Bella slept at Stark Tower that night. Or rather, lay in bed all night, trying to fall asleep. She was too worried about everything. She got up at three o' clock and went for a glass of water, but otherwise lay in bed until eight the next morning and started to make breakfast for herself and Tony. Tony had been up late looking at whatever Agent Coulson had given him.
She walked into the kitchen and started mixing up batter for pancakes. She had never been the best world's best cook, but Pepper been teaching her a bit.
Tony got up at twelve.
"Good morning," said Bella as he came into the kitchen.
"Bells? How can you be so cheerful at this time of the morning?" he asked. He looked like he was still waking up.
"Tony, it's afternoon now."
Of the many things Tony Stark was, a morning person was not one of them.
"I made breakfast," she offered, setting a plate of pancakes in the middle of the table.
"Thanks. Coulson told you about Agent Barton to get you to agree, didn't he? Did you ever see him after what happened at Stark Expo?"
Bella nodded. He'd visited several times while everyone else was out, and they'd often sparred together.
"Are you sure you want to do this?"
"Yes."
"Can I leave you alone here this afternoon? There's some things I have to do."
Bella put the syrup on the table. "Sure."
"Okay," said Tony. "Take your suit, Bells. You never know. That was the only reason I agreed to let you go – Coulson said you could bring it."
"Yes."
"I'm going to be there, but still, don't let it out of your sight."
Bella put a plate in front of him. "Wasn't planning on it. What S.H.I.E.L.D. doing with the Tesseract? Clean energy?"
"Apparently."
Bella put a few pancakes on her own plate and sat down next to Tony.
"Bells? If you see anything suspicious – if you think they might be trying something with you – get out of there. Fast."
"Don't worry, I have no intention of being anyone's puppet again."
"Good."
Tony ate and left.
Bella spent the afternoon trying to locate Agent Barton using what was available to her.
She knew if S.H.I.E.L.D. couldn't find him, she wouldn't be able to, but it felt right to at least try.
At one point, she fell asleep on the couch.
She woke up to the awareness of someone sitting in the chair across from her.
She opened her eyes and jumped.
"Hello, Miss Stark."
"Agent Barton!?" she yelped. She forgot everything – about him being under mind control, about someone stealing the Tesseract, about being worried – and asked the first question that came to mind. "How on Earth did you get up here without alerting JARVIS?"
Her friend just smiled. "You look like you didn't sleep very well last night."
Bella guessed he wasn't going to answer her question. "I didn't." I was too worried about you.
Agent Barton wore sunglasses and a S.H.I.E.L.D. uniform. A quiver of arrows rested next to the chair, half full.
"What are you doing here?" Act normal. You don't know he's under mind control.
"I was in New York. Thought I'd stop in, say hi. How's Stark Tower?"
Or do you want me for something? She stood up and walked over to the computer screens. "Levels still holding steady, so good. So, where were you last?"
"New Mexico."
As if he'd ever tell her that.
Should she wait? See what he did? Or attack? Her suit leaned against the wall in suitcase form. He must be able to tell she was nervous. What should she say? She stayed by the computer screens – at least she'd have a bit of warning if he tried to attack her.
"I'm not here just for a social visit," said Agent Barton, standing up and walking toward her. "S.H.I.E.L.D. needs you."
Bella's heart started thudding against her ribs. "I've no doubt they'd like my services, but I'm not going to work for them. I've told you that." She stepped backwards, away from him.
"I wasn't asking." He grabbed her arm.
"Agent Coulson was here last night. I know what happened. I'm not interested in helping whoever you work for." She pulled free and ran over to her suit. A hand closed on her elbow, but she grabbed the suitcase and swung it into him.
He released her.
"JARVIS, call Tony! Or S.H.I.E.L.D.! Or… someone!" she yelled.
"At once, Miss Stark." His voice was annoyingly calm.
She darted toward the kitchen. If she got into it, she could lock the door and get into her suit.
She swung the door open and slammed it behind her, locking it.
"JARVIS?"
"Both Mr. Stark and S.H.I.E.L.D. have been informed of what is happening."
She pulled the suit on.
In the exact moment the visor of the helmet came down, the door was knocked down.
"Get out of here!" yelled Bella. She fired a knockout dart at Agent Barton, but he dodged.
He aimed an arrow, but she flew forward, slamming into him and knocking him to the ground. She tried to hit him in the head, to knock him out, but he got to his feet again and ran. Bella aimed to fire again, but he ran onto the thin landing strip where she had talked with Coulson the night before. He leaped off the edge.
"No!" yelled Bella, running out after him.
She couldn't see him anywhere.
Red and gold flashed in the corner of her eye.
"Mr. Stark is here."
Tony came smashing down next to Bella. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, fine. We have to find him!"
He nodded.
No search of the surrounding area, even with the help of several S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, yielded the agent or any sign of him.
Whoever had Barton, Bella promised herself, was going to pay for it.
Happy April Fool's day. Even if I didn't pull any...
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