Ravageuse

Three Months Later

“Tony, maybe it’s time to let go,” Pepper said, ignoring the nasty glare he shot her.

“I can’t. She literally disappeared into thin air. I can’t just forget that. One minute she was there and then poof, nothing,” Tony paced back and forth in his lab as Pepper watched him in concern.

“You’ve been torturing yourself for months now. Maybe you should just leave it up to SHIELD,” Pepper suggested.

Tony laughed humorlessly. “Yeah, and look how far they’ve gotten. They’ve been doing a great job so far,” he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Pepper understood why he was worried. They all were. They wouldn’t say it but they were. There was a silence throughout the whole tower, one that couldn’t be filled. Everyone practically walked on eggshells every time they found themselves in the same room as Tony. But then again that was a rare occasion since he broke the record of “longest time spent in a lab without leaving for more than three hours a day”.

Tony did everything he could to find Jade but it was like she fell off the face of the damn earth. He didn’t know what else he could possibly do. He was running out of options and fast at that.

He wasn’t ready to let go, not yet.

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Jade focused on the man as he stared at her in fear. “I need answers,” she said. Her voice was void of emotion. It was almost robotic.

“I can’t,” he murmured, knowing what was coming. The sound of bones snapping and cracking could be heard throughout the room. He screamed out in pain.

Surprisingly though, Jade didn’t have her hands on him. She was doing all this with her mind. Sallow taught her a lot in her three months with him. He forced her powers out of her and used them as he wished. He taught her how to use her mind to crush, shatter, disintegrate and etc. She had limits though. She couldn’t just destroy a person completely. She could mostly disintegrate small things. It was much easier for her to crush and shatter things.

Unfortunately though, it physically and emotionally exhausted her. Her nose bled and her head felt like it was going to explode but Sallow insisted on her using her powers rather than being too hands on. He enjoyed the look of fear on his victims’ faces.

Jade was far from proud of the “favors” he’s forced her to do. Half the people he wanted her to find were innocent; people with families and lives that were much more important than Jade ever will be. He was merciless. He made her destroy homes, buildings, anything he could think of. Yet she didn’t leave and for her own damn selfish reasons.

And she felt so fucking guilty. All these people died at her hand for the safety of one man and a few others. Every time she tried to leave, Sallow showed her a new scenario. Except it wasn’t always Tony.

One time it was Clint, being tortured in the worst ways anyone could imagine. Another time, it was Steve with a bullet hole in his head. Then Bruce… Being chained up, used, and tortured. Being continuously injected with adrenaline and then a sedative. And of course, there was Natasha. Her green eyes no longer analyzing everything but instead, lifeless.

Sallow was right. He found fears she didn’t even know she had. She cared about these people. They meant something to her and she meant something to them. They were family. And she couldn’t stop because any time she remembered what it was like to see them that way, she felt like someone dug their nails into her heart, squeezing until it was unbearable.

“Getting tired?” Sallow snapped her out of her thoughts wearing his signature grin.

Jade looked at the man in the chair. He was now slumped over, no doubt dead. She didn’t answer Sallow, she just left the room. Sallow had his own tower of sorts. Jade wasn’t sure where it was but she knew she’d been holed up in here for months, save for the times he’d take her out to do his dirty work for him.

She heard his footsteps following her into the room and her anger flared. He couldn’t keep her here forever. He’d have to let her go sometime.

“Do you plan on ever letting me go?” she asked as she turned to him.

Sallow let out a chuckle. “You’ll stay here until you’re no longer useful to me.”

“And when will I no longer be useful?” Jade asked, having an idea of what that answer will be.

“You’re a smart woman,” Sallow started as he stared her down, “I think you know when that will be.”

“Contrary to popular belief, I’m not that smart. You gotta dumb some stuff down for me.”

Sallow let out an irritated sigh. “You’re very annoying. You make it hard to keep you around.”

“Great, then lets make this easier on both of us and say our goodbyes,” she said.

“Not a chance,” he laughed. “You’re with me until you run out of life, dear.”

“What makes you think I won’t use my powers against you?”

Sallow was suddenly in her face. His coal eyes staring into her brown ones. “Because you’re much smarter than that.”

And then he was gone.

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“I know you’re not a fan of thinking ahead but we really need a plan, Tony,” Bruce said from his seat at the conference table.

“He’s right. We can’t just go barging in there and expect things to go well,” Steve chimed in.

Tony paced around the room. They had a lead in the case and after months of work, he finally found out where she was. It was in the middle of nowhere basically. A place that wasn’t easily found by others. Hence why it took so long for him to find it.

“I know, alright? I know. Give me something, Cap,” he looked to Steve with hopeful eyes, knowing the man was a tactical genius.

Steve nodded his head. “This guy has to be expecting us some time. He knew of Stark tower, and if he got Jade out of here with magic, who knows what else he’s capable of. I’m sure he knows we plan on going in there and getting her. I need to see what we’re getting ourselves into before I make a plan.”

Clint twirled the arrow in his hand before shoving it into his quiver. “Let’s get to it then. I’m ready to use these babies,” he said, referring to the new arrows Tony designed and made for him.

Natasha stood up to speak but her gaze fell upon something behind Tony that stopped her from doing so.

“Hello, friends. Heimdall informed me of your misfortune. I’ve come to help in any way that I can,” Thor said from the doorway.

“Perfect timing. We’re just on our way out,” Natasha said as she walked over to him. The others followed suit.

Tony let himself admire his friends for a moment. They agreed to this without a moment’s hesitation. They knew how powerful Sallow was yet they were at his side in a heartbeat. Tony couldn’t complain too much about the people he was originally forced to team up with over a year ago. They turned out to be not so bad.

“Anyone bringing snacks for the ride? I’ve got a craving for chocolate covered pretzels,” Clint said as they all climbed onto the helicopter, earning a smack on the head from Natasha.

“Ouch. Just kidding, damn.”

Tony stood in the back with his suit on and soon enough they were in the air. Steve stood next to Tony and nudged him in the arm.

“We’re gonna get her, Tony.”