Glass Heart

Chaos was an incredibly drastic understatement for what Tony experienced as he ran across the ballroom. The drones were right on his tail no matter how quickly he ran or how cleverly he maneuvered through overturned tables and piles of debris. To be fair, there weren’t many suitable places to hide throughout the lengthy ballroom, particularly since the drones had seen it fit to destroy nearly all the exits and to make a mess out of the once beautiful dining area. Tony had initially planned to distract the drones so that he could allow enough time for the guests to make it to safety out the back window, but it turned out that not all of the guests were following what common sense would dictate.

Many guests were too afraid to leave the safety of their hiding places beneath tables that had been thrown aside or cowering in corners to avoid gunfire. Not to mention, every time that Tony thought he was in the clear and would have time to think he wound up dodging another spray of gunfire from one of the other three drones that pursued him. Out of breath, Tony ducked in the now narrow alcove of the main entrance next to the debris that had been pushed in the way to block any escape attempts he may have planned to make. His chest was aching from the lack of oxygen and his hands were scraped up and pained from multiple attempts he’d been forced to make to catch himself.

There had to be a better way for him to help people get to safety than getting by on blind luck. Even his attempts to steer the drones clear of the innocent bystanders hadn’t seemed to keep people out of harm’s way. As he glanced around at the people trapped within the ballroom he saw that they were scraped up, some of them bleeding substantially in places and others bruised and banged up. There were plenty of other ways to get hurt in such chaos other than by the hail of bullets that had been tearing consistently across the room. If he’d had the chance to think about it, he would’ve felt riddled with guilt to see so many people injured because he couldn’t save them. But there was no time for him to consider the morality of the situation and he knew he was doing everything within his current power to keep them safe. If only he could get to his suit, then he’d be able to even the odds.

“I can’t keep running around like this.” Catching his breath the best he could, Tony slid out of the alcove and back into the line of gunfire, dodging and jumping out of the way, hearing the hiss of bullets rushing past him narrowly. Pulling his phone out of his pocket he fiddled with the touch screen sloppily and after three failed attempts managed to contact Jarvis. “I need you to scan these drones, Jarvis! Can you do that for me?” Tony held up the phone as he ran through the room. He’d decided to risk getting closer to civilians in order to give them proper direction. If he could get them out of the ballroom it’d make his job a lot easier.

“Sir, as high tech as these robots appear to be it seems their design is somewhat incomplete.” The phone responded in Tony’s hand after a few seconds given to scan the robots. Tony threw himself on the ground and covered his head when one of the drones came after him and reached to grab him. Crawling as soon as his elbows hit the ground, he made a mad attempt to get between the drone’s legs and behind it.

“What do you mean by unfinished?” Tony hissed into the phone. He wasn’t sure if the drones were being controlled remotely or were programmed to simply follow him around and eliminate him. Either way, there was a target on his back painted bright red and the bulls were far beyond angry.

As Jarvis responded his voice was drowned out by the sound of the robot’s gears grinding as it lifted its feet from the ground and tried to stomp on Tony. The ground trembled all around him, cracking and breaking beneath the weight of the metallic beasts. Luckily, Tony managed to roll out of the way just in time. Now lying on his back he caught his breath for a second and stared at the drone above him, terrified. He couldn’t keep running around like this and making insane attempts to dodge robots three times his size. Soon enough he’d be caught and he’d end up taking too much damage without his suit. After that, his death would be inevitable.

“Can’t die yet, Tony. It’s been too long since you got laid for that to happen.” Muttering under his breath, Tony exhaled then addressed his phone. “You’re going to have to repeat that Jarvis, I was a little caught up.” Tony scrambled to his feet and ran out of the way again, darting to the left with the expectation that one of the drones would be waiting for him behind the one he had just escaped as he’d grown accustomed to dealing with. Much to his surprise there was no drone waiting for him which caused him to stop dead in his tracks. He slipped on some overturned flatware and had to correct his balance before he could examine his surroundings to find out why he hadn’t been pursued.

Even the drone that had been trying to stomp his face into the ground only moments prior was retreating to the outer edge of the room. Tony looked around and tried to consider what they were up to. His phone started up again, louder this time. Flipping a button on the side of it, Jarvis’ voice echoed loud enough for Tony to hear it without having to hold the phone any closer to him.

“Sir, they are being controlled via satellite signals it seems. If you could perhaps locate their receivers and disable them it may cause them to power down entirely.” Tony listened to Jarvis speak and considered the situation at hand. At the moment he didn’t have time to breathe nonetheless analyze the mechanical structure of something that was trying to kill him. His phone wasn’t equipped for such high tech situations so he couldn’t even use that to discover where the communication systems were hidden. If only he had his suit! Where was Happy? Maybe he’d found Scarlett and hadn’t been able to get in passed the caved in hallway to try and help him. Would he be searching for another way in or would he be waiting safely away from the chaos that had erupted in the ballroom?

Or perhaps something more sinister had happened. Tony couldn’t consider what happened to his driver and to Scarlett without sending his nerves further on edge. The drones were up to something and he had to figure out what before he ended up in a bloody pile on the floor. Glancing around the room still, Tony continued to move, not willing to become a target by standing still and analyzing his situation.

Looking around he stopped suddenly and realized what they were going to do. The ceiling was nearly entirely made of glass other than the various supports that were placed around the room for the ceiling and to hang chandeliers from. The drones were one by one preparing to break the glass and send it raining down across the room. There were very few places to hide from the spray that would follow of potentially deadly shards of glass.

“Jarvis, hold that thought. I need you to project my voice if you can.” Tony pulled the phone closer to his mouth. After he heard the telltale beeping response from his phone letting him know the function he’d selected had been selected, he yelled into it. “Everyone take cover! Get beneath tables, debris, whatever you can! They’re going to break the glass overhead and it’s going to hurt if you’re not underneath something! After it’s settled, I’ll give the signal and you have got to start heading out through the back windows! The more targets left in here the nastier this will become. I’ll hold them off the best I can until you’re all out of the way.” Tony shoved the phone into his pocket without looking for confirmation and started toward a table to take cover himself. He could hear people scrambling around him and searching for places to hide. The only thing he could do was hope that people listened to him and that no one was fatally injured in the fray.

Before he could get to cover, the echoing sound of gunfire from around the room erupted overhead. Just as he had predicted, the glass ceiling began to shatter and rain down in jagged crystals. Piece after piece hit his back, most of them harmlessly bouncing off of his suit jacket, others scraping through the expensive fabric. Luckily before anything more than a few scrapes and scratches could be done, he made it beneath one of the overturned tables near the stage on the far end of the room. He pulled his legs beneath the table just in time as a large piece of glass shattered next to the table where he’d been standing. Shielding his eyes and face he stayed tucked underneath the table.

People were screaming, but from what he could see from behind the arms he held over his face, it was because of the tense situation, not from injury. Luckily, it seemed that in a crisis people were willing to listen and take direction. The tinkling and crashing of glass and crystal against the ground continued for a good five minutes before the sound quieted. Tony held his phone close to him and slid his fingers over the screen artfully, trying to see if he could alter the machine in order to locate the targeting system on the drones.

“Why would someone send unfinished technology after me? That doesn’t make sense, Jarvis.” Tony mused quietly, flipping through the different screens on the phone. He was the king of the technology era, so why would the builder of the drones take the risk of attacking him with them? After it had become clear to him that he couldn’t do much of anything to find the targeting system on the drones via his cell phone, he cursed and returned back to his Jarvis mainframe.

“I can only report on what I observe sir, not on the intentions of those behind it.” The phone was still speaking loudly so Tony quieted it to a more reasonable level. He didn’t need a loud beacon to his whereabouts to robots that likely had already memorized his heat signature. “Do you want my advice, sir?”

“Always, Jarvis.” Tony peeked out from beneath the table once the glass had stopped raining down from above. Looking around the ceiling of the room he was starting to worry about the structural integrity of the building. The walls were creaking and groaning from the damage that had already been done. They wouldn’t be able to take much more destruction from the drones if they kept up their pace. Tony knew the same was true for him. Shifting uncomfortably he felt something stab at his arm and tried to swat it away quickly like something had stung him. A piece of glass about an inch in length was sticking through his sleeve. Grabbing it quickly he tugged it free of his skin and tossed it to the floor. Luckily it had only scratched at him considering it had to go through two layers of clothing to get to his skin. It was a shame that he’d ruined another brand new suit.

As he moved from beneath the table he realized that there were many more pieces of glass similar to the one he’d just removed stuck through his coat. Pocketing his phone, he quickly slipped the coat off of him and tossed it aside, along with the glass that had been sticking through it. It was true he’d have less protection without the coat, but if he was distracted by the irritating glass he’d be much worse off.

Taking his phone back out of his pocket he held it close to him as he turned around to see if people were following his directions. Much to his surprise they were. There were loads of people starting to guide others out through the back windows and out of harm’s way. Feeling relieved, Tony spied Pepper guiding people the best she could but making no effort to get herself out of the madness.

“Sir, I suggest that you run for it and contact James Rhodes. You are severely outnumbered and outgunned.” Jarvis spoke after waiting for Tony to get his jacket off. “Since I doubt you will do that, I have another suggestion.”

Tony couldn’t help but chuckle beneath his breath at how well his computer knew him. The drones were starting toward him again. It seemed that one of them was having a hard time keeping its bearings and he was guessing it was the one he had damaged earlier when it had grabbed him.

“What is that, Jarvis?”

“Grab wires and start pulling.” Jarvis spoke the words that Tony had been thinking. It would be far easier said than done. In order for him to grab anymore of the wires on the robots it would require him getting closer to them, which would make him a much larger and easier target than he had been for the last half an hour that he’d spent running around and dodging blows. But, if he could get close enough and could damage each of the drones enough to slow them down it would give him the advantage and time to further assess the situation.

“How about this Jarvis? I’ll do both.” Tony started across the room, toward one of the robots that was starting toward him at the same time. Why weren’t they firing at him anymore? It seemed like they were one giant distraction and now that Tony had a plan in mind, he couldn’t ignore the nagging feeling that he was being duped. “Dial Rhodey.”

Much to his surprise, before the phone could respond and before he could give it any further orders he was grabbed around his middle. The phone fell from his hand and onto the ground. The drone stomped on it and smashed it into pieces.

“Oh come on, do you know how much work went into that thing?” Tony turned to look at the robot that was holding him, as though it would respond to him. With a mechanical whir the head turned to look at him curiously. “Didn’t think so.” Tony reached for some exposed wires in the shoulder of the drone and tugged hard. He felt an electrical jolt pulse through him in response. There appeared to be some sort of defense mechanism programmed into the robots to prevent their wires from being disconnected manually.

“Didn’t like that did you?” Tony gritted his teeth, grabbed another handful of wires and pulled as hard as he could regardless of the shock that met him. The drone started to squeeze his middle threateningly. “Gonna… throw up.” As he grabbed another handful of wires and received another electrical jolt he yelped in surprise when the robot suddenly, and violently, threw him as hard as he could. Throwing his arms over his head to protect himself, Tony smashed shoulder first into the wall near the collapsed balcony.

Seeing stars, Tony stumbled to his feet only to fall back onto his knees. His wound from the other day had worsened and was bleeding annoyingly down his arm.

“Why did I have to drink so damn much? Never again.” Tony cursed and tore at the cloth that had ripped on his sleeve. He tied it sloppily and hurriedly around his wounded shoulder and then got to his feet and stumbled forward again. His legs weren’t cooperating so he checked to make sure they weren’t bleeding. Thankfully they weren’t and it seemed he was simply dazed from the blow he’d taken.

Someone grabbed his arm and tugged him to the side. Defensively he tried to pull away but was at the mercy of the pair of hands that had grasped onto him. Pepper and Leo had grabbed onto him and started tugging him back underneath the safety of the collapsed balcony. Once inside Tony leaned heavily against the rubble and slid onto his backside. He needed a moment to catch his breath before he started after the drones again anyway.

Leonard was deathly pale and was staring out from behind the rubble to observe the drones’ behavior without Tony in clear view. The drone that had thrown Tony was sparking and twitching unpredictably. He had clearly damaged something within the drone, though it didn’t stop it from trying to properly function. Much to the surprise of Leo, Pepper and Tony another one of the drones approached the malfunctioning one, aimed at its head and fired until it fell to the ground with a loud crash that echoed throughout the room and shook the ground beneath it. The wall near the doorway and the opposite balcony was cracking and starting to cave, only increasing the shaking around them.

“Tony, are you okay?” Pepper was fretting over him now, trying to touch at the bloodied wound on his shoulder. Tony shooed her away, got to his knees and crawled away from the balcony. He retrieved a half full bottle of wine from the floor and took a long drink from it. Though he’d complained about the effect the alcohol he’d had to drink had on him he was grateful for the way it would dull the pain in his shoulder at the moment. It was easier for him to think a little tipsy than it was for him to think while in pain.

“I’m fine Pepper!” Tony got to his feet and blinked. “Are you two okay?”

“Leonard won’t stay still but Tony, I think he’s got a concussion or worse. We need to get out of here. You can’t keep doing this!” Pepper spoke shrilly and authoritatively, panic clearly written all over her face. “I called the authorities and they’re already outside but they don’t know what to do!”

“You,” Tony pointed at Leonard who looked surprised to be addressed, “listen to Pepper, she’s smart and knows what she’s talking about.” Turning to look at his assistant Tony grabbed both of her shoulders and gave her a reassuring smile, hoping to instill some faith in her. “You need to call Rhodey okay? Tell him to suit up and come give us some help. The cops need to take care of the people trying to get to safety.”

“Tony I’m not letting you go back out there. You’re bleeding. They’ll kill you.” Pepper’s bottom lip quivered. Her strong resolve was cracking. Dangerous situations were definitely not her strong suit. He needed to get her out of there so that he wouldn’t be distracted by her and Leonard any further.

“Look, I just took one of them down. It’s a simple matter of pissing them off enough to kill each other okay? I got this. Can you trust me?” A cocky smile on his face, Tony wasn’t so sure it was as easy as he’d made it sound, but all he knew was that making the one drone malfunction enough had done the trick and had managed to give him one less drone to fight against, even if the drone had ultimately been destroyed by its brethren.

“No, Tony I don’t.” Pepper shook her head and grabbed his wrist. Tony sighed heavily and held up both of his hands defensively after twisting his wrist free.

“Fine, fine… Call Rhodey.” Tony glanced behind him to look at the drones that were scanning the room looking for him. They were throwing over debris and punching holes in the wall. If they got any closer they’d find him and then Leonard and Pepper would be in immediate danger. Leonard was leaning heavily against the wall, holding his head and looked worse for wear. His breathing was labored but Tony had to give him credit for holding up so well in the thick of things.

“Thank you.” Pepper sighed with relief and picked up her phone. About to dial it, she stopped when Tony suddenly bolted out from beneath the balcony. She was a fool for having believed he would put them at further risk.

“Call Rhodes and find Happy! I’ll be fine!” Tony shouted over his shoulder and then continued out into the ballroom. He would distract the drones until he was too injured then he would make a break for it. Hopefully by then he would either have found his suit and his driver or Rhodey would’ve arrived to clean up the mess he’d somehow gotten into. Pepper would have to deal with the decision he’d made. He wasn’t going to watch the building collapse on top of his friends just so he could appease Pepper’s fears. Some things were worth the risk.

Once the bullet had ricocheted harmlessly behind them, Scarlett sprang into action. Jumping to her feet, she pounced at the shooter and knocked him to the ground, throwing all of her weight on him. After a moment of wrestling with her opponent she managed to pry the gun from his hand. He grabbed her neck in retaliation and squeezed hard enough to throw her off balance. Momentarily losing her advantage, Scarlett flipped the gun around in her hand as she was pushed onto her back. Adjusting her dress and throwing her legs around her attacker, she squeezed and tried to use her momentum to force him onto his back again.

With his hands on her neck, interrupting her airflow, she was starting to feel light headed. Happy seemed to want to help her but before he could, Scarlett had managed to bring the gun up and smash it hard into the side of her attacker’s head. Dazed at first, he loosened his grip on her throat which gave her some clarity. Grabbing onto his wrist Scarlett pulled it away from her throat, gasped greedily for oxygen, and then twisted his arm unnaturally and tugged as hard as she could.

Her attacker lost his balance and nearly fell right on top of her. A howl of pain escaped his lips as she slammed the butt end of the gun against his shoulder and listened to the telltale popping sound of it moving out of joint. Legs still around him, Scarlett managed to take the advantage and flip him onto his back again. Still gripping the gun, she smashed it once again into the side of her attacker’s head, this time hitting him hard enough to render him unconscious.

Untangling herself from her attacker she got up and stumbled on her heels. Preparing to turn to instruct Happy to run for it or to go help Tony, Scarlett started to dismantle the gun artfully. She’d always preferred to leave people alive if she could, she wasn’t a cold blooded killer after all. Most of those attacking her, like the man she’d just knocked unconscious had a family at home or were like her and simply doing a nasty job for the money. While her hands were certainly not free of blood, she had never killed unless her life had depended on it.

Before she could speak, the third man from the bathroom came after her and quickly threw her against the wall face first. Her vision faltering as her wounded leg smashed and rubbed against the wall, Scarlett did her best to not to get caught up with her injury. The pain was making her a bit slower, but she could buy herself a moment to recover if she squirmed a bit. Pressed face first against the wall she quickly elbowed the man behind her in the stomach then smashed the back of her head into her attacker’s when he hunched over in response to how she’d hit him.

Tossing the now useless gun to the side, she grabbed one of the hands that held her pinned to the wall and spun him away from her in his moment of weakness. Moving away on her own with the momentum, Scarlett planned to take the offensive but found instead that her left heel had broken beneath her causing her to lose her balance and fall to the ground on her butt.

“Seriously? After all that now it’s going to break? Great timing!” Quickly kicking off her broken heel, Scarlett stumbled to her feet but the last of the three men had been given too much time to gather his bearings thanks to her fall. She didn’t have time to take off the other heel before he was coming toward her at full force. He was putting away some kind of radio that she guessed was him signaling for backup and pulling out his gun. The man seemed to be paying no mind at all to Happy or was far too fueled by rage to even notice he was there.

Scarlett held up her hands in surrender and glanced over at Happy without turning her head. She nodded her head to signal to him to leave but he stared blankly at her instead, clearly not understanding what she was trying to tell him via body language. If he could get to Tony with the suitcase, then he could come after her and help her once he’d gotten his friends to safety.

“They told us to bring you in unharmed, you little bitch, but I’ll just tell them that you put up a fight. I wouldn’t be lying, now would I?” The man’s hand was shaking as he held the gun aimed at her and walked closer to her. He pressed the cold steel of the barrel of the gun to her neck and press unnecessarily hard into her skin. Quickly Scarlett moved to grab his wrist so she could twist the gun away but much to her surprise he caught her. His reflexes had been far better than the men he’d been partnered with.

He pulled her wrist down and then smacked her on the side of the head with the butt end of the gun hard enough to knock her off of her feet, which wasn’t hard considering she still only wore one shoe. Scarlett slid against the wall and rolled onto her back, planning to at least get up and take the defensive but before she could her attacker was standing over her, gun aimed down at her.

“You think we’re all idiots, don’t you? Sorry to disappoint you sweetheart.” He knelt close to her and held the gun pointed at her, his fist still shaking with rage. “Such a shame that a pretty little thing like you has caused us such trouble. I promise you’ll regret it before I even get to turn you in.” Scarlett ignored his threats and glanced around for Happy who had seemingly disappeared. She was going to have to have a talk with Tony about his staff if he’d just run away from her and left her there to be taken by a man with a gun shoved in her face.

“I don’t think you’re an idiot.” Scarlett cleared her throat and smiled, but was none too amused by the situation she’d been trapped in thanks to her faulty shoe.

“Oh really?” His lips curled in amusement, he grabbed a fistful of her hair with the hand not holding the gun and pulled her head away from the wall. “Kissing my ass isn’t going to help you now. It’s far too late for that.”

“You misunderstand me.” Scarlett squirmed a bit beneath her attacker, making it look like she was simply uncomfortable. Chuckling and clearly thinking he had the upper hand, the man lessened his grip on her hair that was now half undone from the style she’d had it up in earlier.

“Enlighten me then.”

Instead of speaking, Scarlett sighed heavily like she was going to respond to him and then instead kicked him hard in the crotch, smashing the pointed end of her heel as hard as she could against him. Grabbing the hand that held his gun, she pointed it away from her in case he had an itchy trigger finger.

“I know you’re an idiot because smart people don’t sit and rant about what they’re going to do, they just go ahead and do it.” Scarlett shoved him away from her and kicked off her shoe at long last. “I would’ve shot the moment I opened the bathroom door if the tables had been turned. Targets are still worth money with a shoulder wound.” Growling in anger, the man ran toward her, clearly blind with rage. He shoved her against the wall before she could retaliate. Scarlett put her hands in his face and pushed her fingers toward his eyes, hoping that he’d pull away in discomfort before she actually punctured anything with her nails.

Thankfully he did, but he seemed to take her advice and aimed the gun at her instead. Bracing herself and searching for a way out Scarlett was surprised when Happy came up behind the man and smashed him in the back of the head with the suitcase handcuffed to his wrist.

The blow instantly knocked the man out and he crumbled to the ground like a rag doll. Scarlett leaned heavily against the wall and took deep breaths to calm herself down, laughing beneath her breath and trying to push the stray hairs out of her face.

“What’s so funny?” Happy was a mixture of confused, terrified and impressed after having watched Scarlett struggle and waited for his opportunity to strike.

“I thought you ran away when he got the upper hand.” Scarlett stumbled away from the wall and patted Happy’s shoulder reassuringly. “Instead if you were waiting for the right moment. Nice hit Hogan, he’s down for the count.” Scarlett nudged the body of her attacker with her foot and then smiled at Happy.

“I wasn’t going to leave you here with that creep.” Happy looked flustered to be complimented on the attack he’d dished out.

“I was hoping you wouldn’t. I thought you were a bigger man than that.” Scarlett smiled softly and then glanced around the hallway. “What the hell is happening out there? Do you have any idea?”

“I was hoping you’d know.” Happy grimaced. “You were gone for a long time so Tony sent me to come check on you to make sure you were okay.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re here because I’m pretty sure that last bit earned me a bullet right between the eyes.” Scarlett exhaled deeply, the adrenaline making her want to run a marathon. She’d gotten lucky that Happy had come to help her. Thanks to her leg she hadn’t been on her A game and the longer she’d fought the weaker she’d become.

Leaning down, Scarlett grabbed the legs of the man who Happy had knocked out and started to drag him back into the women’s restroom that she’d been thrown out of.

“What are you doing?” Happy seemed confused by her actions. “They’re not going to hurt anyone now.”

“But they’ll wake up eventually and there’s really no telling how long that’ll take. If we can trap them in there then it’ll at least buy us a little time before they can come after me again.” Scarlett kicked open the door behind her and dragged the dead weight of the man into the bathroom. After she’d gotten him in there she pushed him into the large handicap stall at the far end of the bathroom where the man with the syringe was still passed out, drooling in a puddle on the floor thanks to whatever drug had been meant for her.

“That’s smart, I wouldn’t have thought of that.” Happy seemed impressed and started to drag the second man into the bathroom so that Scarlett wouldn’t have to do it all on her own.

“That and the last man called for backup before he grabbed his gun. When they come to provide it, it will confuse them if they can’t find the person who called for it. It could grant us an opportunity to sneak by them unnoticed.” Scarlett thanked Happy as he pushed the third man into the stall. Scarlett propped all three up against the wall and then started searching their pockets for information. There were no means of identification in their pockets, much to her dismay though she hadn’t been surprised not to find any. Thugs generally lived in anonymity while on the job. Identity was vulnerability in such situations.

In the breast pocket of the man who had taunted her in the hallway and had nearly gotten the best of her, Scarlett found a picture. It was a photo of her from the year prior after having gotten out of the hospital after the incident in Afghanistan. She was still wearing the bandaging on her arm and was thinner than her usual form. The sight of the picture stung. Had they raided her old home? It was a picture that had been taken on the beach in South Africa of her and Scott by a passerby. She’d finally started to allow him to hang photos up and turn their shitty little apartment into somewhere livable.

Scott had been torn out of the picture, since clearly they weren’t looking for him any longer. Turning the photo over, Scarlett saw instructions to bring her in alive and a deadline set a week from then. What would happen after the week had past? Would they stop looking for her or would they stop requiring she be alive when taken in?

“What’s that?” Happy peered over her shoulder at the picture but before he could get a good look, Scarlett tore it to pieces and threw it in the toilet. She flushed it and then turned to look at the driver.

“Nothing. Help me get their belts off.” Scarlett unhooked the belt of the man closest to her and pulled it free of the loops of his pants with a swift tug.

“Why?” Happy was confused but did as he was asked, having a feeling that whatever Scarlett planned to do with them was important.

“We’re going to bind their wrists and tie them to the rail here against the wall. Then we’re going to take their radios and throw them in the toilet too so that they won’t work if they try to call for help.” Scarlett didn’t bother to look away from her work while she tied the belt separately around each wrist of the unconscious man and then tied it securely to the rail above his head.

“Wow.” Happy couldn’t seem to think of anything else to say and simply followed orders. After she’d finished binding the second man Scarlett realized that Happy was struggling to tie the last man as securely as she had done with the belt. She’d made it look easy but she’d had far more experience with such things than he’d had.

“I got it from here. You take their radios, okay?” Scarlett laughed under her breath and took the belt from Happy’s hand.

“You’ve got some prior knowledge with this stuff, huh?” Happy watched her curiously out of the corner of his eye as he took the radios from the unconscious men and one by one tossed them into the toilet.

“I’m just really into bondage, that’s all.” Scarlett joked, but Happy couldn’t seem to tell if she was being serious or not and simply stared at her in response. “I’m kidding.” Happy laughed awkwardly but kept glancing at her every so often as she finished tying up the last man, skeptical of whether or not he actually believed she was kidding around. “Let’s get out of here before backup shows up.”

“Is that it?” Happy stood up and offered Scarlett a hand, which she took and got to her feet with. The two walked out of the bathroom after Scarlett had flipped off the light switch. The disaster in the ballroom that Scarlett wasn’t sure of was causing the power to flicker dangerously anyway so it wouldn’t make much difference.

“You need to bring Tony his suit. Something nasty is going on. I don’t know what it is, but I have a feeling he’s going to need it.” As if to prove a point, the power in the building flickered again then went out entirely. The two were left in the darkness of the hallway. “What the hell is happening out there?” Scarlett whispered under her breath. From the other end of the hallway she could hear shouting and somehow knew the backup her attacker had called for had arrived and was looking for her.

“What did you say you used to do again? I thought you were an engineer or something… Like Tony.” Happy spoke curiously, ignoring her suggestion. Clearly, whatever preconceived notions he’d had about Scarlett had been completely blown out of the water with these latest developments.

“I don’t think that I actually said what I do. Well, at least not to anyone besides Tony.” Scarlett took a deep breath. “Look, they’re coming for me. You’ve got to go help Tony. He needs you more than I do. Something really nasty is happening in there. I can handle this on my own.” Scarlett nodded her head then reached down to retrieve the gun from the last man who had attacked her. This time she didn’t dismantle it and instead checked the cartridge to find it was fully loaded. Then she retrieved the cartridge she’d ejected from the other gun and placed it aside so that she could reload if necessary.

“I’m not leaving you here alone.” Happy shook his head. “Not after hearing that guy talking to you like that.”

“People say nasty things when they’re angry.” Scarlett chuckled again but knew that time was running out. She could hear voices of people approaching somewhere down the hall. If she could guess, she’d say that three more were coming for her and soon enough they’d be there with guns drawn, ready to overwhelm her. She had no intention of shooting any of them. If she fought and managed to at least get one of them down she’d do her best to take down the other two along the way. Then maybe that would have bought enough time for Tony to find her and keep her from being taken away to MedCo, who she was sure was behind the attack.

The hallway shook around them, dust and debris rattling behind them from where the ballroom was. The hardest thing Scarlett had expected to encounter that night was having to keep her emotions in check while she seduced Tony and to manage to stay standing in heels when her leg was still healing. Now she wished that was the greatest of her worries.

“Don’t be stubborn with me, Happy.” Scarlett sighed heavily when he made no room to leave to try and assist his boss.

“Take this.” Happy unlocked the handcuff on his wrist and thrust the suitcase toward her. Scarlett hesitated but placed her hands on either side of the suitcase. “I’ll distract them. They don’t want me but if they think I’m protecting you then they’ll follow me for a little bit at least. That should buy you enough time to get Tony the suit.”

“Happy, they’ll take me alive but they’ll kill you. I’m not going to let that happen.” Scarlett laughed in surprise, but she continued to find no humor in the tense situation. Pushing the armor back toward the driver who had shown her nothing but kindness and admiration since they met, she stood her ground. There was no way she was going to have Happy’s blood on her hands.

“They don’t want to kill me, trust me.” Happy smiled confidently but Scarlett could see the nerves that hid beneath his confident exterior. “I used to be a boxer, I’ve got this.” Happy nodded and pushed the suitcase toward her again. “The way back is caved in so you’re going to have to find another way to the ballroom. Tony needs this and you’re faster on your feet than I am.”

“I don’t have shoes anymore. I’m probably not any faster than you are right now.” Scarlett took the suitcase and held it close against her chest.

“You’re clever, Scarlett. I don’t know what I’m doing in situations like this. So I’ll buy you some time to do what you can and then I’ll take cover.” Happy seemed relieved that she’d finally taken the suitcase from him. Scarlett could only hope that Happy was guessing correctly. It wasn’t like MedCo to leave anything to chance. They’d killed Scott in cold blood, so what would stop them from killing Happy simply to get to her? What would Tony think of her when he found out that she was going to leave his trusted driver and friend alone with a bunch of armed thugs that were after her?

“I’m not as clever as you think I am, Happy.” Scarlett set down the suitcase and then handed Happy the gun. “Ever used one of these before?”

“Once or twice at a gun range.” Happy looked at the handgun she’d given him and looked slightly nervous to be holding it.

“You’re new at it so it’s gonna pull when you shoot. Aim a little higher if that doesn’t work aim a little lower. Either way prepare for a kick and don’t shoot unless absolutely necessary. If you don’t shoot at them it’s possible they won’t shoot at you.” Scarlett instructed, hoping that his nerves wouldn’t get the best of him in the battle to come.

“They shot at you.” Happy countered after checking the gun to make sure that the safety was off.

“I pissed them off.” Scarlett picked the suitcase back up and smirked as she stifled a small laugh. “You have no idea how much.”

“It must have been pretty bad considering how angry that guy was with you.” Happy was curious to know what she’d done but knew they didn’t have time to make anymore small talk considering the situation.

“I have a knack for annoying people I shouldn’t and opening my big mouth in situations like this.” Scarlett chuckled quietly. Humor was the best defense mechanism. “We don’t have time for this. Be safe and get away as quickly as you can. Don’t worry about stragglers. Anyone who comes after me will regret it.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to take this?” Happy nodded to the gun in his hand.

“I don’t want it. You need something to protect yourself with.” Scarlett sighed heavily. “We should…” Nodding to the side to signal they should part ways, Scarlett knew the safest place for Happy now was as far away from her as he could possibly be.

“Yeah, we should. Be careful getting back, okay?” Happy aimed the gun at the end of the hallway. Scarlett touched his wrist gently and urged him to point the gun toward the floor.

“Don’t get trigger happy, okay? They might not even acknowledge you. Hide the gun under your jacket and let them walk right past you if they have to. Try and get out and get us some help. That will do us loads more good than you in a firefight, Happy.” Scarlett smiled knowingly. She was never fond of having civilians with her in battle, but Happy had proved to be rather helpful and at least he had managed to stay out of her way when she’d needed him to.

“Don’t worry about me, just get the suit to Tony and stay safe.” Happy instructed, but did as he was told with the gun.

Scarlett nodded her head, stared down at the very expensive suitcase made of armor in her hands and then started down the hall, leaving Happy to the men that were after her.