An electric fire place or something."
"How would I even fit a fire place in there?"
"You fit the armor in to it."
"Good point." He opened his pack and looked through its contents. It was mostly just mechanical things but he did find one of the blankets they had made from the tent. He tossed it to Pepper and she wrapped it around herself.
The change was immediate as the blanket held in her warmth and blocked the wind. Then she saw that Tony was still exposed to the cold. Pepper pressed her lips together. "Tony come here."
"Huh? Why?"
"Because I don't want you to freeze." She opened the blanket hoping he'd get the idea.
"That's ok; it's really not big enough for both of us."
Pepper thought of more augments but she was tired and didn't want to bother with them, so she just dropped the cover on the ground. "Fine, then we'll both freeze."
"Pepper! What are you doing?"
"Either both of us or neither."
"Fine you win." Tony knew sitting out in the cold wind wouldn't help her in any way.
Pepper gave Tony her I won smile then picked up the blanket. Tony had been right, it really wasn't big enough to completely cover them but if they leaned against the tree they were relatively warm though it was an extremely tight fit.
She drifted off to sleep at some point and when she woke up it was incredibly dark out. The rain was still falling though; cascading off the tree tops making little waterfalls all around them. Pepper looked over at Tony expecting to find him sleeping; instead he was wide awake wearing a weary look. It was clear he hadn't slept yet.
"What time is it?"
He looked at the clock he'd installed in the glove. "About one ten."
"How come you're still awake then?"
"Because, someone is out there. I don't want to take a chance that they'll attack while we both sleep."
"Then I'll keep watch for a bit."
"That's ok, you need your rest."
Pepper was seriously tempted to hit him for his stupidity. "Well so do you. What if something does happen and you're too tired to do anything?"
"Pepper, I'll be fine."
She knew she wasn't going to win this time so instead she resolved herself to stay awake with him. Despite this by three she had nodded off and laid her head on Tonys shoulder. By four even Tony had given into his exhaustion and rested his head against hers.
Gene paused and looked around; the fog had closed in to the point that he could only see a foot or so in any direction. He took a step to the side just as Rhodey stepped out of the fog and he put a hand on his shoulder.
"Ah! Gene don't do that!"
Gene just rolled his eyes. "It's too dangerous to keep going like this; we need to find some place to wait this out."
"Fine, wait where are Tony and Pepper?"
"They were tired to you." Gene grabbed the rope and gave it a little tug. The severed end sailed into their little pocket of sight. He gave it a quick looked then spun and faced the fog. "That line was cut."
They moved until they were back to back giving them the largest view of the surrounding area. Which because of the fog was far smaller than either of them would have liked. Rhodey listened but couldn't hear anything. "Who do you think did it? And who are they after?"
"That's what doesn't make since. If they were after me they would have cut the rope connecting us. If it were Stark they wanted they would have cut it between him and Potts. I can only think of two reasons for cutting the rope like this. They either wanted to divide us for some reason or their goal was both of them."
"Gene, I just thought of a third. What if their targets are us?"
"Hm possibly, but who would want you?"
"Hey I have enemies, well a few, maybe. So how do we find Tony and Pepper?"
"First we find some place to wait out the storm, and then we go look for them."
"But what if something happens to them!"
"If we walk off a cliff we won't be of much help. Besides I'm sure they'll find some nice spot and cuddle together for the night." Despite what he said Gene found himself generally worried about them and contemplated searching for them with the Makluan rings. But that would reveal that he was the Mandrain and he didn't think they'd approve of the reputation he'd made for himself.
He did resolve though that if they hadn't found them by noon tomorrow he'd risk it. After all if he slipped away from Rhodey and did a quick search, and if he was careful then they probably wouldn't even make the connection.
He and Rhodey moved cautiously, senses alert for anything out of place. Nothing seemed to stir within the fog but they were both tense, ready to run or fight if a threat appeared. None did though and less than an hour later they had found a small cave. The fog penetrated it about a foot then promptly stopped.
There was no chance of starting a fire and they both wrapped themselves in their blankets. The fog dissipated into a rain and Rhodey and Gene both silently worried about Tony and Pepper.
Pepper felt something tickling her nose, she cracked open an eye expecting to see some bug. Instead she saw small green leafs. Momentary confusion gave way to panic as she saw that everything around them was cover in the thin bright green vines.
They hung from the tree like sleeping snakes and covered the ground like thread bear carpeting. The gray light that came just before the dawn told her they couldn't have been asleep for more than a few hours. Yet in that short time the rain had cleared and the vines had covered everything for several yards around the tree.
The worst part though was that she could see them moving, slowly curling around themselves. A thin vine touched the silvery blanket and started to climb it. Pepper knew soon they'd all be covering them but some primal sense told her if they she or Tony made any sudden moves the vines would attack.
She gently nudged tony and whispered. "Tony, wake up."
Nothing, she did it again and he shifted. "ngu, not now."
"Fine, you asked for this. Tony I set the armor on fire!"
"You what?!" he shot up but Pepper clamped a hand over his mouth and held him still. His eyes showed his confusion for a moment before they took in their surroundings.
When Tony had woken up the vines had felt his movement and stopped their twisting; now they began to climb the blanket again. One dropped down from a branch above and started to move through her hair. Pepper tried not to scream, she really did but when the vine started to tickle her ear.
"AH!" she jumped up and several thicker vines whipped around and grabbed her arms. They started to pull her up into the tree.
Tony shot a beam above Peppers head severing the vines and caught her as she fell with his free arm. The smaller vine start to move now trying to grab their feet but Tony and Pepper ran, crushing them as they went. They didn't stop running until they were well away from the vines.
They both collapsed panting onto the hard ground. "Thanks for the save Tony."
"No problem, guess the plants around here really like you."
"To bad because I don't like them, creepy little things. Can we just get going?"
"Ok." They got up and resumed the trek up to the research facility.
Just after sunrise Gene and Rhodey were on the move again. With the fog gone Gene was quickly able to find a well worn dirt road that they followed. The rain had washed away any tracks that might have been on it but in the mud along the side there were the distinctive tracks of wolfs.
The tracks cut across the road and went higher into the mountain. They were well above the tree line now but large rocks ripped from the ground littered the area and reduced sight to twenty or thirty feet. There were also ditches criss-crossing the area and the road had several bridges built on it over the large ones.
It was around mid morning when they caught sight of the research facility. It was only two stories high and painted so it blended into the surrounding rocks. Even the windows were tinted somehow so they didn't reflect light.
It took almost an hour of walking before they reached the last bridge before the building. Gene was about to step onto it when Rhodey grabbed him by the arm and pulled him back. "Wait, Tony said the security system was still on. We need to be careful or we'll get blasted."
Gene didn't think there was much chance of that but decided to humor him. "Fine, lead on then."
Rhodey walked across the bridge carefully watching where he put his foot. Just as they reached the end he looked up at the corner of the building and saw a figure dart behind a wall. He stuck out his arm to stop Gene, right then they were covered by a large pillar but if they went a few more feet they'd be in the open.
"Hold it, someone's up there."
"Are you sure?"
"Yea. I defiantly say someone duck behind the side of the building."
"Alright then." Gene crouched down and pulled open a small hatch Rhodey hadn't even seen. He climbed down and Rhodey followed. Below the bridge was a small platform built part way down the foundation. They stepped onto the metal grill floor and looked around. For a moment Rhodey wondered if they'd trapped themselves there but there was a door.
It was flush against the concrete wall and was made of a dulled metal so it was almost completely blended with the surrounding walls. When Rhodey pushed against it though it popped open with ease. The inside should have been pitch black but it was surprisingly bright thanks to several small half globs built into the wall. Gene walked over and examined one. "It looks like they reflect the light from outside."
The corridor was straight with no turns and lead to a ladder that went up quite a ways. It ended with a submarine style hatch at the top. Gene put his foot on the ladder but Rhodey stopped him. "Let me go first."
"Be my guest." He stepped aside and Rhodey began climbing. At the top he turned the wheel and slowly opened the hatch, when it was about a quarter of the way open someone grabbed it from the outside and yanked it open. Rhodey was blinded by the light and blinked to find a laser being charged next to his head.
Tony and Pepper had left the last of the trees behind them, but their going wasn't any faster because they had to avoid the ever increasing number of chasms the riddled the side of the mountain. The footing was treacherous with lose dirt and more than once they came close to falling into a deep crevasse.
Pepper was the first to see it. "Look!" she pointed excitedly at a bridge that spanned a large crack in the earth farther up the mountain. "Come on there must be a road up there we can follow to the lab."
Before they could reached the bridge though they both heard a low threatening growl from behind them. Several of the wolfs from the day before were slowly making their way up behind them. Tony raised the glove and a few of them paused but one kept coming. He planned to shoot a warning shot at the creature but the glove only glowed then gave a hiss and went dark. "Oh that's not good."
The wolfs seemed to sense the change and they all moved forward. Tony glanced behind them; there was a shallow ravine with more of the vines at the bottom. It was a hard choice, stay and fight even though there was no way he could see to win or jump down and take their chances with the vines. "Pepper, I think we're going to have to jump"
She glanced back. "On three?"
"One, two, three."
They both turned and jumped. The jump wasn't really that bad, school children had jumped from tree higher than that and landed without a scratch. Those children though hadn't landed in a mix of mud, rocks, and vines. As a result both of them received several burses; they climbed back to their feet and looked up. The wolfs were at the edge of the ravine but didn't seem to want to come down.
Tony had been wrong about the ravine; the vines hide several inches of thick mud. Almost a foot and a half deep in the middle. They stuck to the side where the mud was only three inches deep. It was incredible slick and they had trouble making any kind of headway. He put the glove away since it wasn't working and would only hinder his movements.
Pepper set her foot down and it sank into the mud then began to slide out from under her towards the center of ravine. "Whoa whoa whoa."
She pin wheeled her arms trying to keep from falling but it didn't work. When she hit the mud it seems to part under her and then cover her again. It felt like something was pulling her deeper, within a moment of falling the mud rushed over to cover her face. She was suddenly cut off from air, light, sound and Tony.
Tony turned around when he heard Pepper and saw her fall into the mud, a half formed laugh died in his throat when he saw he slip under. "Pepper? Pepper!"
There were only a few feet between where Tony was and where Pepper had disappeared but by the time he reached it and plunged his arms in he couldn't feel her. He worked his way farther out to the center of the ravine. She shouldn't have just disappeared like that, did something grab her?
The mud was up to his waist now, he couldn't find any trace of her but he was sure if she'd been pulled under she would have slipped this way. He tried to remember how long it had been, it felt like minutes already but he knew it couldn't have been more than a few seconds.
Pepper struggled but it was like trying to run through syrup. No matter how hard she tried to move her limbs they refused to go faster than a few centimeters a second. No no no this can't be happening, I didn't survive super villains, perverted vines, falling out of a rail car and a pack of wolfs just to die in some mud. Oh Tony, where are you, is it really harder to save me from the mud then gangsters?
She couldn't breathe and wasn't sure if the darkness she saw was from the mud or lack of air. She pushed her arm in the direction she thought was up but only felt more mud. It felt like it was trying to strangle her, pressing down and forcing the last air from her lungs.
Tony was still franticly searching for her as the darkness of the mud turned to the darkness of her mind and she stopped struggling against it. He looked up and down the banks in the hope that Pepper would suddenly appear somewhere but the mud was unmoving.
Then a slight shift in the middle of the ravine ten feet from him. The tips of three fingers broke the surface and brushed against the little vines. Tony moved as quickly as he could to them but even as he did they started to sink back into the wet earth.
Just as the tips disappeared Tonys hand shot under and caught her wrist so he wouldn't lose her again. His other hand went under and found her back; with a cruelly slow pace he pulled her back towards the surface.
Finally though the surface ripped apart and Pepper broke the surface. Tony used his hand to wipe the mud from her face. "Pepper, come on Pepper."
Nothing, then her eyes snapped open and she sucked in so much air Tony was sure she'd pop something. Pepper collapsed back into Tony's arms and breathed heavily as he knelt in the mud supporting her. After several minutes she finally calmed her breath. "Thanks."
They stayed like that for a few more minutes, Tony letting pepper get a little of her strength back and trying to calm his own heart down. Pepper wouldn't have minded just laying there for the rest of the day, after what had just happened being there with Tony like that was incredible comforting.
Tony surprised her when he pulled her into a tight hug. "Don't do that again."
"It wasn't something I had planned, but uh ok, I'll try."
He pulled away from her but she still rested in his arms. "Good. Come on let's get out of here."
He helped Pepper to her feet and they went back to the shore and began walking again. This time though Tony kept a tight hold on her hand to make sure she couldn't slip into the mud again. She wasn't complaining though, Pepper was glad for the extra support Tony provided because her limbs still felt shaky.
Neither one had been paying enough attention to have seen the thick vines several yards behind them fall into the mud, dead, cut from the rest of the plant by the same force that had separated Tony and Pepper from Rhodey and Gene. Or the rest of the vines under the mud float to the surface.
Since the slops were too steep to climb they just kept walking farther up the ravine. As they went a small stream of water appeared in the center of the mud and grew until they weren't walking through anything but half an inch of clear water.
Ahead of them the ravine curved slightly and they found their way blocked by a curtain of vines. Going back wasn't an option because it would have taken the rest of the day and neither wanted to risk going through the mud again.
Given, the vines weren't a very appealing alternative. Still it was their only real choice, they moved to the center of the stream where the vines were thinner and gently pushed them aside as they moved through. Peppers instinct told her to just run through them as fast as she could but Tony forced them to go slow.
The vines shifted around them like a sleeping animal but didn't attack. Then they were through and she let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. Her relief was short lived though because before they had taken five steps there was a low growl from behind them. They turned to find the pack of wolfs watching them from just beyond the curtain.
There was no pause this time, the first wolf leapt through the curtain, jaws wide. It had a look of pure hated in its eyes. Tony pulled on Peppers hand to move her behind himself. The wolf never made it to them though; as it passed through the curtain the vines suddenly contracted snapping the wolf into place. It struggled but soon the vines had wrapped it in a cocoon, its growls tuned to whimpers then stopped altogether.
Tony and Pepper took a step away from the vines, they had known the vines were dangerous but this was the first time they'd seen just how dangerous. Neither one wanted to stay there any longer and they turned their backs to the vines. Confident the wolfs wouldn't try and follow them this time.
After only a few more minutes though they came to another mass of vines. Unlike the curtain though this one was several feet thick and would have been completely impassable if it wasn't for a large gash cut right along its middle. Vines hung limp and lifeless on either side of the cut.
Neither one liked the looks of it, nor the thought something that could just tare through the vines like that was somewhere on the mountain. Still they went on going as fast as they could while still watching where they put their feet in case one or two vines were still alive. None were.
Just beyond the mass of dead vines they came to a stop. In front of them was a waterfall about fifth teen feet tall and a set of stone steps carved into the side of the ravine leading up. They paused long enough to stand under the waterfall and wash off the drying mud, epically Pepper who was still covered with the mud.
After they were relatively clean they climbed the steps and found themselves on a small path, just a few hundred yards away was the research lab. Pepper and Tony traded smiles hurried towards it along the path. When they reached the building they stopped and Tony slipped on the second glove he had in his pack in case they had to deal with any kind of security systems that needed a little extra push.
They slowly started to walk around the building looking for the entrance, but except for the windows which started on the second floor they weren't having any luck. "Come on Tony this was your dads lab, don't you know of a secret passage or something we can use?"
"Pepper, this is a lab not a, uh, well something with secret passages."
Peppers next words were cut off as she noticed a hatch in the ground particle hidden by a few large rocks. "What's this?"
As she knelt down and reached for it the ring on top suddenly started turning and it popped open. She looked at Tony who put a finger to his lips then grabbed the hatch and yanked it open holding the glove in front of himself ready to blast whatever decided to try and attack them next.
Whatever he had been expecting it wasn't Rhodey, which was who he found. "Tony? Pepper?"
"Rhodey? What are you doing down there?"
A muffled voice came from below Rhodey. "You found Stark and Potts?"
"Yea." Rhodey climbed out as Tony hid the glove in his pack again.
Gene climbed out after Rhodey and gave Pepper and Tony a quick once over. "Well it seems you two have been having fun."
"No way! Those perverted vines tried to eat both of us, so did the wolfs but later the vines ate the wolfs so that's ok I guess. But I almost drowned in the mud too! It was not fun! Well ok a little." Gene didn't miss the slight blush she had and tried to hide his own smile at their awkward state.
"Well shall we get inside and finally be done with this little trip?"
"We've been trying but we haven't been able to find the door yet."
"Well guess we all better start looking then."
As they started around the building again looking for the door Gene realized just how relieved he was that they were safe. And no matter how much he told himself it was just because they were useful to him he didn't completely believe that.
"I thought you'd looked up plans for this place, didn't they say where the door was?"
"No, it just showed where the labs were, I assumed that the doors would just be there."
They searched for several minutes without luck until Rhodey for a small panel on one of the walls. "Guys come check this out."
Tony looked at the panel; it was small with a screen and a connecter. "Ok give me a few minutes and I'll see what I can do."
Less than a minute later the wall parted along an invisible hinge. Gene ran a hand long the wall. "Impressive work Stark."
The inside of the research facility was lit by outside light like the passageway under the bridge. As soon as they were in Tony had them stop and went to another panel on the wall. It was broken open and the surrounding wall was charred. "I guess the security systems been turned off."
"Well that's luck." Rhodey said as he looked around.
"A little too lucky." Gene looked at the panel too. "It looks like someone's, slashed right through this."
Pepper touched Tonys arm. "Come on let's just hurry up and find the cure so we can get out of here."
"Ok." He lead them down a series of hallways to a large reinforced metal door which slide open with the touch of a button. Inside were several padded tables and lots of medical equipment. Tony turned on the labs computers and started to scroll through the system.
"Ok Pepper, the computer needs to get a full scan of you before we start."
"Uh ok, how do we do that?"
"Just get into the med scanner." He glanced at her and saw a blank face. "The big egg shaped thing in the corner."
"Oh ok." She went to the egg and climbed inside. It was actually pretty nice inside. The floor was as soft as a bed and she almost drifted off to sleep.
While the computer scanned Pepper, Tony brought up the inventory and searched for the cure. A moment later he slammed his hand into the desk. "NO!"
Rhodey and Gene came over. "What's wrong?"
"The cures gone, it must have been taken when they abandoned the lab." He pointed to a list of letters and numbers, the one he had highlighted, along with several others, had flashing red lights next them.
"But you can make more right?"
"I don't know Rhodey, it could take weeks and we've already taken so long. Pepper can't have more than two days."
(A/N: Hope this chapter was pretty good. Next chapter you find out many things, who has been following them, why. If nothing comes up the next chapter should be done in about a week.)