‹ Prequel: Glass Heart
Sequel: Across the Universe

Hollow Scars

Teamwork

Tony was starting to wonder if he was going to have to start bringing his suit with him wherever he went as he and Scarlett faced down the armed man who insisted upon annoyingly shining his flashlight in their eyes. Doing so would be terribly cumbersome and incredibly difficult, considering the weight he’d have to carry around on his person at all times. Even though he knew that Scarlett found the suit sexy, though she didn’t rightly admit it, wearing the suit was often unnecessary and brought on attention that they just didn’t need in most situations. As much as Tony loved being recognized by the press, sometimes his recognizable face and persona brought him nothing but trouble. Just as he was about to ask Scarlett what they should do, since he couldn’t foresee an easy way out of the sticky situation they’d found themselves in, she spoke and interrupted his train of thought.

“I guess you guys finally caught me.” Scarlett shrugged her shoulders, but flipped a small switch on the side of her glove with her thumb to ready the charge built up in the device. A high-pitched mechanical squeal filled the air, unnoticed by those not listening for it. Scarlett braced herself for what she knew was going to come once she sprang into action. “It only took you guys, what, two months to actually back me into a corner? And even then, this isn’t a very tight corner.” The armed man didn’t respond as he drew closer to the couple, gun aimed toward Scarlett threateningly and flashlight held still shining in her face. When he moved close enough Scarlett held up her hands defensively so that he would be able to cuff them with ease. When he reached to do so, she lunged at him, grabbing at the wrist that held his weapon.

When he didn’t relent as most people did when grabbed very suddenly, Scarlett swung at his other hand that held the flashlight, just as he was bringing it down toward her to strike her. The momentum forced the flashlight out of his hands, into the air where it slammed into the bridge of his nose, breaking it and causing it to bleed excessively. Yelling in pain Scarlett was impressed when the armed man didn’t release his grip on the gun to hold his wounded nose and instead aimed his weapon at Scarlett once again. Tony watched with wide eyes in awe at the sudden fight that had broken out right in front of him. Bolting quickly out of the range of the weapon, Scarlett renewed her grip on the hand that held his gun and twisted as hard as she could manage.

A gunshot echoed through the once unusually quiet desert, alerting their attacker’s colleagues that he was in trouble, but thankfully the shot missed Scarlett and Tony leaving them unscathed. Tony couldn’t say the same for his nerves. Grabbing onto the hot barrel of the gun, Scarlett put enough force on the weapon to jam it hard into the man’s hand forcing his elbow to buckle and to reflexively let the weapon go. Flipping it around in her hand so she was properly holding the barrel Scarlett then swung the gun hard against the side of the security agent’s head.

Stumbling from the force of the impact and taking a few steps backwards the man caught his balance at the last moment. The beam of the flashlight lit up the wall behind them as it rolled to a stop in front of Tony after being kicked in the scuffle. Sounds of his comrades calling out for their aggressor echoed throughout the abandoned town. The calls were frequent but were still far enough away that Scarlett didn’t feel the need to immediately take flight. They were likely being cautious and checking every doorway and alcove instead of running straight toward the gunfire and sounds of struggle. MedCo security agents seemed to be getting more sophisticated as time continued on.

When she got close enough to him, the man in black threw a sloppy punch. Scarlett quickly dodged the blow, caught the man’s wrist as he missed and spun him around behind her, hoping to get him to lose his balance. Instead the man used the momentum to keep running and nearly knocked Scarlett off of her feet. Seizing his opportunity, Tony stepped up to the security agent before he could turn around to pursue Scarlett and punched him square in the jaw.

Scarlett stumbled in place, dizzy. Her equilibrium was still off from her earlier bout of illness. Placing her hand against the wall nearest her, she blinked away the darkness at the corner of her vision in hopes that she could steady herself and shake it off. The adrenaline that had assisted her through the majority of her evening in the ruined town was finally wearing off and leaving her prey to the sickness she’d battled earlier in the day. With any luck, she could get the adrenaline to stick around for a bit longer thanks to the danger they now encountered.

Glancing back to where Tony stood, she saw the two men throwing punches and dodging each other skillfully. She did[a name="here"][/a]n’t have time to admire the fact that Tony actually could protect himself outside of the Iron Man armor, even though she would’ve loved to, because the man he was fighting was reaching for something in his pocket. Tony’s back was to her, he had turned around during the fistfight in order to protect her while she collected her composure. Unable to tell what the man had pulled out from his pocket but guessing it was a blade of some kind, Scarlett stepped away from the wall she was using to steady herself with and ignored the dizziness she was battling.

“Tony, duck!” Thankfully the stubborn genius listened to her instead of arguing like he was prone to doing and hunched forward as far as he could, shielding his head as if he knew what she was about to do. Running toward Tony, Scarlett used his back as a step up and jumped onto the shoulders of the man running at him who hadn’t expected an attack from above. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she used the momentum of her jump to spin onto his back and then force him to the ground stomach first. Skidding in the dirt, Scarlett kept her knees on the man’s back and reached in an attempt to disarm him of the small metallic object that was blinking green from a series of lights along the side.

Flailing wildly to try and get a grip on her, the man decided instead to use force to shove her off of his back. Then he grabbed her foot and flipped her onto her back, but before he knew it she had her legs wrapped around his middle and her arms around his neck, hoping to force him into unconsciousness, her hand against his throat to block his airways.

It turned out that the shining silver object the security agent had pulled out of his pocket hadn’t been a knife and as it met Scarlett’s side it sent a shock through her system which caused her to loosen her grip on him automatically. The current ran through her body, leaving her fingers tingling. But having experienced that sensation multiple times in the months passed, since electrocution seemed to be one of MedCo’s favorite tricks, Scarlett had learned how to manage the paralysis that usually followed.

“Nice try, you guys should get some new tricks.” Scarlett grabbed onto the man tighter with her legs to keep him in place as he tried to escape her grip and gain the upper hand. Then she placed her gloved hand onto his face and triggered the Tesla device she’d built. It sent a shock through the man’s body that made him twitch and eventually pass out the longer that she held on. Considering it had been cruel to use it on his face, Scarlett justified what she’d done by thinking that he’d been the one to start the fight. Checking his pulse to make sure the man wasn’t faking unconsciousness, as she had discovered security agents from MedCo often did, Scarlett shoved him aside and took Tony’s hand as he offered to help her up.

“Well that looked uncomfortable.” Tony dusted off her jacket to the best of his ability but then pouted as she swatted his hands away from her.

“You’ve got to run. You’re unarmed. I can handle this on my own.” Scarlett assured him. She wasn’t telling him to run this time just so he’d stay out of her business, but simply to keep him safe. It wasn’t that she didn’t want his help or to come off as hostile, but she was scared and panicking about his safety.

“No way, babe. In about five minutes, give or take, I’ll be protecting you.” Tony walked over to the man she’d knocked unconscious and retrieved the strange looking silver object that had delivered an electronic jolt to Scarlett. It was unlike anything he’d ever seen before so he pocketed it for further investigation.

“And what exactly is happening in five minutes that’s going to make you better than me?” Scarlett chuckled under her breath, dragging the body of the unconscious man so he was leaning against the wall.

“Look.” Tony pulled her away from her task and showed her the metallic bracelets on his wrists.

“Fancy jewelry you got there, Tony. I always figured you for more of an expensive watch kind of guy.” Scarlett teased playfully in attempts to ease her own tension rather than Tony’s.

“I didn’t get to show you before you left Malibu, but these bracelets send a signal to my new stealth armor that allows it to locate me and assemble so I don’t have to carry it around. As you can imagine, it’s kind of hard to travel with the full suit of armor. The Mark V was a good fix for awhile but I had to skimp on the tech to keep it at a lower weight. Plus, I wasn’t about to bring Happy with me to guard it while following you around.” Tony knew it would take a few minutes for the armor to arrive considering he’d only summoned it after he was sure Scarlett was alright and he’d left the suit locked up in his jet at the airport.

“Wait, so these will summon which suit if not the Mark V?” Scarlett pulled his right hand up and examined the bracelet, suddenly intrigued by the simple bracelets that were likely sending a scan of everything from Tony’s vitals to the exact places the parts of the suit would need to assemble in order to find its owner no matter his movements. “That’s pretty impressive…” Tony couldn’t hide the pleased look on his face.

“The Mark VII Stealth.”

“The last time I saw you it was only VI.” Scarlett scoffed. “And that wasn’t exactly convenient to pack up and carry around if I remember us trying to get it off of you.”

“Well, you nearly destroyed my Mark V. I’m still doing repairs on that thing after the charity event.” Tony countered.

“I didn’t do anything to it, those drones did if you recall.”

“You built them!”

“I designed them. You’re getting it all wrong.” Scarlett didn’t look away from the bracelet she was examining but held up a finger in objection toward Tony. “You’re getting off track again, how do you get anything accomplished?”

“That’s your fault too. You’re very distracting.”

I’m distracting? Seriously?” Scarlett laughed, letting his hand drop from her grip.

“Anyway, this isn’t exactly the Mark VII… It’s the Mark VII Stealth. There’s a pretty significant difference.”

“I’m guessing that this is a lower key version of your suit... one that’s not the colors of a hot rod.” Scarlett nodded and then glanced around, waiting for the cavalry to arrive. Every second that passed felt longer than it actually was in tense situations. Stifling a cough against her sleeve, Scarlett searched for somewhere to hide.

“Yes, with some added enhancements designed for keeping a lower profile. I can’t always be flashy, you know.”

“I’m so proud, I wasn’t sure you were capable of keeping a low profile.”

“I’ve learned quite a bit from following you around.” Tony patted her backside and Scarlett jumped in surprise. “So, what is this… fancy little machine you’ve got here on your wrist?”

“We really shouldn’t be sitting around chatting when those men are out there looking for me. You need to get out of here, Tony. I don’t care if your suit is coming to aid you. If we can get out of here then there won’t be need for any further confrontation.”

“We’re in the middle of the desert, Scarlett. If we don’t confront these guys then they’re going to tail us back to Dakar.” Tony spoke knowingly. Scarlett stopped and looked at him seriously. Had Tony suggested a battle tactic that had been thought through in its entirety? Every strategy he’d ever suggested to her or told her he’d been a part of in the past had been very Tony-centric meaning that he’d only thought about what was going to happen to him in each situation.

Of course, part of Tony’s brilliance was that he was always looking for a way out and a way to fix his mess, but at the same time it meant that he was often blind to those around him and the struggles they would face in light of his actions.

While Scarlett had known that she would have to lose the men on her tail before she could get any rest for the night, she was hoping that Tony would’ve blindly hurried away from the area so that she wouldn’t have to worry about him getting hurt on her account. She had been planning on tricking him into safety but instead she was surprised as hell by the things he’d been learning from spending time with her.

“I think that might have been the sexiest thing you have ever said to me.” Scarlett scoffed and shook her head in disbelief.

“Oh, talking battle strategy gets you all hot and bothered, does it? Sorry Scarlett, but we don’t have that kind of time right now… I need more than the few minutes we have.” Tony tugged her close and made kissy lips at her. Scarlett placed her hand over his lips and Tony grabbed the glove on her hand. “What is this thing anyway?” He tilted his head to the side to escape her hand covering his mouth.

“When I first got to London I ran into some trouble in the underground and found myself at odds with weapons that were just far more sophisticated than my trusty 9mm. So, as soon as I got out of there I gathered some supplies and built an extra defense system. It’s rudimentary but self propelled so it draws energy from my motions and can deliver a pretty substantial electrical charge. I’m working on enhancing it to perform other tasks as well. My next goal is to make a non-lethal projectile weapon. I’ve always wanted some really cool gadgets like you see in those Bond films you so compare me to so I built this for myself. And actually… believe it or not, I was inspired by living with you for that short amount of time and the cool as hell little gadgets you have lying around. I’m just as capable of creating those things as you are, so why don’t I have some cool tech? I figured I was overdue.”

“I’m flattered, truly.” Tony glanced around in the distance for any sign of his suit but couldn’t see it or hear it nearby. Then again only a handful of minutes had transpired since he’d summoned it. It was going to take longer than he’d estimated given how far away they were from Dakar.

Yelling somewhere behind them where the first fight against the security officer had transpired distracted them. Scarlett flexed the fingers of her glove and readied herself for the next opponent while standing defensively in front of Tony.

“Stay behind me. I’ll keep you safe.” She instructed. Before Tony could object or agree, more shouting came from behind them and then shots rang out in the darkness and whistled by, barely missing them both. The second security agent had fired warning shots in hopes of keeping them still. Cursing, Scarlett looked for a safe haven and found the nearest building intact that they could hide in. Quickly pulling out her 9mm, she shot at the ground in front of both men to kick up some dust and put them on their guard so she would have a few seconds to get them somewhere safe.

The door closest to them was blocked off but Scarlett knew they didn’t have time to find another way in. Turning once again to her silenced gun, she aimed for the hinges on the door and shot through it so it would be easily knocked in. Then using Tony’s hand to steady herself she kicked the door in, ignoring how Tony’s eyebrows shot to the top of his forehead in surprise.

“Get in!” Scarlett grabbed Tony’s wrist and tugged him roughly forward and through the doorway, then went to close the door so she could deal with the armed men.

“Not without you.” Tony grabbed her wrist as she let go of his and tugged her in after him. As she attempted to catch her balance, since he’d noticed how poorly her equilibrium was reacting to being tossed about, Tony grabbed the door she’d broken in and shoved it back into place so she wouldn’t have to. Then he searched around and found some discarded boards, chairs and other debris and managed to prop them up behind the door to buy them some time against those who hunted them.

“Where the hell is the fancy armor you promised?” Scarlett sat trying to catch her breath. It came second nature for her to protect herself but the frailty from the sickness she’d experienced earlier in the day was catching up with her, plus she wasn’t used to protecting someone like Tony. It was mostly annoying rather than hindering but she knew that the additional physical exertion wouldn’t do her health any favors.

“It’s locked up in the jet in Dakar so it might take a little while to get here. It’s not like it’s right around the corner. It’s got procedures to follow so it doesn’t just fly into random buildings and random people. It’s a pretty complex piece of machinery.” Tony waved his hand nonchalantly and made a face of superior knowledge.

“Well, keep low while I search for another way out of here that’s going to keep you from becoming a big perverted target.” Scarlett crept past him once she was sure the doorway was secure and then started to search through the building that looked like it had once been a shop of some kind, the floor covered with debris of various items that led her to believe it was once a hardware store. While she was certain there was no other way out of the building she was hoping that she would get lucky and find something that had been overlooked.

Tony kept low to the ground as Scarlett had requested him to and searched through the debris. He glanced over at Scarlett who had snuck into the other room, presumably to look for exits and was glad that he could be there to see her in action. After he’d met with her in South Africa the night before he’d been worried that she wasn’t up to snub. Now he could see that even though she clearly wasn’t feeling well, she could still handle herself well enough to stay out of trouble. The Tesla inspired glove on her wrist reminded him much of the repulsor glove he’d first built for his Mark II and he knew that as she went over it she’d enhance it just as much as he had done with time. Sometimes Tony forgot just how brilliant Scarlett was.

But for now, Tony had some ideas on what he could do with the device that he’d taken from the man who had attacked them in the back alley. Slipping it out of his pocket, he started to pull it apart using pieces of debris that he found scattered about the shop to enhance upon the spectacular small device, but stopped short when he heard a crash nearby. Immediately getting to his feet he went to search for Scarlett. Before he could find her, Scarlett was thrown from the other room through the doorway.

One of the men pursuing them had found a half broken window and had come through it and after Scarlett. He had tackled her to the ground but the force of his tackle had sent them apart and Scarlett slid away from him then used that momentum to flip back up onto her feet. Tony could see the dizziness pass through her eyes but was surprised how she handled it with ease.

Trusting Scarlett could deal with the man on her own after watching her in action Tony continued to pull the device apart and to rewire it along with a few additions of pieces of debris that he’d picked up on the ground. Luckily, whatever store they’d hidden in had quite a bit of extra wiring lying around to use to his advantage. Scarlett had inspired him, there was no reason she shouldn’t have just as many cool gadgets as he had.

The door that they’d blocked in earlier came crashing in as a second man came to provide backup for his comrade. Tony moved quicker, seeing the need for assistance sooner rather than later but was forced to stop when one of the men crashed next to him on their back. Scarlett had apparently sent him flying there in some manner or another. Realizing he couldn’t continue on with the piece he was building while there was so much chaos around him, Tony placed it on the window sill so he wouldn’t lose it and it wouldn’t get knocked around or crushed as easily and figured he would wait until his Iron Man suit got there. The device he was building needed to be soldered before use anyway and he wouldn’t be able to do that until the Mark VII Stealth arrived.

Tony turned his attention to keeping the man on the ground nearby subdued while Scarlett handled the second intruder. She held her arms in front of her defensively and blocked punches and dodged them as often as she could manage. After landing a jab straight to the man’s jaw that sent him doubling over, Scarlett shook out her hand and then worked to replace the debris in front of the door in hopes of slowing down the rest of the team that had come to search the area.

“How many of them are there? Do you know?” Tony got to his feet, hearing the sounds of something on the roof overhead along with some shuffling noises on the other side of the wall. “Any ideas?”

“There were five that left the truck in pursuit of me, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t more men waiting in the truck to call for backup if necessary.” Scarlett continued to replace the debris to block the door once she realized that Tony had her back. He punched the man in the stomach, dodged a punch to the face, and then landed a punch to the jaw. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the man who he had pinned on the ground managing to finally get back to his feet start making his way toward Scarlett who was seemingly unaware. Tony kicked the man he was fighting hard in the stomach, exhilarated by the physical activity he didn’t usually get to be a part of then ran toward Scarlett, grabbed her gloved hand, pulled her into his arms and out of the way of the man who was jumping at her causing him to stumble forward.

Tony took the advantage and elbowed the man between the shoulder blades, knocking him to the ground. Scarlett turned and caught the second security agent who Tony had been earlier fighting and dropped to the ground where she kicked the feet out from underneath him causing him to fall on his back. He was holding his gun in his hand so Scarlett immediately threw herself at him and slammed her fist against his wrist so that his grip would falter on the gun and he wouldn’t be able to pull the trigger. Shocking him with her Tesla glove, Scarlett knew the charge wasn’t yet strong enough to knock her assailant out but would provide her with a brief moment to gain the advantage. Getting back to her feet, the agent’s gun in hand, Scarlett dismantled it, pocketed the clip and then pulled apart the firing pin so it would no longer function.

Someone grabbed her arm and Scarlett moved to swing around to attack until she realized who she was going for was, in fact, Tony and then just smacked at his shoulder in annoyance. He grabbed her and pulled her close for a kiss, resting his hand on the side of her face. The adrenaline was making him excited in more ways than he could have imagined. Being Iron Man was a different sort of exciting while fighting back to back with Scarlett provided a completely new thrill.

“We make a pretty good team.” Tony smirked playfully.

“You’re better at hand to hand to combat than I expected you to be, that I’ll admit.” Scarlett smirked in response but then pulled Tony out of the way so that she could kick another one of the small silver shocking devices out of the hands of the man who Tony had been fighting. Tony pulled back and shoved the security agent hard into the wall, kneeing him in the stomach.

“I’d like to show you what else I can do with my hands…”

“Maybe later,” Scarlett grunted as she was shoved against the half boarded up window by the man she was fighting. “I’m sort of busy right now.” She then grabbed the frame of the window over her head, kicked the man away and pulled herself up so she could place her feet on the sill. Before she could finish and knock out the agent there was a beeping from where Tony stood.

He immediately backed away from the others and moved into the center of the room and winced, knowing what was about to transpire. Crashing through the wall, a black and silver object started to unfold in a flurry of mechanical whirs. Scarlett and the two men watched in stunned amazement as the peculiarly shaped case unfolded and engulfed Tony piece by piece. Red lasers flashed from the armor and scanned over his person to verify they were latching correctly around their owner until the entire machine was completely put together and his helmet was locking into place. The haunting blue glow behind the eyes of the Iron Man helmet was the last thing to come to life, filling the room with a soft hum.

“Okay, so next time you want to get laid you should just do that.” Scarlett shook her head and stood awe struck by the way that Tony’s advanced technology worked so seamlessly. It seemed silly given how much she knew about the machine, but she was still taken with how damn cool the armor looked.

Scarlett yelped in surprise when one of the security agents tackled her from behind and knocked her face down onto the ground. Cursing her momentary distraction, Scarlett felt cold steel against her wrists as the agent tried to cuff her. Unwilling to let him do so, she twisted her right wrist free and smashed the back of her head into the man’s face. He cursed and yelled in misery so she guessed that she had bashed his nose. Rolling over onto her back and throwing the man off of her in the process, Scarlett groaned in annoyance when the second agent came to help pin her down so she could be used for leverage against Iron Man.

Making a fist, Scarlett urged the heel of her palm into the jaw of the second man, resulting in a horrific popping sound and the man howling in misery. Bracing herself for the electric jolt that was to come as the first man pulled out the small silver electronic device that had shocked her earlier, Scarlett was surprised when she heard the familiar high pitched whir of the repulsors charging behind her and no such shock was ever felt.

Blasts of blue light shot overhead and into the man who was about to electrocute her and sent him crashing into the wall. Scarlett immediately sat up and watched as Tony, now inside of the Mark VII Stealth armor, picked up the security agent whose jaw Scarlett had dislocated and threw him out the window.

Shuffling hurriedly to her feet, Scarlett winced feeling an annoying stinging on her arm and saw a scrape from falling to the floor. Dusting herself off she tried to fix the tear in her jacket and sighed before checking to make sure the man outside the window had been knocked out. She was relieved to find out that he was.

“You’re welcome.” Tony triggered the microphone that would allow him to speak through the heavy metallic suit, walking toward her. Scarlett shivered at the familiar and comforting sounds the Iron Man armor made. They had become something that made her excited and happy over the past two months, but she refused to admit it, at least in their current situation.

“I didn’t thank you. The only reason I was in that situation in the first place was because someone had to come in with their shiny armor and do all sorts of cool shit with it… You distracted me, giving them the opportunity to knock me on my ass!” Scarlett refrained from smiling, even though it was playing on her lips quite obviously.

“How is it my fault that you’re a huge tech geek?” Tony laughed, scanning the room and allowing Jarvis to warm the systems up in the Mark VII. It’d been awhile since he’d had the need to use the armor and it felt foreign being inside it with the new stealth features he’d built in. There hadn’t been many recent occasions for him to use the stealth armor so it was taking some getting used to.

“It is so your fault. It’s what happens when you go around flaunting all that tech porn in everyone’s faces. You know better than to start this game if you don’t have time to seal the deal.” Scarlett checked around her to make sure she hadn’t lost anything from her backpack and that the men hadn’t dropped anything of use but both men, from what she could tell, were successfully knocked unconscious and lying uselessly to the side with nothing of interest near them.

“Oh, I’ll have plenty of time to seal the deal later, don’t you worry.”

“You’re lucky that suit makes me hot or I wouldn’t think that was very funny.”

“You think I’m charming.” Tony teased.

“I think that you need to scan the perimeter and find out how many of these people we have left to fight or if we need to bail because we’re outnumbered. And don’t say that we can’t be with your Iron Man get up because even that has limitations.” Scarlett leaned against the wall and relaxed. With Tony in his Iron Man armor, they were very likely to get out of the town scot free, even if it meant she didn’t get anything she’d been searching for. MedCo was controlling the game and Scarlett was just about done playing.

“In a second,” Tony whined, doing his very best impression of an impatient child who didn’t want to do what they were told.

“What could possibly be more important right now?” Scarlett watched him curiously as the Mark VII marched surprisingly quietly across the room to the window sill where something small and peculiar had been lying. Holding it in one metallic hand, Tony used the other gauntlet of the suit to fire a laser at the device he’d been building to attach to her Tesla glove, soldering the metal together so it wouldn’t come apart.

Walking back over to Scarlett, Tony knelt down in the suit dramatically, took her gloved right hand and then attached the device he’d built onto the weapon until he was sure it clicked into place, much like a mock engagement. There was a soft hum emitting from it, confirming that it was at least receiving power.

“I modified it from that little silver thing they’ve got on them. It’s got a lot of juice in it, more than necessary for a stun gun, so I altered it. When completely charged it’ll fire a beam of energy much like the repulsors built into my armor. It’s cumbersome and needs some proper looking at in a safer situation with some proper materials it’s a start. Only problem is that it’s going to drain your energy source much faster than that small shock you were using beforehand.” Tony got up from his knee and waited for her reaction.

“Oh, you shouldn’t have.” Scarlett batted her eyelashes playfully then examined the new mechanism on her arm, excited at the idea of having a long range weapon at her disposal outside of her gun. While she was examining it, Tony had Jarvis take a look at Scarlett’s vitals. Her fever was just below 101. Jarvis made him aware of several other obvious weaknesses that differed from the last time he’d laid eyes on Miss Damien.

“It appears that adrenaline is allowing her to continue functioning as normal.” The robot spoke, sounding disheartened. “But even adrenaline eventually wears off.”

“I know that, Jarvis.” Tony sighed heavily.

“Tony, if you don’t get moving soon then we’re going to be in far worse trouble than before. You’re giving them time to call for backup.” Scarlett walked away from him and peered through the crater in the wall.

“Oh yeah, right. I got all distracted… again.” Tony shook the head of the armor. “Keep an eye on her, Jarvis. Off to the side in blue like we discussed, okay?” Guiding the suit into the air and through the crater it’d created when it had arrived, Tony flew above the town and scanned for heat signatures of any other men in pursuit of them.

“Looks like there are four more men outside of the three you’ve already incapacitated, sir.” Jarvis lit up the screen with several small red dots, pushing them to the side and keeping an eye on them so they wouldn’t be able to sneak up on him or Scarlett.

Scarlett watched the Mark VII take off and admired the way the machinery worked. It was far quieter than the last model she’d seen in action. Even the lights from the rocket boosters seemed subdued. Once again, she had to reflect on how fantastic a genius Tony Stark was to have built something so extraordinary. Reflection didn’t last long seeing as one of the men who had been searching for a way to get to them through the building came leaping off of the roof where he’d been hiding. Immediately he pulled out the small metallic stun gun that had caused her such trouble. Scarlett twisted and turned out of the way, leaping backwards and stumbling three steps to avoid being hit by the end of it.

The second man came around the side of the building and Scarlett ducked as a shot rang out across the town.

“You idiot! We need her alive!” The man with the stun gun shouted back at the agent who had fired his weapon.

“She’s still alive with a bullet wound!” The other shouted back. Scarlett wasn’t fond of that way of thinking so she bolted and ran around the side of the building, making as many turns as she could in hopes of losing both of the men, but unfortunately could hear their footsteps trailing not far behind.

“Jarvis I need Scarlett’s vitals, is she okay?” Tony asked after hearing the sound of the gun echo somewhere behind him.

“Yes sir, it seems she managed to avoid the blow.” Jarvis spoke proudly. “However, there are two men on her tail.”

“Can she handle it?”

“You would know better than I.” Jarvis responded but sounded concerned.

“That’s right, your little crush has blinded you.”

“Isn’t that a tad hypocritical coming from the man who has been wasting an enormous amount of jet fuel following her around Africa?”

“Touché.” Tony found the truck that Scarlett had mentioned the men arrived in earlier just outside the open gate. As he was about to approach the truck in search of anything useful, a strong burst of electricity crashed into him and sent the Mark VII flying to the ground with such force that he crashed through the roof of one of the decrepit buildings, then the wall of the same building and finally came to a sliding halt in the dirt in the center of the town in a small crater of his own making. Immediately Tony moved the Mark VII to start getting back up. “Damage report, Jarvis. What the hell was that?”

“Minor scratches mostly, though left hand repulsor has failed to reboot. As for what it is, I’ve no idea. Some sort of electronic blast.”

“No shit, Sherlock. Perform diagnostics on the repulsor and see if you can fix it.”

“Already on it, sir.” The Mark VII jolted as shots were fired and made crashing impact sounds against the metal. Only small dents were formed, considering how reinforced Tony had made the newer models. “Miss Damien is headed this way.”

Sure enough Scarlett came running around the corner, pursued by two men and heading straight into the square. As long as they didn’t shoot at her he figured it would be alright. There had been a gunshot earlier, but Tony was guessing that it was out of reflex as it had been when she had been fighting with the man in the alley. They wanted to take Scarlett not kill her.

Scarlett had come running to see what the sound of the crash had been and to make sure Tony was okay. Irrational fear of him getting hurt in the line of fire had once again flashed through her mind, making her forego her safety for his. Rushing toward the armor despite the bullets that were flying toward it, Scarlett was relieved to see him standing and seemingly doing well. The left arm of the Mark VII fanned out and formed a shield to protect the rest of the suit from the spray of bullets.

“You can’t be here! You’re going to get hurt.” Tony shouted through the external communication system but Scarlett wasn’t listening. Turning toward the two men who were pursuing Tony from where the truck was located, Scarlett aimed and then fired the new weapon that Tony had built for her. A beam of sizzling white lightning came blasting out of the glove toward the two men with such force that Scarlett was thrown back ten feet. Both men she’d aimed at were knocked backwards and into unconsciousness by the blow.

Scarlett slid to a halt against a nearby wall, her head tapping against it. Uncomfortable shocks of electrical current made her hands twitch and her toes tingle. Not having expected such a negative response from using the little device Tony had built for her Scarlett sat dazed, leaning against the wall and trying to catch her breath while her body fought against the electric shock she’d received.

The remaining two men had been stunned by the display of weaponry but only momentarily. They were soon back in pursuit of Scarlett and trying to avoid the threatening Mark VII. Compartments in the shoulders opened at Tony’s command, triggered smoke missiles that shot toward both men and crashed on the ground in front of them. Seconds after they went off, both men fell unconscious thanks to the drugs hidden within them. The stealth armor was designed to go unnoticed if possible, so it was armed with completely different sorts of weaponry than the regular armor was.

Once he was sure there were no more men coming for them, Tony immediately flew over to where Scarlett was now slowly making her way to her feet. She looked dizzy and stumbled but reached her hand to the wall and steadied herself with her eyes closed. When she heard the sounds of the Iron Man suit landing in front of her she glanced up at him and coughed when she found too much of a cling in her throat to talk.

“Are you alright?” Tony finally asked once he realized she was having a hard time saying anything.

“I think your math was a little off on this thing.” Scarlett coughed again and then stood upright, shaking the disorientation that had followed the use of the weapon he’d built for her.

“My math is never off.” Tony scoffed, sounding insulted.

“I’m pretty sure judging by the fact that you almost killed me with that thing, that your math was very off.”

“Want to bet?” Tony countered.

“I’ll take that wager any day.” Scarlett laughed, but ended up coughing. Tony flipped the helmet of his suit up, grabbed her by her shoulder and pulled her in for another kiss once her coughing fit had passed.

“You shouldn’t, my math is never wrong.” Picking up her gloved hand, Tony half expected Scarlett to pull away and stop him from taking a look but instead she allowed him to examine the glove on her hand that was still twitching from the powerful jolt she’d received.

Now that the men after her were taken care of, Scarlett could search the truck to see if there was anything of note. It was a relief to be done with the fighting as exhilarating as it had been to fight side by side with Tony. It came to her attention that the two had not gotten to do so beforehand. The only other time she’d fought with him it had been in peculiar scenarios. Fighting with him was definitely far superior to any of their prior arrangements.

“Ah, there it is.” Clicking his tongue in realization he pointed toward the mechanism he’d attached to her glove that he’d reopened. “I crossed my wires.”

“So, I was right.”

“No, this had nothing to do with my math.” Tony began to pull the wires apart so he could put them in their correct places and fix the malfunctioning weapon. When his metallic hands proved to be too large to do so, Scarlett swatted him away which resulted in him pouting, not that she could see it.

“It was still your screw up.”

“Yes, admittedly in the heat of the moment I crossed some wires but my math was still spot on.” Tony pursed his lips and watched as Scarlett repaired the wires and put them back in their proper places. It was a temporary fix and would have to be looked at properly when they had more time, but for the moment it would function without nearly killing Scarlett.

“I’m still taking that as a win.”

“No way, you owe me now. You lost.” Reaching around, Tony slid his gloved hand further down her back and patted her butt. Scarlett stopped messing with the wires and looked at him skeptically.

“You can’t even feel my ass through those gloves, do you really need to keep grabbing it?”

“I blame Jarvis, entirely. He’s sweet on you.”

“Jarvis is a gentleman.” Scarlett objected and then swatted at Tony’s metallic arm when he didn’t move his hand away. “I’m trying to work here.”

“So am I, if you’d stop swatting at me that is.” Tony pulled his hand away then made a grabbing motion in front of her. “I could grope something else if you like.”

“Bad Tony, no treat for you.” Scarlett swatted at his nose playfully then escaped from his arms. “We shouldn’t leave those men lying around like that. If you can gather them I’ve got some rope we can use to slow them down. I’d like to search their pockets anyway if we can.” She started toward the truck near the open gate so she could search for anything of interest, covering her mouth to stifle another cough.

She could hear the sound of Tony flying off again to do as she had requested and was surprised that he’d done so without any argument. But Scarlett wasn’t willing to question why he’d listened and simply seized the opportunity to search the truck. Inside of it there was very little of interest. There wasn’t even a radio to communicate with whoever had sent them and alerted them of her presence. It was probable that MedCo assumed she could outnumber any manned forces they sent after her and had made sure they would carry nothing that would provide her with any assistance in locating them so she could put a stop to their evil machinations. Continuously, the nefarious company flaunted their intelligence in front of her face and Scarlett had far more than enough of it. Slamming the truck door closed and cursing loudly, she threw her backpack onto the ground and sighed heavily.

Tony had risked his life for nothing. What had they gotten out of the town other than frustration, scrapes and bruises, and Scarlett far more electricity than she’d ever needed to feel coursing through her veins? There was the fact that she’d realized Tony could take care of himself. Plus part of her had enjoyed their fighting together immensely.

“God, what’s wrong with me?” Rolling her eyes, Scarlett walked over to where she’d seen Tony carrying the unconscious forms of the men who had attacked them. The building closest to the entranceway of the ruined town was half destroyed but still sturdy enough for the men to be hidden safely inside without further damage caused to them. Reminding herself that these men were likely just as she had once been, hired to do a job, she didn’t want to kill them. The only way she could justify that was if they were about to take her life.

Grumbling in annoyance, her temper now short and frustration causing her stomach to feel ill once again, Scarlett tied the wrists of the seven men together as tightly as she could manage.

“Sir, if I might make an observation.” Jarvis shook Tony from his ever rapid thoughts.

“What’s that, Jarvis?” Scarlett paid no mind to Tony speaking with his robot. As much as she missed the artificially intelligent computer, she had other things to do. She started turning the pockets of the men they’d captured inside out, gathering their cell phones and weapons. Each lacked identification of any kind and had the bare minimum on their person.

“Miss Damien seems rather angry.”

“You think?” Tony peered curiously at Scarlett who once again started cursing as she dug through the remaining pockets of their attackers.

“I’m most certain.”

“Hey, hey stop that.” Tony moved closer to try and see what was annoying her. “Why are you so pissed off?” When he received no response from Scarlett who continued instead searching for something she’d seemingly never find, he continued on. “I don’t like when you put your hands in other men’s pants. My pants are just here waiting for such attention…” Scarlett didn’t stop what she was doing, but did turn her attention to Tony just long enough to swat at the leg of his armor as if to scold him. “No hitting.” He whispered playfully. Scarlett examined the collection of cell phones she’d gathered and whimpered in defeat when she realized each and every one of them had been destroyed in some way. Those that hadn’t been made useless by the electrical charges they’d suffered had been shattered by Tony’s repulsors.

“Back to square one.” Scarlett threw the phone she was holding back in the pile and then with a long exhale wiped her hand over her furrowed brow. Tony realized why she was frustrated without having to ask. After the trouble she went through and the worrying she’d done after Tony had shown up on the scene, she had absolutely nothing to show for her efforts. He was guessing that she thought she’d finally caught a break and instead had gone on another wild goose chase. Resting his armored hand carefully on her shoulder to comfort her, Tony searched for the words to say to try and lighten the mood. Scarlett shrugged Tony’s hand off after it rested there for a moment and then covered her mouth when the tickle in her throat roused another coughing fit.

“We’re going to figure this out, you know.” Tony finally managed to say.

“Every end I reach seems to be a dead one or a trap. And even worse I nearly got you killed this time in the process of untangling the web I wove.”

“But I’m fine, Scarlett. Actually it was pretty hot watching you kick ass like that.” Tony joked. “Plus we make a really great team. Look we’re going to catch up to MedCo one way or another. It’s inevitable.” Scarlett smiled just a little at his words and then stood back up. Somehow Tony always knew just what to say. It was terrible that his sense of humor tickled her the way that it did. She couldn’t count how many times she had wondered just what the hell was wrong with her for her to be so delighted by his perverse comments.

“Before we leave we should go through this place again just to make sure we didn’t miss anything. It’s possible that those men were in the area to protect something here. Obviously something horrible happened in this place and well… then someone came to cover up their tracks. If they weren’t just waiting for me to show up, there’s a chance we can still find something.” Scarlett started out of the building and considered the best way to approach the task at hand. There was no point in telling Tony to get away now. He would be nothing but an asset in her search and maybe if she could get over her fear of getting him killed then they could work together as a team. That was a pretty big if though. About to speak, Scarlett was cut short when a terrible scraping and grinding of gears echoed nearby. Chills went down her spine and Scarlett searched around her to try and find the source.

The sound grew louder and louder and Scarlett immediately recalled where she’d heard that noise before. At the charity event she’d attended with Tony the month prior, several drones that she had designed in order to buy time to escape and save her life as well as her ex-boyfriend’s had shown up and caused chaos. They’d been nearly impossible to destroy and had done far more damage than she had ever guessed they could have been capable of when she’d been designing them. Her heart plummeted into her stomach.

Fatigue was settling into her bones and the coughing she’d experienced mildly over the last few days was worse than it had been before. Was there any way she would actually be capable of fighting off drones after what she’d already done that night? With Tony in his Mark VII they might stand a chance but the odds weren’t in their favor. Reaching down to check on the glove that she’d switched off before Tony had pulled it apart, Scarlett grimaced and flipped it back on so the weapon could charge. Then she grabbed her gun and checked the clip to make sure it was fully loaded.

Tony had Jarvis scan the perimeter and found that eight drones were approaching the site and fast at that. Trying to foresee a way through the nasty situation, Tony couldn’t find a way out that wasn’t going to end in bloodshed and most likely Scarlett’s. Her vitals were weakened after their previous fight and while he was sure that she could take care of herself, he thought it’d be inevitable she’d receive serious injury being so outnumbered.

Flipping down the helmet of his suit, Tony grabbed quickly onto Scarlett and scooped her up into his arms. Triggering the stealth settings in his armor that would make him undetectable by any radar and heat tracking systems the drones likely possessed he flew as quickly as he could manage without causing Scarlett harm, up and away from the ruined town in hopes their escape would go unnoticed by the drones.

“Tony, we’re not finished there yet! Put me down! There’s still more we have to do!” Scarlett banged on the helmet of the Mark VII but Tony didn’t stop or even bother answering. He knew she’d be upset with his decision but he didn’t want to see her get hurt just as much as she didn’t want to see him get hurt. Giving him another smack on the helmet, Scarlett sighed heavily but gave up on convincing him to turn back. “You know, you’ve got to stop kidnapping me.”

“I have never once taken you against your will. You have always been a willing and active participant.” Tony chose to respond. Sighing with frustration, Scarlett knew that arguing with him over the noise of the wind around them would be futile so she quieted. After a few moments fighting the wind, Scarlett closed her eyes and leaned her head on the shoulder of Tony’s armor, hiding her face against the side of its neck. Tony was torn between the nervous feeling in the pit of his stomach and the happiness he felt to have retrieved Scarlett in the nick of time. Despite how much had already transpired, Tony knew the night was long from over.
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I do not own Iron Man or the Marvel Universe, but I do own Scarlett Damien so please don't steal her!

Sorry for the late upload. I've had a rough few weeks and I've been very unmotivated. Subsequently I've just finished editing this a moment prior. I hope you all have a lovely holiday.