Ever since he found out the name of the man who kidnapped Natasha, Tony hadn't stopped searching for her. He had JARVIS go through every wireless camera in the world, along with phones, Bluetooth sets, really anything that Jarvis could access. While he had Jarvis do that, he did his own research on Victor Hemmings. He knew that if he wanted to rescue Natasha, the best way to do that would be to know his enemy. Besides, this guy was probably a wanted criminal anyway and could pose a serious threat to the team later if they were unable to capture him.

What he found on the man made him very concerned.

Victor Hemmings had been associated with the Red Room, the same place where Natasha had received her spy training. Tony knew that this alone was enough to cause for extreme concern. Anyone who was associated with that horrid place was bound to be messed up. More research told him that Hemmings was indeed a wanted man. However, he was quite wealthy, due to helping Hydra with training spies of their own and creating weapons and other devices for them. This wealth made him able to get others to help him, even take the fall for him. It also alleviated the police from ever capturing him. He pretty much paid them to not take him away.

The man made Tony sick to his stomach.

No, Hemmings could not even be considered a man. After everything he had done, everything he continues to do, he was no less than a monster in Tony's eyes.

This made him worry greatly for Natasha.

He was currently sitting at a computer, looking at all the articles and government reports on Hemmings. The more he read, the more he wanted to kill the guy. His head started hurting as his brain soaked up the information. He groaned in frustration, moving his hands to the screens in front of him, pushing all the articles aside so that he was staring at a blank screen. It was then that he saw the reflection of the good ole cap.

"Can I help you?" Tony asked, turning his chair so that he was looking at Steve.

Steve continued to watch him for a moment, the slight pink in his cheeks showing that he was a little embarrassed about being caught. After a moment, he regained his composure, and then cleared his throat before speaking.

"Is everything alright?"

Tony scuffed. Wasn't the answer obvious? Of course everything wasn't alright. Natasha was missing, shouldn't everyone be worried? She could be dead for all they knew. Sure, she was one hell of an assassin, but that didn't mean she was immortal. Was he the only one that was concerned about this?

Steve walked toward Tony and sat in the open chair next to him. He didn't say anything for a few moments, just watched and gauged Tony's reaction. He clasped his hands together and leaned forward. After a few moments, however, he broke the silence.

"You know we're all worried, right?"

"It doesn't seem like it," Tony grumbled. "You guys are just sitting around while I'm doing all the research!"

He hadn't noticed that he had started yelling until he was finished speaking. Yeah, sure, he got upset from time to time and was a bit overdramatic, but he rarely ever yelled unless it was during a battle. Steve continued to watch him with concern in his eyes. Tony had to look away, knowing that Steve was probably catching on to what was going on with him and why he was so upset.

"You love her."

Tony snapped his head around to look at Steve again. He held his breath as the words sank into his head. He knew he had feelings for Natasha, but he had never equaled them to loving her.

"No. I just.. I'm just concerned," Tony said, trying to cover up his behavior quickly.

It didn't pass with the Captain.

"Tony, it's pretty obvious how you feel about her," Steve replied, getting up and walking over to Tony. "You don't have to hide it."

Tony took a deep breath and tried to swallow down the lump in his throat. He knew that, no matter how much he denied his feelings toward Natasha, Steve wouldn't be fooled. He let out a shaky breath, just looking at Steve with a broken face.

"Yeah, I do," he finally admitted. "And I'm scared I won't get her back."

Steve gave Tony a small smile and put a hand on his shoulder. Tony tried to look back at him, but his gaze just fell to the floor in defeat. In a way, it was nice to admit this weakness. He felt like a weight had been lifted off his chest and he was able to breathe better now. He knew he wouldn't be able to lie to himself about how he was feeling about Natasha anymore.

"We'll get her back," Steve promised.

Tony was startled awake by the sound of an alarm going off. He almost fell out of his chair as he was sprung up, trying to remember through his sleepiness how to turn the damn thing off.

He looked up at the screen, then his heart stopped.

JARVIS had picked up on a signal of a camera, and in the frame of that camera was Natasha. The sight of her made him want to scream. She was bound to a chair, her hair nowhere near as neat as it usually was, and her eyes looked dead. There were bruises all over her arms and she was beginning to look malnourished.

"Find the location. Now!" Tony snapped, finding his phone and quickly messaging everyone about what was going on, telling them to meet up at the tower.

"The location is in New Jersey, sir. About 20 minutes from here by car."

Not soon enough, Tony yelled in his head. He clenched and unclenched his hands, trying to keep his anger to a minimum so that he could continue to think clearly. If that was by car, then it would probably be quicker in his suit. He should be there in no time. But he still had to wait for the rest of the team to get there so that he could let them know what was going on and give them the location so they could follow. He knew he'd probably arrive first, and he would be able to protect Natasha and hold off whoever had kidnapped her until the rest of the team was there.

He was brought out of his thoughts by the clearing of a throat behind him. He turned around and saw the rest of the team, minus Natasha, there. Steve stood up straight and proud, just like a soldier. Bruce was a bit slouched, nervous and unsure of what was going on. Clint had his arms crossed over his chest, looking like he was ready to kill someone. Someone had gotten ahold of Thor thankfully, who was looking confused but ready to battle if necessary.

"I found Natasha. And I'm going to have JARVIS give you guys the location and I'll meet you there," Tony quickly said as he threw his arm out, calling for his suit.

"Shouldn't we come up with a plan of attack?" Steve asked.

"The plan is to attack, Cap. We don't have much time, especially not with what that guy on the screen there is saying. I have to help her."

The rest of the teams' attention moved to the screen, watching the video that was currently being broadcasted. By the time they looked back to where Tony had been standing, he was gone.

As he flew toward the place JARVIS had told him the video was being recorded, he was very thankful he had adjusted how fast the suit flew. He had asked JARVIS to play the video in his helmet as well so he would be able to keep tabs on how Natasha was doing. After only a couple of minutes, he saw some weird government-looking place nestled in the woods. It wasn't too big, so he knew that finding Natasha wouldn't be a problem. That didn't stop him from being very frantic. He just wanted – no, needed – to get to her and get her out of this place. He stopped once he was over the middle of the building, trying to think of what to do next. He could just blast his way in. No, then if he didn't find Natasha right away, something could happen to her.

"JARVIS. Can you find Natasha's heat signature?" he asked hopefully.

"I can try, sir. But there are no promises."

"Just be quick."

Tony looked around the building, trying to figure out where the best place to attack would be. On the screen in front of him, he saw JARVIS registering heat signatures. There weren't many people there, maybe 15 or 20. This was either a small operation or just one of many buildings.

"I'm sorry, sir, but I am unable to locate Agent Romanoff."

He sighed, looking around helplessly. He had to do something, and soon, because someone was going to notice him flying idly above their building. He scanned the building and the heat signatures that were still present on his screen, finding an area with just one person. He swooped down and headed in that direction, bringing his hand up to engage the repulsor and blasted a hole in the building so he would be able to get in. He landed swiftly, looking around for the person that was shown to be there. After scanning the room, he found a man huddled in the corner, a shocked look on his face. Tony walked over to him, then the man pulled out a gun. Tony held up his hands as if he were surrendering.

"Look buddy, I just need to know where Victor is. We're old friends, it's his birthday, wanted to surprise him." Tony lied through his teeth.

The guy just stood there, gun still trained on Tony. He looked Tony over once more before lowering the gun. So gullible, thought Tony. The guy moved from his corner and started walking toward a hallway, beckoning with his hand for Tony to follow. After a few seconds of walking, they stopped.

"Last door on your left, should be in there, but I'd wait outside for a few," the man said, still looking nervous.

"Thanks," Tony said before flying toward the door.

As he flew down the hall, he heard Natasha's screams from outside his helmet instead of just the video. It broke his heart and made him absolutely furious at the same time and he practically growled at JARVIS to turn the video off. He found the door to the room that she was in and burst through. He stared at Natasha in horror for a moment before turning to the man that caused all of this.

"Sorry, pal, but I don't like it when people take my stuff."