𝐇.𝐀.𝐌.𝐌.𝐄.𝐑. 𝐇𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐑

ELEANOR

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[ 𝚝-𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚜 𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜. ]

'Elle.'

'Yes.'

'We're being rescued by Elle Preece.'

'Yes.'

'We're being rescued by Stark's baby momma - '

I snapped my eyes back to Maria, my eyes searing with subversion. I pushed the stolen handgun to her chest and she grappled it, swimming in confusion. I had just set my arse in line to get these two agents out of containment when I could be halfway around the world, attempting to get to Tony's safe house. 

'Yes, Hill. Stark's knocked-up girlfriend is saving the former director of SHIELD and the Black Widow,' I grabbed the icky mask from Natasha's hands with a grumble. 'Would you rather go back to that awful cell and formulate a flight plan yourself?'

Maria snorted at my evident frustration. 'Calmeth thine titties.'

She, in turn, received a painful jab to her abdomen by Nat when I growled with another retort. Nat spoke as if creating peace. 

'Hill, shut up, nobody has problems here. Elle, we owe you a big one.'

I nodded once. Peering over the edge of the wall, I watched the hallway that held the escape elevator slowly empty out. Our ticket out of here was finally abandoned and I watched an officer start to round up around our hiding corner. 

'Shit,' Nat murmured into my ears. 'Can you—'

'Yep.'

Without paying much attention, I stepped away from the wall and graced a seductive smile on my face. My plan for diversion better work, I thought to myself. I prayed the deputy doesn't realize my identity. He didn't. The curly-haired officer tossed me a relaxed yet concerned expression, raking his eyes through my figure. I had changed out of Masque's clothes and into Miss Hand's clothes: a mighty expensive suit that exposed way too much skin. It had to work. 

'Hi,' I breathed out in a raspy whisper, even adding an innocent in attempt to be seductive. He swallowed down toughly. 'Uh, I'm new here. A little lost.'

'Oh,' he answered with a waver, adjusting his collar. His eyes flanked between my chest and my eyes. I used his distraction as an upper hand, moving closer. 'You are?'

'Toni,' I blurted out. Regardless, my one dumb brain cell had just pounced on the wrong moment. 'Toni with an 'i'. Toni... Rhodes.'

'Ed,' he introduced with a fervent blink. 'Where exactly do you have to go, Miss Rhodes?'

Tony was going to have a good laugh after he hears about this. Not like I was going to hold myself back from telling him. 

'Actually,' I cut in, grabbing his elbow in an involved appearance and pushing him into the nearest open door. It was a comms room, nearly empty. I thanked the gods and made a secretive motion behind my back for Nat and Hill to catch on to. I continue to grin at him, closing the door behind me. 'I wanted a little favour...'

'What kind of favour?'

'Stay... down?' 

He went wide-eyed. 'Wha—'

My fight instincts carped in and I crushed my knee into his family jewels without hesitation. A painful grunt left him and I felt a little bad. His eyes nearly rolled out of his sockets as he clutched his parts and keeling over in obvious discomfort.

'Sorry,' I apologized quickly, leaving the officer to writhe in pain and slipping out the door. Nat held the elevator door open for me with a mischievous grin and I ran in with a soft huff pulling out of my lips. I faced her with a cocked brow.

'What in god's name did you do to get yourselves caught?'

'Well, we took a jump drive and went on the run to find Steve Rogers,' Nat informed, leaning into a mirrored wall. 'Long story short, we got wrong leads. No Steve, just Osborn's dogs.'

'Where's the drive?'

Maria looked at Nat pointedly who sighed, raking her fingers into her hair and fiddling with a few strands at the nape. Just when I thought this couldn't get any more awkward, she stretched her fingers back, reached in with a thumb drive marked X and dropped it into my palms.

'Wow,' I breathed, 'Tony told you to find Steve? Even after all the—quandaries?' 

'Beats me,' Nat nodded, combing a hand into her straightened, fiery mane. 'Stark seemed off about it so I took that it was that serious.'

'Okay, let me get this clear,' Maria waved her hand around as the elevator started its slow ascent to the deck. 'You waltzed in here alone to grab us and now that we're out... what's gonna happen? Shoot a thousand agents on board?'

'No, no shooting,' I said sternly. 'And I told you, I didn't come alone.'

I pushed my hair behind my ear to showcase the minute communicator pinched in. The slow hum of the connecting line started before HELEN's mechanical voice flowed through.

'HELEN, you there?'

'Hello, Miss Preece, so lovely to hear your voice again,' she said in a satisfied tone. 'The Maiden has been charged to ninety-three per cent. I see that you have just located the Stark drive.'

'I have. And, what about the virus?'

'The viral payload has successfully been uploaded into Osborn's extant Stark tech. Might take them seventy decades to configure. Shall I come to fetch you—'

'Attention all HAMMER posts, this Victoria Hand,' a cracking voice bled through the PA system and interrupting HELEN's contact line. All of our eyes shot to the audio above in defence. 'We are currently undergoing a code-red situation. Lock Eleanor Preece and her rats down. If they try to get out - you have full authorization to terminate on sight.'

'Damn it,' I hissed in an undertone. 'I should've upped the voltage on that stupid taser.'

'Miss Preece,' HELEN said into my ear. 'I can retrieve you at the deck.'

'Change of plans,' I shook my head, looking to the other two agents. 'Get the Maiden to pilot a Quinjet. I've got Agent Romanoff and Hill with me. We'll meet you at the hangar in ten minutes.'

'Copy that.'

The elevator door opened to reveal a swarm of armed agents, patiently waiting for their ride to arrive. Their hands cocked the rifles forward, a thousand lasers dancing across our foreheads and chests. I held my breath.

'Hands in the air!' 

The loud command rang into the air like the bullets they were yet to fire. Maria and Nat took a step back, following so. I stepped forward with a sneer, not willing to bend down just yet.

'I said hands in the air, now!'

'Elle, this better be some plan,' Maria whispered to me from behind me.

'I'll deflect the guards,' I murmured, pushing back the fear into the farthest reaches of my mind. I had to concentrate in order to try this. I looked at Nat with decisive eyes. 'Push the button. And pray.'

'Is she gonna flash them?' Maria whispered. 'They've got guns, Nat.'

As soon as Nat leapt to the buttons on my left, furiously punching them awake, so did the rain of bullets. I had tried this a couple of times utilising HELEN's encrypted instructions from Tony, in hopes of using the repulsomagnetic powers that percolated in my body. Both times had ended up in great vain and a hanging embarrassment in me every time I thought of it. Imagine being in the armour, he had said. Your hands are repulsors, Elle. Use them.

 It was pure invincibility. 

To let your body master this unknown potential inside you, it required you to visualize and feel. However hackneyed that sounded, it was true. Harness the multi-sourced energy and to have the capability to tear metal apart. 

I focused on the energy that glowed a distinguished azure from my fingertips, feeling a crackling heat ascend like red ants up my neck. Ether light compounded about and I was on fire by the time I felt the need to return back to my original state. The bullets around us slobbered to the ground in a molten state, the energy too stalwart to wield. It came with the force that you couldn't conceive and only dream of doing so. 

The door bolted, leaving turbulent bullet imprints over it.

'What was that?!'

I was sucking in lungfuls of air, my hands braced on my knees with exhaustion setting in just as quick.

'I have no clue,' I panted. 'Close one, right?' 

As if on instinct, my hands went to my abdomen to cradle the nearly inexistent bump and hoping to seek solace from the fatigue. If it weren't for Stephen Strange and his wondrous enchantments, I would be nursing a miscarriage in less than twenty-four hours from all the mounds of pressure I was placed under.

'Thanks,' Nat mused, patting my back. 'You impressed me.'

I impressed the Black Widow. I wished I had HELEN recording this golden moment so I could hear it for the rest of my life. I didn't realize the proud smile that had twisted on my face when Nat laughed.

'I can see the drool, Preece,' she said. 'Can we please get to the jet, now?'

I blinked my way up, nodding once. 'Y—yes. Um, HELEN?'

'Bird acquired and in motion. On our way, ma'am.'

On cue, the elevator doors opened to the hangar. The scorching sun of midday broiled down on us and the quick whirring of blades faraway alerting us of the jet's presence from beyond the ledge. It didn't stop until it hovered a foot off the ground and the entrance latch rolled itself forward. Maria and Nat jogged in, pausing in their footsteps when they saw me stay put.

'Get in!' Maria yelled through the loud roars of the rotors. 

'I have to get to Tony!' I yelled back, finding it hard to speak as my hair floated harshly around me. I curled a hand over it at my nape.

'Don't be stupid, Elle! You have a baby on the way!'

'I'm fine! Just get to Steve and ring up Dr Adam Brashear,' I curtly ordered. 'Stephen Strange will you meet you at the keyed in coordinates!'

Nat murmured to her softly from the cockpit behind and Maria screeched back. 'Broxton, Oklahoma?'

'For once in your goddamned life, Maria, trust me!'

The Maiden flicked a switch far beyond, seemingly turning it to autopilot before Nat breezed past and took control of the gears. Maria moved away as the armour marched out, flanking my side as the latch whirred itself to a close. She shot me a salute and mouthed a, 'I trust you.'

I grinned as the leeway locked itself close and the bird zipping off into the distance while leaving a trail of nothing. In an instance, the Maiden swallowed me in and letting the panels align and coagulate over my body. The screens between my peepholes ignited awake as soon as I lifted myself off the ground, feeling the familiar rush of adrenaline as I soared in the opposite direction of the jet.

'Bravo, HELEN,' I complimented as the sharp winds cut into me when we descended down to a few clicks. 'If I could shower you with kisses, I would.'

'I would take all of them if I could, Miss Preece,' she replied in a smiling tone. 'While I was in the HAMMER dataspine, I was able to link in the Iron Patriot's repulsor tracks to Mr Stark. I believe the Iron Patriot is no more the Colonel's and being piloted by Osborn.'

'That thieving bloody blighter,' I grumbled. 'What's next for us, love?'

'I have even exerted the liberty of notifying media outlets around the world that Norman Osborn is in Dubai trying to murder Tony Stark.'

I had grappled the fact that Tony was, in fact, heading to Dubai to connect himself to the final repulsor terminals and kiss his wonderful life goodbye. As I had mentioned earlier, I was never going to be ready to allow it. Hence, the plan. 

'Great,' I piqued, happy that we were on track. 'And, what of Stephen Strange?'

'Received our invite to Broxton. Already there,' she replied. 'Where to, miss?'

'Hmm... how far is Dubai?'

'Without any breaks, about seven hours and forty-seven minutes.'

'Well assalamualaikum, HELEN, we're going to Dubai,' I sighed out in exasperation, wondering what all crap I had to go through to save the sacrificial asshole's life. 

'And, get Calico Quinn on the line, please.'

∞

𝐃𝐔𝐁𝐀𝐈

TONY

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[ 𝚝-𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚛. ]

Death wasn't kind to Tony. It was laughing in his face at the time he wanted to be guided away, injecting in ounces and ounces of strength every time he neared the nothingness. The masked glen of sleep was dangling upon his head like a guillotine but he paid it no heed. He didn't fear him. He didn't fear what he was ready for since the time he modded the arc-reactor into him. 

God, I wished I'd met you, Margo.

Tony couldn't fly anymore. His lungs were burning with obvious exhaustion and his gaze refused to stay focused. He was slipping forward, pitching on the sand and feeling the dry aridity of the desert getting to him. His flight power was running low and he felt the armour tilt dangerously as he thunked down into the mud. 

Yeah, I miss you, too. But the way it used to be.

Up ahead, he could see the skyline of Dubai come into sight and he had never felt more relieved. He was seeing blue; a sea of endless ether and it was the most beautiful sight. He wanted to close his eyes for just a second. One second and then, oblivion.

See, that's the thing. My love for you transcends the possible.

 Keep running, Tony, he told himself. His limbs ached as he climbed up the hill, hands clawing up with every ounce of strength he could muster. This scene took him back to when he crashed in an Afghan desert with the Mark Zero scattered into a million pieces around him. He had lost all hope of survival until the light came for him.

Next time you ride with me, okay?

Now, here was. In the same sandy expanse of the arid desert and awaiting the death that was taking too long to come for him. Until he heard it. He heard the noise of his very own invention. Repulsor noises.

You're not the guy to make the sacrifice play.

A shining armour of red, blue and grey made its way toward him, hurtling at thousand notches per hour. He looked at it with hope, the familiar armour touching his heart.

'Rhodey,' He feebly muttered. 'Rhodey?'

'Stttaaaark,' the voice dragged out instead, rolling on every syllable. A voice of death itself. 'One second of silence, Stark. I just want to enjoy this moment. Waited too long to get that brain of yours.'

A beat passed.

'Bring it.'

Missiles, bullets, repulsors—every military armament Tony could think of was raining down on him. He crawled, fought and struggled. He couldn't even stand up to fight it, feeling the imminent darkness starting to close up on the fringes of his vision. No, wake up. Keep moving forward.

'Come on, Stark, I went out of my way to try and piss you off,' he clucked his tongue, 'and you're giving me nothing but pathetic tears?'

Tony was crying? He smelt the salinity mixed with the foul scent of death and blood. It was everywhere. At a point of time, when he felt his mind crack with pressure, he gave up on moving forward. He felt the armour come off without his knowledge and fist come crashing down into his cheek. 

'Some kind of proto-Hulk patois you got here?' He laughed in his face. Yes, this was death. 'Like a dummy tin can.'

A repulsor blast shot right through his chest. 

'Get up and fight me!'

Not anymore, he said to himself. You're done, Tony. I think you should rest.

'Keep,' he panted instead, 'moving.'

'What did you say?' The voice ordered. A growl of fury left death's lips and he unleashed his wrath with the force of thousand atom bombs. He groaned when the repulsor chipped off the side of the armoured arm, knicking a chunk of flesh with it.

'Director Osborn, you're killing him!'

I'm going to fix this. I promise.

'Osborn, stop this.'

Daddy, look at what I made!

'You'll make a martyr of him—'

How was the fun-vee?

'What's happening to Stark?!'

Tony couldn't hear anymore. He stopped allowing any of his senses to cooperate once he saw the lights and the whirring of helicopter blades. A crew of people, the press he had the ability to receive, had crowded around the scene and the desert winds picking up speed.

It was time.

Death came for him in quiet drumming gasps. It wasn't kind neither wicked. It was light neither dark. The virus was a consecutive succession and frightful to the preparation of the administered. His breathing would only stop when he would reemerge like a drowning fool in need for oxygen. In the slow paralysis, he willed himself to head one last thing before the tether to his mind separated from his body and the final breath lost.

'Don't leave me.'

∞

[ shut up, don't talk to me. just go. GO! ]

edited!