War in the Machine (September 2001)

Obediah Stane did not allow the police and the FBI to arrest him. Unbeknownst to Tony, he had built a suit of his own. A terrible machine called Warmachine. Over twice the size of Tony’s suit and 3 times as thick in armor. He had tried to attack the tower but Isabella had gotten in her suit and Logan had damaged his suit with his claws. Now he was rampaging in times square and had injured over 2 dozen police and half a dozen FBI agents. He had caused millions of dollars of damage as well. Steve, Kate and Natalya were behind an overturned police car. Steve set an officer’s broken arm while the 2 women tried to find an opportunity for a good shot. 


Logan was...somewhere. He had been thrown a long way. The Punisher and the White Tiger had made an appearance. Frank had an armor piercing rocket launcher but it had a limited range. He and Ava ran up to the others. Frank’s head was bleeding and his van was a complete wreck. Ava’s white suit was black in several places. A sign that they both had tried to take the Warmachine on and had to retreat. Isabella had done the most damage but her suit had taken alot of damage. 


“Where the fuck is Tony Stark!?” Frank asked. “And don’t any of you EVER tell him I said that!” Frank warned. He still thought Tony was an ass but he did help alot of people. Most of the time.

Isabella had not liked being pulled away from her husband, but this was Obediah they were dealing with. Isabella hated Obediah. The man had tried to ruin Tony and take over Stark Industries. Upon learning that he had built a suit of his own she knew that he was going to be difficult to take down. Unfortunately, Tony was still recovering and was unable to help the team. 

Downtown looked like a war zone. People were screaming in terror as they fled Warmachine's wrath. The police had tried to take him on themselves with disastrous results. Tony had recently upgraded Isabella's suit, which she had been thankful for when she took several hard hits from Warmachine. She managed to cause some damage to the suit but she knew it was going to take more than that to bring him down. 

Isabella was forced to retreat, but as she did she spotted Frank and White Tiger. They ran over to the others to take cover behind the overturned police car. Ava had taken a hard hit from Warmachine but she had insisted to Frank that she was ok. Ava and Frank had been together for two years now. They were lovers, but they also worked together to take down criminals. This, however, was a little out of their normal wheelhouse. 

Isabella retracted her face mask and looked at Frank. "Tony's seriously injured. He's back at the Tower and can't help us." She had tried to call Stephen Strange, but he had never responded so she wasn't certain where he was.

Logan arrived and though he was covered in blood and grime and his uniform was thrashed he wasn't hurt. Just angry. When he saw Frank and Ava his face held no expression and ignored them. "This guy's really pissing me off!" He growled. "Natalya, Kate, are you using those rifles are just holding them for the hell of it?" He said. "Are the rest of you able to fight? Because Warmachine's trashing the place!" He said angrily.

"We're working on a plan Logan. The direct approach, as you found out, isn't working," Steve said. "Isabella?" Steve asked. "How bad are you damaged?" He asked.

Isabella looked at Steve. "My suit's suffered about 40% damage, but it isn't compromised yet. What are you thinking Steve?"

Ava looked at Frank and reached up and gently touched his head where he was bleeding. "Are you sure you're alright?" she asked in a low, concerned tone.

Frank glanced a moment at Logan. "I've had worse. What about you? You're limping," he asked. Logan stepped up to the two women and put his hands on their shoulders. They were watching Warmachine who fired into a nearby building. People ran in every direction. He glanced at Natalya then turned to Kate. "How you holding up?" He asked softly. Her face was covered in soot and she wasd a bit banged up but otherwise she looked ok.

Ava shrugged a little. "I'll be fine. I'll walk it off."

Natalya felt Logan's hand upon her shoulder. She was still trying to get a good shot at Warmachine. Unfortunately, they were too far away. She would need to get closer. She heard Logan speak, but glanced over and saw he was speaking to Kate. She blinked a little. It wasn't that Natalya didn't like Kate...she did...Kate was her friend, but it was the tone of voice Logan had with Kate that got under her skin.

Kate was rather surprised by Logan's question. She looked at him. "I'm fine...thanks for asking."

"Steve, I've got 2 AP shots left but I can't get close enough to use the launcher effectively. The range is limited and its direct fire which means I gotta be in his line of sight. "Is that shield as good as what they say it is?" Frank asked.

Logan chuckled. "Well that depends on who's holding it. You seem pretty high and dry Steve," he said sarcastically. "If you could have distracted him for a bit longer, we wouldn't be here right now watching him hurt people," Logan said.

Isabella heard what Logan said and her eyes widened. "Logan! Stop that! We can't fall apart as a team now. If we do, then Warmachine is going to win and more innocent people are going to be hurt or killed."

She looked at Frank. "How close do you need to get?"

"Within 50 meters," Frank said. "Any further and the aim gets alot harder," Frank said. Logan narrowed his eyes at them and took a few steps back to look over the car. He took a moment to check out Kate's ass and he grinned as he stepped further back. Warmachine picked up a bus and people screamed as he threw it.

"God damnit!" Logan said and then hopped over the car and ran into he darkness toward the carnage.

Kate didn't notice when Logan checked out her ass...but Isabella saw it...and so did Steve. Isabella managed to get Steve's attention back as Logan ran out towards the carnage. Natalya and Kate both began to fire at Warmachine. 

"Can you get Frank within 50 meters? I can try to get his attention on me so he doesn't see you coming."

"It'll be tricky. If he turns toward us, my shield won't stop an area of effect explosion," Steve said. "Well, I think us women can distract the asshole," Ava said confidently.

Natalya and Kate both nodded. “Yes, we can distract him and give you guys an opportunity to take him out.”

Isabella looked at Frank and Steve. “I can provide some extra firepower from the air.”

And so the plan was set and Isabella took off into the night air. Blooms of smoldering cars and fires peppered times square as Warmachine torched another police car. He saw Isabella and though his targeting computer was off he still could hit her with his machine guns. He followed her up and then began to fire at her, hitting her several times and one shot damaged her left rocket booster. She hit the ground hard and bounced into a tree trunk. At the same time he was being hit by gunfire from behind a torched Police APC. Natalya and Kate's weapons were in the rifle configuration and were shooting him in the head. Bullets made distinct 'tinks' against his thick armor. It was VERY annoying and he shot a rocket at them. Steve hopped over the car and took the hit with his shield. He was flung back but Ava was there to cushion his fall though the front of the vehicle against her back...HURT!

Frank lined up his shot but Warmachine moved just at the right moment. His shot just missed and hit the street beyond him than exploded. Warmachine turned to face him. "Oh shit," Frank said. He knew he was toast but he loaded his last AP grenade anyway. He did not duck for cover. Everyone saw what was about to happen and Frank just stood there, unwilling to yield or duck for cover. He took aim at Warmachine just as Warmachine took aim at him. Then, out of nowhere Logan jumped onto the back of Warmachine. He slashed at the bullet feeders to the weapon. A few rounds came out but not enough to lead into Frank and Frank fired.

Franks grenade hit Warmachine center of mass and shrapnel blew out his back. Logan was hit as well and he landed apart from where Warmachine met pavement face down. Niether of them moved and, by the hole in Warmachine's back. He would not be getting up.

Isabella was relieved it was over. Almost immediately she heard sirens rushing towards the area. Logan recovered and after making sure the police had it handled they all headed back to the Tower. Isabella invited Frank and Ava up so they could tend to their injuries. Kate couldn’t help but notice a tension between Steve and Logan as everyone was putting away their weapons. Everyone had suffered some injuries, but none were life threatening.

Isabella went to go check on Tony. She saw a look of relief in his eyes when he saw she was alright. She was a little bruised, but otherwise ok. “I’m going to need a new suit,” she told Tony with a little smile.

"I know...I was watching through your Helm cam. You're supposed to 'avoid' gunfire," He told her. "This watching from the sidelines sucks!" he told her "Do I need to have a talk with Logan?" He asked.

Frank took a round in the arm but it was only a graze. The bullets were huge and he was very lucky it didn't take his whole arm off. The spare biobed healed his wound and Ava wouldn't leave him. Natalya and Kate suffered minor injuries but were the least hurt from everyone. They had alot of weapons to clean though! Steve was bruised but otherwise he was alright. He and Logan were acting like strange dogs. Logan had seen Steve's looks but didn't understand what his problem was. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore.

"What the hell is your problem?" he asked Steve outright. "The rest of us were a team Logan. Not a Lonewolf. Nd you know very well what my problem is," He said. Logan frowned and was trying to decide if he should get angry or not. "Hey, he frickin through me into a burning building! I fell through the floor and getting out wasn't easy...thanks for asking asshole!" He said as he stood up from the table. He was helping to clean one of Natalya's handguns. Steve stood up as well as he was doing the same for Kate.

Isabella sighed as she looked at Tony. "I know what you're going through," she said when he mentioned hating not being out there in the fight. "It was the same for me when I was pregnant with Serena. You'll be back out there soon enough. I promise. Just rest and get better." She thought about Logan and wasn't entirely sure what was going on with him. "I don't know what's up with him today. You know, I caught him checking out Kate's ass...unfortunately, Steve did too."

Ava had pulled back the mask of her suit, but was still wearing her White Tiger suit. She didn't have anything else to change into. She smiled a little at Frank as she looked at the wound. "Just a new scar for me to kiss."

Natalya was decidedly...quiet while cleaning her weapons. She wasn't sure what was going on with Logan, but something seemed...off to her. What had been that whole thing with Kate? And now he and Steve were about to get into it. As both men stood up, Natalya and Kate did as well. 

"Alright Logan, that's enough," Natalya said to him to try and get him to calm down.

"I am a part of the team Cap...just you remember that!" Logan growled and stalked away. Steve shifted and narrowed his eyes as he stepped away but he let it go. "And this is unusual why? We all look at Kate's ass. It's a nice ass," Tony said. "Natalya's too...I mean...we're not blind or dead, we're men. That's what...well, maybe not Steve, but most of us do anyway. "Like you don't check Steve ass out when he's wearing those tight...shorts things," Tony said to Isabella. "I don't begrudge you for that. But to do that openly during a mission. Maybe the fighting made him horny," Tony surmised.

Isabella sighed and looked at Tony. She couldn't deny that she had looked at Steve's ass before...especially when he was in his suit. "Ok, but the thing is is that Natalya was right there. Logan was standing in between Kate and Natalya. He could have just as easily looked at Natalya's ass...his girlfriend...but he chose to look openly at Kate's. I mean he wasn't even trying to hide that he was looking at it. Oh, and he was whispering something to her as well. The whole thing was just...weird."

“Well, if it persists then we take care of it, is that good enough for now?” Tony said.

Logan went back to his room and turned on the tv. He didn’t know what Steve’s deal was. Warmachine had squeezed him and then threw him into the building. That HURT! And he stopped Frank from being turned into swiss cheese.

-------

Frank winced as the biobed’s robotic arm sutured his wound. “Ya know, you look like a nurse, sorta. I think you like it when you get to take care of me. Or is it that you just like it when I’m off my feet?” He said with a grin, “I’ll have to see how bad that bruise is later unless you wanna show it to me now?” He said then glanced around the room. “Well, maybe not,” He said with a grin and then he winced again.

Natalya sat there for a while continuing to clean the guns. After a while she finally got up and went to Logan's room. She walked in and closed the door behind her. She crossed her arms over her chest as she looked at him. "What's with you today?"

-------------------------------------

Ava could feel that she was badly bruised, but she didn't want to look at it right then. Isabella had offered her and Frank a guest room, if they chose to stay. Ava smiled a little at him and reached out and gently caressed his cheek. "So I guess we lost the van..."

Frank nodded. "Yeah...I'll scavenge through it tomorrow. I think we can stay here for today, if you're ok with that?" Frank said. "This medical bed shot me up with some good stuff," Tony did a goo...job, with ittt," Frank said as he suddenly began to feel sleepy. "Process complete," Jarvis said and the bed opened for him. He felt Ava put his arm over her shoulder and they hobbled up the stairs. "They have a hot tub?" He said as they passed the hot tub and pool room. "We gotta use that before we go," He said with a chuckle.

-----------

"You too? What is everyone's problem!? I got thrown into a building for fuck sake! Where does Steve get off gettin down on me!? What did I do? I save Frank's life!" He said angrily.

Ava helped Frank to the guest room Isabella had given them to use. She couldn't help but smile when Frank saw the hot tub. "Yes, they have a hot tub," she told him as the passed by it. They made it to the room and Ava saw that Isabella had provided them with some clothes. Ava helped Frank out of his boots and stripped off everything but his small clothes. She went to go change out of her suit and into the nightgown Isabella had given her. As she took off her suit she got a good look at her bruised body. It wasn't pretty, but it would heal. She crawled into bed with Frank and put her arms around him as she closed her eyes.

--------------------------------------------------

Natalya blinked at Logan's outburst. While Logan had a short temper, this seemed out of character for him. "What about you checking out Kate's ass right in front of me and what were you whispering to her?"

Logan's eyebrows drew up at what Natalya had said. Logan looked at other women, Kate and Isabella included. He looked at them often. He thought Kate was very attractive but he didn't recall any specific moment when he looked at her butt. Nor did he recall talking to her. He frowned and narrowed his eyes at her. "The pool thing a few weeks ago? Your bringin that up NOW!? Her suit was all up in her crack. And you saw it too! I didn't say anything to her about that...I doubt no one did," Logan said. "If it bothered you, you could have said something to me THEN. Now...I think that statute of limitations on that is long since past," he said defensively as he turned back toward the television and switched channels.

"Your ass is nicer anyways," He murmured.

Natalya blinked at what Logan said. "No, I wasn't talking about then. I was talking about today...just a little while ago. You came up between Kate and I while we were behind the police car. You put your hands on both of our shoulders and you looked at me and then you looked over at Kate. You said something softly to her and she said something back. Then you stood back and looked at her ass. You weren't even being discrete about it."

Logan furled his brow like she was talking crazy. "Was that before or after I crawled out of the elevator shaft?" Logan said then shook his head. "What...why would...ya know...whatever. It's been a crazy night," He growled. "Like you're butt isn't enough for me to gawk at," He murmured in a rasp. "You could be a better girlfriend ya know! I mean, its past midnight and you ain't turned into a pizza and a beer!" He said to lighten the mood. He shifted in the recliner. "Why don't you get us some beer then we can talk about hot butts," he said with a grin.