Chapter Forty Seven
"I feel a change in the atmosphere, I never thought I'd end up back here Divided, alone, afraid In a breath my chains reappear, And I build it all up just to watch it fall down (Nothing left to save, I'm letting go), And I'm digging all up what I've buried underground I'm losing, I'm losing control, I'm losing control..." - Losing Control, Red
There were few things Ada hated more than being held captive.
Savin had blindfolded her the moment she agreed to let him take her rather than hurt Tony or anyone else involved. She knew Tony would eventually catch on to what had happened. The worst part was, this only justified why he didn't want her tagging along in the first place.
The moment the blindfold was torn off was when Ada found herself chained to a bed frame that was perched against a wall.
She struggled to move her wrists, only to feel the chains dig into her skin.
Her eyes narrowed with hate when she finally noticed that she wasn't alone. A man was standing not far from the bed frame with his arms crossed. He smirked in amusement as he watched her failed attempts of breaking free from her restraints. She recognized him within seconds as Aldrich Killian. The outrage from earlier returned at full-force when she recognized him as the same asshole Happy had mentioned before the attack on the Chinese Theater.
"After finding out that there are individuals out there with enhanced powers, I just couldn't bring myself to ignore the fact that you hold so much potential." Killian clasped his hands together and closed the distance between them. "Just what sort of secrets might you be holding?"
"Don't hold your breath, asshole."
She only spat in his face, feeling the small spark of satisfaction when his smirk turned into a scowl.
She should have trusted Happy's instincts. He knew something was wrong with Killian. A lump formed in the back of her throat when Killian glowered, and carefully brushed his hand across her cheek. Though his touch was light, she'd noticed the glowing orange of his fingers that left a burning sensation.
"I wouldn't be so keen to fight back, Miss Stark," he sneered. "After all, I just need to give my word, and I could destroy anything, or anyone, I wanted. I doubt you would want that on your conscious."
A shiver swept through her. Killian's eyes glowed with malice as he looked her up and down. She knew in the back of her mind that he wasn't lying. He was fully capable of hurting thousands of innocent lives, and without feeling any remorse for it.
"What do you want?" she finally demanded.
"What I need is a stabilizing agent," he explained once it became clear she posed no threat. "From what we were able to gather, your people can harness the energy of others around them, and control the elements, among other enhancements. Though you aren't mutants, your powers are similar to theirs, in some way."
For a moment, Ada wanted to ask what he meant by that when realization dawned on her. Few people knew about the Aliquid. Fewer still knew that they had lived on Earth and struggled to survive for so long. A lump formed in the back of her throat as she glared at him.
"How the hell do you know all of that?" she snapped.
"A former colleague of mine knew someone who worked for the Black Knights." Killian's expression was impossible to make out as he studied her thoughtfully. "They were willing to share a few secrets, but only for a price, and only enough for me to know that you have the power to stabilize Extremis."
Another shiver swept through her as she understood where he was getting at. She didn't know much about her own people. Her mother had been reluctant to share any information with her. As if things couldn't get any worse, this asshole planned on using her as some kind of stabilizing agent.
"Sir, Mr. Stark has been captured and is now in our custody," a voice suddenly interrupted him over the intercom.
It took everything she had not to cry out in frustration at the mention of Tony. Her heart lurched with dread as she wondered what the assholes had done to him. Killian's smirk returned in a matter of seconds as he reached for the speaker.
"Good, bring him here and strap him up," he informed his men, "It's time for a family reunion."
All she could do was watch in disbelief as the men he hired dragged an unconscious Tony into the building. Though he didn't look too badly bruised, it was obvious that he'd suffered a few blows. Ada's eyes narrowed with fury when they strapped him to the bed frame beside her.
"It's good to know he isn't as invincible as we first thought," Killian sneered once they'd finished their task.
"You're lucky I can't move, asshole," she snapped, finally allowing anger to get the better of her.
"I'm sorry, what was that?"
Killian's smirk never left as he reached her. Ada glared back, refusing to back down under his piercing gaze. Before she could spit something in response, Killian suddenly kicked her square in the ribs, sending a jolt of pain through her in the process.
"Go to hell," she rasped, squeezing her eyes shut as she braced herself for the pain that would follow. Killian merely rolled his eyes and walked away, leaving her alone with the guards and an unconscious Tony Stark. "Ass," she muttered under her breath once he was gone.
Seconds seemed to pass before her healing powers kicked in. The pain didn't last much longer after that, and Ada was soon left with trying to figure a way out of this mess. The straps were too tight around her wrists, which meant wriggling herself free wasn't an option. With the bed frame chained to the wall, she couldn't pull herself free, either.
What good is having powers if I can't use them to help myself or Tony? she wondered, glancing in his direction warily. Killian would be back for more. Only next time, she knew he'd use her to try and get to Tony. She couldn't let that happen.
'Those humans will pay for what they have done!' Ada's eyes widened at the sound of Nadia's voice. It had been months since the last time she heard her mother's voice. For a while, she thought her mother had left her.
'Getting angry isn't the answer,' she snapped. Ada squeezed her eyes shut as she tried to push the overwhelming sense of fear beginning to take over. 'What's the point of having the ability to communicate if you only do it every so often?'
Nadia was silent for a few seconds. For a moment, Ada was afraid she wouldn't respond.
'It takes a great deal of energy for me to communicate,' Nadia finally answered, this time in a softer tone.
Ada bit back a sigh of relief when she realized it wasn't because she no longer needed her. The truth of it was, she longed to hear her mother's voice. Anything to know that her mother had been a real person, and that she was still with her in spirit.
'I lost control back at the mansion,' she thought bitterly. 'I shouldn't have… I could have killed them if that happened.'
'You were afraid.' Though it wasn't the response Ada had been hoping for, she could sense the guilt and concern in her mother's voice. 'Ada, we drawl power through our emotions. The more we feel, the stronger we become. You must control your emotions, or you will soon be overwhelmed by your powers.'
"What the hell is goin' on with your necklace?" Ada stiffened when one of the guards suddenly spoke, cutting through their conversation. She only glared back after noticing that they had abandoned their game of cards and were now watching her closely. "Jewelry ain't supposed to glow like that."
"I believe it's called devising an escape plan," she retorted, rolling her eyes when the guard who spoke reached for a gun. "And before you try and shoot me, ask yourself this, 'What would your boss think if you shot the one prize he was looking for'?"
She knew she was pushing her limits. These idiots could and would likely kill her without a moment's hesitation.
Luckily, the guard finally seemed to think twice about his plan. Scowling in annoyance, he set aside the gun on the desk and reached her, "You wanna try sayin' that again, kid?" he taunted after slapping her across the face.
The sting was just another reminder of why she needed to get away. Anything was better than dealing with imprisonment.
"I said, I'm looking for a way out," she repeated herself, "Or, are you incapable of figuring out what that means?"
"What are you doing?" Before the guard to slap her again, a newcomer arrived.
Her heart sank lower when she realized the newcomer in question was the same woman who stopped by the mansion just a day ago. Maya Hansen. The brunette was looking between the guard and Ada as if expecting an explanation to what they were doing.
"This little bi—" The second guard let out a tiny cough before he could continue that statement. Ada nearly rolled her eyes once more at the way he glowered, "This little brat is askin' for a death sentence," he quickly corrected himself.
"That little brat is the key to stabilizing Extremis," Maya reminded him with a pointed look. "Unless you want to be responsible for a major setback, I suggest you back down and leave her be."
She grimaced when Maya looked at her thoughtfully. Somehow, she wasn't surprised Maya had been working for Killian. If she was as desperate to stabilize Extremis as Killian sounded, it made sense that the two of them would start working together.
"This little brat isn't about to be your lab rat," she muttered under her breath. Maya opened her mouth, ready to say something when the chains beside her began to rattle. Ada glanced in Tony's direction once more, grimacing after she noticed he'd finally woken.
"Just like old times, huh?" Maya deadpanned when Tony regained consciousness. She sat down in a chair, looking quite smug with herself as Tony struggled to regain his bearings.
"Oh, yeah, with zip-ties and all," Tony grimaced, shaking his head, "It's a ball."
"It wasn't my idea." Though, it was obvious Maya played a big part in all of it. Ada eyed the screen she was sitting in front of curiously. She could only just make out the images of what looked like plants on the screen.
"Okay, you took Killian's card," Tony sighed after realizing why she was there in the first place.
His eyes widened when he finally noticed that Ada was strapped to the bed frame beside him. She was suddenly thankful that they weren't alone in the room. She knew she was in for an earful when this was over, if not from Fury, then surely from Tony.
"I took his money," Maya corrected him.
"And here you are, thirteen years later in a dungeon."
Ada finally swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat. There was a time for desperation, and a time for being tactful. She could remember hearing Natasha mention that during their sparring sessions. Though she never knew at the moment what Natasha meant by it, now, she was beginning to understand. At this point, Tony was hoping to persuade Maya into changing her mind about who she worked for. She hadn't missed how desperate Maya had been for help back at the mansion. It was possible she could have been trying to save Tony from whatever hell Killian would later put him through. Whatever the case, Ada secretly hoped the plan would work.
"A lot has happened, Tony, but I'm close. Extremis is practically stable," she explained after they finished talking like they were old friends.
"Yeah, you might be wrong about that," Ada deadpanned. She ignored the warning look Tony threw her as Maya eyed her thoughtfully, "Look, people are literally blowing up in the streets because they can't stabilize themselves. Their bodies are rejecting Extremis in the worse possible way, and innocent people are suffering the consequences."
"Then help me fix it," Maya snapped.
Before Ada could argue, she pulled out a business card from her pocket with the words, 'You know who I am' written across it.
"Did I do that?" Tony frowned in confusion while Maya let out a sigh of frustration.
He can barely remember what he did for breakfast, let alone something that happened thirteen years ago, Ada thought with a snort of amusement. Maya was clearly disappointed in Tony's lack of interest towards her work.
"Yes," she muttered irritably.
"I remember the night… not the morning," Tony started, frowning deeper as he tried referring to what had happened that night, "Is this what you've been chasing around?"
"You don't remember," she crossed her arms and looked at him in disbelief.
"I can't help you. You used to have a moral psychology. You used to have ideals. You wanted to help people, and now look at you." Tony paused to let this sink in, and Maya's expression began to waver as he looked at Ada pointedly, "I get to wake up every morning with a beautiful daughter, and woman, who both still have their souls." Ada couldn't help but look back, suddenly aware of the tension rising between the two of them, "Get us out of here."
Maya's expression finally began to waver for the first time. Ada watched as guilt and regret flashed across her eyes. For a moment, it looked as if she was on the verge of tears. But, the moment didn't last long as Killian intervened, walking in before Maya could change her mind.
"You know what my old man used to say to me?" he started after clasping his hands together, "One of his many sayings, 'The early bird gets the worm, but the mouse gets the cheese'."
It didn't take Killian long to reach Ada's bed frame. She refused to make eye contact when Killian looked her up and down, as if inspecting his prey. The moment Tony began struggling against his restraints was when Killian's smirk widened in amusement.
"You're not still stressed about that Switzerland thing, are you?" Tony tried stalling him out, though Ada knew it wouldn't take much for Killian to see through it. As if being strapped to a bed frame wasn't bad enough, Killian brushed a finger across her cheek to make a point.
"How can I be pissed with you?" Killian asked with a mocking grin, "Because of you, I now have the secret to making Extremis more powerful than ever. And, you gave me something else that's equally as effective: Desperation. 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, I… well I considered taking that one step shortcut to the lobby, if you know what I mean."
"Too bad you didn't take the chance," Ada grumbled under her breath.
Though she hated the idea of suicide, and would have kicked herself for saying it to anyone else, his decision would have saved them all this trouble.
"Honestly, I'm still trying to figure out what happened to the first mouse," Tony muttered.
Killian only shook his head and walked away towards the center of the room. The relief Ada felt after his sudden departure was short-lived when she noticed he wasn't in any hurry to leave them. He still had a speech to give, and the reason behind his attacks.
"But, as I looked out over that city, nobody knew I was there. Nobody could see me, no one was even looking." Unease swept through Ada as she guessed where this was headed. The familiar pang of guilt followed as she wondered if his life would have been different had someone reached out to him. "I had a thought that would guide me for years to come. Anonymity, Tony. Thanks to you, it's been my mantra ever since, right? You simply rule behind the scenes."
He paused to let this sink in, and realization finally dawned on Ada. Her heart began to race with dread when she understood that he was the one behind all of the attacks. Though the Mandarin put on a good show, it was Killian pulling the strings.
"The Mandarin was just a puppet to you." Her statement was enough for Killian to nod in agreement.
"Because the second you give evil a face, Bin Laden, Gaddafi, the Mandarin, you hand the people a target," he explained.
"And all you have to do is sit around and wait as they hunt the target down," Ada finished for him, suddenly feeling sick to her stomach.
She suddenly understood why Killian had sprung the Mandarin into power in the first place. He needed the distraction while they continued working on the Extremis. If someone lost control, he could just use the Mandarin as an excuse to throw people off his scent.
"Your daughter's far more intelligent than I expected," Killian stated after reaching her once more. "Though, I suppose you can't take all the credit for that, seeing as she's adopted."
The chains from Tony's bed frame began rattling louder than ever when Killian reached out with his hand, brushing his fingers across her cheek. The only thing she could do was spit in his face, and possibly bite his finger if he tried anything else.
"Hurt her, and it's the last thing you'll regret doing," Tony snapped.
Killian suddenly let out a laugh, catching them both by surprise.
"Well, I guess the media was wrong about you being a terrible parent," he chuckled after deciding to leave her alone. Her shoulders sagged in relief – the last thing she wanted was to deal with his psychotic behavior. "I wanted to offer you a small gift in return for what you brought me."
Neither Ada or Tony said a thing as Killian threw out a couple of spherical looking devices onto the floor. She guessed from the design of the objects that they were holograms of some sort. Though, the technology was too new to make out. It was only until an image appeared in front of them that Ada's heart nearly skipped a beat with horror.
Pepper was strapped to an exam table. Her body was glowing the same sickly orange that Killian's had just seconds ago. Though, what really made Ada wish she could punch Killian in the face was the fact that her face was twisted in agony. It was obvious that the process had caused a great deal of pain, and it wouldn't get better anytime soon.
"And, if it gives up, I have to say the denotation is… it's quite spectacular. But until that point, it's really just a lot of pain." Ada forced back the vile that threatened to overwhelm her as he turned off the devices. "We haven't even talked salary yet." This time he walked over to Tony, grabbing him by the throat as he tried in vain to free himself. "What kind of perk package are you thinking of? Hm?"
This time, Ada began struggling against her restraints. She knew Tony could hold out for a while longer if he needed to. But, to know that Pepper was suffering from the effects of Extremis was too much. She needed to break free from her restraints, and give Killian a piece of her mind.
Finally, one of the chains broke free after she yanked her wrist out. The pain from the wire cutting through her skin was enough for her teeth to grind together, but she tried to ignore as she worked her other wrist free.
"Let him go!" Maya's shout was enough for Ada to stop mid-struggle. Her heart began racing for a whole different reason when she noticed Maya had reached for the gun that the guard left behind, "Let him go, now, or she dies!"
Both men turned to look at her, before Killian looked in Ada's direction. He hardly looked surprised that she managed to wriggle free of one cuff. The other was still latched around her wrist, and as she moved in a desperate attempt to free herself, Maya's hand gripped the gun harder.
"I said let them go!" she repeated, this time raising her voice a pitch.
"Maya, what are you doing?"
Killian tried lowering the tension slowly as she moved forward so that the barrel of the gun pressed against Ada's head. She winced at the sudden feeling of cold metal pressed against her head. She suddenly wished a hole would open up and swallow her, instead.
"1200cc's, a dose half of this size. One shot and she's dead," Maya snapped.
"It's times like these my temper is tested somewhat. Maya, give me the injector."
"If she dies, Killian, what happens to your soldiers? What happens to your product? You know that she is the key to stabilizing Extremis. If we can somehow find a way to manipulate her powers into the equation, there wouldn't be a need for Tony."
As if this day couldn't get any worse, Ada thought bitterly.
Killian had been planning on using her as an experiment in the first place. She knew that Maya had the potential to create a powerful enough weapon with her powers and the Extremis combined. If that happened, there was no telling how others would be affected by them.
"First off, you are not using me as some kind of experiment for this shitty product of yours," she fired back before Killian could answer, "Second off, killing me would be a big mistake. A mistake I doubt either of you want on your track record."
Though it was just a bluff, it worked. Maya hesitated for a moment, lowering her weapon as Killian narrowed his eyes disdainfully.
"Considering you're not even human, I don't see why killing you wouldn't be a problem," Killian remarked.
"If she dies, you'll lose everything," Maya deadpanned. Ada squeezed her eyes shut for a moment when she suddenly raised the weapon again, this time pressing it harder against her forehead. The chains against Tony's bed frame began rattling louder as he tried breaking free, clearly having had enough with their conversation. "Do you really want that to happen?"
Killian looked at Maya thoughtfully for the first time since this mess started. What happened next was like a blur. One minute, Ada was bracing herself for whatever pain would follow. The next, she heard a gunshot ringing in the air. Her heart nearly skipped a beat as she heard the sickening thud of a body falling to the floor.
She finally opened her eyes to find that the body was Maya's. A pool of blood already formed around the body, and Ada's fist clenched with fury as she glared at Killian.
"How could you?"
The words barely came out as a whisper. Ada barely noticed that the walls around them were beginning to tremble. Killian was hardly given a chance to respond when she finally wrenched her other hand free, letting pieces of cement fly in his direction.
"Ada, stop!" Tony's voice was too distant to make out among the chaos of the building falling apart. She knew she was losing control. Killian used the chaos to slip away before he could get caught, disappearing into a cloud of debris. "Ada, it's okay."
Before Ada could make sense of who was saying that, she felt a pair of arms wrap around her in a tight embrace. She buried her face into Tony's chest, letting out a small cry. It was too much. From Pepper, to seeing Maya dead at her feet… she didn't know how much more she could handle.