Introspection
And another chapter just because everyone needs some Tony and Bruce!
"JARVIS, buddy have you found any more survellience footage from the area of the attacks," Tony asked as he sipped his third, no fourth, cup of coffee of the day. At this point after watching a group of highly trained killers setting up an ambush on unexpecting civilians from several different angles, an ambush which resulted in a child being shot point blank in the abdomen he really wanted a drink or several to help wipe the images from his mind. He hated soberity.
But if he couldn't drink himself into oblivion he could caffienate and hopefully find something to help them find out exactly who was responsible for this shit. After they found the assholes he could wipe the floor with them and maybe that would help him deal with the nightmares that he knew were going to haunt him. One survellience feed imparticular had really stuck with him. The feed had been from a small grocery across the street where the owner, based on his online purchases, was a closet techie.
The camera the guy had outside his shop gave crystal clear video which had shown the moment the kid had been shot in sickening detail. Tony rubbed a hand over his eyes as he saw once more the sick look of glee on the woman's face as the bullet had struck the boy and how the kid had spread his arms out to cover as much of the children behind him even as he had begun to collapse forward onto the ground, red already beginning to pool at his feet.
"Sir," JARVIS's voice called a hint of worry in his crisp tones and Tony realized that he must have been calling him for several minutes.
"Sorry, J, I must have fallen asleep sitting up again," Tony said loudly clapping his hands in fake excitement "How about we get to the rest of the videos?"
"I believe, sir, that we have been through all relivent videos of the intial attack. I have taken the liberty of compiling relevent clips of all surveillence video that showed the car chase and Hawkeye's arrival at the unknown healthcare facility. I ordered the videos so that they would show the progression of the chase in chronilogical order and added reference tags to areas that were of particular note. I also was able to find video feed which shows Mr. Barton and an unknown person moving the injured child into a van which appears to have been turned into an emergency vehicle. May I suggest that sir review that video to ensure that I made all relevant notes," JARVIS said with worry hidden under his smooth tones.
"J, didn't realize you were so manipulative," Tony snarked with a grin as he chugged down more of his coffee. He nervously licked his lips while tapping his fingers against the plastic of his laptop before nodding slightly to himself. He knew he must be a train wreck if JARVIS was running interference but the idea of violence against children had always hit him hard.
"Go ahead and bring up footage of them evac'ing the kid," Tony told him with a wave of his hand and immediately his laptop lit up with grainy security footage. The video lasted barely a minute but Tony watched it intently as he recognized Hawkeye walking quickly beside a traditional hospital gurney pushed by an older woman in scrubs as they moved to a van. Something twinged painfully in Tony's chest as he watched a thin arm lift minutely from the gurney and how Hawkeye caught the wavering hand in one of his own a look of such concern and love on his face that Tony actually did not know how to describe it. Moments later the video ended as Hawkeye still gripping the hand helped the woman load the gurney and moved to sit in the back of the van with the injured child. The tags on the back of the van as it drove away were clearly visible and absently Tony asked JARVIS to run the plates not really surprise when they turned up as registered to a vehicle that had been stolen.
Tony turned off the video and allowed himself to slowly spin in his chair as he gazed up at the ceiling. He kept replaying the last moments of the video in his head, seeing over and over the look on Hawkeye's face as he gripped that kid's hand. Tony abruptly realized that he had been rubbing his chest right over the arc reactor as he considered the video and forced himself to stop.
"Hey, J do we know how Hawkeye knew that kid. He seemed to really....," Tony broke off unsure how to word the feelings he had witnessed. He really had no frame of reference for the look the archer had turned on the child. Worry definately, fear for the boy's life sure, but also such fierce love and pride that Tony still felt his heart twinge painfully everytime he thought about it.
"I have been monitoring Captain Rogers and Agent Romanov's comms since they set out from base. According to Hawkeye's landlady the boy was Hawkeye's son, Matthew," JARVIS replied softly. Tony nodded pieces clicking into place. 'That look had been the look a father who really loved their son wore when they had been hurt, no wonder he didn't recognize it,' he thought absently.
"Well no wonder he went after SHIELD," Tony mused quietly as he stood up and left the room.
"JARVIS, save the video feeds we have compiled and save backup copies to the secure servers. Send copies of all surveillence footage to a SHIELD secure server and erase all other footage of the incident," Tony ordered absently as he limped down to the cafeteria where he picked up two cups of coffee.
The trip down to the survellience rooms was uneventful and Tony slipped into the room where Bruce was without his usual fanfare.
"Coffee," Tony said simply as he held one of the cups under Bruce's nose. A small smile curled the edges of Bruce's mouth as he leaned back enough to take the cup from Tony.
"Thanks," Bruce said quietly as he took off the headphones he had been using to listen into the mission. The chair sighed as Bruce sat back and studied Tony over the top of his coffee cup.
"I take it the surveillence video is pretty bad," Bruce murmured his eyes world weary.
"Only if you count seeing a kid being shot point blank and having to watch his father lose his shit pretty bad," Tony said trying for flippant but too tired to pull it off. Silence settled back in the room except for the occasional muffled sounds from Bruce's headphones.
"Should I watch the video," Bruce asked obviously not wanting to but willing to do what was necessary to help the team.
Tony took another sip of his coffee as he contemplated the computer setup of the surveillence room before answering quietly "No, no you really shouldn't."
Bruce glanced at him sadly, seeming to understand what he wasn't saying, but thankfully didn't offer any meaningless platitudes. They set in silence for the rest of the day while Bruce continued making notes based on what he heard on the comms and Tony designed a new suit prototype on his tablet and if both of them were wondering what it would have been like to have had a father who cared about them half as much as Hawkeye cared for his son neither of them mentioned it.