This chapter was originally just in one part. But it seemed like a massive infodump and I needed you guys to have time to digest part of it. I'll post the second half after some tweaking tomorrow. This story is drawing to a close soon. Looking at 3 - 4 more chapters. I hope you've enjoyed the story so far. I've started a new one called 'Hello' if you're interested. Please check it out. (:

Long Island.

The house was burnt out like the reports suggested. Tony stepped out of the car, his eyes moving over to the house in question. Natasha and Clint kept their distance from him. Steve remained by his side, followed by Tony's footsteps who led him in through well informed guidance. He moved towards the inner part of the house, charred edges forming around broken furniture.

Tony's eyes settled on a hole in the ground. He moved over, Steve grasping at the back of his jacket to make sure he didn't fall. But Tony just stared into the black.

Slowly, he began to remember.

Remember everything.

Sail

XIV

Revelation 1/2

It was just like any op. Tony's thrusters on his boot sent the usual scan of the city to Fury. There was a brief sound from SHIELD of some criminals amassing a plan to overthrow SHIELD and then the Avengers – the usual. Tony knew it wouldn't happen, of course it wouldn't. These criminals could hardly stick to their own plans, let alone someone else's; whoever it was pulling the strings.

"Nah, nothing over here, Hill. My scans show nothing other than the masses going to work. Forwarding the images now." He gave a smile behind his mask. Maria Hill was a pain to work with and he knew it, but sometimes he had to resist the urge to think anything bad of her commanding tone.

He kind of liked that in a woman.

"Alright, Stark," her voice came and Tony's face lit up like it was Christmas. "Fly over to Long Island and scan there. We have agents doing a cover op on the ground. Secure Long Island and you can go home."

"Gotcha. You know," Tony began with a grin, altering his course. JARVIS was already on it. The waypoint on his dashboard located the co ordinates sent from Hill. "We should grab dinner sometime."

The flight over was uneventful to say the least. Just rainy grey clouds and typical splatters of freezing rain from being so high up.

There was a blip on the radar. Tony went down to investigate as a recon op for the SHIELD scouts to follow up on later. It was in your creepy, run of the mill empty building. Shame really, Tony never remembered this. He was born here after all.

He stepped in, crisp wooden strips breaking beneath his armored feet. It was probably burnt down some time ago. Cracks in the broken windows showed some fading light spilling in.

"Stark? How's it looking?"

"Creepy," he responded with a perked brow. "Usual setting for a bad guy get-together." He stepped over. A crack, then a snap and something blew off in his face. He fell back, forced back by something trying to rip his head off. If Tony had ever wondered what a punch from Muhammad Ali felt like, he kind of had a good idea.

He found his body spinning, shattering through several layers of wood before he hit what felt like concrete and rubble. He paused for that moment, just trying to get over the presumed concussion that filled his groggy mind.

What a damned day.

Tony spluttered, and coughed. Dust specs clouded his visor and even switching to thermals didn't help. Whoever blew the room apart lay a trap for him. He was thankful for the suit, otherwise scratchy dust would already be on his lungs. He blinked, as if it would help the suits scanners as he stood.

One moment he was talking to Hill, the next thing he knew something exploded. He stood up, suit diagnostics predicting a 20% damage to the helm. Typical, they always aim for the face.

"Alright…" Tony muttered. He lifted his head, communications were flitting in and out of focus. He pressed his lip into a thin line; everything was dark. It was like whatever had blown up had sent him hurtling into some sort of lost edge of time. The only thing he could see was thick blobs of dust and some wooden frames that blew to splinters in whatever explosion it was.

"Hill?" he whispered. "Hill? Can you hear me?" There was a burst of static, causing him to flinch. He tried to shut it off, but it was just so damn loud. He pulled off his helmet and chucked it to the floor. He was damn well almost deafened by it. "Jesus… Right." He looked up, his eyes scanning across the way. Thick dust clouds pushed through his panting lips, causing the billionaire to cough and his eyes to snap shut.

"I need to… Get the hell out of here."

He managed to pry his eyes open, or at least one of them as he glanced upwards. So he had fell. Well, had been blown back. Falling would mean he was clumsy. He wasn't that clumsy – at least not anymore.

"Tony."

He paused his breathing at his name. He whipped his head around into the darkness. How can this rickety old house have such a dark underground passage?

"Who's….Who's there?" He coughed. He needed his helmet back. He'd rather go deaf than not breathe. Moving over, he heavily stepped forwards and bent down to his helmet.

"Don't," Came the voice again. It was a woman's. Tony knew who's it was.

"I should have guessed," Tony choked, moving the helmet to his face. "Only you could have come up with something so sneaky and backstabbing."

Natasha stepped out from her hiding place. She held a small clear mask over her face. Her brows knitted upwards as she stepped closer, kneeling to Tony as she pressed her palms on either side of his helmet.

"You're dangerous," She whispered. She tugged off his helmet, in which his hand snapped up to keep the damned thing near his face. "Tony."

"I was wondering when you'd make the move," Tony whispered looking at her. His voice was scratchy; there was just so much dust and damp. Something else was in the air too. "SHIELD can't put me on a leash like everyone else."

"We never wanted you on a leash. We just wanted you to operate inside parameters." She kept her fingers on the edge of his helmet, but was no match for the suits strength. But she didn't budge. Neither did he.

"You're always hiding something," Tony kept his eyes on her. The trouble with her was he never knew if she actually was working alone here or if someone was in those damned shadows. She was good. "You just hate me snooping around."

"There are just some things that you can't know." She moved closer, her lips tracing across the suit's golden face. "But you can never leave well enough alone."

"So, what now? You're going to kill me?" Tony was smiling underneath the mask. He'd want nothing more than to go ahead and take those beautiful lips of hers. But he'd have to control himself. It wasn't worth not breathing after all.

"No," she spoke in a low and husked whisper, her eyes lifting from behind clear glasses. "No, I wouldn't let them hurt you. I know what you're like. I know who you are, Tony Stark. You're someone I consider as close to a friend as they can get."

"So, what now? This is a very elaborate way to slap my wrists don't you think?" He almost coughed. His helmet wasn't on properly yet, dust was getting in.

"Do you know what I've had to endure to get where I am today?" Her fingers remained under the clasp. She was counting on the damned dust getting in. Tony could easily rip hers from her mouth. He should do it, to breath. "I'm so sorry, Tony."

"I'm bleeding for you. Honestly. My heart's bleeding for you," Tony whispered to her. He couldn't do it. Natasha was someone he considered to be a friend too. He couldn't hurt her. He couldn't even when she tried. "Stop."

"We need to take you in," She said whilst pulling up his helmet. Tony's fingers wouldn't work. What the hell was in the air? What was making him feel so weak? He squinted when the helmet was taken off and Natasha's hand was on his face. He found himself leaning into her. He couldn't breathe. He didn't have the effort to gasp anymore.

"We're just going to take you in for a while. Make you come around. You'll see how good SHIELD really is, Tony. It's my home. My life. You can't destroy it over a few secrets, you know?" She held onto him, his eyes were snapping shut from the dust. "I didn't want to do this. Personally I don't think you'll cave. But you need to, Tony. We need you, we need you 100%. If you can't trust us… We have to make you."

Tony couldn't stop his eyes shutting. He tried to speak, tried to ask what the hell was happening to his body. What was in the dust, what Natasha meant by destroying her home. "I need to go," he croaked, trying to flicker his wrists to activate the jets, but he couldn't. He couldn't move.