Ok, new plan: I upload every Sunday OR Monday because I am obviously terrible at keeping a schedule. Sorry! Here is the new chapter anyway, sorry if it's a bit sappy or if the mood changes a little quickly.
Disclaimer: I own nothing of Marvel, I only own my OCs.
Translations:
Désolé - Sorry
ça fait mal, faire cesser -it hurts, make it stop
S'il vous plaît ne me laisse pas -Please don't leave me
Chapter 18 - Ask Her
"Elise! Hold on," a Brazilian man yelled as the girl squirmed in his grip.
He gently lowered her onto a bed, where she continued to writhe in pain. Her skin was pale and beads of cool sweat ran down her scrunched up face.
"Désolé, Elise. I should have realized earlier," Elliot cried from behind the burly man.
"Elliot, ça fait mal, faire cesser!" she screamed.
The boy turned his head as tears of his own began to seep through. Elise's agony was killing him from the inside. He felt terrible for his twin, as he had for his mother.
"Elise, please let me help you," Dr Santoyo said calmly as he held the younger girl down.
"You can't!" she shrieked, "Just make it stop!"
"That's what he's trying to do," Elliot tried.
"No, make it stop. Please," she sobbed.
"Elliot, ignore her, she's become delusional. We can help her, you just have to listen very closely," Dr Santoya assured.
"W-what do I have to do?"
"Your mother suffered the same illness but she never told anyone how it was caused. Go to your rooms and try and find something about the disease. Anything," he ordered.
"No, Elliot, don't leave!" Elise wailed, "S'il vous plaît ne me laisse pas!"
"I am sorry, Elise, I'm so sorry," her twin whispered as he backed out of the dim, tense room.
"Tony, we need to talk," Alexia declared suddenly as she marched into his lab.
"Yes, we do," he agreed, "Can I go first though?"
"Um, I'd actually prefer it a little more if I go first."
"Yeah but I get the feeling that you won't remember what you want to say because my thing is so surprising," Tony justified.
"All the more reason for me to go first," she grinned.
"Urgh fine, but you just lost all the momentum that I was gonna use for my thing," he begrudgingly said.
"I don't like Maria," the brunette started.
"What?! But everyone loves Maria, except maybe Romanoff, but she doesn't trust anyone."
"Everyone may love Maria but Maria sure doesn't like me. I know it sounds strange but she's been giving me odd looks every so often, and I know she's really nice to everyone but I feel like she's being a bit spiteful towards me," Lexy explained.
"Are you sure? Maria seems so kind and charismatic, I can't understand why she wouldn't like you. Maybe you're just... Jealous?" Tony suggested hesitantly. Alexia's face fell.
"What?"
"I mean you were the newest member of the group until Steve invited her over. Are you sure you're not just-"
"Tony, I'm not jealous! I wasn't envious of Paige when you accepted her, why would Maria be any different? And I can't believe that you think I would feel something like that! I've been nothing but nice to everyone and I've tried my hardest to fit in with you guys, but if you don't know me well enough to know that I would welcome her as a sister if I wasn't getting strange feelings about her, then I don't know why I'm here," Alexia yelled.
"Of course we know you, I was just thinking that..."
"You know what the worst part is? This team is supposed to be about trust, but if I come to you with something private and you laugh in my face, I guess you're not much of a teammate after all," Lexy finished, before swiveling and storming out of the futuristic room, passing Bruce and punching the keypad of the elevator.
"What did you do this time, Tony?" he sighed.
"I... A lot of things, I guess. I didn't mean to, though, I swear," the dark-haired man assured.
"Of course you didn't," Bruce snorted, "You like her."
"W-what? N-no I don't, where did you get that idea from?" Tony scoffed.
"Practically everyone knows, Stark, except maybe Alexia herself," the Gamma scientist smiled. There was a second of silence before Tony groaned and plopped into the seat beside him.
"What am I supposed to do? Ever since Pepper and I... parted, I've felt so lost. I was just about to ask her out but now I'm more afraid than ever that she'll reject me," he complained.
"Iron Man? Afraid? Here's a plan, why don't you stop acting like an idiot and start being your usual winning self?"
"Maybe I should let her cool off first," Tony decided uncomfortably.
"That's never stopped you before, and you have already done it twice," Bruce chuckled.
It took a moment, but gradually Tony began to nod his head, his brain and heart surging with new enthusiasm.
"See ya, Banner," he called as he raced to the elevator.
"Sir, Miss Brookes is on the street outside the building. You should hurry, as a taxi is likely to pick her up within the next-"
"Yeah, thanks Jarvis, first floor please," Tony interrupted impatiently.
"Of course, sir," Jarvis replied.
The ride down was slightly quicker than usual, something Tony was grateful towards his AI for. He dashed across the lobby, but the doorway was blocked by a petite blonde woman.
"Oh, ciao, Tony!" Maria greeted sweetly.
"Hi, Maria, did you see Alexia on your way in?" he asked hurriedly, causing the smile to be wiped from the Italian woman's face.
"No, I have not seen Alexia since yesterday, why? Are you looking for her?" she queried earnestly.
"Yeah, Jarvis said she... Only just left the building. Are yoysure you didn't spot her, maybe getting into a taxi or something?"
"I am sure, Tony! Why does it matter so much. I'm here," Maria batted her long lashes seductively.
"Yeah, sorry, gotta go."
"But-"
The woman was swiftly left alone, flustered and frustrated, as Tony rushed past her and onto the busy New York streets. His eyes darted around the new surroundings hungrily, searching for even a single remnant that proved Lexy's presence. Nothing. The man quickly pulled out his phone.
"Jarvis, do you know where she is?" he questioned immediately.
"I'm sorry, sir, but unless you want me to hack international satellites, I can't search all of New York for a single person," Jarvis stated dryly.
"Hack the satellites if you have to, I'll pay for them later, just find her!"
"It really isn't that easy, that action would take quite a few minutes. It would be easier to guess her location based on past movements. Where has Miss Brookes been lately? Has she spoken about a specific place?" the ingenius AI prompted.
"Um," Tony racked his brain carefully, "She talks a lot about this new aquarium that opened up, Something Fishy, I think."
"That name is an attempt at humour, correct?" Jarvis asked uncertainly.
"It sure is, J. Tell Happy to bring the car round."
It took a mere minute for the billionaire's trusty chauffeur and friend to stop in a slim black car on the road before him.
"Hop in, Mr Stark," he shouted.
Tony quickly pushed his way through the stream of bystanders and slid onto the smooth leather seats.
"Jarvis sent me directions to some aquarium with a strange name. Something really cheesy," Happy said.
"Something Fishy," Tony reminded.
"No, it was cheesy-"
"No the place is called Something Fishy, now step on it, Happy!"
On the way there, the billionaire got a text. Immediately checking his phone, he saw a message from Alexia. It read: Ok, I don't know if I was overreacting or not but I decided storming off again was stupid. Where r u?
"Dammit. Happy, turn the car around," he ordered, tapping the brightened screen a few more times before bringing it to his ear.
"Hi," came a steady reply.
"Hey, are you at the Tower still?"
"Well, I was in a taxi, but then I realized that I storm off too much and I am angry at you but runnning away from my problems is not the right thing to do. Where are you?" she explained.
"Out looking for you! Lexy, you can't just... Fine, fine, I'm on my way back," Tony sighed exasperatedly.
"See you."
The call then ended. The rest of the journey back was silent, but a knowing smirk played at Happy's lips.
"What is it, Hogan?"
"You've never chased a girl around New York so much before. I'm happy for you, boss," he shrugged.
"Whatever. See you, Happy."
The chauffeur gave a small wave before driving off again. Tony continued his way into the Tower and into the elevator. Jarvis expertly lifted him to the right floor, where Lexy stood with an apologetic but also angry look, which was amusing as well as worrying.
"Sorry, but I'm still kind of annoyed," she declared, obviously not sure of her own feelings.
"Look, Lexy, I only thought you might be jealous because that's exactly what I would feel. I know that's dumb because you're way better than me in so many ways and I guess I spoke without thinking. I swear I didn't mean to laugh at you or hurt your feelings in any way, I just really hate seeing you unhappy so please forgive me," Tony pleaded, regret evident across his expression. The frown that was plastered on the brunette's features slowly rised into a grin.
"Aw, Stark has a soft side, eh? I'm sorry too, I may have flown off the handle a bit. I'm just so afraid to lose you all because, well, my so-called 'family' never truly accepted me and what I can do and... I don't want to lose my new, real family," Alexia smiled.
"You didn't fly off the handle. You had every right to be angry, it was a stupid thing to say," Tony assured.
"Hey, you never got to say your thing," she remembered suddenly.
"Oh, um... Maybe this isn't the best time anymore."
"No, c'mon. Tell me, it can't be that bad," she implored.
"I just... Well, I... I was planning to ask if you wanted to go out with me sometime," he offered sheepishly. Alexia gasped slightly before giggling uncontrollably.
"Yes," she nodded wildly, "Definitely."
"Really?"
"Yup, yeah, mmhm," Lexy agreed, "Can I make it any more obvious?"
Tony let out a breath of relief and a disbelieving laugh.
"You don't know how long I've wanted to say that," he chuckled.
And there we go. So, I hope you enjoyed! If you did, consider following. If you didn't, review to politely tell me why not. Also, there's a reference to this story in my other story, which is a Spidey x OC fanfic. Just wanted to say.