Dark Arrow

Chapter Twenty Seven

Clearing out the robots had left us all slightly bruised. I was cleaning up a small cut to Maria's forehead when Steve began to pace around the room. Dismantled robot parts scattered around the floor, no one entirely sure what to say.

I was pissed at Tony but I understood why he'd done what he had, his need to protect those he loves had overpowered his judgement.

"We need to find out who he killed." Steve stated, refusing to even look in Tony's direction. I knew then that it was the beginning of a rift between them.

"I already know." Tony looked at me with a sad look in his eyes as he pulled up a hologram.

The yellow orb that used to show JARVIS was completely destroyed. Pulled apart in every direction leaving a horrible mess in front of us. My heart hurt, to most JARVIS was just Tony's AI, to me he was more than that. He'd helped coax me through so much, including the nightmares before I had anyone to lean on. He was a friend.

"JARVIS?" I walked over to the hologram, running my fingers through the pixels hoping somehow that it would piece him back together. "Why?" I wondered out loud.

"JARVIS was the first line of defence." Steve came to my side, pulling me against him. "He would've tried to shut Ultron down. It makes sense." His voice sounded almost defeated, which didn't bode well for the rest of us.

Bruce walked over, holding his hands out over the hologram. "No, Ultron could've assimilated JARVIS. This isn't strategy, this...this is...rage."

Rage I could deal with, rage I was feeling more than anything else in that moment.
"He won't get away with this. JARVIS deserved better."

"What are you thinking?" Clint asked me, knowing I wasn't going to just simply let this go.

My mind raced, if he killed JARVIS, chances are he knew we'd go looking for him. The internet was Ultron's territory, which meant we only had one other option.
"We go back to basics. Find out where he can go next and what he wants."

"The world's a big place sweetheart." Steve tried to calm me down.

It didn't work, I was in fight mode. Something I found incredibly hard to turn off when I had a mission in front of me.
"Then we make it smaller." I barked back, my need to make Ultron pay was overshadowing anything else. He'd taken something from me and I'd lost enough in my lifetime. I couldn't lose anything else. I wouldn't.

None of us slept that night, working tirelessly through old SHIELD files until the sun was rising in the sky. I could feel my eyes fighting to stay open, the effort distracting me from what I was supposed to be doing.

Steve appeared behind me. "Come on sweetheart, you need some rest."

"I'm..."

"Rain, if you tell me you're fine, so help me I'll make my point regardless of who is in the room." Steve growled in my ear, just loud enough for me to hear.

For a split second I was tempted to let him follow through on that threat. Until I remembered my brother was in the room.
Wrapping my hand around Steve's wrist I dragged him through the compound until we reached my room. The second the door closed behind us, his lips were on mine as he moved us towards the bed. His hands slid up under my shirt. I squirmed in pain as he brushed over my ribs.

Immediately pulling away, Steve glared at me.
"You're hurt?"

"It's fine Steve." I tried to pull him back, wanting his lips on me once more.

Unfortunately he wouldn't let it go. He pulled my dress up over my head, leaving me in nothing by my underwear. A nice purple bruise had formed on my side.