Sam: Imprisoned (Book 3)

Arsenal

  The next day was Saturday. The weekend had kicked off but all I could do was sleep. I was so tired because of the insomnia and my body desperately trying to heal itself quickly. It made it more than impossible to do anything other than sleep and nap then sleep some more. I honestly didn't even get a chance to eat that much. My eyelids were too heavy and my body was sore - the medication the doctor had prescribed seemed intent on making me groggy.
  At first, Tony was worried about the amount of time I spent in bed. Then he came to the conclusion that I needed my rest and it also meant I couldn't bother him while he tried to work out the Terrain situation.
  Apparently Steve stayed close too because whenever my eyelids allowed itself to open, I noticed snacks beside my bed. They were generally healthy or had some sort of nutrients for my body. Like some trail mix, an orange, and he even left me a candy bar one time.
  Other than that, Saturday was a blur.
  When Sunday came, I was feeling better. Sleep wise. I still felt anxious constantly and I hurt all over, but I considered it progress. So, I got out of bed, showered, and dressed into something comfortable.
  After catching Steve making some coffee in the kitchen-like room of the compound, I thanked him for yesterday. It was nice of him trying to take care of me like he did. I knew there were times he felt like he wasn't able to do much but I wanted him to know that it meant the world to me - even if it was just a few snacks.
  Once Steve and I were done talking, I left him and headed to the lab where Tony had been working. It felt like he never left his little office space so, when I didn't see him sitting in a chair or messing with some sort of screen, I was surprised. Instead of looking for him, I sat in one of his swivel chairs and rolled to his desk. There were a few papers scattered here and there but most everything was digital. I tried reading through it but it almost didn't seem like English that it was so confusing.
  Finally, I turned to the large screen in front of me and scrolled through different information. I clicked into the map that they had been using to track Terrain's moves the past few days and noticed that they narrowed it down a bit more. Although it was quite a general area so it seemed even more unlikely that we could pinpoint his base exactly.
  "What are you doing?" a familiar voice called out.
  I abruptly turned around in the chair and noticed Bruce walking into the lab. He didn't seem suspicious of me or anything, probably just curious as to why I was messing around with Tony's files.
  Finally, I spoke up, "Just looking. Where's Tony?"
  Bruce grabbed a nearby chair and sat down as well before turning to a binder that was by his laptop. As he flipped through some papers, he answered, "He went out with Pepper to grab some lunch."
  "Oh, I'm glad they're taking some time for each other," I mumbled more towards myself because Banner was getting lost in his work.
  Opening up a new file on Tony's computer, I noticed the list of equipment that they were keeping tabs on. If any of the objects on the list were recently purchased, the computer would track the buyer's name and where the equipment was heading to. The red flags on the list were marked because they were almost certain it was Lesser that had bought the equipment. However, it couldn't be tracked past being shipped to a private plane company. Then it was lost from the system.
  After reading through a few more files, I finally turned back to Banner, "So what are you working on over there?"
  Fortunately Bruce wasn't too deep into his work that he couldn't hear me, but he didn't look up from his laptop as he answered, "I'm running a simulation on the work Tony did with Terrain to see if I can find the right sequence to his black hole theory."
  "Oh..." I mumbled as I processed the statement. "Well, how's that going?"
  "Tedious. It's gonna take time," Bruce keyed in something else before writing it down and running through a new sequence.
  Time we didn't have. I had a feeling in the pit of my stomach that Terrain was getting close. It was making me feel paranoid that it could happen in any moment. At the same time, I trusted that they knew what they were doing. If it was time that they needed then it was time I should give them.
  Terrain on the other hand wouldn't be so generous.
  "Miss, I'm calculating a weapon targeted for the building," JARVIS chimed up.
  This had to be the enemy's doing.
  Once I stood up from the chair I ordered towards Banner, "Call Tony here." Then I called out, "JARVIS connect me to my suit."
  "Wait, where are you going?" Bruce quickly stood up too - obviously concerned about me taking on whatever weapon was coming for us.
  "Just stay here. Don't worry, I can handle it," I promised. With a smile to reassure him, I raced out of the lab and towards the stairs; I figured it would be quicker than the elevator.
  As I reached the top floor, I could hear my suit right behind me. Once I opened the door, my metal suit connected to me so I kicked on the shoes in hopes to get a better view of what was coming this way.
  When I noticed the speck in the sky flying towards I asked JARVIS, "What am I looking at here?"
  "It appears to be a humanoid weapon that's aimed directly at the Avengers' compound."
  The object got closer and I could finally zoom in enough with the suit to see it, "Omg JARVIS it's a robot! That's so cool."
  "I'd like to remind you that it's here to destroy us."
  "Oh, right," I muttered then prepared my repulsors to fire. "How far away is Tony?"
  "He activated mark 43 just now."
  As the robot got closer, I made a note of the way it was built. It was definitely bigger than any of Tony's suits and I was curious who made it. This had to be a distraction from Terrain which meant he was probably getting closer to finishing his project.
  "JARVIS I want a side screen to show me if there were any blips from Tony's computer to show where Terrain might be. I think he's about to finish his machine," I explained.
  Before the AI could respond, the robot approached me. I thought it would be an immediate battle - which I was ready for - but it stopped to hover a yard in front of me. Then a familiar voice called out.
  "Hello Samantha."
  "Terrain! So good to see another one of your distractions," I opened my faceplate so he could see my sarcastic smile. "Are you in that suit?"
  "I think you already know I'm not here, I'm just relaying some information and making sure you don't get in my way. You like the robot?" the voice called from a speaker in the robot.
  There was a beep in my suit so I checked and noticed there was a dot that popped up on the screen to show an energy source was located. Terrain must've been testing out his machine. Somehow I would need to get past this guy so I could stop the professor.
  "Yeah, it's cool. Did you make it yourself?"
  Fortunately that got Terrain to explain, "Actually a friend let me borrow it. You've heard of the name Stane?"
  After a brief pause, I remembered hearing about it from Tony's past. "Obadiah?" I wondered aloud.
  "Yes, Tony's business partner."
  Well if Obadiah made this then I wasn't too worried because his suit wasn't as good as Tony's last time. He didn't stand a chance.
  Although a curious thought came up, "Isn't he dead?"
  "Good memory you have there. Yes, his son found this with Obadiah's stuff and tweaked it a bit so he could control it," Terrain explained from the robot.
  Huh, I didn't know Obadiah had a son...
  "Uh, cool. Obadiah made a robot," I shrugged to show I was unimpressed.
  "Oh, you misunderstand me. Obadiah didn't make this," the professor admitted. "This is actually Howard Stark's invention. When Obadiah moved up in the company, he acquired the storage house that held this beauty that Howard named Arsenal. He created it in World War II as a fail-safe for if the Allies lost. But since he didn't have to use it, he locked it away in storage. When Ezekiel got his hands on it, he programmed it to obey him. I'm sure you understand why he'd be so eager to lend me Arsenal."
  Yeah, I understood. It was because his father had died because of Tony. Even though it didn't matter that Obadiah was evil and twisted. Ezekiel - his son - still wanted revenge on Tony and was even using Tony's father's creation to do it.
  If Howard Stark was the one to make the robot then I wasn't sure how more powerful it would be than I thought previously. Howard was arguably smarter than Tony so of course this would be a challenge. Not to mention I was in a hurry to stop Terrain from using his black hole device thing.
  "Sorry to do this, Sam. But I think it's time to end it."