Energy

Christie woke to the repeated ringing of the doorbell. She had almost slept off all of her hangover, but the noise still echoed throughout her head. Grumbling about why someone was urgently annoying them, Christie tumbled out of bed and put her underwear back on. As moments from last night flashed in front of her eyes, her lips spread into a wide grin. Christie saw Tony’s shirt from yesterday on the floor and picked it up, inhaling his scent before pulling it over her head. Deciding that the black AC/DC top would impress Tony, she left the room and headed down the stairs.

“Tony? Can you get that?” she called out over the persistent doorbell. Seeing no sign of him, and with the doorbell unending, Christie continued down the stairs. As she neared the end, the noise finally ceased, and soon Tony came into view. Behind him were two women, one brunette and one with strawberry blonde hair, both so pretty that Christie immediately felt intimidated. As everyone’s eyes focused on Christie, it dawned on her how much she was wearing and she tugged down at the ends of the shirt. “Well, this is awkward.” Christie’s voice cracked and she quickly spun to head back upstairs.

“No, stay,” Tony requested, causing her to hesitate.

“Please, don’t embarrass your one night stand any further,” the blonde commented. Her voice remained sweet, yet Christie could tell that she had intended it to be bitter. Energy was starting to concentrate around her, creating the beginnings of a shield and an attack, but Christie bit her lip and shooed her defences away.

“Christie,” Tony said gently. With a glance over her shoulder to see his beckoning gesture, Christie shyly walked down the last few steps and joined his side. “Christie, I’d like you to meet Maya-” Tony motioned towards the brunette, “- an ex-girlfriend of mine from many years ago, and Pepper, who I believe needs no further introduction. Ladies, this is my current girlfriend, Christie.” Pepper’s eyes squinted a little with Tony’s words and Christie smiled awkwardly.

“If you don’t mind me asking, why are two of your ex-girlfriends here?” she wondered, puzzling over whether or not this was some sort of joke.

“To warn me, apparently,” Tony answered before turning his attention back to the other two women with a questioning expression.

“As I was saying, it’s a long story but I know of the Mandarin’s plans, and I know he’s going to attack you today. You have to leave right now!” Maya urged. Tony didn’t appear to be very fazed by the news from Christie’s point of view, but her eyes weren’t focusing on him. Christie couldn’t stop looking Pepper over. She looked fantastic, professional, and well put together. Christie couldn’t comprehend why Tony had made such a change.

“No one at Stark Industries took her seriously, so she turned to me. I’m apparently the only one who thinks your health is important,” Pepper continued on.

“Neither of you have to be concerned. We can take care of anything that happens,” Tony replied, looping his arm around Christie’s waist to pull her closer.

“I’m sorry to interrupt, but this is urgent,” Jarvis’ voice said, a tad louder than normal. “Miss Christie?”

“Yes?” Christie answered nervously. Her stomach dropped as she feared the worst.

“You told me to let you know if you were in danger,” the computer continued. Everyone froze. Christie’s shield sparked into action, causing Tony to cry out while pulling away. “My sensors detect unknown armed helicopters approaching from the sea.”

“Go! Get out!” Tony shouted at the two women. Christie spun around, light blue orbs crackling in her palms as she rushed to the other side of the room. Out of the massive window she spotted multiple helicopters, but that wasn’t all. A second later and a rocket smashed into the side of the house, just one room over. The force propelled Christie sideways, so strong it almost shocked her shield away. Her back slammed into a wall, and she soon scrambled to her feet. The floor was tilting to the right, down towards the sea, and that was the last place she wanted to go. Christie spotted Tony further along, picking himself up from rubble as he wiped blood from his nose. She roughly grabbed onto his arm and tugged him to his feet.

“Come on!” she begged right before another tremor shook them back to the ground. When Christie looked up, she saw an Iron Man suit in the distance and she frowned. Was she hallucinating? Out of the corner of her eye she could clearly see Tony. Who was controlling the suit? Why was it walking away? Something whizzed past her head, a near miss, and she whipped around to see what it was. A piece of another Iron Man suit had attached itself to Tony’s arm and was spreading out to cover it completely. The chips. What a perfect time to use them.

“Get out of here! Please!” Tony yelled before another missile hit his house.

“Not without you!” Christie shouted. There was a hint of resentment running through her mind as she acknowledged that the insane danger of his house crumbling around them was his entire fault, but it was Tony, her boyfriend. She wasn’t going to give up. She couldn’t leave him.

“I have my suit, I’ll be fine!” Tony replied as the slant of the floor became steeper. Another piece of his suit slammed into him and began expanding. Christie didn’t budge, and remained steady. She could fly away at any moment, but then again, something could fall and crush Tony. “Christie! Civilians first! Go!” She heeded the advice that made her a superhero, someone who worked for SHIELD, and pushed off the destroyed floor. Christie flew up and spotted Maya, unconscious and about to be squashed by the golden statue Christie had touched on her first day in the mansion. She swooped in and lifted the bruised woman, heading out the open front door. Once Maya was set down on stable ground, Christie spotted the other Iron Man suit.

“What… Tony?” she whispered, completely puzzled. Was she really seeing double? The mask lifted up and revealed Pepper. Christie’s heart sank before she diverted her attention back to the disintegrating house. Tony was still inside. The Iron Man helmet was set in front of her view, Pepper’s hands trembling as she held it out to Christie.

“Jarvis wants to speak with you,” she said. As Christie slid the helmet on, a loud screech came from the house, a huge portion of it falling out of view.

“Talk to me Jarvis,” Christie said in a wavering voice, still watching the house for any sign of Tony or another Iron Man suit.

“Would you like me to call SHIELD, Miss Christie?” Jarvis asked.

“Please,” she breathed. An image of SHIELD’s logo was flicked up onto the screen in front of her and not too long afterwards the phone was picked up. After Christie briefly explained the situation and requested backup, the last of Tony’s house crashed down into the sea. Christie tore the helmet off to truly see the sight with her own eyes. The remaining helicopters were leaving the devastation they had caused, but Christie couldn’t see any sign of Tony. Dropping the Iron Man helmet, she raced to the edge of the broken concrete and stared down at the mess in the water. A hand rose to her cover her mouth as tears spilled over. Christie felt empty. Tony was gone.