Hollow Scars

“Biohazard? Wait, like… Dustin Hoffman in full body yellow rubber suits with gas masks?” Tony was awestruck by Scarlett’s revelation; so awestruck in fact that he was having a tough time wrapping his mind around it.

“Yes, just like Outbreak Tony but with less monkeys and no Cuba Gooding Jr.” Resting her hand on his cheek Scarlett looked at him sternly and seriously. “You need to leave. I don’t know how many other ways to say it unless you want me to start in other languages.”

“You’re out of your mind if you think I’m leaving without you.”

“I’m leaving too, Tony, but my car is on the other side of town.” Scarlett nodded back toward the main road that she’d taken to get to the abandoned MedCo facility that still stood ominously behind them, a tower of smoke coming from the chimney on the roof.

“Believe it or not, I took a cab.” Tony mused. Scarlett stared at Tony with a quizzical expression on her face, momentarily at a loss for words.

“You took a cab?” Slowly Scarlett’s scared expression turned into an amused one. It wasn’t exactly typical for Tony Stark to take a cab anywhere. A luxury car service, sure, but never a simple cab.

“I never know how long I’m going to be in one place thanks to you and it didn’t make sense to put on the suit since I didn’t know what kind of danger you were going to get me into! If you weren’t in danger then it would’ve likely attracted it.”

“Danger I get you into? How many times have I told you to go home and stop following me around? You get into these situations on your own, not because of me.”

“You know I can’t stop following you, it’s not as simple as you’re making it sound. Is this really important right now?” Tony knew they could argue about the same thing for hours and hours and still never actually get any results or closure on the matter. They didn’t have that kind of time.

“You started it.” Scarlett accused but then held her hand up to stop him from continuing to argue with her over something that was becoming trivial. “It doesn’t matter! What matters is that you have to leave and get somewhere safe.”

“You’re coming with me then.” Tony grabbed her arm and started down the path that would take them back to the main road and through the business district.

“I guess I am considering you took a cab to get here.”

“If I knew that there was going to be a medical emergency I would’ve worn my suit but someone keeps me out of the loop of all her fancy little strategies so it’s not like I can plan ahead.” Tony narrowed his eyes at her as he led her along though he wasn’t actually angry with her. “How do you know what’s going on here, anyway? You said you found proof? What proof?”

“Would it have killed you to rent a car?”

“I thought about it but then I would’ve rented a Maserati and you would’ve yelled at me for being too flashy.” Tony considered with a smile on his face. In actuality his mind was reeling. What kind of virus or infection was spreading throughout the innocent looking town? Had Scarlett really been infected as he feared? She’d been showing symptoms of illness for over a week. Was it possible that MedCo had gotten to her while she was hunting them in one place or another? It didn’t make sense to Tony. She hadn’t been captured since he found her in South Africa, bleeding in the sand. She wasn’t stupid, so she wouldn’t have consumed anything given to her by any strange people.

“Couldn’t you have rented something normal? Like a Ford Taurus or something? Seriously, Tony. What do you plan on doing with a Maserati while following me? This isn’t a vacation.”

“Why would I drive around in a tin can? That’s ridiculous. Are you even hearing yourself right now, Scarlett?” Scarlett pulled on his arm and forced him to a stop in the middle of the road. “What?” Without answering, Scarlett placed a hand to his lips to shut him up. While he wanted to object and joke around, there was urgency in Scarlett’s eyes that he didn’t like. Quickly she pulled him away from the main stretch of road and into an alleyway between office buildings. At the streetlight down the hill she could see several black trucks, each looking as suspicious as the next. Slipping her phone out of her pocket she took several photos around the side of the building then scrolled through them. Sure enough, there was a convoy going through town and she had a terrible feeling about it.

“We need to stay off the main road. Try and stick to the shadows.” She whispered, leaning against the building and taking a deep breath as she considered her options but instead she started coughing and groaned in annoyance at the tickle in her throat that just wouldn’t go away. Instinctively she unwrapped one of the few remaining Ricolas and popped it into her mouth before realizing Tony was staring at her both in horror and worry. Obviously he was torn between wanting to make sure she was alright and the fact that she had germs and was very possibly going to share them with him.

“Are you alright?” Tony decided that his concern outweighed his disgust and he stayed close to her against the wall, pushing her messy hair out of her face again while trying to examine her features for any further signs of illness.

“It’s just a cough.” Scarlett rolled her eyes, but secretly she was pleased that Tony cared enough about her to be concerned. It was a strange feeling. Scarlett had never had anyone care for her quite like that before. The fact that the man caring for her was the selfish spoiled rotten Tony Stark meant even more. Scott had cared for her in a weird way, but it was always an obligation or she was treated with condescension.

“Right, and this is just a vacation.” Tony cocked an eyebrow curiously. “Why are we staying off the main road?”

“Take a look down the hill.” Scarlett nodded toward the edge of the building, trying to ignore the cling in her chest that had only worsened thanks to the physical effort scaling the building had taken and the stress she’d felt after finding out about the experiments MedCo had been performing. Tony peered around the side of the building as instructed and immediately spied the suspicious trucks.

“That’s definitely not good.”

“Tell me about it. Come on, I’ll fill you in while we try to get across town.” Scarlett took his hand and led him through the alleyway and around the back side of one of the buildings that led them onto a side street.

“When I first got here I noticed that the townspeople were acting rather peculiar. I managed to gather the attention of an older woman, Eva, and she told me that there’s quite the flu epidemic here. She mentioned that it’s infected about thirty or so people but that no one had yet died. So, curious as I always am, I took a trip to the local hospital in an attempt to discover what was really causing the outbreak. I’ve had a feeling for the past few days that MedCo was developing biological weaponry anyway so this wasn’t too much of a surprise, at least to me.”

“So you hear that there’s a horrible pathogen spreading around and the first place you go is ground zero? Smart move.”

“I already told you. The virus is spreading in the water, not air born.” Rolling her eyes, Scarlett checked both ways before crossing the street and walking through another alleyway. She wanted to give Eva a heads up about what was going on so that the woman and her son could at least be prepared for the worst that was ahead of them.

“You can’t possibly know that.” Tony squeezed her hand and urged her to stop walking. “I know you’re thinking it too, Scarlett…” Before he could continue he was interrupted.

“No.” Scarlett shook her head adamantly after swallowing the lump of fear in her throat. She refused to get caught in that line of thinking again. “Not possible. I’m just run down. Now, would you listen to me? MedCo wouldn’t risk infecting their employees with an air born virus that’s why the built the facility so close to the town’s water source so that they would be able to control the distribution. The river ends in a lake at the far end of town and doesn’t travel further than that.” Tony’s fears weren’t at all put at ease. “Unfortunately the outbreak is much worse than the media has let on since they’re trying not to create a panic.” She urged Tony to keep walking. It was only a matter of time before MedCo security started hunting for them and the situation became dangerous. With Tony without his suit, again, they wouldn’t be in the best of straights. Then again, she could give him her gun since she had the Tesla glove fired up and ready to go. For some reason this made her uneasy.

“Of course, if people knew how devastating the outbreak really was then they’d try to leave town and risk expanding the area of contamination.” Tony grimaced. It was an unfortunate and harsh reality that Scarlett was exposing. While Tony didn’t exactly think the best of the world given his experiences with the seedier parts of it in the past decade, he definitely hadn’t anticipated the kind of chaos that Scarlett was showing him first hand.

“Exactly, Tony…” Scarlett crept through the alleyway with him and stopped in front of a brick wall that separated the two alleys and kept the area private. Starting to backtrack out of the alleyway to find another way around she stopped suddenly when sirens started ringing in the distance.

“That can’t be good.” Tony pulled out his cell phone and triggered Jarvis. “What’s that siren, Jarvis?”

As the artificially intelligent system responded his British accent was drowned out by another much closer siren as it rang over head. People were suddenly running out into the streets one after another. The black jeeps and trucks pulled up along the street and people in full body containment suits were jumping out and starting to pull people aside. Among them were soldiers, equipped with gas masks and holding high powered rifles. Would MedCo really kill anyone who didn’t obey?

“What the hell?” Tony gawked as he watched the scene unfold from the shadows in front of him. Scarlett on the other hand had started toward the back of the alleyway again. She dragged one of the dumpsters closer to the wall and then jumped on top of it. She tried to get Tony’s attention so that they could hurry and get out of there before the whole town and every exit was locked down. Realizing he wasn’t paying any attention to her and instead watching the chaos, Scarlett jumped off of the top of the dumpster and then ran back over to him.

Grabbing his arm she dragged him over to the dumpster. At first he objected since his moral compass was telling him to save the people that were being manhandled by the men in uniform but it only took him moments to comply. There was nothing he could do except for get away. The only way to save the people of that particular town and the victims of the experiment they had been unwilling participants in, would be to put a stop to MedCo.

“It’s quarantine protocol. They’re locking us in.” Scarlett whispered in a panic. The tightness in her chest was only getting worse and she knew that at the rate she was going, it wouldn’t be long before the physical exertion was too much and she passed out. If she could just get them to a hotel in Madrid then it wouldn’t be a big deal. Right now she had to focus on getting them out of there.

“I’ll call the suit.”

“What and put a giant target on our backs? No. That’s a terrible idea. You thought we were outnumbered in Senegal? Well this is way worse.”

“Then what do we do? They’re locking everything down and I’m unarmed.”

“The rooftops should still be safe for a period of time. That could potentially get us uptown.” Scarlett nodded to the office building they were standing next to.

“Are you out of your mind? That’s three stories high! How is that safer than calling my suit?”

“There’s a fire escape within reach if you’re willing to get creative. Trust me, I’ve done way more dangerous things tonight than this.” Scarlett nodded toward the wall that they could use as leverage that blocked off the alleyways. “We have to get the hell out of here. There are already people dead, Tony. I made copies of the patient files at the hospital and this outbreak is far worse than the media is letting on. It’s a full scale epidemic and I can guarantee you that this is MedCo’s cleanup crew. Who knows if any of these people will survive…”

“How do you know it’s not the National Guard or something? Maybe it isn’t MedCo.”

“Because this isn’t New Jersey. I can guarantee you that someone is working undercover from MedCo at the hospital and has been stopping any calls that have been asking for government assistance. Someone was at the MedCo building before me and was burning important files. I’m guessing that only happened because someone saw me at the hospital. Even if MedCo hadn’t planned to deal with this mess today, they’re dealing with it now because I threw a wrench in the gears. We finally have the upper hand. I’m not sacrificing my play because of a stupid convoy.” Scarlett got on top of the dumpster and waited for Tony to follow her. Hesitantly he did, but only because he could hear the urgency in her voice.

He had to face facts. Tony had never been in this type of dire situation. He’d experienced his fair share of intense situations but nothing to that extreme. Scarlett’s career had been one intense and desperate situation after the next. If they were ever going to truly trust the other, there was no better way to start. The duo managed their way onto the concrete wall between alleyways with ease. Scarlett nodded toward the fire escape a few feet away and Tony nodded to agree. Thankfully Tony was in excellent physical shape, so it wouldn’t be too hard to get him to follow her.

“Do you think that MedCo is hoping to catch you in the quarantine?”

“It couldn’t hurt for them to try. I bet you that’s what they’re thinking. It’s why they executed it so quickly. It’s to our advantage really. Haste usually leads to inefficiency.” Scarlett used the bulky top of the office window frame to walk across to the fire escape where she turned around and waited for Tony to join her, offering him her hand.

“We’ve got to get out of here.” Tony groaned under his breath with urgency, finally having pocketed his phone despite the queries coming from Jarvis about what was going on.

“Isn’t that what I’ve been saying?”

“Are you kidding? It’s practically your catchphrase this month.” Tony followed Scarlett up the steps of the fire escape. With the sirens ringing loudly throughout the town and the sounds of people screaming in horror as they were carted away or detained by the men in black trucks, there was no point in trying to remain quiet. No one would hear them anyway. Once at the top of the fire escape, Tony offered Scarlett a boost so that she could jump to the roof but was surprised when she instead stepped on the railing, then onto the window frame and scaled the remaining space between the window and the roof without having noticed his offer to help at all.

“Come on.” Scarlett nodded as she leaned over the side of the roof. Her head was swimming as the grip on her chest tightened, but there would be time to deal with the illness later. She offered Tony a hand as he unsteadily began to follow the same actions his girlfriend had taken. He was in good physical shape obviously considering his role as a super hero, but he was used to having his suit do most of the hard work for him. Finally, Tony managed to grab the edge of the roof the way Scarlett had done, but with not nearly as much grace as she had managed.

Scarlett helped him onto the roof and then searched the area to better decide on their next move.

“Jarvis?”

“Yes, sir.”

“I need you to get a satellite read out of my coordinates and tell me where these black vans are and what areas are being barricaded and locked down. Find us a clear path out of here and keep me updated. Be discreet.”

“I would recommend heading west and following the path along the river to its exit.” Jarvis spoke immediately. He’d started looking into what was going on when Tony had given the initial command back in the alleyway and had already started putting together escape routes without having been prompted.

“Jarvis, my car is in the next town over. Here…” Scarlett snatched Tony’s phone out of his hand and then walked along the top of the building and attempted to catch her breath.

“It is good to hear your voice, Miss Damien.”

“And yours, Jarvis.” She stifled a cough and then put in the coordinates for the vehicle she’d stowed away. “Keep your ears open Jarvis, we’re going to run.”

“As is best. Do be careful. The primary exits are marked off and there are multiple armed military vehicles.” The Jarvis program on Tony’s phone muted. Tony peered over Scarlett’s shoulder at the map of the town that came onto the screen and nodded his head resolutely.

“Can you do this?” Scarlett turned to look back at him. She had faith that Tony could take care of himself after watching him do so outside of Senegal, she wasn’t sure he had the physical agility required to get across the rooftops and out of the business district safely.

Tony considered it and then stole his phone away from her and slipped it in his pocket. Before Scarlett could suggest and alternative means of escape, Tony grabbed her by her chin and turned her so that he could kiss her desperately. Scarlett wasn’t sure if her heart was fluttering from the way her lungs were constricted or from the passion in Tony’s lips.

“Now I can do it.” Tony pulled away, but kept his hand on her chin.

“That was really bad.” Scarlett couldn’t help but smile despite the seriousness of the situation.

“I’m all about bad, Scarlett. Lead the way.” Tony bowed his head comically and extended his arm out toward the next building.

“Finally, a gentleman.” Scarlett patted him on his shoulder and then started toward the edge of the building. The gap was too far to jump across, so Scarlett instead searched for something to lie across the large gap that could be used as a makeshift bridge. “Look for a board, a rope… anything that could help us over there without breaking our neck.”

“Alright MacGyver.” The two searched the rooftop for anything that could help but unfortunately found nothing.

“Alright, new idea.” Scarlett walked over to the roof entrance to the office building and tested the strength of the door. Unlike the MedCo facility, this door was made only of wood and not the heavy steel Scarlett hadn’t felt the need to bother with. Instead of bashing the door in like she usually would’ve she turned her Tesla glove on, used the attachment Tony had created and she had perfected, to blast away the lock on the door.

“I see you got it working.”

“Once I fixed your math.”

“A wire was crossed, it wasn’t my math.” Tony whispered as they hurried inside the building. “What are we looking for?[br /]
“Something to help us across the roof, remember? You really do have the attention span of a fly.” Scarlett peered in the rooms on the top floor and found a conference room. Peeking under the long table in the center of the room Scarlett was pleased to find that it folded up neatly. “This is perfect.”

“What about this?” Tony found a bundle of rope in one of the supply closets in the hallway and waved it in front of her.

“I knew there was a reason I loved you.” Scarlett took the rope and threw it in her bag. It added more weight than she would’ve liked but it would help them scale the side of a building in a pinch if necessary.

“Other than the fact that I’m ruggedly handsome, you mean.”

“The orgasms could have something to do with it too.” Scarlett knew their relationship was much more complex than that but loved to joke around with him. It was easier to keep the tension and stress at bay despite the panicked situation when she was with Tony. She was learning that humor was his defense mechanism as much as it was hers.

“Well, you’re not wrong.” Tony smirked and then grabbed the front end of the table. As they maneuvered it into the hall together and back up the stairs toward the roof there was creaking from somewhere below and then echoes of shouting.

“Hurry,” Scarlett whispered before rushing up the stairs. Unable to close the door that she’d blasted open she instead ran to the edge of the building. With Tony’s help she turned the table around and then laid it face down over the edge of the roof balanced between the end of the next building and the one they were on. “They’re searching buildings. It’s going to look like Senegal in here by the time the morning has come.”

“Then we better not be here for that long.” Tony offered her a hand again and this time she took it and used it to get onto the table they’d laid across the roof. Carefully she tested the strength of the table and then jumped across when she was close enough. The less weight they put on it, the longer it would last to help them. Pulling the rope out of her bag, she loosely tied it around her waist and tossed the other end to Tony.

He was bulkier than she was and if he broke the table that was clearly not designed for assisting people in a high risk escape, then at least she’d be able to pull him back up with the rope and save him from falling to his death.

“Good idea.” Tony grabbed the rope and tied it around his middle the same way that she had done. Once on the table, he slowly moved across it to test how it would handle his weight. It creaked and cracked but didn’t give and he was able to make it far enough along so that he could jump as Scarlett had done onto the opposite roof.

Together they lifted the table and then carried it to the other end. It brought them successfully to the end of the business district where they abandoned the table on the roof and propped it in front of the door.

“Tony…” Scarlett began, peering over the side of the building. There was a line of trucks down below and people being ushered into the back of them.

“It’s like a war zone.” He peered over her shoulder again then grabbed her hand as she had done several times and led her to the side of the building. They would have to be careful to remain unseen but he knew that since they’d gotten that far then they could make it through the residential area just as stealthily. It’d be a bit harder on foot, but he had faith they could manage.

“It’ll be chaotic enough down there for us to sneak through if we’re careful and keep our heads low.” Scarlett untied the rope from around her waist and then reached around Tony to do the same. She tied it onto the air conditioning unit nearby and made sure it was secure enough to handle their weight. “We only need to get to the fire escape. Don’t go crazy Indiana.”

“I won’t. I’m tired enough after going over the buildings.” Tony acknowledged his roughed up hands from grabbing the table and gripping onto the roof on several near misses. Scarlett picked up his hand and kissed his palm. “All better, I guess.” Tony laughed and Scarlett nudged him before starting over the side of the building on the rope. With ease she walked down the side of the building and onto the fire escape. Then she waved for Tony to follow her.

He did so with the same ease he’d seen her respond with. Thankfully, he had practiced multiple escape techniques in case of a situation just like this. He wasn’t the best when it came to physical prowess but he could hold his own well enough. Once he got some down time, he’d make a note to train a bit harder. Together they hurried down the fire escape and then as quietly as they could, they let the ladder descend to the ground below.

Unnoticed still by the men in black searching the streets, Scarlett and Tony made it back onto the ground in the alleyway and hid in the shadows. Retrieving his phone Tony checked their path but was surprised when he couldn’t get any signal.

“That’s a problem.” He whispered, tugging Scarlett back into the darkness.

“What?” Scarlett peeked at his phone and since she was unfamiliar with the interface, wasn’t sure what she wasn’t seeing other than the fact that the map they’d been provided with by Jarvis was gone.

“I can’t get to Jarvis. They’ve jammed cellular signals.”

“Damn,” Scarlett cursed under her breath. “Come on… We can’t sit and wait for it to come back so we’ll have to make our own way.” Tony nodded to agree and then the two hurried out of the alleyway and onto the chaotic streets. Scarlett clutched onto Tony’s hand and pulled him to walk closely with her side by side.

“Jesus…” Tony muttered as several people were dragged away and toward trucks. People were revolting and rebelling, trying to get away from the forces of MedCo. Scarlett hid her long hair in the back of her coat, in hopes of not being recognized as easily.

“I should’ve known this would happen.” Scarlett whispered beneath her breath, trying to avoid drawing attention to them as they hurried into the residential area of the town that was deafened by sirens. Thankfully Tony was close enough to hear her.

“There’s no way you could’ve known that MedCo was using these people as test subjects. And there were even less chances for you to have guessed that they’d choose tonight to clean up.” Tony kept aware of the men with guns out of the corner of his eye. Even if he wanted to summon his suit now, he couldn’t.

“Don’t pawn the blame onto circumstance. I caused the quarantine to happen tonight because I was digging around. They want to capture me for whatever reason. I don’t know… if it’s revenge or what, but they’re really pulling out all the stops.” Scarlett was positive the guilt she’d felt over the past month had manifested into its own organ, eating away at her stomach on nearly a constant basis. Maybe she’d have to invest in some antacids to help with that too.

“Let’s get out of here, okay? Then we can argue about who’s at fault. All I know is that you’re trying to put a stop to this madness not worsen it.” Tony hissed beneath his breath as they turned a corner and Scarlett led them through the chaotic streets. As they started toward the road that Scarlett had initially taken into the city they could see flashing lights at the end. The cleanup crew was setting up a barricade to prevent anyone from getting past them. They’d have to take more creative measures in order to get away.

Hurrying down the side streets and between houses to avoid being seen by the patrolling officers whose faces were all covered by either gas masks or contamination gear, they had to work their way back into the center of the residential district to try and regroup. Scarlett’s mind was reeling between feeling guilty and trying to decide the best place to try and scale the surrounding wall of the town.

“I thought you were convinced that I was a woman on a mission to get revenge. A vendetta you called it, if I recall.” Scarlett was stopped as Tony tugged her into the yard of one of the nearby homes.

“I was wrong.” Tony looked at her seriously. “That was first and only thing my math has ever been off on. You’re not out for blood and I know that. You’re just trying to do the right thing.” Scarlett stared up at Tony in disbelief. Finally they were starting to understand each other and get to the same page of the book. No longer was Tony a step behind Scarlett on her trail after MedCo and no longer did Scarlett need to defend her every move to keep from being called a vengeful psychopath.

“Luna?” A voice called and Scarlett had to recall why that name was important before she turned to respond to the voice. They were closer to the sirens so the voice was muffled, but she’d distinctly heard it. Ruben was standing in the doorway, behind them staring at her in surprise. He narrowed his eyes at Tony suspiciously and then turned back to Scarlett. “Luna! Luna, you must help! They’re taking my mother! They have guns!”

“Eva?” Scarlett hurried away from Tony and over to where Ruben was standing in the doorway.

“Men in contamination suits came and dragged her away. She locked my door when the sirens went off and I couldn’t help her! I had to break through. By the time I got out it was too late.” He held his arm and it looked bloody and sore.

“God! Are you okay?” Scarlett motioned for Tony to come and join her. Urging Ruben to sit, Scarlett pulled his sleeve away and examined the arm with a grimace.

“Dislocated…” Tony scowled, sticking out his tongue and wrinkling up his nose at the grotesquely misplaced arm of the stranger who was calling his girlfriend Luna for whatever reason.

“Thanks, Sherlock.” Scarlett whispered as she touched over the bloodied arm grateful for the gloves she wore.

“We must save my mother! What’s happening Luna?” Ruben’s terror made his voice tremble.

“I need you to try not to scream. I’m going to fix this for you.” Scarlett looked at the Spanish man seriously and he nodded his head and instead focused on Tony who was definitely trying not to watch what Scarlett was up to. She placed her hand on his shoulder, and found the joint that had been misplaced. With a hard snap and a shove she popped Ruben’s shoulder back into where it belonged. He grimaced and winced but bit his tongue instead of screaming so that attention wouldn’t be drawn to them.

“We can’t stay here… We’ve got to go. We’re running out of time.” Tony whispered beneath his breath, close to Scarlett’s ear.

“Please, help me save my mother.” Ruben furrowed his brow in desperation. “What are they doing? Why would they want her? She is a simple woman!”

“Remember those bad feelings you had about the company at the end of the river?” Scarlett began. Ruben nodded solemnly but she could see his hope crash around him as she spoke. “They poisoned your water. Now they’re here to clean up. There’s nothing you can do… I’ve got to leave. I can’t stay here.” Ruben seemed to realize more than Scarlett had divulged as she spoke.

“They’re after you.” Ruben stood up instantly and despite how pained his arm was, seemed prouder and stronger than he was before.

“My friend and I have to get away. I promise I’m going to do everything I can possibly do to try and get your mother free… but none of that will matter if I can’t find whatever cure there is for what’s in the water.”

“You must go then.” Ruben hurried to the edge of the yard and crouched low near the bushes. “Follow the river. There’s a lake where the water stops flowing but before that the river loops around and there’s a break in the wall. I used to play there and hop across the rocks when I was a child. We kept it secret so the police would never close the place up. You should be able to get across there. If they’ve blocked off the exits as I imagine they have it might be your only shot.” Ruben nodded fervently, pointing in the direction he knew they must go.

“So we cross the river.” Tony whispered. Ruben glanced up at Tony and recognition reflected in his gaze. Despite the awkward moment when Tony had realized that he’d been spotted for who he was, Ruben didn’t say a word about it.

“Yes, but do not touch the water. If they are closing down our town to prevent contamination further then I imagine our prognosis is not very good.” Ruben stood up straight and took a deep breath. “I will distract them so you have time. But you must hurry.” Scarlett nodded her head fervently.

“Thank you Ruben…” Scarlett felt guilty for not being able to help the man save his mother. As much as she wanted to tell him to come with them she knew that if she did, she was putting others at risk because surely the man had not escaped infection. Tony tugged on her arm and urged her to get going.

“We’re running out of time.” Tony whispered in her ear and urged her onward. She nodded quickly, hesitated and then turned away from Ruben and started through the various yards of other homes. Several of the buildings had obviously already been raided while others were being boarded up by people who were trying to delay their capture by the men in the trucks.

Scarlett was trembling but trying not to focus on the guilt she felt and the chaos she had caused. How many times could she convince herself that none of this was actually her fault before it set in that most of it was? Tony could sense that she was torturing herself and then pulled her to walk closer to him.

“He knew who I was.” Tony whispered as they walked, following along the path of the river and making sure they kept it in sight. He hoped he could distract her a little. They didn’t want to follow along the river precisely, it would make them too easy to find. Multiple times they had to lean against the houses or hide behind cars to avoid detection by the cleanup crew that was searching the town for something more than stray souls who hadn’t been caught yet.

They were looking Scarlett and Tony.

“What?” Scarlett whispered as they crept alongside a building.

“He looked at me and knew who I was. MedCo is going to use him against us.”

“Damnit,” Scarlett furrowed her brow and stopped, placing a hand to her forehead. “God damnit, Tony…”

“It’s not my fault I’m so recognizable.”

“I know… I know. It’s not your fault.” Scarlett shook her head and then started around the corner to follow the winding river. They had already managed to spend too much time in the town for her liking after the sirens went off; she doubted they would make it too much longer without detection.

“You know it’s not your fault either, right?” Tony whispered as he followed her along.

“I know that we’re in a situation where the line of mortality and guilt are blurred.” Scarlett stood up straight and pointed toward the river and the gap where the wall was half cracked and crumbled. There wasn’t a guard in sight. It was as deserted as Ruben had promised it would be.

“You’re going to explain this later, right?” Tony nodded toward the road they’d traveled along.

“Yeah, I guess.” Scarlett started toward the river. “We should go. This place isn’t going to remain secret for very long. After we’re cross the river we run as far as we can. Then we can backtrack to my car. I don’t want to risk getting caught too close to the town’s boundaries.”

“Hold on.” Tony walked to the edge of the river and pulled a small metallic box and several small white tabs out of his inner pocket. Carefully he dipped the tabs into the water and then placed them back into a small metallic case for later.

“What was that?”

“New way to test for contaminants. Absorbent tabs collect the sample and when I put them in that case they send off a signal to Stark Industries for identification. If we can’t find the notes on how to reverse what MedCo did here, maybe there’s a chance that my people can.” Tony shoved the metallic case back into the pocket inside his jacket and then nodded toward the rocks on the river. “Think we can actually do this?”

“If a bunch of ten year olds screwing around can do it, then so can we, Tony.” Scarlett coughed and leaned against the crumbling security wall of the town. She was exhausted and her fingers and toes were tingling from lack of oxygen. If she could make it just a little bit further then she could get the chance to really rest.

“What I really meant, was can you do this?” Tony leaned close to her and pressed his hand to her forehead in an attempt to see if she had a fever. But, he couldn’t tell. Whatever magic mothers possessed to read a person’s temperature by hand had escaped Tony.

“Yeah,” Scarlett nodded and swatted his hand away. He looked at her skeptically. “I can do it, I’m a big girl.”

“A big girl with a fever… I’m guessing.” Tony looked down at his hand skeptically, disappointed that he hadn’t been able to magically tell how she was feeling. With Jarvis offline he couldn’t use the computer’s skills to aid him.

“We’ll deal with that once we’re safe.” Scarlett didn’t wait for Tony to give her any approval and instead started onto the first rock that led across the river. “Be careful they’re really slippery.”

“You’re the one not in sensible shoes.” Tony shrugged and then started after Scarlett. He had to put his worry aside and focus on getting across. The water was rushing threateningly beneath them, licking at their shoes.

“Are you actually complaining that I’ve got heels on?” Scarlett yelped and nearly slipped when thunder cracked overhead and lightning struck nearby behind them. Tony reached out to help her regain her balance and took a look at the sky above. The clouds were threatening to burst at any second. The humidity in the air was thicker than it’d been the whole night.

“We’re running out of time in more ways than you might think.” Scarlett coughed, having to catch her breath after her near fall into the water. Thunder cracked frequently as the storm that had been building the entire day was finally coming to fruition. Finally, Scarlett made her way to the other side of the river. She waited for Tony, leaning against the opposite side of the crumbling wall and holding out her hand for him so that he could take it if need be.

He’d had a much easier time crossing the river than Scarlett had. He’d watched her struggle with her balance and could see her hands shaking but he assumed only from nerves. Whoever Eva and Ruben were, they were obviously important to Scarlett and he could tell she was still thinking about them and how she wouldn’t be able to do much of anything to prevent their fate.

“Come on.” Tony grabbed her arm one he was free of the river. Together they started at a run as far away from the town as they possibly could. It was a mile or so to the next city that was seemingly oblivious of the chaos going on just around the corner. Running was draining Scarlett faster than any of the previous physical activities had. Her heart was pounding in her ears and she couldn’t hear anything except for a high pitched buzzing. On top of that her stomach was in knots from guilt and she was kicking herself for not having told Eva and Ruben to get away while they could even if it had risked contamination. They could’ve sent them back to a lab and used them to help find a cure for the illness. Instead she let them rot in the hands of MedCo or IPDS-whatever they were calling themselves now.

“This way,” Scarlett whispered between coughs. Now that they were in the neighboring town they didn’t have to run. She could lead them to the car she’d left in the parking lot of a busy all night shopping center and they could make a clean break to whatever hotel Tony had booked for them. Despite how they’d slowed down, Scarlett’s heart continued to race. Her vision blurred as they walked, but thankfully she was still able to discern their location well enough. Years of escaping in the nick of time had taught her to be aware enough of important landmarks.

It didn’t take long for them to find the car and as they did, Tony leaned against the passenger side.

“God, that was a close call.” He was exhilarated, relieved, and terrified by what they’d been through. It was a confusing mix of emotions but he understood each of them. Not very often did he get a chance to run around and act like a spy and work together with Scarlett so seamlessly so it left him feeling elated. He was relieved that they had managed to escape without being caught but he was also terrified by what they’d seen. MedCo had been up to no good in the arms and munitions department but knowing they were messing around with genetics and biology scared the hell out of Tony. In his experience, messing with the human biology never ended well. He’d heard horror stories from his father about the later attempts at creating another super soldier and knew that he’d much rather rely on technology to be his aid than superhuman capabilities.

“It was.” Scarlett leaned against the driver’s side door and started fumbling through her bag to locate the rental car’s keys. Her fingers were numbed and there were black spots in her vision. She’d have to ask Tony to drive which was fine since she didn’t know where they were going anyway.

“We make a pretty good team when you let me help you, though you must admit.” Tony smirked, waiting for her to unlock the car so that they could finish their clean getaway. Scarlett didn’t respond and he couldn’t blame her. When he got the chance, he was going to sneak a blood sample from her to send off to his lab. Not that it’d be easy to get a blood sample from his girlfriend, but he was planning on finding a way. He wanted to make sure that she wasn’t infected with whatever was in that water. If she was, then it was likely he was infected too.

Scratch that, it was a certainty that he was infected if Scarlett was. Maybe he’d send his blood off to get tested too, just in case.

“Come on. We can order room service at the hotel. Sooner we get there the better… Pretty sure my hands are never going to be the same again after being on those rooftops.” Tony joked but when Scarlett didn’t even groan in annoyance, he became concerned. Slowly he walked around the car so that he could figure out what she was up to. Expecting her to be doing something ridiculous and James Bond-like as he always found her doing he was surprised to instead find her passed out on the ground holding the keys to the rental car.

“Scarlett!” Tony ran to her side and checked her pulse immediately. His phone buzzed in his pocket instantly and at first he ignored it but then realized it was likely Jarvis coming back online. Once sure that Scarlett’s heart was still beating and she was breathing okay he acknowledged his phone.

“Sir, I don’t mean to alarm you but Scarlett’s oxygen intake rate is below normal.” Jarvis ignored the mute function that had been triggered on the phone while they’d been in harm’s way.

“You conveniently decide to come back only when she’s in trouble? You’re hopeless.” Tony joked, but he felt no pleasure considering what was going on. Carefully he picked Scarlett up and cradled her momentarily in his arms. After what she’d been through, he couldn’t blame her for passing out.

“I was just looking out for Miss Damien, sir.”

“Sure, that’s it.” Tony placed the phone against Scarlett’s chest and then leaned his forehead against hers. “Should I take her to a hospital?” Tony whispered solemnly as he let his girlfriend’s limp form melt into his.

“I don’t think she would like that very much.”

“What I was asking is do I need to take her to a hospital.” Tony clarified then turned his attention back to the pale face of his unconscious girlfriend.

“I do not think that is necessary. Her oxygen levels are slowly rising.”

“Okay.” Tony was torn. If he took her to a hospital it would be chaos. There would be press all over him for bringing some unconscious woman into an international hospital after being seen following her for several weeks in the media. It was much easier for him to deal with this privately. Carefully he opened the back door of the sedan that Scarlett had rented and laid her down. He buckled her in so that she wouldn’t roll around while he was driving the unfamiliar car and then got into the driver’s seat.

Once he had gotten them safely to the hotel he would be able to get a better grasp on what they were dealing with.