Black Eagle - "The Watchmen of the West"


 "HYRDA still exists?"


Armstrong straighten his back and looked Tony in the eye. "Yep."

"So, HYDRA was shooting armored tank rounds . . . at you?!"


He sipped his water. "Could've been." 


He coughed, blinking in shock. "You - you don't know?!"


"Wasn't askin' for their autograph when they shot me of the sky."
 

"Fair point. But what were you doing exactly when they shot you down? And don't you dare say 'I was flying."


He studied him, face almost expressionless. But it couldn't hide the distrusting glint his eyes. 


Tony ate in silence for a minute, then shrugged. "Don't wanna talk about it? I get it." Finishing up, he crammed all the trash in to the bag. "Just so you now, your silence makes it even more suspicious."


"I know." He replied, eyes not budging from the floor.

 Tossing the bag out of the nest, he faced him again. "HYDRA, tell me more. Where are they, how did they survive the almighty, all-righteous wrath of Captain America, what are you doing about it?" 


"They're everywhere. Places you wouldn't expect."


"Coordinates?" he shrugged. "A city?"


He shook his head. "No."

"Then how do you know they're everywhere?"


"They're hidin' in plain sight, some pretendin' to be good guys, some pretending to he normal folks." He looked up, face grim. "Found some of 'em being cops."


"Found? Where are these people you've "found"?"


"Dead."


Tony leaned back, rubbing his forehead. "So, you've been going around, assassinating HYDRA agents? That's what you've been doing about them?"


He nodded. "Somethin' like that."


"Unbelievable!" He shook his head, "You know, You're gonna have to show me hard evidence."


A pained grin crept over his face. "Figured you wouldn't believe me."


As he opened his mouth to contest, a steady ringing interrupted.

"Hold that thought. And don't go anywhere!" Tugging his phone from his pocket, he climbed out of the nest and walked out into the hall, locking the door behind him. 
 "Hello?"


"Tony, it's Rhodey. I got you that date you asked for."


His brow wrinkled, then his eyes lit up. "That's a-mazing. Where and when?"


"Tomorrow, 9 AM. I'll text you the address."


"Fantastic, thanks buddy."


"No problem. Heads up tho, they love black coffee. I won't hurt their feelings and get anything else." 


He nodded slowly. "Gotcha. Thanks again!" He hung up the phone, then faced the door, muttering, "Guess we'll find out tomorrow if Big Bird is lying to us or not, won't we? For now, there make sure he's doing ok."
 


Next Day, 8:57 AM.
 


Tony checked his watch as he strolled into the Marmalade Cafe, toting a hard-sided carry-on and sporting a simple suit, complete with basic sunglasses. With a satisfied nod, he took a deep breath. Fragrant aromas of food and comfort filled his lungs, a temporary ease for his nerves. His his jaw twitched as he scanned the room, only to lax as the hostess greeted him. 


"Good day, M'am." He returned. "I have a 9 o'clock waiting on me here?"


"Big guy?" She guessed, counting off on her fingers. "Uh, tall, dark blonde hair, two-day scruff, dressed like a hobo and said he's meeting his lawyer?" 


"Yep, that's him."


Picking up a menu and silverware, she gestured for him to follow. "This way, then."
 Leading him to a table in the farthest booth, she laid his place and nodded. "Here you go, sir. Enjoy."

"Thank you." He smiled at her, then turned to the man sitting in the booth. "Mr. Knox, I presume?"


The man rose and held out a hand. "Jason, pleasure to meet you."


"Same here." He shook it. "No need to waste words introducing myself."


"No kidding." 


They took a seat. 


"I ordered two coffees." Knox informed him. "Black alright with you?"


He sighed. "At this point caffeine is caffeine."


His eyebrow cocked as his jaw tightened. "Incorrect."


"Well, the answer I was given to say was too boring. Thought I'd change it up, seem more natural." 


"If I wasn't expecting you pull something like that, I'd've shot you."
 He returned with a smirk.

"Wow!" He scoffed, shaking his head. "You military guys are all the same, aren't you?"


His face didn't change from that hard smirk."Suppose we are." 


The waitress approached with their coffees. "Here you go, gentlemen. Let me know if you need anything else."


"Thank you." Knox nodded her away.


Tony kept his head down and his sunglasses up, just sipped his coffee.


When she'd gone, Knox took a swig of his. "So my contact tells me you're interested in Operation Falconry?"


"Fitting name. Yes, your contact would be correct." He replied, sliding an image of Armstrong across the table. "Tell me about this guy - how you found him, where you found him, all that stuff."


With a clunk, he set his mug down. "Why should I share any info with a multi-billionaire ex-military weapons contractor, just because he claims he 'found' my missing army buddy?"


"Good question." He took a confident sip of his coffee. "Why should I have to come begging information of an dishonorably discharged military officer turner drifter?" 


That smirk widened into a grin. "Good answer." Reaching under the table, he lifted something up and set it in Tony's lap. 


He glanced down at the spiral-bound notebook, then up with a lifted eyebrow. "This your kid's homework?"


"No, it's my homework. My record of the op, who went, how it went and what we found. And the aftermath." 


"Must've been a real bomb." He peeked inside, then tucked it into his carry-on. 


Knox drank coffee for a few seconds before replying, "Most of us either got killed off, discharged or buried deep in long-term ops."


"Suspicious." He downed the last of his cup and set it down.

"Don't."


He frowned, looking up at him. "Don't what?"


"Get up yet. Hasn't been long enough. You'll alert anyone who's watching us." 


"You think we're being watched?"


"Always should act like you are. You can plan, scout out, be aware. But you can never rule it out."

"You remind of another very paranoid person I know."


"Never hurts."


He shrugged scanning the menu on the table."Better order myself something, make it seem natural." Raising a hand, he hailed their waitress, who was wiping off a table. "Excuse me? We'd like to order when you get minute? No rush, please take your time."


"Of course! I'll be with you in a minute!"


After she'd placed their order for breakfast combos and hurried to the kitchen, Knox leaned slightly forward, "There's something not in the official reports. Or in my homework. Only me and the guys on the op know it."


"I'm all ears."


"We didn't find him in the cave," He lowered his voice. "We found the cave first, everything inside torn to shreds. Everybody inside dead. He was found an hour later, thirty-clicks west out in the desert."


Tony frowned, as though a thought jumped to the forefront of his mind. "He escaped all on his own."


"Yeah."


Still frowning, he reached into his pocked and lifted his phone to his ear. "Yes?"


Knox kept his face smooth but his brows crinkled.


"Yep, sure thing. I'll be over soon." Pocketing the phone, he sighed. "Sorry, Buddy, I'm gonna have to get that sandwich to go." 


Knox's eyes lit up. "Not bad for a billionaire."


He winked. 


Thirty minutes later, Tony rolled into his garage and sprang out of the car, white to-go box in hand and carry-on in the other. "JARVIS, I'm back. How's he doing?"


"I have trying to contact you, Mr. Stark. I regret to inform you that Mr. Armstrong escaped approximately twenty minutes ago." 


"I knew it!" He groaned, setting both on the table. "I was gone for like, an hour, and he got bored?" 


"Or he still doesn't trust that you truly have his best interests in mind?"


"That's probably it." He hurried downstairs to the suit up pad. "Better hurry and catch him, before he rips those wings off." 


"While you do that, I'll initiate some more advanced security measures."


"You're the best!" 


As the Ironman soared into the sky, Tony engaged the "Telescope mode", searching the horizon. "Let's find this kid, JARVIS. He's got homework to do."


Like a comet, he shot away to the horizon. 
 "Alright, let's check out all the natural habitats we can find - trees, bodies of water, abandoned buildings, the works."


"Scanning for Armstrong's biogenetic signature now."


"Gosh, I love technology." He muttered.


Twenty minutes crawled by as he searched, sweeping every promising looking hiding spot. JARVIS kept scanning and recommending places to check out, until at last he said, "Sir, I have located him. He's approximately thirty yards from our position."


"Atta boy, JARVIS!" He frowned as the scan loaded on the screen. "But why's he hovering?"


Another screen loaded. "According to radar, he's gotten himself lodged in the boughs of a California Bay tree."


"That's a cat thing, not a bird thing. But thanks for the botany lesson." He shook his head as come up on the location. 


Sure enough, Armstrong lay below him, twisted up in the top of a tree. Lifting a hand, he signaled an SOS.


"There you are!"
 He landed on the ground below him. Putting his hands on his hips, he tilted his head up at him. "Pretty sure this was the one thing I told you NOT to do." 


Armstrong smirked, but painfully. "Really thought I'd listen?"


"Ya know, I hoped. Now how am I gonna get you down from there?"


His smirk grew, almost to a smile. "Call the fire department?"


"Wait," he held up a hand, "Was that a joke? Seriously?" To the closest tree. "He just told a joke." 


"Seems to be what you understand," He returned with a straight face. 


"Ouch! Watch how you talk to your elders." 


"I can git myself down if you toss a knife or somethin' up."


"I can do better." Aiming just above the wing, he used a laser to cute through a branch or two. 


Slowly, wincing, he folded the wings against his back. He climbed down much faster, dropping to ground with ease, then leaned against the tree.


"So . . ." He lifted an eyebrow at him, "What were you doing? You just running out to pick up some bark from the local tree bark dealer?"


 "I was leavin.'"
 He replied, dead pan serious.

Shaking his head, his snapped back the visor. "You know I had to stop eating breakfast to come rescue you, right? My pancakes are probably breaking out in maggots as we speak."


"Wasn't expectin' to be rescued."


"Well, you didn't leave a note, or any explanation . . .so what else was I supposed to do?"


He glanced up. "Lemme go?"


"And have something like this happen? I still have to figure how in h—— you escaped to begin with."
 He grimaced.

"Be surprised how easy you can beat technology."


"Sorry, didn't hear that over JARVIS telling me he can see your blood pressure and knows you're bleeding down your back. The tree can't hide it." 


Armstrong glanced up sharply. 


Tony chuckled. "I'll explain the technology later." He gestured. "Let's get you back, see how bad the damage is."


He nodded. Leaning away from the tree, he opened his wings. 


"Nope, you're not flying. Doc said no flying. I tow you back."

For a long minute, he side eyed him in silence, as though assessing. Then, with a nod and a muttered, "Thanks," he closed them.


"Cool." Tony walked over, grabbed him around the shoulders and hoisted up. With whir and glow of thrusters, they shot up into the sky.


Minutes later, Tony set him down on the floor of the garage. "This is probably cuz your bones are more hollow than the average human, but you're lighter than you look." 


Armstrong kept his head down as Tony stood on his armor pad. "So you know everythin' 'bout me?"


He nodded, watching the machine desuiting him. "As far as your anatomy goes, yes."


Without a reply, he stood waiting until Tony walked out. Still in silence, he fell in step behind and followed him back to his room.


"Alright, Archangel," He set a life-saver shaped pillow on one of the tables, "Lay down, face in the donut."


He stopped in the doorway, eyes locked on it. 
"Why?"


"To patch you up, Goose! Now c'mon."


"Not if yer puttin' me under."


"Would you rather be awake and feeling everything?" He reached for the needle.


"Yes!" He blurted.


Something in that simple but empathic statement stopped Tony's hand. As he looked up, he caught something in those brown eyes. Fear maybe? It vanished in a flash of distrust. But it has really looked like fear.
 

"Alright," He brushed the needle away. "No tranquilizers is it."


He relaxed a little. Slowly, he walked over and eased himself up onto the table. 


Tony rested a hand on his shoulder. "Hey." 


He stiffened as he looked up. 


"Take it easy, ok? I am not out to get you."


His expression didn't change. Not even his eyes wavered. But his breathing eased a little before he laid down and hid his face in the pillow. 


"Alright, JARVIS, tell me what's the damage?" He asked as he pressed a blood-stopping pad against the torn skin.


"The skin and muscle structures supporting both wings are ruptured. It appears that the wings sustained minimal damage."


"Well, that's good news. Probably just throw a couple stitches in ya and let Mother Nature do the rest."

He nodded. "Ok."


"So," He pulled out a kit and set to work, "Tell me, how did you get out?"


"Pulled your prints of the key pad for the code." He muttered, voice muffled by the pillow. "Had to guess a couple times for password. Rest was easy."

"I don't believe you! JARVIS?"


"His claims are accurate, sir. With your fingerprints, he could override all other passcodes." 


"Guess I'm changing that." He laughed. "You are something else, you know that?"


No reply, just very controlled breathing. Too controlled. 


Tony concentrated on the stitches. Within a few minutes, he'd sewn him up and started bandaging him. 
 "Well, that's the best I can do. Now, to prevent you escaping and ripping these stitches I just put in, I'm tying this wings closed. Don't hate me."


He grunted. "It's fine."


"And, I swear, you try to escape again, I will keep you sedated until you're eighty!" He threatened, but playfully.


"Guess I'm stuck here."


"You betcha." He finished the last wound. "Alright, you can get back in your nest now, just take it easy."


He sat up, blinking against the light. With a slow steps, he walked to his nest and crawled up in, collapsing into the pillows. 


"You want any pain killers?"


"I'm fine."
 He grunted into a pillow

"Suit yourself. Get some rest. And remember," He wagged a finger, "No breaking out or other stunts like that. 

Switching off the light, he walked out of the room, changing the code on the door once it closed behind him. 


"JARVIS, change the door passcode to type-in only and add my retinal scan."

"Right away, sir."