"You're cutting it close."
"But I'm not actually late, am I?" I countered. She had wanted me to look nice. That shit took work. My hair, my dress, all of it took work.
Pepper gave me a flat look.
My smirk fell for self-preservation purposes. "Does the outfit look alright?" Tonight it was a navy blue knee length dress with black jeans beneath. There was a scoop neck, long sleeves with slits, and it did the swish when moved. It was quickly becoming one of my favorite dresses.
"I'd prefer a suit-" Pepper noted. "But I like it."
That got me to smile again. "Good, good. The suit's underneath it, I actually really like it."
Pepper observed the slits on the sleeves. "I can't see it."
"Duh- it wouldn't be a good supersuit if you could see it all the time." I joked, trying to hide the nerves I was feeling.
The car pulled to a stop. Natasha walked out of the car. She walked over to my door, opening it. I stepped out. Natasha walked over to do the same for Pepper.
"I'll keep the car down here, all right?" Happy informed me.
I nodded at him, adjusting the watch on my wrist. "Happy you're a star." I praised him.
The driver gave me a small nod before driving off. Turning to the sidewalk I saw Pepper standing by Natasha. They had been waiting on me.
"Ready, ladies?" I smiled proudly.
Natasha gave me a small grin.
Pepper had an expression that was much more professional. "Don't teleport there. We need to walk in."
Well that's just a downer.
Still I went along with it.
"-Justin Hammer. His presentation will begin shortly in the main pavilion."
Nikki was messaging me on the walk up towards the pavilion.
I took a deep breath. No pressure. Just multiple targets coming at us from all sides.
==NM2==
The presentation started. Hammer came on the stage, dancing along with the music. The sad thing I'd think it was cool if I didn't know he was trying to kill Tony and I. There had already been many conversations about if we could kill Justin before this moment.
The end result?
Undecided.
Granted, if he would vanish under mysterious circumstances tonight, I wouldn't complain.
Or right now.
Fuck, if Nikki somehow managed to make me vanish under mysterious circumstances, I would only give mild complaining.
"Yeah. That's what I'm talking about." Justin cheered as he walked up to the podium. "Thanks for coming."
Pepper looked towards me, searching for another person in the room who saw the insanity. I understood her pain. I shared it.
"Ladies and gentlemen, for far too long, this country has had to place its brave men and women in harm's way." Hammer told the crowd, sounded somber and serious. "But then the Iron Man and Night Mistress arrived, and we thought the days of losing lives were behind us. Sadly, that technology was kept out of reach. That's not fair. That's not right. And it's just too bad."
"Oh, Lord." Pepper muttered.
"Can we just leave now?" I asked her.
Pepper didn't say no.
"Regardless, it was an impressive innovation, one that grabbed the headlines the world over. Well, today, my friends, the press is faced with quite a difficult problem. They are about to run out of ink."
In the audience, a handful of people clapped. He thought that line was better in writing.
Two attendants came out, leaving with the podium. Hammer looked out with a serious expression that didn't match his stage presence. It did match with a guy that was trying to kill me.
"Ladies and gentlemen, today I present to you the new face of the United States military. The Hammer drone." Hammer introduced.
I pulled my phone out from my Bag.
The Hammerdrones were coming up from the stage floor.
Nikki's latest text had just three words.
'Vanko made them'
I turned to Pepper and Natasha. "We have a problem." Once they were looking at me, I showed them the phone screen.
Pepper had her game face on. Natasha looked more inquisitive than concerned.
"Army! Navy! Air Force! Marines! Yeah! Yeah! Woo!" Hammer announced with the rising of his drones. "That's a hell of a lot better than some cheerleaders, let me tell you. But as revolutionary as this technology is, there will always be a need for man to be present in the theatre of war-"
"Wasn't he dead?" Pepper asked.
"Hammed must've faked it." I countered.
"We need to go." Pepper confirmed. She pulled out her phone.
"We need to go." I agreed. "Natasha?"
The secret agent stood. She made her way out from the aisle, working to clear a path for Pepper.
"Ladies and gentlemen, today I am proud to present to you the very first prototype in the Variable Threat Response Battle Suit and its pilot, Air Force Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes." Hammer introduced.
"What?" Pepper gawked.
I flipped the switch.
My dress was swapped out with my super suit. I stood up, reaching for my bo staff.
The entire audience Rose up, applauding and saluting as Rhodes rose up from the floor. He may be a shithead, but the War Machine paint job was pretty good.
"For America and its allies, Hammer Industries is reporting for-" Hammer announces.
A spotlight appeared on Rhodes.
I slipped up my hood. "What, did you stop for donuts on the way in?"
"Traffic was hell." Nikki countered.
"You were in the sky." I pointed out.
"Well the sky is bad news." Nikki argued. "Birds live here, girl. They are something fierce."
Flying in through the shades of it, Iron Man flew to the main stage. Nikki, in her suit, stood at his left. I had to admit, the suit looked good on her.
She was wearing a green bodysuit. It was made to be curvier than mine, mostly because Nikki wanted sex appeal. Her dress top was the same design as mine, with a tighter bodice and the sleeves were tighter. Her gloves were fingerless- at request. Her pants were just as tight, but to appear more slimming. The black/red boots went well with her black utility belt. Everyone was vaguely impressed.
To be fair, anyone would be of someone that showed up with a sword on their back.
I teleported myself to his right side. The announced applauded louder than before, encouraged by the surprise cameos.
"We got trouble." Tony reported over the comm link. He walked towards Rhodey. He put an iron arm around his shoulder.
Nikki and myself turned towards the audience. I waved to the crowd, putting on my best smile. Nikki just held up a peace sign. She blew out a few kisses to add to the effect.
Hammer laughed awkwardly, unwittingly the odd man out.
"Tony, Becky, there are civilians present. I'm here on orders. Let's not do this right now." Rhodes requested. "Becky is that your-"
"Give them a wave." Iron Man instructed, waving to the crowd.
"Might wanna believe him." I replied.
"Hey, all right. Yeah." Hammer went along with it- not hearing the conversation.
"All these people are in danger. We gotta get them out of here." Iron Man explained. "You gotta trust me for the next five minutes."
"Yeah, I tried that. I got tossed around your house, remember?" Rhodey countered.
"Nikki-"
"It's Iron Assassin."
"No it's not. Get the crowd to leave." I instructed.
"Bitch how the hell-"
"Find a way and I'll call you...whatever you just said." I bargained.
"Listen, we think he's working with Vanko." Iron Man admitted.
"Vanko's alive?" Rhodey replied.
Hammer laughed, walking towards my side at center stage. "Yeah." He waved again.
I narrowed my eyes at him.
Iron Man walked up.
Nikki pulled out her sword. "HEY EVERYONE!" She shouted over the roar of the crowd. A small lie- the comm unit connected to the speaker system. "I'm Iron Assassin. You all need to leave immediately. Iron Man and Night Mistress have found a threat. Evacuate!"
The crowd was only confused by her statement. What, did we have to shoot the glass to get their attention?
"I hate people." Nikki informed me.
Hammer, to his credit, wasn't fazed by this as he should've been. I turned my head to him, giving a deadly smile.
"We're gonna win." I told Hammer.
"Where is he?" Iron Man questioned.
Hammer blinked. "What?"
"Where's Vanko?" Iron Man insisted.
"Who?"
"Tell us." Iron Man demanded.
"What are you doing here, guys?" Hammer asked us.
"If you don't start talking-" I began.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Rhodey called out.
All three of us turned to him. The firearm on his back was prepared to fire. It was aimed at Iron Man. My hands glowed in preparation to counter fire.
"Is that you?" Iron Man asked.
"No, I'm not doing that. That's not me. I can't move. I'm locked up. I'm locked up!" Rhodey yelled.
The drones behind him prepped their weapons to fire.
The crowd behind was getting the message now. Screaming, they all ran out from the theatre.
"Get out of here. Go! This whole system's been compromised." Rhodey warned.
Nikki tucked her sword on her back. She pulled out the AI gun from her belt.
The three of us pushed up. Each of our rocket boots lit up, keeping us in air.
"What do you say me and the kids take it outside." Iron Man challenged.
The three of us flew out towards the sky- away from the people below.
War Machine and half the Hammer drones followed.
Drones and Rhodey fire at him. Rhodey takes off Rhodey "No, no!"
"JARVIS, break in. I need to own him." Iron Man ordered.
"Yes sir." JARVIS answered.
"Tony, Tony, I'm locked on. I have a target lock." Rhodey warned.
"On what?" Iron Man asked.
"On you." Rhodey warned. The gunfire began going off. I started evasive maneuvers, dodging the shots. Looking back, I saw the Hammer drones following us. "Tony, Becky, on your six!"
Dozens of shots went off. A few were aimed towards myself and Nikki. The drones, it seemed, hated us.
==NM2==
I dodged another shot. "Nikki! I'll call you the name if you take out more bots than me!"
"Oh it is ON!" Nikki turned, flying towards the bots. Maybe I was trying to kill my sister- can I be blamed?
Still. I couldn't just let her win now could I? If Nikki was gonna die it was gonna be from losing to me. So I dashed back around, firing blasts at the Hammer drones.
"How are we doing, JARVIS?" Iron Man asked.
"Remote reboot unsuccessful." JARVIS reported.
"Hahaha you idiot!" Nikki laughed. "My gun gives me tips! I've already got five!"
"Whore!" I snapped at her. Nikki laughed again. My score was only four.
She and I started flying around the expo, taking out any drone in sight. I kept track of my kill count. Of bots- definitely not people. That would be counterproductive.
Iron Man began helping at one point. He stopped one drone from firing at a kid wearing his own Iron Man mask. "Nice work kid." He praised him.
I took one out from across from them. "That's twelve!"
"Fifteen!" Nikki boasted.
"How?!"
"Cause I'm a cold blooded killer who's-" There was a loud noise of something metallic being destroyed. "-being told to have fun!"
Okay that's a good point. This wasn't something I'd thought out...
"You got multiples coming in on you." Rhodey warned us.
"Let's get this away from the Expo." Iron Man decided.
After an evasive flight path that lasted all of ten minutes, we were circling back.
"Listen, listen. A pack just peeled off. They're headed back to the Expo."
"Got 'em!" I confirmed. The pack of five Hammer drones were flying overhead. I made sure to appear in a spot to get their attention.
Vanko had a point to prove against all Starks so he made the drones fly towards me. I flew off, making sure they stayed behind me.
"I'm closing in on you." Rhodes reported. "Ordnance coming in hot, Becky. Watch it."
"Trust me- I've got an idea." I replied.
"Rhodey, you still locked on?" Iron Man asked.
"Yeah." Rhodey replied.
"Becks. I'm coming up on your six." Iron Man reported.
My radar blinked with his symbol. "See you."
"Loving the plan. Drop your socks and grab your Crocs. We're about to get wet on this ride." Iron Man warned Rhodey.
He flew up to my side. Both of us were flying towards the giant metal globe of the Expo. There weren't any signs of us stopping.
"Wait, wait, wait!" Rhodey yelled out.
"Wait I could've been wearing crocs right now?" Nikki asked.
We flew through the globe, turning at such a sharp angle that the drones couldn't replicate. Five drones exploded on the inside.
"Don't you dare!" I warned Nikki. "Because you wouldn't wear yours, you'd wear mine!"
"What's wrong with that?" Nikki countered. "That shade of red looks better on me."
"Girls. Focus!" Rhodey warned.
"Twenty!"
"Twenty-three!"
"Those all count as one!"
"THEY SO DO NOT!"
"I'm sorry, buddy. Teenagers, so hard to contain." Iron Man snarked. I glared at him. "What's your twenty?"
Something hit me in the side. I yelled out in pain on instinct, feeling myself falling towards the ground.
"Becky!" Iron Man shouted. Then came the sounds of metal hitting metal.
My body crashed through a glass ceiling. The biodome. Who's stupid idea was it to build a forest out here?! Then again, without it I'd have crashed onto pavement. I tried to switch my rocket boots back to a balance but I fell too fast.
When I made an impact, it was against a large oak tree. We both went down.
"Bitch!" Nikki called out. "Always trying to keep all the fun for yourself!"
"I'm greedy like that." I groaned, trying to get up to my feet.
Across the biodome, I heard loud crashes. Teleporting over I saw Iron Man struggling against War Machine. Iron Man was just barely holding up the machine gun to keep it from firing in his face.
Suddenly the gun stopped firing. I ran down to meet with them.
"Reboot complete." Natasha reported- hacking into the comms. "You got your best friend back."
"Thank you very much, Agent Romanoff." Tong replied.
Rhodey rolled off Iron Man. He splashed into the small biodome stream.
"Well done on the new chest piece. I am reading a significantly higher output and your vitals all look promising." Natasha noted with a monotone delight.
"Yes, for the moment, I'm not dying. Thank you." Tony replied.
"What do you mean you're not dying?" Pepper's voice came out from the comm. Ah, yes. She and the Hammer tech team had been trying to hack into the drones. "Did you just say you're dying?"
Nikki landed at my side. She threw her arm over my shoulder. She snickered, hearing the fight.
"Is that you? No, I'm not. Not anymore." Tony answered.
Nikki's snickering was infectious. I silently snickered with her.
"What's going on?" Pepper demanded.
"I was going to tell you. I didn't want to alarm you." Tony excused.
"You were gonna tell me? You really were dying?" Pepper gawked.
"You didn't let me."
"Why didn't you tell me that?"
"I was gonna make you an omelette and tell you."
Nikki let out a loud guffaw.
"Shh!" I hushed. "You'll spoil it."
"Becky did you know about this?" Pepper asked.
"He didn't tell me!" I excused, throwing my hands up.
"You said you knew!"
"You still should've told me!"
"Hey, hey. Save it for the honeymoon. You got incoming, Starks. Looks like the fight's coming to you." Natasha warned.
"Great. Pepper?" Tony talked to the person who was still the most invested in Natasha's earlier comment.
"Are you okay now?" Pepper prompted, concerned.
"I am fine. Don't be mad. I will formally apologize-"
"I am mad!"
"-when I'm not fending off a Hammeroid attack." Tony explained with a look towards the camera.
Nikki snorted again.
Unwilling to punch her, I just held up a fist. She bumped it.
"Fine." Pepper conceded.
"We could have been in Venice." Tony reminded her.
"Oh please." Pepper scoffed.
The call cut off. I walked over to the stream, dipping my boots into it. Tony walked towards Rhodey, flipping up his face mask.
"Rhodes?" He tapped on Rhodey's helmet. "Snap out of it buddy. I need you. They're coming. Come on, let's roll. Get up."
I knelt by Rhodey just as his face plate went up. He saw us, sighing in relief. His head thunked against the small stream below. "Oh, man. You can have your suit back."
"No. You've infected it with the military. We don't accept take-backs." I informed him.
Tony was helping Rhodey up to his feet. "You okay?"
"Yeah, thanks." Rhodey replied. He sighed. "Tony, look, I'm sorry, okay?"
"Don't be." Tony assured him.
"No. I should have trusted you more- you and Becky." Rhodey explained.
"I'm the one who put you in this position. Forget it." Tony apologized.
"No. It's your fault. I just wanted to say I'm sorry." Rhodey admitted.
Nikki and I nodded, approving.
"Thank you. That's all I wanted to hear. Partner." Tony put a hand on Rhodeys' shoulder. There was a singular moment, where someone could possibly hear melodramatic music in the distance. It was gone before one could place the song. "They're coming in hot, any second. What's the play?"
"Well, we want to take the high ground, okay? So let's put the biggest gun up on that ridge." Rhodey reported.
The two of them moved towards it. Confused, the two began to bicker about who the 'big gun' of the duo was. While they did that, I turned to Nikki. She was turning to me. She held up the A.S.S.A.S.S.I.N. gun. I gave her a nod. Nikki ran over towards that ridge.
"-subtle all the bells and whistles."
"Yeah. It's called being a badass."
"Fine. All right. You go up to. I'll draw them in."
"Don't stay down here. This is the worst place to be."
"Okay, you got a spot. Where's mine?"
"It's the kill box, Tony. Okay. This is where you go to die."
These two were going to get me killed. I teleported to hang out with Nikki. She was setting herself up for an assassin line shot. Nikki hummed as I lied down beside her.
My hands glowed. "Tell me where."
Nikki tapped her face mask. "Northbound, 8 o'clock." Nikki reported. "Two coming south- dibs."
I fired a blast at the incoming drones. Nikki shot two more.
"East. Three." Nikki reported.
Teleporting onto them, I made sure the three bots essentially took each other out. When I got back to Nikki she was shooting down another three.
In the end, both of us were at 30-30.
I landed myself in front of Tony and Rhodey. They blinked at me, just gawking.
Nikki flew down. "You took too long." She told them. "So we handled it."
"Cause we rock." I held up my hand. Nikki clapped it. "Don't we, Iron Assassin?"
Nikki smirked in smug glee. "It's great. All that you just said- it's great."
"You only got the one! Whatever. I'm winning!"
"Those three don't count! You shot them all at once and with help from him!"
"I still shot them!"
"Is this what we look like from the outside?" Rhodey asked Tony.
Tony shook his head. "Nope." He lied.
==NM2==
"Head up. You got one more drone incoming. This one looks different." Natasha warned us. "The repulsor signature is significantly higher."
Nikki groaned. "It's the guy."
"Yeah it's the guy."
With that, Nikki started humming Rihanna's S&M.
Tony flipped his mask on. Rhodey followed just behind. The four of us stood in formation as Vanko crashed through the ceiling.
The bastard lifted up his mask, showing off his aged scarred face. "Good to be back." His whips sparked up. He lashed them out, filling up the darkened biodome with demented light.
Not a good look for us, folks.
"This ain't gonna be good." War Machine noted. "I got something special for this guy. I'm gonna bust his bunker with the Ex-Wife."
"With the what?" Iron Man asked.
"Tell me you didn't." I pleaded, looking skyward.
A machine popped out from War Machine's shoulder. It powered up. A small cylinder fired out of it. It hit Whiplash dead in the chest- nothing happened. The cylinder fell down to the stream with a metal plop.
Nikki snickered at his expense. "That's too good, man, that's too good."
"Hammer tech?" Iron Man guessed.
"Yeah." War Machine admitted.
"I knew it." I accused. "I knew you ruined it."
"Technically, it did bust someone's bunker. Like an ex-wife." Nikki pointed out. She was still laughing.
"I got this." Iron Man stepped up. He prepped up his laser wrists, along with the armor piercing bullets.
His lasers were deflected by the whips.
The bullets bounced off the suit too.
"Idea!" Nikki pulled out the katana. She rushed out towards Whiplash.
She deserved whatever stupidity came from this.
Nikki yelled out, raiding her katana.
Whiplash raised his whip.
"NO!" I shouted, teleporting on her back. Wrapping my arms around her I tried to teleport away.
Whiplash was faster.
Y'all...I thought being hit on the throat hurt.
Whiplash had gone for our sides.
The hit definitely hit my hip. The force of it sent us flying off to the side. My back hit a tree- breaking both. I cried out in pain. My arms let go of Nikki, reacting to the shock. When I hit the ground, I had to remind myself check on my sister-check on my sister-
My wounds were already patching up as I got to my knees. Nikki was stuck under the fallen tree. She showed no signs of standing back up.
Oh no.
My hands glowed a bright hue, not unlike fire. The tree burst out in flames. Twigs flew all around. They scratched at my suit as they zoomed by, small bits of my hair slicing off. I didn't care about that. I cared about the girl beneath it all.
Is she dead?
Nikki was prone under the remaining debris of the burning tree. My powers hadn't held at all against a direct whip attack from Whiplash. Nikki-without them- had stood no chance. Not even her suit was safe. Along the sides, burnt out sections had appeared to expose skin. Her katana had fallen into one of those burns.
It had moved from the explosion, tree splicing, and her falling under it.
No.
No.
No!
I shot up to my feet- numb to the world outside of her.
She's not dead.
She can't be.
Not now.
She hasn't made fun of me enough in this world yet. I can't be alone in a world this big. She has to be okay. It would be impossible to go through it all without her here.
He did this.
My head snapped towards the fight. Whiplash indeed tossing Iron Man and War Machine about, easily taking them on as an equal.
He killed her.
My sister was dying because of him. He had attacked her. He knocked her down. He existed, making my sister want to fight him in the first place.
He killed her and you know it.
No. No I can't kill him. I know what I'm like without her. Kneeling by the charred wood, my hands reached into my hair to pull on the strands. I can't do anything- he can't die by my hand. It- I couldn't be like that. I'm not like that.
Yes you are.
You've always been like this.
And you know it.
No, no, no-
You can take him out with one blow.
My hands started glowing again. A bright, angry glow. My hands were shaking with the force to hold them back.
He killed her.
He killed your sister.
He killed my sister.
He has to go.
He has to go...
"Oi..." A weak, raspy, unmistakable even in this world voice, spoke up.
I looked up, seeing Nikki staring at me with one eye. She stretched an arm towards me.
She's already dying.
It's too late for her.
No it's not.
"Don't..." Nikki reached for me again.
Unbeknownst to me, in the Iron Man vs Whiplash was building up. Iron Man was yelling to War Machine about being a sidekick.
In my mind, all I thought about was keeping my sister alive.
Reaching for her I teleported us away. We moved to the roof- that specific roof from the movie. There hadn't been a lot else on my mind. This was the closest safe space my mind had processed. Once there, I tossed out my comm. The voices in my head were loud enough, I didn't need extras.
Nikki groaned when we landed. Without the burnt bits of tree and the darkness of the dome, there was more to see. Her suit was mangled on the sides, not including her katana. Her eyes were shut tight, but her mouth was open to show clenched teeth.
He killed her.
She's safe.
Go back and take him down.
"Don't." Nikki shook her head. Her blonde hair was sticking to her head by sweat.
My hands shook again.
Nikki huffed.
"You'll make it worse." I cautioned, moving to kneel at her side. "Stop moving. You know stab wounds better than that."
She narrowed her purple eyes at me. "Yeah...they hurt."
"No shit!" I held back smacking her on the head. Or punching her arm. Normal methods for bonding with Nikki were useless.
I couldn't do it.
But there was one thing I could-
"Don't...listen." Nikki warned me. "To the...the bitch."
Wrapping my arms around myself, I shook my head. "No- no- she's so loud."
"I know." Nikki wheezed. She grabbed her side, wincing again. "Author's shit. Ugh. You've fought her before. Do it again."
"No I didn't." I shook my head. Getting rid of her hadn't come from me, it'd come from someone else. I couldn't fight her on my own. Someone had to help me. My sister was dying and I needed help and I didn't know what to do. "I didn't-"
"You have kept that bitch at bay all your life." Nikki growled. "You can do it- ouch!- for five more minutes. Quit telling everyone in your head I'm dead!"
I let out a shuddering breath, squeezing my hands tightly. She was right. I could fight this.
"Hey." Nikki called, sounding dazed. "Mind taking the sword out from my hip?"
My eyes bugged at her- once again pushing down the impulse to smack the sense back into her. "Are you insane?!"
"Fine. I'll do it." Nikki reached for the katana.
I yelped, reaching for it to keep it in. I didn't have enough medical knowledge to patch up that wound. Why hadn't I teleported to a hospital?!
Nikki pulled out the sword.
"Stop-" I watched in stunned awe as the sword was removed.
The wound was patching itself up.
She'd gained super healing.
What the actual fuck.
Nikki smirked at me. In the distance, an explosion went off. That didn't even phase me. Hearing an explosion should set off alarms in my head. Nothing phased as much as seeing a stab wound in my sister's side heal over.
"So...you got super healing."
"I got super healing." Nikki beamed. "Tell me I'm cool."
You got super healing by dying.
So did she.
Your sister died.
He killed her.
Your sister was dead.
Avenge her.
"Hey, hey. Don't go back down." Nikki sat up. She let her bloodied katana drop to the roof. She knelt in front of me, taking my shoulders in her hands. "Stay with me. Come on. You know me, I'm too much of an idiot to be left to my own devices, remember?"
She died.
She just died.
And you couldn't save her.
"I'm still here." Nikki stressed to me, her tone full of uncharacteristic concern. "You see me? I'm here. I'm not dead."
"You were." My voice came out low and deep. Hearing it might cause a chill to shoot down your spine. It was the kind of voice you didn't want to hear creeping up on you. "He killed you and you were dead."
"For like, two seconds." Nikki dismissed. "And I got superpowers. Wanna test those with Science? I know you do. I can't test these- my only Science is the Science of how fast people can die."
"You were dead."
"I've died before." Nikki reminded me. That didn't help. That didn't help at all. She gave me a firm shake. "Hey, hey bitch listen up. If you go crazy right now, who do you think she'll hit first?"
No.
Nononono-
She won't.
I won't let her.
Your sister was already dead.
She is not getting her hands on my sister.
"You see? Fight her with that. Fight her back like you've always done." Nikki insisted.
I took a deep breath- suddenly realizing that's where a lot of my pain was coming from.
She's not taking my sister.
She's not taking me.
I have to fight back.
Because if I give in, she'll hurt my sister.
That will never happen.
After a few minutes of that, my shaking had slowed down. The glow of my hands had faded too- their color back to their usual golden yellow instead of fiery orange. Nikki hadn't loosened her hold for a second. When it seemed like I had calmed down, she pulled me close for a hug.
I wrapped my arms around her, holding tight. Her suit was still torn at the sides but I was okay with feeling any sign of life. She was still here, breathing and warm and alive. I was still here, sane and not murderer-crazy and not like that thing.
Nikki gave me a pat on the back. "See? You're fine." After another pat on the back, I slowly let her go. "Also, I killed more bots so I won."
"You wish." I accused. Punching her arm only made her laugh.
But she was okay.
And so was I.
Nothing else really mattered.
Of course, it took me a few minutes longer to remember everyone else was down there keeping people safe. There hadn't been any additional explosions- we'd killed off all the bots before Whiplash arrived. There was no last minute rescue of Pepper. No need to appear on the roof.
So for ten minutes, until JARVIS told Iron Man and Co. where we were, it was Nikki and me sitting on a roof. Both of us in some bizarre sort of armistice, where not fighting was actually keeping us calm.
==NM2==
AN: I should legally not be allowed to write fight scenes. That should be a new law.
Also- we have just 3 chapters left in this story. Two of them are 'post-credits', but still. They'll lead into the next fic all the same. So I just have to write one chapter, easy right? (Future me: *Takes 3 months to write it*) Dammit!
Leave a comment or review! Please. They give me such joy. Do you think she'll qualify for Avengers? What's the next fic, do you know? Tell me. Tell me them all. Will I do something stupid, like post two MTU fics at the same time to reduce time overall? Who knows?!
Okay, I'm trying to be more active on my tumblr blog (authora97writingupdates) and the instagram (authora97) account. I ask questions and post pictures on both, including art I made for the next fic. It's gonna be around May when it's all up there- in time for the classic May 4th release of a MCU movie.
Thanks to MarieOligut for following