Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Nicole didn't sleep at all that night. She stayed up till the wee hours of the morning talking to Lala, explaining what had really happened to her, and the events of the entire day. Annoyingly enough, she also shared Tony's belief that she was reading too much into the situation with Nick Fury.

'When the world gives you lemons….'

Nicole sighed as she sat out on the balcony, waiting for the sun to rise. There was a cool breeze blowing in from the Pacific Ocean that seemed to caress her skin in an almost calming manner. She could already tell it was going to be a hot June day, and she wasn't looking forward to that any more than she was looking forward to going down to SHIELD. She decided to grab her black macbook and see how her company was actually doing. As the computer started up, it signed her on to AIM instantly. She ignored the instant messenger and logged herself onto the Lion Laboratories' server.

Stark4: What are you doing up so early?

Nicole blinked in surprise. She hadn't expected anyone to be on AIM at that time of day, especially Tony….

NLion: Making sure you haven't run my company into the ground.

Nicole smirked to herself as she pressed enter to send the message. She could almost see Tony laughing in her mind's eye.

Stark4: Glad to see you trust me so much. Why didn't you call me last night?

Nicole cocked her head to the side; You didn't call me either… She ignored that stray thought as she typed back a response.

NLion: I got caught up with some shit. Lala spent the night, my dad came over, I went shopping…

Stark4: Your father came over? Are you okay?

NLion: Oh, yeah. I'm great. Forget the fact that my dad now knows that I'm sleeping around with you. He only tried to choke me.

Nicole would have loved to be in Tony's presence as he received that message.

'5…4…3…2…1…'

Right on cue, Nicole's blackberry rang. She didn't have to look at the screen to know who was calling. Before she could even breathe a hello, Tony was already on the rampage.

"Your father did what to you?!"

"Tony," Nicole started, knowing she had to head him off before his train started rolling. "Really, I'm fine."

But once Tony was pissed, there was no stopping him, "Tell me what happened."

Nicole inhaled deeply, "I came home, I didn't see him. I went looking for my car keys and find him sitting on the couch. He sees my reactor, he flips, he sees that goddamn hickey you just had to leave behind and tries to kill me."

Tony was silent on the other end of the line, never a good sign….

"Tony?"

"Goddamn…."

"What?"

"You've been in this business long enough," Tony said. "Do you remember Justin Hammer?"

"Justin Hammer?" Nicole repeated. "Sounds familiar….Hammer….Hammer…. Justin Hammer….Of course, of Hammer Enterprises!"

"Mm-hm," Tony hummed in response. "He's one of my biggest competitors."

"And?" Nicole's eyebrows arched, at least she wasn't the only thing that was giving Tony things to be angry about.

"He's trying to undercut my deal with the Air Force," Tony sighed.

"Like Rhodey would ever let that happen."

"Whatever," Nicole could tell Tony had just rolled his eyes. "You're okay though?"

"Never better," Nicole said, massaging her aching neck with one hand.

"So, why are you up so early?"

"Because nobody cares about me."

"Okay," Tony laughed. "Why the hell do you say that?"

"Because it's true," Nicole responded. "You don't trust in me enough to follow this damned feeling of mine about Nick Fury. Lala agrees with you, strangely enough, so I'm stuck out on my own. Tony, didn't you once tell me that you became Iron Man because you felt in your heart that it was right? Well, I feel in my heart that Fury's hiding something from me!"

"Listen," Tony said at last. "I did say that at one point, and it still is the reason I became Iron Man and continue to do what I do. If this feeling is truly as strong as you say it is, then I'll come down to SHIELD headquarters with you."

"Really?"

"Really," Tony responded. "Come by the Lion Labs building at like five this afternoon and I'll go with you."

Nicole grinned, "Thank you so much, Tony."

She felt like a weight had been raised off of her shoulders as she hung up with Tony. Already the day was looking a lot brighter. It seemed nothing was going to keep her down for long. She hoped.

At four thirty that afternoon, Nicole left her house. She was cruising along the familiar Pacific Coast Highway headed towards the building that had belonged to her family for so long. It felt weird to be heading towards it again. Her blackberry chimed as she sped down it, her speed-demon tendencies still in full effect. Her eyes darted to the chiming phone to read a one word text message:

Regret

Nicole never even felt it as a Ford F-350 slammed into her Audi R8, sending the R8 flying through the air. The Audi rolled over several times as it finally hit the ground, but by that time, Nicole was already unconscious. One word slipped out of her mouth as everything around her turned to darkness, Tony.

Tony was waiting. Nicole was usually the one that was on time, while he was almost always running late. He was pacing the lobby of Lion Labs when his blackberry began ringing. Rhodey's name and picture flashed across the screen.

"Yeah?" Tony barked as he pressed the answer key.

"Tony, I need to talk to you."

Half an hour later, Tony maneuvered his silver R8 along the police lines, his car having been cleared by Rhodey to pass along the now shut down Pacific Coast Highway. When finally he spotted Rhodey, he got out of his car. His eyes found the wreckage that was Nicole's navy R8. It looked like a crushed tin can.

"Where is she?" Was the first thing to come out of Tony's mouth.

"Nobody's seen her," Rhodey said. "Her car door had been torn off by the time the paramedics got here, but no witnesses saw anyone take her anywhere."

"Where's the asshole that slammed into her?"

"Dead."

Tony cursed as he turned away from Rhodey. He knew deep in his heart that Nicole was alive, and that the crash hadn't killed her, but with the other driver dead, they weren't going to be able to find Nicole easily.

'It'll take a lot more than a crash to kill Nicole,' Tony's mind told him. 'But what else can she withstand?'

Nicole was in pain. She tried to move, but both her arms and legs were tied down. Her head was throbbing painfully, and her body felt like it had shattered entirely.

'No,' Nicole's mind protested. 'If your whole body had shattered, you wouldn't be around to think about it right now.'

Nicole forced her eyes open just in time to feel something be injected into her upper arm. She hissed as she waited for her vision to clear, which it did moments later. Somebody stepped back from her, now aware she was awake. It was a man. He somehow looked familiar to Nicole

"What did you just inject into me?" Nicole demanded. She realized that she was chained up against a wall by her wrists and ankles.

"Flunitrazepam," The male responded with a smirk. "Flunitrazepam with a shot of tequila."

Nicole's mind worked like a machine to pair the name of the drug with it's affects, "Flunitrazepam…Holy shit! That's…."

"The date-rape drug," The man nodded, confirming what Nicole had been attempting to say.

"Mixing it with alcohol…." Nicole was mentally kicking herself. Her mind just did not want to do the calculations that she was telling it to.

"Increases its effects," The male voiced her thoughts for her with ease.

"Who are you?" Nicole snarled.

"We've met," The man said. "Justin Hammer."

Nicole's pupils dialated greatly, "What the fuck do you want from me? I don't own Lion Labs anymore."

Justin smirked, "Oh, my purposes are beyond Lion Laboratories now."

Nicole heard a faint cough from somewhere close by. Her eyes snapped up and found the piercing blue eyes of her father.

"You!" Nicole snarled. Her snarl turned into a cough as her head began feeling hazy.

"Me," Her father responded with a smirk of his own. He walked over to Nicole and swept a stray hair out of her face. "You ungrateful little witch."

"Thanks, Dad," Nicole groaned. "But you know I prefer being called a bitch."

Nicole gasped in pain as her father slapped her across her face, "You're not in a position to be a wise-ass, Nicole."

"Never stopped you," Nicole couldn't stop herself from saying.

She felt another sting as she was slapped again. There was no doubt left in her mind, her father had gone beyond insane.

"So what?" Nicole asked. "You're going to kill your own daughter?"

"Oh, no," Her father smirked. "There are worse things that can be done to you."

Nicole's brain fuzzed out completely as she heard her clothing tear.

"Tony!!"

TBC!

AN: Yeah, this story is taking a darker turn, a little sooner than I wanted it to, but all the same. I found the info on the Date Rape Drug actually in my Sociology book, and it helped this idea along. I'm just warning y'all, the next few chapters are probably going to be pretty dark, but they'll be good all the same!