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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.

[ It's not necessarily a bad thing! It is a neutral thing with potential to go either way, or directly into hilarity.

She's not looking at him right now, okay, she's looking over at the parking lot as she maneuvers for a spot near where she spotted the ladder, but she'll probably be watching him again soon. The please she doesn't answer except to finish parking the car and then slide out of her seat immediately, moving around to his side. ]

Let me just - check you over really quickly. Please.

[ He's just going to be still until they stop moving, at which point he lowers the handgun from the window and lets his hand hold it between the seat and the door to prevent anyone else seeing it. The safety is on again, and he hides it in his lap when she comes around to his side of the car and asks him a somewhat reasonable question. He just doesn't feel safe in the parking lot, half in and half exposed by a car they just stole to escape. ]

Surface here. More in depth on roof, promise.

[ Her once over is very brief, just a scan and a quick pass of her hands over his head and shoulders, practically not touching them at all because she doesn't want to hurt him. Nothing seems very serious, if it still looks pretty unpleasant. They hadn't broken any bones, at least. ]

Okay. Okay, let's go. Thank you.

[ He can still feel it though, because he's starting to feel everything, and a mild surge of panic drops that back down to a dealable level once more. He gives her a half-grin, really just a quirk in the corner of his mouth, and nods once, then starts to get out of the car. It's difficult, but to anyone who isn't a guide or a sentinel, it looks at least mostly natural.

Right now he doesn't really want thanks, so he's not sure what to do with them. ] Sure. C'mon. [ He thinks that they're for letting her look him over at all, not making her wait to do so, but it might be for something else. Who knows. Either way, he's turning his legs a bit, getting ready to follow her to the roof. ]

[ It doesn't look natural to her at all, but she's spent a while learning intimately how he moves, forced to use her memory and her own powers of observation to replace having a Sentinel's senses, and her eyes go shuttered a little before she closes and locks the door behind them. She's sure to not make it obvious that she's offering him herself as support, but it's there in the tilt of her body towards him.

Not that she's walking with any more ease than him, really, but she can at least tell herself she's used to it. It doesn't work great but it helps some. ] I'm glad SHIELD's competent.

[ Yeah, well, she's cheating. She doesn't have Sentinel senses and she's still cheating, realizing how unnatural his movements are. ] When they feel like it.

[ They continue to pretend to be natural until they actually make it to the roof, at which point he sort of stumbles once, and then suddenly decides that hey, this is a nice place to sit/collapse. They were both beaten up, but there was a reason he'd antagonized them enough to take him into another room. And there were repercussions from that. ]

[ The ladder is a massive goddamn pain in the ass, and if SHIELD doesn't bring helicopters and aerial support she doesn't care, she's not going back down that ladder. Somebody is picking her up from this roof or she's staying here.

She catches him on the way down a little, more or less winds up falling with him because she's not really steady on her feet herself, and winds up cross legged next from him, taking a deep breath to steady her spinning head. ] Tell me what hurts. [ Step one: determine where any injuries are. ] Don't say everywhere. I'm looking for specific centers of pain.

[ He feels momentarily selfish as hell when he sees her collapse next to him - he hadn't been quite as diversionary as he'd hoped - but he doesn't have the energy to argue with her right now, so he just gives her the main things all in one breath even while he shuts his eyes tight to rest for a moment. ] Knee, face, back, chest, balls. I'm gonna need that from you in a minute, too, so, get to listing.

[ She would have been fine if he hadn't collapsed she'd insist. And that she's fine, because she's not terribly off, this isn't all that bad at all. Bad, but, well. There's been a lot worse. Her hands are back on his face, just lightly resting on almost the air on either side as she starts a thorough once over. ] Fuckers. I happen to like your balls. [ Her own list takes a moment of consideration, because she hasn't really been paying thorough attention to that. ] Uh. Nose, ribs, ankle, back. It's not that bad. Does anything feel broken?

[ Small huff of amusement. He didn't say ribs, but. ] Yeah I usually like them too. Right now not so much. [ But again, he doesn't have the strength to lie to her. Or even put her off for long, so he cuts his own crap and just answers her questions. ] Something's wrong with my knee. And the reactor's not sitting well. Everything else is superficial. Now you, gradient of severity.

[ If his ribs are hurt he better tell her so because she'll find out regardless, she always does. And then she'll be - well, not mad. But irritated he tried to hide it from her. But she does appreciate the lack of needing to drag it out of him, because if he doesn't have the strength to lie to her she hasn't got a lot of strength left for dragging the truth out of him forcibly.

Don't they make a sorry pair, she thinks, and she reaches out instinctively, hand not quite on the arc reactor but on his chest, just next to it over his shirt. ] How bad is the reactor? [ Flat out ignoring his question until she gets that answered, because that is pretty fucking important and she doesn't consider anything of hers as important as that. ]

[ They're fine they're just bruised he totally gave her an honest run down of the things that are the most serious.

He narrows his eyes at her because he doesn't feel like that's particularly fair, of her to just ignore his question and harp on the thing he told her. ] It's not - it's okay, something's just bent. Weird connection every now and then when it's jostled too much. [ Which means he's happy they're not moving because when they do it occasionally shocks him a little bit, but it's not too bad. That's the reason his ribs hurt, because occasionally they missed. ] Seriously, answer the question.

[ Okay good. That's good.

She's going to answer it in a moment, she promises, as soon as she knows what's up with the reactor. She's incapable of considering herself more important than him, she doesn't really feel like her injuries are worth listing here much at all, but he's asking so she's answering. ] But it'll be easy to fix? [ Fine, okay, she'll go. ] My shoulder was dislocated but not for too long, it's good now. The ribs aren't good but they're not going to kill me either. Everything else just hurts but not enough to worry about. [ Beat, and then sudden and almost angry. ] Why'd you antagonize them, that's my job.

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