Hollow Scars 25
Title: Hollow Scars
Chapter: 25 Death
Author: Me
Disclaimer: Iron Man and the movie-verse including all of its characters do NOT belong to me, but to Marvel and all its glory. Though, Scarlett Damien does belong to me.
Comic: Iron Man
Pairing/Characters: Tony Stark/Scarlett Damien, Pepper, Rhodey, Happy
Rating: M
Author's Note: I write long chapters! I mean not excessively crazy long but long enough! I'm the sort of writer who likes to think of their stories as novels and so I aspire to give readers what they would expect upon purchasing a book. I average around 13-15 pages a chapter, but sometimes I've got less and sometimes more! I hope you can look past the length and the time it may take to read and give it a shot. I promise quality work.
To say the flight in the Mark VII from Herat to the South Western mountainous region of Afghanistan was slow was a massive understatement, at least according to Tony Stark. It certainly didn’t help that his heart kept racing and his mind kept wandering and over-analyzing the discoveries he’d made. Every so often Jarvis would make him aware that he was suffering from tachycardia likely caused by anxiety. Naturally Tony was well aware of how hard his heart was beating in his chest and the subsequent nerves that compounded because of it. Each time he would promptly alert Jarvis that unless he could do something about it he should shut up and make himself useful trying to either contact Scarlett or track down Scott.
By the time he got to the run down warehouse near the mountainside, Tony was exhausted both physically and mentally. Never before in his life had he wanted a drink more than at that moment. Unfortunately he was sure he wouldn't find sleep even if he the time to lay down and rest. With his heart beating the way it was, he was sure he would never find relaxation even with alcohol. The sooner he got his questions answered then the sooner he could find Scarlett and make sure she was safe and sound.
And then if she was alright he would have a considerably lengthy speech on the importance of keeping her phone charged and functioning especially in what he would call an emergency situation. If they were going to be together, which was also something that needed discussing, then they would have to develop a better system than the guess work and touchy communication system they were currently using. He couldn’t give himself a heart attack every time they weren’t together.
The impact of the metallic feet of the Iron Man suit sent a cloud of dust flying in each direction and echoed with a resounding thud against the ground. He landed with one knee down and crouched low so that he wouldn't put too much pressure on his knees. Immediately the men he'd encountered earlier came running out of the building at the sight of the currently black and red suit. Tony had triggered the stealth mode to his armor which formed reflective panels that darkened and adapted to his surroundings as he flew through the sky. The last thing he wanted was for someone else to shoot him out of the sky. His Mark VII was worse for wear, currently but it wasn’t like he had the free time to sit and do repairs lately. The Mark V was on standby on the plane just in case but it didn’t have the same search and find technology. The Mark VII was safer and right now Tony couldn’t feel safe enough.
After what he'd discovered in the last forty eight hours he couldn't possibly be too careful. Scarlett had been right to worry about his involvement in her history and it had taken Tony that long to realize it. She was further in over her head than even she thought and that meant Tony was just as deep in the muck next to her. If he had kept his nose out of it the way she’d intended him to then it wouldn’t be so bad. But Tony wasn’t the kind to live and let die. Not at all. Besides, he had history with MedCo too so he’d had every right to get involved.
Then again, he could’ve gone through his own channels to try and get justice for the weapons they’d stolen from his company. Instead he’d decided to lay on top of the fire ant nest. In hindsight it wasn’t the smartest thing he’d ever done. But pretty women had always clouded his judgment and now this love thing he’d gotten into was doing the same. What lengths would MedCo go to in order to get their hands on Scarlett? Would they target Tony to use against her? Would Scott come after him out of spite? It seemed like something had snapped in her ex-boyfriend's head at some point so it wouldn't exactly surprise him if it happened even out of jealousy.
Doubt and guilt crept through Tony’s thoughts even as he prepared himself mentally for the conversation he was about to have with people he’d considered hostile that morning.
Barakat was half asleep but soon was running along with the rest of his men to see what was happening and why Tony had returned. While a few of the men were armed none of them were on their defensive as they had been the last time Tony had showed up. Apparently Tony had built up some sort of trust with them or at least enough that they didn't want to fire at him when he made an appearance. Judging by the look of concern on Barakat's face, Tony wasn't exactly sure that was the case at all. Maybe he had ordered his men not to fire upon him, just to keep the peace.
Barakat was much smarter than he let on during their first meeting. Momentarily Tony considered he was having the wool pulled over his eyes but then shook the thought from his head. Scarlett was potentially in trouble! He didn't have the time, or quite frankly, the energy to be suspicious of every little action. The evening had already been spent over thinking and Tony’s brain was too fried to continue doing so.
"Mr. Stark, what is going on? Why have you returned and at such a late hour?" Finally Barakat spoke up when it was made obvious that Tony wasn't going to have the first word.
"I have some more questions. They couldn’t wait." Tony flipped the lid of his helmet open and the remainder of it retracted into the neck of the suit. Shaking out his hair, sweaty from nerves, he ran his fingers through it to return it to some semblance of normalcy.
"Alright, we can do that. Come inside? It may be hot during the day but our nights get chilly and I am afraid I am still half asleep and in need of coffee." Barakat nodded his head politely. Tony considered the offer and then quickly nodded to agree. There was no harm in taking refuge indoors though Tony wouldn’t call the desert night cold.
"Yeah, I guess we can go inside. But it's sort of a time sensitive matter so I need you to wake up pretty quickly here." Clearing his throat, Tony followed Barakat and his men back inside the warehouse and to the same table that Tony had dented what seemed like ages ago. Someone brought Barakat a steaming cup of coffee and offered one to Tony but he waved his hand and ignored it. The last thing his stomach needed was coffee.
"Now what is so pressing that it could not wait until morning to ask us? You look worried." Barakat scowled, but the kindness Tony had earlier witnessed remained clear in his eyes. Thankfully Tony was still confident that he wasn’t being manipulated into thinking these men had turned their lives around.
"Are you still eager to make amends for what you've done to my friend?" Tony chose his words wisely. Barakat seemed just as wary as Tony did and after narrowing his eyes and sizing up Tony's offer he nodded resolutely in confirmation.
"I would do anything within my power to aid you even if it offered me no redemption for what I did to this woman. We have a common goal now, Mr. Stark."
"Good, that's what I wanted to hear." Tony leaned forward and proceeded to fill Barakat in on what he'd discovered after he'd followed the money trail from his hands to the currency exchange near the western border of the country and then to the apartment that had revealed more than its share of disturbing information. Quickly the exhaustion on Barakat's features disappeared and made way for curiosity and eventually horror. Tony described the experiments he'd found notes on at length and shared images from his phone of what he'd discovered. He even showed Barakat the picture of the bloody hospital gown that had once belonged to Scarlett and explained tests that had been done on the blood that remained.
Hand over his mouth, Barakat looked horrified by what he'd been shown but he was also puzzled. What did Tony Stark expect that he could do for him? The treachery of the men who had hired him was far more vicious than he had ever expected it would be. Then again, no one exactly expected the sort of horrid things MedCo was capable of. The answer wasn’t clear to the rebel.
"There are untold reports and locations... coordinates that were written on the wall of where tests were done and where water was poisoned. I'm having my computer go through them now and retrieving reports of illnesses around the same areas to see if there's a way to perhaps narrow down the chemical causes of what they're putting into the water and see if anything administered had any effect on the sickness before it either killed those inflicted or dissipated from their system." Tony continued on his train of thought, speaking a mile a minute. His head was spinning with how much information he'd discovered in just the last two days and he felt that if he didn’t say it quickly then he might not get it all out. Sometimes being a genius was more stress than people realized.
"We have had many of the same kinds of illnesses here that you describe." Barakat confessed, fear making his voice quaver. "Thankfully none as fatal as those you are describing from Europe and Africa. I knew those men I dealt with were bad news but I had no idea how bad they truly were. We... we had suspicions but no confirmation. And quite frankly we did not want to know the whole truth." Hanging his head, he wondered if maybe he had just declined to take Scarlett captive that things could be drastically different for everyone involved. But there was no time to dwell on or regret the past because it couldn't be changed. All they could do was deal with what was in front of them here and now and prevent any further damage from being done.
"I had a feeling that you would know a bit about that. Some of the coordinates were nearby at the manmade river that is being used to fertilize crops for the towns close by." Tony waved his hand and ordered the armored glove to retract so he could use his fingers easily. "If there are people still suffering symptoms I will do what I can to help. I'll stop and take water samples and send them to my friends in the United States. They're doing tests there or rather they will be performing tests soon in hopes of breaking down what these men were actually up to with poisoning the water. I took samples of the same contaminated sources in other parts of the world and hopefully will yield some results in good time. Once we've figure that out we can start working on an antidote or at least a method of treatment to keep people from …you know, croaking." Tony tapped his fingers on the table and then looked back to Barakat.
"I appreciate the help, Mr. Stark but... is this really why you woke us at such a late hour? As much as I have heard about you becoming a charitable man I suspect that there is still much of the old you in there. Plus the worry in your eyes concerns me. You have not slept and there are good reasons outside of finding what was in that apartment. Unless of course you have not told me the whole story and that is what I suspect. Something has hit you very close to home."
"You're a smart man." Tony smiled warily but the facade quickly faded.
"I have been told this many times and I have not disagreed before and won’t start now."
"I have some questions to ask you about the men you met with. I know you told me that they were shadowy men and you did not get their names but I wonder... if you could give me more information on them."
"What kind of information is it you seek?"
"If you saw this first man again, would you recognize him?"
"Without a doubt." Barakat smiled resolutely. "We have caught glimpses of him multiple times in our area. But he never gave us a name to call him by. I tried to get one from him but he never answered when I asked. And later it didn't matter because I got the money I was promised at least in the beginning before he broke our deal and double crossed us. Back then it didn’t matter who I dealt with as long as the reward was worth the risk."
"You said earlier that you couldn't describe him because he kept to the shadows... presumably keeping you from identifying him."
"No offense, Mr. Stark but all you white folks look the same to us. He was about as tall as you but skinnier. Blond hair, bluish-gray eyes... glasses if I recall but that is about all I can give you and I'm afraid that Mr. Leonardo DiCaprio fits that description pretty well and I doubt that you can go and confront him about it."
"Well you're right about part of that at least, it’s definitely not Leonardo DiCaprio." Tony cocked a curious eyebrow, partially amused by Barakat's rather hilarious description of the perpetrator. Still, there was this feeling in the pit of Tony's stomach that the man who had owned the apartment, the man responsible for all of Scarlett's suffering and involvement with MedCo was her ex-boyfriend. A man who had claimed to love her even in his manic scribbling on the wall of his apartment. Scott seemed to have mixed up control and love as one in the same. That part of the story and the subsequent panic attack Tony had suffered had been kept out of the story while he'd told it to Barakat. The last thing Tony wanted was to reveal more about Scarlett than these men already knew.
For all Tony knew, their supposed new lease on life would expire in a few years and then they'd come after her again for more money. It was irrational but so was much of what had actually transpired in the last year from what he’d learned. Tony was beginning to think that he had to be prepared for the rational and irrational alike. How had Scarlett lived this kind of life for so long?
"I can tell you what I know about him but it is very little other than what I have already shared. We called him Death after the first meeting... it was a joke at first but it very quickly became a truth about him. Whenever he visited... death seemed to follow. We had joked about it since he was so thin and without the shadows wasn’t very menacing. He very quickly made us realize we were wrong in our assumptions."
"What do you mean?" Tony didn't understand, but he was grateful to have something to focus on besides the manic thoughts in his head. What he wouldn't do for some valium right now to ease his nerves. Or scotch. Or scotch and valium. "Why did you call him Death? I know you mentioned that they had done things to the water, but this man... specifically. What did he do to deserve such a name from men willing to torture for a price?"
"It was not just here in our home town, the contamination and illness spread but the only thing that remained consistent was that someone saw him. Eventually we put the pieces together and... changed his name from Death to the Nightmare. People grew sick after he arrived initially. Even a few of my men became ill, but they have since recovered." Barakat gestured behind him toward two of the men who were watching with baited breath. "It was a sudden illness unlike any I'd ever had experience with in the past. Since those employed at the nearest hospital were none too fond of us they offered us no medical assistance. In fact, they wouldn't even let us in the door unless we forced our way through. They still will not after what happened with your friend."
"I can't rightly blame them. No offense or anything but I wouldn't let you into my house either knowing what you’ve done."
"None taken, I would think you were out of your mind if you thought any other way. I told you, we were bad men and did bad things and now we must live with the consequences of our actions. I will hold this albatross around my neck until I drown or starve." Tony was impressed by the philosophical reference.
"What else did this man do to deserve those names? You said there was more."
"People went missing… from the town and we were blamed for it. They drove us out shortly after your friend had gotten away. They held us responsible for bringing Death to them and delivering destruction upon their heads. We cannot blame them for that either. It is partially true."
"It's completely true. You made a deal with the devil for some chump change and now you're paying the ultimate price." Barakat clenched his teeth but responded as he looked away, afraid to make eye contact with Tony or anyone for that matter.
"You are not wrong. These people went missing and sometimes we would find them washed up on the river, covered in incisions... It was surgical in nature or at least that is what we would have guessed. If we had known what we were getting into with these men then we wouldn't have made a deal at all. The first man was a coward for hiding his face but we saw him nonetheless. I would not be able to paint a portrait for you but I would most certainly be able to point him out if I saw him again."
"You really think so? If I showed you a picture you could point him out?"
"While I would recognize the man with the Russian accent easier, I am confident that between me and my men we would be able to reveal the identity of this man you speak of." Tony was apprehensive to share the photo that he'd found of Scarlett and Scott in the apartment. If he was right about his assumptions then he was about to hit the point of no return. He would officially be responsible for telling Scarlett about the nasty involvement Scott had in her suffering and the consequent fall out.
"One more question. Does he still come around?"
"No." Barakat straightened his back and sat proudly in his spot. "We eventually... my men including the villages nearby, treated him like the Egyptian plagues. When there was even rumor of him nearby everyone would lock their doors and barricade their windows. It seemed like the only way to avoid being taken or infected with something worse than death. Every time he showed up, even after our deal was broken, something terrible happened. Eventually we decided that he must be treated as we would treat any other enemy. I gave orders to shoot on sight. I'm afraid that's why my men acted so defensively when they saw you flying in overhead."
"I can't say I blame you for that knowing what I know now. I’d probably shoot at me too if I saw me coming after what you’ve been through."
"We have been trying to communicate with other groups like ours... Not as unsavory as you may think. But this man... this Death must be as widespread as you suspect he is. I know of others who would be willing to help and offer you information if you would so please." Barakat bowed his head politely. The exhaustion he'd shown earlier had faded entirely. Tony had put them through the ringer when he'd attacked them and he'd only now considered the physical toll it must have taken to battle against Iron Man. While it had been tiring for him too, it didn't take him nearly as much energy as it would've taken them.
"I'm going to show you a picture." Tony exhaled deeply and again flipped through his phone. He zoomed in on the image to crop Scarlett out of it as much as he possibly could. The last thing he wanted was for Barakat to make the same connections Tony had made. Then again, why did he care if Barakat and his men knew or not? They had made a deal with the devil, as he had said earlier. Perhaps they should know the lengths of the devil’s treachery. After all, why should Tony spare them any guilt when he was riddled with it? So instead of staying zoomed in, Tony pulled the picture back into full focus and showed it to Barakat.
"That is the man." Immediately he spoke and with such sincerity and confidence that Tony didn't doubt it for a second. Tony got up from where he was seated and paced, leaving his phone on the table. "Wait a second... wait." Barakat recognized Scarlett next, his eyes being drawn to the beautiful woman in the picture next but Tony wasn't listening anymore. Scooping up his phone after he'd taken several long and slow deep breaths purposely to get his heart rate to calm down he dialed her number again and listened, hoping that she would at least answer or he would have gotten a text message of any kind.
"I need you to pick up the damn phone. What's the point of having the thing if you never answer it?" Tony gritted his teeth and then hung up the phone before instantly dialing her number again. Maybe she was still traveling? But she hadn't responded in a long time now. She'd have to be flying halfway around the world to have been gone for that long. It was possible but Tony was too scared to take that risk.
"That woman in that picture." When he realized he was being ignored, Barakat got up from his seat and walked in front of Tony to get his attention. Still, the billionaire ignored him and continued to dial her number on his phone. "That's the woman. That's the one you came and asked me about. The one I hurt."
"Yeah, it is." Tony nodded his head before turning his attention away from Barakat again. "Jarvis, I need you track the GPS signal again okay? Is she still in Cape Town?"
"There was an update at the airport sir but I think something is wrong with her phone."
"Why do you think that?" Tony grimaced, his face turning pale as he considered the three thousand things that could've gone wrong that would make her phone malfunction. Was someone messing with her? Or had technology simply failed? If it had failed then why didn't Scarlett fix it? He knew someone with her skills would be able to easily find the flaw in the machinery and repair it. But maybe she hadn't deemed it important enough to address yet, particularly if she was catching a flight somewhere. Every possibility frustrated him.
"Is Death someone close to her? Someone who loved her? Like you?"
"Not now." Tony gritted his teeth and typed into his phone so Barakat wouldn't see what he was trying to do.
"Why would someone so close to her want to do those things to her? Why would she trust him? They look happy there. And yet if he’s the one I met with then he wanted her to suffer."
"Yeah, well sometimes... actually on most occasions we are the most hurt by the people who are close to us. Every nasty little thing like this... usually leads back to someone you know. Who else would know you well enough to want to cause such anguish? When I was taken, it was someone close to me too. But I never would've suspected it because when you're not a fucking madman then you don't suspect your friends are sociopaths." Tony groaned and then continued to type into Jarvis.
He was giving orders for the computer to check flight itineraries out of Cape Town and to search for Scarlett on the security camera feeds if he had to. One way or another, Tony was going to find where the hell Scarlett went and get in contact with her. He had to find her before Scott did and if it meant breaking the law to do it then he was more than willing. What were they going to do? Arrest him? Tony had enough money to keep him out of virtually any legal prison. If he could at least catch sight of Scarlett on a video camera of some kind then he could track her progress from airport to airport and know that she was safe, if nothing else. Somehow, one way or another, he would get in touch with her.
Even if it meant he had to involve S.H.I.E.L.D. and contact Phil Coulson then he would do it. He knew that S.H.I.E.L.D. was pursuing Scarlett because of her involvement with MedCo and that there would likely be some consequences for having avoided them for so long and possible past incidents that had involved his secret agent girlfriend, but it would be worth it to know that she was safe. Just how many terms of their relationship was Tony willing to violate in order to keep her out of harm’s way? He could only hope that she would be touched by his determination and not angry that he'd overstepped his boundaries. She would understand that he was just worried wouldn't she? He knew that if it was Pepper she would've screamed at him and called him selfish for not consulting her first. That was why they didn't work together. Tony operated on a different level than his assistant and she needed a more down to earth boyfriend.
But Scarlett was very different than any of his previous lovers, and he could only hope that she would understand. Letting Jarvis do his work, Tony was surprised when Barakat grabbed onto his wrist and glared at him seriously. Behind his cold eyes he could see guilt staring out at him. Tony showing him the full picture of the man they called death and the woman they had tortured for weeks had the desired effect. Barakat was realizing just how manipulated he'd been.
"This man used me as a tool to torture a woman he was this happy with?"
"I already told you. The people closest to us often inflict the worst wounds. But this guy… he's sick, something is really off about this guy. And I don't mean like... regular just screwed up asshole like you guys or me for that matter... I mean like serial killer Son of Sam crazy." It occurred to him that Barakat likely had no knowledge of the American serial killer. And it was made evident that he'd assumed correctly because the reference was lost on the middle aged Afghani. "Crazy guy, his neighbor's dog told him to kill people because he thought he was possessed by some demon... It was... anyway, it doesn't matter. I just meant it was the bad kind of should-be-locked-up sort of crazy."
"I understand." Barakat turned away and rested his hand on his forehead, absorbing what he'd just learned. Now he knew how Tony had felt for the last few hours. "What can I do to make amends Mr. Stark? Tell me and I will do it. We will help you and we will help her."
"She wouldn't want your help." Tony felt his phone buzz and immediately read the message Jarvis had left for him. Sure enough, as Tony had suspected, she’d shown up at the airport in South Africa on their security video feed. She was going through security and traveling somewhere, though he had no idea where yet. It was hard to make out much on the fuzzy picture but she looked well enough and there was no one with her that made him think she was being kidnapped or taken under duress. She was traveling on her own with the same backpack that he'd seen her with on many occasions.
He was relieved to say the very least and exhaled, leaning his head back and taking slow deep breaths. Finally the death grip on his chest released and he was able to breathe easy for the time being. He still had to get in touch with her and had to tell her what he'd uncovered about Scott. There was no doubt about it now, it had to be done. The man that she'd shared her life with for years had been responsible for the suffering she'd undergone in the last year. How many times had he suspected this? How long had he been wondering? At least, as petty as it was, he had a legitimate reason to be nasty when it came to the topic.
It was paltry, but comforted Tony nonetheless.
"You asked if I wanted to make amends. Was that just you trying to get answers from me? Or did you really want my help?"
"I did and still do want your help but right now I need you to be quiet. I've only got ten thousand things on my mind right now and I'm a little sleep deprived so you'll have to excuse me if I'm not as good at multitasking as I usually am." Now that Tony knew that Scarlett was at least safe, or had been a few hours ago, he could feel the weariness settling into his bones.
"It's alright. That picture shook me, so I'm on edge as well. I did not mean to sound defensive."
"Yeah, well you needed to know what you did and why it was done." Tony shook his head. There was absolutely no sympathy left within him for these men who had tortured Scarlett and likely others before her. There was no way he could believe that they hadn't had experience in the ways of pain to have known how to hurt her to the extent that they had. What else had they lied about? They likely didn't want to make Tony any angrier than he had already been when he’d first arrived. While he had at first considered that he was outnumbered, he realized that Barakat was right. If Tony wanted to he could've killed them all right there in the blink of an eye thanks to his technology.
But that wasn't what Scarlett wanted. If she had wanted them dead then she would've already returned and taken vengeance for what had been done to her. There was a very slim chance that she was afraid to return to the scene of her torture but Tony had the feeling that in an attempt to recover, she'd decided to steer clear of it and take the high road. Instead of seeking vengeance or thirsting for blood or even answers, Scarlett had been grateful to be saved by the people who were possibly related to these terrible thugs in one way or another.
She had given back instead of taking her revenge. Hadn't he accused her at some point of being a vengeful mercenary after MedCo's blood? They'd fought about it a few times now that he thought about it and the guilt that he'd once felt returned miserably. She wasn't out for MedCo's blood. All she wanted was not to be held prisoner by someone else. It was why she refused S.H.I.E.L.D.'s help and why she was going after MedCo. They would never let her live a life in peace. In a way it was almost a worse torture than being held by the men in that warehouse along the mountainside.
At least the threat there had been tangible and in front of her. She could analyze it and try to find a way out. It was how he had coped with his own torture and kidnapping. He'd been able to concentrate on his escape and had done so. Scarlett had done the same. But now the threat of someone constantly lurking in the shadows, waiting to strike and never knowing when, where or how? That was truly haunting. It was a torture that she couldn't analyze her way out of. Maybe that was why she was having nightmares. But Tony wasn't a shrink, not in the slightest, so what the hell did he know? He did know that he was over thinking it like crazy, that was for sure.
"Sir, I was able to track her on the security footage to her gate at the airport. You aren't responding to my texts so I've taken the liberty to speak." Jarvis called from his phone. All eyes in the room turned to the remarkable machinery in Tony's hand.
"Yeah..." Tony cleared his throat and nodded his head. "Go ahead Jarvis, bare bones details okay? We've got company."
"I see that, sir and will take caution."
"Who is that?" Barakat pointed to the phone, amazed. While he’d seen the image of Scarlett and Scott on the screen earlier, he hadn’t taken a good look at the remarkable machine of Tony’s own making.
"...oh uh, yeah that's my computer. He's helping me out." Tony shrugged. It was easy to forget that not everyone was used to having a computerized personal assistant to do their dirty work after he'd gotten so used to having Jarvis as his right hand man.
"Your computer? A he?"
"Yeah, it's a long story. His name is Jarvis... smart guy, helpful. A little too charming sometimes though, apparently." Tony cleared his throat and then pointed to his phone. "You don't mind right? We were sorta having a conversation."
"By all means." Barakat took his seat at the table again, and then spoke in his native tongue to those around him, asking clearly for more coffee. Tony didn't have to speak their language to understand that tone.
"Where is she going, Jarvis? She's safe right?"
"She caught a layover in Dakar earlier today. The final destination judging by what I was able to decipher from the video footage I've obtained seems to be Moscow. Should I continue trying to call her?" The computer spoke cautiously. He didn't want to reveal any personal information to the men in the warehouse. They'd already known Scarlett more intimately than they'd ever needed to, he didn't need to compound things.
"Well don't waste battery power trying to call her while she's on the plane. Call her in between flights and then let me know when she lands in Moscow and I'll make the calls myself." Tony sighed with relief. What was in Russia that would interest Scarlett? Had she found another lead to follow on MedCo and gone there on her own? It wasn't like he'd let her know what he was up to so he shouldn't have been surprised that she was continuing on with her relentless pursuit of the men who had thrown a wrench in her life
"I will keep you up to date, sir."
"Thanks, Jarvis. Contact the Russians and make them aware that I'm flying through. And then if you can, could you get in touch with Rhodes and update him on what's going on? We might need some backup, if you know what I mean. Have the jet meet us at the airport, it’s faster for me to use the suit."
"Of course, you are a master of the subtle arts, sir."
"I see you're feeling better, too."
"Considerably." Tony shook his head and then hid his phone once again inside of the Mark VII armor. Once he got to Russia he would get in touch with Scarlett and then hopefully be able to catch a cat nap there when he had her safe in his arms. Or sleep for a whole day, that sounded lovely. Or better yet, he could sleep a whole week! If he knew Scarlett was okay then it wouldn't matter how long he slept. But until then he was going to be wired on adrenaline.
"Russia?" Barakat finally spoke up once he realized the conversation with the inanimate object had ended. It was obviously a foreign concept to the rebel.
"Don't look at me like that. People talk to their phones all the time."
"They don't usually talk back unless there is a person on the other end of the line."
"Well, I'm not like everybody else." Tony nodded resolutely.
"That you are not. So you are going to Russia then? After her? To protect her." The Afghani was eager to get off of the topic of Tony's advanced technology. It was almost comical how uncomfortable it made him.
"Yeah, that's the plan. I'm afraid there's not much more you can do to help but... at least you're trying to do the right thing." Tony triggered the helmet on his Mark VII and saw instantly in front of him the flight plan to Russia and the approval from their military for him to travel through their airspace without being shot at.
"Wait, Mr. Stark!" Barakat stepped in front of the formidable Iron Man suit and held up his hands.
"Let us help!"
"It's a little far for you guys to travel and no offense but I'm not going to use my private jet to bring everyone there."
"No, that's not what I meant. I told you that we are in communication with other groups similar to ours in attempts to combat these men who come in the night to steal our friends and family and poison our water, didn't I?"
"I vaguely recall that from a few minutes ago, yeah." Tony popped the front of his helmet open impatiently.
"Near Moscow there is a group of men and women who are working together to put a stop to these people. I didn't think the violence was related because it is much more intense on the Siberian side of Russia. But there is a chance that it is anyway. And they might have information for you and assistance if you need it." Barakat snapped his fingers toward one of his men standing nearby and was brought a phone. Quickly he dialed a number and then walked away from Tony and spoke quietly.
"Jarvis are you getting this?"
"Every word." The computer scanned the room for the phone signal and recorded the conversation just in case.
"I will give you their contact information. The man you're looking for was once hired by this company that is causing trouble in Russia. I didn't think they were related but he seems to think differently. If you decide that you need their help or want more information from their leader then you can contact them at any time." Barakat scribbled on a piece of paper the number and information for the group.
"No names or anything?"
"Never. It is not safe in this part of the world, Mr. Stark."
"I got it." Tony nodded his head. "Barakat?" The weary rebel turned his head back to face Tony who smiled sympathetically.
"Yes?"
"Thank you." With a loud clank the helmet of the Iron Man weapon snapped shut and covered Tony's face. "Jarvis, keep me updated on Scarlett and watch for anything suspicious. Trace the call he just made and give me all the information you can get on this man who used to work for MedCo." Without another word to the rebels in the warehouse, Tony marched out the door and urged the Mark VII into the air. With any luck, Tony would never have to return to Afghanistan or see any of those men again.
But luck had never really been on Tony's side.
Chapter: 25 Death
Author: Me
Disclaimer: Iron Man and the movie-verse including all of its characters do NOT belong to me, but to Marvel and all its glory. Though, Scarlett Damien does belong to me.
Comic: Iron Man
Pairing/Characters: Tony Stark/Scarlett Damien, Pepper, Rhodey, Happy
Rating: M
Author's Note: I write long chapters! I mean not excessively crazy long but long enough! I'm the sort of writer who likes to think of their stories as novels and so I aspire to give readers what they would expect upon purchasing a book. I average around 13-15 pages a chapter, but sometimes I've got less and sometimes more! I hope you can look past the length and the time it may take to read and give it a shot. I promise quality work.
To say the flight in the Mark VII from Herat to the South Western mountainous region of Afghanistan was slow was a massive understatement, at least according to Tony Stark. It certainly didn’t help that his heart kept racing and his mind kept wandering and over-analyzing the discoveries he’d made. Every so often Jarvis would make him aware that he was suffering from tachycardia likely caused by anxiety. Naturally Tony was well aware of how hard his heart was beating in his chest and the subsequent nerves that compounded because of it. Each time he would promptly alert Jarvis that unless he could do something about it he should shut up and make himself useful trying to either contact Scarlett or track down Scott.
By the time he got to the run down warehouse near the mountainside, Tony was exhausted both physically and mentally. Never before in his life had he wanted a drink more than at that moment. Unfortunately he was sure he wouldn't find sleep even if he the time to lay down and rest. With his heart beating the way it was, he was sure he would never find relaxation even with alcohol. The sooner he got his questions answered then the sooner he could find Scarlett and make sure she was safe and sound.
And then if she was alright he would have a considerably lengthy speech on the importance of keeping her phone charged and functioning especially in what he would call an emergency situation. If they were going to be together, which was also something that needed discussing, then they would have to develop a better system than the guess work and touchy communication system they were currently using. He couldn’t give himself a heart attack every time they weren’t together.
The impact of the metallic feet of the Iron Man suit sent a cloud of dust flying in each direction and echoed with a resounding thud against the ground. He landed with one knee down and crouched low so that he wouldn't put too much pressure on his knees. Immediately the men he'd encountered earlier came running out of the building at the sight of the currently black and red suit. Tony had triggered the stealth mode to his armor which formed reflective panels that darkened and adapted to his surroundings as he flew through the sky. The last thing he wanted was for someone else to shoot him out of the sky. His Mark VII was worse for wear, currently but it wasn’t like he had the free time to sit and do repairs lately. The Mark V was on standby on the plane just in case but it didn’t have the same search and find technology. The Mark VII was safer and right now Tony couldn’t feel safe enough.
After what he'd discovered in the last forty eight hours he couldn't possibly be too careful. Scarlett had been right to worry about his involvement in her history and it had taken Tony that long to realize it. She was further in over her head than even she thought and that meant Tony was just as deep in the muck next to her. If he had kept his nose out of it the way she’d intended him to then it wouldn’t be so bad. But Tony wasn’t the kind to live and let die. Not at all. Besides, he had history with MedCo too so he’d had every right to get involved.
Then again, he could’ve gone through his own channels to try and get justice for the weapons they’d stolen from his company. Instead he’d decided to lay on top of the fire ant nest. In hindsight it wasn’t the smartest thing he’d ever done. But pretty women had always clouded his judgment and now this love thing he’d gotten into was doing the same. What lengths would MedCo go to in order to get their hands on Scarlett? Would they target Tony to use against her? Would Scott come after him out of spite? It seemed like something had snapped in her ex-boyfriend's head at some point so it wouldn't exactly surprise him if it happened even out of jealousy.
Doubt and guilt crept through Tony’s thoughts even as he prepared himself mentally for the conversation he was about to have with people he’d considered hostile that morning.
Barakat was half asleep but soon was running along with the rest of his men to see what was happening and why Tony had returned. While a few of the men were armed none of them were on their defensive as they had been the last time Tony had showed up. Apparently Tony had built up some sort of trust with them or at least enough that they didn't want to fire at him when he made an appearance. Judging by the look of concern on Barakat's face, Tony wasn't exactly sure that was the case at all. Maybe he had ordered his men not to fire upon him, just to keep the peace.
Barakat was much smarter than he let on during their first meeting. Momentarily Tony considered he was having the wool pulled over his eyes but then shook the thought from his head. Scarlett was potentially in trouble! He didn't have the time, or quite frankly, the energy to be suspicious of every little action. The evening had already been spent over thinking and Tony’s brain was too fried to continue doing so.
"Mr. Stark, what is going on? Why have you returned and at such a late hour?" Finally Barakat spoke up when it was made obvious that Tony wasn't going to have the first word.
"I have some more questions. They couldn’t wait." Tony flipped the lid of his helmet open and the remainder of it retracted into the neck of the suit. Shaking out his hair, sweaty from nerves, he ran his fingers through it to return it to some semblance of normalcy.
"Alright, we can do that. Come inside? It may be hot during the day but our nights get chilly and I am afraid I am still half asleep and in need of coffee." Barakat nodded his head politely. Tony considered the offer and then quickly nodded to agree. There was no harm in taking refuge indoors though Tony wouldn’t call the desert night cold.
"Yeah, I guess we can go inside. But it's sort of a time sensitive matter so I need you to wake up pretty quickly here." Clearing his throat, Tony followed Barakat and his men back inside the warehouse and to the same table that Tony had dented what seemed like ages ago. Someone brought Barakat a steaming cup of coffee and offered one to Tony but he waved his hand and ignored it. The last thing his stomach needed was coffee.
"Now what is so pressing that it could not wait until morning to ask us? You look worried." Barakat scowled, but the kindness Tony had earlier witnessed remained clear in his eyes. Thankfully Tony was still confident that he wasn’t being manipulated into thinking these men had turned their lives around.
"Are you still eager to make amends for what you've done to my friend?" Tony chose his words wisely. Barakat seemed just as wary as Tony did and after narrowing his eyes and sizing up Tony's offer he nodded resolutely in confirmation.
"I would do anything within my power to aid you even if it offered me no redemption for what I did to this woman. We have a common goal now, Mr. Stark."
"Good, that's what I wanted to hear." Tony leaned forward and proceeded to fill Barakat in on what he'd discovered after he'd followed the money trail from his hands to the currency exchange near the western border of the country and then to the apartment that had revealed more than its share of disturbing information. Quickly the exhaustion on Barakat's features disappeared and made way for curiosity and eventually horror. Tony described the experiments he'd found notes on at length and shared images from his phone of what he'd discovered. He even showed Barakat the picture of the bloody hospital gown that had once belonged to Scarlett and explained tests that had been done on the blood that remained.
Hand over his mouth, Barakat looked horrified by what he'd been shown but he was also puzzled. What did Tony Stark expect that he could do for him? The treachery of the men who had hired him was far more vicious than he had ever expected it would be. Then again, no one exactly expected the sort of horrid things MedCo was capable of. The answer wasn’t clear to the rebel.
"There are untold reports and locations... coordinates that were written on the wall of where tests were done and where water was poisoned. I'm having my computer go through them now and retrieving reports of illnesses around the same areas to see if there's a way to perhaps narrow down the chemical causes of what they're putting into the water and see if anything administered had any effect on the sickness before it either killed those inflicted or dissipated from their system." Tony continued on his train of thought, speaking a mile a minute. His head was spinning with how much information he'd discovered in just the last two days and he felt that if he didn’t say it quickly then he might not get it all out. Sometimes being a genius was more stress than people realized.
"We have had many of the same kinds of illnesses here that you describe." Barakat confessed, fear making his voice quaver. "Thankfully none as fatal as those you are describing from Europe and Africa. I knew those men I dealt with were bad news but I had no idea how bad they truly were. We... we had suspicions but no confirmation. And quite frankly we did not want to know the whole truth." Hanging his head, he wondered if maybe he had just declined to take Scarlett captive that things could be drastically different for everyone involved. But there was no time to dwell on or regret the past because it couldn't be changed. All they could do was deal with what was in front of them here and now and prevent any further damage from being done.
"I had a feeling that you would know a bit about that. Some of the coordinates were nearby at the manmade river that is being used to fertilize crops for the towns close by." Tony waved his hand and ordered the armored glove to retract so he could use his fingers easily. "If there are people still suffering symptoms I will do what I can to help. I'll stop and take water samples and send them to my friends in the United States. They're doing tests there or rather they will be performing tests soon in hopes of breaking down what these men were actually up to with poisoning the water. I took samples of the same contaminated sources in other parts of the world and hopefully will yield some results in good time. Once we've figure that out we can start working on an antidote or at least a method of treatment to keep people from …you know, croaking." Tony tapped his fingers on the table and then looked back to Barakat.
"I appreciate the help, Mr. Stark but... is this really why you woke us at such a late hour? As much as I have heard about you becoming a charitable man I suspect that there is still much of the old you in there. Plus the worry in your eyes concerns me. You have not slept and there are good reasons outside of finding what was in that apartment. Unless of course you have not told me the whole story and that is what I suspect. Something has hit you very close to home."
"You're a smart man." Tony smiled warily but the facade quickly faded.
"I have been told this many times and I have not disagreed before and won’t start now."
"I have some questions to ask you about the men you met with. I know you told me that they were shadowy men and you did not get their names but I wonder... if you could give me more information on them."
"What kind of information is it you seek?"
"If you saw this first man again, would you recognize him?"
"Without a doubt." Barakat smiled resolutely. "We have caught glimpses of him multiple times in our area. But he never gave us a name to call him by. I tried to get one from him but he never answered when I asked. And later it didn't matter because I got the money I was promised at least in the beginning before he broke our deal and double crossed us. Back then it didn’t matter who I dealt with as long as the reward was worth the risk."
"You said earlier that you couldn't describe him because he kept to the shadows... presumably keeping you from identifying him."
"No offense, Mr. Stark but all you white folks look the same to us. He was about as tall as you but skinnier. Blond hair, bluish-gray eyes... glasses if I recall but that is about all I can give you and I'm afraid that Mr. Leonardo DiCaprio fits that description pretty well and I doubt that you can go and confront him about it."
"Well you're right about part of that at least, it’s definitely not Leonardo DiCaprio." Tony cocked a curious eyebrow, partially amused by Barakat's rather hilarious description of the perpetrator. Still, there was this feeling in the pit of Tony's stomach that the man who had owned the apartment, the man responsible for all of Scarlett's suffering and involvement with MedCo was her ex-boyfriend. A man who had claimed to love her even in his manic scribbling on the wall of his apartment. Scott seemed to have mixed up control and love as one in the same. That part of the story and the subsequent panic attack Tony had suffered had been kept out of the story while he'd told it to Barakat. The last thing Tony wanted was to reveal more about Scarlett than these men already knew.
For all Tony knew, their supposed new lease on life would expire in a few years and then they'd come after her again for more money. It was irrational but so was much of what had actually transpired in the last year from what he’d learned. Tony was beginning to think that he had to be prepared for the rational and irrational alike. How had Scarlett lived this kind of life for so long?
"I can tell you what I know about him but it is very little other than what I have already shared. We called him Death after the first meeting... it was a joke at first but it very quickly became a truth about him. Whenever he visited... death seemed to follow. We had joked about it since he was so thin and without the shadows wasn’t very menacing. He very quickly made us realize we were wrong in our assumptions."
"What do you mean?" Tony didn't understand, but he was grateful to have something to focus on besides the manic thoughts in his head. What he wouldn't do for some valium right now to ease his nerves. Or scotch. Or scotch and valium. "Why did you call him Death? I know you mentioned that they had done things to the water, but this man... specifically. What did he do to deserve such a name from men willing to torture for a price?"
"It was not just here in our home town, the contamination and illness spread but the only thing that remained consistent was that someone saw him. Eventually we put the pieces together and... changed his name from Death to the Nightmare. People grew sick after he arrived initially. Even a few of my men became ill, but they have since recovered." Barakat gestured behind him toward two of the men who were watching with baited breath. "It was a sudden illness unlike any I'd ever had experience with in the past. Since those employed at the nearest hospital were none too fond of us they offered us no medical assistance. In fact, they wouldn't even let us in the door unless we forced our way through. They still will not after what happened with your friend."
"I can't rightly blame them. No offense or anything but I wouldn't let you into my house either knowing what you’ve done."
"None taken, I would think you were out of your mind if you thought any other way. I told you, we were bad men and did bad things and now we must live with the consequences of our actions. I will hold this albatross around my neck until I drown or starve." Tony was impressed by the philosophical reference.
"What else did this man do to deserve those names? You said there was more."
"People went missing… from the town and we were blamed for it. They drove us out shortly after your friend had gotten away. They held us responsible for bringing Death to them and delivering destruction upon their heads. We cannot blame them for that either. It is partially true."
"It's completely true. You made a deal with the devil for some chump change and now you're paying the ultimate price." Barakat clenched his teeth but responded as he looked away, afraid to make eye contact with Tony or anyone for that matter.
"You are not wrong. These people went missing and sometimes we would find them washed up on the river, covered in incisions... It was surgical in nature or at least that is what we would have guessed. If we had known what we were getting into with these men then we wouldn't have made a deal at all. The first man was a coward for hiding his face but we saw him nonetheless. I would not be able to paint a portrait for you but I would most certainly be able to point him out if I saw him again."
"You really think so? If I showed you a picture you could point him out?"
"While I would recognize the man with the Russian accent easier, I am confident that between me and my men we would be able to reveal the identity of this man you speak of." Tony was apprehensive to share the photo that he'd found of Scarlett and Scott in the apartment. If he was right about his assumptions then he was about to hit the point of no return. He would officially be responsible for telling Scarlett about the nasty involvement Scott had in her suffering and the consequent fall out.
"One more question. Does he still come around?"
"No." Barakat straightened his back and sat proudly in his spot. "We eventually... my men including the villages nearby, treated him like the Egyptian plagues. When there was even rumor of him nearby everyone would lock their doors and barricade their windows. It seemed like the only way to avoid being taken or infected with something worse than death. Every time he showed up, even after our deal was broken, something terrible happened. Eventually we decided that he must be treated as we would treat any other enemy. I gave orders to shoot on sight. I'm afraid that's why my men acted so defensively when they saw you flying in overhead."
"I can't say I blame you for that knowing what I know now. I’d probably shoot at me too if I saw me coming after what you’ve been through."
"We have been trying to communicate with other groups like ours... Not as unsavory as you may think. But this man... this Death must be as widespread as you suspect he is. I know of others who would be willing to help and offer you information if you would so please." Barakat bowed his head politely. The exhaustion he'd shown earlier had faded entirely. Tony had put them through the ringer when he'd attacked them and he'd only now considered the physical toll it must have taken to battle against Iron Man. While it had been tiring for him too, it didn't take him nearly as much energy as it would've taken them.
"I'm going to show you a picture." Tony exhaled deeply and again flipped through his phone. He zoomed in on the image to crop Scarlett out of it as much as he possibly could. The last thing he wanted was for Barakat to make the same connections Tony had made. Then again, why did he care if Barakat and his men knew or not? They had made a deal with the devil, as he had said earlier. Perhaps they should know the lengths of the devil’s treachery. After all, why should Tony spare them any guilt when he was riddled with it? So instead of staying zoomed in, Tony pulled the picture back into full focus and showed it to Barakat.
"That is the man." Immediately he spoke and with such sincerity and confidence that Tony didn't doubt it for a second. Tony got up from where he was seated and paced, leaving his phone on the table. "Wait a second... wait." Barakat recognized Scarlett next, his eyes being drawn to the beautiful woman in the picture next but Tony wasn't listening anymore. Scooping up his phone after he'd taken several long and slow deep breaths purposely to get his heart rate to calm down he dialed her number again and listened, hoping that she would at least answer or he would have gotten a text message of any kind.
"I need you to pick up the damn phone. What's the point of having the thing if you never answer it?" Tony gritted his teeth and then hung up the phone before instantly dialing her number again. Maybe she was still traveling? But she hadn't responded in a long time now. She'd have to be flying halfway around the world to have been gone for that long. It was possible but Tony was too scared to take that risk.
"That woman in that picture." When he realized he was being ignored, Barakat got up from his seat and walked in front of Tony to get his attention. Still, the billionaire ignored him and continued to dial her number on his phone. "That's the woman. That's the one you came and asked me about. The one I hurt."
"Yeah, it is." Tony nodded his head before turning his attention away from Barakat again. "Jarvis, I need you track the GPS signal again okay? Is she still in Cape Town?"
"There was an update at the airport sir but I think something is wrong with her phone."
"Why do you think that?" Tony grimaced, his face turning pale as he considered the three thousand things that could've gone wrong that would make her phone malfunction. Was someone messing with her? Or had technology simply failed? If it had failed then why didn't Scarlett fix it? He knew someone with her skills would be able to easily find the flaw in the machinery and repair it. But maybe she hadn't deemed it important enough to address yet, particularly if she was catching a flight somewhere. Every possibility frustrated him.
"Is Death someone close to her? Someone who loved her? Like you?"
"Not now." Tony gritted his teeth and typed into his phone so Barakat wouldn't see what he was trying to do.
"Why would someone so close to her want to do those things to her? Why would she trust him? They look happy there. And yet if he’s the one I met with then he wanted her to suffer."
"Yeah, well sometimes... actually on most occasions we are the most hurt by the people who are close to us. Every nasty little thing like this... usually leads back to someone you know. Who else would know you well enough to want to cause such anguish? When I was taken, it was someone close to me too. But I never would've suspected it because when you're not a fucking madman then you don't suspect your friends are sociopaths." Tony groaned and then continued to type into Jarvis.
He was giving orders for the computer to check flight itineraries out of Cape Town and to search for Scarlett on the security camera feeds if he had to. One way or another, Tony was going to find where the hell Scarlett went and get in contact with her. He had to find her before Scott did and if it meant breaking the law to do it then he was more than willing. What were they going to do? Arrest him? Tony had enough money to keep him out of virtually any legal prison. If he could at least catch sight of Scarlett on a video camera of some kind then he could track her progress from airport to airport and know that she was safe, if nothing else. Somehow, one way or another, he would get in touch with her.
Even if it meant he had to involve S.H.I.E.L.D. and contact Phil Coulson then he would do it. He knew that S.H.I.E.L.D. was pursuing Scarlett because of her involvement with MedCo and that there would likely be some consequences for having avoided them for so long and possible past incidents that had involved his secret agent girlfriend, but it would be worth it to know that she was safe. Just how many terms of their relationship was Tony willing to violate in order to keep her out of harm’s way? He could only hope that she would be touched by his determination and not angry that he'd overstepped his boundaries. She would understand that he was just worried wouldn't she? He knew that if it was Pepper she would've screamed at him and called him selfish for not consulting her first. That was why they didn't work together. Tony operated on a different level than his assistant and she needed a more down to earth boyfriend.
But Scarlett was very different than any of his previous lovers, and he could only hope that she would understand. Letting Jarvis do his work, Tony was surprised when Barakat grabbed onto his wrist and glared at him seriously. Behind his cold eyes he could see guilt staring out at him. Tony showing him the full picture of the man they called death and the woman they had tortured for weeks had the desired effect. Barakat was realizing just how manipulated he'd been.
"This man used me as a tool to torture a woman he was this happy with?"
"I already told you. The people closest to us often inflict the worst wounds. But this guy… he's sick, something is really off about this guy. And I don't mean like... regular just screwed up asshole like you guys or me for that matter... I mean like serial killer Son of Sam crazy." It occurred to him that Barakat likely had no knowledge of the American serial killer. And it was made evident that he'd assumed correctly because the reference was lost on the middle aged Afghani. "Crazy guy, his neighbor's dog told him to kill people because he thought he was possessed by some demon... It was... anyway, it doesn't matter. I just meant it was the bad kind of should-be-locked-up sort of crazy."
"I understand." Barakat turned away and rested his hand on his forehead, absorbing what he'd just learned. Now he knew how Tony had felt for the last few hours. "What can I do to make amends Mr. Stark? Tell me and I will do it. We will help you and we will help her."
"She wouldn't want your help." Tony felt his phone buzz and immediately read the message Jarvis had left for him. Sure enough, as Tony had suspected, she’d shown up at the airport in South Africa on their security video feed. She was going through security and traveling somewhere, though he had no idea where yet. It was hard to make out much on the fuzzy picture but she looked well enough and there was no one with her that made him think she was being kidnapped or taken under duress. She was traveling on her own with the same backpack that he'd seen her with on many occasions.
He was relieved to say the very least and exhaled, leaning his head back and taking slow deep breaths. Finally the death grip on his chest released and he was able to breathe easy for the time being. He still had to get in touch with her and had to tell her what he'd uncovered about Scott. There was no doubt about it now, it had to be done. The man that she'd shared her life with for years had been responsible for the suffering she'd undergone in the last year. How many times had he suspected this? How long had he been wondering? At least, as petty as it was, he had a legitimate reason to be nasty when it came to the topic.
It was paltry, but comforted Tony nonetheless.
"You asked if I wanted to make amends. Was that just you trying to get answers from me? Or did you really want my help?"
"I did and still do want your help but right now I need you to be quiet. I've only got ten thousand things on my mind right now and I'm a little sleep deprived so you'll have to excuse me if I'm not as good at multitasking as I usually am." Now that Tony knew that Scarlett was at least safe, or had been a few hours ago, he could feel the weariness settling into his bones.
"It's alright. That picture shook me, so I'm on edge as well. I did not mean to sound defensive."
"Yeah, well you needed to know what you did and why it was done." Tony shook his head. There was absolutely no sympathy left within him for these men who had tortured Scarlett and likely others before her. There was no way he could believe that they hadn't had experience in the ways of pain to have known how to hurt her to the extent that they had. What else had they lied about? They likely didn't want to make Tony any angrier than he had already been when he’d first arrived. While he had at first considered that he was outnumbered, he realized that Barakat was right. If Tony wanted to he could've killed them all right there in the blink of an eye thanks to his technology.
But that wasn't what Scarlett wanted. If she had wanted them dead then she would've already returned and taken vengeance for what had been done to her. There was a very slim chance that she was afraid to return to the scene of her torture but Tony had the feeling that in an attempt to recover, she'd decided to steer clear of it and take the high road. Instead of seeking vengeance or thirsting for blood or even answers, Scarlett had been grateful to be saved by the people who were possibly related to these terrible thugs in one way or another.
She had given back instead of taking her revenge. Hadn't he accused her at some point of being a vengeful mercenary after MedCo's blood? They'd fought about it a few times now that he thought about it and the guilt that he'd once felt returned miserably. She wasn't out for MedCo's blood. All she wanted was not to be held prisoner by someone else. It was why she refused S.H.I.E.L.D.'s help and why she was going after MedCo. They would never let her live a life in peace. In a way it was almost a worse torture than being held by the men in that warehouse along the mountainside.
At least the threat there had been tangible and in front of her. She could analyze it and try to find a way out. It was how he had coped with his own torture and kidnapping. He'd been able to concentrate on his escape and had done so. Scarlett had done the same. But now the threat of someone constantly lurking in the shadows, waiting to strike and never knowing when, where or how? That was truly haunting. It was a torture that she couldn't analyze her way out of. Maybe that was why she was having nightmares. But Tony wasn't a shrink, not in the slightest, so what the hell did he know? He did know that he was over thinking it like crazy, that was for sure.
"Sir, I was able to track her on the security footage to her gate at the airport. You aren't responding to my texts so I've taken the liberty to speak." Jarvis called from his phone. All eyes in the room turned to the remarkable machinery in Tony's hand.
"Yeah..." Tony cleared his throat and nodded his head. "Go ahead Jarvis, bare bones details okay? We've got company."
"I see that, sir and will take caution."
"Who is that?" Barakat pointed to the phone, amazed. While he’d seen the image of Scarlett and Scott on the screen earlier, he hadn’t taken a good look at the remarkable machine of Tony’s own making.
"...oh uh, yeah that's my computer. He's helping me out." Tony shrugged. It was easy to forget that not everyone was used to having a computerized personal assistant to do their dirty work after he'd gotten so used to having Jarvis as his right hand man.
"Your computer? A he?"
"Yeah, it's a long story. His name is Jarvis... smart guy, helpful. A little too charming sometimes though, apparently." Tony cleared his throat and then pointed to his phone. "You don't mind right? We were sorta having a conversation."
"By all means." Barakat took his seat at the table again, and then spoke in his native tongue to those around him, asking clearly for more coffee. Tony didn't have to speak their language to understand that tone.
"Where is she going, Jarvis? She's safe right?"
"She caught a layover in Dakar earlier today. The final destination judging by what I was able to decipher from the video footage I've obtained seems to be Moscow. Should I continue trying to call her?" The computer spoke cautiously. He didn't want to reveal any personal information to the men in the warehouse. They'd already known Scarlett more intimately than they'd ever needed to, he didn't need to compound things.
"Well don't waste battery power trying to call her while she's on the plane. Call her in between flights and then let me know when she lands in Moscow and I'll make the calls myself." Tony sighed with relief. What was in Russia that would interest Scarlett? Had she found another lead to follow on MedCo and gone there on her own? It wasn't like he'd let her know what he was up to so he shouldn't have been surprised that she was continuing on with her relentless pursuit of the men who had thrown a wrench in her life
"I will keep you up to date, sir."
"Thanks, Jarvis. Contact the Russians and make them aware that I'm flying through. And then if you can, could you get in touch with Rhodes and update him on what's going on? We might need some backup, if you know what I mean. Have the jet meet us at the airport, it’s faster for me to use the suit."
"Of course, you are a master of the subtle arts, sir."
"I see you're feeling better, too."
"Considerably." Tony shook his head and then hid his phone once again inside of the Mark VII armor. Once he got to Russia he would get in touch with Scarlett and then hopefully be able to catch a cat nap there when he had her safe in his arms. Or sleep for a whole day, that sounded lovely. Or better yet, he could sleep a whole week! If he knew Scarlett was okay then it wouldn't matter how long he slept. But until then he was going to be wired on adrenaline.
"Russia?" Barakat finally spoke up once he realized the conversation with the inanimate object had ended. It was obviously a foreign concept to the rebel.
"Don't look at me like that. People talk to their phones all the time."
"They don't usually talk back unless there is a person on the other end of the line."
"Well, I'm not like everybody else." Tony nodded resolutely.
"That you are not. So you are going to Russia then? After her? To protect her." The Afghani was eager to get off of the topic of Tony's advanced technology. It was almost comical how uncomfortable it made him.
"Yeah, that's the plan. I'm afraid there's not much more you can do to help but... at least you're trying to do the right thing." Tony triggered the helmet on his Mark VII and saw instantly in front of him the flight plan to Russia and the approval from their military for him to travel through their airspace without being shot at.
"Wait, Mr. Stark!" Barakat stepped in front of the formidable Iron Man suit and held up his hands.
"Let us help!"
"It's a little far for you guys to travel and no offense but I'm not going to use my private jet to bring everyone there."
"No, that's not what I meant. I told you that we are in communication with other groups similar to ours in attempts to combat these men who come in the night to steal our friends and family and poison our water, didn't I?"
"I vaguely recall that from a few minutes ago, yeah." Tony popped the front of his helmet open impatiently.
"Near Moscow there is a group of men and women who are working together to put a stop to these people. I didn't think the violence was related because it is much more intense on the Siberian side of Russia. But there is a chance that it is anyway. And they might have information for you and assistance if you need it." Barakat snapped his fingers toward one of his men standing nearby and was brought a phone. Quickly he dialed a number and then walked away from Tony and spoke quietly.
"Jarvis are you getting this?"
"Every word." The computer scanned the room for the phone signal and recorded the conversation just in case.
"I will give you their contact information. The man you're looking for was once hired by this company that is causing trouble in Russia. I didn't think they were related but he seems to think differently. If you decide that you need their help or want more information from their leader then you can contact them at any time." Barakat scribbled on a piece of paper the number and information for the group.
"No names or anything?"
"Never. It is not safe in this part of the world, Mr. Stark."
"I got it." Tony nodded his head. "Barakat?" The weary rebel turned his head back to face Tony who smiled sympathetically.
"Yes?"
"Thank you." With a loud clank the helmet of the Iron Man weapon snapped shut and covered Tony's face. "Jarvis, keep me updated on Scarlett and watch for anything suspicious. Trace the call he just made and give me all the information you can get on this man who used to work for MedCo." Without another word to the rebels in the warehouse, Tony marched out the door and urged the Mark VII into the air. With any luck, Tony would never have to return to Afghanistan or see any of those men again.
But luck had never really been on Tony's side.