Get Back Up » Quicksilver

chapter seventeen

We'd made it through a good portion (at least, what felt like a good portion) of the facility in silence after that. The halls had gained lights, and we'd even come across a crudely drawn map on the wall at some point. It had been enough to give us a sense of where it was we were headed, and as far as I could tell we were very well on our way . . . when a curve ball was thrown into the mix.

And though Vision was right when he said I did well with the unexpected, this was not the kind of thing I had been willing to handle.

One Parker Robbins had stepped into the hall between myself, Vision, and one of the shorter halls that would allow us to bring the Avengers in.

"You got a problem, Mr. Robbins?" I heard a gruff voice ask, down a hall to the right, far out of my line of sight.

"Nothing I can't deal with," Robbins said coldly, his gaze focused solely on me. "Tell Red Skull we've got company."

There was a pause. "You don't want us to--"

"Go. Now," Robbins said flatly. His words were punctuated by the sound of feet marching away, deeper into the facility.

I risked a fast glance at Vision. So they were expecting us, and they did have an army. Good things to know, all of which I was sure he had picked up on by now.

"Now, then," Robbins drawled loudly, bringing my eyes back up to him. "I've been waiting for you to come back around, doll. What took you so long to find me?"

"I was a little busy wondering why you weren't dead," I retorted in a voice not unlike ice. I could see Vision opening his mouth in his periphery, and I shook my head shortly. "No. You go."

"Megan . . ." the android began to argue.

"Uh uh," I shook my head sternly. "Go get the rest of them. I can take him."

Robbins barked a laugh and shook his head in a nearly pitying manner. "Sure you can. But yeah, Christmas man, why don't you get outta here? My boss isn't too worried about your friends, so I see no problem with you bringing 'em in."

Vision gave me one last look, and for a moment, I thought I saw concern in his eyes. But then he nodded -- though I wasn't sure if it was to himself, or for my benefit, before he strode toward Robbins. "You have made a grave mistake," he informed my ex calmly, before bypassing him and heading straight for the door that lay beyond.

Robbins began to laugh in a manner that wasn't much different from a maniac in that moment, the sound sending chills up my spine. I remembered that laugh from the last altercation we'd had -- it was the last sound he'd made before I'd sent him sailing clean into a concrete wall. He interrupted my thoughts, "What, not gonna have another go at me, doll?"

"Stop calling me that," I instructed, already feeling my eyes flash to gold.

He snickered. "You gonna make me? Again? I mean, fat lotta luck it did you last time -- I came back. I'll always come back. It's kind of a thing with me. As long as you're around, I'm going to find you. You should probably get used to it."

"Maybe this time I should just break your neck," I said through my teeth. "Has a bit more of a sense of finality, doesn't it?" This was too personal for me to just push him into a wall again -- no, now he was stalking me, chasing me, leering at me--

It was too personal.

I lunged at him faster than he could've expected, giving him no time to make another verbal pass at me. I latched around his middle and sent us both falling back, before pulling myself up. No sooner could I make another move than had he taken my legs out from under me with a clean swipe of one leg.

I hit the ground, but was undeterred; that is, until I got back up. I was in a low crouch when I realized he had turned invisible, and my heart rate accelerated considerably. "Why don't you face me like a man, Parker?" I shouted, my voice echoing down the hall as I straightened to my full height, my hands balled to fists at my sides.

This time it was I who was tackled to the ground, and this time he didn't let off. He reappeared, and I was about to fight back when I felt something very cold and metallic pressed to my temple. He had a wicked sneer on his face; "Adamantium bullets," he said proudly. "Strongest metal on the earth. Haven't found a thing yet that can bust it." He cocked the gun, his smile ever-widening. "Want to see how a supposedly indestructible girl stands up to it?"

I couldn't comprehend what he was saying -- or rather, I understood, but it terrified my brain into going blank. Adamantium. Strongest metal. Could I beat that? I didn't know, I'd never tried-- I didn't really want to try with my life at stake--

Tears were beginning to blur my sight, when all of a sudden, Robbins was ripped off of me. The lack of his weight came as an immediate relief, though it stunned me at the same time. The trauma of the situation had me frozen in place, when I heard a thickly accented voice speak.

"That's a good way to lose a hand . . . and shorten your life span."