The next day, Tony was not at breakfast. Everyone wondered where he was since he never missed a chance to stuff his face.

"Tash? You didn't do anything to Tony did you?" Clint was genuinely worried that she did something to him in another bout of revenge,

"Relax, I haven't seen him since yesterday morning. Besides, it peaceful without him here."

"May I have his breakfast then my friends?" Thor was taking advantage of the extra food since Tony was MIA. He reached over to grab the plate before he got an answer and his hand was smacked away.

"No you don't big man," Bruce said. "I'll bring it down to him. He's probably in his lab." Bruce got the extra plate and journeyed to Tony's lab. When he reached the door, he found it locked, the door was never locked. He then knocked and waited for an answer.

"Who is- ow! Who is it?" Bruce heard a crash as if something had fallen.

"It's Bruce, Tony. Open up."

"I can't do that right now, I'm busy. No one can bother me until I get this project finished. No one, not even Fury himself can pull me away from this. Go away."

Bruce heard another crash followed by swear words from Tony before he said. "I have your breakfast Tony, what can possibly be so import..." The door had suddenly opened with a sweaty Tony standing in front of him.

"Food!" He grabbed the plate and then slammed the door shut once again, but not before Bruce saw a strange machine in the works.

When he starts a project, he doesn't stop for anything...except for food apparently.

The weeks then passed and the team saw very little of Tony. Steve was still on a mission and Tony, Clint, and Natasha were working together on a case. The only time Tony would make an appearance was when they got a lead and had to go out in the field. Today, Fury had sent Natasha, Tony and Clint to a place in downtown where suspected arms dealers were preparing for a big sale. The case could be handled by regular officers but the word was that they had a device that could make a person immobile while chaos ensued around them, making it easy for the dealers, or anyone in possession of the weapon, to escape. If this weapon got into the wrong hands, there would be no telling what would happen.

The team arrived at a warehouse and immediately spread out. Tony in his Iron Man suit made his way to the roof while Natasha and Clint snuck in through a window.

Clint immediately went left and Natasha went right when they got into the warehouse. They could almost read each other's minds when they worked together. They were close and Clint was the only one who knew some of Natasha's past. The little he know did not affect the way he saw her as a partner; everyone had demons.

"Tony," Natasha said as she communicated through her earpiece. "There's no one here yet. How's it look from your position?" Natasha immediately let her senses roam as she tried to locate any other living being in the room. There was no one on the floor.

"Incoming. Three trucks just made their way through the back entrance. They should be there in three, two, one." Tony was keeping look out on the roof when he spotted the trucks moving their way to a gate. He relayed the info to Natasha and Clint before making his way down through a hatch on the roof to get a better look as to what was happening inside.

He could not see Natasha at all but he saw Clint. "Clint, your ass is hanging out. They are going to spot you in a heartbeat."

Clint peeked up and glared at him before pulling himself further into hiding. A moment later, the trucks pulled into the warehouse and men jumped out.

"I count 12 men, all armed. I don't see the device yet." He relayed the information as he watched the guys carefully. Two men then jumped into the back of one of the trucks and pulled out a metal case. They brought it to the middle of the floor and sat it down. He heard them start the bidding and the numbers were high. That must be the device.

"Guys, I think the device is in that case. Prepare for extraction," Tony said.

He saw Clint pull himself from his hiding place and pull an arrow into his bow. He let it fly, watching it as it struck the case. He pulled back on the sting attached to the arrow and pulled the case to him. The men, all startled, pulled out their guns and started firing. Clint jumped away and then Tony finally saw Natasha. She darted behind the group and took two of the men out before they realized they were being attacked. Tony then jumped from his perch and joined in on the fight. He noticed that Clint had gotten a hold of the case and was opening it.

"Guys, it's not here!" he yelled at his team. Inside of the large case was a very complicated looking rocket launcher instead of the device that they were after. The men heard him and fired their guns at him while he took cover behind a crate. He fired arrows at a lightning fast speed and took out a few of the men.

When Natasha heard Clint yell that the device wasn't there, she fought her way to the trucks to look for it. No one saw her since they were distracted by Tony and Clint. When she got to the second truck, she found the device in a small box and grabbed it. She pressed her hand to the comm' link and said, "I have it. Let's wrap it up." She jumped from the back of the truck and she froze. One of the men had the rocket launcher and was aiming right for her.

"Nat watch out!" Tony yelled. He ran for the man with the launcher and tackled him, but not before the weapon fired. Tony reached the man just in time to surprise him and the rocket launcher fired onto the roof instead of into Natasha. Debris immediately fell and crates started to catch fire. A piece of roofing caught Natasha in the head and she fell to the floor, dazed.

Clint saw everything happen from the corner of his eye as he took out the remaining men. He saw the warehouse catch fire and knew that they all had to get out of there. Suddenly, one of the trucks near him exploded and took out support beams and they fell, blocking his way towards the rest of his teammates, and blocking their way of escape. There was no way he could reach them. The smoke was getting too thick so he had to get out of there.

From outside, Clint saw the blaze consume most of the warehouse. He feared for his friends lives. Natasha couldn't be in there, she had to get out. She fears nothing in the entire world, except fire.

When part of the warehouse fell, Tony saw that their way out was blocked, and that he couldn't see Natasha anymore. He used his suit to push through the fiery debris to help his fallen teammate. When he finally saw her, she was just lying there. She had her arm wrapped around her legs in the fetal position. Her eyes reflected nothing but fire and fear. Tony had never seen his teammate so afraid and defeated.

As Natasha lay there watching the flames consume everything, she felt herself fall into paralysis. She was so scared that she couldn't even move. Her mind kept flashing back to the one fire that changed everything all those years ago. She kept thinking about how they found out her fear and used it against her. She was shivering out of pure fear, and then she lost her breath. Panic then set in.

When Tony finally reached her, her body started going into convulsions. "Natasha! Natasha what's wrong? We have to get out of here!" She started choking and he realized that she couldn't breathe. He could recognize a panic attack anywhere, since he suffered from them, but this one was far worse; he didn't know what to do. He scooped her thrashing body up into his arms and looked for a way out. He soon realized that the only way out was up. He powered up his thrusters and shot through the roof, all while holding his dear teammate close.

When Clint saw Tony with Natasha in his arms flying towards him, he immediately knew what was wrong. He felt powerless when Tony layed her down in the grass next to him and saw her gasping for breath. He was amazed by what he saw next.

Tony layed Natasha down in the grass where Clint was waiting. He then ejected his suit off of him and knelt down on the ground with her while listening to her chest. He heard nothing from her lungs so he started CPR. He knew she was still conscious but she couldn't breathe. He smiled to himself when she took a ragged breath a moment later. Tony then picked her up in his arms and tried talking her through the attack.

"Natasha, you're okay, the fire is gone. I got you out of there. Shhhh it's okay. Just breathe for me okay? Take a deep breath." He heard Natasha take another ragged breath, this time on her own. Clint could only watch as Tony talked her through it. She was staring up at Tony with pain written all over her face. Her chest was hurting so bad. Tony's soothing voice was slowly calming her down enough for her to take small breaths.

"I'm sorry to do this Nat but it will help," Tony said. He then ripped part of her suit off of her chest so that she could breathe better. He couldn't help but smile when she took a deep breath and started coughing. She could breathe again.

"That's it Natasha, just breathe. Don't yell at me yet, you need your breath back first, then you can yell all you want." She started breathing slowly but strongly, her coughing dying down. She couldn't believe what had just happened; Tony Stark had just saved her life.

After lying there for a few minutes recovering and not saying anything, Clint helped her to her feet. She then glared at Tony.

He sighed. "Okay, you can yell at me now, you can breathe again." Natasha turned to Tony and shakily walked over to him, noticing him tense up. She stood right in front of him and the next thing Tony felt was her arms around his neck. "Thank you Tony,'' she whispered.

"Umm, yea, you're welcome." He held her close, comforting her. He started to regret all those times he pestered her with questions about her past. He even regretted staring his project again for the sole purpose of exploring her memories. But after what had just happened, he knew it was all the more important to continue. He looked over to the warehouse and noticed it almost burned to the ground. There was no doubt that the device was destroyed.

Tony held Natasha for a good minute before noticing how tired and exhausted she was. She was trembling and without a word, he scooped her into his arms and made his way to their vehicle. Natasha was about to protest but before she could say anything, Tony said, "nope, don't want to hear it. I know what a panic attack feels like and they leave me tired. But yours, yours was ten times worse. I don't know how you are even conscious right now. Not shut up and enjoy the ride." She laughed at him and protested no further. "Clint," he said, "be a good little hawkey and grab my suit will ya?

When the team got back to the tower, Tony saw that Natasha had fallen asleep. He picked her up in his arms and brought her inside.

"Tony!" Bruce exclaimed as he met them in a hallway, "What happened to her? Is she okay? Do you need me to call Fury?"

"No, no Brucy Bruce, she's just tired. I'm putting her to bed," Tony said.

"Just tired? And she's letting you carry her?"

"Yes Green Bean, now shut up." Just then, Thor walked into the room, dropping his pop tarts because of the sight before him.

"Man of Iron! You have killed Lady Natasha! Surely her pranks haven't pushed you that far!"

"She's not dead you air head. She's just sleeping."

"But you are carrying her! She never lets anyone carry her, or touch her. I once tried to pick her up and she kicked me in the-"

"Okay Thor, we get it. Now if you will excuse me, I'm putting her to bed."

Once in Natasha's room, he layed her gently in bed. How she didn't wake up was beyond him. Just as he turned to walk out of her room, he heard her say something.

"What was that Tasha?" he asked.

"You can do it," she said as she opened her eyes and looked at him.

"I can do what?"

"The machine, you have my permission." She then rolled over and immediately fell back asleep.

Tony was left stunned. How could she have known about his machine? He kept his lab locked up and not a single soul besides his had been in in that lab since he started working on it again. He left the room and then ran into Clint.

"How is she?" he asked.

"She's sleeping. What happened out there?"

Clint shifted nervously.

"You can tell me, I already know that she is afraid, no, terrified of fire. What happened to her?"

"I don't know really. All I know is every time she is around she is around it, she freezes up. Small fires don't affect her too much but the one today...I've never seen her that bad. She did tell me one thing though."

"What, what did she tell you?"

Clint began again. "She told me once that fire made me who I am today. That's it. She never says anything else about it."

"Well, thanks man. I'll be down in my lab if you need me." With that, he left and went to his lab. When he got there, he looked over at his machine and asked himself.

"Am I doing the right thing?"