Fanfic: Avengers / Leverage Crossover (Part Four)
Thieves, Spies, and Accidental Allies Masterpost
Hardison was currently huddled over some squiggly lines produced by some machine that had to do with something about the "tensile strength" with Dr. Banner and they both looked excited, but Sophie really had no idea what they were going on about. Still, she enjoyed watching the two of them work together. Dr. Banner ('Bruce', he had requested softly, but she liked the way his eyes lit up when she called him 'Doctor') had brought out something in Hardison that she didn't normally get to see, and she was enjoying it.
She turned back to her project: since she was supposed to be an artist, she was making art. Or, in any case, it was going to be art. At the very least it was going to pretend to be art. Right now it was just a bunch of sketches on paper with the materials nearby. No. If the pieces were actually going to get assembled, she was going to need Parker.
As if on cue, the voice she was waiting for sounded in her ear. "They just gave me my badge, and I'm being escorted to the lab." Sophie locked eyes with Hardison quickly, and he went back to talking with Dr. Banner, clinging to his cover. Even though they were there just for access, Sophie observed that he was really quite enjoying himself. It was hard not to get pulled in by Dr. Banner's enthusiasm for everything in the lab, even though his excitement always hid just below the surface, always bubbling, never erupting.
There weren't many people that she instinctively liked, but his self assured awkwardness was something that he embraced. He always sort of shuffled as if he didn't want to get noticed, and he used sarcasm to deflect any real questions about his life. She had seen his type before: there were some people that were just so smart that they had trouble relating to the rest of the world, but when they found that person that they connected with, it was like stepping into the sun.
They were the easiest marks but the ones she hated conning the most.
Still, there was something about him that bothered her slightly - the flip side to the awkward man in front of her was the men that were so smart that they also had a fair amount of cockiness to them, much like Tony Stark - but there was none of that in his personality at all. There was something about his humbleness that impressed her - and maybe that was what worried her. She wasn't easily impressed.
A man in a suit and with an earpiece himself opened the door and let Parker in, and Sophie could see her already searching for the air ducts. "Not yet, Parker," she murmured under her breath and Parker made a face in response; the air ducts in this room were huge.
"Dr. Banner," Sophie started, and when he looked up, he had that sort of serene smile on his face again. "I'd like to introduce you to Alice White, one of our interns."
He put out his hand and Parker went over to shake it, but when they touched he said politely, "I thought the interns were his interns."
Sophie could see a flash of fear cross Hardison's face, but he was behind Dr. Banner, so she quickly jumped in. "Most of the time they are, but I like to steal Alice whenever I can - she's an excellent welder." He seemed to be placated, and Parker shook his hand - stumbling slightly on the way - before making her way to Sophie with a smile on her face.
Sophie groaned internally, and positioned herself so that she was between Hardison and her work, and Parker came up beside her. "I'll give it back," Parker responded to the unasked question, and she thumbed through his wallet. "He doesn't have an address, or ID. That's weird, right? No ID?"
She passed Sophie the wallet and she took a look herself. There wasn't much inside the wallet at all - a couple bucks, a pre-paid credit card with no name attached to it, a couple receipts for some restaurants nearby... and that was it. "Put it back, Parker. Quickly. There's something very not right here."
Sophie watched off a reflection as Parker expertly returned the wallet, also taking the time to let Hardison show off some of his findings, although Sophie could tell that while Parker could have probably held her own in the experiments and science talk, she was already bored.
"Alice," Sophie interrupted. "I've got something for you to work on here." She watched as Parker bounded back to her and she let out a slow breath. There was nothing they could do until they were alone, and that didn't seem like it was happening any time soon.
***
As much as Bruce knew he was put in this lab to spy on this group, he really wasn't kept in the loop. He knew that Clint and Natasha had done their own reconnaissance on them yesterday - he was able to piece that much together from the questions they asked him last night - but if there was supposed to be something in particular that he was looking for, well, he had no idea. As far as he could tell, they seemed both nice and smart, and good at their jobs.
That aside, Bruce noted the new girl with confusion. For someone who was supposed to be working for Mason, she didn't seem to actually have any interest in repurposed materials, even as much as Mason was trying to engage her in the conversation. No, she flitted back and forth between her two bosses as if nothing was quite holding her focus - until Cassandra gestured over to the blowtorch and they started discussing the sketches done earlier. Then her expression was gleeful.
Bruce snuck a peak over at Mason, and sure enough, he had abandoned his own studies in front of him to watch her work. "So," Bruce said calmly, with his usual aloofness. "Are you two...?" He trailed off and was amused by Mason's reaction.
"What? Me and... nah, that would be... you know, because she works for me and stuff, and..." he had trailed off and sort of brushed his nose with his thumb. "And, uh, you know, with the, uh, work, and the -"
Bruce studied the man as he was trying to cover something up... so it was either that they were already together and trying to hide it, or that he was embarrassed about liking her. Maybe. Or maybe this was all part of whatever they were doing in this building in the first place. He really wasn't any good at the spy stuff. "And she's totally out of your league?" he tried.
Mason's looked... relieved. Maybe. "Yeah. I mean... look at her."
Bruce followed his gaze as she reached for a welder's helmet, and he could see what the other man was talking about. He cleared his throat. "Anyway," he said, gesturing back to the data they were supposed to analysing, and he was grateful when Mason turned back with him, even though he caught him looking at her several more times throughout the morning.
It was almost lunch when they were interrupted by a knock on the door and Steve poked his head through. "Dr. Banner," he said with a nod, addressing him formally in front of their guests.
He was about to respond back with Captain before he stopped himself. Cassandra looked almost a little too eager to hear what he was about to say, so instead he just nodded with a distracted, "yeah?"
He was aware of Steve's inquisitive look, and how he looked almost hurt at not being introduced. Bruce sighed. "Everyone, this is Steve Rogers. He, uh," his hand absently went to scratch the back of his head. "Works here too."
Steve's smile was out in full force again, and Bruce took quick measure of the rest of the people in the room. Cassandra was touching her hair as if she couldn't help but want to primp front of him. Mason had his eyes narrowed towards the Captain in an unfriendly manner, and when Bruce followed his gaze back he understood why: the Captain was very clearly, and very obviously, checking out Alice.
Alice, as she was with Mason, seemed completely unaware of the attraction.
Mason started to move and Bruce figured he should intervene before the tension got too high in there. "Steve, a word?"
They exited the room and went around to the side with the large windows, so they could still keep an eye on their guests. "So, that's them?" Steve asked, when they could see them clearly again.
They both glanced through the window at the three of them, who had abandoned their work to come close to talk to each other.
Bruce nodded. "Yeah, they... they're good. I mean, Mason and Cassandra at least. I don't know anything about Alice yet."
Steve looked through the window at her and smiled. "Let's go get lunch. It would be a good idea to take them out of the lab and assess the threat level and their interactions in an unfamiliar setting."
"Uh, sure, but..."
"Good." Steve was already back into the lab and asking them all to a diner down the block before Bruce had a chance to object. Still, he had better take precautions. "Jarvis?" He called out tentatively, and the AI responded. "Can you tell Tony and Pepper, and Natasha if she's around that Steve is taking our guests to lunch, and maybe to... send backup?"
***
Hardison studied the interloper suspiciously. Sure, the guy was tall, and pretty fit, and had some pretty defined features... no, he had learned his lesson on that. He wasn't jealous. Nope. He just... didn't know how Parker would react to Steve's flirting. Yeah, that's why he was watching them interact. Sure.
He should have known that Parker wouldn't have even acknowledged it. She probably didn't even know he was flirting with her.
The company they kept was interesting enough before they met up with Pepper and Natalie in the lobby, with Pepper apologizing that Tony wanted to come, but couldn't because he was in his penthouse doing some research and, well, apparently they should know how he gets.
So the seven of them walked to a cafe that had only mostly been destroyed. "It used to have the nicest patio," Steve had been saying to Parker as they sat down at one of the large fold out tables that had been put out in place of the previously intimate settings. "Well, the building used to have a front to it as well. The only that's left of this place is the kitchen. But that's all we need, right?" He smiled at Parker as she unintentionally ignored him, focusing on Natalie instead.
"That's smart," Parker said to her, and Hardison didn't actually know what she was talking about, and he had no idea if Natalie was following along either... but then Parker pointed to her wrists and Natalie's face flashed something else for a micro second before composing herself once more.
Steve gestured at an open table and Hardison took a corner seat with Pepper sitting next to him with a genuine smile, and he couldn't help but smile back, even when he saw that Steve had failed at orchestrating the seating plan so he could sit next to Parker. Grimacing, Steve sat across from her instead.
Even after all this time of working with Sophie he still wasn't great at reading people, but this particular group made it easy. While everyone else got comfortable and chatted around him, he most stayed silent and amused himself by watching their interactions.
Sophie was playing the part of art dealer and socialite very well and seemed to be having a great time talking with Pepper, but was still trying to avoid interactions with Natalie. Parker - for whatever reason, seemed to be fascinated with Natalie, who was doing HER best to ignore the girl she knew as Alice, but she somehow ended up sitting next to anyway. Steve was trying to flirt with Alice, but all his pick-up lines ended up sounding like something from those films that his Nana tried to get him to watch growing up - and Parker was again oblivious. And to top it all off, the waitress seemed to want to flirt with Steve, who had no idea how to interact with her at all.
He caught the eye of Bruce and he could see they shared the amusement. "People, right?" Hardison offered, and Bruce smiled. Their food started arriving and Hardison decided that if he wasn't going to be social, he could at least tell the scientist about a thought he had on the walk over when Bruce's spine straightened and his shoulders went rigid.
"Cap?" Bruce said as he made a face like the word slipped out involuntarily, and Hardison followed Bruce's eyes across the table to Steve. The table immediately grew quiet. Natalie had previously been leaning across the table to cut off Parker and talk to Pepper but she straightened looked like she was about to pounce, and Steve turned around in his seat to see what made Bruce respond like that.
Hardison had been so focused on watching them react that he almost didn't turn around to look at what was behind him... and once he did, he kind of wished he hadn’t.
The dozen large men dressed in some sort of protective suit walking together in an almost addled state towards the table may have been cause for concern on their own, but what really alarmed Hardison were the spear type objects that they were holding with their heavily protected hands that, well...
They were glowing. The bright blue seemed almost hypnotizing in its almost unnoticeable rhythmic pulsing. The men all seemed to stop on command and he was about to pull out his computer to search for other communication signals when something far more pressing came about: the men adjusted the spears into a position that made Hardison realise that they weren't just spears, no. They were also some sort of firing device.
The rational side of his brain protested that these things looked like props from a science fiction movie, not something that would be a threat to him at this instant, here, in this plaza, where he was just trying to have lunch - but even before that thought fully formed he remembered that the plaza had been destroyed because that's exactly the type of world they were living in now.
At this point, despite the struggle his rational brain was having with accepting the situation, he could feel the survival instincts taking over - and all this had happened in the seconds it took for the spears to be moved into place.
"Get DOWN!" he heard Natalie scream before the first burst of blue -- well, he didn't know what it was, but it came out of the end of the spear and blew up the chair that Natalie had just jumped from. Bruce had grabbed Sophie and had pulled her down under the table and Parker had already disappeared, but Pepper had all her attention on rummaging for her phone, and didn't see the second man take aim.
Without a though, Hardison grabbed Pepper around the waist and launched himself backwards just in time to see the spot where Pepper had been sitting explode from another jet of blue. The energy from the blast carried them up into the air he felt like he was flying. The concrete loomed behind him but he instead crashed through another table, it breaking the fall (and probably a few ribs) and letting him avoid hitting his head on the unforgiving ground. The relief, though, was short lived as Pepper landed on his chest, knocking the wind out of him and moving his body with his arm trapped under the rubble.
The choked breath he took forcing air back into his lugs felt like it was lighting his chest on fire and the slight movement of his shoulder made stars flash behind his eyes. Yep. His left shoulder was definitely dislocated. A quick assessment told him that other than his shoulder and ribs he was fine, but his earbud had come out during the fall.
By the time he caught his breath, Steve was turning the table on its side to provide for a shelter, Pepper had recovered and was removing her four-inch pumps, he could hear distant screams of the other people that were in the plaza, Parker was making her way over where he and Pepper had landed, and the third man was taking aim.
Hardison was still flat on his back but he looked widely about and spied a large concrete planter behind Pepper - in fact it was the first one in a row of evenly spaced planters that lead away from the courtyard. Parker had almost made it to his location and Steve had taken a large serving plate from the debris around the table and was firing it like a Frisbee at the man who was taking aim at Parker...
And Hardison breathed out a sigh of relief as the man was struck in the head causing the blast to go wide, and then the man's eye's rolled back in his head and he collapsed.
Parker and Pepper helped Hardison up and with barely a head-nod to the planter, Parker understood and lead them all there. "You okay?" she whispered to him, her hands urgently checking his head, torso and legs as he collapse behind the concrete wall, gasping when she touches his arms just causing himself further harm. Her hands jumped back and she was staring at his shoulder with wide eyes.
"I'm fine," he stressed, trying to alleviate his own fears as much as hers, but she pulled out a scarf that and Sophie had been wearing earlier and made a sling to immobilize his arm.
"I thought you might have been bleeding," she said, and he could almost detect a bit of disappointment in her voice mixed in with the worry.
"There, all better," he said, and gave her a brave smile. He turned to Pepper. "Tony?" he asked, but she shook her head. He rubbed his right hand over his face and paused at his ear, hoping that Parker got his meaning. He had another earbud in his pocket but it wasn't going to do him any good until he had a minute to get it, preferably when Pepper wasn't watching. "If only there was someone that could call him for some backup."
She got the meaning immediately. "Yes," she repeated in a wooden voice. "If only there was someone with a phone that could call Stark Industries and get Iron Man to save us from these twelve men with blue glow-y weapons." Her eyes looked to the side and her delivery would have been comical if not for the situation they were in. A second later she nodded, and he sighed in relief.
Pepper peeked out from behind the planter and it seemed that she took stock of the situation. A fourth blast was heard and she ducked back to them. "There are other customers still out there, we have to help them."
"Where?" Parker responded, her eyes fiery and her body already ready to spring.
He expected Pepper to dismiss Parker, but she clearly saw that Parker was someone that she could use in this situation. Pepper answered with the precise instructions that told Hardison that she'd done this before, and Hardison was surprised that he didn't give her the proper credit she deserved much earlier. She was, after all, Iron Man's girlfriend. This type of situation was probably routine for her. "Three people hiding behind a table 6 feet up and 8 feet over. There's broken glass just on the other side of the planter." While he was still taking stock of his injuries and trying not to move, they were in the next stages of planning. "There," Pepper pointed, in the same direction as the rest of the planters. "Around that corner there's another courtyard with more and bigger concrete objects. Lots of room to hide and we won't get boxed in."
He could almost see Parker drawing the map in her head as she listened to Pepper and he thought she was completely in her heist planning mode, but an errant hand reached over and had gripped his good one. He squeezed it tight as Parker once again awkwardly repeated the instructions of where they were going, knowing that this time they were for Eliot's benefit. "Hey," he said when Parker finished. "I'll meet you there."
It looked like Parker was struggling with what to say to him, but instead of settling on something that might sound too much like goodbye, she kissed him hard and fast and just as the next blast exploded somewhere on the other side of the plaza, and with a whisper of "for luck," she dove forward to help the people that were in more danger than he was.
He had lost track of what was happening with the others while he was immobile behind the planter, but Pepper had again peeked out from their hiding spot taken control of the situation. "The others are still fine. Whoever those men are, they're spreading out, and coming in this direction, but they're moving slowly. Mason," she said, and he had to remind himself that she was speaking to him. "There are other customers we can collect on our way to the plaza. Are you ready?"
He pushed himself up with one hand and nodded. He may have been injured, but he was going to get to that plaza and help as many people as he could until Eliot showed up and got them all to safety, and Iron Man showed up and blasted these guys out of the park all-together.
***
( Part Five. )
Hardison was currently huddled over some squiggly lines produced by some machine that had to do with something about the "tensile strength" with Dr. Banner and they both looked excited, but Sophie really had no idea what they were going on about. Still, she enjoyed watching the two of them work together. Dr. Banner ('Bruce', he had requested softly, but she liked the way his eyes lit up when she called him 'Doctor') had brought out something in Hardison that she didn't normally get to see, and she was enjoying it.
She turned back to her project: since she was supposed to be an artist, she was making art. Or, in any case, it was going to be art. At the very least it was going to pretend to be art. Right now it was just a bunch of sketches on paper with the materials nearby. No. If the pieces were actually going to get assembled, she was going to need Parker.
As if on cue, the voice she was waiting for sounded in her ear. "They just gave me my badge, and I'm being escorted to the lab." Sophie locked eyes with Hardison quickly, and he went back to talking with Dr. Banner, clinging to his cover. Even though they were there just for access, Sophie observed that he was really quite enjoying himself. It was hard not to get pulled in by Dr. Banner's enthusiasm for everything in the lab, even though his excitement always hid just below the surface, always bubbling, never erupting.
There weren't many people that she instinctively liked, but his self assured awkwardness was something that he embraced. He always sort of shuffled as if he didn't want to get noticed, and he used sarcasm to deflect any real questions about his life. She had seen his type before: there were some people that were just so smart that they had trouble relating to the rest of the world, but when they found that person that they connected with, it was like stepping into the sun.
They were the easiest marks but the ones she hated conning the most.
Still, there was something about him that bothered her slightly - the flip side to the awkward man in front of her was the men that were so smart that they also had a fair amount of cockiness to them, much like Tony Stark - but there was none of that in his personality at all. There was something about his humbleness that impressed her - and maybe that was what worried her. She wasn't easily impressed.
A man in a suit and with an earpiece himself opened the door and let Parker in, and Sophie could see her already searching for the air ducts. "Not yet, Parker," she murmured under her breath and Parker made a face in response; the air ducts in this room were huge.
"Dr. Banner," Sophie started, and when he looked up, he had that sort of serene smile on his face again. "I'd like to introduce you to Alice White, one of our interns."
He put out his hand and Parker went over to shake it, but when they touched he said politely, "I thought the interns were his interns."
Sophie could see a flash of fear cross Hardison's face, but he was behind Dr. Banner, so she quickly jumped in. "Most of the time they are, but I like to steal Alice whenever I can - she's an excellent welder." He seemed to be placated, and Parker shook his hand - stumbling slightly on the way - before making her way to Sophie with a smile on her face.
Sophie groaned internally, and positioned herself so that she was between Hardison and her work, and Parker came up beside her. "I'll give it back," Parker responded to the unasked question, and she thumbed through his wallet. "He doesn't have an address, or ID. That's weird, right? No ID?"
She passed Sophie the wallet and she took a look herself. There wasn't much inside the wallet at all - a couple bucks, a pre-paid credit card with no name attached to it, a couple receipts for some restaurants nearby... and that was it. "Put it back, Parker. Quickly. There's something very not right here."
Sophie watched off a reflection as Parker expertly returned the wallet, also taking the time to let Hardison show off some of his findings, although Sophie could tell that while Parker could have probably held her own in the experiments and science talk, she was already bored.
"Alice," Sophie interrupted. "I've got something for you to work on here." She watched as Parker bounded back to her and she let out a slow breath. There was nothing they could do until they were alone, and that didn't seem like it was happening any time soon.
***
As much as Bruce knew he was put in this lab to spy on this group, he really wasn't kept in the loop. He knew that Clint and Natasha had done their own reconnaissance on them yesterday - he was able to piece that much together from the questions they asked him last night - but if there was supposed to be something in particular that he was looking for, well, he had no idea. As far as he could tell, they seemed both nice and smart, and good at their jobs.
That aside, Bruce noted the new girl with confusion. For someone who was supposed to be working for Mason, she didn't seem to actually have any interest in repurposed materials, even as much as Mason was trying to engage her in the conversation. No, she flitted back and forth between her two bosses as if nothing was quite holding her focus - until Cassandra gestured over to the blowtorch and they started discussing the sketches done earlier. Then her expression was gleeful.
Bruce snuck a peak over at Mason, and sure enough, he had abandoned his own studies in front of him to watch her work. "So," Bruce said calmly, with his usual aloofness. "Are you two...?" He trailed off and was amused by Mason's reaction.
"What? Me and... nah, that would be... you know, because she works for me and stuff, and..." he had trailed off and sort of brushed his nose with his thumb. "And, uh, you know, with the, uh, work, and the -"
Bruce studied the man as he was trying to cover something up... so it was either that they were already together and trying to hide it, or that he was embarrassed about liking her. Maybe. Or maybe this was all part of whatever they were doing in this building in the first place. He really wasn't any good at the spy stuff. "And she's totally out of your league?" he tried.
Mason's looked... relieved. Maybe. "Yeah. I mean... look at her."
Bruce followed his gaze as she reached for a welder's helmet, and he could see what the other man was talking about. He cleared his throat. "Anyway," he said, gesturing back to the data they were supposed to analysing, and he was grateful when Mason turned back with him, even though he caught him looking at her several more times throughout the morning.
It was almost lunch when they were interrupted by a knock on the door and Steve poked his head through. "Dr. Banner," he said with a nod, addressing him formally in front of their guests.
He was about to respond back with Captain before he stopped himself. Cassandra looked almost a little too eager to hear what he was about to say, so instead he just nodded with a distracted, "yeah?"
He was aware of Steve's inquisitive look, and how he looked almost hurt at not being introduced. Bruce sighed. "Everyone, this is Steve Rogers. He, uh," his hand absently went to scratch the back of his head. "Works here too."
Steve's smile was out in full force again, and Bruce took quick measure of the rest of the people in the room. Cassandra was touching her hair as if she couldn't help but want to primp front of him. Mason had his eyes narrowed towards the Captain in an unfriendly manner, and when Bruce followed his gaze back he understood why: the Captain was very clearly, and very obviously, checking out Alice.
Alice, as she was with Mason, seemed completely unaware of the attraction.
Mason started to move and Bruce figured he should intervene before the tension got too high in there. "Steve, a word?"
They exited the room and went around to the side with the large windows, so they could still keep an eye on their guests. "So, that's them?" Steve asked, when they could see them clearly again.
They both glanced through the window at the three of them, who had abandoned their work to come close to talk to each other.
Bruce nodded. "Yeah, they... they're good. I mean, Mason and Cassandra at least. I don't know anything about Alice yet."
Steve looked through the window at her and smiled. "Let's go get lunch. It would be a good idea to take them out of the lab and assess the threat level and their interactions in an unfamiliar setting."
"Uh, sure, but..."
"Good." Steve was already back into the lab and asking them all to a diner down the block before Bruce had a chance to object. Still, he had better take precautions. "Jarvis?" He called out tentatively, and the AI responded. "Can you tell Tony and Pepper, and Natasha if she's around that Steve is taking our guests to lunch, and maybe to... send backup?"
***
Hardison studied the interloper suspiciously. Sure, the guy was tall, and pretty fit, and had some pretty defined features... no, he had learned his lesson on that. He wasn't jealous. Nope. He just... didn't know how Parker would react to Steve's flirting. Yeah, that's why he was watching them interact. Sure.
He should have known that Parker wouldn't have even acknowledged it. She probably didn't even know he was flirting with her.
The company they kept was interesting enough before they met up with Pepper and Natalie in the lobby, with Pepper apologizing that Tony wanted to come, but couldn't because he was in his penthouse doing some research and, well, apparently they should know how he gets.
So the seven of them walked to a cafe that had only mostly been destroyed. "It used to have the nicest patio," Steve had been saying to Parker as they sat down at one of the large fold out tables that had been put out in place of the previously intimate settings. "Well, the building used to have a front to it as well. The only that's left of this place is the kitchen. But that's all we need, right?" He smiled at Parker as she unintentionally ignored him, focusing on Natalie instead.
"That's smart," Parker said to her, and Hardison didn't actually know what she was talking about, and he had no idea if Natalie was following along either... but then Parker pointed to her wrists and Natalie's face flashed something else for a micro second before composing herself once more.
Steve gestured at an open table and Hardison took a corner seat with Pepper sitting next to him with a genuine smile, and he couldn't help but smile back, even when he saw that Steve had failed at orchestrating the seating plan so he could sit next to Parker. Grimacing, Steve sat across from her instead.
Even after all this time of working with Sophie he still wasn't great at reading people, but this particular group made it easy. While everyone else got comfortable and chatted around him, he most stayed silent and amused himself by watching their interactions.
Sophie was playing the part of art dealer and socialite very well and seemed to be having a great time talking with Pepper, but was still trying to avoid interactions with Natalie. Parker - for whatever reason, seemed to be fascinated with Natalie, who was doing HER best to ignore the girl she knew as Alice, but she somehow ended up sitting next to anyway. Steve was trying to flirt with Alice, but all his pick-up lines ended up sounding like something from those films that his Nana tried to get him to watch growing up - and Parker was again oblivious. And to top it all off, the waitress seemed to want to flirt with Steve, who had no idea how to interact with her at all.
He caught the eye of Bruce and he could see they shared the amusement. "People, right?" Hardison offered, and Bruce smiled. Their food started arriving and Hardison decided that if he wasn't going to be social, he could at least tell the scientist about a thought he had on the walk over when Bruce's spine straightened and his shoulders went rigid.
"Cap?" Bruce said as he made a face like the word slipped out involuntarily, and Hardison followed Bruce's eyes across the table to Steve. The table immediately grew quiet. Natalie had previously been leaning across the table to cut off Parker and talk to Pepper but she straightened looked like she was about to pounce, and Steve turned around in his seat to see what made Bruce respond like that.
Hardison had been so focused on watching them react that he almost didn't turn around to look at what was behind him... and once he did, he kind of wished he hadn’t.
The dozen large men dressed in some sort of protective suit walking together in an almost addled state towards the table may have been cause for concern on their own, but what really alarmed Hardison were the spear type objects that they were holding with their heavily protected hands that, well...
They were glowing. The bright blue seemed almost hypnotizing in its almost unnoticeable rhythmic pulsing. The men all seemed to stop on command and he was about to pull out his computer to search for other communication signals when something far more pressing came about: the men adjusted the spears into a position that made Hardison realise that they weren't just spears, no. They were also some sort of firing device.
The rational side of his brain protested that these things looked like props from a science fiction movie, not something that would be a threat to him at this instant, here, in this plaza, where he was just trying to have lunch - but even before that thought fully formed he remembered that the plaza had been destroyed because that's exactly the type of world they were living in now.
At this point, despite the struggle his rational brain was having with accepting the situation, he could feel the survival instincts taking over - and all this had happened in the seconds it took for the spears to be moved into place.
"Get DOWN!" he heard Natalie scream before the first burst of blue -- well, he didn't know what it was, but it came out of the end of the spear and blew up the chair that Natalie had just jumped from. Bruce had grabbed Sophie and had pulled her down under the table and Parker had already disappeared, but Pepper had all her attention on rummaging for her phone, and didn't see the second man take aim.
Without a though, Hardison grabbed Pepper around the waist and launched himself backwards just in time to see the spot where Pepper had been sitting explode from another jet of blue. The energy from the blast carried them up into the air he felt like he was flying. The concrete loomed behind him but he instead crashed through another table, it breaking the fall (and probably a few ribs) and letting him avoid hitting his head on the unforgiving ground. The relief, though, was short lived as Pepper landed on his chest, knocking the wind out of him and moving his body with his arm trapped under the rubble.
The choked breath he took forcing air back into his lugs felt like it was lighting his chest on fire and the slight movement of his shoulder made stars flash behind his eyes. Yep. His left shoulder was definitely dislocated. A quick assessment told him that other than his shoulder and ribs he was fine, but his earbud had come out during the fall.
By the time he caught his breath, Steve was turning the table on its side to provide for a shelter, Pepper had recovered and was removing her four-inch pumps, he could hear distant screams of the other people that were in the plaza, Parker was making her way over where he and Pepper had landed, and the third man was taking aim.
Hardison was still flat on his back but he looked widely about and spied a large concrete planter behind Pepper - in fact it was the first one in a row of evenly spaced planters that lead away from the courtyard. Parker had almost made it to his location and Steve had taken a large serving plate from the debris around the table and was firing it like a Frisbee at the man who was taking aim at Parker...
And Hardison breathed out a sigh of relief as the man was struck in the head causing the blast to go wide, and then the man's eye's rolled back in his head and he collapsed.
Parker and Pepper helped Hardison up and with barely a head-nod to the planter, Parker understood and lead them all there. "You okay?" she whispered to him, her hands urgently checking his head, torso and legs as he collapse behind the concrete wall, gasping when she touches his arms just causing himself further harm. Her hands jumped back and she was staring at his shoulder with wide eyes.
"I'm fine," he stressed, trying to alleviate his own fears as much as hers, but she pulled out a scarf that and Sophie had been wearing earlier and made a sling to immobilize his arm.
"I thought you might have been bleeding," she said, and he could almost detect a bit of disappointment in her voice mixed in with the worry.
"There, all better," he said, and gave her a brave smile. He turned to Pepper. "Tony?" he asked, but she shook her head. He rubbed his right hand over his face and paused at his ear, hoping that Parker got his meaning. He had another earbud in his pocket but it wasn't going to do him any good until he had a minute to get it, preferably when Pepper wasn't watching. "If only there was someone that could call him for some backup."
She got the meaning immediately. "Yes," she repeated in a wooden voice. "If only there was someone with a phone that could call Stark Industries and get Iron Man to save us from these twelve men with blue glow-y weapons." Her eyes looked to the side and her delivery would have been comical if not for the situation they were in. A second later she nodded, and he sighed in relief.
Pepper peeked out from behind the planter and it seemed that she took stock of the situation. A fourth blast was heard and she ducked back to them. "There are other customers still out there, we have to help them."
"Where?" Parker responded, her eyes fiery and her body already ready to spring.
He expected Pepper to dismiss Parker, but she clearly saw that Parker was someone that she could use in this situation. Pepper answered with the precise instructions that told Hardison that she'd done this before, and Hardison was surprised that he didn't give her the proper credit she deserved much earlier. She was, after all, Iron Man's girlfriend. This type of situation was probably routine for her. "Three people hiding behind a table 6 feet up and 8 feet over. There's broken glass just on the other side of the planter." While he was still taking stock of his injuries and trying not to move, they were in the next stages of planning. "There," Pepper pointed, in the same direction as the rest of the planters. "Around that corner there's another courtyard with more and bigger concrete objects. Lots of room to hide and we won't get boxed in."
He could almost see Parker drawing the map in her head as she listened to Pepper and he thought she was completely in her heist planning mode, but an errant hand reached over and had gripped his good one. He squeezed it tight as Parker once again awkwardly repeated the instructions of where they were going, knowing that this time they were for Eliot's benefit. "Hey," he said when Parker finished. "I'll meet you there."
It looked like Parker was struggling with what to say to him, but instead of settling on something that might sound too much like goodbye, she kissed him hard and fast and just as the next blast exploded somewhere on the other side of the plaza, and with a whisper of "for luck," she dove forward to help the people that were in more danger than he was.
He had lost track of what was happening with the others while he was immobile behind the planter, but Pepper had again peeked out from their hiding spot taken control of the situation. "The others are still fine. Whoever those men are, they're spreading out, and coming in this direction, but they're moving slowly. Mason," she said, and he had to remind himself that she was speaking to him. "There are other customers we can collect on our way to the plaza. Are you ready?"
He pushed himself up with one hand and nodded. He may have been injured, but he was going to get to that plaza and help as many people as he could until Eliot showed up and got them all to safety, and Iron Man showed up and blasted these guys out of the park all-together.
***
( Part Five. )