In The ice (July 1998)

Tony had finally found the missing link he needed. There was a report by a control tower that had the plane on radar for exactly 8 seconds. Long enough to get its bearing and heading. He added it into the flight path and though their were miles to search, that number was a lot less than just 2 weeks ago. Excitedly he slapped his hands together and spun around in his stool. He slapped the desk to the beat of the music that was playing and bounded off of his stool and up the stairs he went.

For 2 weeks Logan and Colleen had been sleeping together. Not every night but most nights. In the last week and a half Colleen had been running tissue samples through the various cryo matrices. She was getting intel and help from Tatiana who had been feeding her information. These tests though had already been done by a real cryo specialist before Natalya even arrived.

Now that Isabella had hired a nanny that doubled as a maid, she had alot more time to go back to running Stark Industries. She had also been put in charge of mission logistics. Personnel, vehicles that would operate in extreme cold and equipment to dig into the ice. Tony found her in the kitchen and he grabbed hold of her and spun her around. He was crazy with happiness as he set her down and kissed her.

"I think I've found him Isabella...Our frozen Captain," he said into her ear. "I think we should celebrate," He said.

Isabella had been very happy and relieved to hire Sarah. Sarah had all the credentials that she and Tony were looking for and Serena took to her right away. Sarah lived in the Tower and as a result, Isabella was getting more rest and she and Tony had more private time together. As a result, their relationship improved dramatically and she was able to go back to work. Isabella took to the tasks that Tony gave her with vigor and she began to get everything arranged and taken care of. Now, all they had to do was find Steve Rogers.

Isabella was in the kitchen making some tea when Tony suddenly rushed in and picked her up and spun her around and kissed her. When he told her he had found Captain America his happiness quickly rubbed off onto her. "Are you serious?!" When he nodded she forgot all about her tea. "Then hell yes we should celebrate."

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"Colleen" lay half asleep next to Logan in bed. She had tried to get up earlier, but Logan had refused to let her out of bed and after having sex she began to drift off again. She was laying on her stomach and she felt Logan playing with her hair. As he did, he might notice something strange on the back of her neck. It almost appeared to be a symbol. It was very faint...almost as if it was a white ink tattoo.

Logan had been hitting 'it' hard the last few nights. He knew that Tony would find where Steve Rogers was all too soon and so he took every opportunity to have at Colleen. Some evenings she had experiments running but most nights she either came into his room or he went to hers. What followed was a rough bout of love-making. The thing about Logan that few people knew was that his body healed fast. Everything about his body. His fluids, his adrenaline. His endurance and muscles regenerated just like the rest of him. And so, he could quite literally out perform anyone in bed. Logan laid on his side and idly rubbed at the back of her neck. Her hair was damp from the love-making and he saw that some of the roots had begun to show that her hair was not blonde. That actually made him smile. It was the odd shape on the back of her neck that he felt with his finger tips. He shifted her hair so he could kiss her there though he did that so he could get a better look at whatever it was. It was an odd, pale symbol and he traced it with his finger and noted its shape into his mind.

Tony straddled Isabella's bum. His hands rubbed scented oils over her shoulders as she lay stomach down with her face to one side. Tony kneaded out all the knots and kinks in her shoulders and shoulder blades as his skilled hands worked the oils into her flesh.

"Are you sure you want to come with us? We might be out there for days, maybe weeks," Tony said.

"Colleen" shifted when she felt Logan kiss at the back of her neck. Her eyes started to open and she turned her head and looked up at him. She then began to think about the back of her neck and what was there. She turned over so the back of her head was against a pillow. She smiled a little at him. "I really should get up and get some work done." She preferred to work at night. Her excuse was that it was quiet in the lab and she could get more work done, but truly it was so she could communicate with Tatiana to get the tests done.

Isabella felt her muscles nearly turning into jelly underneath Tony's fingers as he worked at the knots in her shoulders and shoulder blades. It hurt, but also felt wonderful at the same time. She looked back at him when he questioned her about going out with them to find Steve Rogers.

"I don't know...I'm conflicted. I'm not sure about leaving Serena for possibly that long, but I'm not sure I want to miss this. I really want to be there and be apart of this experience."

The symbol had already gone out of Logan's mind but her hair hadn't. "Not a natural blonde I think," Logan said with a grin as he reached up and cupped her prefect, left breast. "And if you 'must' go...I'll understand," he said in mock bereavement. "I was hoping to have a triple play tonight but I'll settle for a double," He added. as he laid back onto his back and rested his head on his arm.

Tony moved his hands down to the middle of her back. "Well, we'll have a base camp set up. Doctors, military, and we'll have our own bungalow. We could just bring her with us. We'll just make certain she's warm enough," Tony said as his hands shifted to just above her bottom. His hands slid along her hips while her thumbs worked on the softer flesh on top.

Natalya’s hands went up to touch her hair. She hadn’t noticed that her roots were starting to show and now she silently cursed herself. She didn’t respond to what he said though. She would need to fix her hair soon. She got up and started to get dressed. “Sorry, but work calls.”

Isabella thought about what Tony said. She began to consider it. It wasn’t an ideal place to bring a two month old, but they would have to make do since Isabella really wanted to be there. They would have Sarah come along as well.

“I’m sure I can find some things to keep her warm,” Isabella said with a soft moan. What Tony was doing felt...incredible.

3 Days Pass...

Tony made another pass and every 300 meters he shot a metal detector down onto the surface. He had been doing this in a radial pattern from base camp for the past 3 days. Each day he moved farther and farther out.

The Arctic wasn't just cold, it was Freezing! Isabella was dressed in a thick, arctic Parka that Tony had modified to include electronic warmers all over the coat, pants and boots she wore. They were Black and had small, solar cells sewn into he fabric in order to keep them powered during the day. At night, no one but Tony stepped out of their bungalows that Tony had delivered via transport chopper. There were porta potties in the bungalows and Hot water for showers was heated via solar power as well for each bungalow. Tony had designed in lights on the roofs of the bungalows just incase there wasn't enough natural light to power the solar cells.

Sarah had come with them to take care of the baby. Serena, not being at home and always being cold was not a happy baby at all. She didn't sleep well and she didn't eat as much as she normally did. She had congestion but it never seemed to get any worse.

Natalya had her own Bungalow just as Logan did but Logan had given her an open invitation to sleep in his whenever she wanted to. Sleeping alone was a chilly experience even with the heaters. The one night she slept with him she wasn't cold though. Logan was a personal furnace under the covers.

"Ok, I'm coming in. I'm out of ammo," Tony said. over the comms. There was a storm outside right then and he was having difficulty seeing anyway.

There was a squad of Army Core of Engineers with them. They had all sorts of equipment and each man had been trained in this particular climate. First Sergeant Hark was their commander and they all slept in one, large bungalow together. All in all there were 7 bungalows. The three others were the mess, the infirmary and the shelter where they stored their equipment. The large transport chopper was in its own tent and it was outfitted to operate in a blizzard and the cold weather.

Isabella had known it was going to be cold, but it was far colder than she could have ever imagined. Sarah had agreed to come with them to take care of Serena and Tony had done his best to ensure that everyone was kept as warm as possible. Isabella hoped that they would find Steve Rogers quickly, but thus far they had not been able to pinpoint the location of the plane he went down in.

Natalya had fixed Colleen's hair the day before they left for the Arctic. She didn't want to risk anyone discovering that she wasn't who they thought she was. She had kept in contact with Tatiana about everything that was going on and Tatiana had a crew waiting nearby to pick up Natalya as soon as she got the DNA from Steve Rogers. Unfortunately, she had thus far been able to get any blood from Logan and she didn't want to blow her cover and screw up the mission by trying it. Logan couldn't get drunk easily and so he couldn't pass out. Her focus was now on getting Steve Rogers' blood...as soon as Tony found him.

Isabella was in the command center with the others while Tony was out over the water. Isabella was worried about him with the storm and was relieved when he said he was coming in. "Ok, please be careful," Isabella responded back to him.

On the way back Tony had gotten some strange readings. Because of the blizzard some of the telemetry that he was getting was odd. He'd get a radio signal and then nothing. It was intermittent and not a consistent signal. He would go check it out but he had to get back and repair and re-arm his suit.

He had made a place to land inside of en enclosed room just off of their bungalow. He landed and the one robot helped him get out of his suit. "Jarvis, go ahead and fix that broken seal, my left arm is freezing. Re-arm with micro detectors," he said. "Right away sir," Jarvis responded as Tony came into the room. Just as he did Logan and 'Colleen' came in. "My heater's out," Logan said. "Mine too," Colleen said. Tony just sighed. There was nothing he could do about it tonight. And there were extra sleeping bags in everyone's rooms just for this kind of contingency. He turned to Isabella.

"I thought I was receiving some kind of radio wave. It wasn't consistent so I think it was encrypted. I'm not certain we're alone out here," he said. "Not surprising. You couldn't keep this expedition a complete secret," Logan said.

Isabella immediately went over to Tony as he landed to make sure he was ok. She felt his arm and could feel how cold it was. She began to rub it just to warm it up a little. Just then, Logan and "Colleen" came into the room and told them that their heaters were out. Isabella sighed and began to wonder if they shouldn't both just sleep in the bungalow that she and Tony were in. They had Sarah and Serena there as well, but she wasn't sure she was comfortable having them sleep in bungalows that didn't have any heat. However, she decided to talk to Tony about this privately first.

She heard what Tony said and she sighed a little at the idea that there was someone else out in the Arctic with them. Natalya, of course, knew who it was. It was the SSB waiting for her signal. She hoped they would find Steve Rogers soon.

"Do you think it's SHIELD?" Isabella asked regarding the radio waves Tony had been receiving.

Tony thought about her question a moment. "It could be SHIELD but hell, I'm not even certain that would be a good thing. At this point whomever it is, they have not identified themselves to us. I can't take that as a 'we're here to help' type of thing. I know this quest was going to be difficult but I never thought that our list of 'good guys' would grow so thin," He said. It was obvious he was troubled by all of this. He had thought this was not going to be so difficult. Tony did not like things that were complicated...to him.

"What do you think I should do about them?" He asked under his breath. "I think it is enough to know they are there. I doubt they will act against us and they can't tap into my devices. Their telemetry frequency is designed for our suits to pick up," he said as he looked at Logan and Colleen talking to one another.

"It'll only be for tonight Colleen. Tony will fix the heaters tomorrow morning," Logan assured her.

Isabella thought about Tony's question for a moment before responding. "I think perhaps we should just leave them be and continue on with what we are doing. If we let them distract us then that is just more time we are here looking for Steve Rogers. The quicker we can find him, the quicker we can get out of here." They had brought Isabella's suit with them and she looked at her husband. "Do you want me to go out this next time?"

"Colleen" nodded a little at Logan's comment. Natalya was getting antsy and frustrated and her patience was wearing thin. She wanted to get out of here. The longer she was here with the Tony, Isabella, and Logan, her chance at being discovered grew. "Well, I guess I'm sleeping in your bungalow tonight."

"No Isabella, I don't think the blizzard is going to be over by then and I will need you to be on stanby incase something happens. The suits only have homing beacons to one another so I will need yours to find my way back," He said loud enough for everyone to hear.

The blizzard made it impossible to even see the lights for the mess tent so Isabella and Sarah had had to use Tony's jury rigged hot plate to cook with. All they had was MREs but the food in the plastic pouches was disgusting cold. The hot plate emanated heat but didn't burn or melt the plastic pouch. There was two chicken cacciatore, bbq beef, beans and franks and another bbq beef for them tonight. The 1st Sergeant had one of his soldiers deliver the rations to every bungalow just incase. There was also salt and pepper, Tabasco sauce and a small cake in the MRE pouch. everything was in its own little containers. Tony ofcourse had bourbon and beer in the mini fridge. The 5 adults sat around the large heater in their coats. Tony's arm finally seemed to normalize but there didn't appear to be any permanent damage from the cold.

Isabella hated the MREs. They were disgusting and were never hot. However, Tony encouraged her to eat. She suddenly really appreciated her kitchen and the ability to cook good tasting food. Isabella was glad to see that Tony's arms was normalizing and there didn't appear to be any frostbite.

"This cold reminds me of being back home," "Colleen" suddenly said. Isabella looked at her and blinked. "I thought you were from North Carolina." Natalya quickly realized her mistake and attempted to correct it since everyone was now looking at her. "Oh...I am, but we had a house in Massachusetts as well." Isabella raised an eyebrow at that, but before she could question her further Serena started to cry. She and Sarah got up to go check on her.

"Nothing like in Canada, I can tell you that!" Logan said as he ate. The food was not appetizing but it was filling. He looked at Colleen at what she said and raised his eyebrows. He looked at her a moment and he twitched his nose as he detected her scent as if she were perspiring a little. No one here was perspiring, it was still fairly cold here.

"I bet North Carolina was nice. How could you ever leave?" Logan asked.

Natalya didn't pick up on Logan's nose twitch, nor did she realize she was starting to perspire a little. She glanced at Logan when he asked her how could she have ever left North Carolina. She gave him a little smile.

"Well, I left to go to NYU and then I got a job at Oscorp."

Everything she said seemed to fit but it was how she was saying it. Logan had been alive for alot longer than anyone he knew. He had memories of talking to people and he was born with his heightened sense of smell. He could not know why Colleen was lying but he had a feeling that she was. It was just a feeling though. Not anything definite. And then there was the reasoning behind it. Why would she lie? It didn't make any sense. He decided to not call her on it but to watch her a bit more closely than before. Logan needed to speak to Tony and he had an opportunity when Colleen had to use the bathroom. He told Tony of his suspicions. Both Tony and Isabella.

After dinner, if it could be called that the storm raged outside. Ice and snow buffeted the outer shell of the bungalow but Tony had built these shelters well. Logan produced a deck of cards and set to teaching the adults how to play. Sarah held the baby and just watched.

"So Dr. McCalister, Was Professor Donovan still there? He was the head of the Physics Department when I attended," he said.

Isabella mirrored Logan's suspicions. She didn't have any hard evidence against her, but more gut intuition. Having Logan also become suspicious only increased Isabella's, especially now that they knew that there was someone else in the arctic with them. Everyone decided to just act normally around Colleen and after she came back from the bathroom Logan got out some cards.

"Colleen" glanced at Tony when he asked her about Professor Donovan at MIT. Natalya was forced to lie and had to hope what she said was correct. "I never met him, but I heard about him," she replied.

Ofcourse there never was a Professor with that name. The Physics Professor was Syied Bonilome and he was likely still there. Tony didn't know who Colleen McCalister was but this woman never attended MIT. He decided to play along anyway. "He was one of the greats," Tony said as he played a card. As they played Isabella finally got tired and then Sarah did. Tony was next and then Logan and Colleen turned in. Logan had made a large, single sleeping bag out of both so they could share body heat. Logan thought that Colleen seemed...distant, preoccupied and so when he laid down he faked that he was sleeping.

"Colleen" didn't lay down right away. She glanced over and saw that Logan was in the sleeping bag and he seemed asleep. She went over to one of her bags and quietly looked through it before pulling out a small radio transmitter. She glanced over at Logan again before speaking quietly in a language that wasn't English. However, she was speaking so quietly that even Logan would have a difficult time understanding what language she was speaking. She received a response and then she put the transmitter away. She walked over to Logan and slipped into the sleeping bag. She curled up next to him to get warm.

Logan was now convinced that there was something off about Colleen. She did not appear...genuine though he very much wanted her to be. He liked her but the feeling was there.

The next morning it was snowing but the winds had died down enough to make a go of it. He gave Isabella the morning to release the metal sensors while she could still see but later they might have another blizzard and she had spent far less time in her suit than she had and he did not want this to turn into a rescue mission. She knew she could fly above the storm if she had to but Tony had experience in low light conditions including underwater operations where he had repaired electrical lines, oil lines, all sorts of things for the US government and other countries because of the speed, efficiency and importance of the repairs.

After 2 hours, while he held Serena he made a video call to Isabella with the baby. "Hey there hot stuff, are you freezing your butt off for us today? Serena wanted to say hi. "Say hi to mumma Serena," Tony said as he waved her hand to the phone for Isabella to see. Serena was dressed in a pink snowsuit that was unzipped at the top, She had a pacifier in her mouth and grinned at the camera.

Isabella was anxious to get into her suit and to get out into the air. She felt cooped up and wanted to fly again. Thankfully, the winds had died down enough that Tony felt comfortable letting her release the metal sensors that morning. It was cold, but thankfully her suit offered her quite a bit of protection.

After a while she got a notification from Jarvis of an incoming video call. Isabella smiled when she saw Tony and Serena. She loved them both very much and seeing them together made her extremely happy. "Hi Serena. Are you behaving for your daddy?" She smiled when she saw her smile. "It's cold, but it's not terrible. I'm almost finished releasing the sensors."

On Isabella's way back to base camp she detected that something was happening with one of the sensors she placed. The 5th one, closest to a ridge in the Northeast. After communicating with Tony about it he suggested that she take a look at it. If it fell into a crevice it would not do what they needed it to do and she'd need to shoot another one in place of it. As she got close to where it was however her HUD suddenly came to life with warnings that someone was trying to get a target lock on her. Before she could even think to release her countermeasures she recalled that the her suit was loaded with the sensors. The lock on her was made and her radar picked up 2 missiles headed straight for her. As she took off away from them Jarvis identified the missiles.

"Those are Triton 2 Armor Piercing missiles Mrs. Stark. If you receive a direct hit by one of them, it could do serious damage to your systems including exposing you to the severe weather. I recommend avoidance protocols," He said which meant she would need to outrun and out maneuver them long enough for them to run out of fuel.

Isabella enjoyed the work she was doing, but seeing Serena made her want to go back and hold her. She finished her job and started to head back to base camp. However, on her way back she realized that something was wrong with one of the sensors she had placed. It was the one closest to a ridge and she knew if it fell into the crevice she would need to place another sensor. However, as she got close to the area where the sensor had been placed her HUD suddenly came to life and warned her that someone was trying to get a lock on her. She instinctively started to release counter measures until she realized that her suit was loaded with sensors and not missiles. She cursed as she realized they had locked onto her and she took off as Jarvis identified the missiles. She remained as calm as she could as she flew and maneuvered around to try and out run them. She kept away from the base camp as well as she didn't want the missiles anywhere near her family.

Isabella had flown fast before but it was usually her chasing someone, not someone or something chasing her. Her suit was alot faster than Tony's but those missiles were fast, agile and intelligent. Tony was talking with Sarah who rocked Serena when Jarvis told him what was happening.

"Sir, Mrs. Stark is being perused by 2 Triton 2 missiles. I've managed to track where they were launched sir and have prepared your suit incase you wanted to assist her," He said. Tony punched up Isabella on his wrist comm.

"Um, babe, are you alright?" He asked in order to confirm what Jarvis just said.