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The problem with having only three friends (Bruce doesn't count, he's her science bro) is that it makes it way easier for her enemies to strike where it hurts and after what happened to Happy, Antonia just can't keep her mouth shut. She wishes she did when her home gets bombed with Pepper still in her living room.
She barely manages to save her bestfriend and passes out once she hits the bottom of the ocean with her house collapsing on top of her.
By the time she finally wakes up, it is to find herself in the middle of nowhere, Tennessee with a useless suit and a short-sleeved shirt that does nothing to protect her from the cold.
“What the hell JARVIS ? It's freezing, I should probably go back in the suit.”
“I'm sorry madam but I actually think I need to sleep now.”
And he shuts down.
Fan-tas-tic.
Antonia pushes herself up with a groan, grabs the suit's arms and put them around her shoulders, trying to piggy-back ride the damn thing. It is heavy, some pointy parts are digging in her ribs and back and it is far from comfy but she guesses it is still better than sinking at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean so she sucks it up and starts to walk.
It feels like forever before she finally comes across any sign of civilization : a crappy gas station.
“Excuse me ?” she calls while entering, leaving the suit outside and instantly glad that the place is heated. She can't stop shivering, her teeth are chattering and the guy behind the counter immediately rushes to her.
“Are you okay miss ?”
“Yeah, just cold. And I need a phone, is there any I could use here please ?”
He nods and quickly crosses the shop in long strides to reach a door next to the newspapers stall. Antonia waits, a hand pressed to her chest to hide her reactor's glow and her other arm wrapped around her in a vain attempt to warm her, wondering if the medias already got the news about her death.
“Here, put that on” says the guy, coming back with an old looking poncho and a smartphone. He hands her both and smiles when she puts her head through the hole in the poncho. “Take your time with the phone but please, just less than two hours okay ? My wife will kill me if I blow my credit again.”
“Don't worry I'll be quick”
He nods and goes back behind the counter, letting her walk to the back of the shop to have a little intimacy.
She first leaves a message to Pepper, biting her lip in guilt and worry : “Hey Pep, it's me. I have a lot of apologies to make and not a lot of time so first off I'm sorry about... well everything, the villa blowing and everything that happened before that and all, you know... I've– I've put you in harm's way and this was never my intention. That was stupid and selfish and I'm very, very sorry. I... I won't be able to celebrate Christmas with you after all” she chuckles despite the tears in her throat and closes her eyes, pressing her forehead against the cold drinks fridge “The thing is that now that the world thinks I'm dead I have an opportunity to finally catch this Mandarin so... just stay safe please, like in New York with the others or... anywhere but please be safe while I go take care of the bad guys.”
Not wanting to say goodbye, she ends the call, hoping that Pepper will listen to it as soon as possible.
Antonia glances at the guy still behind the counter, turned toward a tiny television that she didn't notice before. He does not seem to pay her any attention so she gently taps on the phone a number she had forced herself to learn by heart and calls one of the last person she wants to see at the moment.
“Please tell me you're in New York” she says as soon as the other picks up.
“Miss Stark ?! I thought you were dead, on TV they said that you were killed” he babbles really fast.
“Yeah Capsicle” she cuts him “they are saying that I'm dead, I know. And I officially am, so please stop having a breakdown and tell me where the hell you are.”
“I'm in DC, why ?”
“Damn it.”
Biting one of her short nails, she tries to come up with a solution as fast as her genius brain can think.
“Okay, here's what you're gonna do. You are going to come to Tennessee and rent the most boring looking but fast car you can find to pick me up.”
“You are in Tennessee ?!”
“Yeah, stop interrupting. I need a laptop, a digital watch, a cell phone, a toolbox, a pneumatic actuator, a big spring, and a tuna fish sandwich. Oh and some warm clothes too, I'm freezing and wearing the most scratchy smelly ugly poncho ever.”
“A pneumatic actuator ?” he repeats after a few seconds, tone unsure.
“Just bring the most expensive plastic gun toy you can find. A big one.”
“Okay, but where exactly are you ?”
“Just outside Rose Hills in a gas station.”
“Copy that. Should I bring Natasha or Clint with me ?”
“I suppose, they are super spies so they should be able to lay low.”
She can feel through the phone that he wants to add something – probably along the lines of ''It's gonna be okay'' or ''I'm here for you'' – so she ends the call without any further word, clean to phone calls history and join the guy to give him back his phone.
“Thanks” she says with a small smile, handing him the smartphone.
“No prob. Do you need anything else ? You have blood on your face...”
“No, it's nothing. I just had a bad car crash.” she lies “Ran into a tree because of all that snow but I'm good, someone is gonna pick me up. Is it okay if I wait here tho ?”
“Yeah of course.”
She hops onto the counter, smiles a little wider at the guy and turns her attention to the TV currently airing an old episode of Friends.
***
Capsicle's cheeks are red from the cold and his hair is all tousled – probably because of the helmet he is holding in his left hand – when he walks into the gas station. The guy behind the counter – whose name is Frank and who is one of the nicest person Antonia has met since a very long time – whistles when he sees him.
“You're lucky, girl” he whispers to her.
She wants to elbow him but he's been nice with her so she just slides off the counter and turns to face him.
“Thanks for everything Frank.”
“Don't mention it and if you ever drive by Tennessee again, come by okay ?”
“Sure.”
With one last smile, she follows Capsicle out of the shop and groans when she sees his motorbike.
“Are you kidding ? It's freezing cold, I asked for a car !”
“Apparently every shops are closed at two in the morning, it's one of the few things that didn't change since the forties.” he gives her a stern once-over before indicating her suit sitting in the snow against a wall “and why did you let the suit here ? You should watch it. What if someone had stolen it while you were inside ? Are you crazy ?”
“Oh god” she grunts “like I said it's freezing, do you want me to die because of the cold ? I couldn't walk into the shop with the suit and trust me, I walked for at least an hour on this road and didn't see any car. And, just for your information, even if someone had stolen him, he would have gotten back to me.” Capsicle opens his mouth to retort but she cuts him with a hand gesture. “Shut up and drive me to the fucking city. I have things to do.”
He sighs but does as he is told and gets a rope out of nowhere. Antonia doesn't move and watches him lift her suit, put it behind the bike and attach it to the vehicle with the rope.
“The hell you're doing ?” she finally asks when he's finished.
“Well, we're taking it with us right ?”
“Yeah but not like that. He's already hurt, you can't haul him like that.”
“We won't fit on the bike with the suit.”
Pinching the bridge of her nose, Antonia forces herself to breath in and out for a few seconds before walking to the bike and swinging her leg over it.
“Let's go, that poncho smells really bad.”
“I bought some clothes but left the bag at the hotel, sorry.”
“You booked us a hotel room ?”
“Natasha did. She flied me here but couldn't stay because of a mission.”
“Great, so she knows I'm alive.”
“Well... she kinda said “it's not a stupid bomb that will kill that bitch” when we saw the news so...”
“Yeah, whatever. I hope you didn't forget the sandwich”
***
Antonia tells Capsicle to carry the suit to one of the bed of their tiny hotel room and immediately sits on the floor, inspecting the armor. What she sees satisfies her enough that she turns to Cap to ask him where is her sandwich.
“What are we doing here ?” asks Capsicle once she swallows the last bit of her terribly tasteless diner.
She knows that he wanted to ask this ever since her call, a few hours ago, and she appreciates the fact that he waited for her to be warm and fed before asking – and that's the only reason she answers him.
“There was a terrorist attack here a few month ago. A military guy who wanted to kill himself but there's no trace of bomb and the thermogenic signature was impossibly high.”
“In English ?”
“There's no bomb but when the dude exploded, the temperature rose at three thousand degrees Celsius.”
“It's impossible.”
“Nope, and it is the same temperature as the Mandarin attack against the Chinese Theater.”
Capsicle frowns, gets up from the bed he was sitting on and starts to pace back and forth in front of her spot on the floor.
“Why would the Mandarin attack Rose Hills ?”
“I don't know, that's why I am here for.”
“Do you have a plan ?”
“More or less. I'm going to see the place he blew up and try to understand what the hell happened.”
“Good, let's do that first thing in the morning then” he says and sits back down on the bed.
“What ? I'm not waiting till tomorrow morning.”
“Yes you are. It's almost three am and you look like you haven't slept in days. You have to rest. And take a shower.”
“Why ? I smell too bad for your delicate nose ?”
He smirks and for the first time since she met him, Antonia looks at him and sees a man, not the super-soldier her dad always told her about that has great morals and everything she could never have – like a penis, but daddy never put it that way, only the council dared to tell her that she could never be taken seriously because she has ovaries.
“I've lived in barracks with thirty other guys during the war, trust me you smell like rose compared to that. However, you have blood in your hair and on your face and you would probably feel better after a shower.”
She nods, gets up and goes to the bathroom, taking the bag of clothes he brought with her.
***
“You do realize that when I asked for a digital watch, I expected something... a little more rad.”
“I don't know what rad means.”
“It means I didn't want a Captain America watch. This is ridiculous.”
Capsicle smirks – he seems to be doing that a lot when he's not busy being America's golden boy – and looks down at the watch around Antonia's left wrist.
“Clint gave me this as a joke and it is the only digital watch I have.”
“Yeah right, you prefer ancient, my bad.” she gives him a sideways look and raises an eyebrow “Do you have a cuckoo clock in your living room ?”
“No” he smiles “but maybe I should get one”
She rolls her eyes at him but does not add anything.
It is six in the morning, she did not sleep at all during the night – trying to fix her suit in silence while Capsicle was sleeping instead – and is wearing one of his overly big sweater. This is better than the poncho but she had to roll the sleeves up so she could at least see her fingers and that alone makes the situation ridiculous.
“That's the place” she says when they arrive at the corner of the street and turn left.
The snow had stopped falling hours ago and in the winter morning light, the shadows on the walls and the crater caused by the explosion seem eerie and totally unreal. Antonia and Capsicle exchange a quick look before the young woman walks to one wall and touches a shadow..
For a second, her thoughts drift to Happy, her dear Happy who almost died in the same kind of explosion, and she feels immensely grateful that he survived.
“You have that starkphone I gave you ?” she asks, turning to Capsicle who is staring at her.
He nods and joins her to give it to her.
She furiously tapes on the smartphone as soon as she has it, bows furrowed.
“They were six dead but I can only see five shadows. Chad Davis' shadow is missing – he's the one who had the bomb. That's weird.”
When she turns back to Capsicle to give him back the phone, his eyes are turned to the crater. It takes him almost a minute to finally move and meet Antonia's eyes and when he does so, she feels anxiety rising from the pit of her stomach.
“This crater reminds me of something and... Can I ask you a question ?”
She shrugs and tries to bite back the lump forming in her throat.
“Why did you suddenly leave New York overnight after making sure that we all moved in?”
“I don't know what you're talking about” she says, voice wavering a little.
“I think you do. After the fight you helped rebuilt New York and as soon as you were done, you left for the other side of the country.”
“I had work. It's not because I'm not the CEO of Stark Industries anymore that I don't have a lot of things to work on. I'm still the one creating everything.”
“I would believe you if Pepper hadn't stayed with us until you called her and asked her to move in with you in L.A.”
He takes a step closer to her and she absolutely hates the fact that she has to look up to meet his eyes.
“I think something is bothering you, because you're clearly not okay at all, and I think it has to do with the portal in New York and that big ''nuke''.” he says quietly.
Antonia wants to yell at him that he can go fuck himself but the anxiety in her chest is choking her and she chooses to do the only thing her panicked brain can think of : she runs away.
She only makes it to the corner of the street before dropping to her knees, taking off the sweater she is wearing and taking a handful of snow from the ground to press it against her face. Capsicle joins her and kneels next to her as she tries to breath.
“Are you okay ?! I am so sorry I didn't mean to scare you. You're having an anxiety attack right ? Do you need something ? Like a... a plastic bag or maybe a... medication ? Do you have medication ?”
“No I don't” she replies from where her mouth is buried in snow.
“Do you need to be on it ?”
“Probably.”
She drops the snow she is holding, takes another handful and throws it at Capsicle's head.
“I hope you're happy, now stop freaking me out ! We have more important things to do.”
“I am truly sorry”
“Whatever. We should go back to the hotel.”
He gets up and holds his hand out to help her up but she ignores him and gets back to her feet by herself. He still manages to pick the sweater up and hands it to her – and she ignores the thin disappointed line of his lips when she snaps it out of his hold and puts it back on.
***
Antonia can sense that Capsicle is growing impatient but she acts like she doesn't even see that he is here – which is actually very hard since he is sitting on his bed and trying to burn holes in her nape just by the power of his eyes or something.
“When will the suit be ready ?” he finally asks and she takes great pleasure in finishing to tighten a bolt before answering.
“When I have access to the Stark Tower's garage”
“What do you mean ?”
“I mean that this is an Iron Woman suit okay, so I am doing my best to fix him but obviously a crappy hotel room is not the best place in the world to do so. I can restore the most important circuits that were damaged and try to make him combat ready but it will be far from a brand new suit.”
“But you'll still be able to use it ?”
“Yes. Now let me work.”
He stays quiet until she finishes fixing the left arm of the suit.
“What's your plan now ? Because we clearly need one.”
“You tell me, Star Spangle Man with a plan.” she turns to smirk at him when no reply comes and he visibly relaxes, understanding that she is joking. “My plan is to wait till, let's say, two in the afternoon, and then go to the bar we saw this morning. I want to meet Mrs. Davis and that's probably where we'll be able to meet her.”
“Who goes to a bar at two in the afternoon ?”
Antonia gets up from the floor where she's been siting and stretches, sending a small smile in Capsicle's direction.
“You're so innocent sometimes. If only you knew how many people got drunk even before midday... that would probably break your heart.”
He looks at her with sad eyes but doesn't say anything – maybe because there is nothing to say at all. When she was still in New York, Antonia knows that she spent most of her time in a perpetuate state of drunkenness and that the other Avengers probably knew it, but she can't bring herself to care. Every superheroes team has an alcoholic right ? And at least it is clear to everybody now that she is a train wreck.
She decides to put all those thoughts in the very back of her mind and plug in the suit to an outlet.
***
Antonia doesn't even pretend to be surprised when her meeting with Mrs Davis goes south. In fact, she isn't even surprised when Capsicle comes out of nowhere and punches the douche trying to kill her so hard with his shield that the dude goes flying.
“I knew that when I told you to stay at the hotel, you had said yes a little too quickly” she grumbles while freeing her leg from the metal pieces trapping her.
She gets up and limps for two steps before Capsicle's arm comes around her shoulders.
“I don't need your help.” she hisses.
“Has anyone ever told you that you are dangerously reckless ?”
“I tend to avoid people who state the obvious.”
He gives her a stern look.
“I thought you were going to die when all that water fell on you.”
“Oh come on now” she exclaims, rolling her eyes “I'm way harder to kill than that, trust me.”
Pursing his lips, Capsicle just hands her the files Mrs Davis had and helps her walking to his motorbike.
“You left the suit alone ? I hope you kept it plugged in.” she tells him once she is straddling the bike – and sure that he will not insist that she puts the helmet on because that thing is ridiculous and she doesn't need hat hair on top of all her problems.
“Yes, and I put it somewhere safe.”
“Which is ?”
“A nice family's garage.”
“No shit !” she playfully slaps him on the arm, receiving a smirk in exchange “America's Golden Boy broke into someone's house ?”
“I also learned how to steal cars during the war.”
“I knew those muscles weren't your only charm.”
He snickers and starts the motorbike.
“What do we do now ?” he asks after a few minutes.
“Drive a little bit more slowly” she says, one arm around him and the other one holding the files. “Shit ! This is fucking AIM and fucking Killian. God I can't believe it, that douche can't take no for an answer.”. She closes the file and shifts a little to put it under her butt so that she is sitting on it before talking again : “We're gonna need Rhodey, where is the phone ?”
“Left pocket of my jacket.”
She reaches for the starkphone and calls the number she knows by heart.
“Hello.” says Rhodey
“Did you ever have a chick straddling you and you look up and suddenly she's glowing from the inside out, kind of a bright orange?”
“Yeah, I've had that. Who is this ?”
“It's me, pal. Now last time I went missing, if I remember correctly, you came looking for me. What are you doing ?”
“A little knockin' talking, making friends in Pakistan. What are you doing?” Antonia can hear the smile in his voice and it warms her heart.
“Your re-design, your big re-brand, that was AIM, right?”
“Yeah. Why ?”
“I'm gonna find a heavy-duty comsat right now, I need your login.” she replies, ignoring his question.
“It's the same as it's always been, War Machine 68.”
“And password please? ”
“Well, look, I gotta change it every time you hack in, Tony.”
“It's not the eighties, nobody says 'hack' anymore. Give me your login.”
“Were you even born in the eighties ?”
“Password.”
“War Machine Rox with an X, all caps.”
Antonia laughs and Capsicle chuckles, probably hearing the whole conversation.
“Shut up.” grumbles Rhodey.
“This is so much better than Iron Patriot. I told you.”
She ends the call as they drive in front of a big building housing a miss contest.
“Stop here Cap, we're gonna crash the party.”
***
Capsicle looks a little overwhelmed when Gary (or was it Jerry ? Jaimie ? whatever) the fanboy comes in the van and starts to freak out and shows Antonia his hair (“done just like yours !”) and it gets worst when Jerry turns to him and asks if he can touch his abs. She interrupts the fan-meeting by grabbing the guy by his arm and looking right into his eyes.
“Look Jerry, I don't wanna clip your wings here, we're all a little over-excited. We got an issue. We're chasing bad guys, trying to grapple with something from some hard-crypt data files. We don't have enough juice.” She stops and makes some hand movement in hope that he will understand “We need you to jump on the roof, right ? Recalibrate the ISDNs, pump it up by about forty percent.”
“Got it.”
“It's a mission okay.”
“Yeah” his eyes are a little too glassy for Antonia's liking so she decides to push him a little bit more.
“Tony and Steve need you okay ?”
“Right. And Gary needs Tony and Steve.”
“Be quiet about it.”
“And go” adds Capsicle.
The guy is a little overjoyed but he does as he is told and Antonia can access to AIM data without a hitch.
Capsicle puts a hand on the back of her chair and his other hand on the desk, bending over so he can watch over her shoulder the videos saved in a “candidates” folder. He doesn't say anything through all the videos until they watch the ones saved as “project extremis” and he immediately grabs her shoulder when they see Brandt's arm grow back.
“There's no bomb” he breathes out.
“It's a misfire.” she replies, more to herself than anything, seeing the pieces of the puzzle coming together in her mind. “These things don't always work yet he found a buyer. The Mandarin. We got him.”
***
Once they are back on the motorbike, Antonia uses the starkphone to call the suit and talk to Jarvis – or at least it's the explication she gives to Capsicle who seems totally lost by the concept of calling an AI using a suit because the real process is a little bit more complicated than that.
“Jarvis, how are we ?”
“It's totally fine, madam. I seem to do quite well for a stretch and then at the end of the sentence I say the wrong cranberry. And, madam, you were right. Once I factored in available AIM downlink facilities, I was able to pinpoint the Mandarin's broadcast signal.”
“Where ? Far East, Europe, North Africa, Iran, Pakistan, Syria, where is it ?”
“Actually madam, it's in Miami.”
“Damn it, I'm gonna have to reboot your speech drive. Hold on J.”
She puts the phone away from her ear and, with one arm strongly put around Capsicle's middle, starts to type on the starkphone to access to the suit.
“Wait, it's really in Miami.” she says.
“Isn't it a good news ?” asks Capsicle over his shoulder.
“Don't know. First, I need the armor.”
She resumes to typing on the screen of the phone before almost dropping it and letting go of Capsicle. He grabs her arm before any of that can happen – bless his super-soldier's reflexes.
“What is it ? What's happening ?” he asks, worried.
“It's not charging. Why is it not charging ?!” she only replies, tone frantic.
“Actually, madam, it's charging, but the power source is questionable. It may not succeed in revitalizing the Mark 42.” reply Jarvis.
“What's questionable about electricity ?” she cries out, feeling her throat closing up. “Alright, it's my suit and I can't...I'm not gonna...I... Pull over !”
Capsicle immediately does as he is told and Antonia jumps off the motorbike as soon as it is coming to a stop, sitting on the ground and grabbing the first thing she finds to anchor her : Capsicle's calf.
“Oh God, not again” she whines, eyes closed and breath erratic.
She feels something on her head and takes five seconds to process that it is Capsicle's hand patting her head – and not caressing her hair, she would kill him if he tried.
“It's okay” he says in a calming tone “just breath, it's okay.”
“It's not... What am I gonna do ?”
“You're gonna figure something out, don't worry. You're a genius, remember ? You built your first armor from scratch, trust me you're gonna make it this time too.”
Talking about Afghanistan is not the smoothest move but it still triggers something in Antonia's brain, something that always gives her genius ideas, and she finally can breath normally. After a few seconds, she lets go of Capsicle's leg and gets back up, smiling lightly at him.
“I know what we're gonna do. Thanks.”
His smile in return is blinding.
“You are very welcome.”
***
Driving from Tennessee to Florida is long and boring. It's only been two hours but Antonia already feels herself drifting off, both her arms wrapped around Cap this time, leaning on his back, head between his shoulder blades and eyes closed.
“Hey hum... Do you remember what I said on the helicarrier, before the explosion ?”
Antonia grunts, not moving. There's nothing she wants less than talk about New York.
“I just want to say that I am sorry. About it. What you did was very courageous and what you are doing now with the Mandarin... it's also very brave. You are heroic, no matter what people say.”
“You're the only hero here” she replies, wanting to bury her face in his leather jacket and disappear for ever. It's not a talk she plans on having, ever.
“Why are you so keen on being a selfish bi– bad girl.”
Smiling at the insult he almost let slip, she tells herself that talking about it with Captain America is still better than talking about it with Rhodey or even worse, Happy.
“I don't want to be a hero, I just do what I have to do. I protect people who can't protect themselves. Because with all the tech I have, I wouldn't be able to look at myself in a mirror if I just let bad guys win. It's just a selfish way to make me feel better for all the chaos I've created in the past.”
“Yes, but you could always hire someone to be in the suit yet you choose to be Iron Woman.”
“The suit and I, we're one.” she shrugs.
“Exactly. You are so much more than what people believe you are. I don't understand why you let them put you down.”
“You've read the press.” – it's not a question.
“Yes, and it's awful.”
“I know, but that's better that way. They want me to be a mess – which I am by the way – and I feed them with what they want. A fake sex-scandal, pictures and videos of me drunk and not walking straight... they love it. I just do what I have to do.”
“You don't have to do this.”
“Believe me, I do.”
As expected he asks her why but she doesn't reply, her eyes still closed and her head still on his back.
He is Captain America – not really Capsicle anymore – and she really does not want to tell him about her desperate need of... something. Her whole life is nothing but a big blur of self-hatred and disappointment and he is the guy who wanted to got to the war because it was the right thing to do. The guy who (metaphorically) punched Hitler.
The guy her father spent his whole life looking for.
She has a drinking problem, probably PTSD and managed to give her home address to terrorists so she really doesn't think he actually wants to know why and would understand.
***
It takes them almost two days to drive to Miami and it feels a lot more like a road-trip instead of a cheap journey to take terrorists down. Cap insists on paying for every meal they eat in crappy diners and even opens doors for Antonia. She has to admit that she feels flattered – it is the first time in her life that a guy acts like a gentleman toward her without expecting to have sex with her as a reward.
They don't talk about New York, or being a superhero or anything serous. Instead, he tells her all about the forties, about his bestfriend Bucky and seems genuinely surprised when she tells him that she knows Peggy.
“She was like an aunt for me. She's the one who taught me how to punch guys without breaking a knuckle.” she says, watching his expression changes from happy to nostalgic.
“I am not surprised. She was the strongest women I've ever met back in the days.”
He gives her a small smile, full of regrets and something she can't quite place.
“She gave me a blood red lipstick as a present when I got my entrance letter to MIT. It was the first time someone encouraged me to be a girl.”
“I don't understand why people shouldn't and would think you incapable of doing anything just because of your gender.”
“I know right ! And this is a ninety year old dude who's telling me that.”
He smirks and sips at his coffee, any regret gone from his face.
“I just thought of an awesome name for our team” she tells him once they are straddling the bike again, stomachs full and Cap putting his ridiculous helmet on."
“I thought we were the Avengers ?”
“No, Avengers are the six of us. Right now we are The Man Out Of Time and The Dead Girl Walking.”
“That's a terrible name.”
“Nope, it's an awesome name. Almost as awesome as me.”
He sends her an amused smile over his shoulder and they take off again.
***
Being a genius is Antonia's biggest gift and her backpack full of explosive Christmas decorations is another proof of that. It feels weird to have to rely on this kind of tech when she is so used to the suits but with Cap having her back, his shield (and ridiculous hair) almost glowing under Miami's sun, she feels like this whole thing could work.
Of course, it does not.
She did not expect the Mandarin to be just some... actor, weirdo, junkie – she's not sure. The dude talks and talks and talks while Cap listens and she looks around but despite everything, the orange glowing bastards still take them by surprise.
The first one, who had his skull smashed by Cap back in Rose Hill, slaps her across the face hard enough that she goes flying across the room and collides with a wall. Cap charges but the guy takes a taser out of his pocket and presses the trigger. It takes him and his friends three charges to put Cap to his knees and eight in total to knock him out.
The orange glowing bastard smirks at Antonia when she tries to get up and fire at him and finishes her with a kick in the face.
When she wakes up, she is attached to a bed put vertically – which is totally ridiculous – and there is a girl, the same who came to her house right before it was bombed and pretended to be one of her ex – that bit was still not verified as Antonia's memory failed her for this kind of details.
The girl seems to be in love with her, or something like that but Antonia has a migraine and can't concentrate more than two minutes because that's apparently what being kicked in the head does to someone. She still tries to convince the girl to let her go but of fucking course Killian-the-douchebag walks into the room before this happens and starts a long speech about Switzerland – which happened when Antonia was still fifteen and really horny and still couldn't hold ten shots of Jack.
Her brain however comes into sharp focus when images – live images – of Pepper appear in front of her and with horror she sees her bestfriend screaming, being tortured by those fuckers in front of her.
Hatred leaves a heavy taste on her tongue and hurts like acid seeping down her stomach. Nobody has the right to hurt Pepper. No one, ever. And she promises herself to hurt Killian back as much as he is hurting Pepper right at this moment.
But then he kills the girl – Maya – right in front of her, and Antonia knows that this will end badly.
“You're a maniac” she says, voice shaking.
“No, I'm a visionary.”
She really wants to hurt him.
***
Antonia meets Cap and Rhodey in the mansion. She has a car battery attached to her suit who miraculously managed to fly from Rose Hill to her but other than that, this is the first time since she woke up in Tennessee she finally feels like something can be done.
“How did you get out Cap ?” she asks while Rhodey points his gut to the Mandarin's face – or whoever that dude is.
“They only attached me to a bed” he shrugs.
He has his shield with him and Antonia is seventy-five percent sure that this damn thing has somehow became a part of his body now, but it feels good to know that he's there with Rhodey.
They successfully draw out information from the Mandarin and take his boat to go save Pepper, calling the vice-president on their way. Once it's done, Antonia tries to save the President – and fails but she did try her best – and active the house-party protocol.
“What is it ?” asks Cap.
The only reply he gets is a smirk and a wink that makes him blush.
Sneaking in Killian's oil-drilling platform is easier than Antonia thought it would be but next to Captain America and Rhodey, she feels like an amateur. She is still wearing Cap's too big sweater which makes it harder to move and it is clear to everyone that she does not really know how to hold a gun.
“We're outnumbered” hisses Rhodey as orange-glowing soldiers take positions to encircle them.
“You're right, we need backup” replies Antonia, smirking.
“Do you have a plan ?” asks Cap, clearly reading it on her face.
Instead of a verbal answer, she indicates the glowing lights in the sky flying toward them.
“Is that ?”
“Yep, it's the house party” she says and promptly orders Jarvis to take care of every person with an extremis heat signature.
“Are you for real ?” comes Cap's reaction who turns to her, eyes bright like a child on Christmas morning.
“Hell yeah and merry Christmas kids.”
***
For the first time of her life, Antonia wishes she was taller. Or just had longer arms. Or anything, really, if only she could grab Pepper's hand.
“I can't reach further” she cries out “you gotta let go, it's okay I'll catch you !”
Pepper sends her a terrified look, and Antonia finds herself tearing up.
“I'll catch you Pep I promise, just let go !”
The rig moves before either of them can do anything and suddenly, like in slow-motion, Antonia looks with horror as Pepper falls, screaming.
For a second, everything blacks out and all Antonia can see is the fire and Pepper, her bestfriend, slowly falling toward it. She yells, as loud as she can, her hand still extended to where Pepper was only seconds ago, and the sob escaping her is the only thing snapping her back into reality.
Trembling, she turns back, wanting to jump after Pepper more than anything, but knowing that Aldrich Killian has to suffer and be killed before she dies.
Of course the fucker is waiting for her but he does not seem to expect her jumping into suits, one after another, while he tries to cut her in half. She is fast and deft despite the suits – some really not aerodynamic and that were not designed for hand-to-hand combat.
“I could have made her perfect” says Killian, ripping the suit's left arm out one second after Antonia commands it to come off.
“She already was.” replies the young woman, getting out of the suit right before Killian kicks it with a glowing limb.
Killian just laughs – because being a maniac seems to be really funny.
“You should have just done what I wanted you to do. That would have saved Pepper and a lot of people.”
A voice in Antonia's ear murmurs “Mark 42 inbound” and Killian laughs again when something crashes just behind her.
“You and your stupid toys... you always only think about having fun. Nothing is serious for you, and you made a big mistake all those years ago when you chose to have fun instead of building Earth's future with me !”
“Shut the hell up” she replies, rolling her eyes, and does one big movement with her arms, sending the suit flying to Killian and imprisoning him. “Blow Mark 42 Jarvis” she says and does not get away, preferring to listen to Killian's screams.
Jarvis seems to sense something because a suit lands right in front of her, open, and takes a step back so she is inside it. It then takes off just as Aldrich Killian blows off.
“Jarvis, how's the situation ?” she asks as the suit continues to fly higher and higher.
“All wrapped up here, madam. Lieutenant Colonel Rhodes has successfully put Mr the President out of harm way and Captain Rogers had just arrested the last civilian.”
“Good. Activate the clean slate protocol now.”
“Madam, are you sure ?”
“Yes Jarvis, do it. And I'm also gonna need Dr Banner's position.”
“Doctor Banner appears to be staying twenty kilometers south of Kinshasa.”
“Okay, bring me there.”
“Madam...”
“Just do it J.”
Fireworks explode everywhere, in the sky and on the ground, but Antonia does not pay them any attention, feeling numb and her brain replying Pepper's fall, again and again.
By the time she finally lands in front of a tiny house made of concrete, she has ran out of tears to shed and Bruce does not say anything when she enters, gets out of the suit and falls face-first on his bed.