fox (iron man's daughter)

16

tony's p.o.v

we're only given a second to take the information in before everything truly begins.

i'm just starting to get angry, really angry. i've never been this angry. they're using her as some sort of.. test subject. they're doing this to make me angry, and it's working and that makes me angrier. i'm going to make these people suffer when i find them, i'm going to make them regret the day their parent's didn't use a-

"mr stark an unknown server would like to stream to stark industries" F.R.I.D.A.Y interrupts my train of thought.

pepper answers before i can "put it on".

i turn to look at her. tears are pooling in her eyes, her lip tucked between her teeth. tremors are disrupting her grip on the desk, her knuckles white. i hadn't realised how much this was affecting her, i've been so caught up that i hadn't noticed the bags below her eyes or the knots in her hair. i wrap an arm around her without a word, pulling her close to me in the hopes that i can keep her safe.

a room is projected onto the screen. it's fairly bland, three beds along the gray walls, bright white lighting, concrete floor. what catches my attention though, is the two guys sat on the floor, they're talking to each other quietly, it doesn't seem too important. they must be about 20, both of them muscular and tall. one of them has dirty blonde hair, soft brown eyes, the other brunette with green eyes.  a door slams in the background, both of the men jumping as the door to the room they're in slams open.

stood in the doorway is the same guy who took her that night, in his arms is fox. she's limp and lifeless, her head rolled back whilst she lays in his arms. i curse under my breath as i notice the band aid on her arm. i watch as the guy carries her into the centre of the room, dropping her onto the floor. the brunette guy moves quickly, throwing out a hand to protect her head from hitting the cold concrete. horror fills the blonde guy's face as the man turns to leave. 

"are you kidding me?!" he shouts angrily "she's just a kid! you can't do this to a kid!" he takes a step towards the guy, who pays no attention. his heavy footsteps echo around the room as he marches back to the door. he pauses in the doorway and turns around slowly. i feel pepper shiver as his black eyes stare right at the camera, right at us. then, with another slam of the metal door, he's gone.

"fuck" the blonde one mumbles under his breath "is she okay?". he turns, crouching down next to brunette and fox. 

"looks like they took about as much care with getting her here as they did with me" brunette responds, examining the stitched gash on her forehead and the bruises on her shoulders and neck.

"for fucks sake" blonde curses again, standing back up and beginning to pace "as if we didn't think they were evil before, they've brought in a kid, a KID caspian" he rubs his forehead, glancing at fox again. "what is she? like eleven? there's no way she'll survive more than a week" he gulps. my chest tightens at his words.

"F.R.I.D.A.Y trace the transmission" I choke out. 

"no location can be found, sir".

it's the response i was expecting, but it still pains me.

"we'll help her, we can protect her. they must've brought her for a reason anyway, they probably don't even want her dead" the brunette 'caspian' sighs.

"i don't know, nothing they do is predictable" blonde chews his lip, running a hand through his hair. they're both silent for a moment, as if assessing the situation and calculating their next move. "we should probably move her" blonde finally decides. 

caspian nods in agreement "i can do it". he slides an arm under her legs and another around her chest, lifting her off the ground with ease and carrying her over to one of the beds, placing her down cautiously, as if she might break with any movement. 

who knows, she might.

caspian and blonde, who's name we learn is rubin, talk for a long time after that. none of what they say is important. i note that steve is becoming increasingly uncomfortable, and i refrain from commenting on it for a while, however eventually when his leg is bouncing at 200 miles an hour, i feel as though i should say something. 

"hey uh.. cap you alright?" i try not to allow emotion to seep into my words. 

"that stuff they put into her" he gulps "kind of like what they did to me.. and bucky, wanda pietro" he brings his eyes to meet mine "what if they're making a weapon, out of her".

of course the same thought had been tossed around all of our minds, steve is just the first one to voice it. it sounds worse when he says it out loud, and i feel worse knowing that other people think it too. it makes it more plausible.

none of us respond to him, all thinking over the idea again. 

we're interrupted from our thoughts by a scream that pains my heart and makes the acid in the stomach swirl around. we all look at the screen, fox is screaming and thrashing around, but she's asleep.  she's screaming for her mum.

"casp hold her down" rubin jumps up from where he's sat with caspian and they both rush over to fox. they kneel either side of the bed and rubin places his forearm on fox's chest, clearly exerting pressure to keep her still. caspian takes her hand in his and just holds it. rubin murmurs to her for about half an hour whilst she continues to scream "it's okay, it'll be okay" he keeps repeating under his breath.

i'm pretty sure neither him or caspian believe his words, but eventually fox calms down.