Hello! So glad it's a leap year so I can pretend that this wasn't a really late update. Not my best work, imo, and, again, sorry about the length, but I'm kinda busy with school work, volunteering, my friend's forcing me to go to the gym twice a week etc.
Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel characters, only my OCs.
Chapter 26 - Rescue
Paige had been gnawing barbarously at the ropes limiting her wrists for hours. Or maybe days. Her weak, tired, pained teeth slowly weakening the dry ties whenever she was left alone with Bruce. There was little left now. But Paige was scared.
There was almost no warning for when Dylan or one of his parents would waltz in and start taunting her, checking to see how dead her companion was. There was also no visible exit in the room. The dirt-encrusted, opaque windows, all three of them, were too high for her to reach and the one door was heavy, metal and most likely locked from the outside. There was a small hole in one of the walls, in which Paige had watched rats cheerfully skip through, but, even in her malnourished and skinny state, she doubted she would fit.
Overpowering one of her captors was not an option, but maybe there was something else. Dylan had been twitchy in every visit, no matter how harsh his words or how confident his saunter. The brunette suspected that he could easily be pushed into a panic.
"So, does everyone know the plan?" Steve repeated.
"Yes, Captain," Alexia smiled wearily, "I think everyone had it memorised by the fifth time you'd explained."
"Right," the blonde nodded stiffly, "It's the fifth building from-"
"We know!" Tony exclaimed, exasperated.
"Ok," the Avenger agreed, "Black Widow is going in firs-"
"You know what? Let's do it before our glorious leader can reiterate the plan again," Tony groaned.
"Lady Natasha," Thor announced, "Let us lead the assault on our enemies together!"
The redhead nodded, a small smirk playing at her mouth as she lay a hand to rest on a gun holster. They both advanced swiftly, Nat leaping from the roof with effortless grace as Thor shot off with Mjolnir.
"Right, Iron-"
"Lexy, you up for a little ride?" Tony was grinning from beneath the mask, the elemental could tell.
"When am I not?" she replied, moving into his cold, metal arms.
They were off the ground and into the air before Steve could breathe another word.
"And now it's my turn," he sighed.
The door twisted open. Paige was already falling as the handle turned and racing with agonized feet as it shifted open. To her immense relief, it was indeed Dylan who strolled in. She slammed her weight as quietly as possible against the wall behind the metal frame. He was whistling, but it halted abruptly when his eyes spotted the empty space where his prisoner should have been.
She could barely see him, his arm wavering between the line of her vision and its position behind the door.
"Oh no," he whispered, "No, no, no, no."
He stepped forward slightly as he clenched and unclenched a pale fist. He inspected her frayed ropes.
"This is bad," the maniac continued quietly, "I have to tell… I have to…"
He burst into a run and sprinted desperately down the corridor. Paige breathed heavily for a moment. This was her opportunity. She waited until his footsteps were echoing faintly before following the man. Her sides ached and the soft pitter-patter of her weak feet against the smooth floor was pounding in her ears, but the assistant dare not stop. The maze of hallways finally led to a large room, the front of the building. Luckily, she hadn't passed anyone, or at least if she had, they had been securely enclosed behind one of the many doors littering the structure.
Paige hobbled quickly through the front door, which, along with the wall it belonged to, was glass. She was in an area that she didn't recognize, as abandoned as the overgrown jail cell behind her. The street was untouched and looked as if a small natural disaster had struck, with a few cars pointing at odd angles and several pavestones in the sidewalk upturned.
"Paige?" a soft voice called.
The woman looked up and met the wide, anxious eyes of her best friend, who stood on the road a little way away. Iron Man was hovering above her.
"Lexy," she whispered, feeling tears slide down her sickly pale cheeks, "He's in there. They all are. I want to go home."
The Siren spoke quietly with the metal superhero. Eventually, he lowered to the ground as well, hand by his ear as he muttered more instructions. Alexia hurried to Paige's side and held her up, all adrenaline dissipating at the idea of safety.
"I'm taking you back, now," the heroine consoled soothingly, "You're safe."
Maria, who had seemingly regained her composure and moved into an expensive hotel room in a high class area of Manhattan, was beyond furious. The two before her sat with peaceful smirks on her new couch, as if having achieved something.
"You have done nothing," she snarled, clenching and unclenching a manicured, powerful fist.
"That's not true," Red Techno replied, confident as ever, "We met them."
"Oh I am so sorry," the woman continued in a higher-than-usual pitch, "You met them, that is true, and you fought, as you were supposed to, but what I am angry at is the severe lack of results."
"What Red means to say," Anthuria continued calmly, "Is that, through meeting them, we have learnt some weaknesses. We now know how to attack."
"And whom," her fellow supervillain grinned maliciously.
"Half of the Avengers were at your feet. You could have continued, and most likely won. They have now found their missing secret weapon, the Hulk, who you have no experience with and who would have died in the hands of his mysterious captors. Your job is now twice as hard," Maria scolded with an acidic hiss.
Anthuria's eyes widened slightly. She had met the Hulk once before, by chance. He, like the Viking God, was immune to her poison, and he had no links to technology, metal or electricity, as far as they knew. He would be a tough challenge indeed.
"We'll find a way," Red assured, shifting slightly in his expensive seat, "We always do."
The Familia's hideout was usually a quiet place. Members would keep to their rooms or jobs when there wasn't a meeting, which was often the only time they wore masks. This was relieving for Elliot. No one wondered the halls without reason, everyone had a responsibility or hobby to attend to. Therefore, when a heavily-grunting Elise needed to be transported to somewhere safer and less incriminating than her medical room, it was surprisingly easy not to be caught.
Elise stuck to his side as if she was chained to him. Her appearance had not improved since her attack on Santoya, but she was growling slightly less and her unnerving eye color had dimmed. They stuck to the walls, not allowing their shadows to dance around the corridors in the fear that it would draw more attention to their predicament. They passed one person, who was wearing a spotted lizard mask and hurrying towards the Dux's quarters. He nodded at the two, but Elliot ignored him, continuing to hold his sister tightly.
"Elliot," she whispered hoarsely, "Where are we going?"
"We need to get you somewhere safe," he muttered, "We can reverse this, whatever it is."
"I… I don't want to," Elise managed, "I like this. I am stronger now."
Elliot paused and glanced down at his slumped sister. She looked up with wide, unnatural eyes.
"This is bad, Elise," he argued softly, "You can't kill people, especially not in the way you did. It's bad."
"The Familia has killed thousands," Elise countered, "It is only efficient. Please, Elliot, I don't want to go back to what I was. I am happy now."
The older Javier stared at her. It was true, that her breath was no longer hitched when she walked, her words were no longer hesitant and small, her appearnace and movements no longer irradiated weakness. Despite the ragged, savage grunting and physical differences, Elise did seem altogether better. She was stronger now.
"You're right," he agreed quietly, "But we can't stay here. They won't accept you, and if they find out what I did to help you, we're both dead."
"What did you do?" Elise didn't seem worried, more curious.
"It doesn't matter now, but I know someone who can help us. She will help us," he assured confidently.
The girl nodded, clinging to her brother happily.
So yeah, Elliot and Elise are pretty insane at this point, nothing ever seems to go well for Maria and Bruce and Paige are finally saved, though what will happen to the remains of the Brookes family is yet to be seen...
Next update will hopefully be in March. I'm writing another Avengers fanfic (Tony Stark x OC again) but it's a High School AU, mainly inspired ny my increased addiction to 'Avengers Academy' (the app). Anywho, I probably won't be uploading it anytime soon but if you like the sound of it, there's that to look forward to as well.