Chapter 16: The Rescue
Once Tony had finally decided they'd wasted enough time eating junk food and harassing the poor security guard (who wanted nothing more than to shove him off the edge of the balcony), he set to work teaching Hollie how to control the suit's various weapons. Her aim with the repulsors wasn't quite as sharp as it was with a rifle or a handgun, but it wasn't half bad and would only get better with practice. Though, Tony suspected she might enjoy blowing stuff up for shits and giggles as much as he did – if the pile of absolutely destroyed Stark Industries prototypes they used for target practice in the workshop was any indication.
"These aren't very accurate. I feel like I'm trying to win a dumb stuffed animal at the county fair with a shitty cap gun." Hollie whined, missing a half-built laptop by about six inches and leaving a smoking hole in the wall.
"You need to aim a little lower, but it's good enough for now. Let's test the shields. Tell Jarvis to activate it, and I'll fire. The repulsors are pure electrical energy, so it should just absorb it." Tony told her, kicking the charred remains of an outdated computer tower out of his way.
"Jarvis, activate the shield." Hollie said and held her hands up in the proper position. Tony hadn't had the time to work on developing a barrier that could surround her fully and didn't need to use the wrist repulsors as anchoring points, but it would have to do for now.
"Activating the static barrier." Jarvis informed her, and a concave glowing wall of pure electricity spread from Hollie's palms and grew to about a four foot diameter. Hollie could feel her hair stand on end and actually hear the electricity crackling in the air. Her hands went numb almost immediately, but it didn't come with the normal sensation of heat or burning. Neither, for that matter, did any time she shocked herself on a piece of electronic equipment since having the arc reactor implanted in her chest.
Strange. I wonder if I could manipulate it, Hollie thought as Tony inspected the glowing, translucent patch of air that was throwing off sparks in every which direction.
"Awesome. Now just hold it steady for a moment." Tony said and took aim. Hollie gasped, surprised that she could actually feel the barrier absorb the blast from Tony's repulsors. The charge seemed to pass through her like she was an insulator in a piece of complex circuitry. It felt strange – not painful, but definitely disorienting. The force of it staggered her slightly, but the shield held.
"The power level is at one hundred twenty five percent." Jarvis informed her.
"So it works like that time I got hit by Thor's lightening... Hmm. That's all kinds of useful. Well, let's go save Legolas and his not-damsel in distress." Tony said flippantly. Hollie only nodded, sensing easily that he felt they were taking too long, even though she needed to be familiar with the suit to be of any use.
Hollie just felt like it was a waste of precious time. Even if Clint and Natasha were still alive, which was highly unlikely, her tactics usually were more improvisation than actual planning. Her ability to assess her surroundings and react accordingly in a manner of seconds was what made her so deadly in combat. Though, having some basic understanding of the new weapons in her arsenal could only be a benefit. After all, she still had plans to raze the base to the ground – whether they found the two spies alive or not.
Only dumb luck will save them, if they aren't already dead. Hollie mused, following Tony back into the night sky. There was no reason for their captors to leave them alive other than to try to get information on SHIELD out of them - Information they'd never give. There would be no point in demanding a ransom. It would expose them, and possibly their bases of operation. ...Which was likely the reason the spies were captured in the first place.
But how did Fury know? They were working independently with the avengers, and had so far purposely kept SHIELD out of the loop.
"Something bothering you, Scarface?" Tony asked, when she fell behind a bit while pondering the whole situation in depth. New York was shrinking behind them, and the bright lights grew steadily more spaced out as they passed over the suburbs and into New Jersey.
"I just don't understand how Fury knew Barton and Romanov were taken captive. He shouldn't have known they were there at all, since we were going against orders when we got the Avengers involved. ...Unless he intended for us to do that all along, but explicitly told us not to in order to keep the moles from from finding out. ...But that would be too risky, and I doubt it's something he'd intentionally do." Hollie explained quickly and caught up with Tony. She couldn't manage to fly as steadily as he was, but her balance was improving.
"Hm. That is weird. I hadn't thought much of it. ...Unless this is as much of a trap as Justin Beiber." Hollie heard Tony mutter through her earpiece.
"Hardly, unless you've got some weed and there's a pretty boy mafiosi with a bad haircut waiting for us." She replied with a frustrated sigh. Tony laughed and swerved a bit as he nearly flew into a large windmill that towered over a farm in rural Pennsylvania. "Though, in all seriousness, it probably is a trap. Keep on your toes, Stark."
"Honey, 'In all seriousness', when are you going to stop calling me Stark?" Tony chattered, and ignored Jarvis who was trying to warn him of approaching fog that could be a minor flight hazard.
"Hmm. I suppose when I get drunk enough to sleep with you, which will happen when a pig flies around in a snowstorm in Hell, Stark."
"Great, we're so having bacon for breakfast on the morning after." Tony said, cracking up.
"Oh? I wasn't aware you hung around for the morning after..."
"You have a point there, Darling."
The pointless sarcastic banter (with someone on his own intelligence level), was ungodly refreshing. If nothing else, it made what should have been a tense, stressful situation kind of enjoyable. At first, Tony had thought Hollie was a royal bitch and a half. Now, well, he was kind of surprised with how easily they worked together. Not only that, but she held her own in several conversations they'd had while finishing up her suit. What 99% of the female population would have thought was some kind of foreign technobabble, she not only understood but offered some very intriguing input for improvements on his software programming.
Tony looked over his shoulder at the silver armor-clad woman flying along steadily behind him. Hollie was looking below her at the city of Memphis, Tennessee as they passed over it, their reflections briefly dancing across the surface of the large glass pyramid in the heart of the city. When she thought he wasn't looking, she turned a little back-flip and he couldn't help but smile.
"Sir, there is an incoming call from an unrecognized land line in New Mexico."
Clint drummed his fingertips on the filthy bar counter in annoyance. It wasn't Jarvis' fault, really. He was doing his job. Though, God only knew when Tony would bother to call them back. Natasha had managed to get in touch with Steve who was still in New York keeping up the Avenger's image while they worked behind the scenes, but he hadn't heard from Tony. Oddly enough, they couldn't get a hold of Fury either. Which worried them, considering Michael's comment that Stark was going to blow the base to hell.
Beside Clint, Natasha heaved a sigh and dejectedly picked at an order of french fries that hardly looked edible. It wasn't their first choice of a place to hide, but the dirty little bar was the easiest place to blend in with the locals. ...Which was necessary considering it was a small town and everyone probably knew each other.
"Did Jarvis tell you anything?" Natasha asked, barely audible over the noise of the other patrons that had nothing better to do with their lives than drowning themselves in beer and shots at two in the morning.
"Nope, just that he had to get clearance from the boss." Clint said pinning his eyes to the phone that was probably as old as he was. It had a rotary dial and a one of those curly wires that's always in a knot. Well, beggars can't be choosers and they were just lucky the bartender let them use it. Just as Natasha opened her mouth to complain, the phone rang.
"Merv's Bar and Grill." Clint said evenly into the receiver.
"A jack Daniels, a frozen margarita – double tequila, and... Where the fuck are you, and why did Fury know?" Clint snorted and shook his head, then choked on his beer.
"Fury? He knew we were here? What the...? We're in a bar in bumfuck nowhere. I think Jane Foster's lab is in the next town over, like a hundred miles away." Clint replied, frowning and meeting Natasha's eyes that betrayed no emotion.
"Yup, ordered me to come save your asses. I'm leaving Tennessee now. Sit tight, I'll have Jarvis track this call and give me your location." Tony replied. Natasha poked Clint in the shoulder and pointed at a couple of men that wandered into the bar. To the others they were just another pair of louts looking for a drink and a cheap date, but Clint and Natasha knew they were trouble. The way they walked, the way their eyes darted around the room – they were looking for someone and armed to the teeth with concealed weapons.
"You left Hollie alone? What the fuck, man? She can't do anything on her own yet." Clint accused in a hushed voice.
"Nope, but I think I just legitimately scienced magic. Seriously, it's awesome. You're going to piss yourself when you see it in action." Tony replied, sounding far happier than he had any right to be.
"Right, whatever. Look, we gotta run – the goon squad's here. We'll be in the general area." Clint muttered and hung up. Without a word, the pair of spies sneaked past the bar's busy kitchen staff and out the back door.