Status: New and On Going

An Iron Will

Flashbacks (Part 1)

The monitor beeps sullenly in the otherwise silent medical ward. Four men sit around one of the beds, while another paces back and forth in agitation. She lays in silence, pallid and dead to the world. Her hair is slick against her skin from the sweat that coats her body as she fights the pain and injury plaguing her prone form.

****************************

36 Hours Earlier

LACIE'S POV

I scream automatically as the glass shatters from the windows, rocketing toward us, glinting maliciously. Two strong arms wrap around me and hall me to the floor, onto my stomach, as he blocks me from the brunt of the projectiles. Blonde hair from my protector falls to the floor next to my face, severed by some of the flying glass. After a few seconds I'm pulled into a sitting position and Thor checks my injuries, brushing his thumb against my temple and coming away with his golden skin stained a vivid red.

"Are you alright, maiden?" his booming voice asked. I trembled as I nodded my head. I didn't tremble because I was scared, though I know I should have been, I trembled because something was rushing through my veins, something hot and angry. When he decided that I would be well enough without him, he picked me up and rushed me over to where Tony's bar was. He deposited me behind it with little ceremony and I fell onto to someone else.

"Do you intend to give me all of your castoffs? Or just the injured ones?" a sneering voice threw out at Thor. I tipped my head back to get a good look a Loki's face, which was studiously ignoring the girl that had just been dropped onto his lap suddenly. Loki was more intent on watching the man to his left who was frantically messing around on a StarkPad and muttering about how it was always his freaking house, and how he could only redecorate so many times. His leg was hanging at an awkward angle and his pant leg was stained a dark black-red, but it looked like a swath of green had been wrapped around it under the knee to stop the blood flow.

Though, I wouldn't mention to anyone that Loki's cloak was ripped along the bottom.

I rolled my eyes at Loki's nonchalance, looked away from Tony's injury and focused on Thor. Who was looking at his brother with faint disapproval and consideration. "No, brother. I entrust them unto you while I fight in both of our steads." And with that, Thor held out his hand.

I raised an eyebrow at his warrior like display that caused nothing to happen. Not fully trusting any of Loki's answers about his brother, I turned to Tony for an explanation. He didn't even look up from his StarkPad as he answered my silent question.

"Just wait for it, kid." I blinked at him, before turning back to Thor right as something did happen. A hammer ripped through one of Doom's bots that had been advancing on us and straight into Thor's open palm. I couldn't stop my jaw from popping open in faint awe at his obvious little display of bad-assery. My look wasn't missed by either of of the Asgardians. Loki snorted in derision but Thor threw me a lopsided smile and a wink.

The Present

The blipping sound from the monitor skipped suddenly, stopping the pacing man in his tracks. It started up regularly again but he stood frozen and watching the screen with the rising and falling green lines instead of resuming his laps around the room. Bruce leaned back in his chair and pulled off his glasses so he could rub the bridge of his nose. He glanced at the people around him sighing in anger at their situation.

They couldn't do anything for her.

*****************************

36 Hours Earlier

LACIE'S POV

It felt like they had been battling forever, though it had been maybe thirty minutes, if that.

"What did he mean by that?" Loki asked to the thin air. I looked away from a broken bottle of gin's contents that were spilling onto the floor. His gaze was furrowed and lips thin in contemplation.

"Probably that your only use is babysitting us as you're sitting on your ass uselessly while we're being bombarded by gigantic-ass robots." I said primly. Tony snorted and looked up from trying to reactivate JARVIS, the AI had been shut off when the missiles that broke the windows damaged his system connected to the tower, to give me a bemused glance.

"Pardon me?" Loki said, pulling back to glare at me down his nose. I leveled him with an annoyed look.

"You heard me, Princess." we glared at each for a moment. The soundtrack to our stare off was Tony's muttered curses, the roaring of the Hulk and Ben, Reed and Doom's verbal argument and a smattering of Captain America and the Human Torch bickering.

Loki's lips finally twitched up into a condescending smirk "Fair enough, daughter of Iron. Try to not get killed in my absence. The golden Prince of Asgard would be highly put out with me." Before I could ask what he meant he pulled off some bad-assery of his own. Using one hand, he gripped the top of the bar with long fingers and vaulted over in a simple, smooth, yet impressive move.

Tony looked up and shared a glance with me.

"Asgardians love showing off their old grandpa moves."

I cracked a grin right as a ricochet came over the bar and cracked something else.

The Present

Reed and Tony sat with their heads bent together as the built a lay out for their new lab on a hologram. They argued but there was no drive behind their exchange of insults, no interest in besting the other.

The monitor kept beeping steadily.

***************************

35 Hours Earlier

LACIE'S POV

"It's still not working and I can't fucking move fast enough to go anywhere!" Tony yelled out in frustration, throwing down his StarkPad. The screen was cracked violently down the middle, so deeply that it had damaged the programming and Tony couldn't get it to work again. I bit my lip as the rush in my veins came back from earlier, prodding me to offer something incredibly stupid.

"Where could I get to a replacement?"

His eyes all but popped out of his head "What?"

"Where, Tony?"

He looked at me for a minute, trying to decide something. Whatever it was, it was determined in my favor.

"Down in my lab. Next to a red toolbox, the one open. Not closed." I nodded and rose to a crouch, trying to figure out how to get across to the elevator, and if the elevator even worked. We hadn't been able to see any of the fighting, just listened to the sound of people getting thrown around in the glittering night of NYC. It sounded pretty damn painful, Tony had to hold me back when Reed's cry of pain cut through the symphony of breaks and thuds and rips. I hadn't heard him call out an order to the team since.

Deciding on the screw it all method, I shifted my wait and raced toward the elevator doors with everything I had. I got glimpses of the fight around me. Most of the bots seemed to be in the air outside the tower or ripped to pieces and scattered over the penthouse floor. I jumped over a metal arm as I sprinted through the red zone, almost getting hit by a volley of gun shots(they apparently had machine guns that came from their backs) but a familiar orange shield threw itself in front of me and deflected them.

"What the hell, Charlie?!" Ben roared at my back. I hadn't stopped running. I also didn't bothering answering because I had actually made it to the elevator. I slammed a hand into the button and almost started crying in relief when it lit up and the doors slid apart.

Right before the doors closed I looked back towards Tony. He was watching me with wide eyes. He mouthed something but I can't read lips for anything. I just nodded at him, trying to look bored and confident. But then I saw something that had me falling to my knees when the doors closed.

Reed was sprawled on the ground, lifeless.

***************************

The Present

Thor sits next to a quiet Johnny Storm. Both are uncharacteristically silent. The younger,by centuries, blonde male has as stone cold look on his face as he watches the woman's face for any sign of change or awareness of the people around her.

There is none.

***************************

35 Hours Earlier

LACIE'S POV

I can't breathe. Reed. Oh, God, please no. Just please.

Everything is spinning. Nothing is right anymore.

The doors are opening, but I can't, I can't get up.

But it's okay. Someone is here to pull me up.

I'm an idiot, nothing is okay. Even if she smells like-

Wait, what- she?!

Everything tips sideways when I realize that I'm not alone.

***************************

The Present

The medical doors slide open as a blonde walks in, her blue eyes hard. Her arm is in a sling and there are a few cuts grazing her cheek, but she walks like she just came back from a press conference. Which she did.

A quick glance to the bed, full of frustration and spoiled hope, is all she spares as she walks over and inserts herself into her husband's lap.

"How is she?"

"Stable." he murmurs shortly.

***************************

33 Hours Earlier

LACIE'S POV

"Who-o a-are y-you?" someone says, their voice wobbling helplessly.

The woman smiles sweetly, her eyes full of something that I couldn't place. "Be calm, little one. There is no need to weep."

It hits me then. I'm the one crying. Wow. That should have been way more obvious. I repeat my question, a little stronger this go around "Who are y-you?" ,but not perfect.

Her smile softened, if it was possible. She had dark honey brown hair, twisted into intricate braids and dark, warm brown eyes. She was dressed like the wife of a wealthy CEO. White dress pants, white suit jacket with a golden shirt underneath. "My name isn't that important right now. But if it would make you feel any better, you may call me... Dria Aggoffars, I suppose."

Dria? Well, that's...different.

"Do you know who I am, child?" Dria asked quietly. I started to shake my head no when I realized that her lips hadn't moved when she asked that.

"Did you just..." I made a tiny gesture toward my head, hoping that my auditory hallucinations hadn't progressed onto full blown visions of fake people. Because I did know her, or at least I knew her voice. The warm, maternal one that resounded in my head earlier when I started panicking at the mall, and again when I called Fury.

"Yes, dear." she...thought, because her faced stayed in that tranquil smile, lips never moving "I am connected to you, so you choose how I communicate with you."

"Can you talk. Like, with your mouth and everything?" it was starting to freak me out.

"Of course, dear." Dria laughed warmly. I shifted uncomfortably, she reminded me of how a mom should be and how my mom wasn't like that.

I ruffled my own hair and wandered over to where I saw Tony's extra tablet gleaming. "So, why are you here? Even if you are just some figment of my imagination, there has to be a point to you showing up now."

She shrugged her shoulders, before glancing up at the ceiling pointedly. I sighed. I seriously needed to work on my comprehension skills, because I had no clue what she meant with that look. Another explosion rocked the Tower just then, the symphony of horrid sound came back tenfold.

Dria looked worried as she hurried over to me and started shuffling me over the the elevator."I don't find myself fond of the idea, I wold much rather take you away from this, but you need to get back upstairs. You rested in the...lift far too long for this battle, my child." I blinked at her in confusion. It didn't feel like the ride had taken that long but I was kind of out of it.

"How long was I out of it?"

She gave me a sad and tired look.

"Too long."

********************************

The Present

Nick Fury is sitting in the command room when she comes in. He's moving icons on his desk screen around, looking for the best response move to make. He doesn't look up when she comes to a stop at the other side of his desk and stands at attention.

"Status report, agent."

He might not look up but he can feel her stiffen at the title and the way that he holds it out longer than he needs to.

"I...Damage to the city was contained to three blocks, as we first estimated. No civilian causalities, Doom didn't focus on them, surprisingly. Captain Rogers and Ben Grimm are en route to HQ from the press conference as we speak, the Invisible Woman has already arrived. Coulson is gearing up to leave within the hour. Everyone else is in the medical ward with..." she trailed off not needing to say who, running her fingers through her short hair. Her face was blank though, a seamless mask of seeming indifference.

Though, the guilt at the injured woman's fate curling in the pit of her stomach said that she felt otherwise.

***************************************

32 Hours Earlier

LACIE'S POV

The elevator opened and I expected shouts, giant Doombots and a splayed out, deathly still Reed. I didn't expect a perfectly intact penthouse with only one occupant. Victor.

"Evening, Miss Stark. Or, do you prefer Charles, still? Maybe, Richards?" his smile widened "I could offer Von Doom, if you wanted." I grimaced as he laughed into his champagne. Wait, champagne? Why...

"Oh, don't you like what I've done with the place, dear?" he stood elegantly and gestured around him grandly. His smirk was smug but a glint in his eye said that he was far from satisfied. The penthouse looked almost exactly the same, except the colors were all greens and silver and black. The New York night sky was filled with glittering stars, all shining beautifully. Victor was wearing a sleek, black suit and tie ensemble. I hated to admit it, but...wait, stars?

You can't see the stars in New York, the city lights block out the sky.

Where was I?