The Devil With The Face of an Angel | Irondad, pepperony

Chapter 85

New York and Sokovia. Two events she had to face that threatened all of humanity. Even so, she wasn't as afraid during them as she was now. This was personal. It was exactly what she and Tony had tried so hard to prevent when they signed the contract.

She stood in the middle of an empty lab, watching Tony run around frantically, trying to find something. Anything. She looked down at the phone in her hands she had picked up from the ground. A cell phone she knew very well. She took a deep breath. She couldn't be Natasha now. No, she must have been Black Widow now. All emotions had to go away.

"No one's here, Tony," she said eventually.

"No, we have to keep looking," Tony said, continuing to search the lab.

"Tony, Tony, listen to me," she said, grabbing his wrist, "we're late. This is Pepper's phone. I found him on the floor. We're just wasting time here."

"No! We couldn't be late!" he snapped. He broke free of her grip and began searching the lab again. He refused to leave without his family.

"You've looked there three times. Tony! We have to leave."

"How can you be so calm?" he asked desperately when he finally stopped and gave her a teary look.

"Do you think I'm calm? No, I'm not, but we can't both panic. And Bruce is still waiting for me outside, whom I will have to keep under surveillance so that he does not turn into the Hulk. If I panic, I probably won't be able to, will I? Tony, I know it's hard. I also feel the despair, but we won't help them here anymore," she explained, hoping Tony would take her words to heart. She needed him to have a clear head, as much as possible in this situation.

"I'm going to look around a bit. We'll meet at home," he muttered, walking to the door.

Natasha just nodded and followed him out the door. But she didn't find him outside anymore. Only the stressed Bruce was waiting for her there. "How to calm it down a little, Big guy?" she said with a small smile. It was important now that she did not express her concerns.

"Calm down? Calm down?! What the hell is going on?" he blurted out as he walked. He walked around the car to calm down a bit.

"The lab was empty, they had already moved it all. Tony looks around and we go home to work. Now I need your head to calm down, Bruce. Everything will turn out well, and if the Hulk is needed, you will get the green light, but until then, you have to stay Bruce. If Ross found out, we would have another problem on our necks. Can you handle it?" she asked, placing a hand on his cheek.

"I'll try," Bruce said, and Nat gave him a quick kiss before they both got in the car and drove home.

•••

Peter never regretted anything. Well, until now. He regretted not listening to his dad and went on an excursion to Oscorp. If he didn't go there, he would never have his abilities, this would never happen. And yes, he loved his abilities, but without blinking, he would trade them for the last few weeks. In fact, if it were possible, he would happily return them to Mary in exchange for never approaching his family again. But Peter knew it was impossible. Mutagenic enzymes were part of his DNA and will be with him forever.

"Why are you doing this?" he muttered to the man who was taking his blood. Again. He wondered if he still had any blood.

"I need it for research," he replied, fully focused on his task.

Peter gave him an inquisitive look. He couldn't tell if he was serious or making fun of him. "I know what you need my blood for. But why are you doing this?" he finally asked, concluding that the man's answer was quite serious.

"It's a groundbreaking discovery. The dream of every scientist."

"And you don't mind what's left behind? All those corpses? How many people did not survive the bite?" he asked. He knew he was lucky in this, and he didn't want to think that it would turn out the same as the previous volunteers. So if it was volunteers at all...

"I admit it's not ideal, but we're not the first and we certainly won't be the last. Science always demands its sacrifices," he said prudently. "Besides, it's better not to oppose Mary. You've probably found out for yourself."

The man left, leaving Peter alone in the room again. As he listened, he found that the last dose of some serum that was supposed to weaken him completely shut him down. And they were now afraid to give him another batch, which played into his cards as he began to regain his strength. It was small, but he could feel it.

•••

"I'm surprised Potts is still breathing," Quentin said as he sat down in a chair next to her.

Mary continued her work. "Don't you have anything better to do?" she asked a little, annoyed. Maybe she should get rid of him too. The world around her would be much nicer.

"No, I don't," he grinned and paused for a moment. "So what? Why haven't you killed her yet?"

"Do you always need to know everything? Tell me, what do I have from her death now?" she asked him and stopped working.

"I don't know what you'll get out of it when you kill her?" he answered confusedly. Why did she ask him about such things?

"God, Quentin, use that brain of yours sometimes! It will still come in handy when Peter starts making trouble. You know him well, do you think he will listen to the word? That's probably hard, isn't it? No no. Potts will still be useful to me, and it would be foolish of me to kill her now," she explained, turning back to the computer. "If you have any more stupid questions, please go and burden someone else with them, okay?"

"It's so fun with you," he muttered under his nose and stood up. He didn't have to think twice about what he was going to do. He hadn't teased Richard and his feelings for Mary for a long time.