Chapter 16: You Have The Moral Backbone Of A Chocolate Eclair

Aura's anger had always run cold.

Her frequent annoyance, fury, loss, and pain were like ice in her veins, numbing her and thrumming under the surface.

When she woke up tied to a chair in a basement, all she felt was cold and distant.

Her head was throbbing, and she felt dizzy and tired. She clenched her arms, testing the limits of the rough black cord around each of her wrists and ankles. Her right arm had a big red handprint on it where the guy with the glowing hand had grabbed her. It wasn't as bad as she had feared, but a few layers of skin had definitely been seared off and it hadn't been given any medical attention.

About ten feet away, Tony Stark's wrists were zip-tied to the metal railings of the headboard of a bed turned on its side. His head lolled, but he twitched slightly and seemed to be close to waking up. There was a brunette woman sitting at a desk against the wall, facing away from them. She didn't seem to have a weapon on her, and her body language was relaxed.

A scientist working for Killian, probably. She didn't look like she could take Tony in a fight, but she presumably had a way to contact backup if Tony or Aura tried anything.

Aura was thinking of trying something. It was possible that this would be the best chance she would get. But on the other hand, it would be way easier if Tony was awake. He would need to be on the same page to manage an efficient escape.

The good news was that Killian's men had supremely underestimated her, even after she had almost won the fight against the Extremis-enhanced thug. To them, she was an annoying afterthought, not the one they should be worried about.

At least, until Tony summoned his Iron Man armor. Which would happen soon, right? It had to be charged by now.

Aura considered asking the woman why they were there, but she was still dizzy and didn't feel much like talking.

Aura waited a few minutes, keeping an eye on Tony and the woman in the chair as she ran through escape routes and options. Tony's limp figure and the hand-shaped burn scar on her arm that she would have the rest of her life made the ice in her veins solidify into cold determination.

She had ended up in this situation because she had hesitated before killing the Extremis man. She wouldn't make the mistake again. If she wanted to get the two of them out of here, anyone who was a threat to her or Tony was collateral damage.

Tony groaned and fought against his restraints as he gained consciousness. His eyes locked on Aura, and he became visibly worried and annoyed, face tightening.

Right. He didn't know about Aura's wide range of powers, like sunlight summoning that she could use to burn through the ropes or a sonic shriek she could use to distract attackers. She of course would rather not show off her abilities, but it looked like she was too deep into this to hold back entirely.

She gave him a lopsided smile, trying to reassure him. He didn't look convinced, but he did focus his attention on the woman at the desk.

"Maya?" He called. "We can talk about this."

Maya swiveled her chair slowly, maintaining her calm body language. "It's just like old times, huh?"

Aura was not feeling good about Maya being here. She was way too comfortable in this situation to be an innocent, and Aura didn't know how she and Tony knew each other.

"Oh, yeah. With zip ties. It's a ball," Tony muttered.

"It wasn't my idea," Maya said, shaking her head slightly in contempt.

"Okay, so you took Killian's card," Tony said.

"I took his money," Maya clarified.

"And here you are thirteen years later," Tony said. "In a dungeon."

"No."

"Yeah."

"No, you're in a dungeon. I'm free to go," Maya said.

"Yeah?" Tony asked.

Maya stood up and started walking over. "A lot has happened, Tony. But I'm close."

Aura was feeling incredibly excluded from the conversation. Was Maya aware that she was here?

Maya came up to Tony. "Extremis is practically stabilized."

"I'm telling you it isn't!" Tony said. "I'm on the street. People are going bang. They're painting the walls. Maya, you're kidding yourself."

"Then help me fix it," Maya demanded. She held up a Hello, My Name Is sticker with 'You Know Who I Am' written on it. Aura was missing out on some context.

Maya flipped the card over. Aura couldn't see what was written on it, but it looked like complex equations.

"Did I do that?" Tony asked.

Maya dropped her hand, looking disappointed. "Yes."

"I remember the night, not the morning," Tony said cockily.

Oh, great.

Maya stared at him.

"Is that what you've been chasing around?" Tony asked.

"You don't remember?" Maya asked.

"I can't help you," Tony said bluntly. "You used to have a moral psychology. You used to have ideals. You wanted to help people. Now look at you."

Maya looked crushed.

Tony sighed, but refused to back down. "There's a sixteen-year-old tied to a chair over there. Is this what you wanted? Is this what helping people looks like?"

Maya turned. Aura just raised an eyebrow and wiggled the fingers on her left hand in a small wave, though she realized belatedly that she should have looked sad or hurt or something to drive Tony's point home, instead of coming off as judgemental and minorly inconvenienced.

Tony wasn't done yet. "I get to wake up every morning with someone who still has their soul."

Wow. Really going for the kneecaps there.

Maya's eyes filled with tears that didn't fall.

"Get us out of here," Tony said.

Was insulting her and then asking for help really a smart plan? Aura mentally prepared herself to follow through with one of her own plans. After all, Maya wasn't near the desk anymore, which is where a device to call for backup would probably be.

"Come on," Tony pleaded.

Maya looked upset, turning her back on him and walking away.

"You know what my old man used to say to me?" Came a new voice from the doorway. "One of his favorite of many sayings, 'The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.'"

It was Aldrich Killian. Hooray. He was wearing a white suit and navy button-up shirt and carrying a black briefcase, and his face was as punchable as ever.

"You're not still pissed off about the Switzerland thing, are you?" Tony asked.

Killian set the briefcase down on the desk and turned around, holding his hands out. "How can I be pissed at you, Tony?" He lowered his arms and started walking towards Tony. "I'm here to thank you." He came right up next to Tony and looked him in the eyes. "You gave me the greatest gift that anybody's ever given me." He paused dramatically. Tony did not look impressed. "Desperation."

Aura almost started laughing. Was he serious?

Tony's eye twitched.

"If you think back to Switzerland, you said you'd meet me on the rooftop, right? Well, for the first twenty minutes, I actually thought you'd show up. And the next hour…"

Killian looked genuinely hurt. Aura knew Tony used to be a terrible person, but she was still mildly surprised that he had stood someone up like that.

"...I considered taking that one-step shortcut to the lobby. If you know what I mean."

Oh nooooooooooooo

"Honestly, I'm still trying to figure out what happened to the first mouse," Tony said dryly. Aura knew that he was deflecting but she was still shocked that that's how he felt like responding to something like that.

Killian continued as though he hadn't said anything. "But as I looked out over that city, nobody knew I was there, nobody could see me, no one was even looking. I had a thought that would guide me for years to come. Anonymity, Tony."

Tony raised his eyebrows and lowered them.

"Thanks to you, it's been my mantra ever since. Right?"

He directed the last part at Maya, who nodded.

"You simply rule from behind the scenes. Because the second you give evil a face, a bin Laden, a Gaddafi, a Mandarin, you hand the people a target."

"You're something else," Tony said.

Killian sat down at the desk and popped open the briefcase. "You have met him, I assume?"

"Yes," Tony said. "Sir Laurence Oblivier."

"I know he's a little over the top sometimes. It's not entirely my fault. He has a tenden- he's a stage actor."

Killian talked with his hands a lot and had a very casual air, which was somewhat off-putting but also reassured her that he didn't know what he was dealing with.

For example, she had been summoning a small, hot bit of sunlight from a specific spot on the side of her left wrist to slowly burn through the cord. Progress was slow, as she had to pause every time she saw or smelled a bit of smoke, but it was going steadily.

"They say his Lear was the toast of Croydon, wherever that is," Killian continued. "Anyway, the point is, ever since that big dude with the hammer fell out of the sky, subtlety has kind of had its day."

"What's next for you in your world?" Tony asked.

"Well, I wanted to repay you the selfsame gift that you so graciously imparted to me."

Aura did not like the sound of that. She hurried the fuck up, burning through the last bit of cord on her left wrist and starting on her right.

Killian lifted what he had grabbed from the briefcase, three large metal marbles, and rolled them onto the floor. They landed in a small triangle. Killian pushed a button on the remote he grabbed from the desk and an image sprung to life between the marbles.

It was Pepper Potts, wearing black leggings and a black sports bra, soundlessly screaming in pain as an orange glow wracked her body. She was in a standing position, strapped to a metal slab.

The projection was very close to Aura, so with attention focused her way she was forced to pause burning through the cord on her right hand.

"Desperation," Killian said, looking at Tony, whose eyes were glued to the projection.

"Now, this is live. I'm not sure you can tell, but at this moment the body is trying to decide whether to accept Extremis or just give up. And if it gives up,"

Tony pulled his eyes away from Pepper and struggled against his restraints.

"-I have to say, the detonation is quite spectacular. But until that point, it's really just a lot of pain."

Aura resumed her progress as Killian stood up and his focus was completely on Tony.

"We haven't even talked salary yet."

Killian wrapped his hand around Tony's neck and slammed him backwards.

Aura was nearly through the cord, her heart pounding loudly as the ice crept through her system.

"What kind of perk package are you thinking of?" Killian asked, his face creeping closer to Tony's, his eyes boring holes into Tony's.

The cord snapped. Aura bent down quickly to untie her ankles.

"Let him go!" Maya interrupted. She was holding a needle against her neck, presumably threatening to kill herself.

Almost done, almost done-

"Hold on. Hold on," Killian muttered to Tony. He released his grip and stepped away, holding his hands out placatingly to Maya.

Aura leaped onto him, shoving him onto his stomach with his hands behind his back and slamming his head into the ground as she yanked his arms tightly and pressed a knee firmly into his back.

The whole room seemed to halt.

Aura didn't though. She noticed a bulge in the pocket of his pants and reached inside to find a gun.

She undid the safety and pointed it at the back of Killian's head.

Aura's steady gaze met Tony's surprised stare.

"Hey, hey, are you pointing my gun at me? You don't understand what you're doing, we can-"

Tony shakily nodded once.

Aura pulled the trigger.

She stood up, refusing to look at the body.

Aura's composure faltered, but she didn't allow herself the luxury of overthinking her decision. She was going to get her and Tony out of this alive, she could deal with the emotional consequences later.

Maya had set the needle down, unsure. She looked Aura in the eyes and seemed to respect whatever she found there. She gave Tony an apologetic glance and fled the room.

Aura found a pair of scissors on the desk and used them to cut through the zip-ties on Tony's wrists.

"Thanks, kid," he said, rubbing his wrists.

Aura didn't glare at him for saying 'kid,' which was her way of saying you're welcome.

"How the hell did you manage to untie those cords?"

Aura didn't have a good answer to that, so she went with no answer at all.

"Is the Iron Man suit charged?" Aura asked.

"Guess we'll see," Tony replied.