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[ No, it's a good thing. He'd rather she risk the loud noises than risk her blood running everywhere. It's half the reason he lets his hand fall onto the gun she's placed on his leg, lets his hand loosely clasp it as his fingers curl slowly around the grip. He'll be holding it properly by the time he stands up to follow her, he's just taking a little while to actually get there.

His eyes are a little watery, residual effect of having squeezed them so tightly against the sound (totally that, not at all due to pain), but they're mostly clear. No obvious signs of a concussion, or anything of the sort. Just of having been recently overwhelmed, perhaps more than once, and of exhaustion and residual pain and wanting to leave now. Nothing in particular to worry about. He'll be able to question her a little further about that wound she just tied up once they're safe and out of here - he's probably going to want to look at it himself, despite knowing very little about what to do after that point. Mostly he's probably going to sleep, because the longer he tries to stay functional in this state the more likely he is to become lost in his senses after the immediate danger is passed. Not that that isn't already a high likelihood. He avoided it last time; he'd be insanely lucky to avoid it this time as well.

Her efforts don't go unnoticed either though, as he appears a little more aware of himself, immediately, and shifts to stand a little more readily than he would have without her help. He doesn't argue though, because he doesn't have the energy right now; just checks over the weapon very quickly and moves after her. ]

[ Yeah, well, she's a great deal more careful of whether he's okay than she is of whether she's okay, always, and she's got enough faith in her own ability to think she'll be fine.

There is a momentary sigh of relief at the realization that he's doing all right, for the situation. Not great, but then neither of them could be considered to be doing great right now. Just as good as possible, and it looks like nothing is wrong with him that she wasn't already well aware of. At the door she pauses, and then drops all her shields and spreads herself out through the building, searching for where the few others are. She's positive they're missing three, and indeed there they are, guarding exits. ] We'll be out of here in no time. [ Brushing against his mind to leave open what she'd found for him to see as she sets off down the hall, still doing a standard sweep check constantly.

Just in case she's missed anything, or there's someone here who could shield against her. She's not going to take risks now, not when they're so close to safety. ]

[ He appreciates her keeping him in the loop even when there's not really a whole lot he's going to be able to do about it. He's categorically not going to fire the gun in his hands unless she's in immediate danger, and he's more or less running on instincts right now. If his instincts just say follow the Guide, well, then that makes things pretty straightforward.

The pair of them - were he thinking about it at all - make a pretty amusing escape team. He's almost positive at least one of them is limping based on the faint echo of their footsteps back to him, although he's not sure which one of them it is, precisely. He's extending himself as far as he can, more immediately, backing up her own sweeps within the surrounding area because there's only so much one can do to mask their breathing, their heartbeat, the shift scrape of their boots on the floor. He can't sweep nearly as far out as she can, but he should - hopefully - be able to at least help prevent them from being surprised around a corner.

[ The gun isn't the best solution towards him having some form of protection, but it's the best one available. And yeah, they're a mildly ridiculous escape team at the moment, battered and bruised and moving with approximately zero grace or finesse. She can summon it again if she needs it, but right now she's just focusing on getting from point a to point b, killing a couple guards, and leaving.

The leaving part's the important part, definitely. She's much more interested in the leaving part than anything else. And between them, if they don't have advance warning of someone coming it's going to be someone with one hell of a lot of skill in moving silently and keeping themselves shielded against empathy, and they're probably fucked then anyways.

She pauses as she passes the door to what looks like a lab, glances inside and considers for a moment but keeps going. SHIELD can handle the taking out information part. She's not in that business anymore. When they reach the intersection into the hallway that leads to what she assumes has to be a door out, she turns to him and puts a hand on his shoulder, presses him towards the wall with a gesture from her other hand that indicates very strongly 'stay there.' ]

[ He's not pleased with her direction there, coming to rest against the wall after a small amount of refusal to initially do so. The look he gives her is says as much, as well as his attitude towards staying here should she be too far away or if he realizes something's happened. He's not in the greatest of states right now, but he's not useless, and even if he were, he'd still have some strong feelings about her taking on all the danger.

So he's not pleased, and he's sort of giving her a look that's sort of a glare but sort of not from behind swollen, red, pained eyes, but that doesn't mean he's not going to do as she asks. When things were reversed, he did something similar to hear, and he recognizes the mentality, the need to know the other is safe before the attempt to move forward can even take place. So after the look, he nods once. Stays put. Waits for her. ]

[ She shakes her head at his look, insistent. He's not useless, but putting him in the middle of a fight he doesn't actually need to be in is only going to make things worse on him. She can handle it, and therefore she should, because if she can spare him anything she's going to do her best to. For a moment she does hesitate, but it's only long enough to lean forward and kiss him, heated and insistent, pressing him further against the wall with the force of it before she pulls away and double checks her gun.

A thumbs up to him and she's gone the next moment, one glance out to determine that she's right and it is an exit, verify the location of the two guards, and then she's running. They react far too late, one still pulling his gun when she sweeps his legs out from under him, the other bringing it to bear as he opens his mouth to shout when she brings her hand up to jab it flat and level into his throat. A back kick into the head of the first one trying to get up and she's free to level her attention on the second, knee to his stomach and then his head against the wall with enough force to knock him out. A moment to breathe and then she nods and reaches out to brush against Tony's mind, let him know that he's clear to move now.

Just the door left now, and she puts her hand on the handle, tests it. It's not even locked from the inside. Just a little further and they're clear. ]

[ It's so rude how people use that sort of tactic to distract him. Ruder after they do it when they realize there's a modicum of effectiveness to it. Not that he thinks that was all tactic, right there, because he's pretty sure he can taste mild desperation when it's so intimately tangible, but still. He stays put almost as much out of selfishness as he does because she's asked him to, a simple nod back to her thumbs up and then keeping himself as open to her as he feels is even moderately safe to do right now.

That doesn't extend fully to keeping his senses as extended as they were just a few moments ago, and when she leaves he takes the opportunity to dampen them a little, letting her awareness be enough for the moment. He moves instantly when she gives him the all-clear, surveying her handiwork as he comes over, but paying more attention to the immediate area than anything else. ]

[ It is less about the distraction and more about the mild desperation. Not true desperation because she's confident, now, in her ability to get them out of there, but she could taste his blood on his lips and she'd been able to feel him for quite a while and she just wanted him safe, that was all. She needed him safe, now. Sooner if possible. This had already been far too long to go with him in danger and she was terribly done with it.

She glances at him when he comes over, waits until he's covering her back before she slips the door open and moves out, covering the angles with her gun as well as possible. She trusts him to keep an eye on her six.

And okay, a parking lot is pretty doable. She's got lots of experience with wiring cars, that won't take her long at all. She just needs to find one whose alarm won't go off, because she doesn't want to alert anyone else to their escape unless necessary. But that won't take long at all, and hey, that one looks like a good choice. She gestures at it, moves forward and sweeps the hiding places that she passes. No chances being taken right now. ]

[ He can do that. It's really his only job right now, aside from simply staying upright, and while his survival instincts tend to suck in certain situations, in the immediate sense of things they're usually pretty good. He doesn't see anyone right now, doesn't sense anyone coming, and for the moment things are simply hyper clear, very distinct. Nothing's hit unmanageable levels just yet, everything's still okay.

It's still easy to follow her though, reaching the side of the car and falling against it with a little more force than he meant to - which is really just to say that he falls against it, because it's not like he'd intentionally decided to run his shoulder into the side of the car. The both of them can probably wire a car, although she can almost certainly do it faster and his hands might not be steady enough right now. So he'll just keep an eye out, scanning the parking lot while she works. ]

[ So long as he stays upright and they make it out of here, she's pretty cool with it. It'll work great, okay.

And ha, okay, there goes the engine and she pushes open the passenger door, pushes the gear out of park so she's read as soon as he's in. ] Come on, let's blow this place. [ And a moment to wistfully wish that she could do that literally. She's very good at explosions and she doesn't like these people. ]

[ He climbs into the seat, maneuvering himself quickly but gingerly, because new contacts and new smells and new everything on top of bruises and whatever else. But he's in the car shortly, pulling the door shut and leaving the hand with the gun resting on the edge of it should he need to do any clearing while they're driving out of her. ]

[ She peels out as soon as he's safely in, noting the gun with a pleased nod. Yes, good, it's for the best that they all continue to maintain a high level of security. Though she's going to want to stop as soon as they can borrow a cellphone or phone of any kind, because there's no way she's letting these people pack up and leave before SHIELD can go in and handle them. So long as SHIELD's not the kind to ask too many questions about people killed in self defense, at least. She feels like they probably aren't. ]

Are you doing okay?

[ His hand is shaking, just a little, which is why he's let his arm rest on the ledge by the window. He's holding himself together just enough to put his efforts into his sight, try and dampen all the smells, all the sounds. Tries to ensure that he can do as much for her as she's done for him. ]

M'fine.

That's bullshit.

[ Fine is definitely bullshit right now, unless stuck in the absolute most relative of terms, if for no other reason than that she can still see his blood every time she glances out of the corner of her eyes. She's doing that a lot, peripheral vision not quite enough to reassure her that he's definitely there and alive. ] Do you want a hospital? [ Because she has about zero intention of hitting any hospitals up for her own stuff, but she'll stick around one with him if he wants it. ]

Well then don't ask m- [ God, it's loud. Fuck. ] Me stupid questions.

[ He wants her to stop glancing at him but he knows that's dumb. What he just said to her was dumb, but he's feeling prickly and raw and even though it feels like he can actually feel her eyes on him he knows that he can't. That's not how this works.

It doesn't, apparently, improve his mood though, even knowing that. ] Like that one.

[ She rolls her eyes at that because her question wasn't dumb, she just wanted to make sure that he wasn't about to pass out. There's a difference between okay and fine. But his irritation in general is pretty understandable, given precisely how on edge they've both had to be. ]

Like what one? [ Did she miss something? She's trying not to miss things, but he's got a lot better vision than her as a general rule. ]

[ He was referring to the question about whether or not he wanted to go to a hospital. When has he ever wanted to go to a hospital? He went to one last time this happened but it was because he got shot in the shoulder - he's totally not been shot in the shoulder yet this go around.

But he can't explain all of that right now, so he just shakes his head a little bit. ] Nothing, we're good, keep going. Is there a phone in here? We need to - to let somebody know. About things.

[ Well, you never know when someone might decide that being injured might possibly mean going to a hospital is a good idea. .... Unless it's her. Or him.

They are really terrible at being superheroes. Or at least at the potentially ever getting themselves fixed part. So very very terrible at that. ] I don't see one yet - try the glove department? Otherwise we'll pull over and borrow someone's.

[ He really doesn't want to move right now, actually, it's partially why he asked her, even though that's dumb because she's driving the car. The lack of rage means there's not a whole lot to delay the rest of his senses taking the escape as a means of safety, although they're doing that nice thing where they don't hit the edge until they're actually in a much more solid, dependable status.

So he grits his teeth and rummages through the glove box. There's a satellite phone, which is great but annoying since he was just going to text, so the call he winds up making is actually to JARVIS, whom he trusts to speak to all necessary parties much more competently than he would right now, and with better fielding of potential questions. He drops the phone in his lap when he's finished, using his hand to rub at his face for a moment before looking back out the window. ]

Yeah okay, job's done. Still don't see anyone, by the way. All clear.

[ She's in his mind as she can be, soothing, but her attention is scattered quite a few ways and her control isn't at it's best right now. Still, when he drops the phone in his lap she reaches out with her right hand for his hand, squeezes it for a little bit. ]

Pretty sure those assholes couldn't outdrive me anyways. I think if we just find a very public spot we'll be good to drop the car and arrange to be picked up.

[ It's okay, he'd rather have her attention focused on getting them both safe than be distracted trying to help him right now. He can handle it, he's utilizing some of the things he used to do before she became a regular fixture in his life. Hopefully she'll notice and leave him to it for a little while, let her mind focus on getting them somewhere like she's suggesting. ]

J's tracking the phone so wherever we ss... Stop. Will work fine.

[ She finds it really hard to ignore him in pain, which - actually that's already proved to be a problem today, it was incredibly distracting earlier (and hadn't that been the point, it's what people like that do, you get people who matter to each other and then you apply pressure on them both until one of them snaps under it because just make it stop, not for yourself but for the other person, you can't watch that anymore the way you can take the damage to yourself) and she has to hit the brakes for a light she almost didn't notice. Okay. Less concentrating on him, more on the road. On him once they're both safe. ]

It looks like there's a mall just up ahead. Saturday, right, it should be pretty busy. We'll get something from the food court and find somewhere with a good view to wait.

[ Is it saturday? He had no idea, and that doesn't even have anything to do with the recent events.

He catches himself reflexively on the dashboard and the door and the chair, braced far more than he needs to be due to too much adrenaline and hyper-awareness. After he calms back down - just a second or so later, while they're waiting on the light to turn - he quietly puts his seat belt on. Oops.

Although her suggestion... He feels his stomach twist. Food court on Saturday. The smells, the noise, the probably-flickery-florescent lighting. If he's a little pale it's totally from the way he just reacted to stopping too fast. ] Yeah, okay. Good plan.

[ That - she isn't too surprised by. Tony and his inability to remember the days of the week can be hilarious or frustrating, depending on the day and who's dealing with him. Mostly frustrating for Pepper or any other PA he has.

She glances over at him as he puts his seatbelt on to check and make sure everything's ok, and then glances over the mall as she pulls into the parking lot. ]

Or we can climb the ladder to the roof, because I'm pretty sure that's what I'm seeing over there. Roofs are good.

[ Hey normally he's... Okay with it. He remembers the date faster than he recalls the actual day of the week. Dates are usually fine enough! Actually often they're more helpful than their oft counterparts. So, nyeah.

He overreacted and now he feels dumb and he'd like her to stop looking at him. Thank you. ]

Please. [ Okay that came out quicker than it should have. ] The roof, please.

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