Hollow Scars

“Rhodes?” Tony sounded panicked on the other line after Colonel James Rhodes picked up the phone that had rang ten times in the last ten minutes. He’d finally answered the call so he could put an end to the seemingly eternal buzzing in his pocket. Holding his hand up to excuse himself to the others in the room, Rhodes turned around in his chair to have a bit of privacy. After having piloted the Mark III Iron Man suit that had been transformed by the military into what was now known as the WarMachine Rhodes, or more commonly known as Rhodey, had become an important military personnel.

Unfortunately this meant that he was busy ninety percent of the time.

When you’re best friends with Tony Stark, he’s not the type of person who is going to sit around and wait until the timing is right to communicate as was proven by the ten missed calls. This had often become problematic in the last year for Colonel Rhodes. But today, Rhodey did not have the time or the patience to deal with Tony’s often erratic and troubling behavior. He was sitting in a board room in London with the United States Secretary of Defense as well as a few other members of the UN from European countries. The last thing he needed was for Tony to embarrass him in front of these people.

“Tony, I can’t really talk right now.” Rhodey whispered into the phone and then turned his head and mouthed an apology to the mixture of confused and judgmental glances that were being thrown his way by his company. It was too late. He was already embarrassed.

“But Rhodey this is serious…”

“Tony, you say it’s serious every time you call and it is never actually serious. I really can’t talk right now and I will call you later! Much, much later.” Rhodey hung up the phone and shoved it into his coat pocket after silencing the ringer and then turned back to his company.

“Please excuse Colonel Rhodes. Sometimes his friendship with Mr. Stark causes disturbances at the most inopportune times.” The Secretary of Defense chuckled and was met with the same amount of humor that he portrayed. Everyone knew about Tony Stark and what he was like from the press. Thankfully none of the important people in the room seemed too bothered by the billionaire’s interruption. In fact, they seemed intrigued to have a change of topic.

“This happens often, I take it?” The British military officer was more amused than frustrated particularly after hearing the Colonel’s exchange on the phone. There was a morbid curiosity hidden within even the most prevalent of noteworthy military figures when it came to Tony Stark. Before Rhodey could respond, the phone placed in the center of the table they were gathered around buzzed loudly.

“I hate to interrupt your meeting sirs, but there’s a Mr. Stark on the line here and he’s insisting he speak with Colonel Rhodes. He says it’s urgent.” The secretary spoke tentatively. The group had asked not to be interrupted as they discussed what action would be taken on the recent militant uprising in Syria. The UN wanted to intervene, or at least the European countries wished to but the US wasn’t so sure it was their place. Recent press had vilified the United States’ actions when it came to the matters of other countries. By the end of the meeting, Rhodey was hoping he would be able to sway the Secretary of Defense to allow their involvement. That was the sort of man James Rhodes was. He saw people in need of help and wanted to offer it if he could.

“Of course he insists. Tony always insists.” Rhodey grimaced then reached across the table to touch the button on the phone that would allow him to communicate with the receptionist when the military man who owned the office made no move to. “Tell him that whatever his crisis is can wait twenty minutes and I’ll call him back when I’m not doing something important.”

“He really is insisting. He sounds worried. Started to tell me a bit of it…” The receptionist had obviously fallen for whatever charm Tony had worked on her as most women did.

Tony Stark and women.

That was practically a thousand page novel in and of itself.

“I’ll get back to him I promise. Don’t worry. He’s not as charming as you think he is. It’s very likely he just wants to bust my chops.” Rhodey responded to a chorus of laughter from his company. He had a small bit of knowledge when it came to what Tony had been up to in the weeks prior and while it had been relatively dangerous and he’d recommended Tony stay out of it, he seriously doubted that whatever Tony needed was as urgent as he was making it out to be.

Leaning back in his chair, the handsome and well taken care of Colonel smirked, his brown eyes sparkling behind dark skin. Before he could make a witty remark and start on a humorous story about another time where Tony had interrupted his work something made everyone in the room jump.

The computer monitor on the other end of the room sprang alive from standby and Tony’s face inside of the Mark VII armor appeared on camera.

“How many things do I have to hack before you pay attention to me, Rhodey?” Everyone’s eyes were on the monitor staring back at them now but Tony couldn’t see them through the screen and kept looking around on his screen in search of a response. He certainly had their attention now, he just didn’t know it yet.

“Jarvis, yeah… Come on, webcam or something. I can’t see a thing. We don’t even know if we’re in the same… ah there you are. Mister Secretary of Defense, you lost weight. Very nice to see you…” Tony turned his attention to the screen in front of him once Jarvis had accessed the webcam and had managed to relay the video feed to Tony along with any sound that may have been in the room. As for the moment, it was dead quiet. Everyone, with the exception of Rhodey, was in awe of how Tony had bypassed a high security computer in order to access it for a personal call.

“Tony, do you know how many laws you just broke?”

“Would you like me to list them chronologically or alphabetically, Rhodey?” Tony rolled his eyes and then peered around the room. “Well, this certainly looks important.”

“I told you I was busy, I’ll call you back when we’re done here.” Rhodey was torn between being amused and frustrated with his friend. When it came to Tony, he had to take his actions with a grain of salt. He’d spent his whole life being above reproach thanks to his grand wealth and genius. If Rhodey had gotten angry every time Tony had done something stupid for personal gain, he would’ve had a heart attack a year into their friendship at MIT.

“No, Rhodey this is important.” Tony turned his attention back to his friend. About to tell Tony off for being irresponsible and interrupting military business, he stopped when he saw something in Tony’s demeanor that threw him off and made him think twice. Tony was upset. His eyes were bloodshot and his face was pale. Why hadn’t he noticed it at first glance? He’d thought it was just Tony being Tony.

“I’m sorry everyone, I’ll be just one minute.” Rhodey got up from his seat and picked up his phone. Tony was still manipulating the screen in front of him and spying on Rhodey and the company he kept. “Get off the damn computer, Tony.”

“Pushy, aren’t we? For someone who was ignoring me you’re making an awful lot of demands.” Tony grumbled, a false smile on his lips after noticing how amused the others in the room were. If there was one thing Tony had mastered, it was remaining calm and collected in stressful social situations.

“I swear, Tony..”

“I would hate for you to have to do that. Nice seeing all of you… whoever you are. Secretary.” The computer screen flickered to black and then returned to the screen saver of various British monuments that it had once been before Tony had tapped into it and used it to get Rhodey’s attention.

“He’s not going to let it go until I talk to him. Again, I’m sorry but this is going to take a few minutes.” Rhodey bowed his head politely to the others who nodded to let him know it was okay. Apparently Tony had amused them enough that they didn’t mind waiting while Rhodey took his personal call.

Once out of the office, Rhodey waved his hand at the secretary courteously then walked into the hallway and dialed Tony’s cell phone.

“This better be important because if it isn’t Tony…”

“They took her, Rhodey.” The calm façade Tony had put on in the boardroom faded entirely. He sounded weary, worse than that. He sounded scared. Flummoxed, Rhodey wasn’t sure what to say at first. What did Tony mean they took her? He was being pretty vague for a guy who was panicked and usually long winded. “I know you told me not to linger in Afghanistan but I had some personal matters I needed to look into. And I know you told me not to pry too, but I’m not a very good listener obviously…. Well, that’s not true. I listen pretty well, I just don’t always care. Long story short, these people Scarlett was involved with…”

“MedCo, you mean? After we got off the phone that day I looked into them but S.H.I.E.L.D. got very touchy about it. I was forced away from the information pretty quickly. It’s nasty stuff, Tony… They’ve been upgraded to an International Terrorist Organization in the last two weeks and no one knew a damn thing about them before then. Well, everyone except for S.H.I.E.L.D. it seems who was sitting on this information. My boss is not happy about that.”

“I knew. I’ve known about them for awhile. Stane was dealing weapons with them and you know my little hobby there… the one we don’t talk about because your moral compass actually points in the right direction while mine’s well… not.” Tony confessed after a moment spent hesitating. Rhodey’s head was spinning with new information.

“Look, you’re going to have to start being straight with me if you want my help. And what is it you think I can do to help you anyway? I told you, I don’t know much about S.H.I.E.L.D. or MedCo. That’s your area of expertise, if I recall.”

“I’m not looking for intelligence or you to break any rules for me, Rhodes! MedCo took Scarlett. They took her Rhodey and I need…” His voice drifted off as his screen flickered inside his helmet. He stopped midflight and hovered in the air. “Rhodey, are you still there?”

“Yeah, I am. What’s going on?”

“Well be quiet, something’s happening.” Tony muttered. The screen flickered again and Jarvis spoke in a garbled voice. Electronic interference made his ears ring.

“There is an incoming transmission attempting to hack my systems, sir.” Jarvis’ voice was distorted and then returned to normal relatively quickly. “I managed to deflect it rather easily but I think that you should consider letting it through to listen to what is on the other line. I will make sure that any attempts to hijack our systems will be denied and run a trace.”

“And why should I let it through, Jarvis?” Tony could feel his hands tingly and shaking. Panic wasn’t the word for what he was feeling, it was sheer and utter terror. And even that didn’t seem to be the right adjective. Description wasn’t Tony’s strong suit when his mind was racing a mile a minute.

“The transmission appears to be from someone who knows something about the whereabouts of Miss Damien. Heavy accent, my guess is that they are affiliated with MedCo.”

“Let it through but if you let anything but vocal and visual transmission through, I will wipe your programming, got it?” Tony threatened.

“This is a bad idea, Tony…” Rhodey scolded from the other end of the phone line. His stomach was starting to feel just as sick as Tony’s was. Then there was the guilt he felt for brushing off his friend’s attempts to contact him ten times in a row when the situation had actually been serious for once.

“Tell me that when it’s someone you care about, okay?” Tony snapped at his friend who immediately shut his mouth on the other line. Rhodey knew it was true. He’d do anything to save Tony and Tony would do anything to save him. Even though Rhodey didn’t know Scarlett yet, it was obvious Tony was willing to put his life on the line to get her away from MedCo. “Just be quiet until they’re off the line. Let the transmission through, Jarvis.”

“Mr. Stark.” The face of a surly looking man, half balding but still somehow formidable looked back at him on the screen through lines of static. He spoke with a deep Russian accent and instantly Tony knew that this was the man who had come to Afghanistan once Scott had been driven out. Barakat couldn’t have described him any clearer. “I believe I have something you want.”

“What did you do to her? If you…”

“Spare me the trivial fretting, Mr. Stark it will only waste both of our time. You know I’m going to hurt her regardless of your empty threats. After the trouble she has caused me in the last two weeks, you’d be a fool to think she’s getting out of this without shedding blood. That is non-negotiable. What I am calling to discuss is how you can save her life.” Tony gritted his teeth and tried to keep his cool but it was hard when he kept picturing the terrible things that were being done to his Scarlett to make her pay for the trouble she’d caused.

“What is it you want from me?”

“An exchange.”

“And what is it you think I have that I would exchange for Scarlett?”

“It is only fair that if I lose one genius I will need a replacement. You are faulty but will do for exchange.”

“Faulty? What the hell does that mean?”

“That thing in your chest is a liability but your genius far outweighs hers. A life for a life, it is only fair.”

“Fine.” Tony agreed immediately. There was no question in his mind that he would trade his life for hers if it came down to it.

“That was an awfully quick response for such an important decision. Perhaps you need some time to think it over, first?” Mikhail responded with a sly smile. Tony didn’t think he could see him, but he felt like the Russian man was leering into his soul and could see his every weakness.

“What is there to think over? You took someone I love and the longer I wait the more you’ll hurt her so why don’t you cut the crap and tell me where to make the trade?” Tony’s nerves were shot and his words venomous.

“At midnight tonight. You will receive coordinates on where to make the trade the same way I have transmission you now. If you do not come alone then you will be sure that Scarlett will suffer far worse than she already will. And trust me, she will suffer.”

“What, not going to go old fashioned and threaten to kill her?”

“Why would I kill her, Mr. Stark?” Mikhail looked puzzled. “She’s far too important, that would be a terrible waste. There are things she can provide me with that you cannot.”

“Just keep your end of the bargain and I’ll keep mine.” Tony began on what promised to be a spectacular rant but the transmission from Mikhail was cut short and ended abruptly. Yelling, Tony punched at the air and fired his repulsors into the sky to try and kill some of the bubbling frustration in his system.

“Sorry sir, but it seems that gentleman didn’t want to listen to what you had to say.” Jarvis acknowledged after failing to revive the signal. Even the computer sounded pained. What the hell had Rhodey missed in the last month?

“Tony, you can’t seriously consider trading your life for hers. Right?” Rhodey immediately interjected once Tony had stopped yelling. He wasn’t sure he had ever heard him that frustrated before without alcohol in his system. “You know I’m not going to let you do that. Terrorists don’t negotiate… You’d both end up dead.”

“I’m not an idiot, Rhodes. They’re never going to give me Scarlett, okay? Even if I gave them all my money and technology they would keep it and her. But what I can do is guarantee that she’ll at least be alive and functioning until midnight tonight now, can’t I?” Tony’s heart was still racing and the monitor on the corner of his screen was blinking annoyingly to let him know. Jarvis went out of his way to make him aware of how his health was being affected by this stressful situation.

“Well, what is it you plan to do? What do they want from her anyway?”

“She pissed them off! And her stupid ex… this is a really long story, Rhodey and I don’t have time to gossip. Are you going to suit up and help me or not? That’s why I called. I can’t do this alone.”

Rhodey glanced at the door to the office that he’d left only moments prior. Could he really leave the meeting now to go help Tony wherever he was? Of course he was going to, regardless of the consequences. Tony was his best friend and after listening to the call from MedCo he couldn’t ignore his cry for help.

“Come on Rhodes, I need your help. You know I don’t ask for it very often.”

“You don’t ask for it? Seriously? You asked me to come over last month to untangle wires in your living room!”

“Serious help. I didn’t think you’d actually help with that… I was bored!” Tony drifted off. It was easy for him to mask his worry with jokes and humor but he was barely keeping afloat. He wasn’t sure he had a clear enough head to do this alone. If it was just him he might do something stupid, like actually exchange his life for Scarlett’s. She would be so mad if he did that, wouldn’t she? This was exactly what she had been trying to avoid and yet here he was, in too deep by his own making. But wasn’t that part of being in a serious relationship? To be knee deep in each other’s problems? To make sacrifices for the other?

Tony just wanted her to be safe. Was that so much to ask? And he’d failed to keep her safe thus far. Instead he’d gone off chasing her ghosts when where he needed to be was by her side saving her from her demons.

“What’s the plan? What are we going to do?” Rhodey gave in and started down the hallway at a jog toward the lobby. He’d suit up and then contact the Secretary of Defense on his way to wherever the hell Tony was. “Where are you anyway? Still in the Middle East?”

“I’m en route to Moscow.” Tony cleared his throat, relieved that his friend had finally agreed to help him. While he was grateful to be getting out of the desert, he wasn’t looking forward to Russia either. He was pretty sure he wasn’t looking forward to anything until the whole messy situation with MedCo had been cleaned up.

“Moscow?”

“That’s where Scarlett’s flight landed a few hours ago so I assume that’s where they still are and if you give me… ten more seconds… ah, there we are. I traced that guy’s phone signal. He tried to use a jammer to reroute his signal but I’m better than that. You’d think they’d try a little harder given who I am. Scarlett was right, it’s almost an insult they way they underestimate you…” Tony was rambling on and on now, and could’ve if Rhodey hadn’t interrupted.

“Are you sure that this is what you want to do, Tony? Risk your life for this woman? She must be something…”

“Is this really the time to get into that? Don’t ask me if her life is worth the risk. I hope you’re suiting up Rhodey because there is no time to have a heart to heart. Didn’t you hear him? They’re not going to spare her any pain simply because they think they’re going to trade with me. The longer we wait, the worse she suffers.”

“Just checking, Tony. You act on impulse sometimes and…”

“Would you like me to hesitate if it was your life in danger? Or would you prefer I continue acting on impulse?” Tony responded easily and Rhodey chuckled.

“Message received.”

“I’ll send you coordinates to the WarMachine. I’m already almost at my arrival point. Try to bring back up if you can. We’re going to need it.”

“They’re going to make me contact S.H.I.E.L.D. if I ask for it.”

“I don’t care. Let them bring whoever they want. It’s past that… secrecy, that whole line of bullshit I don’t care anymore.” Tony knew that decision could possibly bite him in the ass later, but he didn’t care. Whatever fallout would happen after he’d saved Scarlett would be tolerable as long as he had her alive and well. “Rhodey this is important to me. Okay buddy?”

“Got it, Tony. No more questions, I promise. See you soon. Don’t do anything stupid until I get there.”

“You know me.”

“Yeah, yeah… I can keep saying it and it changes nothing.” Rhodey hung up his phone as he got into the WarMachine. Tony watched the line disconnect and continued on his way toward the coordinates he’d picked up from the call that had tried to throw him off course.

“Jarvis?”

“What can I do, sir? How can I help?”

“Three dimensional real time scan of those coordinates and the surrounding areas. I need to know as much as I can about this place before we get there.”

“Already done, sir. Would you like me to find a place for you to rendezvous with the rebel group in contact with your men from Afghanistan?”

“Thinking ahead of me again, Jarvis. Sometimes it’s scary how in tune we are.”

“You designed me to think just like you, sir. Some would say you should’ve expected this.”

“Who’s the funny guy now?” Tony sighed and continued past Moscow, not bothering to even enjoy the beautiful silhouette of the city on the sinking skyline. Usually he would enjoy a trip to the scenic city, but now it appeared grim.

“One of us has to be.” Jarvis illuminated a holographic map of the facility where the call source had traced back to. Thankfully for Tony, between his skills and Jarvis’ he’d been able to pinpoint where the true call had come from. After watching Scarlett deal with the runaround for weeks from MedCo he knew better than to fall for any of their tricks, and that included the fake meet up for that night. If he couldn’t figure out a way to get into the facility before the meet up he would use it to create a diversion.

And if Tony knew anything about MedCo they would likely do the same. There was no chance of them handing over Scarlett after how hard they had worked to get her back in the first place. No matter how badly they would want him they wanted her worse for whatever reason. Tony’s ego, for once, did not mind being the secondary target. Though, he would much prefer to be the primary one but for reasons that were far less selfish than they would’ve been for him three years ago.

Then again, three years ago, Tony wouldn’t have gone after Scarlett at all. He would’ve left her to die and be victim to the fate she’d brought on herself.

Much had changed in the life of Tony Stark, even in the last month, but the last three years? It told a very different story than the forty years before it. If nothing else, Tony was far prouder of the newer chapters than he had been of the older ones.

“There, what’s that?” Tony acknowledged a series of older buildings near the facility on the map. “Are those MedCo’s too?”

“They are, but thermal scans show they are unoccupied. Deeds have been recently purchased for the properties.” Jarvis rattled off information as it was obtained. “It looks like they have the property but haven’t removed the old textile factories that occupy it.”

“That’s where we meet up.” Tony set up targeting on his flight system to take him there immediately.

“Isn’t that a bit close to home, sir? You could be spotted and ruin any chances of saving both your life and Miss Damien’s.”

“Then we’ll be careful, Jarvis.” The headache settling into the back of Tony’s head made him cringe. “If you have a better idea then I would sure like to hear it.”

“I will set up the rendezvous point with the rebel group’s leaders. Are you sure you want to involve them, sir?”

“Yeah I know it could be a set up but what other choices do I have? I can’t go in there alone. If Scarlett couldn’t handle them then I can’t either. Even with the Mark VII shadowing me from afar, it’s going to be an uphill battle to get both of us out of there alive.”

“Shall I contact S.H.I.E.L.D.?”

“I’m pretty sure S.H.I.E.L.D. knows, even if Rhodey didn’t contact them. If they want to help, they’ll help. Right now I have more important things on my mind.” Tony continued planning with Jarvis for the next hour as he slowed down his flight pattern and triggered the stealth mode on his suit so that he would be undetectable by any radar that MedCo had surrounding their perimeter. Thankfully the abandoned factories were just that and it looked like they hadn’t been touched at all by the company that had built a looming prison looking facility a short distance away.

It was far enough away that Tony still felt safe enough to talk but not far enough away that he felt it was safe enough to walk out in the open. The cloudy skies that had plagued Russia the whole day and had made visibility terrible on his flight over still lingered in the sky. By the time Tony removed his helmet inside of the abandoned warehouse closes to the MedCo building he was sweating up something fierce. He’d redirected the energy in the suit to the thrusters, forgoing his usual creature comforts that would accommodate his temperature and make the Iron Man suit seem more like a luxury car. After he landed in the factories he would allow it time to recharge the spent energy.

Tony spent the next half hour moving debris around the old factory to cover up the windows enough to obscure any movement he made inside of them. Once the rebels arrived and their men were led inside, it would be much easier to be detected. But Tony would do his best to keep that from happening. Within the stealth suit were several small capsules that he could place around a large area and cast an electronic net that would prevent anyone from overhearing what was going on within, obscure radar scans and basically keep whatever they were doing inside invisible.

He’d always wanted to use the trinket but didn’t think he’d have the occasion. Now that he was getting to, the wonder was lost. He had managed to occupy his mind for awhile and prevent thinking about what was happening inside the building to Scarlett. Hell, he’d even considered that maybe it was all a ploy and Scarlett had been moved far enough away that he wouldn’t get to her even if he managed to get past the guards, the Russian thug, and Scott. But he couldn’t think that way. Tony had to try and be optimistic. That was pretty hard for him to do, considering he played out the scenarios every possibility in his head over and over even as he was working around the textile factory.

There were very few outcomes that ended with him and Scarlett in bed and he didn’t like those odds, not in the least. But again, optimism was something he had to keep on forcing. If Scarlett didn’t get out alive, then what could he possibly do? A life without her was something he was finding impossible to fathom. How had he even survived without her in his life beforehand? It was strange, but it was like the entire possibility of it seemed completely idiotic. Tony had to save her life. Without hers, there was nothing left of his and that was motivation enough to keep him going.

“Sir, there are a handful of rebels on their way in. I’ve given them very distinct directions for arrival. If they see anything suspicious they will turn back and draw attention away.”

“Yeah, I’m sure that’ll be easy to do as armed as they promised they’d be.” Tony scoffed but paced the floor, making himself busy relocating some old machinery he had already relocated twice while he waited. Every hour that passed, every minute that ticked by, something awful was happening to Scarlett across the way. The longer he waited, the worse things would get. How long would they wait before they did irreparable harm to her? Tony couldn’t think about it. If she could survive what had happened to her in Afghanistan for weeks than she could survive what was going on in that building for a few hours.

He hated thinking that way, but it was the only option. Running in without backup would do nothing but get them both killed and that wasn’t an option either. The only option for Tony was getting them both out alive and taking her home with him.

“Sir, the first group of rebels has arrived.” Tony turned and shook out his sweaty hair, walking toward the handful of men and women who walked cautiously through a door that Tony had half propped open so that they wouldn’t have to repeatedly open and close something to get in. There were seven in total, three women and four men. The man in front was clearly the leader. Tall, slender and with defined cheek bones he had very kind eyes but looked hardened and ready for battle. Each was armed to the teeth and obviously ready for a fight.

“No offense, but we need to talk a bit before I trust you.” Tony knew that in the end he had to trust the group coming to aid him or there would be no one to back him up for a few hours. Where was Rhodey with WarMachine? If the military would’ve let him work on the damn thing then he would’ve been there by now. Tony had offered to add in the thruster acceleration booster along with the stealth technology he’d developed but his request had been denied on multiple occasions. He’d even offered to break into the military facility to do the upgrades if Rhodey would help him, but the Colonel wasn’t like Tony in that respect. Rhodes always followed the rules. In a way he was the yin to Tony’s yang and while sometimes that was frustrating, in moments like this it was just what Tony needed.

“No offense taken. I don’t trust you either.” The leader spoke with a heavy Russian accent. “I was contacted by my man in Afghanistan. I reached out to him a few weeks ago when I discovered the lengths of MedCo’s treachery. After I saw that his group had driven out the men poisoning their water I knew I could use them for information in that part of the world. Their situation was not the same as the one I have seen over and over on countless occasions, but it was similar enough that I had a feeling it was the very beginnings of what MedCo has now become.”

“And how do you know so much about them? How do I know you don’t work for them?” Tony nodded to the building across the way. Obviously they had to know what was going on inside of that building. Maybe they knew much more than Tony did and would be able to provide him with information that would help him save Scarlett. That was if they were on the level. For all Tony knew they could be working for MedCo and he would be dead in a few short minutes.

Well, he’d be under attack. His suit would save him from just about anything short of a nuclear weapon and he doubted that even MedCo was that foolish. There was the pulse gun they’d fired on him weeks ago, but he’d rebuilt his suit so that there was a change to the start up system and he would be able to manually reset it from within the suit. The last thing he wanted was to be a sitting duck again. Scarlett wasn’t there standing by a computer to save his life like she had been last time. Had he ever thanked for that? He couldn’t remember. Though he did remember screaming at her and her denting the hell out of one of his favorite hot rods with a lamp. She’d paid for the damages just as she had promised she would, but he wasn’t sure he had ever really said thank you. And if he had said thank you, he was pretty sure that it had only been in an attempt to get her naked.

“Well that’s the thing, Mr. Stark… I did work for them.” The Russian man offered a kind smile then set down his weapons one by one until he was completely unarmed. “I was a thug for them, though I had no idea what it is that they did. You see I was a poor man and they take advantage of people in need of money. I have a family that I love very much and I needed the cash. But I was a criminal. Not every country is forgiving of stupid things a young man does when they don’t know any better. So I worked for MedCo. I turned a blind eye and for awhile it was alright. They seemed almost like a good company.”

“Yeah, did you see they recently got bumped up to International Terrorist Organization? Not so benevolent now.”

“Only because they wanted to be noticed at long last. They are not afraid of acknowledgement anymore, Mr. Stark. Not after their priorities changed a month ago.”

“And you know that because you worked for them?”

“I watched people die by their hand.” The Russian man grew serious and held out his palms. “Good people. I justified it at first thinking that maybe they were monsters who were being brought to justice by MedCo but no… women, men… innocent and thinking they were there to work were being imprisoned and then experimented on and killed. One showed me kindness. Bravery, even.” He held his chin proudly and then closed his eyes. “That is what changed my mind. Why couldn’t I be brave? They scared me, Mr. Stark. I was afraid of what they would do to my family if I rebelled.”

“I knew it didn’t matter who I was. They didn’t care about me or my family or if I was working for them or not. No one was safe from MedCo, not even those who thought they were. I left the company and moved my family somewhere safe and hidden. With the help of a few friends from my youth, the same ones who got me into such trouble that I couldn’t get a job, I changed their identities and then came here. There were others like me… some who have worked for them and some who have been harmed by them.”

“Some of us just saw what they were doing and knew it was wrong.” The woman behind him had a soft French accent and a kind face. She didn’t look like the kind of woman who should be ready for battle, but she was just as armed as her cohorts.

“We come from all reaches of life, Mr. Stark but we all have one common goal and that is to put a stop to these monsters. The law will not do it, so we will take the law into our own hands. Much like you do with your Iron Man suit.”

“That’s not… quite… what I do…” Tony drifted off but knew in a way it was the same sort of vigilante justice that he sought out on a regular basis.

“My contact told me that Tony Stark wanted to find out more about MedCo. He said that you needed to help someone who was taken by them and we are happy to help. My name is Sergei. This is Gina, Dominic, Irena, Adrian, Pavlov and Renate. They are my inner circle and the rest will be on their way shortly. We have fifty strong men and women who will join us.”

“That’s not a lot.” Tony sighed, though he wasn’t sure the abandoned warehouse could shadow even that many people.

“There are not many here who are willing to stand up to these people. It is easier to do as you’re told and hope you are spared. Not everyone is willing to put their lives on the line for a cause, Mr. Stark. But we are and I hope that we can trust each other at least until we are done here.” Sergei offered his hand to Tony who hesitated but then took it when Jarvis reported he could detect no deceit in the man’s voice or in his story. While Tony may not have trusted these men and women in front of him, he trusted Jarvis and would be on his guard for as long as he could be.

“Sergei, it looks like we’re going to be working together. What do you have for me on this place? Is this new to you?” Tony nodded toward the building looming in the dark clouds and setting sun.

“Not new at all. They’ve been building it for longer than I’ve been running this group. I heard about it first when I was working in another facility in a different country. That is why I came here. This is the heart of their company. It started out small and soon they were buying up all the land even some of the towns nearby. Some land owners fought, like those who had owned this textile company you chose as our meeting place. But they mysteriously died and the land went to auction which MedCo was conveniently there to obtain the deeds to.” Sergei nodded toward Adrian who came forward with a black tube. When he opened it blue and white schematics fell onto the table nearby.

“This is what we have obtained from public records and satellite imagery. One of our girls was able to hack their systems without being noticed long enough to obtain some security footage. There are errors in the schematics, obviously things that MedCo couldn’t report to a legitimate contractor. So whoever helped them build was obviously on the take and obtaining fake permits and creating false schematics.” Adrian pointed to several areas on the schematics that had been drawn over in red marker that stained a faded purple on the blue paper.

“After having spent extended time in other MedCo locations due to my career, I was able to pinpoint where they would have hidden experiments and prison cells that wouldn’t be legal to build obviously. It’s a guess since we have only limited communication to the inside.” Sergei pointed to the lower levels of the schematics and where they had drawn out prison cells.

“Wait, what?” Tony widened his eyes and stopped him from continuing to speak. “Communication is communication however limited it is… there’s someone inside there talking to you? You infiltrated MedCo?”

“No, a man contacted us. We have met with him on several occasions and he has since provided us with information at great cost to his life. We did not trust him at first but he has proven to be very useful and has gotten several of our people out of containment during faulty missions.” Sergei nodded to confirm. “Now I trust him with my life. I tried to contact him once I was contacted by your… butler was it?”

“Jarvis, not my butler… very complicated. But yeah…”

“But he has not gotten a chance to get back to me. I imagine that he will likely not be much help in this situation. Once we get inside, it is possible he will be willing to blow his cover to help us, depending on how promising the odds are. Even if we do not succeed with our mission it is possible we will cause enough of a disturbance to prompt international involvement.”

“No offense, but I’m already trusting too many people I don’t know so I’m not going to hold my breath for some guy you think might be helpful on the inside.” Tony turned his attention toward the building that he saw through the window again and could only hope that the men and women now joining him and multiplying as time passed wouldn’t betray him or end up being the reason Scarlett died in the long run.

“None taken. I am surprised you trust us at all. Whoever is in there must be very important to you.” Sergei stood next to Tony and the genius nodded before turning his attention back to him.

“I have to save her.” Tony exhaled deeply and tapped his fingers against the suit. “I don’t have a choice but to trust you until my friend gets here. He’s bringing US military back up… whatever they’ll lend me and I’m not sure it’ll be much considering my reputation.”

“It must be a very good friend.”

“He is.” Tony was about to elaborate but as if he’d heard them talking about him, Rhodey called from within the suit. “Gather your men, I have a call to take.” Tony walked away and flipped the helmet of his suit back up so that he could speak to Rhodes in private.

“Tony, I’m on my way. I’ll be there as soon as I can but I got hung up in London. After I ditched out on the meeting earlier I got grounded by the Secretary of Defense. They thought I was running to help you with something trivial and it took every bit of string pulling I have in my power but I will be there in the next few hours. There might be back up, I can’t tell if they were serious about helping me or not. Plus getting US troops into Russian without them thinking we’re up to something? That’s pretty hard to do. I contacted S.H.I.E.L.D. but they didn’t seem to have the time for me. Apparently something big is happening.”

“I have a pretty good feeling I know what S.H.I.E.L.D. is dealing with and we’ll see them before the night is over.” Tony couldn’t help but look around suspiciously at the men and women who were joining him. They looked average, none of them warriors. Was he leading them to their deaths? But they wanted to help and so he would let them. Tony couldn’t do this alone. He needed every bit of assistance that he could get. He couldn’t explain it but he had a good feeling about Sergei. The man’s story seemed just crazy enough to be true.

“I don’t know if I’m going to make it before the drop time Tony, please don’t do something stupid.”

“This is why you should bring that thing in for maintenance every few weeks, Rhodes. You know I can do better than those military assholes can. No offense.” Tony gritted his teeth in dismay. Rhodey was who he was counting on.

He needed Rhodey to help him here.

“Yeah I know, but they won’t let me, okay? Look… they gave me the run around they always give me when it comes to you. People are still burned that you dropped out of the munitions business.”

“It’s alright. I’ve got all the backup I need at the moment.” Tony furrowed his brow. “Except for Scarlett, I could really use her help right now. She’d be better at this than I am. Or you, I’m not a… team leader, you know. I just want to save her.” Grimacing, Tony had to remind himself again not to panic. There would be time for panicking and emotional break downs later. Right now he had to try and think about what Scarlett would do if the tables were turned.

Scarlett would’ve already saved him, he guessed.

“What does that mean? You have back up? Is S.H.I.E.L.D. there? Is that why you were being so cryptic about them?”

“No, no… I befriended some rebels in Afghanistan… Well not really befriended since they’re a bunch of douche nozzles that did some pretty unspeakable things… They had some allies here and offered their services as recompense for what they’ve done in the past. It’s sketchy I know but the enemy of my enemy is my friend, right?”

“No Tony! The enemy of your enemy is still your enemy.” Rhodey sounded frantic. “You’ve got to get out of there. It could be a trap and you are not in the mental state to deal with this right now.”

“Do you think I haven’t thought of that? Look, I’m not stupid Rhodes. You know that as well as I do. I calculated the risks and my odds suck but the odds that I’m going to be okay if I don’t do this are smaller than that! Got it?” Tony practically shouted inside his helmet. Rhodey was so taken by surprise that he was silenced on the other end.

“You are so seeing a shrink after this.” Rhodey finally spoke up once he’d gotten past the surprise of being yelled at by Tony.

“Only if you do too, buddy.” Finally Tony’s heart calmed down. He knew the risks and had weighed them repeatedly in his mind. The last thing he needed was Rhodey shouting at him about numbers when he knew the math by heart. “Look I know I shouldn’t trust them and I don’t entirely but I can’t explain it. I just have a good feeling about it.”

“Your good feelings usually end up with me waking up in some hotel room unable to find my pants and not remembering the night before.”

“You weren’t complaining about the women you woke up with, if I recall.” Tony countered and Rhodey at last laughed though Tony could still hear the edge in his voice. Before Tony could respond, there was a loud familiar sound from somewhere outside.

It was gunfire.

“What is that Tony? What’s going on?”

“Gotta go Rhodey.” Tony disconnected the call and pulled down his helmet so he could communicate with the rebels more easily. Frantic yelling from the same direction as the gunfire could be heard. From the sounds of it there was only one voice there.

“Mr. Stark!” Sergei who had climbed some of the equipment Tony had moved around to get a better look waved him over.

“What’s going on out there?” Tony furrowed his brow. Taking off his armor, Tony let the suit stand on its own, eyes still glowing and waiting for orders remotely under Jarvis’ control. Carefully Tony climbed onto the same equipment Sergei was standing on and together they pushed the top window open enough of a crack so they could hopefully hear more clearly what was going on in the space between the two buildings.

“There’s a man.” Sergei nodded toward a lone silhouette holding an assault rifle and firing repeatedly in the air, obviously to gain attention. “He’s out of his mind.” They watched as he fired again in the air and continued yelling.

“Tony Stark!” Tony couldn’t see the face from where he was, but he knew the voice immediately.

Scott was standing outside with a loaded gun, waiting for Tony to show up. He was looking around in every direction. This was a good thing; it meant that he had no idea where Tony was hiding. But how had they known that Tony wasn’t going to wait for the exchange time to try and get his hands on Scarlett? Had it been that predictable a move for him to come and try to find his way in before the exchange was made? The people at MedCo were much smarter than Tony was giving them credit for.

Tony could guarantee that he was smarter.

“Tony Stark!” Scott shouted again, throwing the weapon aside as if to challenge Tony without it. “I know you’re here! Show yourself!”

“Who is that man?” Sergei breathed, not taking his eyes off of their new enemy.

“Very bad news,” Tony whispered, trying to reformulate his plan in his mind. So much for taking MedCo by surprise and using the exchange as a distraction. This could still work if Tony played his cards right and if he could keep Scott from trying to kill him the moment he stepped into view.

“Stark, don’t be a coward!” Scott’s voice sounded unnatural and vicious as he shouted. “It’s time to come out and play.”