"Okay, if we head to the DIY store, we should be able to get hold of some heavy-duty wire cutters. It's where the school gets theirs," Steve whispered as the group, now plus Pepper and Rhodey, tried to sneak through the town.
"We'll have to split up," Tony said. "Pietro and Bruce, if Bruce hulks out, Pietro can get everyone out of the way; Pepper and Rhodey, so that if you're questioned, you can't be punished; and that leaves me and Steve. We'll make a hole somewhere in the fence and then come get you guys."
They all agreed, and broke into their pairs.
Tony and Steve headed to the DIY store, climbing through the broken window. The store was in dire straits, with many of the shelves tipped over, and random coins scattered over the floor. Steve hopped over them neatly, but Tony couldn't quite jump so high, and resigned himself to watching from inside the smashed display window.
"Steve!" Tony hissed, hurriedly clambering over the fallen rack of car cleaner. He pulled the taller blonde to the floor as a flashlight beam blasted overhead, missing Steve's ragged-looking golden tufts by a finger's width.
"I think there's something in there," A voice, male, shouted. To their horror, the door swung open and a couple of boys entered the store.
"Get under the desk with me," Steve whispered, almost dragging Tony silently and as quickly as possible across the now dusty laminate floor. He and Tony then awkwardly folded limbs and body parts to fit under the desk, pulling a big flat-pack cardboard box to cover the opening. Tony was curled up as tight as possible, sitting on Steve's legs, while Steve was forced to use his arms to hold Tony upright, his head being forced down and into the nook of Tony's neck. In any other situation, Tony would be pissing himself laughing and Steve would be as red as a beetroot (it was highly likely that he was blushing anyway) but this was the only place they had to hide and there were larger, stronger boys who worked for Reed (Tony recognised the arrogant smirk of Johnny Storm) stalking through the room.
"I swear to god, Storm, if you take us on any more wild goose-" One voice said, before another cut him off.
"I can detect the sounds of another two people breathing," A voice said, robotic and malevolent. "If you hold your breath for a few seconds, I can isolate and track the sound."
Steve and Tony held their breath, desperately trying not to let noise out. Tony took hold of one of Steve's arms, holding it by the wrist, and squeezed to get rid of stress. Steve was too scared to care.
Through the crack of the desk, he could see the boys were carrying various weapons, from maces, to baseball bats, and was that a sword?
"I can't isolate them, the breath signatures have disappeared," The robotic voice confessed. Tony adjusted his spine, prepared to breathe out, when Steve suddenly grabbed him tightly, drawing his awkward gaze. Steve shook his head, filling his cheeks with the breath he'd been holding to convey the message. It was a trap; the robot would make them think he had given up, when really it was a ploy to make them breathe. Tony listened, and couldn't strain to hear the breathing of the other boys. He briefly considered kissing Steve, who had just saved both their lives.
Wait, what?
The thoughts were pushed from his head by the sound of footsteps approaching, dangerously close to the desk. Tony closed his eyes and silently, without moving, prayed to any god out there, and probably a few superheroes just to be sure, and was nearly stupid enough to release his stale breath when the footsteps receded.
The breathing in the room resumed, and Steve released his silently through his nose, inhaling and nearly moaning at how good it felt to breathe again. From the frantic exhaling and inhaling he felt from Tony's chest, Steve could tell Tony felt the same way. If he could get drunk on oxygen, he was doing.
"Okay, it was probably around the back," Storm admitted, earning groans from the other boys. The robot stepped into Steve's view and if he had been breathing noisily, he would have gasped.
The robot was terrifying.
With glowing, bone-chilling red eyes, long limbs, and metal plates in the place of muscles. Its face was an odd shape, with almost disk-like cheekbones extending the entire length of its head, forming points at the ends. Its voice was deep and gravelly, the sort that rose the hairs on the back of Steve's neck.
Then, in one long, large stride, the thing disappeared.
"Steve?" Tony whispered, after a few long moments. "You might want to let go of me now."
Steve shook his head to clear the image, releasing Tony from his vice-like grip. The smaller genius clambered up, making sure not to make noise. For a moment, he looked almost like a stray cat, limbs twitching, hair ruffled this way and that, his dark eyes wide with fear as they scanned the room.
Tony bent over and lifted an almost comically large pair of heavy duty wire or metal cutters and made scissor-style snipping motions with them, pulling off the tag.
"Well, at least we got what we came for." Steve chuckled, laughing despite himself. "Imagine if we'd left empty-handed after that experience."
"Here, take this," Tony tossed a large work uniform hoodie over to Steve, who caught it and gave him an odd look.
"Put it on," Tony hissed, draping another hoodie over his small frame and pulling the black hem down to cover most of his face. "If Reed's really in charge of that, he's out for blood. We're running for our lives now."