Anyway the Wind Blows (Avengers Fanfiction)

அ Chapter Fifteen அ

A guys gotta fight for his rightful share.

"The fifteen mile hike to the outskirts of Gulmira can only be described as a descent into hell, into a modern-day heart of darkness."

Nikolas watched closely as his dad suited up, the spinning rings around him whirling in a silent way as his headphones still sat over his ears. The young doctor wore the metal band around his forehead, the glass settled over his eyes as the suit powered on.

"Simple farmers and herders from peaceful villages have been driven from their homes, displaced from their lands by warlords emboldened by a new-found power."

His dad took off out of the ramp, Jarvis speaking careful words to direct him as he flew. Nikolas noted his dad breaking the sound barrier, not once, not twice, but three total times. He wondered how fast he could make the suit.

The duration of his trip was followed by Nikolas through his glasses, though the doctor found himself disassociating most of the time.

"Villagers have been forced to take shelter in whatever crude dwellings they can find in the ruins of other villages, or here in the remnants of an old Soviet smelting plant."

Nikolas could control aspects of the armor through the glasses, as it gave him a direct line to the technology despite the distance between the two. The doctor took a deep breath as he focused on what his dad was seeing.

"Nikolas you need to take this shot for me." His dad's voice came through his headphones clear as day and Nikolas found himself nodding despite the fact that his dad could not see the action.

"Recent violence has been attributed to a group of foreign fighters referred to by locals as the Ten Rings."

Nikolas took a deep breath, lifting the gun from the shoulder of the Mark 2 armor and watching closely as he aimed one at each of the assailants. They hit the ground as soon as he clenched his fist and Nikolas dropped his control.

He found himself suddenly overwhelmed.

"As you can see, these men are heavily armed and on a mission. A mission that could prove fatal to anyone who stands in their way. With no political will or international pressure, there's very little hope for these refugees."

Everything around him made a noise, buzzing that seared at his skull in such a way that he reacted without meaning to.

He threw his leg against the wall, the sound jarring in a similar way as the rest of the world. His dad's voice came through the headset, instructing him to take a breath and shut his eyes, an instruction that Nikolas listened to without question.

"Around me, a woman begging for news on her husband, who was kidnapped by insurgents, either killed or forced to join their militia. Desperate refugees clutch yellowed photographs, holding them up to anyone who will stop."

It took everything within Nikolas to not completely loose it.

The clear sound of his dad's voice telling the people of the town that they could handle the man in charge made Nikolas pause and open his eyes.

He took a deep breath as his dad took off.

"A child's simple question, 'Where are my mother and father?' There is very little hope for these refugees, refugees who can only wonder who, if anyone, will help."

Nikolas panic only lasted a short time into his dad's flight, his voice complying as he spoke softly. "You have someone on your tail dad, two F-22 raptors, they are closing in." The doctor could feel the presence of the technology near his dad and Tony shouted a word of understanding.

And suddenly Nikolas was not in the workroom, his wings extended high above his head as he flew beside his dad.

His first thought was how startled the idea made him, and his second was to dodge the incoming missile.

"Nikolas what the f-" Tony noticed his son immediately, watching closely as his form seemed to shift in and out of a solid form. "God just duck!"

The doctor complied, dropping lower than his dad as he worked put all concentration on the nearest Raptor. His mind found the targeting system and his hands started to move in response. He worked as though he had the machine under his finger tips, plucking at wires and ripping out gears without a further consideration. It started malfunctioning almost immediately and before Nikolas could start on the other his dad's armor knocked into his.

It was painful in a way that it shouldn't have been, he knew that he wasn't actually flying beside his dad and yet he still felt the pain of it all as if he were.

"Fuck." Nikolas nearly shouted, reaching for his shoulder to hold as he continued through the air. His dad lost his concentration and was suddenly falling backwards, Nikolas watched closely as he completely demolished the wing of the the Raptor that the doctor had just damaged the targeting system in.

He took a deep breath in, letting his eyes fall shut for just a moment before reopening them and watching the fall out closely.

It seemed as though everything happened all at once, his dad took off forward, breaking the sound barrier in an attempt to make it out of the military airspace. Nikolas commended the man, and watched the pilot fall through the air.

With no parachute.

Nikolas counted down without wanting to.

Ten.

The pilot completed another rotation in his seat.

Nine.

The second plane shot past Nikolas as he hovered, completely missing the doctor as he watched for the pilot's parachute.

Eight.

Nikolas could hear his dad telling him to come home. His head started to feel rather light as he moved towards the falling pilot.

Seven.

He couldn't think why he was counting, though he knew it had to be important.

Six.

Nikolas reached for the pilots chair, his mind sifting through the minuscule technology found there. The pilot was panicking and attempted to pull the lever, he seemed unable to see Nikolas.

Five.

The parachute shot free from the back of the pilot's chair.

Four.

Nikolas attempted to pick up the pace, his wings flapping harder as he tried to figure out how to go back to the work room.

Three.

Everything started to fade to black.

Two.

The sound of his bangle going off started in his ears. Jarvis alerted him that his heart rate was dangerously low.

One.

Nikolas fell through the sky, disappearing just before he hit the ground.