Hollow Scars

Twitching awake on the couch for the fourth time in a row, Tony leaned forward and instead of trying to sleep as he’d done the first three times he hung his head in his hands. Gritting his teeth to stifle a noise of annoyance he rubbed his eyes and contemplated, once again, his moral quandary. He’d spent hours trying to talk himself out of digging further into Scarlett’s past than what she had been willing to share with him.

Would doing so betray her trust? Or would it be the only way he’d find out the truth about what she’d been through? He’d tried to convince himself to let it go, to wait until things became a bit more normal for them so he could ask… but would things ever really be normal for them? Even after the craziness had been straightened out with MedCo, if that ever happened, he was Iron Man and Scarlett was trouble.

As much as he wanted to think Scarlett would settle down and stop chasing shadows and getting into dangerous situations he knew it was unreasonable to expect of her. Scarlett was attracted to danger; she’d made that perfectly clear the moment they first met. Even if she took it easy for a little while after they returned to the States, if that was what she planned to do at all, how long would it be before she slipped back into the underbelly? Tony had always been under the assumption that she’d come home with him, but he’d never actually asked her what she wanted to do.

Picking up his laptop from where he’d set it on the coffee table, Tony opened it and turned the screen on once again. He missed his custom system he had at home. He’d only built this for travel purposes and had never expected to use it as much as he had. Most of what Tony needed could be access from his phone, but what he had considered doing was a bit more complicated than what his phone could handle.

Still open on the screen was Jarvis’ interface, the connection to his home computers once again linked up now that he’d awoken the machine. How many times had he opened the same interface in order to do some digging on Scarlett? A dozen? Staring once again at the screen that was prompting him for a command, Tony wasn’t sure what he should do.

He sure as hell wasn’t going to get any sleep until he got things figured out. Curious as his imagination was, Tony had fabricated a thousand different scenarios that could be haunting Scarlett’s mind. Everything from the most horrific and graphic torture he could imagine to the most sadistic forms of imprisonment. To say the least, Tony had grown weary of trying to sleep. Until he knew the truth he’d form his own image of what had happened and it would haunt him the way that Scarlett’s reality haunted her.

Sometimes being a genius was hell.

Very few people understood what it was like to have a mind that couldn’t stay quiet. At any given moment Tony’s mind was racing, except for the select few moments he’d shared with Scarlett where nothing else had seemed to matter. Perhaps that had been what made her so intriguing to begin with. She’d always been a puzzle to piece together and every time he thought he’d figured part of the picture out, the pieces scattered and confused him again. But what would happen when he really did unravel her mysteries? Would he be bored again?

Or would she grow bored with him? Obviously she didn’t need his money so that wouldn’t keep her around. Was he scared of being left behind the way that he’d done to so many women in the past? Scarlett had done it once before already. Broken into his computer and left him naked and alone in bed. Even though she had explained herself more than necessary the wound still stung. But what right did he have to be upset over something seemingly so trivial in the span of things? And if he was still wounded by her betraying his trust, was she still upset about the nasty things he’d said to drive her away when things got too real for him?

He was over thinking everything.

Until he figured out what had happened to Scarlett in Afghanistan he would continue over thinking things. If he sabotaged their relationship, the first one that had ever meant anything to him, he wasn’t sure he’d ever forgive himself. He’d already made one horrifying attempt to sabotage it, he wasn’t sure they’d survive another.

At first he tapped his fingers on the keyboard without actually pressing any keys. Then he checked behind him to make sure that Scarlett was still resting peacefully. She looked content and according to Jarvis her fever had gone down considerably. What was Tony expecting to see when he turned around? Scarlett sitting up and staring accusingly at him? There was no way she’d suspect that he’d dug into her past more than she wanted him to. What if she never forgave him when she found out?

He’d make her forgive him, and he meant that in the most benevolent way possible. Considering their tumultuous relationship so far and the vile things he’d said to her when he’d practically thrown her out of his house, it would be much simpler to make up for this indiscretion than it would be to take back the harsh words he’d used against her. Their relationship was destructive and painful thus far, but it moved Tony with more emotion and excitement than he’d experienced before in his entire life.

Deciding that the outcome well outweighed the risks, Tony put the plan that had been formulating within his mind for hours into action. He’d use Jarvis to get the simpler things done then he’d go from there, back to his roots, and hack where he needed to. Hacking had been a thing he hadn’t bothered to personally do since his days at MIT when he’d done it for the sake of his own amusement. What else was there to do at that age in college?

He’d start with the rental car. Searching through Scarlett’s finances might show him anything suspicious that had happened in the last year. If he found nothing there he’d search elsewhere. By now, he’d gathered enough personal information about Scarlett that Tony could discover more about her. Even if he had to hack into S.H.I.E.L.D.’s systems, he’d do it just so he could find closure on the matter.

Fingers stopping suddenly Tony wondered if he wouldn’t find closure. What if what he discovered was worse than the fantasies replaying in his mind about what had transpired? Closing his eyes and cracking his neck, Tony pulled his fingers away from the keyboard and considered what to do. He had to know the truth one way or another, but at what expense? He could hear Pepper’s nagging voice in the back of his head, reminding him of how he’d screwed up his relationship with Scarlett in the past with deceit. Even though Pepper wasn’t exactly Scarlett’s biggest fan, his assistant could see the changes that had been made within both of them and encouraged their relationship. Ultimately Pepper wanted him to be happy, and for that Tony was grateful.

When had Pepper Potts become his conscience? She wasn’t even there and he could hear her nagging in the back of his mind! He made a mental note to scold Pepper for it later, even though she was in no way at fault.

Typing again at the keyboard, Tony decided that the truth was worth the risk he was running. If his hunch was correct in regards to Scarlett’s nightmares having some connection to their current situation with MedCo then maybe looking backwards would shed some light on what was really going on in their present.

Once Jarvis had gotten into the records of the rental car service at the airport, Tony was able to find the car she’d rented and found that unfortunately Scarlett had paid for it up front with cash. Of course she’d only use cash so that people like Tony and MedCo wouldn’t be able to trace her movements so easily. Then again, she had let Tony tap her phone so it wasn’t like she was avoiding him or anything. He was guessing that old habits had a way of dying hard. It would take far more than a moral epiphany for Scarlett to change her ways. It had sure as hell taken Tony much longer than he’d expected to become a different man, despite the drastic change in his lifestyle that had to happen after he’d returned with an arc reactor in his chest. But each day that machine reminded him how lucky he was to be alive and had driven him forward to make a greater change.

How long would it take Scarlett to do the same? She didn’t have any permanent scars the way that Tony did, so would she need to be reminded in a different way? The nightmares seemed to be doing exactly the opposite of that. It made her more reckless. Instead of coping with what had occurred she was blindly trying to make amends without making sure she was alright. Maybe Scarlett didn’t know how to be okay. Tony had always put himself before others and at first he’d thought the same of Scarlett but the more he got to know her, the less he thought that was true. In some ways they were very similar and in others they were polar opposites.

Tapping into the GPS mechanism he’d placed within Scarlett’s phone, Tony found the SIM card ID registered with her phone company and went from there. With a few simple searches he was able to back track the phone to a company in the United States where she had an account under a fake name. He wondered if maybe she’d set that up before leaving Los Angeles that morning he’d woken up alone after having thought they’d made amends.

It was easy enough to get inside of the phone company’s database using Jarvis, in fact, Tony had to do very little at all. He let his computer program run and stayed hunched over his screen as the coding that made up the interface flashed across his screen and allowed him access. Looking through her account, Tony found that Scarlett had paid for the service using a recurring automatic payment system made to her bank account. He found this odd, considering the lengths she’d gone through to remain hidden. Then again, without the numbers from her SIM card he never would’ve found the account at all or guessed the pseudonym. He still wondered if Scarlett Damien was even her real name or just an assumed one she’d taken on for her complex job.

He hoped that if nothing else, her real first name was Scarlett.

Tony traced the payment to a bank account set up in Los Angeles, but it seemed that Scarlett only used that account to pay bills. The money had to come from somewhere though and if he followed the money he’d eventually find her main account which is where he’d surely find every payment for every job she’d ever done in the past.

Jarvis searched for money transfers and found several, each coming from a different routing number and with zero consistency at that. Each transfer had a fake identity attached to it that would seem legitimate to the bank she was using to pay the bills but when Tony investigated further he discovered that no such accounts existed at the banks whose routing numbers she had used. He was suddenly struck with admiration and attraction for the clever financial set up Scarlett had worked out so that her funds would remain untraceable.

But, absolutely nothing was untraceable to Tony Stark. When Jarvis reached the end of his search and proclaimed he’d found the end of the money trail, Tony looked over the information he’d acquired. Scarlett had clearly used some sort of crazy algorithm to hack into these different banks, authorize payment transfers from her actual account through their banking system and to the dummy account she used to pay off her phone. It was brilliant.

Tony pulled the computer onto his lap and started typing away, still through his Jarvis interface. If he could recover the data from the latest account transfer then he would be able to find the algorithm she used, decipher and decode it and find Scarlett’s, apparently super secret, bank account. If he could get her out of the mindset of having to hide her whole life then maybe she could have a regular account, like normal people.

It took Tony an hour of fighting against firewalls and security put in to prevent people from doing exactly what he planned to do, but he managed to finally intercept one of the transfers that hadn’t been erased from the system quite yet. Unfortunately the security system locked him out moments later but not before he’d managed to hijack the information from the file transfer. He set Jarvis then to deal with the aftermath of a security system detecting his process so that he wouldn’t be detected. Thankfully, before he’d started Tony had set Jarvis up to have his IP address to change every few seconds so that no one could backtrack the activity to his laptop, at least not easily.

Deciphering the algorithm took longer than expected, but Tony eventually was able to trace back to Scarlett’s account which was, naturally, offshore. That was where he’d suspected he’d find her actual account considering the nature of her previous career; either that or he expected it to be in Switzerland where the security was the most intense. Many of the things Scarlett had done were likely illegal. It occurred to Tony then that he could technically be sleeping with the enemy. If things hadn’t happened exactly as they had then Scarlett very well could’ve ended up another person chasing him with a gun. But deep down he knew that Scarlett, despite her tendency to get into trouble, was overall a good person. She wanted to do good things but had gone astray somewhere along the line; just like Tony had.

It would take Tony another hour to hack through the security for the offshore bank. Those places were loads more secure than the banks in the United States or most other countries for that matter. They made it their business to hide underhanded dealings and illegal transactions. Naturally Scarlett would choose to hide her money there and then take extra security measures on top of that. Regardless, Tony wasn’t giving up without a fight and his hard work paid off in spades.

Tony found Scarlett’s bank account and had to actually walk away from his computer when he saw her balance. He knew now more than ever that she was definitely not in their relationship for his money. Walking around the room he poured another glass of scotch and then walked over to the bed where he sat next to the sleeping woman. For once, she looked completely at peace. No nightmares, no tossing and turning, not even coughing or struggling to breathe against her illness.

What had she done to earn so much money? How many jobs had she worked to obtain as much as she had? And how the hell had she resisted impulse spending? With the money she had, she could have lived almost as extravagantly as Tony did and for the rest of her life at that. But somehow she’d chosen not to. Had money not been important to her? As much as Tony loved the luxury of being a billionaire, he understood more and more over the past few years how money couldn’t fill the gaping void. It sure did help though.

Head still spinning from what he’d discovered, Tony finished his glass of scotch and set it down on the nightstand next to Scarlett. Then he leaned down and kissed Scarlett’s forehead. Her lips twitched into a smile but she didn’t wake up or move more than to curl up closer to Tony. Brushing her hair away from her face he stared at the beautiful woman in bed for a long moment before getting back up off of the bed and returning to his computer. The horrible images of torture from his nightmares tainted her visage, and he had to get to the bottom of them.

Rifling through her transaction history, Tony discovered the transfers to the new account as the only spending Scarlett had done. It seemed she’d never made any attempt to live large or to even live well by any standards. He went back a few years and found payments for apartments and food but never any large amounts and to never anywhere exquisite. In fact, a few of the older apartments were in slums and ghettos. Returning to the more recent transaction history, Tony rifled through the charges, matching them up to the account information he’d seen in the bank that Scarlett had used for her cell service.

There was one payment that didn’t seem to match up. It was transferred through other bank accounts just as the other payments had been but he couldn’t find any record of it in Scarlett’s dummy account that had been set up. Scrolling further through the history, Tony found another transaction for the same amount of money a month prior. On a hunch, Tony searched the month before that and the month before that one. Each month he found the same amount of money being transferred out of Scarlett’s account to somewhere else.

But where was that money going? Tony went through the transaction history for a few more months and found the first payment. Before that there hadn’t been any incoming or outgoing transactions for at least two months. Was that when she’d been going through whatever hell she wouldn’t share with him? How long had she suffered? Longer than he thought if the bank records were any indication.

Deciding to focus on the mysterious transaction, Tony followed the algorithm she’d used for transfers to her other bank account and was able to find after some more searching that the money was being transferred to a hospital in Afghanistan and was listed as a donation by an anonymous donor.

Tony recorded the hospital’s information in his phone and then shut down the computer entirely. Head in his hands again he considered what he’d found. It was just a donation to a hospital, why did he think it was so important? It could’ve been nothing more than Scarlett’s attempt to be charitable or make amends for the wrongs she had committed over the years. Something within Tony’s subconscious told him it was more than that. She’d mentioned Afghanistan in the past and it had made him nervous simply because that’s where he had suffered. But the Middle East was a hot zone of violence and he was sure it was just the luck of the draw.

Still, Tony was apprehensive to do what his gut was urging him to do. His hunch was that something horrible had happened and Scarlett had chosen that hospital for a very specific reason to donate money to. The only way he could think to get to the bottom of what had happened there and to find out if there was any connection to their current situation was for Tony to travel to the hospital in Afghanistan and investigate.

But Scarlett would never let him do that. The only other option would be that he would have to leave her here and go without telling her, just as she had done to him on multiple occasions. What was wrong with him? Scarlett had finally agreed to stay with him and now he was considering abandoning her to further violate her privacy?

Yet Tony knew he couldn’t continue on without doing it. Even if he avoided traveling there or investigating for a few days he would eventually give into his curious nature and follow the lead he’d discovered. It seemed silly for him to delay what was inevitable. So Tony picked up his phone again and scheduled a flight out as soon as he could on his private jet to Afghanistan. He hadn’t been back there since he’d taken some vengeance of his own in his Iron Man suit shortly after he’d developed it.

Just in case he ran into any of his old enemies, or ones he hadn’t yet met, he would bring his suit with him. He’d had one too many close calls in the last week to take any further risks. Guilt riddled Tony’s insides as he packed up his things and got dressed and ready to travel. Would Scarlett feel left behind? Perhaps she would wonder why he left her or if she’d finally driven him away. Tony would go out of his way to make sure she knew that wasn’t true.

Once he was packed and ready to go, he left Scarlett a note on the nightstand, folded up beneath the bottle of remaining antibiotic. Then he left without another word. He stopped to pay off the hotel bill before calling a car to take him to the airport where he would meet his jet and travel to Afghanistan.

Scarlett’s phone rang on the nightstand next to her. Blindly she reached to grab it, answered the call and put it to her ear. She didn’t bother to speak or acknowledge that the phone had been answered. Whoever had called her had known her number and would likely just talk. The only person who would be expecting a greeting would be Tony and he was sharing the room with her for the night so she highly doubted he would call.

“I heard about what happened outside of Madrid.” The Indian voice sounded morbidly curious mixed with a hint of worry. Scarlett sat upright at the familiar sound of the man’s voice. Her head was no longer swimming but she could feel the cling in her chest lingering.

“Don’t worry. I got out of there before it was too late.” Scarlett’s voice no longer sounded weak and she was grateful for that considering the nature of her call.

“I was concerned but I had faith.”

“See, I’m still pretty good at what I do.” Scarlett coughed and cleared her throat. “Excuse me, I’m getting over a cold.”

“A real cold or something more, perhaps?” Scarlett’s contact seemed to know more about what she was up against than he had once let on.

“Only time will answer that. I thought you didn’t want to get in too deep with this? Information only, remember?” Scarlett couldn’t help but smile. Why wasn’t Tony kissing over her shoulder and harassing her to find out who was on the phone and what they knew about MedCo and her involvement with them. Maybe he was in the other room or had fallen asleep on the couch.

“Curiosity got the better of me, I’m afraid.”

“Are you calling me to just to make sure I’m alive or is there perhaps something more important behind this phone call?” Scarlett slowly swung her legs over the side of the bed and shivered from the cold air in the room.

“A little bit of both.”

“Well, I’m healthy enough to function and continue so any information you have would be very valuable to me.” Scarlett wiped her eyes that were crusted at the corners from sleep. Her contact sounded apprehensive to respond but moments later his voice continued confidently. Scarlett was sure she’d been imagining any apprehension.

“I did more digging into MedCo and found that they’ve returned to the scene of the crime or rather, to the scene of your crime.”

“You’ll have to be more specific than that, my history is far worse than I let on.” Scarlett was torn between being proud of that statement and ashamed. The Indian man chuckled and then cleared his throat. If anyone knew the trouble Scarlett had been in throughout the past few years, it was this man whose name she didn’t even know.

“Cape Town. I found an order coming from the facility outside of Madrid as it was being shut down the other day upon your arrival. A ship is being sent to the port in South Africa and it will contain several cargo containers of unknown materials as well as what is listed as medicinal supplies. I figured that since you were held there that you would be interested to know. It is due to arrive this afternoon.”

“What if it’s another trap?” Scarlett theorized, hanging her head and watching her toes as she wiggled them, making sure each of them worked. It was an old habit she thought she’d been rid of. After a particularly painful day out in the field, as she referred to it, she’d woken up each day after and had moved each of her limbs to make sure that no permanent injuries had been sustained. So far so good.

“That is a risk you will have to decide if you are willing to take. There is more to this though.” The Indian man sounded far more serious now. Scarlett stopped wiggling each of her fingers and sat upright as she considered what there could be more of or what seemed so worth the risk of her returning to South Africa simply to be set up again.

“What is it? I’m assuming it’s pretty compelling since you seem to be thinking I should go back. What I found there the last time I went doesn’t lead me to think there’s anything worth finding.” Scarlett grimaced at the memory of the note that had been left in her reconstructed prison beneath the half destroyed MedCo facility.

“I have records.” The Indian man began cautiously. “I have shipping manifests signed by the heads of MedCo. If you can find something illegal on that ship then you have them. Your friends at S.H.I.E.L.D. who have been following them around three steps behind you could receive an anonymous tip if I so choose. The illegal cargo ship contents would be more than enough to launch a full scale investigation against the company.” Scarlett furrowed her brow and cursed beneath her breath. She hadn’t been able to think of a single thing that could’ve compelled her to return to South Africa but she knew that her contact was right.

If she could find proof of illegal activities and he had the documents he said he had then she would have concrete proof that they were the devilish company she already knew them to be. It seemed that S.H.I.E.L.D. was only waiting on actual proof of their illegal actions to make their move as well.

“What are the names on the document?” Scarlett spoke under her breath in case Tony was listening from the other room. The hotel felt strangely cold without him in the room with her. It was too extravagant, far more than any hotel she was used to. This was why Scarlett had never lived with what her financial means would provide. Alone she felt trapped by the extravagance and yet in Tony’s mansion she’d felt just fine. Was it Tony’s presence that made it seem okay? It was a confusing feeling that Scarlett decided she had zero time to deal with so instead she tucked away the thoughts for a later day.

“Marcia Edmonton and Mikhail Ivanov.”

“Damn.” Scarlett closed her eyes and sighed heavily. “I was hoping it was an elaborate ruse to try and lure me back there. But that’s them.”

“Don’t do it.” He spoke after moments spent in silence. Scarlett was surprised to hear his plea but waited for further explanation. “You don’t have to pursue them. Let S.H.I.E.L.D. handle it. They will kill you, darling, and I do not wish to see you dead.”

“I don’t have a choice in the matter anymore.” Scarlett leaned her head against the frame of the bed. She didn’t want to leave the hotel, not without Tony. How many times had she abandoned him? How much more would he tolerate before giving up on her? They had essentially never had a chance at a real relationship. Scarlett couldn’t expect him to keep making sacrifices for her.

“You do! You can disappear. There is always a choice. I can help you. I know many people who could make it seem like your life never was and you could live free.” The Indian man pled through the phone. “All you have to do is come to India and I would make sure they never find you.” Scarlett moistened her lips nervously.

“I can’t just disappear.”

“It’s easy. I’ve done it before.”

“Not anymore. It was easy a year ago but not now. This is no life.” Scarlett shook her head. The man on the other end stayed silent waiting for an explanation. “I can’t do this anymore. Ever since that job went wrong, I’m not the same person. I pretended I was so I could be okay but it didn’t take long to catch up with me. I don’t want to be the same woman I was and I think that’s what changed. I want more than this life. That’s why I have to chase them and put an end to this. They’ll never let me leave if I don’t.”

“There must be another way… anything but this.”

“Why would you call me and dangle this in front of my claws if you didn’t want me to follow up?”

“Because you are stubborn,” He spoke, concern thick in his voice. Men like him weren’t supposed to get attached; it was in their job description. Scarlett was more confused than ever. “I want to help you. And this information will help you if you continue to pursue them.”

“I have to continue.” Scarlett placed her free hand to the side of her head and rubbed her temples. The headache she’d managed to fight off during sleep had returned at full force. “When I have proof, I’ll be in contact. Stay safe. If they know you’re helping me then you’re in just as much danger as I am.”

“I am always safe,” He whispered. “I wish you luck.”

“Thank you. For once I need it.” Without saying goodbye Scarlett hung up her phone and flopped backwards onto the bed. Maybe he was right. If she disappeared then she wouldn’t have to chase after MedCo and she could live a quiet life. But she’d have to give up what she had with Tony. There was no such thing as a quiet life with Tony Stark. She knew in her heart that she couldn’t do that to him and she didn’t want to do it to herself. But her contact’s words frightened her and that wasn’t easy to do.

He seemed to think she was running headlong into a trap if she followed the lead he had provided her with. The bait was so incredibly tempting that Scarlett was almost sure she would have to take the risk. But the bottom line was it would mean abandoning Tony again and she was sure they were down to the final straw. It took her only a few minutes to decide that she wouldn’t leave him again. Maybe with his help, she would be able to get the information she needed off of that ship and they could turn it over to S.H.I.E.L.D. as Tony had once suggested.

Legs sore, Scarlett got off of the bed and went in search of Tony, prepared to finally let him help her the way he’d practically been begging to do since he’d followed her to London. But a quick search of the hotel suite let her know that she was alone. The emptiness she’d felt hadn’t been because she was alone in bed, but rather had been because Tony was gone. Returning to the bedroom Scarlett gathered her things and set them on the edge of the bed. Maybe he’d had errands to run or was busy and would return later. Scarlett suddenly hated waking up alone. She would shower in the meantime and then try to see if she could find him.

A hot shower in a luxurious bathroom rejuvenated her senses but Scarlett could feel the emptiness in her heart creeping in and it made her anxious. Once clean and dressed, Scarlett returned to the bedroom and found she was still alone. On the nightstand next to where she’d slept she found something beneath the remaining pills that she’d been provided with. A folded up note lay there looking lonely and as she stared at it she felt her stomach becoming sick.

Before she even picked it up, she knew that Tony wasn’t coming back. Sitting on the edge of the bed she pulled the piece of paper close to her and unfolded it.

“I have some things I need to do.” Scarlett read aloud the first line of the very short letter. “I paid for the room for the rest of the week. When I’m done I’ll find you. I’m hoping it won’t take long. I didn’t want to leave but I’m sure you understand that I had to.” Scarlett dropped the letter onto the ground and turned away from it after reading the last line without bothering to recite it.

Tony had left to do something or other and didn’t want her to follow him. What was she supposed to do? Sit around and wait for him to come back to her or wait for MedCo to realize where she was and take her from there? There wasn’t that kind of time to spend sitting and waiting on his return. Plus, the emotional turmoil she already felt alone in the hotel room would only magnify as she spent more time there. No, she couldn’t stay there and wait for him. It was too dangerous.

But what were her other options? She wasn’t sure what to do other than to follow the lead in South Africa. Tony not being in the hotel room had been a sign that Scarlett had to continue on. She’d all but decided to give up the ghost and go home with Tony but when he’d proved to have motives of his own she knew she had to continue on with what she had originally planned to do. Even if going to South Africa was a trap designed to lure her in, and that was what she suspected, Scarlett knew it was worth going down there.

Many times MedCo had underestimated what she was capable of and if they thought that she was going to miss out on an opportunity like that then they were mistaken. She wouldn’t let them get to her either though, just as she hadn’t let them outside of Madrid. The past week her work had been sloppy but no more.

Even if it meant becoming the cold woman she thought she’d left behind again then she would do it. But she wouldn’t give up her idea entirely. S.H.I.E.L.D. was a valuable asset that she wasn’t utilizing and even though she was wary of trusting them she knew there were people she could trust working for them. When she had the proof that she hunted for Scarlett would contact the Black Widow and would hand it over so that S.H.I.E.L.D. could take action.

It was foolhardy for Scarlett to think she could take down an entire company on her own. Most likely there were others involved in keeping the nefarious organization afloat behind the scenes, people even above Marcia and Mikhail. Once they were eliminated as Scarlett had once desired to do, there would be others to take their place. But if she had S.H.I.E.L.D. take the situation out of her hands, under the agreement that they would leave her alone to live her life as she saw fit, whether it was with Tony or not, once the information had been provided then she had a chance of really shutting them down.

Scarlett was tired of making deals with the devil. From now on the devil would have to make deals with her and she wouldn’t compromise for a second.

Getting up from the bed, Scarlett grabbed any evidence of her existence from around the hotel room and either disposed of them as necessary or packed them in her bag. The t-shirt that Tony had left on her, with the logo of a band she despised, was folded neatly at the bottom of her bag. Even if she never saw Tony again and things didn’t work out she would always have the memory and she would forever keep that shirt as her only comfort. It was scary for her to think that way but she had no choice in the matter anymore.

As she walked out of the hotel room she stopped at the door and leaned against it. Could she really just walk away so easily? After MedCo was gone she would find Tony and would try to make things work. She wasn’t sure what he was up to but she felt abandoned. Had he felt that way each time she’d left him? Guilt sank like a rock in the pit of her stomach. How long would it take her to make this up to him? That was if Tony ever gave her the chance. Their relationship both confused her and kept her sane.

Walking back into the hotel room one more time, Scarlett picked up the letter Tony had written her and placed it within her wallet after reading over it again. The last line had both given her hope and broken her heart.

When this is over we’ll go to Paris and I promise it will be everything you imagined.

Scarlett was going to make sure that Tony kept that promise. The only way Paris could ever really truly be the romantic ideal she imagined it was would be if Tony was there with her. With hope renewed and determination set into her mind, Scarlett walked out of the hotel room and dialed a number on her phone.

“I need a ticket to South Africa under an assumed name.” She spoke before her contact could get a word out. “If I’m going to do this then MedCo can’t see me coming for a second. Reach out to S.H.I.E.L.D. Let them know that information has become available but only after I’m in South Africa. Make sure they don’t know it’s from me.”