Sam: Imprisoned (Book 3)

Runaway Garbage

  The restaurant was fancy and elegant looking. There were enough casual people to not be immediately intimidated by the atmosphere so it was easier to focus on the dinner. A nicely dressed waiter with a dark-colored mustache showed us to a round table that had a white cloth draped over it. As I pulled my wooden chair out from under the table, Tony's phone began to ring. A noticeable sigh slipped from my lips as I rolled my eyes.
  Stark had the phone in his hand to check who it was but when he heard my disappointment he slipped the phone back into his pocket and lifted his hands in surrender, "I won't answer it."
  A content smile peeked onto my face then I turned back to the decor that was placed around the restaurant. It seemed like all of the tables were the same. With a little, dim light that hung above the white draped tables, wooden chairs that were stiff and uncomfortable to sit in, and candles placed in the middle of the tables to give it a classy feel. There was gentle acoustic music playing in the background of the building and the delicate chattering of people made sure that it wasn't awkwardly quiet in here.
  Then my attention turned to the menu that the waiter had placed down earlier. The book of food had a thick, leather cover on it with beautiful, black writing on the front; it was the name of the restaurant. I lifted the heavy cover and my eyes began to skim the words on it. I didn't have any time to read what any of it meant before-
  Tony's phone began to ring again. Whoever was calling him, must've really wanted to talk to him. Which made him huff in annoyance that someone was so persistent. However, Stark politely lifted his phone, canceled the call, and slipped the technology back into his pocket. Which allowed the space between us to settle back down into silence.
  My eyes began to read the odd names of the dishes then they flickered to the description of the meal. For once, I didn't focus on how much it was because it was Tony's idea to come here so if he wanted to empty his wallet - which would doubtedly ever happen - then I shouldn't be the one to stop him. So, I looked over the types of dishes they had and wondered what I was in the mood for.
  Alas, his phone - yet again - began to ring. My tolerance level was at its peak so I sighed, "Tony, if you have to answer it then go ahead."
  "No, it's fine. Whoever it is can wait," Tony reassured me then he turned his phone to silent.
  Before I could comment back, the waiter slipped up to the table with his hands behind his back and a serious expression plastered on his face, "What can I get you two to drink?" his voice was slow and monotone. Which made me think how lucky people were to have him as a waiter instead of a teacher because his class would instantly become nap time.
  So I turned my head and smiled at the gentleman, "Yes, can I look at your exotic wine list?" My voice obviously had a teasing tone to it but the waiter still raised his eyebrow at me. Then I felt a foot sharply nudge against mine under the table. Instantly knowing it was Tony, I sent him a half-smirk-half-glare look before grumbling out a lying, "Ow." Then I beamed back to the waiter and claimed, "You know, I think I'll just have some water for now."
  "Of course. And you, sir?" the waiter turned to look at Tony.
  "I guess I'll have a water as well," Tony muttered.
  As a reply, the waiter dipped his head then left the table. The space between us became quiet again so I turned back to the menu before commenting, "I would've figured that you'd want some wine, Tony."
  Which made him send a quick look of annoyance as he admitted, "Yeah, but it would just look suspicious now, wouldn't it?"
  A laugh slipped from my lips as I turned back to the menu, however, Tony stood up from the table. My eyes turned back to him but he mentioned.
  "I've got to go to the bathroom. I'll be right back," he promised.
  Except, I wasn't quick to fall for it as I crossed my arms and gave him a suspicious warning glare, "I swear, if you're on your phone for hours then I will bust in and smash that 'indestructible' technology of yours."
  After giving me a quick raise of his eyebrow, he gave up and slid his mute phone onto the table. Then he slipped away from me and through the restaurant. I watched him until he disappeared from my sight then I flicked my gaze back to the menu. I was really indecisive when it came to making decisions about food. Especially when there were so many options to chose from. It also didn't help that the food was mostly in a different language so I had no idea what I would get.
  Although, a vibration pulled me from my thoughts. My eyes scanned the restaurant to see if anyone else felt it but no one seemed bothered by the distraction. Soon, I realized that it was coming from my own table so my gaze drifted back to the dining table until it latched onto the small object. It was Tony's phone vibrating to signal that he was getting another call.
  Whoever it was calling him was really starting to make me mad so I picked up the phone and pressed the button to answer it, "Stark's assistant. He's busy right now so if you could leave a message that would be great," I couldn't help that my voice sounded like a hiss.
  However a familiar voice questioned, "Sam?"
  Instantly realizing who it was, I perked up, "Rhodey?"
  "Yeah, where's Tony?" the man's voice sounded short like he was breathing hard or something.
  "He's in the bathroom. Is something wrong?" I pressed.
  Indeed, there was a hint of anticipation in Rhodey's voice, "Yeah, that's why I need to talk to him."
  Curiosity was filling inside me quickly so I urged, "Just tell me and I'll tell Tony as soon as he gets back out."
  With a slight sigh, the man caved in, "Alright, there's a rogue garbage truck. I know it sounds weird but I think bad men are driving it with the intention to hurt people."
  My eyebrows narrowed, he had to know how crazy he sounded, "What?"
  "They're driving on the wrong side of the road of the highway. Sam, they could really hurt some people if they wreck into other cars," Rhodey explained. "And I can't stop it myself, I need your guys' help. Fast."
  "Alright, we'll be right there," I reassured him. He told me he had to go so I hung up the phone and clenched the device in my palm tighter with anticipation. I wasn't very patient so I found my foot tapping against the floor as I waited for Tony to come back out.
  However, the longer the minutes passed the more impatient I became. Finally, I stood up and slid away from the table. I stormed toward the bathroom to find Tony. If Rhodey was in trouble like he said then I was fully prepared to pull Stark from the men's bathroom. Luckily, that didn't happen as I ran into my uncle.
  Tony was surprised at first to find me up but then it changed to agitation, "I didn't bring my phone with me-."
  "I know," I quickly stated, now in a rush. "It started ringing again so I answered it and it was Rhodey. He needs help."
  Now that got Tony's attention as he narrowed his eyebrows in disbelief, "What?"
  Except I wasn't waiting around for him to be confused so I took his hand and dragged him along with me until I knew he would follow. Then I let go of him and slipped my hand to my bracelet. After I pushed the button, I muttered to the bracelet, "Now."
  Stark finally realized that I was telling the truth and more willingly followed me until we got outside of the restaurant. While Tony called for his own suit, I let my mind scan the horizon. It was still light outside but it would only be a few more hours until the sun went down so I figured we had to hurry with this hero mission.
  As soon as chunks of metal came into view, I got ready. The first shoe of armor shot toward me so I leapt up and my right foot landed on the metal. The rockets kicked on in the right shoe so I hovered a little bit until I jumped up so the left shoes could attach to my foot. It was like a staircase of metal as I leaped from one piece of armor to the next. Until I was fully incased in the suit and hovering in the air. I had been working on that trick for a while now and I was glad that it went really smooth. When I glanced down, the last chunk of metal locked into Tony before he was enclothed in the suit.
  "You should probably call Rhodey back. I have no idea where he's at," I admitted.
  Although, Tony didn't seem to mind as he kicked off with his rockets, "Just follow me."
  Judging by the unusual silence from Tony, I assumed that he was calling his friend to figure out where the commotion was. It wasn't often that Tony let me come on his heroic adventures so I definitely noticed my heart beating in anticipation and excitement. Even though it had been a while, I was definitely not rusty on my fighting skill. Whether Tony knew about it or not, I had no idea, but I trained with the suit a few times a week. Mostly because I was bored, but also so I would be prepared!
  Since the rockets on our feet were at full blast, the two of us reached the situation pretty fast. I noticed Rhodey hovering over the highway and looking down. Sure enough, there was a giant dump truck going the wrong way. People were trying their best to move out of its way but - soon - someone was about to get hurt.
  "Good! You're here!" Rhodey called from his suit. Apparently, he had already thought a plan out because he instantly started giving orders, "Tony, I need your help with the garbage truck. You think you could lift it with me?"
  Tony dipped his head in a curt nod before replying, "Let's get to it."
  Since they left me out - no hard feelings -, I chimed in, "I'll get any cars that are in danger."
  Before they could reply to my plan, I flew away from them and bolted to the highway. We had no more time to waste. So I sped toward the road and immediately scanned the area. Sure enough, the garbage truck was barreling toward a dark green mini-van. Snapping into action, I raced quicker until I was by the van. At first, I figure they would try to swerve away from the giant truck but as they shifted over to another lane, so did the truck. If any of them, this would be the car that the dump truck was going to hit.
  My reaction time was pretty quick as my brain pondered on how to handle the situation. Good thing I was good under pressure because then a solution came to mind. I charged the suit toward the van then I slipped underneath it. As soon as it rolled over me, I gripped my hands on the underside of the vehicle and began to lift with the strength of the suit. Eventually, the van raised above the ground a full me length since I was raising it above my head. Since the truck was still charging toward us, I kicked off then flicked my rockets on to lift the van even higher.
  Eventually, I raised the vehicle high enough that it missed the garbage truck so it began to pass us. Alas, apparently I wasn't high enough away from the truck because then it caught my foot. I gasped as it tripped me and I found my rockets turning upward only to urge me closer to the ground. Except then the rockets turned off all at once. All of the sudden, I blinked and found myself down on the highway. Haplessly, I peeked upward and noticed the van falling toward me. It remained level, luckily, and didn't tilt at all. Not so luckily, the mini-van was about to collide with my body. So I shrieked then covered my head with my metal protected arms.
  The van crashed over me so I flinched at the loud noise. "Sam?!" I heard a familiar voice call in the monitors.
  Realizing I wasn't dead or in pain, I opened my subconsciously closed eyes and took in my surroundings. The van was, indeed, over my head. However, it landed perfectly flat so the distance between the car and the street - thanks to the tires - was wide enough that my flatly laid body could fit under the car.
  "Are you okay?" the same voices called out.
  Then I noticed I hadn't answered yet so I slipped out from under the van and held up a thumbs up while muttering out a, "Just swell." I noticed that the two men were trying to lift the moving truck but it wasn't working so well. While the situation intensified, my mind started spinning with ideas or some kind of plan.
  Rhodey's voice came through the coms, "There's a build up of cars just a mile out. If we don't stop this thing now then it'll be a massive wreck."
  "I'm thinking!" Tony shouted from the pressure of the situation.
  The dump truck was still slowing down, speeding up, swerving everywhere; everything to try and loose the two heroes. By now, I was back in the air after making sure everyone in the van was okay. I raced after the truck and tried to think of something that might work. At this point, the truck was moving so fast that it was hard to keep up. Except I managed to reach them after blasting my rockets to full speed.
  "Rhodey, try to get the drivers out of the vehicle," Tony finally suggested.
  However, that plan was shot down when Rhodey confessed, "I've already tried but the vehicle is automatic. It's being controlled from somewhere else."
  "Then we need to flip it over!" I exclaimed and shot away from the two toward the truck.
  "Sam, wait!" Tony called then he launched after me.
  "Help me push it over!" I asked. When I reached the garbage truck, I lowered myself near the bottom of the tire. I pushed against the bumper and tried to shove the truck off of the road but it felt like the vehicle was pushing against me. No matter how hard I tried to push the truck, it didn't seem to budge.
  Fortunately, Tony was right beside me and began to press himself into the side of the truck as well. The truck groaned and creaked as it began to tilt on its tires. Something definitely had to be inside of the garbage truck to weigh it down because it was hardly even phased by me alone. When Tony and I looked at each other, we synced up to kick off our rockets hard at the same time. 
  Finally, the heavy vehicle tilted enough that it finally fell to its side. However, something poured out of the back of the truck. Tony went around - since he was closer - to the back to investigate what was inside.
  "Oh shi-," his voice was immediately cutoff when a missile rammed into him and exploded. This made him go flying in his metal suit away from the highway.
  Taking a peek at the back of the truck, there were tons of equipment and weapons. No wonder this thing was so heavy. It must've been to transport everything since there were no drivers.
  "Tony!" I focused back on the hero and flew after him.
  After being flung back at least two miles, his suit landed with a heavy thunk. As soon as I saw the metal on the ground, I immediately landed my own suit beside his. A few of the trees around us were knocked over but nothing else was harmed - except. 
  "Tony, are you okay?" I kneeled down beside him, waiting for a response.
  There was a long - heart-stopping - pause and silence that came from the suit. My eyes widened as the worst thoughts came to mind.
  Finally, a groan came from the suit and the faceplate opened up. Tony was wincing in either pain in shock so I had my suit scan his injuries. Fortunately, it only showed a concussion. A major one, but he would live. 
  "Yeah, yeah, I'm good," Tony grumbled but remained laying on the ground to catch his breath.
  A different voice chimed in through the suit's technology, "Is Tony okay?"
  So I answered, "Yeah, he'll live. I think he just needs to be cleaned up."
  "Why don't you two head home? I'll stay with the truck since it's immobilized now and wait for law enforcement to get here. I'm better at talking to them anyway," Rhodey pointed out. He was very much right.
  "We'll catch ya later, okay Rhodey?" 
  "See ya, Sam," he ended before turning his comms off. 
  I went back to Tony and helped him up. The suit scanned him one more time to make sure it didn't miss anything but showed that Tony was okay. So I wrapped his arm around my shoulder to give him a little bit more support. When we were both ready, we took off through the air in our suits until home was in sight.
  Once we were inside, we took our suits off. Tony wanted us to be quiet because he didn't want to alarm Pepper so we kept to his work office. I sat him down in one of his chairs, grabbed a first aid kit, and tended to the small gash on his forehead.
  "Are you sure you're okay?" I asked again.
  "Yeah, I'm fine... Sorry the night was ruined," Tony mumbled, seeming more embarrassed than anything. 
  Although I just grinned, "Are you kidding? I haven't had that much fun in forever!" When Tony shot me a smile, I continued, "We should do it again."
  So it was his turn to shoot me a look as if I was insane, "Yeah, if you want me to break something. I still have my youth but I don't know how much longer that'll last."
  With a smirk, I offered, "How about a movie to finish the night?"
  "Deal," he sent me a smirk back.
  The two of us popped some popcorn in the microwave, changed into some pajamas and sweatpants, then sat down on the couch to choose a movie. We decided on Tom Hank's Cast Away to end the night with us. The rest of the night was enjoyable for the both of us as we relaxed and laughed at the classic movie. 
  All in all, this day was one of my favorites and I knew I would never forget this precious time with Tony. 

(I don't know if I'll be able to post tomorrow so just in case, here's a chapter! Also, the next chapter is when the shit hits the fan so stay tuned and thank you everyone for reading!
~~~~~ LL2z)