A/N: Hey everyone, sorry this update was a little slower than normal, but this is an important and pretty long one for you to enjoy.
I would however like to take a moment to say that my thoughts and prayers are with everyone affected by the events in Paris, it really is a horrific tragedy, but it is in times like this, in the face of adversity, that we become most united as a people everywhere. So wherever you are please do spare a thought.
Disclaimer: I don't own the Avengers (if you hadn't already noticed), I only own my OCs and their plot.
Lucksby x
CHAPTER 9
Two months later, somewhere over Canada…
"Stark join Hawkeye on the ridge, Romanoff you're on the ground with me, Banner, stand by in case we need you."
"Roger that Capsicle we're ready."
Tony Stark swooped down to join Barton on a ridge overlooking the facility they had been tasked with taking down; an outpost of HYDRA Fury had said; somewhere where they outsourced the more menial tasks too. However there were men and women imprisoned inside who would most likely die by HYDRA's hand if the mission wasn't completed. That was why they were there. They were unconventional, but the best.
"We're going in." Romanoff's voice sounded in Tony's ear and he nodded to Barton as they watched to small figures, one clad in black, the other in stars and stripes, move swiftly towards the compound.
Sirens tore through the air as the alarm system was tripped. This was the delicate part of the operation, getting the hostages out before Tony blew the place to kingdom come with a suit he had designed especially for the occasion. He was looking forward to it.
Suddenly bullets where whizzing past, "Barton, Stark, they're coming out your way."
"No kidding Nat!" Barton yelled beside Tony who was already firing off his laser blasters taking out the guards pouring from the complex.
"Hurry up with the hostages so I can blow the place Cap!"
There was something about watching the Avengers work together that was completely awe-inspiring Coulson had always thought; something about the way that such dysfunctional personalities suddenly melded into a team that had deadly precision. A team where each would always cover the others' backs. That night, as it would turn out, Tony would find out just how important that was to their survival.
"All the hostages are out, Stark blow the place!"
"It would be my pleasure Romanoff, JARVIS?"
The AI sounded in Tony's ear, "Yes sir?"
"Send in the Mark 52."
"Of-f-f cour-s-se s-si-r"
"Hey, what's up with you JARVIS? Catching a cold or something?"
"Act-ctually s-s-s-ir I thin-nk something is wr-wrong with my-my-my syste-"
High above the compound, encased in his Iron Man suit, Tony Stark paled. "JARVIS!" However static was the only response he got from the AI as the suit around him began to jerk out of control and plunged down towards the ground headfirst.
London…
Two months had gone by since Ren had been payed a visit by Agent Coulson of SHIELD, and it seemed that he had actually kept his word and left her alone. Of course she knew that they would be keeping a watchful eye over her but even so it had worked out a lot better than she had predicted. However sometimes she couldn't help but wonder what would have happened had she said yes; she didn't regret her decision, but then again for her it would always be a what if?
As they neared the end of the school term these moments came rather more frequently, as bored and tired in lessons made for a distinct lack of concentration in Ren. In fact, the morning it happened, she was sitting in her chemistry class staring out the window at the view over London, idly doodling what she saw on a scrap of paper.
"Seren?"
Her head snapped up, "Yes miss?"
"Can you tell us the answer to this back titration please?" Ren's eyes flew over the board, her brain suddenly whirring, and Cel who was watching could see the incredible speed at which her best friend was mentally calculating the numbers all over it. Her lips where silently mouthing numbers as she demolished the question in seconds, "2.48x10-3 so 0.00876 mols…"
"The mass of calcium carbonate is 0.877 grams which means that it makes up 87.7% of the limestone." She stated. That made the rest of the class stop laughing, and the teacher, who thought that she had finally caught out the student who gave her so much sass for getting sample questions for the class wrong, looked crestfallen. Cel had to smother her grin, of course Ren had been able to do the complex maths in mere seconds, she was the smartest person in the room by far.
"Yes, um well done Seren. Now, do we all understand how-" There was a knock at the door. "Come in!"
Ren's breath hitched as she saw who it was outside the classroom door. "Can I talk to Seren Ashmore and Celena Leveque please?" It was the American accent, dark suit and sunglasses of Agent Coulson.
"Yes of course." The teacher looked flustered, "Off you go both of you."
Ren dragged her body out of the seat, a sense of foreboding weighing heavily on her as the pair gathered their things, and silently observed by the rest of the class, exited the room. As soon as the door had closed she faced straight up to the agent, "Why?"
"We can't talk here", he answered looking around, "So if you'll come with me I'll explain."
Cel, however held Ren back, "You said you'd leave Ren alone, so why are you here?" He let out a long sigh. "Because we dearly need her."
"So you're telling me that he just fell out of the sky?" Coulson gave a nod of affirmation. "Then why the hell have you come to me, his life and mine are separate remember!"
The man gave her a hard look, "I've come to you because his suit didn't just malfunction, it was hacked, and someone was remotely controlling it when it was sent crashing to the ground. He was high enough up that if Dr Banner hadn't caught him he would be dead, as it is he is in hospital in a coma." This caught her attention and she suddenly looked aghast.
"But if the hulk caught him he should be fine!"
Coulson shook his head. "Whoever was controlling the suit shut off Stark's oxygen supply from the outside air. The oxygen deprivation caused him to black out, and he was practically comatose by the time the rest of the team got him out of the suit. He's in a SHIELD run hospital in New York now; the doctors are pretty hopeful that he'll recover fully but brain damage wouldn't be unexpected at this point."
Ren was quiet, and Cel put a hand on her shoulder silently supporting her friend as she processed the information.
Brain damage! Brain damage! The voice in Ren's head screamed over and over, but this is Antony Stark, that can't happen to him! If there is one thing that defines him it's his brain. The brain he passed to you, her mind chuckled, and that's why he's here. They want you to solve the great mystery so justice can be dealt out, cause you are the only other one in the world who knows how to think like Tony Stark!
"You want me to go over to look at the suit don't you?" The question was blunt and directed straight at Coulson, but he had been expecting her to work it out quickly.
"Yes", he replied with equal bluntness, "You are undoubtedly the best computer programmer that SHIELD has access to, not to mention the fact that you grew up around JARVIS and are the daughter of the man who designed him. If anyone can find the person behind this, you can." He looked her in the eye as he spoke, and she felt like he was peering right into her soul. "I believe that Tony may still be in danger, and that whatever your misgivings about working for SHIELD, and indeed alerting Tony to your being alive, you would not want him to suffer any more than he already has."
Ren sighed, closing her eyes. In reality she knew that Coulson was right. She might not want to be dragged into his world, but neither did she want Tony Stark to endure any more pain than that which had already been inflicted upon him.
She had never before been in a position where she could actually do something to help him, a position where she had power to do good, but with a jolt she realised she did now. More than that, perhaps doing this for her father would ease her guilt about staying hidden from him; it would free her from her own self-condemnation.
"Okay…" She said slowly, "I'll do it, but I have some conditions, and I think you know what they are…"