One Vial

“Tony, what’s going on?!” I yell at him when my voice returns.

He’s frowning and moving things on the screen so fast I can’t make heads or tails of it. Eventually he sighs and Director Fury’s face appears.

“Stark. Of course. Who else could’ve hacked my personal computer?” the man says gruffly.

“Oh I think Banner would be up for it – though it might take him a bit longer,” Tony responds.

Then I see Fury’s eyes hone in on my face and I feel my stomach drop.

“Agent Scott,” he states calmly. “You are wanted for questioning.”

“Yeah, yeah, we already know about that. We’re just wondering why the hell she’s been classified as dangerous when you wanted her to join the Avengers.”

“We weren’t aware Agent Scott had any abilities that would qualify her.”

Tony and I exchange a look. I repeat: what the hell is going on here?

“Well please, Director, enlighten us as to why she’s been targeted,” Tony asks mockingly.

“We were tipped off that Agent Scott was working against us, so we dispatched a team to intercept her. Instead the site was blown sky high and we lost several agents!”

I think I’m going to be sick. Those were S.H.I.E.L.D. agents back there, and I killed some of them.

“Who tipped you off?” Tony demands.

“It was her latest medical.”

“Excuse me?” I cut in incredulously. “My medical told you I was a traitor?!”

Fury stares me down and says, “You were showing the same signs your sister did before she sabotaged a mission, killed several agents and then ran off.”

“Kylie would never have done something like that! And how could I not know about this if she did? She’s been going to work for the past eight months!” I snap. “How do I know you aren’t just making this all up?”

“Are you questioning me, Agent Scott?” Fury challenges and my eyes narrow.

“I’ll question anyone who thinks I’m a traitor.”

“Well, Agent Scott, I will look into your claim, but there’s something I need to know from you first.”

I frown but say, “Yes sir?”

“Who gave you the authority to see Stark?”

“My superior, sir. Agent Hendricks.”

Fury’s face grows, well, furious.

“Stark, keep an eye on Agent Scott while I sort this out.”

“Babysitting rogue agents is my life,” Tony says with a grin, then types in another command and Fury’s face disappears.

Tony goes and pours us both another drink and I take it gratefully.

“What do we do now?” I ask him. “This is so crazy.”

“We’ll go find your sister. She sounds interesting.”

*

I’ve tried calling Kylie several times now, but it’s been useless. I just end up with her voicemail. So Stark and I ‘had to’ take the jet back to the East Coast.

“I doubt you’re going to find her at Headquarters, Nicole. Fury looked like he was about to have an aneurysm, which means someone’s gonna cop some major shit.”

I sigh and say, “She owns an old warehouse in Brooklyn that she sometimes lives in. It’s got an underground bomb shelter and she’s been sleeping in there since the Battle of New York.”

“Oh. Yes. That totally doesn’t set your sister up as the super obvious bad guy with an evil lair.”

I glare at Tony but bite my tongue and just look out the window as we land.

“I don’t know what we’re going to find, but Kylie is temperamental at the best of times,” I tell Tony once the anger passes. “So whatever you do, don’t be yourself.”

“This is not going to be fun.”

*

Tony is in the Iron Man suit, standing casually at my side and I am trying not to stare. It’s kind of hard when everything’s so shiny and big and standing right next to you. But I am a professional and just knock on the heavy industrial door. It slides open at my touch and we step inside cautiously.

There’s not a whole lot of light in here, but I can make out the apartment area on the mezzanine easily.

“Kylie?” I call and the door shuts behind us. I jump at the noise.

“Nicole,” her voice acknowledges but I can’t find the source.

“Kylie, we need to talk,” I try.

I hear her chuckle and the sound of heels. The next thing I know, there’s a light in the corner of the warehouse, in the dark, under the mezzanine. Her hand is on fire and there’s a smirk on her face.

“That’s really interesting, sis. If you just wanted to talk, why is a killer-robot here?” she asks.

I’m too focused on her hand to answer that question.

“Kylie…your hand.”

She steps out of the shadows and walks towards us.

“Oh yes, Nicole. I’m just like you. Or rather, I made you like me.”

The orange injections in my sleep.

My world spins and a sinking feeling appears in my gut. I think I might be sick.

“You did this to me,” I realise and Kylie claps sarcastically. “Why? What am I? What have you done, Kylie?”

I watch as the flame spreads over her body; her dark hair turns blue and her eyes go black.

“We need people, Nicole. It’s all about the survival of a species, and you and I are contributing to the rescue.”

My jaw drops with horror and images of a fluorescent orange worm in my body flash in front of me.

“Yeah, I can’t stay quiet about this, Agent,” Tony suddenly says and raises his hand, lights in the centre of his palm growing stronger and pointed at Kylie.

Knee-jerk reaction takes over and I attempt to tackle Stark. Which is pretty stupid, because I’m just a human and he is covered in a super hard metal casing. I hiss with pain and then I hear the impact of his blast. I look up anxiously, but Kylie is hovering six feet in the air and Tony’s destroyed her bathroom.

“Thanks sis,” she says. “But there’s only one thing I want from you now. You need to come with me.”

I nearly laugh.

“You injected me with something that turns me into a fire-demon-thing and lied to me about it, plus you were fired from S.H.I.E.L.D. but still somehow turn up to work, and you expect me to trust you enough to follow you?” I ask incredulously.

She sighs and drifts closer. I’m secretly wondering if I can do that – fly.

“You aren’t special enough to join their little club, Nicole. By the time we’re done, there are going to be hundreds of us. I’m your family and I let you in on the biggest thing that’s ever happened to me. The things we could teach you…you don’t even know what you’re capable of.”

It takes me a millisecond to make up my mind.

“I don’t even know you,” I say and take a step back. “I can’t let you turn people into this.”

“Then you leave me no choice.”

And then she attacks. Her fireball hits me right in the face, and though it knocks me onto my back and I’m aware that Tony’s finally rearing to go again, I’m unhurt. Of course. Fire can’t hurt me now. As I climb to my feet, she realises this too, and her face curls into a snarl. It’s an expression the sister I know would never have made.

Tony launches forward but she’s much too quick for him and dodges round and comes straight more me. I aim a punch at her face but she instead grabs my hand and pulls me into the air.

“You know if I drop you and Stark doesn’t catch you, and you land wrong, you could die on that concrete,” she whispers and I watch as Tony whirls around to see what’s going on.

Kylie’s grip on my hand loosens and I scream, but she just grabs my foot instead. My shoe burns off at her contact.

“This is a better angle.”

Tony launches another blast at Kylie but she easily avoids it, even when he continues to attack. She then races around the room and I watch the grey concrete below me with absolute terror. For the first time, there’s really nothing I can do. And she’s getting me out of Tony’s reach.

“Good luck, Stark,” she then calls. “Bye Nicole.”