I am really struggling to write this story, its not because I can't see it, or because I dont want to, its because I have this other story playing out in my head and i really just want to write that right now. SO, I'm going to post pone this story for the next few weeks. The good news is, it never takes me very long to crank out a story when its grips me as tight as this one has. I literally will start it tomorrow and be done with in in 3 days tops. Then I can get back to this story. until then, enjoy this chapter.
Following Johnny's trail was simple enough, the smell of ash in the air, told Steve the direction he needed to go, even if he couldn't see the heat trail. The Torch was moving fast, but Steve was fast too. Running in dress shoes and a suit, wasn't ideal, but he'd done it before. The shield was strapped to his back as he moved through the streets of upper Manhattan towards the Baxter building.
Steve should have figured Johnny would go there. It had sounded like he had known who had drugged Darcy, he was probably on his way to get the rest of the Fantastic Four. Steve sped up his pace, he'd need to get there before the four took off. He wasn't about to sit this fight out. His little sister lay unconscious, who ever had cause that, was going to pay.
It didn't take long for Steve to find Johnny, he'd been to the Baxter Building a few times to deal with Reed. The last time he had been there, he had been turned into a woman. Not a memory Steve particularly liked. At the time, the building had been humming with workers and machines that Reed had been messing with. Steve hadn't bothered to ask about any of them. The building that he was in now, was a mess of wrecked machines, twisted metal, broken glass and bullet holes.
"What the heck happened here?" Steve's voice rang through the destroyed upper level of the Baxter Building.
"Doom," Johnny said, stepping out from behind some broken machine. His suit from the ball was gone, replaced by the F4 uniform they all wore. Behind him in a puddle was a fairly melted Reed Richards.
"Dear lord." Steve was next to Johnny as fast as he could navigate through the wreckage. "Is he ok?"
"He will be, he just needs to cool down. Doom likes to use heat against Reed, it and cold are the only things that slow Mr. Stretchy man down."
"What happened here Storm? Do you know anything about what happened to Darcy?"
"I don't know what was done to her, but I'm pretty sure I know who did it and possibly why." Johnny scooped up Reed, "You know, this is really gross."
Steve was starting to get antsy, he didn't know what was happening to Darcy and Johnny was making jokes. It was something Tony did when he got stressed out, Steve new Johnny was doing it for the same reason. The anger in his eyes when Darcy collapsed was enough to tell Steve Johnny felt something for Darcy. Steve still wasn't sure what he felt, or if Johnny around Darcy was a good thing, but in the face of whatever was happening, he was willing to put his distrust aside, maybe even admit he was wrong. He would cross that bridge if it came.
"We should get back to Avenger Tower. Tony took Darcy there to be examined by Bruce."
Johnny nodded, "I'll drive."
Bruce with Thor, met Tony on the rooftop landing pad, medical supply kit in hand. Tony's face plate slid down.
"Lets get her inside."
Darcy had made a few movements on the flight from the ball to The Tower, which to Tony was a good sign. At least whatever she was dosed with was leaving her body and allowing her to regain consciousness. Tony didn't want anything bad to happen to Darcy and he sure as hell didn't want to be the one to tell Steve if it did. He shuddered to think what a conversation of that magnitude would do to the super soldier.
Darcy was well loved in The Avengers, but no one loved her as much as the super soldier except maybe the demi-God. Thor stayed back as Tony placed Darcy on the couch inside the top floor. Bruce was by her side before Tony had fully released his grip. Thor grabbed him and spun him around.
"What has happened to her?" He asked, his bright blue eyes full of an emotion Tony had never seen on Thor.
The big guy was always so calm, so happy and carefree. He never feared what would happen to him in battle, often charging into the line of fire before anyone had a chance to assess the situation. It was something Steve often complained about. Tony had never seen an issue with it, he was much the same way. He could hardly find it a fault of Thor's. But the emotions in the demi-God's eyes, so full of fear. So much worry and sorrow. It was something that Tony never wanted to see on the face of his carefree friend. The man that stood before him, leaving Thor sized hand prints in his armor, was a man that Tony didn't know. A man that had lost so much in such a short span of time.
It had been nine months since the battle with Morrigan, almost three years since the fight with Loki and Thor had lost so much. Darcy was all that was left of the time he had with Jane, a constant reminder that things had been different, had perhaps been better. Tony didn't know Jane. He had only ever seen her that one day, that day she had been killed. He had watched as Morrigan had slit Jane's throat, had practically decapitated her. He had imagined time and time again how he would feel if it had been Steve and not Jane. He knew how Thor felt. He knew, because he knew how he would feel if it had been Steve.
"She's going to be okay," Tony's voice was raw, weak with emotions, he cleared his throat. "She is going to be okay." He said more firmly, his dark eyes meeting Thor's. Thor gave a curt nod and released Tony.
"Her pulse is stable, but she's still out cold. I took a blood sample, I'm going to go down to the lab and see if I can figure out what she was dosed with."
"I will accompany you." Thor said firmly, as if he would be argued with.
Bruce gave Thor a soft smile and nodded, "Natasha and Clint came back a few hours ago. They're in the common room waiting for instructions."
Tony looked up from the platform he was standing on, his bots were attempting to remove his armor. He hadn't been told when Clint and Natasha would be coming back, but he was happy to have them. Something was about to go down, he could feel it.
The fact that the elevator door slid open at that exact moment, expelling not only Clint and Natasha, but Steve, Johnny and a rather wobbly Reed Richards only confirmed Tony's suspicions.
"Now we can get this party started." Tony clapped his hands together and grinned. The smile faltered at the look on Steve's face.
Steve was still in his suit from the ball. The slice from the knife Darcy had thrust at him, was visible. The spot that had been an open wound, long since healed, but the dried blood on his perfect skin was still there. A beacon in the night, lit only for Tony to see. Pain only Tony could feel.
Johnny wasn't paying attention to anyone, he had made his way over to where Darcy lay on the couch, still unconscious. "How is she?" Johnny pushed her hair out of her face and ran his hand over her cheek. His eyes were soft as he watched her sleep. It was something so simple, yet so intimate, Tony didn't feel right watching it.
"We think she will be alright," Bruce said from behind Thor, "I was just going to run some tests on her blood, see if I can isolate the chemical compounds that were used on her." Johnny nodded not taking his eyes off of Darcy.
"This was Doom's doing." Johnny said simply.
Reed nodded slightly, he was still unstable on his feet and being held up between Clint and Natasha.
"He attacked The Baxter building. Sue was under his control. I'm not really sure what happened. Ben and I had just finished up some subspace monitoring when I was hit from behind with a ray of some kind. It did this." Reed motioned to his body. "Ben turned to attack but hesitated because Sue was the one holding the weapon."
Tony nodded. Rocky always did have soft spot for Sue. It didn't shock him one bit that Ben had hesitated when he had seen who their foe was.
"In his hesitation, he was persuaded not the fight back."
"Persuaded? How?" Steve asked, speaking for the first time since coming off the elevator.
"Alicia, was taken. Ben went after her." Reed was set down at the end of the couch Darcy wasn't occupying.
Bruce and Thor exited the top floor. Tony knew they would find him when they had information.
"Do you think Doom drugged Darcy?" Tony tossed his jacket and tie over the back of a chair and moved over to Steve. His shield was leaning against the wall, the suit jacket lay draped over it.
"I'd bet my life on it." Johnny, still hadn't moved from Darcy's side. Tony didn't expect him to either.
"We have to get Sue back, Johnny."
Johnny nodded and looked around, eyes falling on Steve, "help us? Please. Reed and I can't fight Doom on our own. We need your help. I want to see him pay for what he's done."
Steve pushed off the wall, squeezing Tony's hand lightly as it he passed. "As god is my witness, I will see that Doom pays for everything he has done to Darcy and Sue."
"Jesus Christ you two really do look alike." Clint said from somewhere behind Tony, making him jump. The doublemint twins had been so silent, he had forgotten they were there. "Ow! Hey!" Tony smiled, he knew that sound well. The sound of Clint getting the patented "you're being an insufferable ass," knock upside the head from Natasha. He had been on the receiving end of many of those.
Reed stood from the couch, his body restored to its normal elasticity, "I'm going to head down to Bruce's lab. Nothing we can do till Doom shows himself again. I'd like to get a jump on what happened to Mrs. Lewis. Especially if it was what caused Sue to..." Reed left without finishing his sentence.
"He's taking this better than I expected," Tony wasn't sure he was talking about but, the statement rang true.
In a room full of superheroes, their relationships were what set them apart from each other. Without the love of their partners, their friends, they were all the same. Fighting to save the world, putting their lives on the line, but nothing to come home to after it was all said and done. Tony used to think that was a good thing. No one to worry about day in and day out, but he was wrong. His relationship with Pepper had taught him that, even if they had ended. He wouldn't trade the time they had spent together, nor would he give up his relationship with Steve.
He used to think love was a weakness, but as he watched Reed walk out of the room, as he looked from Johnny -who sat on the floor, his hand wrapped around Darcy's- and Steve who stood beside The Human Torch, eyes bright with determination. Tony realized love wasn't the weakness, it wasn't what caused the fights, it was what they fought for. It was the driving force behind everything they did.
Standing in a room with Steve and Johnny worrying about Darcy, should have been tense. A room that held Johnny and Clint, that on any other day may have been a bad thing. Tony didn't know what their relationship was like, but somehow Darcy's condition, the knowledge that Sue was in trouble, that Ben was trying to save Alicia, had changed a few things. It all put his life in perspective.
"So, what do we do now?" Clint asked. "Just sit here with our thumbs up our ass, while Steve's little sister and Johnny's girlfriend dies?"
Both Steve and Johnny stiffened at Clint's words, but he was right, they couldn't just sit around and wait for something to happen. They needed to find Doom, they needed to finish this fight. They needed to get Sue back. Darcy needed to wake up. So much needed to be done.
"Clint, show a little compassion." Natasha admonished, but the look on her face told Tony she agree with him.
"No, we suit up and find the bastard." Steve turned to look at the three remaining Avengers in the room. "We take him fast and hard and we don't back down till we have Sue out."
"Can you two work together? Or will whatever happened between you be a problem?" Tony motioned between Clint and Johnny. Johnny's eyes flashed and Clint hung his head. Natasha shifted uncomfortably from her position at Clint's side.
Tony really wanted to know what went down between those two, but it was for a different day.
"We can work together fine, Stark." Johnny snapped. "You just worry about yourself."
"Well, I was. If the personal issues between you two... Or should I saw three?" Clint's head turned to Tony so fast he was sure the man had gotten a crick.
Tony had been watching Natasha out of the corner of his eye while he was talking. The normally stoic, widow was allowing emotions to betray her. Suddenly the picture became clear. He had always imagined that Johnny had been the one to cause the downfall of the relationship. Tony was pretty sure he had been woefully wrong on that.
"If the problems between you three, get in the way of what we need to do, I will personally put you all in body bags." Tony wasn't joking. He had more at stake in this fight, then he wanted to think about. He knew Steve would stop at nothing to exact revenge on Doom for what he did to Darcy. The last time one of Steve's friends had fallen to a foe, he had put himself in an accidental deep freeze on his mission of revenge. Steve didn't stop when it came to avenging people he loved and Darcy would be no different.
There had been no reason to think that Johnny and Clint couldn't work together, they hadn't even really acknowledged each other, other than Clint mentioning Johnny's girlfriend. A woman Tony was pretty sure The Torch loved, if the way he was reacting to her sudden departure from sanity was anything to go by. Still, Tony had needed to make sure that all involved could play well with each other. He didn't need someone getting hurt because they couldn't focus on the task at hand. Doom needed to be dealt with. They needed to make sure Alisha and Sue were ok. They needed to take Doom down and they couldn't do that if people couldn't work together.
"We'll be fine, Stark. Right, Hawkeye? Widow?" Johnny's voice was softer when he spoke. Clint and Natasha nodded once and moved to the elevator.
"We'll meet you back in here five." The two assassins exited the floor leaving Steve, Tony and Johnny.
"Right. Well, you should probably get changed, Cap."
ok, review and i will give a preview of the next chapter. just because i am postponing does not mean i am abandoning. god no i would not leave this story alone. I have worked far too hard on the series.