A/N: You guys I'm so tired imma deadass cry.
I have a physics exam tomorrow and I can't like my head is literally boutta explode from all this studying no cap. I just gotta make it two more months till graduation *cries in college*
ANYway, life update over, about this chapter. It's a lil on the short side. I wrote most of it yesterday. Haven't really had time to proofread it so please point out my mistakes so I can fix them. Other than that, there's a tiny cliffhanger and hopefully I can get the next chapter out on time.
Okay, okay, here's the chapter
"You're the man who killed the Avengers.
And it cost you everything."
Tony was back in the penthouse.
It was well past human hours to be awake. But he couldn't sleep so he was sitting on the sofa as usual, holding a bottle of beer in one hand and the tv remote in the other. There was a discarded pizza box, half under the sofa and another bottle of beer rolling on the hardwood floor.
"Again, Tony?" someone said, switching the tv off. He hadn't been watching it anyway. She took the bottle out of his hands, putting it on the table beside him. He sighed tiredly, rubbing his face.
She sat down across from him.
"You need to get over her," she said, her blue eyes sparkling in the dark, "She wasn't good for you."
Tony sat up. He ran his hand through his hair. He didn't understand why Adie was saying that. She loved Pepper as much as he did.
"I just...wish I could have done something different," he sighed, rubbing his eyes, "I wish I hadn't hurt her as much as I had." He let his feet hit the ground, resting his forearms on his thighs. Something ached in his stomach.
"You'll always hurt people, Tony," she said gently, "It's part of who you are."
He sighed. She stood up, coming up to stand beside him. She rested her hand on his head and he looked up at her with his bloodshot eyes. She smiled softly. Her eyes glowed.
"Maybe you and I are more alike than you think," she whispered. He looked away.
"How so?" he mumbled. She down on the sofa beside him.
"We always do more harm than good," she said quietly, "I don't have the energy to worry about other people anymore. People like us only look out for ourselves, you know?"
"Not true," he said, "You take care of me. More than I'd like to admit."
Adie smiled. "Do I?"
He frowned, "What do you mean?"
"You think I like being around here to take care of someone who's broken beyond repair? You're a dead end, Tony. A...sickness you can't cure. I'm only here because I needed something from you."
He looked at her curiously, "What?"
Adie grinned.
"You're gullible. It makes you vulnerable. Can't you see that I've only used you from the first moment I walked through the door? You were the key to destroying the Avengers. The weak link. And it worked like a charm."
"What are you..." he said, not believing it.
"You really think the amnesia drama was the truth? Everything was a lie," she grinned.
"I...don't..." he breathed, pulling away from her a bit, "You...knew? Everything?"
"Of course I knew. From the moment I walked through the door," she grinned and something evil glinted in her glowing blue eyes. He suddenly saw her in a different light. Was she telling the truth? Had she pretended to forget this entire time? How long had she known the truth?
Was...Was everything a lie?
Even the moments that had felt so raw and real. The ones he cherished and loved. Was it all just fake? Had anything she said been real?
"You're the man who killed the Avengers," she said, "And it cost you everything."
He stumbled away from her, his hand knocking over the beer bottle on the table. It shattered on the floor. Adie stood up, grinning broadly.
"You shouldn't have trusted me," she said.
"Stop," he said. He was breathing heavily. The room was spinning. So fast. He couldn't keep up.
"I killed your parents, Tony," she said, stepping forward, "And I remember everything."
He took a step back, "Stop."
Nothing made sense anymore. How could his Adie be a liar? After everything?
"I remember the way her throat felt under my hand..." she hissed, taking another step forward. He took a step back, gritting his teeth in agony. His face felt hot.
"...the cold metal wrapped around my finger as bashed the gun on his head," she kept going.
"Stop," he said, almost begging.
"I remember her cries, the panic on her face."
"Stop!" he shouted, covering his ears. He was convulsing.
"The sticky blood under my fingers."
"STOP!" he raged, shoving the table over and Adelaide grinned.
"You shouldn't have trusted me, Stark," she said, "I'm going to hurt everyone you love. And then I'm going to come for you."
Before Tony knew what was happening, the arm from his suit had wrapped itself around him. He shot a beam at her and she fell back onto the floor.
The penthouse was absolutely silent for a moment.
He lowered the arm, heaving. There lied the teenager, motionless on the floor. He realized what he had done.
He fell to the ground, repulsed by himself.
The subway was so much cheaper than a taxi.
They even had a discount for students so Adelaide had decided to take the subway to school from now on. But, apparently, so had Vivian.
She had insisted that they both ride to school together. Adelaide wanted to refuse, but she figured the best way to return the favor for the burn cream would be this. It was one of the more tolerable options. She definitely didn't want to ride the subway to school everyday with Vivian. Definitely not. But she didn't really have choice.
So that's how she'd ended up impatiently waiting for her outside in the hall.
Finally, the door opened. But it wasn't Vivian. It was Mr. Scrooge, as Adelaide had decided to call Vivian's father. He fit the type. He glared at her and grunted in annoyance before marching away. She could somehow see his disapproval for her in his walk.
Adelaide sighed and leaned back against her door frame as she waited impatiently for Vivian to come outside. She was going to make them late. Besides, what was she doing that was taking so long?
Finally, Vivian stepped outside, holding a paper bag of something in her hands. Whatever was inside, it smelled absolutely amazing.
"Morning!" she smiled and Adelaide internally groaned. She'd have to have at least five shots of vodka to have the same energy as this girl every morning. Maybe that was Vivian's secret to being so chirpy all the time. "I woke up early to make cookies so I brought you some. Dark chocolate chip." She held out the bag for her and Adelaide took it, surprised.
"Oh...uh, thanks," she mumbled, peeking inside. Adelaide's mouth watered. They looked heavenly.
"So are you going to our first decathlon meeting today?" Vivian asked brightly as they began to make their way down the hall.
"Yeah," she muttered. She didn't really want to, but she wasn't left with much of a choice. She figured she could just leave early to avoid riding on the subway with Vivian on the way home too. The less time Adelaide spent with her, the better it was for her sanity.
Mr. Scrooge appeared in the hallway again, still a prominent scowl on his face. Vivian smiled at him.
"早点回家,不要和这个女孩在一起。她对你不好,明白吗?" he muttered. (Come home early and don't spend too much time with this girl. She's not good for you, understand?)
Vivian's smiled faltered and then she nodded slowly. Adelaide watched Mr. Scrooge as he walked away. She wondered what he could have said to Vivian to make her lose her smile. She really didn't like this man.
"What did he say?" Adelaide asked as they began walking down the hall. Vivian shook her head as if she snapped out of something.
"Nothing," she said and put the bright smile on her face again. There was still something that didn't make sense to Adelaide.
"How are you like this when he's like that?" Adelaide asked and Vivian's smile widened knowingly. Adelaide pressed the button on the elevator and then stepped back as she waited.
"My dad always says I'm just like my mom," she said quietly and Adelaide suddenly remembered the dark-haired woman in the photo frame by her bed.
"Does your mom live in Queens, too?" Adelaide asked just as the elevator doors opened. They both walked inside and Vivian pressed the lobby button.
"My mom...she died when I was 13," Vivian said quietly. The elevator was filled with an awkward silence. Maybe she shouldn't have asked a personal question right before they got into an elevator. Adelaide sighed to herself.
Great going, Adelaide.
"I'm sorry," Adelaide said awkwardly. Vivian shifted her weight on her feet.
"Thank you."
After what seemed like forever, the elevator doors opened. Just when Adelaide thought she had escaped the awkwardness, she heard another voice she didn't want to hear. Don.
"Morning, ladies!" he greeted them. Adelaide groaned and began walking faster. Vivian, of course, stayed behind to chit chat.
"Good morning! How are you doing?" Vivian asked. Don beamed. All he had been looking for was someone to pay a little attention to him. Adelaide definitely wasn't going to be that person.
"I'm dandy. How about yourself?" he asked with a smile brighter than Vivian's. He was wearing a fedora and a plaid suit. Who wore that nowadays? Adelaide was waiting at the door, one foot impatiently tapping on the pavement outside.
"I'm good! Would you like some cookies? I baked them fresh this morning!" she said.
"We're going to be late," Adelaide interrupted and Vivian looked at the overhead clock, realizing the same thing. She quickly snatched the paper bag of cookies away from Don's outstretched hand just before he could take one and hurried towards Adelaide. Finally.
"Sorry!" Vivian told Don over her shoulder, "Running late!"
"It's..."
Both girls quickly left the lobby, leaving Don there alone and still cookieless.
"...no problem at all, Miss," he sighed, sinking back into his seat.
Man, those cookies had smelled delicious.
"Hey, I've been looking all over for you," Ned said, approaching Peter. Peter had found himself in the empty shop class before class, hitting the casing of the weapon he had found two nights ago with a hammer. "Where were you this morning?"
"Something came up," Peter said, hitting he weapon casing again to break it free. He had to do this quickly before the teacher or anyone else walked in here and saw it. Ned saw what he was hitting and his eyes widened.
"Oh, what is that?" he said. Peter tried to pull the remaining bits of casing off with his fingers but not without much effort.
"I don't know. Some guy tried to vaporize me with it," Peter grunted, tugging at it.
"Seriously?" Ned said, his voice rising a pitch.
"Yeah," Peter said.
"Awesome," Ned breathed and Peter looked at Ned for his absurd reaction.
"I mean, not awesome," Ned backtracked, "Totally uncool of that guy. So scary." Peter gave him another look before going back to the casing at hand.
"Well, look, I think it's a power source," Peter said.
"Yeah, but it's connected to all these microprocessors," Ned pointed out, pointing to a complex-looking charging mechanism connected to various wires, "That's an inductive charging plate. That's what I use to charge my toothbrush."
"Whoever's making these weapons is obviously combining alien tech with ours," Peter muttered, deep in thought as he saw what Ned meant. This was not good.
"That is literally the coolest sentence anyone has ever said," Ned breathed, "I just want to thank you for letting me be part of your journey into this amazing—"
Peter wasn't really listening to him as he continued to examine the core. He picked up the hammer again and hit the core really hard. Almost immediately, the core popped out of its casing. They both shared a wide-eyed look. Surely someone must have heard that.
Just then, the door opened.
The shop teacher, Mr. Hapgood popped his head inside. Peter and Ned stood there for a minute in the dark, frozen.
"Damn birds, making noises," he muttered before closing the door again and leaving the classroom. Peter and Ned both gave each other a confused look. How had Mr. Hapgood not seen them?
They shrugged it off, considering the teacher's personality. They could have exploded a grenade in front of him and he wouldn't have noticed. They both turned back and look at the core which popped out.
"I gotta figure out what this thing is and who makes it," Peter muttered.
"We'll go to the lab after class and run some tests," Ned whispered as if Mr. Hapgood could still hear them.
"Let's do it," Peter agreed. Ned grinned and they both did their little handshake, ignorant of a third person standing in the room with them.
Adelaide had heard enough.
A/N: Story time!
So yesterday I had to go to the dentist but I drove myself to the doctors on accident and then parked my car, got out of my car, realized I was in the wrong place, got back into the car and then drove to the other side of the town to the doctors and then proceeded to be half an hour late to my physics lecture.
Long story short I need sleep
Also that I shouldn't be driving cause I'm only half awake at any given moment of the day
Question: Okie wild card day cause I can't think of anything. You guys can ask me anything, I'm an open book (unlike my physics exam)
