Bruce could feel anger coursing through his body. Part of him wanted to release the Hulk on Fury just on principle, but the prospect of his friends suffering as collateral damage forced him to keep the raging beast at bay. He pushed his hands in his coat pockets and turned his back towards the coffee shop. It was a small gesture to show his distain but it was better than the alternative.
Steve's face was a mix of sadness and hurt. The world was nothing like the one he remembered and he so desperately wanted to believe in something. He was a soldier and the best he could do for the world was to continue being the superhero it supposedly needed; SHIELD gave him that opportunity. The more he learned about the organization and their methods the more the feeling of being lost gripped him. Sure, he knew that the success of the mission was more important than the individuals performing it, but the way SHIELD passed off their lives as if they were no more important than the dinner fork they used last night was disheartening. Their friends were inside and it sounded as though it was an inconvenience to see to their safety.
Tony remained impassive. He didn't really expect anything more out of the organization than what they had demonstrated in the past. Somewhere in their quest to keep the world safe, the very people they were trying to save, the reason they existed, had faded to an afterthought. Well, to hell with the world. It no longer matter if everyone he loved was torn from it. Fury may have wanted them to sit this one out, but Stark would be damned if he was going to do nothing.
"Pepper, can you hear me?" asked Tony through the open line to her cell phone.
It took a moment but her voice came through his sound system. "I'm here, Tony."
"Are you doing ok?" It was a silly question; of course she wasn't doing ok. Locked in a room full of armed men, trying to stay hidden, knowing that Barton was injured; no one would be alright. The underlying selfish question of "tell me you're still out of the direct line of fire" carried through.
"They haven't found me but, Tony, you have to listen to me; they're not here for the money. They're here for something in safety deposit box three-one-six called Keres. I can hear them drilling and it sounds like it's coming from the vault, but the manager already opened the door and they were trying to override security protocols to access the box." There was a brief pause then in a much more subdued voice she continued, "Tony, Clint's not doing well. I don't think he can wait much longer."
Stark knew what it was like to watch a friend die; he didn't want that for Pepper. All of his technology and brilliance and none of it could let him walk into that room and wrap his arms around her and tell her everything would be alright. None of it allowed him to swoop in and grab the archer and fly him to the best hospital in the world and demand that they fix him. No, saving them required a plan, a strategy.
He could hear a tinge of guilt in Pepper's voice every time she mentioned Clint. When had it become Clint and not Agent Barton? Tony rarely referred to the man as Clint. It wasn't that he had anything against Hawkeye; Tony himself was more the independent type and compounded with Barton's loner tendencies, the two of them didn't really hang out as it were. Sure, they would risk their lives for each other in order to save the world, that was never in question, but sitting around having a beer and shooting the breeze just never happened. As a result, the Avengers consisted of himself, Thor, Bruce, Natasha, Steve (a constant source of enjoyable moral irritation) and Barton. That was all going to change. When this was resolved and everyone was fine, Tony was going to take great efforts to turn that into "and Clint".
Stark wasn't surprised by Pepper; she had a way of worming into people's hearts and providing them friendship in spite of themselves. She was very protective of the people in her life and to know Barton was slowly bleeding to death on the hard, dirty bank floor would be killing her and that was killing Tony too.
"Listen to me, Pepper, I need you to sit tight and stay out of sight, do you hear me? We're coming for you. I'll talk to you again and let you know our plan, just stay out of sight."
"We need a plan," said Rogers.
"I couldn't agree more, Cap. Right now our canary friend is expiring while a bunch of thugs are about to walk away with something that is of great importance to the Director over there. Now, since they don't care who's left standing when all this is over, I suggest we take matters into our own hands. Banner and I will hack into the bank's blueprints get the lay of the land and you, Captain Moral Compass, are going to be our spy."
"What?" questioned Steve.
"I doubt Fury's going to run over here and keep us updated with his plans, so I want you to go and mingle with your devout followers over there. You know, get the kids that idolize you to spill their guts to their hero and tell us what they're going to do and when."
"You really think that's going to work. Highly trained spies are just going to tell me when they plan to breach the bank."
"If you can't tell Captain America your secrets then who can you tell?" Stark ignored the disbelieving look. "Just get your trusting All-American face over there and do some recon."
Rogers relented and walked back to the coffee shop while Bruce grabbed the computer Tony had been using earlier and started to gather information. Stark slid his faceplate back on and used his interface to help Banner out.
His fingers flew across the screen pulling blueprints and any other relevant information Bruce could find. Tony and he examined the layout of the building, the security, and access points. The police had the building surrounded; there was no way the robbers would be exiting onto the street and negotiation tactics said they could not let the men leave the scene. Negotiations were going nowhere. It appeared that they were stalling for time. The robbers seemed very calm for not having a visible escape route.
"If they have a plan to leave, it's not using anything on these blueprints," offered Banner.
"I agree. We'll just have to hack into our friendly neighborhood SHIELD system and see if they have anything to add."
It took Tony a surprisingly short amount of time to hack into the highly secure database. He sent a more detailed set of blueprints to Bruce's computer. SHIELD was using the bank as a front for a series of highly secure vaults. Located within several safety deposit boxes were access panels that allowed agents to open the secure vaults located behind the bank's main vault. There was also a secret access tunnel that ran under the bank to several different locations within the city.
Stark said, "Well it looks like that's how they're going to get their prize out of the bank. It would also explain the drilling that Pepper's been hearing."
"So they crack open the secret vault, take whatever Keres is, and slip out through the tunnel before the cops know they've left. It's not the worst plan they could have."
"It depends on what Keres is and how bad SHIELD needs to keep it out of their hands. I imagine Fury will level the place to stop them from leaving through that tunnel."
"Can you figure out what Keres is?"
"Yes, but that will take more time. I propose we stop these guys before they get a chance to find it themselves."
Steve made his way back towards the pair. He would hate to admit it but Tony was kind of right. No one told him exactly what they were planning, but they didn't stop themselves from talking in front of him either. All Steve had to do was stand out of the way and offer a reassuring smile to the agents as they bustled around and he'd managed to get the intel they needed; until Fury noticed him hanging around and not so nicely reminded Rogers that they didn't need his services in this situation.
"I don't know exactly what they're going to do, but they're set to enter the bank within the hour. Fury convinced the police to turn the scene over to him. As of right now, SHIELD is in charge and negotiations have been suspended," informed Captain America.
"Well then, we'll just have to get in there first!" Tony opened his line to Pepper's cell again. "Pepper, I need you to hang on for a little while longer, we're coming to get you." Silence greeted him. "Pepper? Pepper! Shit."