The Unknown Variable
Please, just leave now if you still have the notion that I own anything. For I do not.
THIS CHAPTER IS DEDICATED TO "CASSA-ANDRA" MY 600TH FOLLOWER, "GAUL1" MY 400TH REVIEWER, AND "SCIFIHERO" MY 400TH FAVORETER. (if that is a word ;D )
Tony and I were sitting in the convertible again. I was leaning against his arm, my eyelids low and my breathing labored. My violin laid on the dash in front of us, I had run out of strength to play about an hour ago. I was out of the stupid blue drink, and Mortem had vanished again so he couldn't get me anymore…being in constant pain stunk.
Holographs floated in front of us as Jarvis pulled all the information he could about the man who had crashed the Pix.
"Quarry complete sir." Jarvis stated. I had loaded my worms and various programs into Jarvis so the search could be thorough. I had also created a new worm when Romanoff showed up, to keep all foreign programs out of Jarvis' systems. The Lab was also equipped with a small EMP pulsating device (that I had installed a while ago) that fried any bugs that managed to sneak past the rest of our systems.
"Anton Vanko was a Soviet Physicist who defected to the United States in 1963. However, he was accused of espionage and was deported in 1967. His son, Ivan, who is also a Physicist, was convicted of selling Soviet Ero weapons-grade plutonium to Pakistan. He served fifteen years in Cospiet Prison. No further records exist." Jarvis stated, closing down the holograms of the newspapers.
"That's the guy." I muttered, recognizing the father's name.
"Huh?" Tony asked looking down at me in concern.
"The father…his name's on the blue…prints…" I whispered before coughing harshly.
"What blueprints?" Tony asked me.
"Original...Reactor blueprints." I stated. "Found them…while searching…Howard…Jarvis, pull it up." I stated, knowing the AI knew what I was talking about.
"Right away Miss Penny." Jarvis replied instantly, his tone affectionate.
However, the search was interrupted when Rhodey entered the lab.
My fingers twitched towards the Holo-ball set on a ring, but it was gone…Tony had taken it the day before.
"Tony you got to get upstairs and get on top of this situation right now…what is all of this?" Rhodey asked, the many hanging glow sticks distracting him momentarily. He shook his head, dismissing the incredible sight and walked over.
"Listen, I've been on the phone with the National Guard all day. Trying to talk them out of rolling tanks up the PCH, knocking down your front door, and taking these." Rhodes said, gesturing to the Iron Man suits that Dad had placed in glass compartments in the wall. They were more than just suits, they represented everything Dad had strived to become, and they deserved to be on display.
Tony didn't respond, and I was too tired to. He just wrapped his arm tighter around my shoulders and ran his fingers absently through my hair.
"They're going to take your suits, Tony. Okay? Their sick of the games, and if they come barging up here and tearing this place apart you know what they will find? They won't just find your suits Tony, they'll find Penny. They'll find the secret room, with your secret daughter, with her secret powers."
I wanted to glare at Rhodey, I really did. How could he not notice something was wrong? Hell, I was probably two or three days away from lying face down in dirt. There was a lot more going on that he just didn't see.
"You said no one would possess this technology besides yourself and Penny for what? Twenty years, well guess what? Somebody else had it yesterday…" Rhodey stated walking towards the car that Tony and I were seated in.
"It's not theoretical anymore, are you really willing to risk it?" Rhodey asked, I felt Tony seize up, and I knew that he had just been hit with another serge from the Arc. I winced, having just gone through a twenty minuet one myself.
I've had to change my Core twice in the past day…huh it had been a day…and now I could see the signs in my father.
"Are you guys even listening to me?" Rhodey asked my father. Why couldn't he just leave us alone? He shook his shoulder, lightly thankfully, and Tony sluggishly turned and glared emptily at his friend.
"You okay?" He asked looking at Tony in concern and Dad hummed in reply. Rhodey's eyes then drifted down to me, and when his gaze locked into mine, his eyes widened and he exclaimed, "You, are not okay."
I rolled my eyes at the obvious statement before, slowly, sitting up. Tony regained Rhodey's attention by clasping his arm and smiling lightly.
"We're fine." He gave him another semi-reassuring smile and continued, "Let's go."
Rhodey backed up as Tony opened the door and slid out, however, his feet couldn't support him and Dad collapsed with a grunt.
I feebly had tried to grab onto my father, so when he fell, I was pulled out of the car on top of him.
"Ow…" I mumbled as I weakly rolled off my Dad. Where the hell was Mortem? I wanted some of that blue drink.
"Hey, hey…you both alright?" Rhodey asked as he helped my father to his feet. I managed to sit up, and I glared at the military man. I had been overlooked…again. It was starting to get annoying, okay, it was past starting to. It was annoying.
I leaned back against the car as Tony stated, "Get me to my desk."
Rhodey supported my father as he stumbled across the sea of strings that was the lab.
"See that cigar box on my desk?" Tony asked, gazing at the small supply of Palladium chips. I suppose it was a good thing we were dying…we were almost out of Palladium anyway.
"Yeah…but I thought you didn't smoke?" Rhodey stated as Dad practically collapsed against the desk.
'Sure, just forget about me over here.' I thought tiredly, my eyes starting to droop.
"It's Palladium cores." Dad gasped, falling back into his chair. "Penny do you need one?"
I shook my head slightly and replied, "I changed mine a few…hours ago…"
"Alright," Tony replied.
I heard the click that signaled that Dad had removed the Arc, the steaming hiss that stated he ejected the eroded Palladium, before Rhodey asked a question.
"Is that supposed to be smoking?"
"No." I stated coldly from my position on the floor.
"If you must know, its neutron damage, it's from the Reactor's wall." Tony stated, as he took the old chip out.
"You had this in your body?" Rhodey asked, "and what about Penny, is it the same for her?"
"You're the one… that left me…over…here…" I stated my breathing catching. My chest flared and my back arched in pain. A loud gasp escaped my lips, causing Dad to shove a new core in the arc, and plug it back into his chest.
He stood up, though he was unsteady on his feet and walked over. Bending down with a hiss of pain, Dad picked me up before laying me back in my chair…the same place I had been a few hours before.
"What about that high-tech crossword puzzle on your guys necks? Cause Penny looks like a SyFy movie gone wrong." Rhodey stated, trying in his own way, to get Tony to open up to him.
"Road rash, no big deal." Tony replied as excuse. "Thank you," He stated as Rhodey handed him a blanket that he draped over me.
"You see, I don't buy that. Expecially since Penny was in her suit the whole time yesterday." Rhodey stated, rubbing his chin and trying to figure us out.
'Good luck with that.' I thought sleepily.
Tony banged on his Arc a few times before chugging down half of his bottle of green drink. "What are you looking at?" He asked as Rhodey continued to stare at both of us.
"I'm looking at you and your daughter." Rhodey stated quietly, and Tony chugged down the other half of his bottle.
"You want to do this whole, lone gunslinger act that's unnecessary. You don't have to do this alone. You have me, you have Pepper and you have Penny." Rhodey stated, not seeing the bigger picture that was staring him right in the face.
"You know, I wish I could believe that." Tony stated gazing at me. I offered him a weak smile, and got a small one in return. "I really do. But you have to trust me. You have to trust us. Contrary to popular belief, I know what exactly what I am doing."
Rhodey was silent for a few more moments, before he glanced at me. "You don't want to explain, fine. You've always known what you're doing Tony, just hope, for Penny's sake, you're not doing something stupid."
"But what is…stupid…than something that no one else would think…to do?" I asked softly as Rhodey left. "We know what we're going…you won't like it… but we know…"
He hadn't said one word to me, and at the moment, I didn't care.
"We do." Tony agreed with a soft smile. Dad picked me up again once Rhodey left and carried me to my room. He laid me down on the bed before lying down next to me.
We just laid there in silence before I closed my tearing eyes and said, "I love you Daddy,"
Tony's arm wrapped around me tighter, and I could hear the pain in his voice, "I love you too, Pen."
I woke up a few hours later, alone; my head spinning and my chest exploding in pain. I gasped as I tried to control it, only to end up choking and coughing.
I was now already somewhere in the 90perceintal, I didn't need no blood tester to know that. Tony's own blood was at 85% I had seen him test it right before Rhodey showed up.
The fight in Monaco had accelerated our condition more then we imagined, not only had it jumped, but it had sped up the poisoning process.
I had about a day…Tony had about two or three.
It was Dad's birthday, I knew that…and he knew that. That was one reason why I had hung all of the glow sticks. A small gift to my father, the only one I would be able to give.
(It was my only prayer that I didn't die on Dad's birthday...what a horrible present that would be.)
I finally was able to open my eyes as the specific bout of pain ended. Mortem was still gone, and personally, I didn't care. What mattered anymore anyway? Mortem couldn't help me, and I was practically dead.
I noticed two things as I lifted my head from my pillow. One, there was a bright green fizzy drink sitting on my bedside table, and the other, was that my tablet was beeping with fifteen missed calls in the past two days from Jane.
The thing that really stood out, however, was the fact that there was a note in front of the cup; and scrawled in slanted writing that I recognized as Mortem's were the words Drink up, same as red with effects of blue. Gives more time.
I wasn't 100% sure what it meant, but I hoped it meant that it would dull the pain, give me an energy boost, and a few more hours to live.
'Well, what could go wrong?' I thought to myself before chugging it.
In another plane of existence, a small child like figured with purple eyes giggled darkly, her trap had been laid, the bait set; and even if she survived this one, the game was just beginning.
Short little chapty before everything goes straight to hell. Is the drink good? will Tony still have his party? Why didn't Rhodey call Penny out on being sick? What will Penny do with a power boost? What is Fati up to this time?
VOTE ON MY POLE PEOPLE! IT DECIDES WHETHER OR NOT I WILL CHANGE THE STORY'S NAME!
Okay, I know this is random, but this is how to pronounce all of the Immortal's names (that I have given)
ee= long "e" sound
Mortem: More-tem (short "e" sound)
Fati: Fat-ee
Vitam: Vee-Tam (short "a" sound)
Infinitas: Een-Feenee-Tas (short "a" sound)
Aequivalere: (this one is strange, original Latin) I-qwi-va-lair-e *rolling "r" sound* (Or the more Americanized way) Ah-qwi-va-lair
so you can choose which you prefer.
Next chapter People…next chapter. (mostly)
Thanks to everyone.
Cp