Let the record show that one Becky Stark tried to sleep.

Instead, she was woken up repeatedly in the night by vicious nightmares that wouldn't let her have a moment's peace.

Why am I talking about myself in the third person? It's insane. Only insane people do that.

So anyway, after the fifth or sixth time shooting upright, I had to puke. Typical, right?

I ran to the bathroom, constantly stuck between heaving and plain puking. Fortunately I was able to make it to the bathroom. When I was done, I felt worse. Well a tiny bit better, because at least I hadn't vomited blood...which had happened, over the decades.

Pushing my back against the bathroom tile, I let the coldness of it bring me back to sanity. The cold smooth tiles were reminding me that I was in a safe place. That I wasn't Her anymore. That I hadn't changed into her.

After fifteen minutes of avoiding a panic attack, I pushed myself to my feet. A relatively easy task. Except that getting up took about five minutes. While my legs hadn't fallen asleep they were certainly uncomfortable after sitting on them.

"Checks. Checks." I reminded myself. Standing up on my feet, I wobbled to the counter of the sink.

The mirror showed my reflection back to me. I let out a breathy sigh. I'd bought a new mirror a few weeks ago, telling Tony and JARVIS that I liked the look. What made it special was that this one had a silver back. It's in those mirrors that vampires don't have reflections.

So I saw my reflection, and remember to breathe.

"Okay...okay...next check." Bracing myself, I walked out of the bathroom towards the window. It was shaded right now, but a quick ask would make it so sunlight could come through.

Standing in front of the large windows of Becky Stark's bedroom, I took one more deep breath.

"JARVIS? Could you clear off the shades?"

"Of course, Miss Stark."

The windows changed from the shaded view towards more clear glass.

The sun beamed through.

The heat of the coming summer sun warmed my skin.

My morning eyes squinted away from it.

"Sun check. Pass." I mused. Taking a step back, I started fixing up my hair. "Hey JARVIS. What time was it?"

"The time is 5:48 AM, Miss Becky. Your senate hearing is in twelve minutes."

"Well fuck." I blew out a long breath. "Is Dad there yet?"

"He has arrived there, yes, with Happy.

"Tony Stark arriving before Becky, the world is falling apart." I mused, walking to the bathroom again. At least I could touch up my hair, maybe do a quick brush with makeup. "Guess I better get ready, huh?"

"That would be in the best interests of everyone, Miss Stark."

I snorted, at his repeated use of calling me that. He really couldn't stick with ma'am or something? I'm almost offended.

But at least I was me.

And not Her.

==NM2==

With a handful of seconds to spare, I popped up in a chair besides Tony. The man had gotten used to the teleporting over the months, so he didn't freak out over it. The people behind me were freaked though.

"-and with Miss Stark unable to-to- Ah." Senator Stern's expression was worth this blatant display of power, appearing in my seat like I'd been there the whole time.

"Apologies, Senators, for my lateness." I apologized, putting down the briefcase I had put together last night.

(There wasn't time this morning)

(I'm good but not that good)

"Time zones, I'm sure you understand." Smoothing out any lines in my pantsuit, I smiled politely at the few Senators that weren't glaring death eyes at us.

"Thank you, Miss Stark, for deciding to grace us with your presence." Senator Stern remarked.

"Oh it was no trouble, Mister Senator. I enjoy a good debate as much as the next girl." I turned to Tony. "Sup."

Tony held up a peace sign. "Sup, brat."

"Wow. You can never even tell that I'm adopted." I joked.

Tony grinned, chuckling. "Did you see Pepper?" He asked.

"No I didn't. Where is she?" Looking behind Tony, I saw Pepper narrowing her eyes on us. "Hi Pepper. Don't worry, I'll be more professional than him."

Turning back to the Senators, I smiled back with the professional level of expression. Meaning: a polite demure smile, eyebrows primed and ready to arch up, and words forming around my tongue that would get me out of this.

"Mr Stark, Miss Stark, could we pick up now where we left off?" Senator Stern asked. I opened the briefcase, pulling out a few documents to look over while they got Tony's attention. "Mr Stark. Please."

Tony turned around- after being yelled-whispered at by Pepper. "Yes dear?"

"Can I have your attention?" Senator Stern requested.

"Absolutely." Tony replied.

Silence.

"Miss Stark?"

I didn't answer.

"Miss Stark."

No answer.

"Miss Stark, this is serious."

"No this is a courtroom."

Beside me, Tony snorted. It was little effort to keep myself from smirking. By then I had the papers organized so everything was ready.

"Let's get back to the matter at hand." Senator Stern turned his attention to me. While he was looking at me with annoyance I kept my face impassive. "Miss Stark, is it true that you have certain Enhanced abilities?"

"Yes. I can touch my tongue with my nose." I showed off. Tony applauded.

Senator Stern narrowed his eyes. "Miss Stark, do you or do you not possess the abilities such as: teleportation, super strength, regenerative healing, heightened senses, and-" Stern looked down at his notes "-laser eyes? Really, they labeled it laser eyes?"

"Well that's our fault. There's no real word for what's she does." Tony turned to me. "Did we ever figure those out?"

I shook my head. These past few weeks, I documented the powers that I had more for reminding purposes and training. Teleporting, energy from my hands, increased strength (not super strength, but I was comparing it to the Hulk so…), super thick skin, and enhanced healing. My other skills were more nuisance, less noticable. My senses seemed more heightened- hearing, sight, and weirdly taste.

But those abilities I wasn't eager to share. Who wanted to admit they had a heightened sense of taste as a superpower?

Granted this all goes 'yadda-yadda' over the skills I already had. My fighting style was the technique of Tai Shing Pek Kwar, which was better for me in hand-to-hand combat. There was my ability with firearms. No time soon would I qualify for 'assassin', though that didn't mean I wasn't in the runner-ups for it. Lastly there was my technical know-how. Even without borrowing the mind of a Stark, I had a lot of work in mechanics. I was good at coding too- but I consider that a side-thing.

Senator Stern glared. "Miss Stark, do you have these enhanced abilities?"

"Yeah I can do that stuff. Well except the laser eyes but come on, those were just a thing I said." I answered with an easy shrug. "Why is that up for discussion?"

"Because, Miss Stark, these are powers that have been used to enact crimes such as vigilantism." Senator Stern explained.

"Okay I understand this is serious...but that's a funny word." I commented. At the Death Eyes from Pepper, I sat up straighter in my seat. "Mister Senator, under my purview any and all of the perceived 'crimes of vigilantism' might have appeared as such, but in reality they were nothing of the sort. Many of those attacked sought me out for fights, so they should be viewed as self defense, such as Tony Stark's use of them against the Mark 1 all those months ago. Those that weren't in self defense were rather myself, minding my own business while taking a walk, when suddenly I heard screaming. What followed was me coming to the aid of people in need, while also getting those people to the proper authorities."

Yeah that's right, I'm a genius.

And a lawyer.

Graduated salutatorian in my class.

I don't fuck around.

"Self defense, you say?" Senator Stern questioned.

"'The use of reasonable force to protect oneself or members of the family from bodily harm from the attack of an aggressor, if the defender has reason to believe he/she/they is/are in danger.'" I recalled. Senator Stern narrowed his eyes at me. "And as stated before, that's what I did. People attacked me, so I attacked back. I don't start fights, Senator Stern, I finish them."

Then, just for the cameras and for my sister watching (wherever that was) I leaned on my elbow and fist to smile brightly.

The Senator knew he was going to get nowhere else with me. He blew out a sigh, moving a bit to my left.

"Mr Stark, do you or do you not possess a specialised weapon?" Senator Stern questioned.

"I do not." Tony replied.

"You do not?" Senator Stern repeated.

"I do not." Tony repeated again. "Well, it depends on how you define the word weapon."

"The Iron Man weapon." Senator Stern clarified, becoming more annoyed once more by us.

In our defense, he was just a prick. But I'm not allowed to use that in a legal setting anymore. Not since the accident.

"My device does not fit that description." Tony explained.

"Well- How would you describe it?" Senator Stern questioned. He was close to his breaking point of us both.

"I would describe it by defining it as what it is, Senator." Tony stated.

"As?"

"It's a high-tech prosthesis." The crowd behind us chuckled. Even I put on a smile, though I hadn't thought it too funny so the smile dropped soon after the attempt. "That is...That is...That's actually the most apt description I can make of it."

"It's a weapon. It's a weapon, Mr Stark." Senator Stern corrected, giving Tony a patronizing look.

"Please, if your priority was actually the well-being of the American citizen-" Tony tried to interject.

"My priority is to get the Iron Man weapon turned over to the people of the United States of America, and to neutralize Night Mistress." Senator Stern explained.

"Well, you can forget it." Tony argued.

I leaned forward in my seat. "This is not an issue that can just be set aside. I am Night Mistress."

"I am Iron Man." Tony added. "The suit and I are one. To turn over the Iron Man suit would be to turn over myself which is tantamount to indentured servitude or prostitution, depending or what state you're in. You can't have it." Tony explained.

"Look, I'm no expert-" Senator Stern tried to interrupt.

But Tony has learned from earlier. Also comedy was mostly in timing. "In prostitution? Of course not. You're a senator. Come on."

The crowd laughed again. I squared my shoulders back, bolstered by the support from them. Tony turned back to Pepper. I still wanted to keep my cool so I didn't look.

"I'm no expert in weapons. We have somebody here who is an expert on weapons." Senator Stern explained. "I'd now like to call Justin Hammer, our current primary weapons contractor."

Hammer came in from a side room. Or maybe he'd been hidden by the crowd. Actually I couldn't care less.

"Let the record reflect that I observed Mr Hammer entering the chamber, and I am wondering if and when any actual expert will also be in attendance." Tony remarked.

"Absolutely. I'm no expert. I defer to you, Anthony." Hammer commented. "Or to you, Rebecca, hi."

"Father the strange man is talking to me. Make him stop." I requested blandly.

"Hey. Strange man. Quit talking to my child." Tony instructed, also blandly.

"You're the wonder twins without being actually...twins, you get it." Hammer stumbled. "Senator, if I may. I may well not be an expert, but you know who was the expert? Your dad, Tony. Howard Stark."

Tony shifter in his seat. I leaned forward on the table, looking over my papers and using the distraction to go on my phone. I went to Twitter to share Tony's joke, cause it was actually funny so it deserved to be noticed. Unlike Hammer, and his bringing up of people long dead.

"Really a father to us all, and to the military-industrial age." Hammer rambled on. "Let's just be clear, he was no flower child. He was a lion. We all know why we're here. In the last six months, Anthony Stark has created a sword with untold possibilities. Rebecca here got superpowers! She's used them to break walls apart, which is the least of it. She is trying to convince us that she's a savior! And yet, they insist they're using shields. They asks us to trust us as we cower behind them."

Hammer turned to us. Tony and I were more bored than ever.

"I wish I were comforted, Anthony, Rebecca, I really do. I'd love to leave my door unlocked when I leave the house, but this ain't Canada." Hammer stated.

Going to my phone, I tweeted that I wasn't sure how, but I'm pretty sure Hammer just insulted Canada. Coupled with an apology to the country.

"You know, we live in a world of grave threats, threats that Mr and Miss Stark will not always be able to foresee. Thank you." Hammer have a small bow to the crowd. "God bless Iron Man and Night Mistress. God bless America."

Like, eight people clapped honestly. A few more did it purely for show.

Hammer took a seat down the table.

"That is well said Mr Hammer." Senator Stern thanked. "The committee would now like to invite Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes to the chamber."

Tony sat up. I kept my focus on the documents in front of me. Which yes contained the speech I gave early and facts to back it up. The rest was just paper to doodle on.

"Rhodey? What?" Rhodey walked in. Rhodey walks in, Tony gets up to greet him "Hey, buddy. I didn't expect to see you here."

"Look, it's me, I'm here." Rhodey greeted. "Deal with it. Let's move on."

"I just-"

"Drop it."

"All right, I'll drop it."

"Hey Rhodey." I greeted blandly, not looking away from the papers.

"Becky." Rhodey greeted back as he took his seat.

"I have before me a complete report on the Iron Man weapon, and the actions of Night Mistress vigilante compiled by Colonel Rhodes." Senator Stern explained. "And, Colonel, for the record, can you please read page 68, paragraph five?"

"You're requesting that I read specific selections from my report, Senator?" Rhodey asked.

"Yes, sir." Senator Stern replied.

"It was my understanding that I was going to be testifying in a much more comprehensive and detailed manner." Rhodey remarked.

"I understand. A lot of things have changed today. So if you could just read-"

"You do understand that reading a single paragraph out of context does not reflect the summary of my final-" Rhodey pointed out.

"Just read it, Colonel. I do. Thank you." Senator Stern ordered.

"Very well. 'As neither person operates within any definable branch of government, Iron Man and Night Mistress presents a potential threat to the security of both the nation and to her interests.'" Rhodey read off. For a single moment, Tony seemed concerned by the report.

But Rhodey had our back.

"I did however, go on to summarise that the benefits of Iron Man and Night Mistress far outweigh the liabilities and that it would be in our interest-" Rhodey carried on.

"That's enough Colonel-" Senator Stern tried to stop Rhodey from undermining the argument.

"-to fold Mr and Miss Stark-"

"That's enough-"

"-into the existing chain of command, Senator."

"I'm not a joiner, but I'll consider Secretary of Defence, if you ask nice." Tony offered. The crowd behind us laughed. "We can amend the hours a little bit."

I moved the microphone in front of me closer. "I'll take director of the FBI."

Senator Stern ignored us both. "I'd like to go on and show, if I may, the imagery that's connected to your report."

"I believe it is somewhat premature to reveal these images to the general public at this time." Rhodey countered.

"With all due respect, Colonel, I understand." Senator Stern explained. He did understand, he just really wanted to fuck us over with it. "And if you could just narrate those for us, we'd be very grateful. Let's have the images."

Rhodey braces himself. The screens across from us lit up with images of the military bases. I opened my StarkPhone.

"Intelligence suggests that the devices seen in these photos are, in fact, attempts at making manned copies of Mr Stark's suit. This has been corroborated by our allies and local intelligence on the ground-"

I typed away on it, searching for the information I needed.

"Indicating that these suits are quite possibly, at this moment, operational." Rhodey finished.

"Hold on a second, buddy. Let me see something here." Tony leaned across Rhodey's desk space.

I sat up, holding my phone towards the screen closest to me. They both lit up with a black text box. Mine greeted me in a polite 'WELCOME MS STARK'.

"Boy, I'm good." Tony praised. "Ah look at that, Becky, you got it too."

"Faster than you did it, too." I pointed out. "Take that, old man."

"Not that old." Tony countered. The crowd around us was only more confused as we went on. "We commandeered your screens. We need them."

"In the spirit of fairness, it's time for some transparency." I added.

"Now, let's see what's really going on."

"What are they doing?" Senator Stern demanded from the people with authority in the room.

"If you will direct your attention to said screens, I believe that's North Korea." Tony introduced.

A video of a failed mech-suit played. It ended with blood splattering across the screen.

"Can you turn that off? Take it off." Stern instructed Hammer.

"I have Iran here." I played the video.

The suit was marginally better than the other. In that, it took off for a moment before it crashed and burned.

Hammer was inept at even turning off the screen.

"No grave threat here." Tony stated. "Is that Justin Hammer? How did Hammer get in the game?"

The corner of my lips turned up as Hammer showed in the next video on Tony's screen. Hammer was talking to a man inside a smaller version of the Iron Man suit.

"Justin, you're on TV. Focus up." Tony instructed.

"Oh fancy." I praised.

It seemed to work. Until the top half spun a full 180. The test pilot inside screamed.

"Okay, give me a left twist. Left's good. Turn to the right. Oh, shit. Oh, shit."

Hammer pulled the plug on the TV.

I applauded, sarcastically.

"Wow. Yeah, I'd say most countries, five, ten years away." Tony turned to me. "Hammer Industries, twenty."

"I'm thinking 30." I admitted.

"Thirty? Really?"

"Yeah."

Hammer rushed to the microphone at his seat. "I'd like to point out that that test pilot survived."

Senator Stern was regretting every decision he made today. Including getting out of bed. "I think we're done is the point that he's making. I don't think there's any reason-"

"The point is, you're welcome, I guess-" Tony stated.

"For what?" Senator Stern asked.

"Because I'm your nuclear deterrent." Tony clarified. "It's working. We're safe. America is secure. You want my property? Want my kid to stop cleaning up the big bads of the world? You can't have it. But we did you a big favor."

He stood up, turning to the cameras behind. While I turned to give the camera an Office look.

"We've successfully privatised world peace." Tony held up his hands for peace signs.

The crowd clapped while Tony stood before them, like a diva under a spotlight. Quickly I sent a request it Twitter for people to take the image of Tony right now and photoshop it to him be even more dramatic. It would be some good entertainment until the next argument.

"What more do you want? For now! I tried to play ball with these ass-clowns."

'First celebrity to slip 'assclowns' into a conversation (like, naturally), I will donate 10k to your favorite charity. Video footage or it doesn't count.' I tweeted.

"Fuck you, Mr Stark. Fuck you, buddy." Senator Stern replied. I gave him two raised eyebrows for that. "We're adjourned. We're adjourned for today."

"Thank you, Senators, for giving us your time." I spoke as I stood up to my feet. Gathering up the documents, I pointedly ignored Tony's continued pandering to the crowd. "Really. Also apologies. Mostly thanks, for putting up with us."

Tony came back to the table. He picked up his sunglasses. Then he blew kisses to the Senators.

With a deep breath, I turned after him. I gave an apology look to Pepper and Rhodey, who were both looking unsure if they were okay with making me an orphan.

"You've been a delight." Senator Stern lied.

==NM2==

The woman walked down the road. She stopped at a shop with TVs in the windows.

"Seriously? They still have these." The woman complained. "Ugh. 2009. What a shithole."

Nikki saw Tony Stark appear on the TV, so she listened to him speak. Even more so when she got glimpses of Becky Stark behind him.

"My bond is with the people. And I will serve this great nation at the pleasure of myself. If there's one thing I've proven it's that you can count on me to pleasure myself."

The woman snorted. "Awesome." She chuckled.

Becky came up next.

She got out her phone.

No way that Morgue was gonna smooth talk her way out of giving the camera that stupid fucking smile.

"I thank the Senators for this opportunity to clear the air. I do not shoot laser eyes." Then she winked, as if to tell the people watching 'or do I?' "Good bye."

Then she teleported off from camera.

Nikki burst out laughing, stopping the video to grin widely at the screen. "Holy fuck she can teleport?! I wanna teleport!" Nikki tucked the phone back in her jean pockets.

She went back to walking down the street. She had a destination in mind, with plenty of time to get there.

"I'm gonna teleport. Imma find out how to teleport. Just to annoy her. Fuck I can already see her face when she finds out I can teleport." Nikki told herself. "Oh I can do so many of the murders if I can teleport. Wow this is gonna be fucking cool."

==NM2==

AN: Who's ready to fucking die?

Also this fic/author won't spoil Endgame. If you do, I will liberate you of your kneecaps.

Thanks to ays102 and nico2411 for favoriting

Thanks to jdude281, ays102, nico2411, and Fantasy-Mania31, for following