'Piper twitched violently when a latex covered hand grasped her thin wrist and stretched her arm out. Cold metal pressed against the thin skin of her inner elbow, whimpers of fear and panic escaping her chapped lips as the needle pierced the delicate skin. She wanted to cry out, to scream for help, but she was just so tired.
Hands lifted her frail body from the thin cot she'd been lying on and began to remove the thin cotton nightgown she'd been wearing since the night of her capture so many months ago; it was dirty and torn in several places she remembered hazily. Piper was distracted from her jumbled thoughts when she was placed on a metal gurney, a whimper escaping her when her bare back connected with the ice cold metal. Tears tracked down her sunken cheeks and she began to struggle uselessly against the leather straps that were securing her to the metal table, but she could barely lift her heavy limbs.
The gurney began moving and Piper's eyes flickered restlessly from side-to-side to stare at the so-called doctors on either side of the gurney. They're faces were so blurred that all she could make out was the stark white masks that covered the lower portions of their faces and they're eyes; they're eyes would haunt her for as long as she lived. They stared at her with a clinical apathy, as if she was no more than a beast that needed to be studied. And in the eyes of these 'doctors' that was all she truly was; a freak of nature, a monster, nothing more than an animal.
She couldn't wrap her young mind around the fact that people could be so evil, not when all she'd known was the warm and loving acceptance of her mother and father. Piper didn't understand how people could do such horrible things to her or how some could just stand by and watch as she was tortured. Not yet.
The gurney came to a stop and, in a brief moment of clarity, Piper saw she was in The Room. The brightly light, concrete room filled with strange devices that were used to hurt her. She began struggle again, more strongly this time as the drug had begun to fade from her system and a primal fear took over her mind. The leather cuffs around her wrists creaked as she thrashed around on the metal table, ignoring the way the band around her chest cut in her bare skin.
"It appears the sedative is wearing off, Doctor."
She knew that voice. Panic and fear surged through Piper like a tidal wave and she increased her struggling, animalistic growls and snarls spilling from her mouth.
"Eight milligrams of pipecuronium bromide." The cold female voice that belonged to Piper's main torturer ordered from above Piper's head. Piper snarled as a needle slid into to skin of her elbow, the drug rushing through her veins and making her nauseous.
"No..." The young mutant girl rasped, her head lolling to the side as her struggles slowed to a few spasmotic twitches before stilling completely. Dull, blue-gray eyes met cold brown and Piper shivered pathetically as the reason for her capture and torture stared her down.
"Recording M-TS 17 vitals," the cold female voice intoned clinically from what sounded like a great distance, "Heartbeat is irregular..."
The words faded and Piper's eyelids fluttered as she retreated into her own hazy mind, forcing herself to think of happier times while her torturers mutilated her body. Her eyes shot open when pain abruptly scorched through her middle and she tried to open her mouth to scream, but the drug kept her immobile. Tears slipped from the corner of her eyes and made wet trails down her face as the torture continued, each cut of the surgical knife sending a new wave of pain through her frail body.
'Someone help me...'
Piper jerked upright with a choked scream and she frantically ripped the thin blanket covering her body away to stare down at the smooth untouched skin of her flat stomach. She pressed her shaking hands against her stomach as if to reassure herself that she was not being cut in half for some twisted experiment to see what she could survive.
"It was just a dream." she whispered to herself like a mantra, "Just a dream, just a dream. It wasn't real..." Piper knew she was just lying to herself, even as she continued to chant the phrase quietly, because it hadn't been a dream, but a memory. One that she'd desperately tried to forget along with so many others.
Shakily, the female mutant kicked the rest of sweat-soaked covers from her body and stood up from the bed. She stumbled across the hotel room towards the bathroom, shedding her sports bra and underwear as she went; she needed to scrub the stench of fear sweat from her skin before it drove her insane.
Piper started the shower as soon as she reached the small hotel bathroom, making sure that the hot water tap was turned all the way on then she stepped under the stream of water. She hissed lowly as the boiling water sluiced over her body, turning her dusky skin red. Piper remained under the stream for several moments then she lathered a washcloth with the hotel provided soap and began scrubbing her skin until it was raw. When her skin healed moments later, she scrubbed it again and again until the stench of her own fear was replaced by the vaguely floral scent of the soap.
Carelessly dropping the washcloth on the shower floor, Piper attacked her hair with the provided shampoo next. She welcomed the faint sting when she dug her claws into her scalp just a little too hard and when she rinsed the suds from her hair, the water had a faint pinkish tinge to it from the blood she'd drawn. She washed her hair twice more and scrubbed her body one more time then she braced her hands against the wall under the shower nozzle, closing her eyes and hanging her head low as the water beat down on her.
'"Good news Major," Piper heard the cold female voice state in a mockery of excitement as she slowly came to after blacking out, "M-TS 17 has survived the hemicorporectomy and the subsequent reattachment. It's remarkable Major, her body is not only healing itself, but regrowing the parts that were removed."
'Removed?' Piper thought uncomprehendingly and she tried to move her legs, but they only twitched slightly against the metal gurney.
"Excellent, Doctor." That hated voice replied with satifaction, "How long until it's ready for Phase Two?"
"It's only been a year and a half since she first arrived, so unfortunately, Major, we still have several more tests to run before M-TS 17 is anywhere near prepared for the second phase of the project. This procedure alone was the most strenuous she's endured yet and she wasn't at full health just as you requested. She'll need some time to recuperate, despite her healing factor. "
Piper's mind whirled at her torturer's words and she put more effort into breaking free of her restraints. She didn't want to stop and think about what other 'tests' the so-called doctor and her captor had in store for her.
"That is unfortunate, Doctor. What of the other test subjects? How have they faired so far?"
The woman doctor sighed in a disappointed manner, "Not very good I'm afraid. M-TS 8 and M-TS 15 did not survive the procedure. Such a shame too, they were the strongest in the group, next to M-TS 17. Thankfully we managed to salvage enough of their DNA for Phase-"
The woman didn't get to continue because at that moment, Piper let out a piercing scream of agony when she shifted her torso. Her eyes snapped open and struggled to lift her head, her eyes alighting on the neat row of stitches that spanned the entire width of her thin waist just above her hips. Piper could only stare in dumbfounded shock at the stitches that extended down her sides and there was no doubt in her young mind that those stitches continued all the way to her back in a perfect circle.
'They cut me in half.' That was the only thought that penetrated the panic that was rapidly mounting inside Piper, 'They cut me in half!'
Hands suddenly grabbed her head and forced it back down onto the table, prompting Piper to begin thrashing violently against the hold. She shrieked again as fire ripped through her lower body and her back involuntarily bowed as much as it could with the restraints strapped over her chest and hips.
"Restrain her before she completely tears out her stitches!"
"No! Lemme go!" Piper yowled fearfully as more hands pressed down on her body, "Lemme go! Mommy! Mommy, help me! Mommy!"
Icy fire suddenly rushed through her veins and her thrashing became sluggishly until it stopped altogether. Piper panted shallowly as the drug took effect and she stared blankly up at the brightly lit concrete ceiling above her until the frightening face of her captor came into her line of sight, a syringe held up for her see in his hand.
"Don't you know, little girl?" He stated with false pity and a fake smile of sympathy, "You're mommy isn't going to save you."
Piper cried out as he slammed the needle into her neck and depressed the plunger. The last thing she heard was her captor ordering her to be taking back to her cell...'
Piper gasped and stumbled out of the shower stall, falling to her knees in front of the toilet. She clutched the rim of the porcelain bowl and heaved, bile scorching her throat as she retched. Her eyes burned with tears as she dried heaved for several moments, her hands clutching the toilet seat so tightly it cracked in her grasp.
The female mutant closed her eyes and wiped her mouth with the back of a trembling hand after she'd stopped retching. Shivers wracked her wiry frame as she took a moment to recover from her episode of what Dr. Johann would no doubt classify as PTSD if she ever found out. When she no longer felt as if she would vomit, Piper rose unsteadily to her feet and stepped back into the shower, uncaring of the cold water now pouring down from the nozzle. Shivering violently, she scrubbed her skin and washed her hair again then turned the water off and stepped out of the stall.
Grabbing a towel from the bar on the wall, Piper quickly wrapped it around herself and stumbled out of the bathroom. She nearly choked when she reentered the bedroom, the overwhelming stench of her own fear causing her eyes to water. Rage, irrational and volatile, filled the female feral at the scent and with a snarl, she stormed over to the window and threw it open to air out the room.
Piper braced her hands on the windowsill and leaned outward, sucking in deep lungfuls of the chill, pollutated city air. When she'd calmed down slightly and had cleared the stench of her fear from her nostrils, the female mutant stepped away from the window and dropped the towel from her body then she stomped over to her gunny sack. After yanking out random articles of clothing, Piper dressed quickly and went back over to the window.
Folding her arms on the sill, Piper glared out at the dark, smog filled sky of Manhattan, her cat-eyed gaze focusing on the back of the Stark Tower standing proudly in the distance. She had wanted to go to the Tower as soon as she'd arrived in the city, but due to the late hour of her arrival, she'd been forced to find a hotel by the two agents Fury had assigned as her babysitters.
Her upper lip curled up into a snarl as her dream-memory suddenly thrust itself to the forefront of her mind, distracting her from the strange longing she felt as she gazed at the Stark Tower. Piper growled low in her throat and clenched her hands into fists, her claws cutting the fleshy part of her palms and drawing blood. She uncurled her fingers slowly and raised one hand to her mouth, watching as the wounds knitted shut, the small spots of blood the only evidence of the inconsequential injuries.
'This is why they wanted you.' She thought caustically as she glared at the blood on her hand, 'This is why they turned you into a monster.' Exhaling heavily, Piper licked the rapidly cooling blood from her hand and turned her attention to the dark sky. She stared dully at the sky for several minutes then moved to push away from the window when a sudden noise of distress reached her senstive ears above the sounds of Manhattan's nightlife.
Frowning slightly, Piper cocked her head to the side and listened intently. The noise came again and she narrowed her eyes when drunken laughter followed it a moment later. The feral woman pursed her lips as she debated on whether or not to ignore the obvious sounds of distress when a high-pitched yelp made her decision for her.
"Fuck curiosity. It obviously never met this cat." She muttered then she climbed out her fifth story hotel window, scaling down the side of the hotel to the alley below. Following the sounds of drunken laughter, Piper sauntered out of the alley and down the sidewalk several yards until she reached another dark alley next to a bar.
As she walked further into the dark alley, she could hear male voices laughing and jeering drunkenly along with the soft pained noises. She walked around a large dumpster and narrowed her eyes into slits, a growl rumbling up her throat when she caught sight of the two men that had cornered a young woman in a torn dress. Even from where she was standing a few feet away, Piper could smell the alcohol the men had consumed and her nose wrinkled as the scent assaulted her senstive nose.
"C'mon baby, give us a kiss." The burlier of the two men sneered as he grabbed the young woman by the arm and yanked her towards him, laughing along with his companion as she struggled.
"P-p-please, just leave me alone!" The woman pleaded, her voice pitched high with fear and panic as the burly man pawed, "I said leave me alone!" She lashed out at the man, her manicured nails racking across his face.
The man howled in pain and threw the woman at his companion as he clutched at the scratches. The second man wrapped his hand in the woman's hair and yanked her head back as his burlier companion advanced on her, "You shouldn't have done that you little bitch. Now you're really gonna get it."
"Actually, she's not."
The two men whirled around, the woman crying out in shock as she was jostled abruptly. Piper quirked a brow and folded her arms over her chest, her head tilted slightly to the side as she observed the three curiously. She watched as the two men ran their eyes over her body, lewd smiles appearing on their ugly mugs.
"Well, well, it looks like it's our lucky day." The burlier man purred and he smirked over at his companion, "Seems these juicy little things just keep popping up all over the place don't they? Why don't you come on over here so we can have some fun, sugar."
Piper gave a pleasant, close-lipped smile and sauntered closer to the two men with her eyes downcast bashfully, ignoring the way the woman stared at her in disbelief. The burlier man grinned predatorily and grabbed Piper by the hips as soon as she was close enough, yanking her pliant body against his. The other woman had begun to sob and cry out for help, but Piper ignored her as she placed her hands on either side of the man's face and looked up at him with blazing vermillion eyes
Her lips curled into a malicious smile as the man's face drained of all color and he gasped sharply in fear. He tried to push her away from him, but Piper dug her claws into the side of his face until he screamed in pain.
"You were right." She hissed at him cruelly as he continued to struggle against her and she slammed her forehead against his, letting him go and watching in satisfaction as he slumped to the dirty ground, "Today is your lucky day."
Whirling around, Piper smiled evilly at the burly man's companion, who was staring at his unconscious companion in disbelief. She crossed the short distance between them, reaching out and grasping the arm that was wrapped around the frozen woman's waist. The feral mutant wrenched the man's arm away from the woman then she jerked him towards her and slammed her fist into his face.
She let his arm go and sighed in disappointment when his dropped to the ground limply, "That was too easy, damn." A quiet squeak caught her attention and Piper turned to look at the woman she'd just rescued, quirking her brow at her curiously, "Shouldn't you be running or something?"
The woman blanched and stumbled back a few steps, only to trip over her ridiculously high heels and land heavily on her backside with a yelp. Piper stared down at the trembling woman in disbelief for several moments, unable to wrap her mind around the fact that the woman just enacted the dumb bimbo roll in B-rated slasher film.
"Seriously? Did you just-did you just trip?" Piper demanded incredulously with an eye roll and she propped her hands on her hips, "Could you be anymore of a Horror Movie Bimbo? God, I didn't know shit like that actually happened outside of B-rated slasher films." The female mutant shook her head and sauntered passed the woman, who still hadn't stood up from the ground, "Whatever. Sit on the ground like an idiot instead of going to the police. Tch, idiot."
"W-wait! Please!"
Shuffling, followed by the click-clack sound of heels filled the alley as Piper paused at the mouth of the alley and turned slowly on her bare heel to face the woman now standing a few feet away from her. One gray brow rose slowly as the woman remained silent and began to nervously shift her weight from foot-to-foot.
"Did you actually need something? Or were you just trying to astound me with the way you've mastered the art of being a damsel in distress?" Piper drawled with a deadpanned expression and she crossed her arms over her chest.
The woman faltered and stared at Piper with wide eyes, but when the gray haired woman made an impatient noise, she began to stutter a reply, "I...Thank you f-for saving me." Biting her lip nervously, the woman took a step forward and held her hand out to Piper, who eyed it dubiously, "I'm Naomi."
"Yeah...And I don't care." Piper replied drily and she turned on her heel, walking back towards her hotel and leaving the woman to stare at her back in stunned disbelief.
Rocking on her heels, Piper scowled as she waited impatiently in the hotel lobby for her babysitting duo to appear. The anticipation of finally, finally, going to Stark Tower was making her antsy and she just wanted to go already. The longer she was forced to wait, the more she felt like the cat that wanted to eat the canary that was safely ensconced in its cage. She snickered slightly at her own metaphor, amused at the thought of a certain doctor being a canary.
Successfully distracted from her own impatience, Piper smiled smugly to herself as she thought about her self-deprecating rage monster. She didn't really understand why she felt such an attachment to the good doctor, though she had a feeling it had something to do with his alter ego, but she didn't really care to analyze her feelings on the matter either way. A throaty purr thrummed through her chest as her thoughts continued to circulate around the enigmatic doctor, a strange contentedness replacing her previous impatience.
The overpowering scent of cologne burned her nose and snapped Piper out of her thoughts, her head whipping around to stare intently stairwell just as Dumb and Dumber appeared. She narrowed her eyes at the two men and glared at them in annoyance, "I get that you two are butt-buddies, but I have an appointment to make, so could we please hurry this up?"
The Dumber part of the duo, or Agent Jones, gave her a dirty look while his senior partner, Agent Daniels, merely sighed and gestured for Piper to exit the lobby. Having been on missions with her before, the older agent was used to the female feral attitude and no longer let it bother him.
"Lead the way Agent Lennart."
Grumbling irritably under her breath about unreliable humans, Piper sashayed her way out of the hotel lobby and towards the waiting SUV. A Cheshire cat smile played at the corner of her mouth as she climbed into the backseat and tossed her gunny sack onto the floor, practically vibrating with her excitement.
Bouncing out of the SUV, Piper gave an overly dramatic and entirely mocking wave towards Agent Jones as he glared at her out of the passenger window. She snickered to herself as she watched Agent Daniels pulled into the earlier morning Manhattan traffic, leaving Piper standing on the sidewalk in front of Stark Tower. Slipping the aviators she'd placed on her head over her eyes and still giggling to herself, the female mutant practically skipped through the automatic glass doors and towards the receptionist's desk.
Slapping her hands on the marble top, Piper smiled without showing her fangs when the bottled-blonde wearing a headset and flipping through a magazing jumped and looked at her with wide blue eyes, "I have an appointment with the narcissitic and egotistical asshole that owns this eyesore of a building."
The receptionist, who's name tag read 'Delilah', gaped at her dumbly. Piper stared back at her with her brows raised expectantly, but the woman just continued to stare at her.
Sighing in exasperation, the feral female leaned forward and snapped her fingers in front of the woman's face, "Hey, lady, I get that the peroxide probably killed most of your brain cells and that perfume certainly isn't helping the ones that are left, but seriously this isn't rocket science." Piper made a vague gesture towards the phone resting innocently on the woman's desk, "So could you stop impersonating a dead goldfish and tell Stark that Piper Lennart is here to see him."
Delilah blinked slowly, "Um..."
"Nevermind." Piper muttered when her attention was grabbed by a frowning man with a cellphone pressed to his ear. Narrowing her eyes, Piper focused on the man's vaguely familiar features intently, her head tilting to the side.
A gleeful smile light up her face when she finally placed where she'd seen him before, 'Harold 'Happy' Hogan. Forty-five years old, six-foot-zero, one hundred ninety-five pounds.' She eyed the man from behind her aviators then sniggered to herself, 'S.H.I.E.L.D. really needs to update that. Hmm, let's see, driver and bodyguard to one Anthony Stark.' Still grinning to herself, Piper began sauntering towards the man, who had turned towards the elevator as he ranted into the cellphone, 'Hopefully he doesn't shoot me.'
She stopped less than a foot away from him and rocked back on her heels, tapping the claws of her right hand against the strap of her gunny sack as she waited eagerly for him to turn around and notice her. After several moments of just listening to Tony's bodyguard and driver rant into his cellphone, Piper pushed her aviators up onto her head and coughed pointedly, quirking one brow and smiling brightly when Happy jumped and spun around to stare at her in surprise.
"Hi, Happy, right?" She asked then continued brusquely without waiting for his reply, "Great, lets see if this works the second time around. I have an appointment with narcisstic and egotistical asshole that owns this building, is he in?"
"Uh..." Happy muttered as he stared down at the gray haired woman dubiously, his eyes unconsciously lingering on the woman's slit pupils, "Who are you?"
"Piper Lennart, Nicky sent me." Piper replied easily and she began to bounce on her heels with impatience, "So, can I see Stark? Or Bruce? Preferrably Bruce, but at this point I'll take what I can get. Geez, talk about terrible public service here."
Happy furrowed his brow and opened his mouth to reply, but the elevator doors opening prevented him from speaking. Piper watched curiously as a semi-tall, slender woman with strawberry blonde hair pulled up into an elegant ponytail stepped out of the lift, "I'm so sorry, Happy. Tony was..." The woman trailed off and blinked in surprise when she caught sight of Piper standing beside her boyfriend's driver/bodyguard, "Hello there."
'Virgina 'Pepper' Potts. Thirty-nine years old, five-foot-nine, one hundred and thirty-two pounds. Stark's personal assistant and romantic partner. She's cute.' Piper's mind supplied and she smiled cordially at the woman without revealing her fangs, 'She's also currently missing one sunshine yellow sundress that is currently burning a hole in my gunny sack with its obnoxious brightness.'
"Virgina Potts, you have no idea how nice it is to finally meet you."
Pepper's expression morphed into one of confusion, "I'm sorry, do I know you?"
"Not personally, but your boyfriend let me borrow a sundress of yours a few months ago." Piper replied flippantly and she thrust her a claw-tipped hand towards the strawberry blonde, "I'm Piper Lennart. I'm actually here to see said egotistical boyfriend."
"Piper?" Pepper murmured in confusion as she took the offered hand on instinct, flinching slightly in surprise when Piper's blunted, black claws brushed the back of her hand. She stared at the claws in surprise then looked up at Piper as recognition dawned on her and her eyes widened slightly, "Oh! You're that Piper! I'm so sorry, Tony didn't tell me you were coming."
The feral mutant snickered quietly and retracted her hand, "Yeah, I have a feeling Stark didn't even know I was coming. Pulling a dick move like that is definitely something Nicky would do. Oh!" Piper ignored the way the other woman jumped slightly in surprise at her loud exclamation, "Did you want your dress back? I washed it already and, while I have no doubt it looks great on you, sunshine yellow is not really my color."
"I-um..." Pepper shook her head slightly and gave the feral woman a weak smile, "Actually I have an appointment that I'm already late to, but you could leave the dress with Tony when you visit him. He should still be down in his private lab with Bruce." Pepper removed a keycard from the clip on her blazer and gestured towards the elevator, "Just take this down to the lowest ground floor. I'll tell JARVIS to expect you, so just give him your name."
"Alright." Piper agreed easily, watching as the strawberry blonde swiped the keycard through the scanner beside the elevator and the doors slid open. Happy looked ready to protest as Pepper stepped aside and allowed the gray haired woman to step into the lift, but Piper quickly spoke up before he could, "Thank you, Miss Potts, I really appreciate it. It really is quite important that I speak to Tony and Bruce."
"Please call me Pepper. I'm glad to help." The strawberry blonde replied with a small smile then she glanced at her watch and sighed, casting the other woman an apologetic look, "Excuse me, I really need to be going. I hope to see you again."
Piper smiled faintly, her gunmetal gray cat eyes glittering impishly as she inclined her head, "Oh, I'm sure you will. Have a nice day." She waved coyly at Happy, who glowered back at her until the elevato doors slid shut, cutting his view of her off.
The female mutant chortled to herself and pressed the button for the lowest floor then she tilted her head back and grinned at the ceiling, "Yo, JARVIS, you there?"
"Hello Miss Lennart, how may I be of service?" JARVIS's computerized British accent flooded the elevator and Piper's grin widened.
"Could you kindly leave Tony uninformed of my identity. I get the feeling that Fury didn't tell him I was coming and I wanna see his and Bruce's reaction."
"Of course, Miss Lennart."
"Thanks, JARVIS." Piper quipped with a grin that had a distinctly mischevious edge to it and she rocked back on her heels, rubbing her hands together gleefully as the elevator continued its descent.
"Sir, you and Mr. Banner have an incoming visitor."
"Who is it?" Tony asked distractedly as he continued to fiddle with one of the foot repulsors for his newest suit.
"I'm not at liberty to say, sir." JARVIS replied, catching Bruce's attention from where he was working on the other side of the lab, "They've left the elevator, shall I let them in?"
"Must be the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Fury was sending." Bruce commented as Tony mulled over his A.I.'s reply.
Putting down the screwdriver he was using, Tony picked up a finished gauntlet and slipped it onto his right hand then he spun around on his swivel chair to face the doors to his lab, "As long as they aren't going to tr and kill me, sure let 'em in."
"I'm not making any promises, especially if you start up with those cat jokes again."
The billionaire's eyes widened at the familiar femininely husky voice. His brown eyes widened further with both delight and shock as the owner of the voice stepped into view. Behind him, Bruce inhaled sharply in surprise and Tony could practically feel the tension radiating off his fellow genius in waves as they both stared at the lithe, gray haired woman standing in the open doorway of the lab.
Piper tilted her head slightly to the side and batted her eyes lashes with a coy smile, "Miss me, boys?"
Bruce stared dumbly at Piper, his thoughts whirling a hundred miles a minute as he took her in for the first time in months.
'Her hair's longer.' He thought offhandedly as he took in the thick braid that hung down almost to her waist. Heat crawled up his throat and Bruce swallowed thickly when he met her mischevious gray cat-eyes. He really didn't understand the strange attraction he felt towards the female mutant and when she smiled slowly at him, he couldn't bring himself to care. Bruce felt his heart rate pick up slightly when she took a small step into the lab, the Other Guy stirring faintly at the back of his mind.
Tony, who was standing off to the side and watching the rage monster and the feral mutant reunite, smirked in amusement at their apparent obliviousness to his prescence. And Tony, being Tony, had to opening his egotistcal mouth.
"I feel like I should be playing some Sarah Mclachlan watching you two make puppy eyes at each other." He quipped sardonically then he smirked and waggled his brows at Piper, "Or should I say kitten eyes, eh Pippi?"
Bruce made a choked noise and looked anywhere but at Tony and Piper, who was death glaring the billionaire with narrowed eyes. The feral mutant pointed at him with one clawed finger, "I'm gonna turn your balls into a pair of earrings and give them to Pepper if you don't shut up."
"Sorry, sorry." Tony smirked at her unrepentantly and held his hands up in surrender, his gauntlet still on his hand. A heavy silence permeated the lab with Piper trying to catch Bruce's eye, while the good doctor studiously avoided her attempts. Tony fidgeted slightly in his chair then removed the gauntlet and placed it on his worktable as the silence steadily got more oppressive.
Finally unable to take it anymore, the billionaire looked over at Piper with a smirk, "So...What's new pussycat?"
"You're a deadman, Stark."
Author's Note: Holy crap on a cracker it has been for-freaking-ever since I updated this story, like holy freaking crap! Seriously, I wrote this chapter twice before finally being inspired to write this version after watching Iron Man 2, and even them I'm still just a teensy-weensy bit unsatisfied with it. Trying to wrap my mind around Bruce's character has been a bit of a pain in the ass, but I hope I got it okay, even if he only appeared very, very briefly. Tony, I think, was pretty in character. Out of the whole chapter, I think my favorite part is vulnerable!Piper, which we haven't seen before. I think it shows her in a more human-ish light. Anyhooties, I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter and that it was worth the long ass wait!
PS - I know someone requested a "what's new pussycat?" joke, but I can't remember who it was. So to whoever requested that one, this chapter is for you!
PSS - Also does anyone else find it funny that even though she saved someone's life/virtue, Piper is still a malicious bitch? That part cracked me up when I wrote it. I think she makes a pretty decent antihero, but honestly she would have been better as a villain. XD
PSS - One last note, the drug (pipecuronium bromide) used in Piper's flashback is a neuromuscular-blocking drug, which means it pretty much relaxes the muscles to the point of temporary paralysis. So that's why she can't move but can still feel pain.
SUPER SPECIAL THANKS TO EVERYONE THAT FAVED, ALERTED, AND REVIEWED! You guys are the SAUCIEST of all the awesome-sauces!
SPECIAL MENTIONS!
Teddy bear 007: Thanks, I'm glad you like Sekhmet! I hope you liked this chapter!
Protagonist of Life: Haha, yes I do, I'm a huge fan of Egyptian, Celtic, and Norse Mythology. I actually have not read that series or any of Rick Riordan's books before. By the time those came out, I'd started my paranormal romance/urban fantasy obsession. Anyhooties, I hope you like this chapter!
Molly Grace 16: Thanks, I'm glad you liked the last chapter and Piper's codename! Sadly, there's not much of a reaction in this chapter. In one of the previous drafts of this chapter I had Bruce turn into the Hulk when he saw Piper, but then I started thinking how that seemed a little extreme even for him. I mean, Piper and Bruce aren't quite that connected to each other yet, you know? Anyhooties, I hope you liked this chapter!
Kit-cat99: Haha, yup, Clint kinda sees Piper as a psychotic little sister, despite her being older than him by quite a bit. There will definitely be more of an angry-ish tension between Bruce and Piper in the next chapter, once he's had some time to wrap his mind around the fact that she finally showed up. There will also be some Anyhooties, I hope you liked this chapter!
galyardt: Thanks, I'm glad you like the story so far! I hope you like this chapter!
Lady Syndra: Haha, sadly there isn't much of a reaction in this chapter. I'm gonna be working on that in the next one. Hopefully this chapter sets the stage for his reaction once he's had some time to process the fact that Piper is finally at the Tower. Anyhooties, I hope you liked this chapter!
CGKrows: Buahaha, sorry if the reuniting moment is a little anti-climatic. I'm hoping the next chapter when Bruce is no longer surprised by Piper's appearance, his reaction will be a little more satifactory. Anyhooties, I hope you liked this chapter!
TheLadyJai: Thanks, I'm glad you like the story so far! Anyhooties, I hope you like this chapter!
Jillyjillyfairfax: Haha, I'm glad you liked the last few chapters! Haha, the reuniting scene is definitely a little anti-climatic in my opinion, I'm hoping to make up for it in the next chapter. Honestly, I didn't even think of using 'bird-brain' or 'feathers' as affectionate insults, so thanks for those! Anyhooties, I hope you liked this chapter!
Stinker216: I'll admit that the reuniting scene is anti-climatic, but I hope you like it anyway!
Hahahalolno: Thanks! I hope you like this chapter too!
Anon Guest: Um, I'm glad you like(ed?) the story. Honestly, I did do a lot of research on Psychopathy and Sociopathy before I even started rewritting Piper's story. And seeing as how I'm interested in pursing an education in both psychology and sociology, I like to think that I'm at least adequately knowledgeable about both Anti-Social Personality Disorders. So with that being said, I'd like to respectfully point out to that it IS quite possible to be both a psychopath and a sociopath, since sociopathy is a derivitate of psychopathy. I'd also like to point at the definition of both disorders as provided by Merrim-Webster dictonary;
Sociopath -Someone who behaves in a dangers or violent way towards other people and does not feel guilty about such behavior (i.e. lacking empathy or morality to an extent lacking a conscious)
Psychopath - A person who is mentally ill, who does not care about other people, and who is usually dangerous or violent; a mentally ill or unstable person; especially a person affect with anti-social personality disorder.
Furthermore, there is a rather limited knowledge on both Sociopathy and Psychopathy and because of this, there are no set guidelines or ways to define who or what makes a 'true' psychopath or sociopath. In affect, when I referr to Piper as a 'psychopathic sociopath', I'm saying that she was pretty much molded into a sociopath with psychopathic tendencies. She's an extremely calculating individual and when she chooses to be, she's extremely charismatic and charming, but in that same context, she can become extremely aggressive, violent, and impulsive; which are what most consider trademarks of a psychopath.
Seeing as how I've gone on a bit of a tangent, I'm going to bring this reply to a close by asking you to please use Google and do some research yourself. Sociopathy and Psychopathy are rather enigmatic personality disorders, with lots of gray areas that have yet to be explored. And with that being said, thank you for your review and for provided your opinion, I did very much take it to heart and restarted my own research on the subject.
Anon Guest 2: Sadly, there's not much Piper/Tony/Bruce interaction in this chapter, but there will be more in the next one!
Applesandjuice: Thanks! I hope you liked this chapter too!
Andthenyou: Thank you!
Dhalmi93: Haha, yup! Anti-climatic reunion, but the next chapter should be better!
Samtoenail: Aw, thanks, I'm glad you like the story so much! I hope you like this chapter too!
Shika93: Wow, thanks for all the reviews! I'm glad you like Piper 2.0 and I'm glad you like story! I hope you like this chapter!
Halberd-Vixen: I hope you liked this chapter!
MakaylaDevine: Thanks, I'm glad you like this fic! Sorry for the super long wait, but I hope this chapter was worth it!
myharlequinromance321: Aw, thanks, I'm glad you like the story so far! Piper is most definitely not your every day female protagonist, in fact considering her personality, she'd probably be better as antagonist. Also, you seriously just paid me like the BIGGEST compliment ever by saying Piper's checkered past is true to Marvel's style. Seriously I almost died when I read that part of your review. Anyhooties, I hope you like this chapter!
Moon-night-ninja: I will definitely try to finish this story, though updates are gonna be sporadic at best. Anyhooties, I hope you like this chapter!
Rukoitalian65: Thanks, I'm glad you like the story and Piper's character!
Hatterlymad: Aw thanks, it makes me super happy when people like my characters, especially ones that really shouldn't be that loveable since they're psychotic and kinda demented. I'm actually kinda proud that you think I made a believable psychopathic character. I was heavily inspired by Heath Ledger's the Joker as well as Liev Schreiber's Sabertooth, who definitely had a heavy hand in my creation of Piper. Anyhooties, I hope you like this chapter!
Shadowrider16: Update for you! I hope you like it!
Juliet Volturi: Thanks, I'm glad you liked the last chapter! Piper is definitely making progress...or is she? For all we know it could be an act...Huh, that would actually make a really good plot twist now that I think about it, I must write this down...Anyhooties, I hope you like this chapter!
GiraffePanda2: Okay, I have to get this out of the way before I reply to your reviews; are you a giraffe with panda coloring/markings or are you a panda with giraffe coloring/markings, or are you like a hybrid of both?
Now that that is out of the way, onto the actual reply! I'm super glad you like Piper's character! I like insane characters too, and personally I don't think there are enough of them on FF, at least not that I've seen. It is also a serious boost to my ego that you think that my writing is breathtakingly clever and witty. So on that note, I hope you liked this chapter!