[Tony]
"Your move, Banner." I smirked, watching victoriously as the doctor scowled.
My eyes narrowed as Bruce and I stared each other down evenly. His deep, brown eyes blazed with the heat of war. We were locked in a battle of wits, one that only one could rise from the ashes and triumph over their foe.
In other words, we were playing chess.
Bruce ran his fingers through his hair as he stared bleakly at the black and white, marble chess board, his gaze fixating on his remaining, dispersed troops that were scattered across the checkered playing field.
"Give up, Banner. There is no way for you to succeed!" I exclaimed dramatically, voice low. "Forfeit to me or be the cause of your own death!"
"Never!" he protested viciously. "I shall never succumb to your traps!"
Bruce's eyes landed on his black bishop and my heart jumped into my throat as I saw a small smile creep its way onto his lips.
The damn bishop. I forgot about that. I thought, mentally cursing my stupidity.
"You might have foiled all of my other plans, Stark, but you forgot one thing. My bishop."
Grinning, he glided the bishop across the board with his fingertips, taking the place of my king, which he snatched greedily from its place.
"Checkmate." he chuckled over my loud groans of misery.
I pointed at him fiercely. "You have bested me this time, Banner, but I vow that you will rue this day!"
"Best two out of three?" suggested Bruce, leaning back in his chair, a smug expression on his face.
"Oh, you're on."
"Sir, Miss Monroe just jumped from the roof and so far it seems like she has no intentions of saving herself." JARVIS's voice rang from the ceiling, interrupting our banter.
"Wait, what?" Bruce gaped as we scrambled to our feet, the chess game forgotten.
"JARVIS, deploy Mark VII, now!" I ordered, running to the window and looking out of it, seeing a dark form flash past. "If she doesn't stop, catch her!"
"Quinn jumped!" Steve panted as he barreled into the room, eyes wide with panic.
"Elevator!" called Bruce, gesturing for us to get into the glass elevator so we could get to the ground level quickly. We did so, the atmosphere strained as the tiny room shot downwards.
Rogers was clearly tense because I noted that his hands were clenched into tight fists, muscles coiled.
"She wouldn't let herself hit the ground, would she?" he croaked, looking between Banner and I.
My eyes met Bruce's and we shared a grim look, his lips pressed together in a thin line.
Yes, she would.
With a chirpy ding that was completely inappropriate for the situation, the doors slid open. Three sets of feet pounded the sleek, marble floor as we raced outside of the Tower, the bitterly cold wind like a slap to our cheeks.
I craned my neck up towards the sky, thankful that the Tower was so tall that we made it to the ground in time before she...no, don't think about that. I've worked too hard to try and save her for her to commit suicide.
"There she is." I said, spotting the dark blur of the Phantom barreling towards the pavement below, her partially extended wings slowing her descent, thankfully. A red capsule shot out of the Tower and raced after her. "And there's my suit."
"Not going to make it." Bruce murmured from next to me, his breath suspended in the air like a curl of smoke.
"It'll make it. It has to." the Captain snapped, eyes hard as he watched helplessly.
Chaotic thoughts gnawed at my mind relentlessly, insisting that we could do something, anything to save her.
"Bruce, you caught me. Could you...?" I asked, knowing what the doctor would say.
"You were in a reinforced exoskeleton when the Hulk caught you. I'm afraid I would snap her neck if I tried."
I nodded, my eyes glued on the falling, limp form of the Phantom as she got closer, closer to her imminent death. It was poetic in an almost cynical sense. Quinn had wings, which had been forced upon her against her will, and here she was falling to her death by her free will with her wings the only thing that could save her.
"Come on, Twinkletoes. You don't deserve this and you know it!" I hissed, fingers going numb from the cold.
She was hurtling past the thirteenth floor. The Mark VII was at the twentieth. Quinn fell past the tenth. Seventh. Sixth.
Quinn's going to die. The thought crept into my mind and stuck. I didn't know if I should watch when she hit the concrete or look away. Either way, it was going to haunt my dreams for the rest of my life.
Fifth.
If I had chosen that moment to blink, I would've missed it. The Phantom's dark wings suddenly snapped out, slowing her dive as for a second she was suspended in midair. Her wings pressed against her body and she rolled to the side, barely missing the red pod of the Mark VII that shot past her and skirted the ground with a metallic scrape, sparks flying into the dark air before it lay still.
The Phantom glided to the ground, her boots hitting the pavement with a light thud. I stared at her open mouthed, a mixture of anger, shock and relief warring inside of me. Her dark ringlets were windblown as she walked towards us, tucking her wings into her back.
Quinn stood about ten feet away from us, her hands shoved into her pockets as Banner, Rogers and I stared at her.
"I...you...wings...almost died!" Steve spluttered angrily, jaw clenched. "Damn it, Quinn! Couldn't you have told me that you were going to suddenly free fall off of the roof before I nearly had a heart attack?"
She simply shrugged. "None of your business."
I laughed, my voice a bit higher than usual as I ran my fingers through my hair. "I thought I was going to have to try to explain to my insurance company why I had to scrape someone off of the pavement in front of my Tower. Imagine filing an insurance claim on that."
Bruce sighed, shaking his head at me.
"Let's get inside, it's freezing." suggested Steve stiffly.
"Fine with me." Quinn muttered as she began to stalk back into the Tower.
I kicked the Mark VII lightly. "JARVIS, send it back. It looks like we don't need it after all."
The crimson, metal pod shot back up into the inky sky and out of sight.
Turning on my heels, the icy ground crunching under my shoes, I strolled back into the Tower. Warmth hit me like a wall as soon as I walked into the lobby, thawing my frozen fingers and nose.
"Stark, riding up with us?" Capsicle called, holding the elevator door open with an arm.
I rolled my eyes, voice laced with dry sarcasm as I replied. "No, I'm going to magically teleport myself upstairs."
Rogers sighed but held the door open for me all the same as I joined the rest of the party in the elevator.
"Since no one has any other plans for tonight, how about we play a drinking game?" I smirked, nudging Quinn in the side lightly with my elbow. "I bet you'll be great at it, Tinkerbell. You too, Cap."
"I don't drink." she replied sharply through gritted teeth, face pale and jaw clenched.
A concerned frown weighed down my expression as I studied her, noticing her gaunt, hollow cheeks and the dark circles hanging under her eyes. Sweat beaded her forehead, her breathing erratic.
"Hey, you okay?" I asked.
A spark of silver light lit the enclosed space, causing Banner, Rogers and I to freeze and look at her wearily. Quinn's hands clenched into fists as she tried to fight back her aura.
"Fine." she said, dry, cracks lips pressed together into a thin line.
"No, you're not." Steve said, eyebrows drawn together in worry.
The elevator doors slid open on the level of the living room, yet no one moved a muscle.
"Just leave me alone." growled Quinn, pushing past everyone and exiting the elevator. She barely madeit three steps into the room before she collapsed onto the mahogany, hardwood floor.
[Steve]
"Quinn!?" I exclaimed, my heart stuttering as I saw her fall to the floor to her hands and knees. Her fingers dug into the floor in pain, hands flaming with light that scorched the wood.
"I knew I should've let myself hit the pavement." she panted, fighting back a scream as her body convulsed in pain.
No. Please God, not her. Anyone but her.
"Get her onto the couch." Banner ordered. I picked up Quinn's painfully thin frame and carried her to the couch, ignoring her weak protests. Gently, I deposited her onto the cream, leather couch, watching helplessly as her face contorted in agony, teeth clenched to prevent screams from escaping.
Tony ripped off her jacket, discarding it onto the floor and leaving her in just a thin, gray t-shirt.
"Stark, are you out of your mind?" I screamed in shock, aghast.
Ironman didn't answer me as he dug in his pocket for something, freezing when he glanced at the Phantom.
"What the hell are you doing?" Stark yelled as Quinn drew a dagger from its sheath that was strapped to her hips. My fingers wrapped around her wrist, preventing her from plunging the blade into her heart.
"Kill. Me." she hissed, eyes flaming into mine.
"No." I said firmly, yanking the knife from her tight grip. It clattered to the floor.
"Do it or I'll end up killing you!" she pleaded.
"Cap, hold her down." Bruce told me sharply.
I glanced between the two as Tony pulled out a syringe.
"What the hell is that?" I asked over a scream of agony. My eyes flitted to Quinn, whose glazed eyes were focused on the syringe as she panted.
"I said hold her down!" snapped the doctor as the Phantom tried to scramble away as Stark approached her with the syringe, dark, indigo contents swirling in the light.
Muttering to myself, I held her wrists down with my hands as she fought against me, a leg slung over hers to keep her from kicking me.
"Stark, what is that?" I demanded, wincing as Quinn's hands flamed with light once again, the scorching heat licking my fingers. Cursing, I barred my forearm right above her elbows to prevent from being burned.
"Indigo 49! It's our only chance to save her life and ours!" yelled the billionaire, grabbing the hem of her shirt and pulling it up, revealing her body. He cut off my angry protest with a sharp look. "It has to be injected directly into her heart."
Quinn screamed again, back arching in torment, a single tear sliding down her porcelain cheek.
"Tony, do it before it's too late!" Banner roared, his skin tinted a sickly green.
"Banner, you need to leave the room." I said evenly, fear like a knife in my windpipe as I struggled to breathe.
"What's the point? If this kills her, we're all dead!" he retorted, running his fingers wildly through his curly hair.
A wail of agony sliced through the air again, Quinn's body shuddering, the light growing brighter until it was an inferno.
"Just do it!" I yelled at Stark, eyes squinted against the light as heat seared my skin.
Quinn, please. I begged in my mind. Hold on for a little longer, if not for you, for all of us. For me.
It was like time slowed, every second creeping for an hour as Tony's arm arced downwards, the syringe sliding into Quinn's left breast, right above her black, silk bra. He depressed the serum into her heart, the violet substance disappearing under her skin.
Silence. I could feel my heart in my throat, suffocating me as another second passed, then another.
Quinn's pale lips parted as a strangled sound escaped her, body rigid with pain, so much that she couldn't even scream.
"Quinn?" I rasped, voice dry.
She shuddered violently, almost like she was having a seizure as her eyes glowed, aura burning brighter, like a silver sun. The lights flickered. Then she fell still, her aura extinguishing as her eyes rolled back into her head and her body became limp.
The air was thick with tension as I slowly let go of Quinn, grip loosening. I knelt beside her and extended a hand out, brushing away her ebony curls before I pressed my fingers to the soft, pale skin underneath her ear.
I waited, breath caught in my throat as I checked for a pulse.
Please. I begged.
A soft pulse beat beneath my shaking fingers and I let out a relieved breath, a grin spreading across my face.
"She's alive." I breathed, my touch lingering as I retracted my fingers from her skin.
Tony whooped with joy and hugged Bruce, who was laughing anxiously, skin returning to its normal shade.
"We did it! Bruce, we did it!" yelped Stark happily.
"You two are geniuses!" I laughed, glancing back at Quinn, a blush creeping its way onto my cheeks as I realized that her shirt was still pulled up.
I smoothed it back down after I rose to my feet, shaking my head at the two men behind me who were still celebrating.
"JARVIS, run a scan on Fluttershy, please." Tony said after he had calmed down, beaming triumphantly.
"Yes, sir." the AI's cool, British voice said. After a few moments, he reported, "Her energy levels seem to be stabilized for the moment being. Vitals are normal."
"How long do you think it will last?" I asked quietly, sobering the mood.
"We don't know." Bruce sighed regretfully. "At least we know that it works. We have two more vials in case we need it, but I'm guessing that the second Vermont dies, her soul will destroy her."
A heavy silence descended upon the room, the atmosphere now grim. My heart clenchedi n my chest.
"She's alive for now. That's what's important." I murmured as I carefully lifted Quinn's limp body into my arms, an arm hooked under her legs and the other supporting her back. Her head rested on my shoulder, dark curls messy.
"I'll put her to bed." I offered. "Goodnight."
The two scientists nodded goodnight to me before falling into a technical conversation about Quinn that I didn't understand in the slightest. It was probably better that way.
"Quinn, we're going to find a way to save you." I whispered to her after I rode the elevator up to the level of suites and was waking down the hall. "And I promise I'll die trying if I have to. You will live."