"𝐈𝐓'𝐒 𝐆𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐃𝐎𝐑𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐓."

killian's voice woke me.

for the first time — in what felt like a long time — there was no pain.

"oh and you're awake. welcome back to the land of the living, riley," killian grinned. 

i groaned, feeling weird. even though my body was fine, i actually didn't even have a scratch on me, i felt like i was missing something.

"what did you do to me?" my voice was merely croak.

"oh, i just tried some of the extremis serum on you, and i gotta tell you," he clicked his tongue, and continued. "it was unlike anything i've ever seen before. there was this... thing inside of you. it fought extremis, and it fought it well. we were up to four doses. we actually made it up to seven, until finally, that thing went dormant. and your body's finally accepted extremis."

"he's not going to help you," i told killian. "unlike you, my dad's got morals."

"well, they don't matter to him if you are pepper are involved," he said to me, a smile still on his face. "we both know that."

and as killian walked away, i couldn't help but wonder if that was true.

a thud sounded a while later, waking me again.

i had been moved to another location, and pepper was next to me.

the two of us were strapped in some sort of body canisters that felt worse than they looked.

"pep," i breathed out.

she turned towards me, the two of us holding hands in hopes to find some comfort.

i watched as the iron patriot walked forward. i knew it wasn't rhodey. he would never agree to something like this.

"good evening, sir," killian nodded.

the suit opened, and the president fell out.

pepper gasped silently.

"welcome aboard, mr. president," killian grinned.

and that's when the smell hit me. the smell of the ocean. so much like percy, yet so different.

while percy smelt fresh and like home, this smelt like oil and garbage. it made we want to throw up.

hours passed and i drifted in and out of consciousness. i caught onto bits of their plan. i knew they were going to kill the president and it had something to do with oil. i also knew there were hostiles on the perimeter.

i prayed that my dad was safe.

outside the place we were in, explosions sounded. blasting a bunch of things. it was hard to tell what was going on, considering i was still strapped to a body canister thingy.

an extremely loud explosion sounded, cutting through the wall, and pushing me and pepper back.

i screamed as a a pillar of metal landed on me. 

i tried to call on my powers to push it off, but nothing came. i couldn't even feel a spark. 

and i realized what was missing.

my powers were fighting extremis, but they couldn't handle it. they were going to stay dormant, as long as extremis was in my body.

silent tears streamed down my face as the pillar continued to weigh down on me.

a loud rip sounded and footsteps thudded against the metal.

"riley, you're okay?" my dad asked.

"no," i shook my head. "not really."

he lifted the metal piece up, but that only caused the lower half of it to dig deeper into my legs.

"stop!" i cried out. "put it down, put it down. it hurts, oh gods, it hurts."

my dad placed it down immediately. "i got you, i got both of you."

he held out his hand, and i pepper and i tried to reach for it.

"just a little further," he encouraged us.

my hand grazed the metal of his suit before a glowing hand thrust upwards. it grabbed at my dad's arc reactor, causing him to stumble backwards.

killian pulled himself up through the metal floor, breathing heavily.

he looked at pepper, "is this guy bothering you?"

the metal piece pushed down more, crushing me. i stifled a cry of pain.

"don't get up," killian got up over my dad, pressing a glowing fingertip to his suit. "is it hot in there? stuck? do you feel a little stuck? like a little turtle? cooking in his little turtle shell?"

"tony," pepper breathed out.

"she's watching," killian grinned. "i think you should close your eyes. close your eyes. close your eyes, you don't want to see this."

my dad ignored him, keeping his eyes trained on me and pepper.

i gasped lightly as a piece of the metal dug into my skin.

killian raised his arm, glowing red, and brought it down on my dad.

just in time, my dad raised his arm, a sword protruding from it (my idea), and cut killian's arm off.

killian gasped, falling backwards.

"yeah, you take a minute," my dad muttered.

his arm, which was still glowing, cut right through the metal under us, causing pepper and i to fall.

i screamed, landing on my back.

i lay on top of a metal containment unit, seeing sparks and explosions around me. with a grimace, i got up.

my body felt bruised, broken, hollow. but there were more important issues at the moment.

i looked around for pepper, seeing her hanging onto a crane.

"shit," i cursed.

i ran towards her, each step sending waves of pain throughout my body.

someone dropped in front of me, causing me to stop on my tracks.

"hey, hey, little stark," one of the extremis chicks said to me. "you didn't think we'd let you get away that easily, did you?"

i whipped out a throwing knife from my charm bracelet, throwing multiple her way. she screamed as one cut her arm off. with one final push, i stuck another one into her heart, twisting, and twisting, and twisting, and twisting... until she dropped dead.

i froze, the knife clattering out of my hand.

i killed someone.

just when i thought life couldn't get any worse, i killed someone.

what would dad say? what would pepper think? what would percy say?

i took a rattled breath, stepping backward and clutching my heart. tears streamed down my face, and i couldn't understand what was happening. 

my hands grew hotter and hotter, until they glowed the same red-orange as everyone else.

"no," i cried. "take it away. leave."

i didn't want this. i wanted extremis out. i wanted my old powers back. i couldn't handle this.

another extremis dude landed in front of me, stepping forward to attack.

making a split-second decision, i melted the floor, falling through to another level.

i ran towards where i last saw pepper, pain and fear radiating throughout my body. 

i saw pepper hanging on for dear life, reaching out to another figure. she was reaching for dad. and he was reaching for her. i ran faster.

i looked back as an explosion sounded, only to see a figure fall into the flames below.

"pepper!" i cried out, pain exploding in me.

i ran down towards the site, killian and my dad fighting each other above me.

the steps teetered, explosion around us growing louder. one explosion hit next to me, sending me flying off the catwalk and onto the ground. right next to the site where pepper was.

i took a shaky breath. this was for pepper.

tapping into extremis the same way i used to tap into my powers, i felt it flow through my veins. a warmth flood into me, and my veins seemed to glow. 

i walked into the fire, the flames and heat barely bothering me.

"pepper!" i called out.

"ugh," a voice groaned.

"pepper!" i called again, following it to the source.

pepper lay on the ground, her veins glowing similar to mine. less, but still glowing. 

"c'mon pep," i threw her arm over my shoulder and eased her up. "let's get you out of here."

i carried pepper out, allowing her to lean on metal canister.

"where's tony?" she asked, her voice barely audible.

"he's alive," i told her. "i saw him fighting killian, and i think the two fell or something. but he's alive. otherwise the mark suits wouldn't be working as well."

pepper nodded.

"i'm gonna find him," i told her. "you stay here. unless you're in danger. then you run. you're weak. stay here."

pepper closed her mouth and merely nodded.

i got up, ignoring the pain, and not allowing extremis to heal me. i only let it allow me walk into the flames to rescue pepper. nothing more.

"dad!" i called out.

"minnie!" he responded from somewhere across the fire.

i ran towards him, only to see him laying on the ground. 

"oh gods, are you okay?" i asked, leaning next to him.

"i should be asking you that," he muttered, touching my cheek. "i should be protecting you. i should — i should be better at this."

"don't say that," i shook my head, our foreheads pressing together. i gave him a kiss on the cheek, "you're the best."

a dragging sound came from behind me, and the two of us turned slowly to see a scorched up killian.

my dad struggled to get to his feet, and the two of us did our best to support each other.

"no more false faces, tony," killian said. "you said you wanted the mandarin. you're looking right at him. it's me. it's always been me. i am the mandarin!"

out of nowhere, a stick swung, and hit his almost dead body, sending him flying.

my dad and i stared in shock at pepper as she let the metal pole drop.

"i thought i told you to wait," i said to her.

"you looked like you needed help."

"i got nothing," my dad said after a while. 

an iron man suit flew down, targeting killian, pepper and i.

"J.A.R.V.I.S.," my dad said. "subjects at my 12 o'clock are not targets, disengage! do not harm riley or pepper!"

my dad looked at the ground, noticing his earpiece further away. the iron man suits shot at us, and we ducked to avoid the blasts.

pepper glared at my dad.

"what?" he asked. "what? are you mad at me?"

pepper ran over, used his knee as a board, and flipped over, ramming her fist into the iron man suit.

she ripped the arm off, hitting a plasma blast at killian, creating the biggest explosion yet.

the world teetered, and i fell off my feet.

when the smoke cleared, there was no sign of killian.

"honey?" my dad called, trying to calm down pepper. 

"oh my god," pepper sighed. "that was really violent."

i shook my head as i had a flashback to the girl i killed.

"you just scared the devil outta me," my dad said. "i thought you were—"

"i was dead," pepper said nonchalantly. "why? because i fell 200 feet?"

my dad shrugged.

"who's the hot mess now?" pepper muttered.

"it's still debatable," my dad said. "probably tipping your way a little bit. why don't you dress like this at home?"

"oh gods, please no," i muttered. "i love you. both of you. but i almost died like seven times in the last twenty-four hours, i killed someone, and so did pepper, and i'm sure this week will go down as the worst week in history. so please, no flirting. no suggestive comments. just... appreciate the fact that we're all alive."

my dad was silent, "i'm sorry, you killed someone."

"they were gonna kill me!" i argued.

"yeah, i know, but you! you haven't even killed a fly," my dad said.

"i've killed spiders," i shrugged. "kinda have to when your best friend's mom is at war with the mother of them."

"you know, i think i understand why you don't want to give up the suits," pepper said, looking at her arms. "what am i going to complain about now?"

"well it's me," my dad grinned. "i'm sure you'll find something."

he walked forward to give us a hug.

"no, don't touch me," pepper stepped back, afraid.

"no, don't worry about it," my dad shook his head.

"no, i'm gonna burn you," pepper insisted.

"no, you're not," my dad told her. he pulled me into a side hug, "see, still alive. you won't burn me."

"no," pepper sounded on the verge of tears.

my dad put a hand on her arm, "see look. not hot."

"am i gonna be okay?" pepper asked.

i took a shaky breath, looking at my own hands. it felt weird without my own powers running through my veins. it felt like i was missing a limb.

"no," my dad answered pepper. "you're in a relationship with me. everything will never be okay.... but i think i can figure this out, yeah."

i looked up at my dad.

"yeah, i almost had this twenty years ago when i was drunk. i think i can... get you better." he looked between the two of us, "i promise i'll get both of you better."

"and, all your distractions?" pepper asked, referring to his suits.

i leaned my forehead against my dad's shoulder. i knew what pepper meant. as long as he kept building them, we were never one hundred percent safe.

"uh, i'm gonna shave them down a little bit," he answered. he spoke into his earbud, "J.A.R.V.I.S. hey."

there was a few seconds of silence as the a.i. spoke into his ear.

"you know what to do," my dad said after the a.i. reported.

"screw it, it's christmas," my dad said to the a.i. he pulled us into a hug. "yes, yes."

i placed my chin over his shoulder, watching the sight in front of me in awe.

one by one, the mark suit lifted high into the sky, and exploded like fireworks. i watched as they colored the sky shades of orange and red.

my heart felt heavy that they were all gone, but i knew it was necessary. we all needed a clean slate.

my dad held us closer, pressing a kiss to each of our cheeks, "okay, so far? do you guys like it? better than the bunny? and the shirt?"

"oh yeah," i told him, hugging him tighter, "way better."

"it'll do," pepper shrugged.

REY WRITES!

thanks for reading !!

ahh, this is just the start of riley's
torture !!

thoughts?

comments?

questions?

headcanons?

theories?