"Pass me the salt, please." Clint mumbled awkwardly as we sat having dinner in the tower.
"Tony dear, we need to get going if we don't want to be late for the gala." Pepper purred making sure I caught sight of her hand that trailed its way up Tony's thigh.
"When should we be there?" Tony asked her while gulping down his drink.
"9 o'clock."
"Perfect, we'll be there at 11." He shrugged and I couldn't help but snigger at his comment.
I have never felt more uncomfortable in all my life, and I just wanted it to end.
"Excuse me." I stood up quickly and started walking towards the gym, where I heard a few grunts.
"Steve?" I whispered and he turned around slowly, wiping sweat off his forehead.
"Hey, Valentina." He smiled warmly and I smiled back. "Do you need something?"
"Yeah actually, I wanted to run a few errands, do you mind accompanying me?"
"Sure, Valentina. I have nothing better to do."
****
"Is that all?" Steve grunted, having trouble carrying all my shopping bags.
"Yes Cap, I'm all done." I chuckled humorously as he threw me a playful glare.
The smile on his face was wiped off instantly and he was horrified.
"Stev..."
"DOWN!" He screamed while dropping all the bags and charging forward.
Gunshots could be heard and I stayed down with my eyes clenched shut, as people scrambled on the sidewalks desperately trying to get to safety.
Suddenly, I was yanked by my hair and I yelped in shock.
"LET ME GO!" I screamed in desperation, but the person just chuckled coldly and whispered in my ear.
"No can do, darling."
It was a woman, for sure. I tried using the skills Seth taught me, but the plan backfired.
"STEVE!" I shouted as I felt an excruciating pain in my arm. "H-Help, STEVE!"
"VALENTINA!" He shouted back while fighting the men dressed in black.
Crying. I was crying from the immense pain I was experiencing, I'm pretty sure that bloody woman broke my arm.
"Move!" She hissed and I obeyed her in order to avoid another hit.
We stopped directly in-front of Steve and the other men, and he was shot in the stomach.
"NO! PLEASE!" I struggled to get free to help my injured friend, yet the woman gripping my hand wouldn't let go.
"Hold on okay? Cap can you hear me?!" I screamed from a distance and he nodded in pain.
Elbowing the woman in the face, I sprinted towards Steve and grabbed his comms and screamed at the top of my lungs.
"TONY!"
And the last thing I remember was being kicked in the face and knocked out.
****
•Salvador•
"You have a tough one, Montenegro." Anna said while taking a seat on the couch.
I nodded and tilted my head to the side.
"Is she still knocked out?" I asked her and she nodded while wiping her hands.
Standing from my seat, I walked to the door to check on my daughter.
****
Brushing my fingers against her cheek as she slept, I felt an unfamiliar feeling. A feeling I have tried to avoid for my entire life. A man like myself shouldn't allow himself too feel, as my father always said.
As I sensed her presence, I spoke up.
"Couldn't you have gone a little easier on her?"
"Would you look at that...you do feel."
I scoffed and stood up.
Feeling her hand on my shoulder, I turned around.
"It's okay to care, Salvador." She whispered and I shrugged her off and shot her a glare.
"How long are you going to keep lying to yourself?"
When I gave her no response she rolled her eyes and strolled out of the room.
****
•Seth•
"We're doing everything we can sir." The deputy replied and I banged my fist on my desk.
"Clearly it's not enough! Find her!" I ordered and he nodded quickly and walked out of my office.
I'm sorry Valentina. I'm so sorry.
****
•Tony•
"It's not your fault, Stark." Natasha told me as she patted my back in a comforting manner.
"We'll find her, Tony." Steve nodded at me, guilt evident in his eyes.
Ignoring the both of them, I turned to Banner.
"Anything?" I asked and he just shook his head slowly.
"There's nothing I can track." He shrugged and I shut my eyes in anger and disappointment.
If I had been there when they both needed me, instead of being in that stupid party, none of this would have happened.
"Tony baby?" I turned as I listened to Pepper's soothing voice.
"Come to bed. When they find her, they will surely tell you, you need to get some rest, it's more important."
The whole team were either looking at her in disgust or shock, and to be quite frank I don't blame them.
"Nothing's more important than Valentina right now, Pepper." I bluntly stated desperately trying to find a way to locate my best friend.
"Excuse me?" She seethed and I glared at her.
"What about me? Am I not important enough for you?"
"Pepper! My best friend is missing! I don't really want to talk about this right now." I raised my voice, but I couldn't help it, she was choosing the wrong time to talk about this.
"I TOLD YOU! I TOLD YOU IT'S EITHER ME OR HER! AND YOU CHOSE HER!"
"No I didn't! I chose you both! You're going to have to learn to be okay with the fact that she's a part of my life and I wouldn't trade her for the world." I didn't care that we were arguing in front of the entire team or that we were both yelling.
"You can either keep sitting down here, looking for your so called best friend and forget us, or you can come upstairs with me and we can work this out."
Natasha scoffed and slammed her gun on the metal bench.
"How can you just make him choose? Don't you care about him, if at all?" She scolded Pepper like a child but she didn't react, she kept staring at me, waiting for my reply.
"I don't have time for this. I need to find Valentina." I stood up and rushed down to the lab, trying to think of any attempt to find her.
Please be okay.