Let The Sparks Fly

Summary:

Quinn Masters has been elected to act as the mutant correspondant between the X-Men and the Avengers. Full of snarky comebacks, blunt opinions and taking every day as though it is her last, she definitely stirs up trouble for the members of the Avengers.

Of course, not all is what it seems when it comes to the Mistress of Electricity.

And Tony Stark is dead set on learning all of her secrets.

He just never expected her own past to be as twisted and dark as his own.

Author's Note:

I know I've spotted a story in this fandom that has an OC with the ability to control Electricity, but I assure you, this plot is all of my own creation. This is a slight cross-over with the X-Men and the Avengers, as some familiar faces from Xavier's will appear in future chapters. This story is going to be full of humor, laughter, excitement, drama, tragedy, romance, friendship and action. I can't stand when I read stories that have nothing but drama and torment for the characters, and while my OC does have a harsh past, she does not let it affect her on a daily basis.

I do want to point out, that this will most likely be a Tony/OC fic, and this has nothing to due with a dislike for Pepper, because I think she is awesome. I just have this plot bunny running through my head and need an outlet. Pepper will appear in the story as a close friend/surrogate sister to Tony, but nothing more. This will NOT just focus on a romance, and said romance will NOT just start from the first few chapters of the story. I want to build friendships between my OC and the team, and from there the friendships will grow.

I do take ideas, thoughts and opinions from my readers, but I will not take well to flames. If you do not like the story, don't read it. I love input from my readers, and if you want to see something occur between the entire team, let me know. I like my stories to be interactive with the readers, while still remaining on plot.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and please review/subscribe/fav! Also note, each chapter will have a quote that is used in the story, and any music/lyrics/movies/movie quotes used in this story will be disclaimed at the end of the chapters.

Chapter Seven
'It lashes out violently and without discretion to who I may be attacking.'

"Hammer Industries is planning on using robotic, to not only target humans, but specific mutants as well," Tony states as the team sit at the conference room, "We believe, when Doctor Maxwell's facility was attacked and the hostage mutants were released, Maxwell wants to make sure a few are collected and the rest know too much that he may want them terminated."

"We have to figure out where their base of operation is before we can make any plan of attack," Steve adds in a general thought.

Quinn sighs from her reclined position in her chair, her feet propped on the conference table, "That's the problem. Maxwell might be a sadistic man, but he isn't stupid. He most likely isn't going to have everything set up in one facility."

"So, we go after whatever facilities Hammer and Maxwell has," Clint reasons, his own gaze thoughtful.

"Yes, because hitting one facility won't make them realize what we are doing. If we are going to make any last damage, we should get a rough estimate of the number of facilities, and plan accordingly," Quinn quips lightly.

Natasha smirks, "That's a good idea. Hit all of them at once, but we need information on where the facilities are located individually."

"I can contact Professor Xavier, and see if he can get a fixed location for one of the facilities. Few of us can then do recon and collect information on all whereabouts and from there, we can plan a strategic attack."

Quinn grinned to herself as she caught one of the misdirected lightning bolts from Thor, a Hammer-bot still able to move about, and she twisted, feeling the wattage coarse through her veins as she redirected the missed bolt back to the Hammer-bot that managed to escape the hit. She followed after Thor, who tore through the Hammer-bots without discretion. They were here to destroy the place, level it to the ground. Focusing, Quinn feels the shift in her gaze as her vision switches to inferred. Pointing out where the generator would be, Quinn instructed Thor to keep the Hammer-bots busy as she tried to find any possible mutant captives held within the building.

Confirming that there were no other captives, Quinn moves toward the computer mainframe. Figuring everyone would be to busy trying to destroy their intended facilities, she began running a copy file of every piece of information she could find relating to Hammer Industries. As her eyes catch sight of a certain file, she curses inwardly, before copying it to the disk. Removing the drive, Quinn races out of the room.

"Thor!"

"Aye, Sparky?"

Quinn grins as she lands on the rooftop next to Thor, "Let's do this. I'll target all of the Hammer-bots. You target the generator."

Both of them lift off of the roof and take to the skies. Focusing on every electric pulse residing on ground level, Quinn feels sweat bead along her brow as her abilities begin to stretch themselves out. Yeah, maybe not the best idea, but it would be quick and effective to their mission. Hearing Thor's bolt release, Quinn claps her hands together violently, her eyes following the invisible currents as they rip apart, becoming unstable and a succession of explosions rock the foundation of the area.

"Very impressive, Sparky," Thor comments, clapping her on her shoulder.

Letting out a pained 'oof', Quinn grins over at Thor, "I agree."

"Quinn, Thor, we are unable to receive any feed from Iron Man and Hawkeye. Being the closest, could you check up on them?"

Before Thor can respond, Quinn's silver eyes flash a quick gold, and she is gone, zipping through the air faster than Thor could keep up. Landing on the ground with a thud, Quinn huffs at the strain on her abilities, but glances around. Feeling a void of electrical activity, Quinn searches for Hawkeye or Iron Man.

"Barton! Stark!"

A choked gasp sounds from a piece of rubble, and as Quinn pushes aside a few piece, she sees a rather beaten Clint groaning on the ground, "Barton! Are you alright?"

"Y-Yeah. We managed to wipe out the facility, but one of the Hammer-bots was issued with an EMP burst. I have no idea where Stark is," Clint coughs.

Hearing Thor land behind her, she instructs him to get Clint from under the rubble as she searches for the red-gold-clad hero. Finally coming across him, Quinn notices the visor of his mask his up and he seemed to be struggling to breath. Hearing Thor shout that there were more Hammer-bots on the way, she knelt next to the injured Tony.

"What's wrong?"

"Ar-Arc R-Reactor. E-Elect-" Tony coughs, wincing in pain, as it seems to become more and more difficult for him to breath.

"It powers an electromagnet," Quinn replies, seeing him nod, "Alright. Stark, do you trust me?" A flicker of mixed-emotions forms in the brown-eyes and Quinn rids herself of the slight pain that threatens to respond.

Ignoring him completely, Quinn focuses her energy toward the nonfunctional arc reactor. She couldn't generate core of the arc reactor, but she could manipulate the electromagnetic sphere that surrounded the center of the man's chest. Placing her palms against the chest plate of his suit, she closes her eyes, blocking out the shouts and battle cries sounding behind her. The familiar wiring sound of the Hammer-bots were followed subconsciously as Quinn pushed her energy further and a sigh sounds as the electromagnet activates. Knowing that she couldn't reactivate the core of his reactor, she realized she couldn't let go of the magnetic grasp she held on his reactor.

"Sparky!"

Thor's cry is quickly followed by a sharp burning pain forming in her right shoulder and she opens her eyes to see Tony's wide ones staring back in shock. Curious. Glancing down, she realized a different shade of red was starting to stain Tony's suit. It is quickly followed by another burning pain forming in her stomach, a splatter of red coating against the gold accents of the arm she is currently leaning over. Refusing to remove herself from the magnetic grasp, Quinn's mind races for an idea.

"Thor!" Quinn's curt voice silently commands and the Viking God is at her side in an instant, blocking off all other attacks, "Thor, no. You are the fastest of us at the moment. I need you to get back to the tower, have J.A.R.V.I.S. a spare core piece for Stark's reactor and bring it here as soon and as quick as possible."

"But, you-"

"HULK SMASH!"

"Go! Thor, the others can fend these guys off, just get going. I can't be sure how much longer I can hold this charge," Quinn commands.

Quinn hears Thor zap into the air and she focuses on trying to keep everything balanced. The issue with her ability is her balance. Her first, and foremost ability, was manipulating photon electromagnetic currents. Her very core in ability was magnetic. Positive and negatives.

A familiar chill rolls over Quinn's body and she realizes she is losing her positives faster than she can reclaim them. Her vision was starting to blur, but the beads of sweat rolling down the back of her neck. She could feel her breathing grow softer and slower. She wasn't sure how long she could hold this magnetic charge without releasing some negative energy to compensate.

Thor slams back into the Earth and Natasha is quick to arrive, knowing how to work the small piece of energy used to power the man's reactor. The element, cut into a triangle, and molded so small that it could be broken easily. As Natasha switches the cores, Quinn feels the sudden spike in energy from the suit and breaks away. Stumbling back from the trio, Tony slowly sitting up, she doesn't see the missile heading in her direction.

"Quinn!"

Tony gasps as he feels his reactor reactivate, and as he mentally notes a reminder to come up with an anti-EMP field, he sits up to see Quinn stumble back. Her entire body was shaking, and Tony wasn't sure if it was from the blood loss or from using up so much energy. Her name leaves his lips as he catches sight of a missile heading in her direction, but she says nothing.

In fact, she stands straighter, her shoulders straight, her entire body standing at attention. Tony notices the black swirling around in her silver eyes, slowly taking over her irises completely. Wait...black? Tony shakes his head as Quinn turns to look toward the missile, calmly and slowly raising an arm. The oddest occurrence follows the motion as the shadows at her feet shift violently before seeping (as if gravity was upside down) from the ground to completely encase the missile. As the shadow seems to swallow the explosion, Quinn pays it no mind as she raises a hand toward the remaining Hammer-bots, their own shadows bleeding up from the ground, crawling up the length of their metallic bodies before they were completely encompassed. Slowly, the shadowed silhouettes of the Hammer-bots seemed to grow smaller, as if crumbling into themselves, before hollow explosions sound from within the darkness.

"Quinn!"

The girl didn't seem like she wanted to stop, her hand still outstretched, the shadows growing more violent with each passing minute. Tony realized Quinn was not in her right mind. In fact, her usual gleeful battle-mannerisms were replaced with stoic features. The lack of recognition as she looked over everything, cued Tony into the idea that they could be attacked in the process.

'She expressed that before the incident she had unknowingly attacked four other students.'

Tony is reminded of the information from his background check of the girl. A sickening crack sounds as the large, green fist of the Hulk connects with the girl's skull and the shadows settle back to the ground as she sprawls at their feet. Quinn was obviously unbalanced, and losing blood at a rapid rate. First, the needed to get her back to the Tower and have Bruce take care of her wounds.

Then they would get their answers when she wakes up.

A piercing scream echoes through the halls of the Tower and every Avenger is on their feet and racing toward Bruce's infirmary set up. Thrashing on the bed, struggling against the binds strapping her to the bed, and kicking out at every medical instrument within range, Quinn Masters was indeed awake. Bruce rushes in, dodging arms and feet as he talks her down slowly from her rage. Tony knew different. She had been scared. Of course she had been scared.

"Gah...I feel...dead," Quinn groans as she lays back, finally relaxing, the slightest glint of horror now repressed.

"You exerted a lot of energy in order to save my life," Tony comments, breaking the silence, "but something went wrong afterward."

Quinn's silver (Thankfully so, in Tony's opinion) eyes gleam with confusion, "What are you talking about?"

"You crushed the Hammer-bots with their own shadows," Steve points out sternly, obviously not pleased with having something kept from him.

Understanding flickers through Quinn's gaze before her attention falls to her lap, "Oh. I...lost control."

"Control of what? That wasn't electricity by any means," Steve demands, "I understand you are new to this team, but you cannot keep things from us that may endanger our lives."

"In order to understand science, one must first understand a basic principal. Every action has a positive and negative reaction. My abilities surround photon electromagnetic manipulation on a subatomic level," Quinn stresses, "Photons and Electrons must always be evenly balanced. That part, of my ability, is easy. It is the...secondary abilities that I have come to dislike."

"Secondary?" Clint asks.

"My ability to manipulate the light spectrum, and thus, manipulate light to some degree," Quinn answers, sighing at the blank gazes staring back at her. Even the geniuses needed it explained. "Alright. Think of my abilities as a magnetic force. At the core of my ability, is a magnet. If this is the case, what are two deciding factors to a magnet?"

"Positive and Negative charges," Bruce responds automatically from examining her injuries.

Quinn nods curtly, "Right. So, with that logic, being able to manipulate light means...?"

"You can manipulate the opposite, dark," Tony responds, blinking in shock, "I..don't understand."

Quinn sighs, "If anything, it waits for an opportune moment to take control of my abilities. Ombre, as I refer to it, is an elemental factor in my abilities that sneaks up and waits for a weak point. My 'magnet' or core must be kept balanced at all times, or Ombre will take advantage of the opening. It lashes out violently and without discretion to who I may be attacking."

"So, those mornings I've seen you come into the training room with bruises and cuts," Steve realizes.

She nods with a soft sigh, "Night is when Ombre tries to take over. Without a source of light, it can reach out by its own means, but not at any level of strength to do anything about more than try to beat me into submission."

"You never it out?" Bruce asks in a hollow tone, "You repress it, making it stronger, and you fear it."

"The last time I accepted help from Ombre, I injured four, while being complete assholes, innocent people for a stupid fucking prank," Quinn rubs at her temples, "You don't know what the darkness whispers. The twisted perception it forces me to have. Any ray of hope I might find in life, it begins to plant a seed of doubt. Ombre is fine in small doses and when balanced, but not at full force. You...you wouldn't understand."

"Right. I wouldn't have any idea of what it's like to lose control," Bruce shoots back.

She shakes her head, "No. I know you understand that. You are one in a few that can. What you wouldn't understand is the fact that, while I have the ability to rip Tony's reactor from his chest, Ombre is the one that initially saved his life today," Seeing the spark of confusion, she continues, "When I feel any bout of pain, or lose myself in a fight, Ombre is able to slip through and mix with my Lighter abilities. When Tony startled me, it was Ombre trying to rip that thing from his chest. Self-preservation is all that Ombre is about. When it happened, I began to study and familiarize myself with the energy signature of Tony's suit and specifically his reactor. Knowing how it works gave me the ability to keep it generated until a new core could be placed."

"So...you've been saving my life this whole time? Why didn't you say so?"

Quinn shoots Tony a quirk of an eyebrow and a look of disbelief, to which Tony waves his hands, "Alright. Yes, we're even, but there's one more thing you need to explain."

Tony tosses a file on the small table stretched a foot over her bed and Quinn glances over it.

"Who the hell is Orion Masters?"

Quinn's naturally pale face grows even more white at the question, before a hot flush forms across her cheeks, "Orion Masters...you were in my room?"

"We wanted some answers."

Quinn traces her index finger over the depicted profile photo, "Orion Masters is my son."

I may, or may not be able to update for the next day, so I wanted to give you guys another chapter update. Please leave reviews and let me know what you think.