Weapon 2

1. I wake up

I sat up quickly in bed, breathing heavily. Another nightmare. About New York. I held my damp face in my hands and gave a quivering sigh. I couldn't quite remember what the dream had been about, but it left me with that terrified feeling. I sank back down on my pillow and lay still, staring at the high, blank ceiling.

I wondered if Tony was as affected by the experience as I was. If he was he never showed it. That was the difference between Tony and I, I suppose. I had Tony's smarts and his questionable parentage and upbringing, we both were ahead in school and had to grow up to fast, but Tony had confidence. I guess being forced into fame gave him no real option.

Tony and I never really talked about New York. Not to each other or to anyone else. Not really. The only time I ever talked about it was when I had therapy sessions at SHIELD every couple weeks which I was pretty much forced to go to.

I ran my hand along the length of my arm where the micro-circuits were embedded under my skin. My arm was hot. I put my hand on my shoulder where the other circuits were. They all gave off the same warmth that indicated that my energy was too high, and the wires were struggling to dispose of the electricity before they burned out or I had another attack.

I was trying not to make a habit of getting up in the middle of the night. It wasn't that I couldn't sleep. I just wasn't tired most of the time. when I did sleep it was usually the thin, restless kind of sleep, usually interrupted by a strange dreams or crowded by useless thoughts.

I lay down on the downstairs couch and curled myself into a ball. The leather was cold in contrast with my burning skin. I could tell it was getting worse. SHIELD had to upgrade the circuits every few weeks now just to cope.

I stared blankly into the wide open living room. "JARVIS" I whispered into the silence.

"Yes miss Smirin?" I shushed him.

"Keep it down will you?"

"My apologies." He said, his voice quieter and closer.

"Is everyone asleep?" I asked.

"Yes."

"What time is it?"

"Six twenty four AM." Not bad. I thought. At least I had gotten some sleep.

After having cooled down I got up off the couch and went back up to my room. I had a shower and got dressed. I had decided I would go for a run, something I was meant to do as part of SHIELD training but never actually did.

When I got out of the house the sun was already starting to rise over the sea, making shimmery reflections on the rough waters far out from shore. I ran alongside the road for a while before I resolved to take a dirt track that went over some hills and by the cliffs. The sun slowly lifted, changing the sky a yellowish color and then rising through the spectrum until it was a short way above the horizon. It had been about twenty minutes so I turned back.

On the way, just as I was about to turn off the dirt path and meet with the road again something caught my eye. I stopped to take a breather and watched the dust settle softly on my shoes. Some guy with a camera was out taking pictures of the scenery. It wasn't uncommon for sight-seers to be taking pictures of the cliffs this time of year. He must have just been catching the last traces of the sunrise.