Hollow Scars

Herat was one of the safer and wealthier cities in Afghanistan. Situated near the western border of the country, it was still dangerous by American standards. Tony wore a dark gray jacket with the collar pulled high in hopes of providing some anonymity while he continued his search. Stealthy wasn’t exactly his forte but he’d learned a few things during his time as Iron Man and from watching Scarlett work over the past few weeks.

The money that Barakat had provided him with had been easy to trace once he’d gotten in touch with his best friend and confidant Colonel Rhodes, or Rhodey as Tony referred to him. The military man had at first scolded Tony for disappearing without any word of his whereabouts then had attempted to pry into the more personal aspect of Tony’s current “mission” that Pepper had apparently hinted at. Apparently his assistant was a bit of a gossip. As much as Tony loved to kiss and tell he assured Rhodey that there was a time and place for the dirty details and it wouldn’t be until he was back in the States.

Though Tony did promise that at a later time he would have Rhodey over to meet Scarlett and see for himself why Tony had traveled halfway across the world on her heels. Not that Tony was basing the foundation off of this relationship on looks, but it certainly didn’t hurt. Tony wasn’t one for modesty.

Thankfully, Rhodey understood that what Tony was doing in Afghanistan was dangerous and time sensitive. It wasn’t like Afghanistan was one of the safest places in the world for someone like him to be walking around even on a regular day. The country was at war with itself, the Taliban versus the current regime. Even the safer cities, such as Herat, were dangerous and filled with violence. Explosions were frequent as different parties tried to draw attention to their political views and often the police engaged in warfare with rebels outside the city. It was common for gunfire to be heard in the distance. Traveling into the region was greatly discouraged but Tony had enough money to sneak his way into any part of the world if he wanted to.

On that particular day there was no gunfire, no explosions and not a cloud in the sky. Herat was at peace for the time being. In fact, the area that Tony had traveled to was quite nice. He’d discovered that the currency he’d been given had been exchanged near the airport from Euros. Bills from the same transaction had paid for an apartment in the central part of the city. Now Tony stood in front of that building where the apartment was still listed as rented to the same tenant, one Costas Tororan. When Tony had done a background check on the name, he’d found that it was a false identity created fifteen months prior. While there were several people with such a name, none of them had ever lived in the Herat area.

What would Tony find in that apartment? That was what kept him from going in and searching and left him pacing up and down the newly paved street. Would there be someone waiting for him inside? Maybe it was Scott as he suspected or perhaps it was some other unknown villain. For all Tony knew, he could’ve been way off base about Scarlett’s ex-boyfriend. It wasn’t like he thought clearly when it came to that sort of thing. As far as Tony was concerned, the ex could rot in hell and if he ever showed his face again or any interest in Scarlett Tony would break his face.

It was very mature really. Tony was a jealous lover, even if Scott wasn’t the monster he suspected he’d have nothing but ill things to say about him. One thing had been confirmed for Tony, and that was that MedCo had a hand in Scarlett’s torture. It was time to find out if Scott had a hand in orchestrating the whole thing.

There was something else that kept Tony from going inside. What if he found nothing? Considering how long ago the transactions had taken place it was possible that the apartment had been abandoned. But then why was it still being paid for and kept? Tony considered asking the other tenants but didn’t think it was a very wise decision on his part. He had no idea what connections this Costas had to his neighbors. It was unlikely Tony wouldn’t find anything. If Costas was still paying for the apartment then it was likely he had something to hide there.

At long last Tony gathered the courage to walk through the front door of the hotel and straight to the staircase at the back end of the hall. Apartment 5B was calling to him and now that he was in the complex, he was practically running toward it. At the off chance that someone in the building stopped him and asked what he was doing there in one of the few languages he didn’t speak, Tony wanted to avoid all awkward conflict is possible. The last thing he needed was to end up in some foreign jail for the night, begging for Rhodey to come and get him out before he was flogged or the press caught wind of it.

After three flights of stairs Tony was out of breath and slowed to a walk. There were no other occupants coming in and out of the stairwell and he hoped very much that it would stay that way. Once on the fifth floor, Tony checked to make sure the hallway was as void of humanity as the stairwell had been. Then he tried the door to apartment 5B and found it steadfastly locked. At first he knocked. If someone was home, it would make things far more complex, but Tony was hoping he’d get lucky.

Most of what he’d accomplished in the past few days had been founded on luck, now that he thought about it. When there was no response, Tony knocked a second time just to make sure that he was truly in the clear. When he was sure that he was on his own, he grabbed the doorknob and shoved his shoulder against the door in hopes of breaking the wood near the lock. When it cracked but didn’t give, Tony grumbled.

He bet Scarlett would’ve taken it out in one blow. He wouldn’t expect any less from double-oh-Scarlett. Making sure the sound of wood cracking didn’t alert any of the neighboring tenants, Tony took a step back and then kicked at the door instead of hurting his shoulder again. That did the trick! The door wasn’t sturdy enough to hold fast through Tony’s blow and flew inward with enough force that Tony nearly fell flat on his face. He hadn’t expected it to break away so easily after the resistance it had put up against his shoulder.

“Must have… uh, loosened it…” Tony cleared his throat after he regained his balance. Not that there was anyone nearby to explain himself to, but he couldn’t help it. Straightening his collar, Tony closed the now damaged door behind him the best he could and stepped cautiously forward. Just because no one had answered his knocks didn’t mean that no one was home. What if it wasn’t Scott as Tony had guessed? He did have an unnatural loathing for the man he’d never met before. Maybe it was someone far more formidable than her ex-boyfriend sounded according to Scarlett’s description? He couldn’t shake the fear in his mind that he was wrong. Tony very much didn’t like being wrong. Right now, being wrong could’ve led to getting his ass kicked.

Tony was skilled in hand to hand combat thanks to the extensive training he’d undergone after becoming Iron Man but he was by no stretch of the word ready for a physical fight. Outside of his suit he didn’t feel nearly as safe but he couldn’t be inside the machinery all the time. But the more he thought about it, the scarier the world seemed without it around to protect him. How could he continue protecting someone like Scarlett without it? He could already hear her arguing in his head that she was perfectly capable of taking care of herself.

It didn’t matter how strong she was. His enemies were about to become her enemies and vice versa. If he couldn’t take care of the woman he loved then what good was it being Iron Man?

Someday he was hoping to articulate that point without sounding like a chauvinist pig. It had nothing to do with her being incapable and everything to do with him caring about her. Maybe when all was said and done with MedCo Tony would be able to explain it well enough. Just like Scarlett worried he wouldn’t be safe against MedCo, he worried she wouldn’t be safe in general. Ever since he’d witnessed her waking up from that horrible nightmare he’d had a terrible time sleeping. There were tortures he couldn’t save her from already, what would the future hold?

When he heard no suspicious noises within the hallway beyond the apartment door, Tony crept forward cautiously. Peeking through a door to his left he found nothing but a coat closet, which proved empty minus a few abandoned hangars on the railing and the floor. Continuing onward he discovered a small bathroom on the right, also empty minus a roll of toilet paper standing upright on the counter. Despite seeming abandoned thus far, the apartment was clean and well cared for. He’d expected it to be abandoned when he got there, but it seemed like someone was in often enough that they were keeping it dust free and cared for even if it was only the bare minimum amount of care.

But why would this man in shadow, presumably Scott at this point in Tony’s mind, need to return to this part of the world so frequently? It was dangerous here, even for men like Tony who knew very well how to take care of themselves. So, why would a mousy nerd like Scott make regular visits to Herat? Even if it was regarded as the safest region in Afghanistan it was still too dangerous for vacationing.

Any work this shadow man was doing in Afghanistan couldn’t be for the greater good. People who hid in the dangerous corners of the world were usually up to something equally as dangerous. Shaking off the chills that ran down his spine, Tony continued through the apartment and found an unfurnished living room with the exception of one poorly constructed table and a small old television seated on the floor in the corner. Whoever was living there didn’t seem to require the regular creature comforts one would find in a home.

Did Scarlett live like that when she’d been on a job? Bare bones, nothing to bring her joy or excitement? Tony would make a mental note to ask and once again dismissed the idea of someone like her living in this place. He couldn’t imagine the woman he knew in a room like this and even the knowledge that she had been practically a spy couldn’t shape the idea of it in his mind. The woman he knew was funny, clever, sexy and exciting. He couldn’t picture her cold and heartless with a gun in her hand, creeping around through alleyways and living on the bare minimum to avoid being caught. But maybe she’d changed more in the past few weeks than he had previously suspected.

Through the living room Tony tapped his fingers against the counter as he continued and stared out at the setting sun over Herat. Soon the place would be pitch black and he wouldn’t feel safe on the streets. Hurrying into the kitchen, he opened the fridge and found a few doggy bags of food. Someone had definitely recently been there. What if they were out right now at dinner and on their way back? Tony needed to hurry up and get the hell out of there, but only after he found what he was looking for.

But what was he looking for? That was easy. Proof that whoever had set Scarlett up last year was the same person behind her involvement with MedCo and was still pulling the strings on their current attempts to ruin her life. Tony was both hoping to find proof that this man was Scott and hoping to find something to exonerate him of the claim.

Would it crush Scarlett to know that a man she potentially loved had purposely made her life a living hell? Tony couldn’t imagine what it would be like for her if it was true. While he’d had to deal with the betrayal of Obadiah Stane, his father’s business partner and practically an uncle to Tony, he had never really loved the man. Even though Scarlett talked about the relationship with some disdain and regret, he knew that she’d cared for him enough to stay with him for many years. Sometimes one didn’t see how destructive a relationship was until they were out of it and he was guessing that’s how things were for her.

But what if it was far more destructive than she ever could’ve guessed? Tony shook off the thought and flipped on the light switches in the apartment before it could get too dark with the setting sun. Just as he had guessed, the electricity worked just fine pointing toward the idea that someone kept this apartment to visit on a regular basis.

At the other end of the kitchen was a door that led to the only bedroom there. It was far more furnished than anything else in the apartment, but there still wasn’t much. Just a Queen sized bed, not even covered with any sheets or pillows. Other than that there was a lamp in the corner, which Tony turned on as he entered the room. Sitting on the bed, he heaved a sigh. There was nothing there of note. It was the only other lead Tony had and it had gone completely dry. The payments had been made in cash for the apartment, so there wasn’t even a money trail for him to follow. It had been a stretch to follow it as far as he had to the apartment and he never would’ve gotten there if it hadn’t been for Rhodey’s military involvement and his access to the terror watch list.

How would he explain to Scarlett that he’d gone to get her answers and had instead only ended up betraying her trust and sticking his nose where it didn’t belong? Without answers it just looked like Tony didn’t have the patience to wait for her to open up about what she’d been through. While that was partially true, Tony had hoped to find a connection between her torture and their current predicament. So what would he do now? How mad would Scarlett be? He knew that he’d be considerably angry if she went digging into his history when he refused to talk about it for whatever reason.

The only difference was that Tony had nothing to hide. His whole life was on camera thanks to the press and his father’s fame. But Scarlett was different. She’d purposely stayed in the shadows even though he was sure with her knowledge and charisma she could’ve been just as famous as he was if she had wanted to be.

Getting up with every intention of leaving the apartment, Tony stopped when he noticed the sliding door of the closet slightly ajar. There was a worn box filled with something that Tony couldn’t discern from where he stood. Opening the closet he picked up the box and set it down on the mattress. His stomach churned as he pulled out what laid on top; a bloodied hospital gown, preserved in plastic.

Tony set it down carefully on the bed and then pulled out a stack of seemingly blank papers. Flipping through them front and back, he placed them down on the bed without a second thought. There was a worn copy of A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle which Tony flipped through and found nothing of note so he set that aside. But at the bottom of the box was what interested Tony the most.

There was an upside down picture frame and a hospital bracelet. Picking up the hospital bracelet, Tony turned it over in his hand and brushed his thumb over the name on it.

Scarlett Damien.

Did that mean the bloodied hospital gown was also hers? Tony’s stomach churned and he felt sick. Who else would have access to these things besides Scott? He suddenly wished he hadn’t had curry for lunch as it repeated on him and burned the back of his throat. Trembling hands went to put down the hospital bracelet but Tony couldn’t seem to let go of it. Had this been the one she’d worn after seeking treatment elsewhere? Against his better judgment, Tony placed the hospital bracelet into his pocket. It was concrete proof that whoever obtained the bracelet was the man in shadow that had made the deal with the group of rebels in the Afghani desert.

Scarlett might know the answer or she might not. Worst case scenario, Tony could go to the hospital and see if anyone had made inquiries about her before this, though that would require finding out from Scarlett which hospital she had fled to.

Finally Tony flipped over the picture frame and sighed. In it was a picture of Scarlett with the man he presumed was Scott. They were at the beach, though Tony was unsure where and Scott had his arm around her. He was skinny, with neatly kept blond hair and blue eyes. Glasses hung on the end of his nose which was covered in white sun block. While he was more handsome than Tony had hoped he would be, he was less formidable than he’d expected.

No wonder Scarlett had a hard time picturing Scott as any kind of villain. Though who else would have that picture of them together? If Tony hadn’t been completely convinced that Scott was the man in shadow when he’d entered the apartment, he was certainly convinced now. Packing up the box, Tony didn’t make a big deal out of the order in which things were put back into it. He’d already stolen something from the box so Scott would know someone had been rummaging through his things.

Tony didn’t much care. Let Scott come for him. He’d love for nothing more than to bash in the guy’s face for what he’d done to Scarlett. In fact, now Tony was personally offended. What kind of a creep was he, keeping her bloody hospital gown and bracelet? Then again, Tony had just shoved the same thing into his pocket.

As proof, he reminded himself.

He’d seen enough, Tony was ready to get the hell out of Afghanistan and find Scarlett so he could tell her the truth about her past lover. It could lead to a fight, but he didn’t mind fighting with Scarlett; it meant they would later get to make up. Plus, he could finally speak ill about her ex-boyfriend without getting that condescending look he’d become so familiar with. Flipping off the light, Tony walked back to the box with every intention of shoving it into the closet. But as he did, the light of his arc reactor illuminated something on one of the blank sheets of paper. It was hard to see, since the light was dimmed by Tony’s shirt and half of his jacket, but he could’ve sworn there was something there.

Was he seeing things?

Tony set down the box again and pulled out a handful of the papers. Sure enough, under the light of his reactor dim writing had been revealed. Hastily Tony tugged off his jacket and threw it on the bed and when that proved not to be enough, he threw his shirt off as well. The writing on the paper was crystal clear under the blue glow of the reactor seated in his chest, keeping him alive.

The notes had been written in secret with a chemical that would appear only under the glow of a black light. But the light of the arc reactor seemed to have the same effect on whatever chemical compound had been used as ink. Tony flipped through the papers of familiar handwriting. They were equations and schematics for medical equipment that Tony recognized having seen in various science magazines in the past. The new magnetic technology becoming more commonly used in magnetic resonance imaging machinery was described at length as a theory but had never been tested, not by the person who wrote those notes.

Tony remembered having been wowed at the breakthrough then and having been unable to find the source of the technology. The idea had apparently been sold to a private investor who then had it published and mass manufactured. At the bottom of the pile of notes theorized, Tony found a sales receipt written in the same invisible ink. Someone had rigged a printer to use the ink of their own making in order to produce copies of someone’s notes.

“Oh no,” Tony muttered and leaned his head back. Could it really be true? Closing his eyes he tried to recall the notebook he’d read through while Scarlett was sick. She’d made notes about bulletproof material and lifelike prosthetic limbs in her spare time and kept them in that little notebook for further use. Had she been doing that for years in between the more dangerous jobs she’d taken? Tony kept shuffling through the stacks of papers and found similar notes for similar inventions that he’d seen show up in science journals and even some that had been displayed at his own Stark Expo the year prior.

Each receipt for the purchase of the idea had been written in far different handwriting than the one the notes had been written in. Tony was so flabbergasted by what he saw that he again sat down on the mattress and had to take a few moments to catch his breath.

“Wouldn’t she notice someone was stealing her work?” Tony whispered while he flipped through the remaining pages until he reached the bottom of the stack. But maybe Scarlett wouldn’t have noticed. Her life had been a mess for the last year, she’d made that perfectly clear. Between working the dangerous way she had, being taken hostage by a rebel group in Afghanistan, then spending a long period of time healing before being taken in by MedCo it was entirely possible that she wouldn’t have noticed if someone close to her was copying her notes and selling them right underneath her nose. He guessed she wasn’t the type to keep up with science journals and press conferences after so much chaos.

Tony found the paper crumbled up in his hand as he considered more and more the truth of what he had discovered. Not only had Scott set her up to be tortured and held hostage on multiple occasions, he’d stolen her work and made a fortune off of it. If he’d walked in at that moment, Tony would’ve killed him.

He had to warn Scarlett. Scott had survived the MedCo explosion not out of luck but because he’d never been in any danger in the first place. At least that was what Tony was guessing. Pulling his phone out of his pocket, Tony pulled the picture frame out once more and had Jarvis take a copy of the photo for his personal use. Maybe the rebels who offered him any help they could provide would be able to identify the man who had visited them as Scott. Even after what he’d discovered in the apartment, Tony had no real concrete evidence that it was Scott behind it all. Unfortunately there were no names on any of the papers. He needed something real, something tangible. If he could get confirmation from the rebels that the man they were dealing with was indeed Scott then he could hand over the identity to S.H.I.E.L.D. and Scarlett at the same time.

Throwing the picture onto the floor in anger, Tony dumped the box on the floor and then kicked the frame of the bed.

“Son of a bitch!” He cursed and swung his fist in the air. More than anything he wished he had something he could hit or break that would help him get rid of the frustration building up in his system. After this he deserved one hell of a vacation and with any luck he’d be taking it with Scarlett. That was if she didn’t lose her mind after he filled her in on what he had discovered in the desert. Would there be any way for him to get her the credit for her work that she so deserved?

Hurrying out of the room before he did more damage to himself and lingered longer than necessary with his shirt and jacket in hand, Tony flipped off the light in the kitchen and then groaned when the walls lit up in the living room with the same fluorescent writing that he’d found on the papers in the bedroom that were now scattered about on the floor. Running his hand through his hair, he paced the kitchen in the light of his reactor before turning back to face the scribbling on the wall. At first it seemed like nonsense but the more Tony read the more it made sense.

“Why won’t you love me?” Tony whispered, brushing his fingers over one of the lines that was repeated in multiple lines along the wall, written more frantically each time as it was repeated. Much of what was written seemed like nonsensical ramblings or random words scattered about. Everything about Scarlett seemed to catch his eye before the other words. Maybe it was because he was looking for something pertaining to her. Tony was afraid of what he’d find, so maybe his mind didn’t want to make sense of it.

It sounded like Scott had become a psychotic pain in the ass somewhere along the line. Tony couldn’t blame her for not wanting to stay with someone like that, but how had she become involved with it for so long and so seriously? Had she not seen what he was like? But then a word caught his eye, well a place more like it.

Madrid.

The next six or seven words suddenly seemed less random. These had been plans carried out by Scott. There just above the word, Tony found Dakar and several more words. On the opposite wall, Tony found equations written from top to bottom. Chemical compounds that he couldn’t put together due to his spinning head. He had to take a step away before he could look back at them. Brushing his fingers over the formula Tony knew immediately it was for some kind of mutated virus.

Beneath the first few formulas were experiment notes. Outside of Dakar the water had been tainted after setting up the base of a company that would offer jobs to the people there and seem benevolent at first glance. After a week of poisoning the water, the experiment had taken a turn for the worst. People grew violently ill and malformations of the skin became rampant. They thought it was a plague spreading throughout the city so a fence was built to keep anyone else from coming in and being exposed to it.

That had been the city that Tony had found Scarlett exploring that had been abandoned in Senegal. At first the malformations had been a marvel, hardened skin without horrible discoloration, increased strength and even enhanced vision but very quickly the conditions had begun to deteriorate. Those who hadn’t grown ill began to change and were increasingly violent. Several patients had gone on a killing spree before they’d been gunned down by MedCo security. Two weeks after infection, those who had seemingly developed benefits from the experiment became distant mentally. Their flesh then became riddled with horrid boils and sores before finally they succumbed to the drug they’d been given and suffered heart failure.

The experiment had gone so wrong that those at MedCo had put a stop to using the formula altogether and had ordered the city be cleansed which Tony guessed was code for burn it with fire until there was no sign of the pathogen remaining. The notes for Madrid were less grim, but the orders had been the same. Eliminate all signs of the pathogen, the virus that had been used proved too toxic to risk further exposure. It was likely that every person they’d met in that place was long since dead. MedCo was committing genocide and no one seemed to notice.

“Jarvis, I need you to find me a specialist in genetic mutation, preferably with knowledge of viral weaponry and who’s trustworthy. Don’t contact them yet, not until I know more. I’d prefer to do this work with Banner, but he’s been missing for years.” Tony allowed his camera on his phone to scan the wall with the experiment notes that were still making Tony’s head spin in wonder until he was sure that Jarvis had discernible copies of everything in front of him.

“These are dangerous formulas, sir.” Jarvis responded once he’d finished copying the information.

“Yeah, tell me about it.” Tony sighed and ran his fingers again through his hair, rubbing his hand down the back of his neck and hanging his head, having to turn his gaze away from the bright yellow lettering on the wall. Even when he closed his eyes he could still see the formulas glowing.

“Sir, there are implications here that are astonishing.”

“Jarvis, I looked through them. I know.” Tony turned to the wall that had the nonsensical ramblings on it and scanned the phone over it the way that he had before. His heart sunk the more he read the writing spread out along it. He’d come to Afghanistan searching for resolution and instead had found more disturbing twists and turns than he ever would’ve guessed possible.

Scott was a monster. A monster that seemed to have it out for Scarlett.

“You should take a better look at the bottom right corner.” Jarvis sounded solemn after he’d had time to translate the ramblings along the wall.

“What is it?” Tony didn’t want to read anymore of the craziness, particularly when it came to Scarlett and describing the intimate details of the relationship she’d had with Scott over the years. He’d pried further into her past than he had ever wanted to. But it was too late to turn back and there was no pretending he hadn’t done it. Scarlett would hopefully understand that he wasn’t trying to get this far into her history with her ex-boyfriend but rather was trying to help her out with MedCo. He wanted her to live a happy life with him without the fear of someone trying to kill her at every turn.

This was never what he had expected to find and he certainly hadn’t been hoping for it either.

“Just look.” Jarvis didn’t seem to want to read the scribbling out loud either, and Tony couldn’t blame him for that. So instead, he walked back to the wall and scanned over the information written on the bottom right corner, crouching low and holding his breath.

“Seriously?” Tony pouted momentarily before clearing his throat. “Jarvis, this is really bad.”

“I know.”

Tony turned his attention back to the information scribbled in front of him. When MedCo had cut Scott off, again Tony presumed it was him, after he’d hired the rebels to kidnap Scarlett and break her spirit, Scott was more than frustrated. There were lines and lines of angry words about the company and their refusal to see the future. They had similar goals but only wanted the strength of a super soldier at the time. Scott had started to experiment on himself along with the help of one of the MedCo doctors who had apparently been aiding him under the table and providing him with drugs.

At first he’d been using samples of Scarlett’s blood from her hospital gown for the experiments but when the dried out blood proved useless to him, he had instead performed experiments on himself. Tony still didn’t understand the motives behind what he’d done to Scarlett, other than some kind of psychotic break on Scott’s part, but he certainly understood what he was trying to do to himself.

Scott wanted to be stronger.

He was trying to make himself into a super soldier like Steve Rogers had been transformed into so many years prior during the Second World War. The experiment results weren’t in Tony’s favor, that’s for sure. Obviously Scott wasn’t dead so they hadn’t gone horribly wrong as he would’ve hoped like the experiments on the far wall had. But it seemed as though MedCo wasn’t as aptly seeking a super soldier serum as they were altering viruses for biological warfare currently. Had the super soldier serum been a wasted effort?

Or worse, had they succeeded? Tony didn’t want to know the answer, but he knew it would eventually be a question he had to actively ask and pursue.

“I’ve never known anyone who has been experimented on and wound up a good guy.” Tony grimaced, hanging his head. There were the few and far between who worked for S.H.I.E.L.D. that Tony had only heard about in reports from Nick Fury and whispers from Phil Coulson. There was something about genetic mutation that scared the hell out of him.

“Keep reading.” Jarvis urged, sounding more upset than Tony had ever heard from him before.

“Are you dating her or am I dating her? Sometimes I get confused.” Tony muttered to ease his nerves as he continued scanning over the information in front of him. His brain seemed to be rejecting getting so much nasty news at once, but Tony knew he couldn’t stop simply because he didn’t want to continue. It would’ve been something he did five years ago, and would’ve ignored the seriousness of, but not now.

“I’m not sure.” Jarvis joked in succession, seeming to find the need to break the tension as well, though Tony threw his phone a suspicious glance before looking back to the wall.

“When test subject is obtained, SD, experiments must first be done to rid of willpower.” Tony stopped reading aloud when the ramblings continued on to explain how she had a pesky habit of continuing with her “poor behaviors” despite how many steps had been taken to discourage her from such things. Then the same genetic mutation would be performed on her that had been done to Scott but there were far more extensive plans for her. Scott seemed to have high hopes for what he would be able to do with Scarlett considering the brilliance and physical prowess she already displayed without being altered.

She’d already made him a vast and untold wealth, according to the papers that he’d found in the other room. What more could he possibly want from her? Why wasn’t she good enough the way she was? Scott had gone mad, that was what Tony knew for certain. The rest of the experiment notes were continued on in what Tony could only describe as the fashion of a madman. If Scott got his hands on Scarlett before she put a stop to MedCo then her life would be over.

Tony would be damned if they hadn’t come this far just for her to be murdered while her psychopath of an ex tried to experiment on her. This had to be the most complicated first month of a romantic relationship that Tony had ever been through in his life. When Scott’s plans for Scarlett continued on along the wall, Tony sat down on top of the old television nearby and held his head in his hands.

His temples were pounding from stress and his face was beat red. He hadn’t realized just how tense he’d become while reading the notes. His heart pounded intensely in his ears, and all he could hear was the thump-thumping while his hands shook. The reactor burned, irritating his chest more than he’d become accustomed to.

“Call Scarlett, call her now.”

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea,…”

“I said call her god damnit, did I ask your opinion? Shut up and dial the damn number!” Tony gritted his teeth. The pressure in his head made him want to explode. Immediately the phone began to ring on speaker but after a few rings it went to voicemail. Tony grunted in frustration and sat quietly after the beep had gone off. Should he leave a message? Tony hung up the phone and dialed again manually. Jarvis had stopped objecting after having been yelled at. Somehow the computer understood better what he was going through than Tony himself seemed to.

“Come on baby…” Tony shook his head as the phone rang and he still received no answer. The voice in the back of his head was telling him that it was already too late for him to get in contact with her. When he closed his eyes he saw her strapped to a table while men in scrubs stood around her, injecting her and cutting into her flesh to change the woman she was. Vivid memories of pain in his chest made him cough. Flashes of terrible memories of Yinsen standing over him while cutting into his chest to remove shrapnel and then making enough room to place an electromagnet to keep him alive pulsed through his mind.

Tony jumped up from his spot on the television and stumbled backwards, blinking his eyes open. Why the hell had that happened? Skin dripping with sweat at the terrible transformation of Scarlett’s torture to his own horrid experience in the desert, Tony cracked the window of the apartment open and stuck his head out of it to catch his breath. In his panic he’d disconnected the call before it’d reached voicemail but he still had the phone in his trembling hand.

Staring down at the screen with a candid photo Tony had taken of Scarlett upon their first meeting when he’d been spying on her through his security cameras in his lab while she’d been getting changed, Tony wished he had known what he was getting into way back then.

Would he still have made the same choices? Guilt made his stomach churn again and it wasn’t long before he was rejecting the curry he’d had for lunch right into the sink of the kitchen. Running water to rinse away the ick he’d vomited up, Tony felt his heart rate finally returning to normal and the sweat on his flesh drying up as quickly as it had come. How long had it been since he’d had a panic attack? Longer than he could recall.

Wiping his hand over his mouth, Tony dialed Scarlett’s number again before placing the phone to his ear. Closing his eyes he listened to the endless ringing before hitting her voicemail again.

“Scarlett it’s important. Call me back as soon as you can.” Tony couldn’t think of what else to say. Would it be the last words he left her if she had already been taken? He couldn’t think like that. For all he knew, she was just fine and lounging around in South Africa. With what he knew, she didn’t seem to keep on top of the battery on her phone so it was possible it had just simply died and she was doing just fine. But why did Tony feel this sense of urgency coursing through him? Considering what he’d just discovered, it was probably still panic. Scarlett was stronger than he gave her credit for. He had to trust that she would stay safe. “I love you.” He placed his hand to his forehead. “Just… let me know you’re okay.” He ended the call and set the phone down on the counter. After moments spent staring at it and biting his lips anxiously, Tony scooped it back up.

“Nope, not enough.” Tony shook his head after a second then dialed his assistant. Listening to the ringing, Tony pulled his shirt back on over his head and slipped the jacket over his shoulders. He was still sweating but the jacket was a security blanket of anonymity he couldn’t afford to lose. As he walked out of the apartment, leaving the broken door as closed as he could get it, Tony felt his stunted nerves finally relaxing just enough for him to breathe normally.

“It’s seven in the morning, Tony.” Pepper’s shrill voice met him on the other end of the phone, sounding tired.

“Don’t you wake up at five for me regularly?” Tony grunted. Immediately Pepper’s voice changed as she saw the face of her boss looking pale through the video call.

“It’s Thursday. My day off, remember? I only get one a week and even then only when you’re out of town since you don’t have any concept of…” Pepper shook her head and drifted off, rubbing the exhaustion from her eyes. “What’s wrong, Tony? Are you okay? You’re pale.”

“I need you to do me a favor.”

“What happened?” Pepper went ashen, her usually freckly and vibrant skin fading as she considered what could’ve happened to have shaken her boss who usually had nerves of steel.

“I know you don’t like her but can you try and get in touch with Scarlett for me? Not… constantly but maybe just every few hours give her a call? I’ve got some things I need to do so I can’t keep on top of it but… tell her to get somewhere safe if you get in touch with her. And then if you could call me and ease my mind that’d be great. I’ll give you her number but try not to give it to anyone else, especially not your friend Phil.”

“She’s a big girl, Tony. She can take care of herself and make her…”

“I don’t need this right now, Pepper. Will you or won’t you?” Tony snapped at the phone which made Pepper grimace.

“What’s going on, Tony?”

“Not now. I need to talk to Coulson about something I found but I don’t have time right now so it has to wait.” Tony walked away from the apartment complex and back through town toward the hotel that he’d reserved for the night.

“Tony…” Pepper began to scold him but Tony shook his head and looked back at his assistant seriously, making negative noises in objection.

“Don’t make me beg, you know how I feel about begging.” Tony attempted to joke but there was very little humor in his voice.

“Okay, but you have so much explaining to do when you get the time. You and your girlfriend.” Pepper finally offered a smile thought it was strained.

“Thank you.” Tony hung up before Pepper could pry any further or make any snide remarks. It was getting late in Afghanistan but Tony had no intentions of returning to his hotel to sleep. No, there were too many things he had left to do. After giving Pepper the number for Scarlett’s phone, Tony would suit up and fly back out into the desert to the south. The rebels were going to have a surprise guest in the middle of the night. If Barakat was being honest about wanting to make amends for what he’d done to Scarlett then his chance would be coming soon enough.