When The Laughter Stops

Ch 26

Later That Night

We overran a lab in record time. You would think having a top lab with a secret project in the works it would have top notch security but sadly not. Well sad for them, great for me.

"Hello Dr.Montes." I smirk as I see the man sitting in a chair in the middle of the room.

He gulps as he hesitates to respond.

"W-what do you want?" He asks.

"A little birdie told me- well a subway rat, you know how big they are, told me, you are working on a shot. A shot that allows crippled people to walk again. And I gotta say, that sounds very, familiar." I finish in his face.

"Well Mr.Stark-

"Don't! Say his name. Understood?" I grit.

"I won't- I mean yes I understand." He nods.

"Now tell me Doc, how did you get your research?" I ask.

"Well Mr- I mean, he gave me the empty seringe that was used on him and I was contracted to figure out the components of the formula through the resedue that was left in the seringe along with your notes and research that they got a hold of." He explains.

My blood boils as I crane my neck from side to side.

"Now tell me, how far along are you on your research? How much do you know?" I ask with a glare.

"Well, knowledge is a tricky thing-

"Answer me!" I growl fisting the front of his lab coat.

"About 86%!" He exclaims in fear.

"Your notes are difficult to read-

"Cause they're mine." I growl lowly.

I then take off my blazer and shirt, Jonny handing me my bat.

"Please don't kill me. I have a wife and children and-

"Hey, hey. Shut up!" I cut him off.

"I ain't gonna kill ya. You're useful, as a message." I tell him as he gulps.

"And don't worry you'll see your wife and kids more often." I add.

"What do yo-AH!" He screams in agony as I took a swing on his hip bone making him collapse on the ground.

I take more swings in all the areas I knew they were going to leave him crippled just below the waist if he was lucky. I take a step back turning my attention to my boys ignoring Montes's screams.

"Get my work back, destroy all of his." I order and they nod.

They all leave the room as I take more swings.

~

The NYPD are on the scene, Dr.Montes being taken to the ambulance on a gurney.

"Derrick who did this to you?" Tony asks the doctor.

"J-Joker." He chokes.

The police start to look at the security tapes.

They see The Joker beat Dr.Montes with the bat showing no mercy using full force in each swing followed by broken screams.

Natasha closes her eyes not wanting to see J doing this heartless act.

"Smile for the camera." She says getting behind Montes pulling his hair so his neck can crane back pointing at the security camera.

"Smile!" She growls craning his head back with the bat, and he smiles in pain showing his bloody teeth.

She lets go of him as he falls on the ground begging for mercy. She then smiles and waves at the camera before leaving.

"That psychotic bitch!" Tony grits.

"What do we do? How are we gonna find her?" Clint asks looking between the two siblings. 

"We're shooting on sight." Tony says without hesitation.

"No!- I mean we can't do that." Natasha shakes her head.

"Natasha didn't you just see what she did to an innocent man! She's already killed one and crippled another! Her first night of escape!" Tony motions to the screen.

"She's not well Tony. We can't just shoot her if she's mentally ill." Natasha counters making him sigh.

"Nat, she is a criminal. She is heartless. I mean, after everything she did to you I would've thought you would want her six feet under." Tony tells her and she looks back at the security monitor which shows the doctor still on the ground motionless, a slight twitch here and there.

"She needs help." She says then walks away to see if Steve and Wanda found anything in another part of the lab.

She goes to another part of the lab to see everything trashed.

"What happened here?" She asks and Steve turns to her. 

"*sighs* Well everything Dr.Montes has been working on for the last 2 to 3 years is completely destroyed." Steve says looking around.

Natasha looks around biting her lip not knowing how to wrap her head around this situation, she doesn't even notice when Steve walks away.

"Nat, you okay?" Wanda asks softly making her snap her out of her thoughts.

"Huh? Yeah I'm fine, just alot to wrap my head around." She nods with a deep breath looking around at the destruction.

"Natasha, she's dangerous-

"She's misunderstood." She quickly corrects.

"Maybe, before she was locked up. But now, she's changed. In one night she's kil- done alot of bad." Wanda says not wanting to be specific.

"Don't tell me you want to shoot on sight too." She shakes her head.

"What I'm saying is I think you're too close to this." Wanda reiterates.

"She's a criminal and you're not thinking clearly." She adds softly placing a hand on her friends for arm.

"I could go talk to her-

"No way! I'm not letting you go near her!" Wanda exclaims and Natasha shushes her incase Tony or the other guys heard.

"I can get through to her Wanda." Natasha insists.

"She didn't seem too happy to see you earlier. She didn't even listen to you. She just toyed with you. She's changed. She's not the same person from two years ago." Wanda shakes her head and walks away to meet with the others.