Power & Legacy || Steve Rogers

36 || another weapons demo gone wrong

"Rhodey, you backstabbing snake.", I murmur, "That's literally Dad's suit but with extra guns. He stole Dad's suit."

"For America and its allies, Hammer Industries is reporting for d-", he's cut off when everyone turns their attention elsewhere- to Iron Man flying down to the stage.

"Pep, was he scheduled to appear or...", I start.

"Something bad is going on.", Nat confirms.

Iron Man walks towards War Machine and I assume the two are talking, but I can't actually hear anything. The two of them wave as Hammer makes various different noises, trying to act like he was expecting this special guest appearance. Then, Dad and Hammer start talking, probably a pretty juicy argument going down.

My heart leaps to my throat, as Rhodey's guns point straight at Dad, followed by all the drones raising their weapons toward him. Hammer bolts away from the stage, as Dad soars up out of the open roof of the stadium. Immediately, the drones all open fire, sending shattered glass cascading down onto everyone in the room.

Desperately attempting to escape the room, the entire audience run out in stamped fashion, all stumbling over one another. Pepper and I have the displeasure of usually being at the forefront of any and all attacks on Iron Man, so we're in no hurry to leave, since we know running outside is just running straight into the danger zone. Plus, Nat and I work for S.H.I.E.L.D, so dealing with this sort of affair, all be it usually not on this scale, is just our nine to five.

Once the aisles have cleared up and the stampede has seemingly dispersed, we calmly make our way backstage. Justin stands with two other men, all panicking around a computer screen, "He's locked us out of the mainframe.", one of the men says.

"Who's locked you out of the mainframe?", Pepper snaps, as we approach them.

"Please, please, go away, go away. I've got this handled.", Justin assures.

"Have you now?", she raises an eyebrow.

"Yes, I do.", he declares, "In fact, if your guy hadn't shown up, this wouldn't be happening. So, please now, go away. Thank you."

"If you had it handled, there wouldn't be murder drones flying around the city outside!", I yell.

"God, you were prettier when you kept that mouth of yours shut.", he says, before turning around and muttering to one of his men, "Listen, we gotta get these bitches 'outta here."

Nat's temper finally snaps and she strides over to him, pinning him down against the table, "Okay, you tell me who's behind this.", she hisses, "Who's behind this?"

"Ivan. I- I- Ivan Vanko.", he stammers as Nat pushes him down.

"Where is he?"

"He's at my facility.", he admits.

Nat walks off, as Pepper dials the police; I chase after Nat, "Hey, do you want me to come with you to get this Vanko guy?"

"No,", she tells me, "you stay here, keep the civilians safe. Do your real full-time job- take care of your dad."

I smirk, "In a bit, Agent Romanoff."

"See you later, Agent Stark."

I rush out the main entrance and see a group of ten or fifteen drones, all with their feet planted firmly on the steps. They have their guns aimed at Dad, who unsuspectingly flies into their line of fire. As a toxic mixture of fear and anger rises within me, so does something else, my blood starts to pump faster than it ever should and my head feels light with all the blood rushing to it. Swaying slightly, I feel as though I'm going to faint, but something very different happens. My clenched fists begin to shake and grow unbearably hot; I release them, with a gasp. From my out-turned palms, an explosion of purple blasts through the air, turning the drones before me to ashes. My hands cool down again and the shaking stops, as I fall to my knees in fear.