p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"strongAN: Please be aware that this chapter does contain a fair amount of violence and a bit of cursing./strong/p
hr /
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"Inhaling sharply, my eyes flew open, taking in my surroundings before blinking to clear the fog of sleep. Confused, I sat up and rubbed at my arms in an attempt to ease the goosebumps as the crisp early morning air settled into my skin. The way my heart was beating suggested that I'd had a nightmare, but I didn't remember dreaming./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""Are you okay?" Bruce was watching me, already propped up with the tablet in hand again as if he'd been awake for a while, extending his arm in my direction to rub my back, "I wanted to let you sleep more, but…" He shrugged./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""I don't know what woke me." He nodded and pushed the covers off himself, swinging his legs out of the bed as he prepared to get up. "How long have you been awake?" I wondered, I could tell he was anxious as he tried to go about his normal morning routine./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""Too long." He smiled sheepishly before opening the sliding closet door to retrieve a shirt, "I tried, but I just…can't stop thinking."/p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"I sighed, "Yeah…one more day." I told myself as I got out of bed./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"He paused, "Rachel, I – I don't know how much control I will have over myself." I could see his hand shaking from where I stood as he buttoned his shirt, slowing to try and make more deliberate movements, "The entire night I've just been..." He trailed off and shook his head./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""Nervous?"/p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""Angry." He finished. "Like everything just came back at once."/p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"I stopped moving as I considered what he'd said. Of all the things we talked about, and of all the feelings he'd shared, he'd never surmised everything into a single word or a single emotion. A chill ran down my spine bringing with it images of the Hulk chasing after James from what felt like a lifetime ago. The feelings were intensified by the radiation rolling off of him this morning, fueled by the other guy lurking just below the surface./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""Bruce…" I crossed over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder so he would turn to face me fully, "Bruce, I'm right here." I murmured, my hands on both sides of his face as his head tilted downward until our foreheads were touching. Sometimes it was almost as if he'd forgotten I hadn't died in that hospital and ended up back here with him./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"He closed his eyes and inhaled, taking a deep breath and holding it before letting it out slowly as his hands came to rest on my wrists with his thumbs tracing idle patterns across my skin as he grounded himself, "I know…I know you're here." His eyes opened, finding mine before he nodded to himself and touched his lips to mine and giving my hands a gentle squeeze./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""Don't let it consume you, please." I knew he would still be angry, but I didn't want it to be the only thing that remained. In a rage, the Hulk possessed incredibly destructive power, but it also took a toll on Bruce physically and mentally./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"His hands lingered on mine and he leaned into my touch as he thought, "…One more day." He repeated./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"I smiled, "And then we can literally get lost."/p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""I would like to think my navigation skills are a little better than that…" He mirrored my expression, drawing another deep breath before pulling away to finish getting ready or the day./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"We were early, the first ones to make it to the helipad where the quinjet was waiting. I could see Bruce leaned against one of the glass panels that formed the railing, although still being renovated it was stable. He was deep in thought as he alternated between anxiously clenching his hands and trying to relax them as he stretched his fingers along the smooth surface. I'd taken a moment to double back to my own room in hopes of making the trip just a little easier./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""Bruce." I called to him as I approached./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"He turned, a wry expression turning his lips upwards as he'd been caught overthinking again. Still he said nothing as I reached around him to place a set of headphones over his shoulders, instead opting for a quizzical expression as I pressed a small music player into his hand./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""Just give it a try." I stretched upwards and he leaned in to meet my lips, arms wrapping around so that we stood holding one another for a moment, "Try to focus on the music instead of what's going on up there."/p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"With a nod he sighed, "Thank you." He conceded, placing the music player in his pocket. We remained at the railing watching the city below until the others arrived one by one and we loaded into the quinjet. A few minutes after we were in the air I noticed Bruce move the headphones from his shoulders to his ears, adjusting them until they rested comfortably before turning on the music player. He took a deep breath and gave my hand a squeeze before closing his eyes and tilting his back against the seat in an effort to relax./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"It wasn't until we touched down that the reality of the situation started to set in. We each put in an earpiece and let Steve, Natasha, and Clint leave the quinjet first so that they could quietly move into position. When we got the signal Tony spoke up, "Alright then. You two lead the way." He gestured to Bruce and Thor, "Why don't you guys go knock on the door and let them know we're here?"/p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""My pleasure." Thor stood, pausing to wait for Bruce./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"Bruce followed, casting one last glance in my direction, "Keep an eye on Tony, okay?" He offered a halfhearted grin as Tony scoffed./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""Don't worry, Big Guy. We've got this."/p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""I'll meet you back here." I assured him before they left./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"After they were gone, Tony came to join me at the exit of the quinjet. "Are you ready?"/p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"I touched my thumb to the inside of each cuff so that they unfolded around my hands and forearms. "About as ready as I'm going to be." Taking one last steadying breath, I met his gaze, and he placed a hand on my shoulder before we stepped out of the aircraft and the faceplate of his mask covered his expression./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"The blaring alarms could be heard long before we entered through the gaping hole where the steel door had been caved in making the updates from the earpiece a bit difficult to decipher among the chaos that was unfurling. I motioned for Tony to follow me through a set of tall double doors on the right without thinking, trusting my feet to follow the working memory I'd built of this place. The corridor stretched on for a few yards before splitting off into two directions with a stairwell at each end./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""I'm going to check this way and move upward and eventually I'll run into Thor. If he's moving lower in the building either you will catch him or drive him into the others."/p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"Tony's arm extended so that his hand caught my metal clad forearm before I could start moving in my chosen direction. "Rachel – "/p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""We don't have time to waste, the longer we wait, the more of them get away."/p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""I know, just…you'd better make it back in one piece, okay?"/p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"With a nod we parted ways. I could hear footsteps echoing from both directions in the stairwell as scientists and agents scrambled to evacuate, but I started to climb the stairs as I said I would./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""I've got eyes on Dawn in the southeast stairwell, level two."/p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"My head snapped in the direction of the agent above me, drawing my gun to level in his direction as I continued to move upwards along the wall until I could get to a landing. He kept his sights trained on me as he listened to communications from his own earpiece./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""Put it down." I demanded as I continued to hug the wall, leaning forward ever so slightly so that I could keep an eye on him. A door opened and I could hear more footsteps from below. It was hard to discern how many with the echoes from above, but I thought I could hear at least four sets./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"A loud crack and a small plume of granulated stone revealed a small bullet hole left in the stone inches from my head. Pressing myself into the wall I took a deep breath before stepping out and firing a shot in response to the agent. He recoiled, ducking out of sight for a moment, but long enough for me to change position and climb to the next landing and fire a warning shot to keep him moving as I made my way to the nearest door and exited the stairwell./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"After a few paces, I opened the door to my left and slipped inside, quietly pressing the door closed as I heard the stairwell door swing open and slam into the wall as agents followed me onto the floor./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"A straight, barren hallway was not an ideal place to be when they had their guns trained on me. I needed a room with a bit more to offer. Turning, I took in the unfamiliar room and frowned. It was a lab, but not one that I recognized. Abandoned papers littered the surfaces of the room with the exception of a padded table in the middle with equipment off to the side and a lonely computer in the corner. I'd been hoping for at least a separate observation room, but I would have to work with what was here./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""Check every room. She's fast, but she couldn't have gotten far."/p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"They were splitting up. Perfect, I thought as I crouched behind the metal base of the table and waited. I listened more carefully, trying to tune out stimuli from the alarm and flashing emergency lights./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"The door to the room opened and a set of footsteps made their way into the room. Quietly, I pushed myself to the opposite side of the table as they began to circle from the right. I waited until they continued the path around the top of the table before pulling their feet from under them, shifting to the side to doge a kick as they fell before pouncing to pin them to the floor with my knee on their chest. I blocked their fist with my forearm and followed with a quick punch to the temple. Immediately they stilled, out cold./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"I paused, plucking the headset from their ear and holding it close to mine to hear what was going on. " – the samples. I'll take care of her."/p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"He was here. Standing up, I braced myself against the table for a moment as my thoughts began to race. I knew he would be, but the thought of confronting him finally and for the last time had done a number on my nerves. After taking a few more steadying breaths, I pushed off of the table and made my way to the door./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"The hall was empty when I stepped out of the room and I made a quick pass through each room to continue my search. Empty handed I continued up to the next floor unhindered and slightly unnerved by that fact. All attempts to subdue or dispose of me had been called off and I knew he had to be nearby to not even have eyes on me./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""Rachel, how are we looking?" I jumped, startled by Tony's voice in my ear./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"I cursed to myself before answering, "Uh, nothing yet. You?"/p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""No, just a bunch of half baked—wait, I think I – Can you get to level two of the basement? I –gotta go" I could hear Madman addressing Tony on the other side of the line before he stopped communicating./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""Shit." I cursed again, turning to push the door open before I heard the door open and close at the opposite side of the hall. I knew, without even turning, who had entered from the other stairwell./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"I could go; I had a head start. I could make it down the five flights of stairs to the others. Tony was expecting me to be there. The floor shook and the lights flickered as the Hulk roared and smashed his way through the building below while Madman's voice boomed throughout the structure and mingled with the emergency system./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""Why are you here, Rachel?" Eric called, loud deliberate footsteps reverberating off of the walls./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"I hesitated with my hand still on the door before finally turning to look at him. He would follow me and drain as much energy as he could from the Hulk and Tony. It was better for me to stay up here./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"His hands were clad in metal just like mine, though they stopped at his wrists with a slightly thicker band circling each. A blue glow emitted from the solid inlay and I knew he'd been given his own sources of energy to draw from as well. "You shouldn't be here." He frowned. If I didn't know any better he almost seemed disappointed./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""Then why did you ask me to come back?"/p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""I wanted you to come back – " He continued, pausing momentarily when I drew my weapon and pointed it in his direction. "With purpose." He picked up where he left off, stopping midway where the hallway turned inward towards the middle of the building./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""My purpose is to get this over with already."/p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""Then do it." He snapped, "Either pull the trigger or try to arrest me and stop cowering in the corner." He growled. When I hesitated he sighed, "You shouldn't have come back until you were ready, but I knew you'd be here anyway. I want to show you something." He gestured for me to come closer./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"When I didn't move he withdrew his gun, holding it away from his body to show he had no intention of firing. Instead he slowly released the clip, catching it and placing it on the floor before releasing the bullet that was held in the chamber and placing the body of the gun at his feet and standing again. I kept my gun raised and took a few steps closer with my other hand hovering over where I'd clipped a set of cuffs to my beltloop./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"He smirked as I neared him, chuckling to himself when I paused to try and decipher his expression. The glow emanating from the bands on his wrists dimmed slightly and he'd closed the gap between us, knocking the gun from my hand with a hard backswing before my other hand could steady it. His forearm rose between us and tucked itself under my chin, but before he could guide us into the wall I twisted away and cleared some space between us with a hard back kick to his chest./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""What the hell was that?" I spat./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""I'm not leaving this place in cuffs." He smirked, "And if you were going to pull the trigger you would have done so already."/p
p style="text-indent: .5in; margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"I narrowed my eyes, unsure where this was going. "If you wanted me to come back to Hydra, all you'd have to do is say so apparently." Why hadn't he tapped into the conditioning that was instilled? Why even wait for all of this all to unfold? I'd spent years here. At any time he could have told me what was in store for me, but instead he tampered with what Hydra was trying to do to leave me…confused./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"He shook his head, "No, not like that. Not as a mindless agent." I noticed him shift his weight as he observed my expression. Before I could think too much on it, he struck./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"As he stepped forward I drew on the energy from my braces and blocked the swing he'd aimed towards my head, following up with a quick jab to his bicep. He caught me in the jaw and I staggered back a few paces, guiding his next swing upward as I caught the fist and continued to twist inward with my other hand shoving hard against his collarbone. I followed swiftly with a knee to his diaphragm to pin him to the wall and limit his range of motion/p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"He threw up an arm in time to deflect my punch before retaliating with his own swing. His hand clamped tightly around my throat before I could recover and he twisted so that my back was thrown against the wall. He released his grip and replaced it with his forearm under my chin again, holding me there, "You were always a fighter, but you just need a little push." Pressing closer, he made it impossible for me to bend my legs enough to get in a solid kick./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"Gritting my teeth I reached around the arm he was using to pin me and dug my fingers into the space at the middle of his clavicle, driving downwards until he backed away. I gasped, hunched slightly as I filled my lungs with air. It was a small reprieve. He withdrew a short knife as I grabbed one of the cuffs that had been linked behind me./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"I caught his first swipe by crossing my forearms and applying pressure, guiding his arm to twist towards the outside of my body and for him to turn just enough so that I could kick behind his knee and cause him to stagger. He caught himself, rolling into the momentum rather than fight it and created enough space for him to whip around and launch the knife towards me. With milliseconds to spare, I covered my face with my arms to deflect the blade which presented him with an opening to move in./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"His fist slammed into my lower ribs and I braced myself for another so that I didn't open my face up for a swing. He took the shot, hammering once more at my ribs, but I cleared him away with a downward sweep of my arms before he could go for a third. This time I buried my own fist between his ribs in an upward motion before he could bring his arms in. He recoiled, half stepping backwards before reversing the momentum with a backhanded swing. I ducked under his arm and caught the other fist he'd followed with, quickly slapping one of the cuffs below his glove and pushing myself away as it secured itself around his arm./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""It won't be that easy." He lifted his arm to better observe the cuff I'd managed to put on him, "You'll have to kill me, Rachel."/p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"My eyes widened and I stared at him for a moment. He'd said it so calmly I almost didn't believe him. "You emwant/em that?"/p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""I've made peace with it." He shrugged, "It's either me or you. Only one of us gets to leave this place today."/p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"I shook my head, shivering as though ice water had been pumped into my veins. "That's not – "/p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""Don't you hear them down below?" He paused so that I could hear the ongoing fight between the Hulk and Madman. "That, is a sense of self preservation. Something I'm not entirely sure that you possess. When your fight or flight instinct kicks in, you fight, but you hesitate to actually finish the job."/p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""You don't always have to."/p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""But you never do." He leveled his gaze to meet mine, "I'm sorry I took that from you. I was supposed to help you become stronger, not hinder your growth."/p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""You asshole." I hissed, suddenly filled with anger. That was one of the few times he'd actually been sincere with me and it was completely messed up. "So what, you're mad at the world and emthis/em is how you react? There are other ways to deal with things when the world deals you a fucked up hand."/p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""I don't think I've ever seen you truly angry before…not like this." He pondered aloud, "It looks good on you."/p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"Before I could argue he closed the gap between us, landing a solid blow to my jaw and then another on the other side. Instinctively, I threw my arms up to shield my head, but instead of swinging he brought his leg up and planted a hard stomp kick between my forearms to break my guard. Exploiting my vulnerability, he grabbed me by the neck and drove my head towards the ground as he knelt down on my chest. My head was swimming and my body was shocked by the sudden brutality behind the attack. He really was going to kill me./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""Why didn't you just shoot me then?" I managed with the short breaths I was able to take./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""I should have." He admitted. But he didn't. He managed to almost sound apologetic, but I couldn't be sure. My oxygen supply was severely limited after all./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"I was prepared for the next blade he withdrew. I'd gone over this obsessively since the last time we fought. I would never be used as bait like that ever again. My hand shot out, catching the blade between the metal that covered my palm and my fingers. With a hard twist I wrenched the blade from his grip, surprising him with my disregard for the blade digging into my hand. In a single motion I flipped the blade around, caught, and swung in his directing./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"He let up quickly, but the blade still managed to catch him in the arm. Rolling away, I jumped to my feet, vision spotty with the sudden motion as I recovered from the lack of proper airflow. Without wasting any time, he had a new blade in his hand and was moving in to reengage./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"Remaining defensive, I deflected his swing. I was at a disadvantage here and couldn't afford to take too many risks. My swipes kept him from getting too close, but he was going to find a way in at some point. Narrowly missing one of his swipes with the blade, I ducked and stretched my leg so that my heel interrupted his step, earing me a chance to slip under his arm and use my hip to hoist him across my body and into the floor./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"He twisted as soon as he made contact with the floor, bouncing back to his feet and drawing me towards him as he refused to break contact with my forearm. With a hard shove he sent my spine into the wall. I retaliated with a swing as he stepped closer, of which he mirrored followed by a hard kick to the stomach just as I'd pushed off the wall. The second collision caused my head to snap back against the unforgiving surface and I dropped my weapon./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"I grit my teeth and my arms rose to shield my head from the onslaught of his fists. My ribs bore the brunt of the attack until I pieced together a rhythm and interrupted his pattern with a swing of my own. My elbow followed swiftly in a backward motion, landing a solid blow to the face and clearing a bit of space for me to get my back off the wall./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"Another hard kick sent me back to where I started. I'd managed to throw my hands in place in time so that it didn't connect fully with my torso, but the force did drive me back a step. Releasing his foot I adjusted to catch his wrist before the blade he brought down could bury itself into my shoulder, struggling to force his arm upward and instead twisting slightly so that I was no longer in the path of the weapon./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"I dug my fingertips into his arm, keeping one hand clamped onto his wrist so that he could not take another swing. With my other hand I yanked the second cuff from my belt loop, but before I could snap it onto the arm I held he caught my wrist and mirrored my action by forcing my arm downward./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""That's not how this ends." He reiterated, unwavering expression remaining intact as he kept the blade facing inward, applying pressure until the knife pierced my thigh./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"Crying out as I released a breath in a hiss I squeezed my eyes shut and threw my head forward, straight into his nose forcefully enough to make him withdraw. He cursed, hand clamped over the area, but the crimson drops of blood that fell to the floor let me know I might have broken his nose. Continuing to draw on the energy from my braces and the adrenaline that had been coursing through my veins, I hardly felt the blade as I quickly snatched it out of my leg and flung it back in his direction with more precision than I'd intended. It embedded itself right into the forearm of the hand that covered his face. Had his arm not been there, it would have landed squarely in his chest./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"A pained chuckle made its way from him as he paused momentarily to remove the knife from his arm, wiping the blood from the blade onto his pants leg before wielding it properly once more, "Now that's more like it."/p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"I pressed my palm to my thigh, the smooth surface of my brace doing little to stem the blood flow, as I tested my balance and took a step. It burned and stung in protest, but still functioned as it should. Thankfully the wound was towards the outside of my thigh, away from the femoral artery. Although it bled heavily; I wasn't in immediate danger due to the bleeding. Keeping my gaze trained on Eric, I watched as he did the same and flexed his injured arm. Despite what he portrayed, the smirk across his features did not reach his eyes./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"He was bluffing. His smirk was his tell. I knew he didn't genuinely enjoy watching others suffer. He may have been a helping hand in all of this, but he wasn't a sadist. He preferred to get things over with quickly no matter the weapon of choice. He smirked to mask his displeasure or discomfort since Hydra didn't allow for weakness./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""Eric…" I was at a loss for words. Being back here brought with it more painful and muddled recollections, but I'd prepared myself the best that I could. In the pit of my stomach, most prominent of all, was confusion. He was the one that had brought me here and played an instrumental part in my everyday life, assisting Hydra and still undermining the conditioning they'd worked to instill./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"His expression fell, a small frown taking shape. As complicated as it was, we'd spent years at the other's side and looked out for one another. There was this unspoken, but almost palpable, sadness hanging between us. He shook his head, dismissing my silent plea for him to reconsider, "I'm sorry." He uttered, but for what he didn't say./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"He adjusted the grip he had on the knife before stepping forward. I deflected his swing, ducking under his next swipe and staggering slightly as I stepped around him. The injury interrupted the fluidity of my movement just as he'd anticipated, giving him the chance to adjust his footing in order to whip around in the same direction and guide his knee into my diaphragm before delivering a solid backhanded fist to my temple. A flash of light and color blinded me as my optic nerves misfired before going blank./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"My entire body ached and my head felt like it would split open from the pressure. I could make out the blurry shape of my legs and feet sliding along the floor before the dark haze blanketed my vision once more. Struggling to regain consciousness, I muttered to myself, hoping that hearing something would alert my senses. Eric's response was muffled, unable to register completely in my state, and I slipped back into unconsciousness./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"A sharp, burning sensation stung my nostrils and a hard cough reignited the aching across my body as my lungs worked to clear my airways. Opening my eyes, I blinked to clear the moisture that pooled at the corners as everything came into focus again. The emergency lights continued to flash and I closed my eyes instinctively until my pupils adjusted to the harsh lighting. The audible alarm, however, had since stopped. Anyone left in the base would have already been alerted and higher ranked personnel would have attempted to execute escape plans./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"Eric remained crouched in front of me, a torn packet of smelling salt still in hand as he observed my expression. "Last chance, Rachel." He dropped the packet and hoisted me to my feet, twisting one arm behind me and keeping a hand clamped to the back of my neck in order to guide my line of sight where he wanted./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"I stumbled, partially due to the wound on my leg as well as the sudden movement, but he held me in place in front of the large one way mirror that allowed for observation floors below where we stood. From the corner of my eye I could tell we'd moved towards the center of the building where an atrium like section had been left open. Below I could see into the first few levels of the basement where a large, mostly empty, area had been left./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""Do you remember?" He wondered, leaning in close so that he could see what I did./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"The open space is where we'd spent the majority of our time training, or rather, where I'd spent time training. On occasion he'd bring in various equipment, but for the most part the standard equipment remained in the corner so that we could rearrange it as needed. A stack of aged fall mats remained abandoned in the corner where they'd been since I could remember, never used in my time here. He'd insisted the mats would hinder my learning experience. He'd wanted them to be as realistic as possible so that I could react accordingly. Everything had to be as close to the real thing as it could be so he and I both knew I could handle anything that came my way instead of clamming up if and when slight variances occurred./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"Now, however, dust and debris littered the area and the two giants exchanged blows in the open area, unhindered by the smaller confines that shaped the rest of the building. A muted crash could be heard as the Hulk's oversized hand ripped up a bench that had been secured to the concrete floor and broke it across Madman's face, followed swiftly with a closed fist that forced the red beast to take a defensive stance. He continued to shift in size in order to avoid the Hulk's wrath, managing to exchange punches with him when the time presented. The Hulk was livid, animalistic almost without regard to his surroundings in his attack./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"I wasn't able to nod with his hand clamped as it was behind my neck, but he acknowledged the attempt. After a pause he spoke again, "I thought he would snap right there in that hospital when he thought you were gone… You care about him too, don't you?"/p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"Attempting to twist away, I grit my teeth as he pushed my arm further up my back to keep me in place, "You don't have to – "/p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""After everything, you still won't fight to save your own life at the expense of another. What about his?" He stayed close, ensuring that I didn't miss a word, "After we're done here I'm going to help Madman finish off the Hulk. Even if he doesn't die, we will bury him, keep him sedated in a hole so deep by the time he makes his way out everyone else will be gone…I think Stark is first on that list." He hummed to himself, mock thoughtfulness lacing his tone as he leaned away and watched my expression through the reflection in the glass./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""You'll never get close enough." With the way Bruce had been shaking this morning I knew the Hulk was more than ready for any opponent./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""Well not on my own, but if I drop your body at his feet I'm sure that'll buy me some time." He released his grip and took a step back, head tilted slightly as he continued to fish for a nerve./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"I couldn't swallow past the lump in my throat. He'd found one alright. Turning to face him, I drew on the energy available to me, numbing the pain as I moved. He would kill me and afterwards use that to hurt Bruce? No, it wasn't about him. It was meant to hurt me. Would I allow him to hurt the people I cared about just because I couldn't end this?/p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"A resolve washed over his features as he took in my expression, eyes lingering on mine as he nodded. He understood that this was it and I knew it too now. With one last glance and an exhale as he focused on what he'd set out to do, he withdrew his knife once more./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"Despite the advantage the weapon presented, he tested me with a kick aimed squarely at my ribs which I deflected with my forearm. Stepping forward, I swung, unsurprised that he was able to block my fist as well. His next swipe was with the blade and aimed towards my neck, forcing me to take a step back. I stuck my hand out and caught the back of his arm behind the elbow before he could follow through with a backward motion. Another kick aimed towards my ribs pushed be back and I released my grip on his arm./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"He followed through with another kick of which I blocked with my forearms. The force behind the blow, however, made it so that I could not regain my balance in time and fell backwards onto the floor. I knew his next move as he brought his boot downward to crush my sternum. Focused intently on his movement, I used my arm to push against his calf before his boot could make contact with my chest, twisting slightly to extend my own leg and kick his other foot from under him as I rolled to pin him where he fell./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"I landed hard punch to the jaw before he blocked my next swing. His hand shot upward, but before he could secure a grip on my throat I backhanded the inside of his elbow and forced his arm away. He twisted his hips away from me as he planted his feet on the floor, opposite hand disregarding the blade and coming up to grip my hair and drive me towards the floor as we switched places./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"He repeated my motions and landed a swift blow to the jaw, causing my head to snap in the opposite direction so that he could stand with his hand clamped tightly around my throat as he lifted me off the floor so that my feet no longer touched the ground. Instinctively my hands gripped at his arm in an attempt to pry his hand away and relieve the pressure of my own weight from my neck to little avail./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"For a moment he hesitated with me in the air, pushing my feet back down as I tried to kick him. Shaking his head, I was vaguely aware of the dimmed glow from his gloves before he twisted sharply, releasing me so that my body slammed into the pane of glass we'd been looking out of moments ago. I heard the glass crack and the entire pane splintered but refused to break. "I expected more from you." He frowned, boot colliding with my ribs before my lungs could fully appreciate my ability to breathe again./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"Before I could take another breath he kicked again causing my diaphragm to seize and cramp, denying me the oxygen I needed. My vision blurred slightly and I knew he'd at the very least fractured my ribs. For a moment I could see myself and Bruce leaning against one another as we promised the other that we would make it through the day. I couldn't leave him like this, not again. Eric's boot came down again, snapping me back to the present and causing me to cough and gasp./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"Drawing on the braces again, I looked up again. A blue haze overcast my surroundings, but I could still see clearly and managed to catch his foot before it could connect with my head. Finally allowing my lungs to expand fully, I took a deep breath and maintained my grip on his boot as I slowly rose to my feet between the pressure of his foot and the wall behind me./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"Maintaining his balance, Eric plucked the fallen blade from the floor and with a snap of his wrist he sent it in my direction so that it buried itself just below my ribs. I released my grip on his foot and removed the foreign object from my stomach, unable to feel the sting of anything over the pounding in my head. He stared at me, raising his arms to guard against my fists./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"Releasing my grip on my knife I knotted my hands in his shirt and swept my foot behind his legs to take his balance as I twisted to put him against the wall I'd been stuck against moments before. He stumbled, grabbing my arms as we both tumbled through the compromised pane of glass and fell stories below to the basement levels. I could hear the cracking and splintering of glass shards accompanied by the thud of both our bodies as we collided with the unforgiving poured concrete below./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"I rolled, ignoring the small shards of glass that tore at my skin and dug into my knees as I jumped to pin him to the ground before he could fully grasp his surroundings. We weren't going to repeat past events again. I couldn't just leave him here and have it come back to haunt me. We needed to end this./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"My first strike was to his ribs, holding nothing back as he guarded his face. When he'd broken his guard to try and break my rhythm I planted solid jabs to the nerve bundles in his biceps to weaken his attempts to regain control before delivering a hard blow to the temple just as I'd sustained earlier. His head snapped to the side, but he blinked in an attempt to clear his vision, refusing to allow himself to drift out of consciousness./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"I swung again and again, but he continued to fight back although his attempts had become less effective. He tried to swing the odds in his favor by targeting the wounds I'd sustained, but I felt nothing. It wasn't until I felt a set of solid, metal hands, grab my arms and pull me away that I was interrupted./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"Stumbling back as I was pulled to my feet, I whipped around, shoving hard against the arc reactor on Tony's chest. I turned back to Eric who'd rolled onto his side, coughing like I'd done when he'd kicked me and prepared to reengage until Tony caught my arm again, "Rachel, stop!"/p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"I glared at him, placing my hand over the reactor again as I pushed back once more, harder this time as I drew energy from him and used his own suit against him. He struggled to step forward before falling to one knee as his suit was forced to restart. He didn't understand what was at stake. Eric was going to get away again. He was going to hurt everyone. He was going to hurt Bruce./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"Tony fought against the confines of his suit, motions choppy as the power source was interrupted, irregular and unstable, forcing his suit into another reboot. "Rachel – "/p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"Turning away, I used my foot to knock Eric down. He'd managed to start gathering himself, but I wasn't going to let him get away again. Resuming my attack, I pressed my knee into his chest as he had done to me, raising my fists to strike in quick succession. I could see myself back here training with him. I could feel the fear, anger, and hurt as he'd lead me down the hall to have electricity run through my brain and every time he'd be there when I woke up just to start over again. I'd trusted him and he could never even tell me the complete truth. Most prominent was rage. My body shook as I thought of everything up until now. It wasn't fair, it shouldn't be my fault we were even here. Why me?/p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"I don't know how many times I'd hit him before I felt another hand, warm this time, catch my arm as I brought it back and pull me up. "Rachel, please." It was Bruce, holding me tight against him to slow me from turning back to Eric. I caught a glimpse of him before Bruce turned us around so that he stood between us, physically barring me from going back./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""He…" I breathed, my vision fluctuated with the pounding in my head and my knees buckled as Bruce held us up, pulling back just far enough for him to look over me./p
p style="text-indent: .5in; margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"A deep frown creased his face as he looked at me, "Your eyes…"/p
p style="text-indent: .5in; margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"I couldn't think straight with the pounding in my head. It felt like I'd hit my head against a wall repeatedly while the pressure led me to believe it would just split at any moment. His eyes widened when he noticed that the blood staining my shirt was growing. His hands moved from my shoulders and one rested behind my back while the other applied pressure my stomach and he guided us so that I was laying on the floor./p
p style="text-indent: .5in; margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"Turning my head slightly I could see Eric laying a few feet away. "Is he…?" He coughed and I could see crimson droplets stain the concrete next to him. He wasn't dead, but he was in bad shape. "Bruce, please."/p
p style="text-indent: .5in; margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"He stared at me as if I'd grown another head, "Rachel, I can't just –"/p
p style="text-indent: .5in; margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""He can't breathe, Bruce." I could hear his uneven, labored breathing. Bruce was the best chance he had of not dying right here from his injuries. "I didn't mean to…"/p
p style="text-indent: .5in; margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"Tony extracted himself from his suit, having been restored to normal functioning moments prior. He came to kneel beside us, placing his hands next to Bruce's in preparation for the switch in roles, "Go, Big Guy. I've got it."/p
p style="text-indent: .5in; margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"Reluctantly he moved away, allowing Tony to apply pressure as he shifted his attention to Eric. He tilted him onto his side to clear the blood from his airway before a quick once over to determine the cause of the bleeding./p
p style="text-indent: .5in; margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""Tony –"/p
p style="text-indent: .5in; margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""It's okay." He offered a fleeting, grim smile, "Just, don't leave us, alright?"/p
p style="text-indent: .5in; margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"My stomach knotted and I twisted away before heaving what little stomach contents I had onto the floor. I hadn't been able to eat breakfast with my nerves, but the bile alone caused me to wretch. My heart continued to race, hampering my ability to stay awake as the blood loss remained steady from my injuries. The feeling, although alarming, was unfortunately not new. I could hear Steve's voice from a distance, but I couldn't make out what he'd said as though the volume of my surroundings was being decreased until I couldn't hear anything. I noticed Bruce look from Eric to me and back as Eric said something to him, but that was it before everything went dark./p
p style="text-indent: .5in; margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""Where…" I trailed, unable to sit up. My head continued to pound and my vision remained blurry, but I could make out some of the silhouettes around the quinjet, "Where is everyone?"/p
p style="text-indent: .5in; margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""They're alright. Thor, Clint, and Natasha are making sure the base stays secure until the authorities arrive to pick up the remaining agents and secure the equipment." Steve was sitting closest to me./p
p style="text-indent: .5in; margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""I need that needle." Bruce extended his hand in Tony's direction./p
p style="text-indent: .5in; margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""Got it." Tony retrieved the needle from the medical supplies and handed the item over./p
p style="text-indent: .5in; margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"I turned my head, blinking in an attempt to get my eyes to focus. I could see them talking among themselves as Bruce leaned over the bed Eric had been strapped to on the opposite side of the aircraft. Secured in a seat nearby, bearing a heavy set of electromagnetic cuffs, was looking onward./p
p style="text-indent: .5in; margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""You know, I could be of help if –"/p
p style="text-indent: .5in; margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""No." Tony turned to face Sterns before noticing from his peripheral vison that I was watching, "Oh good, he was telling the truth about the Radiogardase and the Potassium Iodide." He offered a tense smile before turning his attention back to Bruce and Eric./p
p style="text-indent: .5in; margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""Hold him still." Bruce instructed as Eric unsuccessfully coughed, unable to take in oxygen. Again, blood intruded into the airways and he was, at least I'd hoped, unaware of his surroundings. Tony placed a hand on either shoulder, keeping his torso from flat against the bed so that the coughs didn't disturb what Bruce did next./p
p style="text-indent: .5in; margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"Bruce felt for a gap between Eric's ribs before plunging the rather large needle into Eric's chest, pulling the plunger so that the tube filled with blood. When the needle was nearly full, Eric audibly gasped as his lungs filled with air rather than his own blood. Removing the plastic tube, he replaced it with an empty one and instructed Tony to keep an eye on him for a moment. With a sigh, Bruce stepped back for a moment, turning to look in my direction and confirm for himself that whatever was in my IV was indeed helping./p
p style="text-indent: .5in; margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"He removed the disposable gloves he wore and replaced them with fresh ones as he approached. Although he remained focused the crease along his forehead remained as the concern never left his features. "It was hard to tell if it was the radiation or shock…" He murmured as he leaned in close with a small flashlight to check for the reaction of my pupils. "Please try to stay awake, Rachel. We are almost there."/p
p style="text-indent: .5in; margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"I blinked to clear the watering of my eyes as he moved to my left eye. Although my eye was adjusting after the stark contrast of the light and the other surroundings I did get a closer look at his eyes as well. He stood quickly after checking my pupils, but I'd already seen that his eyes were just as green as they were brown. Now wasn't the time to address it as it was obvious he was keeping busy by checking Eric and I. He paused with one last glance and his hand lingered on mine before he moved to the other side of the aircraft again./p
p style="text-indent: .5in; margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"We didn't touch down until we were on the helipad of a secure facility, where, I wasn't entirely sure. Everyone was ushered inside as soon as we landed, each being wheeled off or taken to separate examination rooms. It was a few hours before I was determined to no longer be radioactive and a few days before we could return to New York. With us, we took Eric and before other governments and agencies could take them into their own custody for questions. Although he appeared to be out of the woods, Eric has still not yet woken up after being placed in a medically induced coma in hopes of reducing the swelling in his brain. I'd beaten him within an inch of his life, fueled by the surrounding radiation and rage./p
p style="text-indent: .5in; margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"I'd pestered Tony a handful of times before he finally caved in and replayed the footage for me. Horrified, I watched myself, capillaries surrounding my eyes and my irises producing a blue glow as my body struggled to process the radiation I'd taken in. It explained how I could do so much damage with my hands, even if I was wearing the braces, the damage was extensive. The guilt stayed with me even as Bruce tried to comfort me, I couldn't think of anything else. I worried, hoping that Eric would wake up soon. I didn't mean to kill him, how could I?/p
hr /
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"Inhaling sharply, my eyes flew open, taking in my surroundings before blinking to clear the fog of sleep. Confused, I sat up and rubbed at my arms in an attempt to ease the goosebumps as the crisp early morning air settled into my skin. The way my heart was beating suggested that I'd had a nightmare, but I didn't remember dreaming./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""Are you okay?" Bruce was watching me, already propped up with the tablet in hand again as if he'd been awake for a while, extending his arm in my direction to rub my back, "I wanted to let you sleep more, but…" He shrugged./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""I don't know what woke me." He nodded and pushed the covers off himself, swinging his legs out of the bed as he prepared to get up. "How long have you been awake?" I wondered, I could tell he was anxious as he tried to go about his normal morning routine./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""Too long." He smiled sheepishly before opening the sliding closet door to retrieve a shirt, "I tried, but I just…can't stop thinking."/p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"I sighed, "Yeah…one more day." I told myself as I got out of bed./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"He paused, "Rachel, I – I don't know how much control I will have over myself." I could see his hand shaking from where I stood as he buttoned his shirt, slowing to try and make more deliberate movements, "The entire night I've just been..." He trailed off and shook his head./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""Nervous?"/p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""Angry." He finished. "Like everything just came back at once."/p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"I stopped moving as I considered what he'd said. Of all the things we talked about, and of all the feelings he'd shared, he'd never surmised everything into a single word or a single emotion. A chill ran down my spine bringing with it images of the Hulk chasing after James from what felt like a lifetime ago. The feelings were intensified by the radiation rolling off of him this morning, fueled by the other guy lurking just below the surface./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""Bruce…" I crossed over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder so he would turn to face me fully, "Bruce, I'm right here." I murmured, my hands on both sides of his face as his head tilted downward until our foreheads were touching. Sometimes it was almost as if he'd forgotten I hadn't died in that hospital and ended up back here with him./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"He closed his eyes and inhaled, taking a deep breath and holding it before letting it out slowly as his hands came to rest on my wrists with his thumbs tracing idle patterns across my skin as he grounded himself, "I know…I know you're here." His eyes opened, finding mine before he nodded to himself and touched his lips to mine and giving my hands a gentle squeeze./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""Don't let it consume you, please." I knew he would still be angry, but I didn't want it to be the only thing that remained. In a rage, the Hulk possessed incredibly destructive power, but it also took a toll on Bruce physically and mentally./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"His hands lingered on mine and he leaned into my touch as he thought, "…One more day." He repeated./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"I smiled, "And then we can literally get lost."/p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""I would like to think my navigation skills are a little better than that…" He mirrored my expression, drawing another deep breath before pulling away to finish getting ready or the day./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"We were early, the first ones to make it to the helipad where the quinjet was waiting. I could see Bruce leaned against one of the glass panels that formed the railing, although still being renovated it was stable. He was deep in thought as he alternated between anxiously clenching his hands and trying to relax them as he stretched his fingers along the smooth surface. I'd taken a moment to double back to my own room in hopes of making the trip just a little easier./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""Bruce." I called to him as I approached./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"He turned, a wry expression turning his lips upwards as he'd been caught overthinking again. Still he said nothing as I reached around him to place a set of headphones over his shoulders, instead opting for a quizzical expression as I pressed a small music player into his hand./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""Just give it a try." I stretched upwards and he leaned in to meet my lips, arms wrapping around so that we stood holding one another for a moment, "Try to focus on the music instead of what's going on up there."/p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"With a nod he sighed, "Thank you." He conceded, placing the music player in his pocket. We remained at the railing watching the city below until the others arrived one by one and we loaded into the quinjet. A few minutes after we were in the air I noticed Bruce move the headphones from his shoulders to his ears, adjusting them until they rested comfortably before turning on the music player. He took a deep breath and gave my hand a squeeze before closing his eyes and tilting his back against the seat in an effort to relax./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"It wasn't until we touched down that the reality of the situation started to set in. We each put in an earpiece and let Steve, Natasha, and Clint leave the quinjet first so that they could quietly move into position. When we got the signal Tony spoke up, "Alright then. You two lead the way." He gestured to Bruce and Thor, "Why don't you guys go knock on the door and let them know we're here?"/p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""My pleasure." Thor stood, pausing to wait for Bruce./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"Bruce followed, casting one last glance in my direction, "Keep an eye on Tony, okay?" He offered a halfhearted grin as Tony scoffed./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""Don't worry, Big Guy. We've got this."/p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""I'll meet you back here." I assured him before they left./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"After they were gone, Tony came to join me at the exit of the quinjet. "Are you ready?"/p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"I touched my thumb to the inside of each cuff so that they unfolded around my hands and forearms. "About as ready as I'm going to be." Taking one last steadying breath, I met his gaze, and he placed a hand on my shoulder before we stepped out of the aircraft and the faceplate of his mask covered his expression./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"The blaring alarms could be heard long before we entered through the gaping hole where the steel door had been caved in making the updates from the earpiece a bit difficult to decipher among the chaos that was unfurling. I motioned for Tony to follow me through a set of tall double doors on the right without thinking, trusting my feet to follow the working memory I'd built of this place. The corridor stretched on for a few yards before splitting off into two directions with a stairwell at each end./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""I'm going to check this way and move upward and eventually I'll run into Thor. If he's moving lower in the building either you will catch him or drive him into the others."/p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"Tony's arm extended so that his hand caught my metal clad forearm before I could start moving in my chosen direction. "Rachel – "/p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""We don't have time to waste, the longer we wait, the more of them get away."/p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""I know, just…you'd better make it back in one piece, okay?"/p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"With a nod we parted ways. I could hear footsteps echoing from both directions in the stairwell as scientists and agents scrambled to evacuate, but I started to climb the stairs as I said I would./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""I've got eyes on Dawn in the southeast stairwell, level two."/p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"My head snapped in the direction of the agent above me, drawing my gun to level in his direction as I continued to move upwards along the wall until I could get to a landing. He kept his sights trained on me as he listened to communications from his own earpiece./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""Put it down." I demanded as I continued to hug the wall, leaning forward ever so slightly so that I could keep an eye on him. A door opened and I could hear more footsteps from below. It was hard to discern how many with the echoes from above, but I thought I could hear at least four sets./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"A loud crack and a small plume of granulated stone revealed a small bullet hole left in the stone inches from my head. Pressing myself into the wall I took a deep breath before stepping out and firing a shot in response to the agent. He recoiled, ducking out of sight for a moment, but long enough for me to change position and climb to the next landing and fire a warning shot to keep him moving as I made my way to the nearest door and exited the stairwell./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"After a few paces, I opened the door to my left and slipped inside, quietly pressing the door closed as I heard the stairwell door swing open and slam into the wall as agents followed me onto the floor./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"A straight, barren hallway was not an ideal place to be when they had their guns trained on me. I needed a room with a bit more to offer. Turning, I took in the unfamiliar room and frowned. It was a lab, but not one that I recognized. Abandoned papers littered the surfaces of the room with the exception of a padded table in the middle with equipment off to the side and a lonely computer in the corner. I'd been hoping for at least a separate observation room, but I would have to work with what was here./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""Check every room. She's fast, but she couldn't have gotten far."/p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"They were splitting up. Perfect, I thought as I crouched behind the metal base of the table and waited. I listened more carefully, trying to tune out stimuli from the alarm and flashing emergency lights./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"The door to the room opened and a set of footsteps made their way into the room. Quietly, I pushed myself to the opposite side of the table as they began to circle from the right. I waited until they continued the path around the top of the table before pulling their feet from under them, shifting to the side to doge a kick as they fell before pouncing to pin them to the floor with my knee on their chest. I blocked their fist with my forearm and followed with a quick punch to the temple. Immediately they stilled, out cold./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"I paused, plucking the headset from their ear and holding it close to mine to hear what was going on. " – the samples. I'll take care of her."/p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"He was here. Standing up, I braced myself against the table for a moment as my thoughts began to race. I knew he would be, but the thought of confronting him finally and for the last time had done a number on my nerves. After taking a few more steadying breaths, I pushed off of the table and made my way to the door./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"The hall was empty when I stepped out of the room and I made a quick pass through each room to continue my search. Empty handed I continued up to the next floor unhindered and slightly unnerved by that fact. All attempts to subdue or dispose of me had been called off and I knew he had to be nearby to not even have eyes on me./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""Rachel, how are we looking?" I jumped, startled by Tony's voice in my ear./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"I cursed to myself before answering, "Uh, nothing yet. You?"/p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""No, just a bunch of half baked—wait, I think I – Can you get to level two of the basement? I –gotta go" I could hear Madman addressing Tony on the other side of the line before he stopped communicating./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""Shit." I cursed again, turning to push the door open before I heard the door open and close at the opposite side of the hall. I knew, without even turning, who had entered from the other stairwell./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"I could go; I had a head start. I could make it down the five flights of stairs to the others. Tony was expecting me to be there. The floor shook and the lights flickered as the Hulk roared and smashed his way through the building below while Madman's voice boomed throughout the structure and mingled with the emergency system./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""Why are you here, Rachel?" Eric called, loud deliberate footsteps reverberating off of the walls./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"I hesitated with my hand still on the door before finally turning to look at him. He would follow me and drain as much energy as he could from the Hulk and Tony. It was better for me to stay up here./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"His hands were clad in metal just like mine, though they stopped at his wrists with a slightly thicker band circling each. A blue glow emitted from the solid inlay and I knew he'd been given his own sources of energy to draw from as well. "You shouldn't be here." He frowned. If I didn't know any better he almost seemed disappointed./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""Then why did you ask me to come back?"/p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""I wanted you to come back – " He continued, pausing momentarily when I drew my weapon and pointed it in his direction. "With purpose." He picked up where he left off, stopping midway where the hallway turned inward towards the middle of the building./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""My purpose is to get this over with already."/p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""Then do it." He snapped, "Either pull the trigger or try to arrest me and stop cowering in the corner." He growled. When I hesitated he sighed, "You shouldn't have come back until you were ready, but I knew you'd be here anyway. I want to show you something." He gestured for me to come closer./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"When I didn't move he withdrew his gun, holding it away from his body to show he had no intention of firing. Instead he slowly released the clip, catching it and placing it on the floor before releasing the bullet that was held in the chamber and placing the body of the gun at his feet and standing again. I kept my gun raised and took a few steps closer with my other hand hovering over where I'd clipped a set of cuffs to my beltloop./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"He smirked as I neared him, chuckling to himself when I paused to try and decipher his expression. The glow emanating from the bands on his wrists dimmed slightly and he'd closed the gap between us, knocking the gun from my hand with a hard backswing before my other hand could steady it. His forearm rose between us and tucked itself under my chin, but before he could guide us into the wall I twisted away and cleared some space between us with a hard back kick to his chest./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""What the hell was that?" I spat./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""I'm not leaving this place in cuffs." He smirked, "And if you were going to pull the trigger you would have done so already."/p
p style="text-indent: .5in; margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"I narrowed my eyes, unsure where this was going. "If you wanted me to come back to Hydra, all you'd have to do is say so apparently." Why hadn't he tapped into the conditioning that was instilled? Why even wait for all of this all to unfold? I'd spent years here. At any time he could have told me what was in store for me, but instead he tampered with what Hydra was trying to do to leave me…confused./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"He shook his head, "No, not like that. Not as a mindless agent." I noticed him shift his weight as he observed my expression. Before I could think too much on it, he struck./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"As he stepped forward I drew on the energy from my braces and blocked the swing he'd aimed towards my head, following up with a quick jab to his bicep. He caught me in the jaw and I staggered back a few paces, guiding his next swing upward as I caught the fist and continued to twist inward with my other hand shoving hard against his collarbone. I followed swiftly with a knee to his diaphragm to pin him to the wall and limit his range of motion/p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"He threw up an arm in time to deflect my punch before retaliating with his own swing. His hand clamped tightly around my throat before I could recover and he twisted so that my back was thrown against the wall. He released his grip and replaced it with his forearm under my chin again, holding me there, "You were always a fighter, but you just need a little push." Pressing closer, he made it impossible for me to bend my legs enough to get in a solid kick./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"Gritting my teeth I reached around the arm he was using to pin me and dug my fingers into the space at the middle of his clavicle, driving downwards until he backed away. I gasped, hunched slightly as I filled my lungs with air. It was a small reprieve. He withdrew a short knife as I grabbed one of the cuffs that had been linked behind me./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"I caught his first swipe by crossing my forearms and applying pressure, guiding his arm to twist towards the outside of my body and for him to turn just enough so that I could kick behind his knee and cause him to stagger. He caught himself, rolling into the momentum rather than fight it and created enough space for him to whip around and launch the knife towards me. With milliseconds to spare, I covered my face with my arms to deflect the blade which presented him with an opening to move in./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"His fist slammed into my lower ribs and I braced myself for another so that I didn't open my face up for a swing. He took the shot, hammering once more at my ribs, but I cleared him away with a downward sweep of my arms before he could go for a third. This time I buried my own fist between his ribs in an upward motion before he could bring his arms in. He recoiled, half stepping backwards before reversing the momentum with a backhanded swing. I ducked under his arm and caught the other fist he'd followed with, quickly slapping one of the cuffs below his glove and pushing myself away as it secured itself around his arm./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""It won't be that easy." He lifted his arm to better observe the cuff I'd managed to put on him, "You'll have to kill me, Rachel."/p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"My eyes widened and I stared at him for a moment. He'd said it so calmly I almost didn't believe him. "You emwant/em that?"/p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""I've made peace with it." He shrugged, "It's either me or you. Only one of us gets to leave this place today."/p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"I shook my head, shivering as though ice water had been pumped into my veins. "That's not – "/p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""Don't you hear them down below?" He paused so that I could hear the ongoing fight between the Hulk and Madman. "That, is a sense of self preservation. Something I'm not entirely sure that you possess. When your fight or flight instinct kicks in, you fight, but you hesitate to actually finish the job."/p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""You don't always have to."/p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""But you never do." He leveled his gaze to meet mine, "I'm sorry I took that from you. I was supposed to help you become stronger, not hinder your growth."/p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""You asshole." I hissed, suddenly filled with anger. That was one of the few times he'd actually been sincere with me and it was completely messed up. "So what, you're mad at the world and emthis/em is how you react? There are other ways to deal with things when the world deals you a fucked up hand."/p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""I don't think I've ever seen you truly angry before…not like this." He pondered aloud, "It looks good on you."/p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"Before I could argue he closed the gap between us, landing a solid blow to my jaw and then another on the other side. Instinctively, I threw my arms up to shield my head, but instead of swinging he brought his leg up and planted a hard stomp kick between my forearms to break my guard. Exploiting my vulnerability, he grabbed me by the neck and drove my head towards the ground as he knelt down on my chest. My head was swimming and my body was shocked by the sudden brutality behind the attack. He really was going to kill me./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""Why didn't you just shoot me then?" I managed with the short breaths I was able to take./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""I should have." He admitted. But he didn't. He managed to almost sound apologetic, but I couldn't be sure. My oxygen supply was severely limited after all./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"I was prepared for the next blade he withdrew. I'd gone over this obsessively since the last time we fought. I would never be used as bait like that ever again. My hand shot out, catching the blade between the metal that covered my palm and my fingers. With a hard twist I wrenched the blade from his grip, surprising him with my disregard for the blade digging into my hand. In a single motion I flipped the blade around, caught, and swung in his directing./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"He let up quickly, but the blade still managed to catch him in the arm. Rolling away, I jumped to my feet, vision spotty with the sudden motion as I recovered from the lack of proper airflow. Without wasting any time, he had a new blade in his hand and was moving in to reengage./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"Remaining defensive, I deflected his swing. I was at a disadvantage here and couldn't afford to take too many risks. My swipes kept him from getting too close, but he was going to find a way in at some point. Narrowly missing one of his swipes with the blade, I ducked and stretched my leg so that my heel interrupted his step, earing me a chance to slip under his arm and use my hip to hoist him across my body and into the floor./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"He twisted as soon as he made contact with the floor, bouncing back to his feet and drawing me towards him as he refused to break contact with my forearm. With a hard shove he sent my spine into the wall. I retaliated with a swing as he stepped closer, of which he mirrored followed by a hard kick to the stomach just as I'd pushed off the wall. The second collision caused my head to snap back against the unforgiving surface and I dropped my weapon./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"I grit my teeth and my arms rose to shield my head from the onslaught of his fists. My ribs bore the brunt of the attack until I pieced together a rhythm and interrupted his pattern with a swing of my own. My elbow followed swiftly in a backward motion, landing a solid blow to the face and clearing a bit of space for me to get my back off the wall./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"Another hard kick sent me back to where I started. I'd managed to throw my hands in place in time so that it didn't connect fully with my torso, but the force did drive me back a step. Releasing his foot I adjusted to catch his wrist before the blade he brought down could bury itself into my shoulder, struggling to force his arm upward and instead twisting slightly so that I was no longer in the path of the weapon./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"I dug my fingertips into his arm, keeping one hand clamped onto his wrist so that he could not take another swing. With my other hand I yanked the second cuff from my belt loop, but before I could snap it onto the arm I held he caught my wrist and mirrored my action by forcing my arm downward./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""That's not how this ends." He reiterated, unwavering expression remaining intact as he kept the blade facing inward, applying pressure until the knife pierced my thigh./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"Crying out as I released a breath in a hiss I squeezed my eyes shut and threw my head forward, straight into his nose forcefully enough to make him withdraw. He cursed, hand clamped over the area, but the crimson drops of blood that fell to the floor let me know I might have broken his nose. Continuing to draw on the energy from my braces and the adrenaline that had been coursing through my veins, I hardly felt the blade as I quickly snatched it out of my leg and flung it back in his direction with more precision than I'd intended. It embedded itself right into the forearm of the hand that covered his face. Had his arm not been there, it would have landed squarely in his chest./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"A pained chuckle made its way from him as he paused momentarily to remove the knife from his arm, wiping the blood from the blade onto his pants leg before wielding it properly once more, "Now that's more like it."/p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"I pressed my palm to my thigh, the smooth surface of my brace doing little to stem the blood flow, as I tested my balance and took a step. It burned and stung in protest, but still functioned as it should. Thankfully the wound was towards the outside of my thigh, away from the femoral artery. Although it bled heavily; I wasn't in immediate danger due to the bleeding. Keeping my gaze trained on Eric, I watched as he did the same and flexed his injured arm. Despite what he portrayed, the smirk across his features did not reach his eyes./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"He was bluffing. His smirk was his tell. I knew he didn't genuinely enjoy watching others suffer. He may have been a helping hand in all of this, but he wasn't a sadist. He preferred to get things over with quickly no matter the weapon of choice. He smirked to mask his displeasure or discomfort since Hydra didn't allow for weakness./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""Eric…" I was at a loss for words. Being back here brought with it more painful and muddled recollections, but I'd prepared myself the best that I could. In the pit of my stomach, most prominent of all, was confusion. He was the one that had brought me here and played an instrumental part in my everyday life, assisting Hydra and still undermining the conditioning they'd worked to instill./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"His expression fell, a small frown taking shape. As complicated as it was, we'd spent years at the other's side and looked out for one another. There was this unspoken, but almost palpable, sadness hanging between us. He shook his head, dismissing my silent plea for him to reconsider, "I'm sorry." He uttered, but for what he didn't say./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"He adjusted the grip he had on the knife before stepping forward. I deflected his swing, ducking under his next swipe and staggering slightly as I stepped around him. The injury interrupted the fluidity of my movement just as he'd anticipated, giving him the chance to adjust his footing in order to whip around in the same direction and guide his knee into my diaphragm before delivering a solid backhanded fist to my temple. A flash of light and color blinded me as my optic nerves misfired before going blank./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"My entire body ached and my head felt like it would split open from the pressure. I could make out the blurry shape of my legs and feet sliding along the floor before the dark haze blanketed my vision once more. Struggling to regain consciousness, I muttered to myself, hoping that hearing something would alert my senses. Eric's response was muffled, unable to register completely in my state, and I slipped back into unconsciousness./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"A sharp, burning sensation stung my nostrils and a hard cough reignited the aching across my body as my lungs worked to clear my airways. Opening my eyes, I blinked to clear the moisture that pooled at the corners as everything came into focus again. The emergency lights continued to flash and I closed my eyes instinctively until my pupils adjusted to the harsh lighting. The audible alarm, however, had since stopped. Anyone left in the base would have already been alerted and higher ranked personnel would have attempted to execute escape plans./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"Eric remained crouched in front of me, a torn packet of smelling salt still in hand as he observed my expression. "Last chance, Rachel." He dropped the packet and hoisted me to my feet, twisting one arm behind me and keeping a hand clamped to the back of my neck in order to guide my line of sight where he wanted./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"I stumbled, partially due to the wound on my leg as well as the sudden movement, but he held me in place in front of the large one way mirror that allowed for observation floors below where we stood. From the corner of my eye I could tell we'd moved towards the center of the building where an atrium like section had been left open. Below I could see into the first few levels of the basement where a large, mostly empty, area had been left./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""Do you remember?" He wondered, leaning in close so that he could see what I did./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"The open space is where we'd spent the majority of our time training, or rather, where I'd spent time training. On occasion he'd bring in various equipment, but for the most part the standard equipment remained in the corner so that we could rearrange it as needed. A stack of aged fall mats remained abandoned in the corner where they'd been since I could remember, never used in my time here. He'd insisted the mats would hinder my learning experience. He'd wanted them to be as realistic as possible so that I could react accordingly. Everything had to be as close to the real thing as it could be so he and I both knew I could handle anything that came my way instead of clamming up if and when slight variances occurred./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"Now, however, dust and debris littered the area and the two giants exchanged blows in the open area, unhindered by the smaller confines that shaped the rest of the building. A muted crash could be heard as the Hulk's oversized hand ripped up a bench that had been secured to the concrete floor and broke it across Madman's face, followed swiftly with a closed fist that forced the red beast to take a defensive stance. He continued to shift in size in order to avoid the Hulk's wrath, managing to exchange punches with him when the time presented. The Hulk was livid, animalistic almost without regard to his surroundings in his attack./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"I wasn't able to nod with his hand clamped as it was behind my neck, but he acknowledged the attempt. After a pause he spoke again, "I thought he would snap right there in that hospital when he thought you were gone… You care about him too, don't you?"/p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"Attempting to twist away, I grit my teeth as he pushed my arm further up my back to keep me in place, "You don't have to – "/p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""After everything, you still won't fight to save your own life at the expense of another. What about his?" He stayed close, ensuring that I didn't miss a word, "After we're done here I'm going to help Madman finish off the Hulk. Even if he doesn't die, we will bury him, keep him sedated in a hole so deep by the time he makes his way out everyone else will be gone…I think Stark is first on that list." He hummed to himself, mock thoughtfulness lacing his tone as he leaned away and watched my expression through the reflection in the glass./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""You'll never get close enough." With the way Bruce had been shaking this morning I knew the Hulk was more than ready for any opponent./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""Well not on my own, but if I drop your body at his feet I'm sure that'll buy me some time." He released his grip and took a step back, head tilted slightly as he continued to fish for a nerve./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"I couldn't swallow past the lump in my throat. He'd found one alright. Turning to face him, I drew on the energy available to me, numbing the pain as I moved. He would kill me and afterwards use that to hurt Bruce? No, it wasn't about him. It was meant to hurt me. Would I allow him to hurt the people I cared about just because I couldn't end this?/p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"A resolve washed over his features as he took in my expression, eyes lingering on mine as he nodded. He understood that this was it and I knew it too now. With one last glance and an exhale as he focused on what he'd set out to do, he withdrew his knife once more./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"Despite the advantage the weapon presented, he tested me with a kick aimed squarely at my ribs which I deflected with my forearm. Stepping forward, I swung, unsurprised that he was able to block my fist as well. His next swipe was with the blade and aimed towards my neck, forcing me to take a step back. I stuck my hand out and caught the back of his arm behind the elbow before he could follow through with a backward motion. Another kick aimed towards my ribs pushed be back and I released my grip on his arm./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"He followed through with another kick of which I blocked with my forearms. The force behind the blow, however, made it so that I could not regain my balance in time and fell backwards onto the floor. I knew his next move as he brought his boot downward to crush my sternum. Focused intently on his movement, I used my arm to push against his calf before his boot could make contact with my chest, twisting slightly to extend my own leg and kick his other foot from under him as I rolled to pin him where he fell./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"I landed hard punch to the jaw before he blocked my next swing. His hand shot upward, but before he could secure a grip on my throat I backhanded the inside of his elbow and forced his arm away. He twisted his hips away from me as he planted his feet on the floor, opposite hand disregarding the blade and coming up to grip my hair and drive me towards the floor as we switched places./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"He repeated my motions and landed a swift blow to the jaw, causing my head to snap in the opposite direction so that he could stand with his hand clamped tightly around my throat as he lifted me off the floor so that my feet no longer touched the ground. Instinctively my hands gripped at his arm in an attempt to pry his hand away and relieve the pressure of my own weight from my neck to little avail./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"For a moment he hesitated with me in the air, pushing my feet back down as I tried to kick him. Shaking his head, I was vaguely aware of the dimmed glow from his gloves before he twisted sharply, releasing me so that my body slammed into the pane of glass we'd been looking out of moments ago. I heard the glass crack and the entire pane splintered but refused to break. "I expected more from you." He frowned, boot colliding with my ribs before my lungs could fully appreciate my ability to breathe again./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"Before I could take another breath he kicked again causing my diaphragm to seize and cramp, denying me the oxygen I needed. My vision blurred slightly and I knew he'd at the very least fractured my ribs. For a moment I could see myself and Bruce leaning against one another as we promised the other that we would make it through the day. I couldn't leave him like this, not again. Eric's boot came down again, snapping me back to the present and causing me to cough and gasp./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"Drawing on the braces again, I looked up again. A blue haze overcast my surroundings, but I could still see clearly and managed to catch his foot before it could connect with my head. Finally allowing my lungs to expand fully, I took a deep breath and maintained my grip on his boot as I slowly rose to my feet between the pressure of his foot and the wall behind me./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"Maintaining his balance, Eric plucked the fallen blade from the floor and with a snap of his wrist he sent it in my direction so that it buried itself just below my ribs. I released my grip on his foot and removed the foreign object from my stomach, unable to feel the sting of anything over the pounding in my head. He stared at me, raising his arms to guard against my fists./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"Releasing my grip on my knife I knotted my hands in his shirt and swept my foot behind his legs to take his balance as I twisted to put him against the wall I'd been stuck against moments before. He stumbled, grabbing my arms as we both tumbled through the compromised pane of glass and fell stories below to the basement levels. I could hear the cracking and splintering of glass shards accompanied by the thud of both our bodies as we collided with the unforgiving poured concrete below./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"I rolled, ignoring the small shards of glass that tore at my skin and dug into my knees as I jumped to pin him to the ground before he could fully grasp his surroundings. We weren't going to repeat past events again. I couldn't just leave him here and have it come back to haunt me. We needed to end this./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"My first strike was to his ribs, holding nothing back as he guarded his face. When he'd broken his guard to try and break my rhythm I planted solid jabs to the nerve bundles in his biceps to weaken his attempts to regain control before delivering a hard blow to the temple just as I'd sustained earlier. His head snapped to the side, but he blinked in an attempt to clear his vision, refusing to allow himself to drift out of consciousness./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"I swung again and again, but he continued to fight back although his attempts had become less effective. He tried to swing the odds in his favor by targeting the wounds I'd sustained, but I felt nothing. It wasn't until I felt a set of solid, metal hands, grab my arms and pull me away that I was interrupted./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"Stumbling back as I was pulled to my feet, I whipped around, shoving hard against the arc reactor on Tony's chest. I turned back to Eric who'd rolled onto his side, coughing like I'd done when he'd kicked me and prepared to reengage until Tony caught my arm again, "Rachel, stop!"/p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"I glared at him, placing my hand over the reactor again as I pushed back once more, harder this time as I drew energy from him and used his own suit against him. He struggled to step forward before falling to one knee as his suit was forced to restart. He didn't understand what was at stake. Eric was going to get away again. He was going to hurt everyone. He was going to hurt Bruce./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"Tony fought against the confines of his suit, motions choppy as the power source was interrupted, irregular and unstable, forcing his suit into another reboot. "Rachel – "/p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"Turning away, I used my foot to knock Eric down. He'd managed to start gathering himself, but I wasn't going to let him get away again. Resuming my attack, I pressed my knee into his chest as he had done to me, raising my fists to strike in quick succession. I could see myself back here training with him. I could feel the fear, anger, and hurt as he'd lead me down the hall to have electricity run through my brain and every time he'd be there when I woke up just to start over again. I'd trusted him and he could never even tell me the complete truth. Most prominent was rage. My body shook as I thought of everything up until now. It wasn't fair, it shouldn't be my fault we were even here. Why me?/p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"I don't know how many times I'd hit him before I felt another hand, warm this time, catch my arm as I brought it back and pull me up. "Rachel, please." It was Bruce, holding me tight against him to slow me from turning back to Eric. I caught a glimpse of him before Bruce turned us around so that he stood between us, physically barring me from going back./p
p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""He…" I breathed, my vision fluctuated with the pounding in my head and my knees buckled as Bruce held us up, pulling back just far enough for him to look over me./p
p style="text-indent: .5in; margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"A deep frown creased his face as he looked at me, "Your eyes…"/p
p style="text-indent: .5in; margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"I couldn't think straight with the pounding in my head. It felt like I'd hit my head against a wall repeatedly while the pressure led me to believe it would just split at any moment. His eyes widened when he noticed that the blood staining my shirt was growing. His hands moved from my shoulders and one rested behind my back while the other applied pressure my stomach and he guided us so that I was laying on the floor./p
p style="text-indent: .5in; margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"Turning my head slightly I could see Eric laying a few feet away. "Is he…?" He coughed and I could see crimson droplets stain the concrete next to him. He wasn't dead, but he was in bad shape. "Bruce, please."/p
p style="text-indent: .5in; margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"He stared at me as if I'd grown another head, "Rachel, I can't just –"/p
p style="text-indent: .5in; margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""He can't breathe, Bruce." I could hear his uneven, labored breathing. Bruce was the best chance he had of not dying right here from his injuries. "I didn't mean to…"/p
p style="text-indent: .5in; margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"Tony extracted himself from his suit, having been restored to normal functioning moments prior. He came to kneel beside us, placing his hands next to Bruce's in preparation for the switch in roles, "Go, Big Guy. I've got it."/p
p style="text-indent: .5in; margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"Reluctantly he moved away, allowing Tony to apply pressure as he shifted his attention to Eric. He tilted him onto his side to clear the blood from his airway before a quick once over to determine the cause of the bleeding./p
p style="text-indent: .5in; margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""Tony –"/p
p style="text-indent: .5in; margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""It's okay." He offered a fleeting, grim smile, "Just, don't leave us, alright?"/p
p style="text-indent: .5in; margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"My stomach knotted and I twisted away before heaving what little stomach contents I had onto the floor. I hadn't been able to eat breakfast with my nerves, but the bile alone caused me to wretch. My heart continued to race, hampering my ability to stay awake as the blood loss remained steady from my injuries. The feeling, although alarming, was unfortunately not new. I could hear Steve's voice from a distance, but I couldn't make out what he'd said as though the volume of my surroundings was being decreased until I couldn't hear anything. I noticed Bruce look from Eric to me and back as Eric said something to him, but that was it before everything went dark./p
p style="text-indent: .5in; margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""Where…" I trailed, unable to sit up. My head continued to pound and my vision remained blurry, but I could make out some of the silhouettes around the quinjet, "Where is everyone?"/p
p style="text-indent: .5in; margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""They're alright. Thor, Clint, and Natasha are making sure the base stays secure until the authorities arrive to pick up the remaining agents and secure the equipment." Steve was sitting closest to me./p
p style="text-indent: .5in; margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""I need that needle." Bruce extended his hand in Tony's direction./p
p style="text-indent: .5in; margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""Got it." Tony retrieved the needle from the medical supplies and handed the item over./p
p style="text-indent: .5in; margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"I turned my head, blinking in an attempt to get my eyes to focus. I could see them talking among themselves as Bruce leaned over the bed Eric had been strapped to on the opposite side of the aircraft. Secured in a seat nearby, bearing a heavy set of electromagnetic cuffs, was looking onward./p
p style="text-indent: .5in; margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""You know, I could be of help if –"/p
p style="text-indent: .5in; margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""No." Tony turned to face Sterns before noticing from his peripheral vison that I was watching, "Oh good, he was telling the truth about the Radiogardase and the Potassium Iodide." He offered a tense smile before turning his attention back to Bruce and Eric./p
p style="text-indent: .5in; margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;""Hold him still." Bruce instructed as Eric unsuccessfully coughed, unable to take in oxygen. Again, blood intruded into the airways and he was, at least I'd hoped, unaware of his surroundings. Tony placed a hand on either shoulder, keeping his torso from flat against the bed so that the coughs didn't disturb what Bruce did next./p
p style="text-indent: .5in; margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"Bruce felt for a gap between Eric's ribs before plunging the rather large needle into Eric's chest, pulling the plunger so that the tube filled with blood. When the needle was nearly full, Eric audibly gasped as his lungs filled with air rather than his own blood. Removing the plastic tube, he replaced it with an empty one and instructed Tony to keep an eye on him for a moment. With a sigh, Bruce stepped back for a moment, turning to look in my direction and confirm for himself that whatever was in my IV was indeed helping./p
p style="text-indent: .5in; margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"He removed the disposable gloves he wore and replaced them with fresh ones as he approached. Although he remained focused the crease along his forehead remained as the concern never left his features. "It was hard to tell if it was the radiation or shock…" He murmured as he leaned in close with a small flashlight to check for the reaction of my pupils. "Please try to stay awake, Rachel. We are almost there."/p
p style="text-indent: .5in; margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"I blinked to clear the watering of my eyes as he moved to my left eye. Although my eye was adjusting after the stark contrast of the light and the other surroundings I did get a closer look at his eyes as well. He stood quickly after checking my pupils, but I'd already seen that his eyes were just as green as they were brown. Now wasn't the time to address it as it was obvious he was keeping busy by checking Eric and I. He paused with one last glance and his hand lingered on mine before he moved to the other side of the aircraft again./p
p style="text-indent: .5in; margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"We didn't touch down until we were on the helipad of a secure facility, where, I wasn't entirely sure. Everyone was ushered inside as soon as we landed, each being wheeled off or taken to separate examination rooms. It was a few hours before I was determined to no longer be radioactive and a few days before we could return to New York. With us, we took Eric and before other governments and agencies could take them into their own custody for questions. Although he appeared to be out of the woods, Eric has still not yet woken up after being placed in a medically induced coma in hopes of reducing the swelling in his brain. I'd beaten him within an inch of his life, fueled by the surrounding radiation and rage./p
p style="text-indent: .5in; margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 108%;"I'd pestered Tony a handful of times before he finally caved in and replayed the footage for me. Horrified, I watched myself, capillaries surrounding my eyes and my irises producing a blue glow as my body struggled to process the radiation I'd taken in. It explained how I could do so much damage with my hands, even if I was wearing the braces, the damage was extensive. The guilt stayed with me even as Bruce tried to comfort me, I couldn't think of anything else. I worried, hoping that Eric would wake up soon. I didn't mean to kill him, how could I?/p