NUMB || MARVEL

16

"Tony?" Aileen asks as she wakes up. He looks at her before looking back to where he was flying towards. "What am I doing here?" She asks him and notices that they are in a helicopter.

"I wasn't going to leave you alone. I almost lost Rhodey and Natasha is playing spy once again. I need you here." She frowns.

"So you kidnapped me?" He chuckles.

"If that's what you want to call it, then yeah." She makes her way to the front and sits in the seat next to him.

Tony flies the chopper low over the broiling sea. He operates the chopper with a touch screen computer in a wall panel and glances at Aileen.

"You angry 'bout it?" He asks and Aileen raises an eyebrow.

"About what?"

"The fight, the kidnapping.." he shrugs and Aileen leans back into the chair.

"Not sure."

"This is the Raft Prison Control. You're clear for landing, Mr. Stark." They hear a voice say over the radio. Aileen narrows her eyes and leans forward a little, only to see the sea swelling and surges as Raft Prison rises up from beneath. A huge, fortified, circular structure with small lights around the sides. Two semi-circular doors open up in the flat circular top. The chopper lands on a helipad and the doors close above it. Tony and Aileen walk up to Secretary Ross.

"So? You got the files?" Tony asks. "Let's reroute the satellites, start facial scanning for this Zemo guy."

Secretary Ross raises his eyebrows. "You seriously think I'm gonna listen to you after that fiasco in Leipzig? You're lucky you're not in one of these cells." Ross looks at Tony sternly and leads the two through a thick, steel security door. Soldiers stand guard in an operations room. Tony looks at a surveillance screen. It shows Wanda, sitting hunched and bedraggled in a cramped prison cell. He quickly makes Aileen look the other way.

Another security door opens. They both walk into a chamber surrounded by large, bared windows. Beyond the windows are a number of prison cells. Tony takes in his surroundings and steps in front of Aileen. He knew that she didn't remember much, but it would hurt her to see them in these cells.

Clint starts to clap. "The Futurist, gentlemen! The Futurist is here! He sees all! He knows what's best for you, whether your like it or not."

Tony sighs. "Give me a break, Barton. I had no idea they'll put you here. Come on."

"Yeah, well, you knew they'd put us somewhere, Tony."

"Yeah, but not some super-max floating ocean pokey. You know, this place is for maniacs. This is a place for..."

Clint scoffs. "Criminals?" He stands up. "Criminals, Tony. Think that's the word you're looking for." He eyes Tony through the bars. "Right? That didn't used to mean me. Or Sam, or Wanda. But here we are." He glances behind Tony and sees Aileen looking at the people in the cells, her eyes were glistening and he knew that she was very close to tears. She takes a step back and glances at Sam who looks at her with remorse.

"Because you broke the law."

"Yeah."

"I didn't make you."

"La, la, la, la, la..."

"You read it, you broke it."

"La, la, la, la la..."

"Alright, you're all grown up, you got a wife and kids. I don't understand, why didn't you think about them before you chose the wrong side?"

"Why'd you bring her here." Clint asks as he nods his head towards Aileen who is looking at Sam.

"I did not know that it was this bad." Tony admits before he walks away.

"You gotta watch your back with this guy." Clint yells. "There's a chance he's gonna break it." Aileen looks up and frowns. She remembered that voice from somewhere.

"Are you okay?" She softly asks as she takes a step forward to the glass that was separating her from the man that she remembered all along. He stands up and nods.

"Nothing that I didn't expect." She gives him half a smile.

"You didn't answer the question." She simply says and he chuckles.

"No I did not." He sighs and stands right in front of the window. "I'm good." He frowns at her. "Leen?" She looks him in the eyes and nods, motioning for him to continue his question. "Please don't think I did the bad thing."

"Why'd they put you in a cell then." He chuckles.

"Different views." She hums in understanding.

"Do you need anything?" She softly asks him and takes a step forward, making sure that whatever he would say - even in a whisper - she would hear.

"How's Rhodes?" Sam asks as he sees Tony walking towards him.

"They're flying him to Columbia Medical tomorrow. So... fingers cross." Sam shakes his head. "What do you need? They feed you yet?"

Sam raises his eyebrows. "You're the good cop now?"

"I'm just the guy who needs to know where Steve went." Aileen narrows her eyes at him, he hadn't told her that.

"Well, you better go get a bad cop, because you're gonna have to go Mark Fuhrman on my ass to get information out of me." Aileen smiles at him and he smiles back.

"Oh, I just knocked the 'A' out of their 'AV'. We got about 30 seconds before they realize it's not their equipment." Tony sighs. "Just look. Because that is the fellow who was supposed to interrogate Barnes." He shows a holographic image of Doctor Broussard. "Clearly, I made a mistake. Sam, I was wrong."

"That's a first."

"Cap is definitely off the reservation but he's about to need all the help he can get. We don't know each other very well. You don't have to..."

"Hey, it's alright." Tony leans closer to the window. Sam sighs and looks uneasy. "Look, I'll tell you... but you have to go alone," he glances at a timid looking Aileen. "And as a friend."

"Easy."

Tony and Aileen walk back to his chopper.

"Stark? Did he give you anything on Rogers?" Secretary Ross asks. Tony shakes his head.

"Nope. Told me to go to hell. I'm going back to the compound instead, but you can call me anytime. I'll put you on hold, I like to watch the line blink." Ross stares at Tony who smiles as he gets in the chopper and the door slides shut. The chopper rises off the helipad and flies away. The doors close on the prison roof.

Sitting in the chopper Tony un-clips the sling holding his left arm. He cradles his arm in his hand for a moment. He slowly reaches out the injured arm and presses a button on a panel. The Iron Man Suit wraps itself around Tony.

"You be safe okay?" Aileen asks him and he salutes her.

"Same to you." A hatch opens and he flies out of the chopper as Iron Man. He speeds through dark clouds and Aileen follows him, not noticing the Quinjet following him.