EMERALD
After I left Pepper behind, a sense of guilt washed through my system. She really was trying to redeem herself, and I did exactly what Aldrich wanted me to – alienate myself. Still, whether she was pretending or not, she was still on the opposing side. I had to keep my emotions in check, especially once I saw Tony again.
Tony and Rhodey had each other's backs, I tried to convince myself. They didn't need me for the same reason that I claimed I didn't need them. However, I had a new priority now.
Save the President. Get everyone off of this ship before it explodes. Try not to die.
It seemed like a pretty decent checklist.
My biggest problem at the moment, though, was the damn exit. This place was a labyrinth, worse than the previous warehouse. It seemed like every new hallway I turned down led to another until I was pretty sure I was back where I started.
Glancing up, I laid eyes on the ship's crates that were making up the bulk of the ceiling. If I couldn't find a way out, I could at least find a way up.
I backed myself into the corner of the room I was in, heaving a deep breath before I took a running start and propelled myself up towards the crate. I managed to grab a hold of the bottom portion of the crate and hauled myself up so I was standing on the edge. It took a few more moments of panic before I scaled the rest of the side of the crate.
As much as my heart was pounding, I shoved the terrifying feeling down. I didn't have time to be scared today.
Glancing around at the rest of the ship, I found it way easier to see what was happening around me. Aldrich was nowhere to be found, but I could see his minions pacing around the deck of the ship. They were waiting for the fight that was about to ensue, confirming my suspicions that Pepper accidentally on-purpose led Tony and Rhodey into a death match.
The center of the action, however, was the President of the United States strung up fifty feet above the crates, still locked in the Iron Patriot suit. That wasn't the part that scared me the most. It was the giant fire pit that was growing bigger by the minute.
Aldrich specifically chose this ship because of the gas. It was going to keep the fire going until the President was burned alive. I felt like vomiting at the thought.
"Alright Maitland," I said to myself, taking a step towards the edge of the crate. "Step one."
It seemed that saving the President was going to take a little more effort than I initially realized.
A whooshing sound almost knocked me off balance, and I frantically propelled myself back so I didn't topple off the edge of the crate. A split second later, a pair of Iron Man suits flew by, followed by another pair. I glanced up in awe as every single one of Tony's suits that he created over the past six months joined each other in surrounding the ship.
Perhaps his tinkering was good for something.
I breathed out a sigh of relief as I watched all of them set their targets on Aldrich's followers down below. The fight just got a little evener. If Tony was here in front of me at this moment, I probably would have kissed him.
"About damn time," I said with a tiny smile, shaking my head.
"You're right."
I turned around at the sound of Savin's voice and inwardly groaned as he jumped over to the current crate I was on. The metal shook under my feet as he stalked his way towards me, but I refused to flinch.
"It's about time for you to perish," he said with a smirk.
That was definitely not in my checklist.
"I thought you were supposed to keep an eye on me until Aldrich had another use for me," I commented, raising an eyebrow. "You're not too good at your job, it seems."
"That was before you became a pain in the ass," he replied. I shrugged my shoulders. He wasn't wrong. I definitely did not make anything easy. "Besides, I can tell the boss you slipped and fell upon escape. He'll be so devastated."
I glanced over my shoulder at the fiery inferno that was only growing larger by the second. My time was running out, and so was the President's.
"I don't think so, asshole," I snapped before I lunged in Savin's direction, catching him off guard.
He tumbled down on top of the crate, sending a loud clang echoing throughout the ship. Groaning, he flipped himself to his feet a second later, meeting my punches fist for fist until he landed a blow to my side. I cursed under my breath as I fell to the ground. I barely had time to roll to the side before he stomped exactly where I was a second ago. Spinning back to my feet, I tried to land a few kicks unsuccessfully before I realized how close I was to the edge of this crate.
I refused to die at the hands of this asshole.
"Em!"
I did exactly what I told myself I wasn't going to do.
At the sound of Tony's voice, I froze. My heart leaped into my throat, and against my better instincts, I turned around towards the ground. He was standing right there, concern and relief shining at the same time over his features. I let out a tiny smile before I felt the world slip out from underneath me.
Literally.
Savin took the distraction to sweep my feet out from underneath me, sending me flying off the edge of the crate. I grabbed onto the side desperately, my hands scrabbling to find a better hold. It was a bold move and one I should have seen coming. Maybe Savin wasn't such an idiot, after all.
"Isn't this just poetic?" he taunted, kneeling in front of me. "Your lover sees you plummet to your death just as he perishes too."
I tried my best to calm my racing heart and focus on the solution at hand here. In about five seconds, Savin was going to kick me over the side of this thing, and while there was a pretty good chance the Extremis would save me, I wasn't sure how well I would do falling into flames.
"I think…" I said through gritted teeth. "I think you need to reconsider your options."
I waited for him to deliberate what I said before I summoned up the power I needed to flip myself back on top of the crate. Without the Extremis, I never imagined I had the capability of doing that. As amazing as it felt, it only reminded me of how dangerous this serum truly was.
Savin was still caught off guard from my trick, even as I slammed my foot into his chest, sending him tumbling off the side of the crate and into the flames below. Shaking my head, I watched as a few flames sparked up from the fire, signaling his demise.
"So long, asshole," I said proudly, feeling no bit of remorse for the man who continually tried to kill me.
I couldn't bear to look at Tony's probably stunned face until I hopped from crate to crate, finding it easier this time, and landed safely on the ground. Squinting towards the giant fire raging in the center, I covered my eyes and turned my gaze at where the edge of the flames was getting dangerously close to the President.
Luckily, I wasn't alone.
I spotted Tony and Rhodey almost immediately through the flames and darted around the sparks erupting from the fire. I wasn't in the mood to test if my Extremis saved my skin from burning.
"Tony!" I shouted, earning both of their attention in a split second. A relieved smile passed across my lips until I saw the giant crack in the ship separating us. If I hadn't known better, I would have said the world was playing a cruel trick on us. It was a repeat of what happened at our house.
We didn't have time for reunions anyway.
Tony's face matched my own, and I felt my entire body relax to a degree more. The only thing I wanted to do at this moment was to leap across the barrier and envelop him in a hug. However, I promised myself that I wouldn't let my emotions sacrifice my mission again. We weren't out of the woods yet, but both of us made it this far. We only had one more task to do.
"This whole thing is a trap," I said before either of them could speak. "We have to save the President and get out of here."
Tony shook his head, still in incredulity that we were standing here talking as if we both hadn't been kidnapped multiple times in the past few days. "I…" he trailed off. "Em, what's going on here?"
"I can't explain everything right now," I replied frantically, constantly looking over my shoulder to check the status of the inferno. "They used Pepper to bring you to me. They're trying to use me as a weapon for them, and you're the bait." I shook my head, feeling a lump rise in my throat. "I won't let that happen."
A roaring sound erupted overhead, and I immediately ducked as a fire-blazing crate raced past my head. I stood up again, watching the rest of the Iron Legion tackle Aldrich's men.
"Get the President and get out of here," I added before they could speak. "I'll be right behind you."
"I won't leave you again," Tony immediately said, to which I rolled my eyes. I predicted something of that manner to emerge from his lips.
Instead of arguing, I turned my gaze to Rhodey, tilting my head to one side. I knew he would see the practical side of things. "Rhodey, please," I begged.
"We gotta do what the lady says," he commented, resting a hand on Tony's shoulder. The corner of my lips twitched up in a smile at the sight of their friendship, and for the first time, I wondered how they found each other again after we were all separated. "Alright Tone, give me a suit."
Tony raised an eyebrow in Rhodey's direction, even though his gaze still rested on me. "They're only tailored to me," he observed, signaling for a suit to land next to Rhodey.
"What!"
The suit wrapped one arm around Rhodey, tilting its head to one side. "Shall I give you a lift, Colonel Rhodes?" came JARVIS's electronic voice from the suit.
"Oh, f-" Rhodey tried to swear, but the suit immediately blasted off towards where the President was being held hostage above our heads. I smirked at JARVIS's comment before I glanced back down at Tony. Problem one was solved, onto problem two.
"Tony," I said, giving him a begging look. "I'm fine, and you have to go before I'm not."
"Honey."
I heaved a sigh, rolling my eyes. "I'm not going to have this argument with you right now," I insisted.
"No," he responded, pointing towards my arms. "You're… you're glowing red."
I scanned where he was looking, holding my arms out in front of me. Sure enough, the Extremis virus was taking its hold once again. "Shit," I swore, not realizing how worked up I was. "Um, this is fine." I dropped my arms to my side, trying to take some deep breaths and calm myself down.
Tony's panicked expression was definitely not helping.
Today was not going to be the day my body decided to explode.
"I can handle this," I stalled, trying to convince myself more than Tony at the moment. "I'll-"
Whatever I was about to say faded from my brain as Aldrich dropped to the ground directly behind me, the stupid smirk still plastered across his mouth. I wanted so badly to slap it off.
Changing my line of thought, I willed the Extremis to bring itself back to the forefront of my skin. I was trying to suppress it for Tony's sake, but the virus was the key to defeating Aldrich once and for all. That much, I figured out when I had endless time to myself.
"So, Tony Stark, now you see how beautiful my creation is," he said, gesturing to where I was standing. I held my hands out in front of me, ready to tackle him to the ground if he tried to touch me. "She is enhanced in every way. It's a shame you didn't listen to me all of those years ago. You would have possessed the power of Extremis without making me very desperate."
As I suspected, Aldrich attempted to grab my arm, but I wrestled it away from him easily enough. Chuckling, he shook his head, marveling at how strong I had become with the virus. I hated every second of the way he was looking at me.
I also hated the way he was still ten times stronger than I was, even in my current state. He wrapped his hand around my neck, not hard enough to crush my windpipe but just enough to hold me steady. He wanted to prove to not only me but Tony as well that he was superior in every way.
"This time, I want you to feel what desperation does to you," he said ominously.
Honestly, I should have predicted what was coming next, but I still felt complete shock when he drove a knife through my stomach.
I barely felt pain, even as he twisted the knife deeper in my gut. I was immune to pain by now, but what I wasn't immune to was the secondhand agony that I felt when I saw Tony's face. I was immediately transported back to Stark Tower when he discovered that I was alive with a mixture of anguish and despair written all over his face. This was much worse.
Glancing back down at the weapon in my stomach, I gave Aldrich a puzzled expression. "You-you said-" I tried to get out, but from the way that my body was slowly dying, I couldn't even finish the sentence.
I was stupid to think that I was safe all of this time. He told me that I was the ultimate plan, that I was the person he always desired to wield the power of Extremis, but here I was. He was killing me all the same.
Aldrich sent one more smirk in my direction before he yanked the knife out from my body, sending me falling to the ground. My hands immediately scrabbled to my wound in an attempt to stop my blood from pouring out. There was a dull ache in my abdomen, and my breaths kept coming in small gasps. Other than that, I barely felt anything at all. That was a bad sign.
"Oh, honey," Aldrich purred, kneeling down to my side. "If I told you all of my plans, what kind of villain would I be?" He laughed, glancing over at Tony from across the crack. "You thought I needed you alive? As it turns out, I got a better offer over there."
Fear quickly spread through my system at the thought of what he was planning to do to Tony. I had it all wrong. I turned my head to the side, daring to meet Tony's eyes again. The last thing I needed him to do right now was grieve when I wasn't even dead yet.
"R-run," I whispered towards him before I felt Aldrich's presence disappear from my side. All of those times I thought my worst fears were coming true before meant nothing.
This was it.
The Mandarin and the Iron Man were about to have a battle to the death, and it was all my fault.
A/N: Just another bittersweet reunion for the books :)))) I know I'm the worst, just when we thought everything was going to be sappy and good with my OTP for life. And I oop-