"It wasn't your fault, Bella," said Tony.
Bella nodded, still staring ahead blankly at the logo on the wall of the room in the S.H.I.E.L.D. base. "I killed him Tony. I killed someone."
"You were protecting yourself."
They'd found Pepper. The president was safe. Everyone was safe. But somehow, she couldn't bring herself to be happy about any of those things.
"But that doesn't mean I had to kill him to do it."
The door opened.
"All right, Mr. Stark," said the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. "We would like to talk to you alone, and then Miss Stark alone, if that's all right."
Tony nodded and followed the man out.
"We received the results of Aldrich Killian's autopsy. Your daughter most definitely killed Killian, Mr. Stark," said a voice.
Bella's blood froze. Her stomach turned.
"Extremis repairs parts of the body, but certain organs are needed in order for the process to occur – such as the brain and heart. He had already taken a lot of damage, far more than a normal human body could take, and the strike to the chest stopped Killian's heart. After that… it was only of time until he died, unless the heart was restarted, which… didn't happen."
Bella had killed Aldrich Killian.
Her stomach turned. She wanted to throw up.
Director Fury stepped into the small room.
Bella looked up at him. The burning in her skin worsened.
"You may absolutely not run tests," said she and Tony in the same breath.
"I wasn't going to ask. We've run all the ones we need on Killian's body. But I have a few things to say to Miss Stark. It will only take five minutes."
Tony hesitated.
"And Barton can be in the room, if it makes you feel better."
Tony nodded. "Bella, if they try anything, you know what to do."
She nodded.
Tony left quietly.
"Miss Stark," said the director, sitting down across from her. "After we heard that you'd been dosed with Extremis, I thought we'd never have another conversation."
"I was not entirely sure either. I still don't have as much control as I would like to have."
"Why Aldrich Killian is dead?"
Bella stared at the metal surface of the table. "Because I killed him." The words barely came out as a whisper.
"If anyone ever deserved to die, it was probably Aldrich Killian."
"Who's anyone to determine that? My hands aren't exactly clean either, Director."
"You protected yourself the best you knew, Miss Stark. You are not to blame. He is, for attacking you in the first place."
Bella swallowed.
"And… I have a request for you."
She'd thought so.
"No, Director Fury, I will not build weapons for you!" Her skin burned, her mouth burned. She kept her mouth closed, not wanting to accidentally incinerate the director.
"That's not what I wanted to ask."
Bella sat down, swallowing, breathing slowly. "I'm sorry."
"We wanted to ask for your services – but not as an inventor or anything like that. Like I told you before the battle of New York. The world is filling up with people who can't be matched. And we're going to need more firepower. We need someone we can trust to help us."
"You have Captain Rogers."
"With your suit alone, you have an advantage. But with Extremis powers… we need someone we can call for missions, someone we can trust."
"And you don't trust Tony, do you?"
He ignored the question – both knew the answer. "The Avengers aren't the only people with powers. Some people will probably be hesitant to deal with us."
Bella couldn't imagine why that would be.
"They won't trust our members. But if they see that someone else with powers who is also a member of the Avengers is willing to trust us, it might help."
"I'm not an Avenger."
"In this case, it's close enough."
"May I please have some time to think about it? So much has been happening, I just… need some time to process."
"Take as much time as you need, Miss Stark. We're not going anywhere."
"Thank you, Director."
"I have a question no one's answered. Do you know what this is? We found it at the Mandarin's house."
He removed a small ID from his pocket, stained with dried blood, and placed it on the table.
On it was a picture of the girl who Killian had murdered. She smiled for the camera, but it was forced – unlike the smile she'd given Bella before dying.
"She was… like me. From the same program that created me."
Under the picture was a name. Maryanne.
Her name was Maryanne.
"Killian said he'd had her for a short time. She tried to let us get free. I… she… Killian shot her."
"I see. Killian's death was somewhat earned, wouldn't you say?" said the director. "None of us here are perfect, Miss Stark. I'll tell you that right now. You probably don't trust us, or feel that the ends justify the means at times. And you're entitled to think whatever you want. But think about it – if we'd put him in prison, he would have just found a way out and kill more people. The world isn't exactly worse off because of his loss."
Her skin began to glow. "And who are we to decide that? The same could be said of me – what if I went back to building weapons for terrorists?"
"All I'm saying is that maybe it wasn't such a bad thing that it happened like this."
Bella glanced down at the ID and took several deep breaths. The director was probably right.
"Thank you, Director Fury," she said, standing up. "I will be in touch soon to let you know, and I'm honored that you asked."
She walked out of the room somehow feeling lighter than when she'd walked in.