Hollow Scars

By the time that the plane touched down at the airport in Dakar Scarlett was physically and mentally drained to the point of exhaustion. Why hadn’t she stayed the night with Tony like she’d wanted to? Was it simply stubbornness? She couldn’t find the words to explain her reasoning but there was a crippling fear welling within her when she considered teaming up with the billionaire. The upsides to teaming up with him were easy enough to list, but the downsides were far scarier and it seemed Scarlett was afraid to admit them out loud.

Deep down though, she knew Tony had been right about her when he’d told her that she wasn’t okay. At the rapid rate she was declining, she was going to get herself killed or end up in the hospital at the very least. As much as she knew that Tony was right about many things, she knew chasing MedCo was still something that she had to do for herself. It wasn’t that she was trying to hurt Tony in the process by running from him; it was quite the opposite. Solitude had always been part of how Scarlett functioned out in the field.

It had been how she kept anonymous and part of how she’d kept others involved or closer to her safe. Working with Tony would be a completely different bag of worms. What if she couldn’t protect him? If any harm came to him on her behalf, she’d never forgive herself. Her chest physically stung at the idea of it, or maybe it was just the congestion.

‘That’s right,’ she thought, ‘just keep floating down that river of denial.’

Part of Scarlett knew that he was going to follow behind her no matter what she told him and she’d likely run into him somewhere in Senegal sometime soon. Their stubbornness was going to get them both killed. No matter how many times she tried to list the options and reevaluate the situation, Scarlett couldn’t see a way out that didn’t involve sacrifice by one of them. She was trying to spare Tony from having to be the one to make that sacrifice. But what gave her the right to choose for him? Nothing did. Scarlett was trying to remove the option entirely so Tony wouldn’t have to be the one to choose.

Being on the outside of the complex situation looking in was probably infuriating. Pepper likely thought Scarlett was a mad woman and would probably be advising Tony constantly to give up the ghost as quickly as he could manage. But even Pepper had to know that it wasn’t as simple as that for Tony just like it wasn’t that simple for Scarlett to push him away. Despite how Tony begged and pled with her to stay with him every night and to let him help her through her journey, part of Scarlett knew that he was enjoying the chase as much as she was. There was something dangerous and sexy about their cat and mouse game but Scarlett was worried it’d become too dangerous particularly after what she’d read about in the S.H.I.E.L.D. files.

Unable to process the conflict as her head spun, Scarlett waited for the plane to empty before exiting. She’d spent the flight, once again, sick to her stomach and fighting her gag reflex to avoid throwing up. Whatever sickness she’d contracted throughout her travels was making its way through her system and violently at that. Rushing off the plane once it was emptied, Scarlett found the nearest restroom and spent the next twenty minutes emptying what remained of her dinner from the night before from her stomach. Confident there was nothing left in her system to get rid of, Scarlett felt safe to get up and leave the restroom.

Deciding if she didn’t get some real rest before she continued out into the desert she would be more than likely to pass out and get into some kind of trouble of her own making, Scarlett left the airport in search of a safe haven. Light headedness made her move at a snail’s pace thanks to dehydration and sickness. After finding a hotel near the airport, she booked a room and then hurried inside. Immediately she curled up on the bed and fell asleep without bothering to even pull the sheets up to cover her body and keep warm.

The next seven hours were spent tossing and turning in a cold sweat, revisiting flashes of her past mixed with a twisted subconscious horror that she repressed deep within. Visions of hospital beds that melded with her flesh haunted her thoughts. Men without faces speaking languages she was unfamiliar with surrounded her. Things designed to assist in her recovery poked and prodded her flesh and burned as though real each time she closed her eyes.

The nightmares of her past had become so frequent that Scarlett had started to avoid sleeping altogether because of them. Not sleeping wasn’t exactly aiding her seeing as she had come down with something that had at last incapacitated her and her judgment was obviously skewed, considering how many times she’d wound up drunk and in bed with Tony. Then again, she wasn’t sure she could blame her insomnia and exhaustion for the things she ended up doing with Tony.

Several times through the afternoon Scarlett woke up sick to her stomach or out of breath from some horror created by her mind. But seven hours later, she finally lay awake in bed, having gotten enough rest to function and her stomach finally not objecting to the idea of moving. Sheets damp from night sweats, Scarlett laid shivering on the comforter and stared at the ceiling above her. The worst nightmare was always the last and always the one that kept her from falling back into a restless slumber.

Tony had started to appear in her nightmares, often accompanied by Sergei and Scott. She was sure that a shrink would tell her that her subconscious mind was reflecting the guilt she felt. If there was one thing her life didn’t lack, it was guilt. Guilt for not being able to love Scott the way he loved her, guilt for having put Sergei’s life at risk, and guilt for putting Tony in constant danger when her heart was begging her to go home with him or even to let him help her. Letting him help her scared him. She’d never been incapable of completing something on her own before.

The last nightmare she’d suffered that afternoon, and had consequently inspired her to stay awake, Scarlett found Tony in the hellish prison she remembered being trapped in from her last job in Afghanistan. Unfortunately it was a room that she’d never forget no matter how hard she tried. He’d been hanging by his wrists, bloody and broken from the ceiling in the center of the room just as she had been for a period of time near the end, before she’d at last escaped.

The arc reactor was on the floor in front of him, removed from his chest, crushed and broken. His body was cold and lifeless after having obviously been tortured, hanging there on display as some sort of twisted punishment for Scarlett’s misdeeds. Immediately she scrambled onto the floor and had tried to put the reactor back together so she could help him keep the shrapnel in his chest from reaching his heart, but by the time she reached Tony it had been too late.

Try as she might, she couldn’t revive him and time seemed to pass too slowly during her attempts. Hands trembling too violently to continue and eyes blurred with tears, she was forced to stop trying to save his life. When she collapsed to the ground in front of him in tears, she could hear him suddenly speaking to her. When she glanced up at him hopefully he still hung there dead in front of her. And yet despite that, he spoke. He blamed her for getting him involved in her mess. Every word past his lips was like venom, stinging at her and reminding her of what she already knew.

Tony wanted to fight her battles for her.

But if she let him do that and he got hurt, or worse, he died then it would be blood on her hands. The only thing Scarlett wanted was for Tony to be safe and happy. She couldn’t get him involved any further in her mess. If anything happened to him in the process she would never forgive herself. Even the little that she’d learned about his history had convinced Scarlett that Tony had been through more than enough already and she wanted to spare him further torment. Her on the other hand, she knew she could handle what was coming.

Wiping her hand over her face, Scarlett sat up, elbows on her knees and head in her hands. Her subconscious was reminding her of what she was already well aware of. Destruction followed in her path wherever she went. By going after MedCo and eliminating the immediate threat, Scarlett was hoping that she could keep danger at bay long enough to get a head start on her relationship with Tony and maybe give her some time to right some of her wrongs.

What made her think that she could actually have a normal relationship with anyone, nonetheless Tony Stark? Scott had been fool enough to stick by her side for years and look where it had gotten him: nearly killed and in constant danger and fear that the woman he cared for was going to end up arrested or worse.

Why the hell did she suddenly have to form a conscience after years of managing to avoid thinking about any consequences? Things were much less complicated before she’d gone to work for MedCo. Or at least they had been a type of complicated that she’d been used to handling. Unconsciously, Scarlett brushed her fingers over the renewed scar on her chest that had been burnt in the shape of Tony’s arc reactor. It was something she often did when she was feeling overwhelmed. Stupid as it may seem, the small action brought her comfort. Finally she opened her eyes and glanced down at it.

If things hadn’t happened exactly the way they had she never would’ve met Tony and she never would’ve known that there was more to life than the next mission. Scarlett had always considered herself exceptionally intelligent, but in many ways she was a complete fool. Worst of all, she was lonely and missed Tony and that made her feel pathetic.

Lying back on the bed with a flop, she stared at the ceiling and considered the last time she had missed anyone. Hell, she even missed Jarvis and Pepper. Surprisingly, she actually missed Jarvis almost as much as she missed Tony. The artificially intelligent computer had proven so delightfully quirky that it had wormed its way into her heart. Deciding she could no longer linger on the far too many thoughts racing around in circles in her mind, Scarlett wobbled out of bed. Dizziness made the room spin but closing her eyes and standing still helped kick the feeling.

Vaguely, she considered seeing a doctor, but knew there would be time for that later. Right now she had too much to do and she’d put it off for long enough that particular day. Besides that, Scarlett was afraid that if she saw a doctor they’d recommend treatment she didn’t have time for. The more time she wasted on her health the more chances MedCo would have to move on and leave her without even a trail of breadcrumbs to follow.

Lightheaded from what she assumed was still dehydration thanks to the motion sickness from the plane Scarlett took a bottle of water from the hotel room fridge and guzzled it as quickly as she could. After showering and getting changed into something that looked less like what a cat burglar would wear, she left the room, her bag tucked discreetly underneath some clothing in the closet.

Scarlett never left anything in the hotel safe. That was the first place a burglar would look. Instead she’d rigged up some wiring to place underneath her bag so that if it wasn’t picked up in the exact manner she intended then the person grabbing it would be electrocuted. To a petty thief, a bag that constantly electrocuted them wasn’t worth stealing.

Little daylight remained after Scarlett had woken up and for that she was grateful. Cliché as it was, sneaking around really was much easier in the darkness than it was during the sunny hours of the day. In this particular instance Scarlett was unsure of what she would find or what kind of mission it would be, so she chose night as her desired camouflage. It was possible the lead was no kind of lead at all and she wouldn’t find anything of interest. But it was also possible that Scarlett would run into MedCo forces and have to make use of the night to stay hidden and safe.

The cling in Scarlett’s throat that she’d decided had been from the hours spent vomiting on the plane hadn’t faded with rest as she had hoped it would. So once she was out of the hotel, Scarlett spent the last hour of daylight walking through the nearest market. Then she would head to the coordinates on her phone with the assistance of the GPS built into it.

Walking around the marketplace, Scarlett casually stopped by a stand where a woman selling home remedies for various ailments sat. She asked about some of the symptoms she’d been suffering once she discovered the woman could speak French. Scarlett wasn’t fluent, but had learned enough when she’d worked in Senegal that she could get by. While the woman didn’t have much for her vomiting or restlessness she did offer some ginger root for the nausea and eucalyptus tea for the cling in her throat that the woman guessed was actually in her chest. Figuring it couldn’t hurt to try the remedies, Scarlett took the offer and paid double what she owed for the time the woman had given her and the kindness she had shown.

Once the sun had gone past the horizon and Scarlett had safely stowed the items she purchased in the small bag she carried with her, she made her way, by various means of travel, to the coordinates of the town outside of Banjul, Gambia. After walking for quite some time in the darkness, Scarlett pocketed her phone since she knew she was heading in the right direction and continued onward.

In the distance she spied a barrier of some kind and as she got closer discovered that it was a wooden fence, surrounded by a badly battered chain link one for extra protection. Something devastating had happened to the chain link fence that had made it bend and rust in an odd manner. The wooden one looked like it had been added later to provide proper structural support to the ruined barrier.

Chills ran down the length of Scarlett’s spine and she immediately got signals in her brain telling her she should back off and leave. Leaving wasn’t true to her nature before she’d gotten what she’d come for, even if she didn’t know exactly what that was quite yet. Keeping her distance, Scarlett casually walked the perimeter in search of some sign alerting her of what was hidden behind the fence. Over the top of it she could see buildings and framework for other structures but what she didn’t see was most alarming.

There were no lights beyond the wooden fence. Not even the sound of a person walking around or an animal on the hunt. No fire or the smell of smoke could be found in the air. The town she’d been led to seemed absolutely dead, just as the site in South Africa had been. An unearthly heaviness hung on the area and it seemed to be keeping both animals and people away from it. Finally spotting a white sign zip tied to a chained gate on the perimeter, Scarlett grimaced.

Condamnés. Condemned.

Not surprised by this turn of events, Scarlett snapped a photo of the sign with her phone and then kept walking along the perimeter in search of an easy way to sneak past the fence to find out what was hidden behind it. It wasn’t abnormal for buildings to be condemned in that particular area of the world but for an entire town to be hidden behind a fence? That seemed peculiar. What had happened there that had left the place a shell of its former self and cut off from the area around it?

Scarlett didn’t know but she was planning on finding out. Notes on the Alpha and Omega project once again popped into her thoughts as she considered that maybe some kind of experiment had gone poorly behind the barrier. But once again Scarlett had to remind herself that she wasn’t playing a horror survival video game and the chance of zombies coming after her were slim to none. That sort of thing didn’t happen in reality.

Or at least Scarlett hoped it wouldn’t happen. She definitely did not have enough bullets to deal with zombies. Finding a gap in the wooden fence, Scarlett decided it was as good a place as any to try and get through. The chain fence looked fragile and easy to bypass, the wooden one had been what she’d been concerned about.

Setting down the bag she carried on her back, Scarlett pulled out a black leather glove with metallic pieces built onto the back like a gauntlet. Within the metallic pieces was a perpetual motion energy generator that Scarlett had developed, inspired by the works of Tesla. When triggered by particular motions of her hand she could create a strong electrical charge that could be used to short out wiring or knock out her opponent. She’d built it after having gotten into some trouble in the London Underground when she’d first left Tony. Now was as good a time as any to put it to good use. If she ran into any zombies, maybe she could electrocute them.

Afterward she slipped a hunting knife out of the sheath she kept in the side of her boot to hopefully cut through the rusted metal. Scarlett tested the strength of the chain fence and as she suspected it was severely weakened. Parts of the metal turned to dust when in contact with the blade of her knife.

An easy few slices later, Scarlett had the fence pried open wide enough for her to crawl through. Past the barrier, Scarlett stayed close and in the shadows while she observed what remained of the town. The tops of the buildings she had seen hadn’t looked damaged or destroyed from behind the fence but from inside of it the town looked like a war zone. Parts of the buildings were completely eaten away and destroyed while others were collapsed and caved in. Scarlett had been to battlefields before and the wreckage never looked like this.

Something had destroyed the buildings, something Scarlett was unfamiliar with. Scanning the area with her phone, Scarlett decided not to take it out again unless absolutely necessary once she’d put it away. The eerie feeling she’d gotten when approaching the fence was renewed as she crept further along and toward one of the nearest buildings. Any defining marks on the side of it to let her know what may have once been within its confines had been scratched away and scorched afterward.

Turning in place, Scarlett grimaced as she observed the other buildings around her. Each one had the same telltale markings. The signs or numbers above the doors or next to the windows had been scratched away and then burnt. Whatever had happened to this place had been sudden and violent but the scorches and scratches had taken time and precision. Someone had returned to this place after it had been devastated and had gone through it.

The town had been sterilized.

It was the best word Scarlett could think up for what she was finding. Thinking back to the site in South Africa, she realized the circumstances weren’t quite the same. Yes, the laboratories and other rooms had been obviously gone through and important things had been removed but this was something completely different.

Walking past the first building, Scarlett continued through the town and off of the main stretch. Though seemingly abandoned, she had the distinct feeling that it was important for her to stay hidden. Maybe whoever had been responsible for the town’s sterilization had also been charged with keeping a look out. Either way, Scarlett had the sense that she wasn’t alone in the town and that was enough for her to stay on her guard.

Stopping after heading through an alleyway between buildings of similar design and structure, Scarlett decided it was as good a place as any to start searching for some answers. Ducking through a half collapsed doorway, Scarlett looked around the interior of the building closest to her. It was a large open room that branched off to the left into smaller cubicle looking rooms. She guessed it had once been an office. Walking over to where she imagined desks had once been, she slipped her flashlight out of her pocket and waved it around the room in search of anything that remained.

She found nothing there waiting for her. The rooms were devoid of furniture. Even the carpet had been pulled up. The windows had been shattered and the air vents had been cleaned out. Whoever had come back after the destruction of this town to rid it of any clues to what had happened there had done a damn efficient job. But what could’ve been so important in the middle of Senegal that MedCo would send extermination teams and sanitation squads? Scarlett’s mission was starting to look more and more militant as the pages unfolded before her.

Finding nothing of worth in the offices, Scarlett left hurriedly and crept out of the building and walked toward the next one of similar design. She’d sweep the buildings throughout the abandoned town and if she found anything of worth she’d consider herself lucky. Still the feeling of being watched was eating away at her stomach and she couldn’t ignore it. Silently she crept into the next building, this time climbing through a shattered and half boarded up window since the door was fixed shut. When she tried to open it, it creaked far too loudly for her liking.

It still appeared that there was no one else in the nearby vicinity but she wasn’t willing to take the risk that someone would hear and cause her trouble. Considering how she’d spent the first half of her day, Scarlett wasn’t ready to take on anyone who might cause her harm. Things would get messy quickly if she were discovered, she knew it.

The second building was far more interesting. Half the wall on the other side was completely destroyed; appearing as though it had been knocked down in a colossal struggle. There were claw marks and bullet holes on the walls. Scarlett took pictures of the claw marks with her hand next to them for size reference and then continued in her search. While she’d vowed not to take anymore pictures with her phone, the claw marks were too peculiar not to document. It appeared that the building had once served as a laboratory of some kind. The furniture hadn’t been completely removed as it had been in the last building.

There were overturned tables, half corroded by some unknown substance. Scarlett had a feeling that she’d dealt with the chemical agent responsible for the damage before and rubbed her leg nonchalantly. Ever since she’d had that reaction to the denim while working with Tony in his lab she’d been paranoid about wearing pants. The scar of the wound she’d sustained in the chemical explosion stung and itch while she wore them but she was guessing it was a psychosomatic response related to her anxiety.

The squeaking of brakes somewhere outside the window startled her. Having been kneeling down and looking at a peculiar burn mark on the floor, Scarlett was hoping she’d found a clue, but now she knew she wasn’t alone. Hurrying to the window she’d crawled through, Scarlett flipped off her flashlight and pulled out her gun instead. Making sure the silencer was properly screwed into place she peered out the window to try and see who had come to the site.

She could see bright headlights shining on the other side of the fence. Someone was scolding someone else for, most likely, keeping the lights on when they were trying to be covert. Scarlett crawled out the window, not wanting to be caught like the proverbial fish in a barrel and crept through the abandoned town. While she knew in her gut that she should high tail it out of the area before she was spotted, she was also curious to see what the intruders wanted if not her.

Creeping through the alleyway and back toward the main stretch of road, Scarlett crossed hurriedly and listened while someone unlocked the chains that held the gate closed on the outside. Whoever was coming in was granted access to the area. Were they there for her? If they were, she was sure they would’ve acted with more stealth. Unless of course, they didn’t care who heard them.

Scarlett leaned against the wall two buildings away from the entranceway and listened as it creaked open. By the amount of footsteps she heard, she could guess that there were maybe five men walking slowly together. They were mumbling beneath their breath to each other in hopes of not being overheard. It was then that Scarlett realized they were there for her and probably no other reason. What else would they have to do there? Short of demolishing the town, there was nothing left of interest except for her.

Once again she was a step behind MedCo. They’d expected her to show up there and had likely set someone nearby the perimeter or in Dakar to keep an eye out for her. When she actually showed up they had sent people to come and take her away. Deciding the longer she stuck around the more trouble she’d be in, Scarlett crept in between the buildings but stopped when she heard one of the men shout. They’d noticed something in her direction and were heading to try and block her off.

Glancing around for a quick exit, Scarlett spotted the same half destroyed laboratory that she’d hidden in earlier. With the wall half crumbled she could climb up onto the roof and make it a few buildings across to at least put some distance between her and the men pursuing her. Not ceasing her efforts to be quiet, since she wasn’t sure what the men actually heard or seen that turned them onto her and not wanting to give them any further clues, she holstered her gun then started to climb the rubble onto the roof.

It was a risk to think that the ruined roof would hold her weight but she figured if she stayed on the edge near the supports she would be alright. And if not then it had been worth a shot. Thankfully the roof held her weight and Scarlett crept across with ease, hunched low. She leapt effortlessly across the buildings until she was at the opposite end of the small ruined town. From what she could tell, the men pursuing her were still on the other end of it. If Scarlett could find a way through the fence on this side then she’d be home free.

That was unless there were guards around the perimeter too. In that case, she’d be screwed. But she had to remind herself that she’d deal with that problem when she came to it. The adrenaline coursing through her helped fend off the earlier sickness that had left her crippled and in bed for hours. It was amazing the things the human body could ignore under the right circumstances. Finding her way down the side of the building easily, Scarlett landed as silently as she could in the dirt near the back window. Turning the corner to make sure that she wasn’t followed, Scarlett sighed with relief when there wasn’t a soul in sight.

When she ducked back behind the wall she nearly shrieked in surprise to turn around and find Tony standing there but thankfully covered her mouth and managed to stifle any sound she might have mad. He grabbed her arm and pulled her close, looking at her with determination in his honey brown eyes.

“You’re not safe here, Scarlett. The radiation levels in this place are off the map.” Tony whispered urgently starting to tug her aside.

“Oh my god, Tony, you couldn’t have worse timing if you tried.” Scarlett whispered and then covered his mouth to keep him from vocally objecting. Glancing around the corner again to make sure that no one heard them talking she pushed him closer to the wall and narrowed her eyes at him. “You have got to stop following me around like this. You can’t sneak up on me! You used to compare me to James Bond… do you remember what happened to the people who snuck up on James Bond? You’re going to get us both killed.”

“I’m trying to protect you. I did some scans overhead with Jarvis when I found where you disappeared to. This place was victim to some kind of nasty chemical spill. You can’t be here!” It took all of Tony’s willpower to keep him from making a perverse comment in regards to how she’d pushed him so roughly against the wall but he pushed it to the back of his mind for later.

“I can’t be here? Really?” Scarlett glanced over her shoulder again to see if the men were listening to them or coming after them now that she was no longer silent.

“Why do you keep looking over your shoulder like that?” Tony grabbed at her again, pulling her back away from the corner of the building and into his arms.

“Would you stop tugging on me?” Scarlett wiggled her shoulder away from his grasp only to find him grabbing her again. “There are men here after me and you are causing quite the commotion.”

“You didn’t tell me to stop tugging on you the other…Wait, what?” Tony was now the one peeking around the corner of the building to see if he’d drawn attention to them.

“I was on my way out of here safely when you snuck up behind me!” Scarlett hissed in annoyance. It wasn’t that she was exactly annoyed as she was absolutely terrified that something was going to happen to Tony. He wasn’t in his armor or anything similar and it didn’t look like he’d bothered to bring anything to protect himself with. And why would he? He’d likely figured he was only going to deal with her and not a group of armed men hunting her.

But then again, this was exactly why she wasn’t completely open to Tony helping her hunt down MedCo. He didn’t know the kind of people she was dealing with. To him, this was a voyage to chase after what his heart wanted. Scarlett was fighting to get her life back and Tony was fighting to get her back. They weren’t on the same page and this particular incident was making that perfectly clear.

“We’ve got to get out of here.” Tony whispered, far more serious than he was only a moment ago. He’d spent most of his time traveling to her location thinking of different puns and references he could make regarding her having left him in Senegal when things became too much for her in the abandoned MedCo facility. Now he couldn’t use any of them because he was unarmed and not prepared for the danger that had found them.

“Didn’t I just say that?” Scarlett looked perplexed but grabbed his wrist and started to pull him toward the fence.

“What are they doing here?”

“What do you think they’re doing here?” Scarlett shot back at him.

“No need to be nasty, Scarlett.” Tony pouted but kept watch over his shoulder as they searched the fence for a way out.

“How the hell did you get in here?” Scarlett stood upright and turned to face him.

“There’s a broken latch on one of the side doors.” Tony nodded, snapping his fingers in recollection.

“Sometimes I forget you’re a genius.”

“I can’t tell if that was an insult or a compliment.” Tony furrowed his brow in consideration.

“I’ll leave you to figure that out.” Scarlett started around another building but pulled back when she saw shadows moving out of the corner of her eye, leaning against the nearby half destroyed wall. Scarlett tried to think and quickly. There was no way from where they were to get back onto the roof and now with Tony by her side, and surely far more heavy footed than she was, it was no longer a plausible exit either. “Look, I’m not mad at you for coming after me but you can’t stay.” Tony looked confused.

He understood that she wanted him to keep out of her business and to fight her battles alone, but did she really expect him to leave her there by herself? “I’m armed and can cover you so you can get out. Go somewhere safe and… after I’m safe you can find me. I know you will. You always find me.” Scarlett urged him behind her with a small smile, but Tony grabbed her wrist.

“I can protect myself.” Tony whispered, pulling her close with him. “You’re leaving with me.”

“I am leaving with you but I have a gun and you don’t.” Scarlett hushed him. Before Tony could object further someone shouted at them to stay still from afar. “Go! Please, Tony…”

“Hold on, I have an idea.” Tony grabbed Scarlett and pushed her against the wall.

“What are you doing?”

“I saw it in a movie once.” Tony pressed his lips to hers in a kiss, leaning his body close against hers. Scarlett couldn’t say she hadn’t missed his lips. When they were in the room together, even if it was crowded full of people sometimes she found that they were the only thing she could think about but at the current moment they didn’t exactly have time for a heated make out session. Nevertheless, kissing him felt like lightning, just as it always had.

“Hands in the air!” The same man who had yelled at them shouted again, aiming his weapon at them. Tony and Scarlett couldn’t see what type of weapon it was through the beam of the flashlight he was pointing toward them.

“Oh, hey… there…” Tony tried to look surprised as he pulled away from Scarlett’s lips, holding his hand up to obscure her face from view. “Sorry, are we not supposed to be here?”

“Sir, back away from the woman.” The man in the black suit held his weapon aimed at Tony, shining a flashlight in his eyes purposely.

“Guess that didn’t work did it?” Tony glanced back at Scarlett.

“Obviously. Did you really think it would?” Scarlett slipped out of Tony’s arms and held her hands in front of her to let the man in black know that she wasn’t holding anything. “Look, I don’t want any trouble.”

“Down on the ground!” The armed man in black took a step backward, immediately getting defensive.

“Hey, only I get to ask her that.” Tony objected. Scarlett stifled a laugh. As inappropriate as the timing was, the joke was still pretty funny.

“I said down on the ground!”

“I guess that means we’re going to have to do this the hard way.” Scarlett sighed heavily, coughing and clearing her throat. She’d protect Tony with her life if she had to, but she was hoping with any luck that maybe she could get them both out of the nasty situation in one piece.