Sparrows and Iron

Chapter 9

-Present Day-

Back at the tower, once everyone had cleaned up from the mission, the team was relaxing in the common room trying to decide what movie to watch.

Jenny and Tony were sitting on the loveseat together, her legs draped over his lap. They ignored the argument, opting instead to try and make the other laugh. Tony poked her side and she giggled, extending a wing over to flick him in the face with the tips of her feathers.

"Hey lovebirds," Bucky called. "Settle down, the movie's about to start."

The pair exchanged a glance, rolling their eyes with a smile.

This family was crazy, but it was certain for all of them that they wouldn't trade it for the world.

Not willingly, anyways.

---

Jenny woke up screaming. This wasn't an unusual occurrence; although, as always, Tony was there for her.

"Hey, hey! Sweetheart, I'm here," he soothed, pulling her close.

She wrapped her arms around his strong frame, clinging tightly to him as if he might disappear, and buried her face in his chest. He kissed her head comfortingly as her small form trembled with terrified breaths, her soft wings instinctively curling around them both.

"What did you see this time?" he whispered.

Jenny shook her head, softly sobbing.

"You--" she broke off. "There was blood everywhere..."

Tony calmingly stroked her hair as her voice faded to a shaky whisper.

"You were lying on the ground."

Now she pulled away to look him in the eyes, still gripping tightly to him as though he were her lifeline.

"You weren't moving."

Tears spilled from her eyes, prompting Tony to pull her back to him.

"Shh..." he soothed, kissing her again.

"It's okay, look at me. I'm here, I'm okay."

Jenny trembled.

"Tony... Tony, you know that my dreams--"

"Hey," he cut her off, lifting a hand to cup her face. "Don't worry about it."

He looked at her reassuringly, wiping the tears from her cheek.

"You've been wrong before, Jenny. It's gonna be okay."

She nodded, not really believing him.

Only time will tell...

---

In the jet on the way to the mission site, Jenny sat alone, anxiously wringing her hands.

"You okay, Sparrow?" came Natasha's voice.

Startled, Jenny looked up at her best friend.

"Of- of course, I'm fine," she shakily dismissed. "Just... nerves."

Nat shot her a look.

"You don't get nervous. Now do you wanna tell me what's really bothering you?"

Jenny's eyes wandered over to Tony, who was obliviously discussing strategy with the Captain. Natasha followed her gaze.

"Just... keep an eye on him for me, would you? I... I just have a bad feeling."

Seeing that the mutant wasn't going to say anything more, Natasha just nodded.

---

Things were going smoothly, for the most part. The Avengers were picking the base apart as usual, with no major complications. That is, until there was an uncharacteristic silence from the team's resident billionaire.

"FRIDAY!" Jenny yelled desperately, "Where is Tony?"

"Mr. Stark was forced to abandon the Iron Man armour. I can't seem to contact him."

Panic bubbled in her gut.

"What was his last location?"

As FRIDAY began to give her directions, Steve's voice rang out over the comms.

"Jenny, wait for backup. It could be a trap, and you know you don't see clearly when you're emotionally compromised."

"I saw pretty clearly last night, Captain," she spat, "And I'm not going to let him die because I wasted my time waiting for backup!"

With that said, Jenny took off into the air. She quickly reached the location, scanning the area for her boyfriend. Then, she saw the remnants of the suit. FRIDAY said he had been forced to abandon it... and Tony would never let HYDRA get their hands on his precious arc reactor technology. Of course he would have set it to self-destruct.

"Don't move!" came a voice, as the cold barrel of a gun was pressed against the back of her neck.

"Turn around slowly, and put your hands up."

Jenny did as instructed, facing the HYDRA agent. She noticed more agents, one of whom was restraining a beat-up Tony.

Well, at least she'd found him.

"Come along peacefully," the agent growled, "And we will have no reason to harm you or your lover."

Jenny scoffed.

"You don't need a reason."

"You're right," the agent agreed, striking her across the face with the butt of the gun.

Tony yelled indignantly, struggling against the agent's hold.

Jenny shot him a look. Taking the hint, the two of them coordinated their attacks. Tony broke free, and chaos erupted. For a moment, it looked like they were going to get out of this sticky situation.

All was going well until Tony got shot. The gun went off. Jenny's vision was happening right before her eyes. He fell to the ground, shirt soaked with red.

Jenny ran over to him, ignoring the danger, to put pressure on his wound. The click of a gun's safety sounded behind her.

"Mutant freak," the man growled.

"Subject X!" she said quickly.

"What?" he asked, confusion plastered on his face.

"I'm Subject X."

Understanding dawned in his eyes.

"You're coming with me."

"I'll only come peacefully if he lives."

The man glared at her, but Jenny didn't back down. Finally, he relented, motioning to two other agents who came forward to help carry Tony. One of the men tried to pull Jenny away, but she defiantly clung to him, determined not to be separated.

The pair was roughly dragged down under the base, the fight still raging outside. They were brought to a sort of underground escape tunnel when the guards suddenly stopped the group.

The leader reached up and snatched Jenny's comm device from her ear.

"Can't have you calling your little friends on us now, can we?"

Suddenly, Jenny felt the prick of a needle in her neck, and the world began to go dark.

"I think you will cause less trouble if you are asleep, no?"

Then everything was black.