9

"Broadcast will commence shortly. Please take final positions."

Eve didn't know what that meant, but she figured that hurrying up several flights of stairs probably wasn't a good time to ask, either. Rhodey lead them across the platform, holding his weapon at the ready.

"Is your gun up?" he asked Tony.

"Yep." Tony raised his gun. "What do I do?"

"Stay on my six, cover high, and don't shoot me in the back."

"Six, high, back. Alright."

"What about me?" Eve asked. Rhodey looked back at Tony.

"Blast anyone who isn't us or Pepper," Tony replied. As if on cue, they were suddenly assaulted by gunfire coming from above. Tony immediately began shooting, paying little regard to aiming his shots. Blinded for a moment by the floodlight beaming down at them, Eve moved away, before thrusting her hand out in the direction of the light. The electric blue energy bolt crashed into the light, destroying it. Tony herded her under cover with Rhodey.

"What the hell was that?" Rhodey asked, looking down at Eve's hands glowing blue.

"This thing she does sometimes that I'm kind of starting to love," Tony replied quickly. His reply made Eve smile. He raised his gun, popping out the ammunition magazine. "I'm out. Give me - give me - have you got an extra magazine?"

"They're not universal, Tony," Rhodey answered. Eve frowned as the two men began to bicker.

"I know what I'm doing, I make this stuff."

"Okay."

"Give me another one."

"I don't have one that fits that gun."

"You've got five of 'em!" Tony, dropping the conversation, turned. "Alright here's what I'm going to do, I'm gonna spot. Ready?"

He rose quickly, peeking his head over their cover, before sitting back down.

"What'd you see?" Rhodey asked.

"Too fast, nothing. Here we go." He rose again, this time taking a moment to observe their surroundings before he sat back down. "Three guys, one girl, all armed."

Tony and Rhodey rose, Eve following their lead, to peek over their cover. They were gradually becoming surrounded. Eve understood, now, why the eyepatch man had warned her about Extremis; otherwise, she wouldn't have understood why their enemies were all emitting a strange orange glow. Her brain recognized it as the mark of a target. She narrowed her eyes.

"I'd kill for some armor right now," Rhodey said, arms crossed over his chest.

"You're right," Tony agreed. "We need backup."

"Yeah, a bunch."

"You know what?" Tony said, drawing both of their attention. Instead of continuing, he nodded his head, keeping his eyes on something in the sky. Eve and Rhodey both turned to look at what he had motioned toward. In the sky, coming toward them, was a light. And then...another. And another.

"Is...is that...?"

"Yep."

"Are those - ?"

"Yeah."

Eve, who didn't catch on to Rhodey and Tony's subtlety, tilted her head. After a moment, something in her brain seemed to click. She gasped, delighted.

"Tony!" she said excitedly, turning to him. "Are those your Iron Man suits?"

Tony let out a fond sigh. "So intelligent, and yet..."

The Iron Man suits stopped in formation all around their position. Eve looked up at them all with fascination.

"Merry Christmas, Rhodey. JARVIS," he continued, placing a finger on the communicator in his ear. "Target Extremis heat signatures. Disable with extreme prejudice."

"Yes, sir," the suits echoed.

"What are you waiting for?" Tony asked, stepping forward on the platform. "It's Christmas. Take 'em to church."

Eve was darkly delighted to watch the suits begin their attack on the Extremis soldiers. The three of them ducked when an attacked suit flew just overhead, crashing to the ground in the blaze of flames. They stayed low, trying to keep their balance on the high-up platform which began to sway when some of the supports were blown out.

"JARVIS, get Igor to steady this thing," Tony commanded. Eve furrowed her brow.

"Who?"

"So this is how you've been managing your downtime," Rhodey said, a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Everybody needs a hobby," Tony replied with a shrug. They turned their attention back to the fights ensuing around the ship. Eve was quietly amused when she realized that Tony had named each of the suits he had created. Her amusement ended when one of the suits, an Extremis soldier on its back, collided with several oil tanks. The explosion sent a rain of fire falling down around them. A suit came to Tony, landing and opening up for him to take his place inside of it.

"Tony!" she called, hoping to speak to him briefly before he flew off into battle. He turned to her. "Fighting, and - and killing these people...will it keep you safe?"

"It'll keep everyone safe, Evie."

She nodded, considering this. "Good."

"Oh yeah," said Rhodey, standing. "That's awesome. Give me a suit, okay?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. They're...they're only coded to me." Tony held out a hand to Eve for her to take. He pulled her closer and, suspecting he might take off flying, Eve held on tight.

"What's that mean?" Rhodey asked.

"I've got you covered. Hold on!" Eve braced herself as Tony shot into the air. He flew around, lowering himself near one of the lower platforms. "I'm gonna let you go, now. You good?"

"I am well prepared for a combat situation," she answered.

"You didn't take that literally," he remarked. Just before taking off into the air, he remarked, "They grow up so fast."

She turned to watch him zoom off, before turning her attention to the fray around her. An Extremis soldier had noticed her and was running towards her across the platform. Clenching and unclenching her hands, she threw her arm out, throwing a bolt of energy at the soldier. The blue bolt tore straight through their chest, and they collapsed, limp. Eve paused for a moment, staring down at the body. She regretted taking this life, but her brain wasn't the same right now. It felt like her consciousness was in a box again. Logically, she knew that this loss of life was sad, but her brain wasn't considering that right now. She had one goal in mind: keep Tony and Pepper and Rhodey safe. She stepped over the body.

She climbed up to another platform, where she had spotted another Extremis soldier. A bullet tore through her shoulder, but she paid it no mind. The gunshot did not hinder her as she walked towards the soldier. Her first energy bolt missed, whizzing past the soldier's head harmlessly. The second caught his arm. The soldier cried out in pain, but the arm began to grow back quickly. Eve thrust out her arm once more, hitting the soldier in the rebuilding arm, and then, while the soldier was hindered, she threw out a bolt that caught him in his neck.

Fighting felt...good. She had never felt more in her element. Even though her brain had cleared, no longer working like it normally did, it was the best feeling in the world. Like she was made for this. Usually, she used her energy bolts, throwing them out to burn through whichever enemy was next in line. Sometimes she used her forcefield, to protect her from a spray of bullets while she focused on another soldier trying to fight her. Sometimes, just for the sheer enjoyment of it, she would punch and kick and throw them over the sides of the platforms to the deck of the ship hundreds of feet below.

She turned when she felt the heat of an explosion at her back. Squinting at the light of the blaze, she noticed Rhodey swing away from the fire with the President in his grasp. She turned away again.

"Your job is not to save the President," the man from SHIELD had told her. "Your job is to save Tony Stark."

Making her way across the platforms, she continued fighting, dispatching soldier after soldier. She had just tossed one over the edge of a platform when her ears zeroed in on a voice that her brain had recognized as significant.

"NO!"

She turned, spotting the source of the voice across the ship on a platform about her level. Tony was half-hanging over the railing, but it was what he was reaching for that Eve was watching. She lurched forward against the railing, but there was nothing to be done. She was too far away. The flames seemed to rise up to engulf Pepper's body.

Eve saw red. A rage filled her like she had never experienced before. It coursed through her like fire, making her hands shake and her jaw clench. Her mind changed again. It didn't turn into her rational day-to-day mind, and it was no longer the brain that focused only on her prime objective. Now, her prime objective was gone. Now, she was angry. Her brain became clear of every thought until there was only one left.

Kill.