Well what a week! We had an armed robbery at work on Wednesday, some guy with a hammer dragged me off the till and tried to smash open the note safe. He didn't get away with anything though, and he left his bicycle, and I punched him, so how crap was he?
Disclaimer: I own less than nothing. Thanks to Marvel Universe Wiki and Marvel Comic Database for background and character info.
Matt Murdock sat at the end of his bed in the cold, cramped cell the SHIELD agents had thrown him in the previous week. He shuffled towards the foot of the bed and twisted around so his hands, which were cuffed behind his back, could touch the metal frame of the bed. Task accomplished, he rapped his knuckles once on the metal. Instantly, sound waves rushed outwards from the bed, hitting every available surface in front of it and giving Matt a full view of his cell; no other furniture, one window on his left near the ceiling, one door straight ahead with two armed guards patrolling up and down the corridor. In other words, no way out. He sighed and slumped back against the wall, closing his eyes and listening intently for anything significant. He didn't have to wait long, within minutes the sound of high heels rushing down the corridor alerted him and he sat up straight again. He heard muffled voices and then the thump, followed by another and the sound of metal hitting metal. Matt shuffled forwards again and hit the bed frame in time to 'see' a female on the other side of the door knock out the second guard, the first already in a crumpled heap on the floor. He tapped the frame again and saw her bend and retrieve the door keys, unlocking it and throwing it open.
"Matt!" Natasha ran towards him, smiling. "Jesus, are you ok?"
Matt grinned and twisted his torso as she unlocked the cuffs binding his hands. "I'm fine, Nat. What are you doing?"
"Saving your ass, as usual." Natasha said, helping him up and handing him his cane. "When I couldn't get a hold of you or Tony, I got worried, and then the Director came down to the offices and told us they'd captured you." She tugged on his arm and they exited the cell. Natasha bent and picked up another bunch of keys from one of the guards on the way out before dragging both limp bodies inside and re-locking the door.
"Where are the others?" Matt asked, tapping his cane now and then as he followed Natasha along the corridor.
"I'm not sure." Natasha mumbled. "I know Tony's downstairs in a more secure unit, but most of your guys should be on this floor somewhere." She shook her head. "There's no way to know which cell has an actual criminal in it, the only information I had was yours."
Matt stepped around her and held his hand out to stop her. "Stay still for a second." He said, and tapped his cane hard against the wall. Sound waves moved outwards, over every surface and through every wall, giving him a blueprint of each room and, more importantly, an outline of who was in it.
"There." he said after a few seconds, pointing to the two end cells. "Those two there, Logan and Peter."
They hurried forwards, Natasha untangling the correct keys as they approached the doors and opening them. Peter was just as shocked to see Natasha as Matt had been, but Logan jumped into action straight away.
"Where the hell is Punisher?" he asked, unsheathing his claws immediately. "That God damn bullet gave me a headache for three days."
"Calm down Logan." Peter said. "First thing's first, we need to find Tony. Do you know where he is?" he asked Natasha.
Natasha shrugged. "I've got a rough idea. I know the higher security cells are downstairs towards the research and development quarter, he's probably going to be down there."
Peter nodded. "Then that's where we're heading. Keep alert for any sign of movement, this needs to be done quickly as possible."
They stealthily made their way down three levels, narrowly avoiding a string of guards on patrol one floor down and as they approached the corridor where Tony's cell was, Peter froze and quickly pulled them back from the corner they'd been about to walk around.
"Four guards." He whispered, closing his eyes in concentration. "All heavily armed, two standing outside the cell door, one at each end of the corridor."
Natasha nodded. "I'll approach from the front; get the guard this side talking. Pete, wait for my signal and web them-"
Before she could finish her sentence, Logan leapt from behind the corner and charged and the guards. The closest, to his credit, managed to get a couple of shots off, which Logan deflected easily with his claws, before being flung across the room, sliding along the floor in front of the two guards outside Tony's door. They looked up in time to see Logan advancing towards them, leaping through the air and slashing his claws down, killing both guards in one go. The guard at the other end of the corridor jumped and fumbled for his radio, but Peter fired a ball of web at his face, stopping mid sentence. Firing more webbing to tie him up, the group advanced towards Tony's door.
"Do you do that a lot?" Natasha asked as she flipped through the keys she'd taken from the previous guards. "Barrel into action without thinking?"
Logan rolled his eyes and pushed Natasha out of the way, sinking his claws through the door as if it were made of butter and tearing a huge hole in it before ripping it out of the wall.
"I don't know about you darlin', but I don't think we have time to plan everything out." He growled, stepping into Tony's cell and squinting through the dark.
Natasha followed with Matt and Pete, spotting Tony instantly. He was kneeling on the floor, slumped forwards with his arms spread out, both hands completely encased in metal tubes that were attached to the ceiling. There was a huge metal bar connecting both tubes above his head that looked as though it had a workshop light inside, but it was humming. As Peter and Matt walked into the cell, both men winced and lost their footing. Peter slumped against the wall, scrunching his eyes closed as if he had a headache, and Logan caught Matt before he fell, blinking rapidly and shaking his head.
"What the hell's wrong with them?" Logan asked, helping Matt over to the wall for him to lean against. Natasha looked around the room and walked up to Tony, who appeared to be out cold, noticing the device above him.
"Repulsor tech." she said, pointing to the device. "It's messing with them. It must be hooked into the same wavelength that Tony uses to activate his suit. Peter's spider-sense and Matt's radar sense must be similar, we need to destroy it."
Logan immediately rushed forwards, slashing at the repulsor beam and the metal tubes holding Tony up, completely ripping them apart and tossing away the pieces. Natasha caught Tony as he slumped forward and dragged him over to the wall, propping him up and kneeling beside him to check him over. Peter and Matt perked up immediately, groggily shaking their heads to clear them. Natasha tapped Tony's cheek as he slowly came to, blinking slowly.
"Tony, you have to wake up." She said softly. "We have to go."
"Pepper…" Tony mumbled, head lolling to the side.
Natasha beckoned Logan over to help him up. "We're going to go find her, but you need to get up."
Struggling to his feet, Tony leant heavily against the wall as Logan came over, hooking Tony's arm around his shoulders and helping him out of the room. They stepped over the guards lying on the floor and headed back along the corridor.
"This way." Logan said, sniffing the air and tracking Pepper's scent. They made their way further into the bowels of the ship and finally came to Pepper's cell. There was just the one guard standing outside, and he barely had time to ask Natasha what she was doing before she slammed him into the ground.
Pepper's head snapped up as Natasha opened her door, dragging the guard in with her, followed by Peter, Matt, and Logan dragging a still drowsy Tony.
"Tony!" Pepper stood and rushed over to him as Logan dropped him in the chair by the door. "Oh my God, is he ok?"
"He should be fine." Natasha said. "Hopefully sooner rather than later."
"Pepper…" Tony mumbled again, groaning softly and swiping a hand over his face.
"I'm here." Pepper said, stroking his cheek softly. "Tony, I'm ok, I'm right here."
Tony flinched and opened his eyes a little wider, staring at her for a second before pulling her tightly to him in a hug. Pepper instantly hugged him back, burying her face in his neck and taking a shaky breath. "Pepper, I was so fucking worried. I'm sorry."
"Don't." Pepper said tearfully. "It's my fault, everything happened because of me." She pulled back a little and ran her hand through his hair, sniffing. "I love you."
Tony grinned and dipped his head, pressing his lips softly to hers and hugging her closer. Logan rolled his eyes and turned away, as did Peter but with a smile on his face. Matt shuffled over to Natasha.
"Do you have any idea where they're holding Blake?" he asked her. Natasha shook her head.
"I would have thought the rest of your guys would have been down here, but if you can't sense them…the only other place they could be is in a section near the research and development quarter." She ran a hand through her hair and sighed. "There's a huge medical facility down there but no other cells as far as I know."
Tony, who had recovered enough to stand without help, did so and walked over. "We need to do this as quick as possible." He said. "Nat, you and Peter go down to the R&D department, find Cable and Luke. Logan, Matt and I will meet him down there after we've got Blake. I want you to get Pepper out-"
"Hell no." Pepper snapped. "I'm not going anywhere."
Tony sighed and turned to her. "Pep, you need to get out of here, it's not safe."
Pepper shook her head. "I'm not leaving you. Besides, do you think it'll be any safer out there on my own?"
Tony gave Natasha a helpless look. Natasha sighed. "She's right, Tony. She'll be safer with us."
He remained silent for a few seconds before shaking his head and tutting. "Fine, let's just get this done."
They made their way down to the research and development quarter, Natasha giving Peter a rough mental blueprint of where she guessed Cable and Luke would be. When they got to the heavy door separating it from the rest of the base, Peter and Natasha split from the group, scrambling up through the ventilation system and silently crawling away. The rest of the group managed to get through the first corridor without trouble, but Logan stopped them short of another door, sniffing intently.
"There's guards behind that door, and…" he sniffed again and wrinkled his nose in disgust. "Ugh, I don't know what the hell that is but I sure as hell don't wanna smell it again."
Matt tapped his cane lightly against the door and nodded. "Four guards again, guarding one door. Blake?" Matt asked.
Tony shook his head. "Not enough guards, probably Sue and Johnny."
Logan, who had once again had enough of talking, pushed the door open and flew towards the guards. Matt followed quickly, both men making light work of the grunts. Tony and Pepper hurried forward, stealing a set of keys and unlocking the door. Before he could blink, a streak of fire shot towards Tony. He raised his arm, covering his face, managing to activate the Extremis seconds before the flame hit his arm, ricocheting it away into the wall. Tony pulled back his arm and looked around, spotting Johnny in the corner, flame emanating from his hand.
"Tony?" he said, extinguishing the flame with a click of his fingers. "Damn, sorry pal."
"No worries, why wouldn't you try and set me alight?" he smiled back at the young man, and Sue who was sitting on a bed behind Johnny.
"What's going on?" Sue asked. "How did you find us?"
"We're fighting." Tony said as everyone piled into the cell, Logan closing the door behind them. "First thing's first, any idea where Thor is?"
Both Sue and Johnny shook their head and Tony cursed. "We don't even know where Reed works." Sue said. "When he contacted us about the raid, that was the first time we'd heard from him since we left, and we didn't really hear from him that often while we worked here."
"Seriously, can no one else smell that?" Logan asked, covering his nose and wincing.
Johnny gave him an odd look and raised his eyebrows. "Anyway, point is, we know less than nothing. We're flying blind here."
Tony sighed and shook his head. "We don't have time to plan this. I think surprise is the best weapon we have here. That, and me of course." He activated the Extremis and suited up, flexing his hands and cracking his neck as the armour engulfed him. "Much better. Ok, we have to move now. Peter and Natasha have gone to find Cable and Luke, we're meeting them in the R&D department." He looked at Sue. "You can produce a force field right?" she nodded. "Ok, I want you to project the strongest one you can over Pepper, ok? Just keep her safe for me."
Sue nodded and closed her eyes, concentrating hard. A rush of air washed over Pepper, followed by a barely visible blue wave, covering her completely. Satisfied, Tony led the group out of the cell and back down the corridor, stopping instantly when the door at the end began to open.
Tony held his hand up to stop the rest of the group and aimed one of his gauntlets at the door, bracing himself for whatever was on the other side of it. He concentrated and the repulsor whirred into life, preparing to fire as a man stepped through the door, freezing when he saw the group ahead of him.
"Reed?" Sue gasped and ran towards him, throwing her arms around his neck.
"Sue, what…" Reed hugged her back briefly before pulling away. "You need to get out while you still can, it's not safe."
"What?" Tony asked. "What's not safe? What's going on, Richards?"
Reed shook his head, glancing back at the door. Logan growled and stepped forward, pushing Sue out of the way and grabbing Reed by his collar, throwing him up against the wall and holding him there.
"Listen, Bub." He hissed, his face inches from Reed's. "I'm getting' sick and tired of all these damn speed bumps, and now you're one of 'um. Enough bullshit, what the hell is goin' on down here?"
A low roar sounded from behind the door. Everyone's heads snapped towards it. Logan let Reed go and backed away, staring at the door. Reed shook his head in horror as the roar got louder and the ground shook a little. He turned to Sue and ushered her back.
"Sue, get out. Please." He begged, eyes wide. "You all need to get out, now."
The roar got even louder and the metal door vibrated as the ground shook, before it flew open and the huge, nine foot tall, mutated form of a freshly transformed Robert stepped through it, breathing heavily, his teeth bared, fists clenched, and tiny eyes darting around the room. He roared again, his muscular chest pulsing as every single vein practically popped through his pale yellowish skin.
Logan swallowed and slowly extended his claws.
"Well, at least I know what that stink was."
TBC