"Stay away from me," I said, trying to sound menacing, and not as if I'd just been through the worst experience of my life. Bucky came towards me, standing me up and pushing me towards them, handing me over. I looked into his eyes, but it was like Kilgrave had made him a completely different person, someone that I didn't recognise.
"You got away from us, Hazel," Jackson said, grabbing me and taking me to another room, where he laid me down on a table. I electrocuted him. "Aah!" he said, grimacing and slapping me in the face.
"Calm yourself, Jackson," Frollo said. "If you lose your temper you might kill her."
"Who cares? Why are we still here? Kilgrave did what we asked."
"Kilgrave?" I asked. "What does he have to do with anything?" I asked.
They looked at each other, as if debating whether or not to tell me something.
"Didn't you think it was weird that your friends told you about Jessica Jones, just when she needed help finding Kilgrave?" he asked, forcing me to remember that finding Jess had been Steve's idea, an idea that he and Bucky pushed. "You never wondered why Kilgrave took a special interest in you? Why he never killed you?" Jackson chuckled to himself. "Did you think he loved you?"
I held my breath; they couldn't be saying what I thought they were saying. Could Kilgrave have been manipulating my life long before I even met him?
"We hired Kilgrave to find you," Frollo cut in. "Of course, we thought it would take a lot quicker than it did, given his powers." He shook his head. "But then he met Jessica Jones, and he fell for her so hard that he was ready to give up on the mission. Luckily, kidnapping your mother and leading you to Jessica was the perfect way to find you."
"What did you promise him?" I asked. I couldn't imagine Kilgrave working for anyone but himself.
"His parents," Jackson answered immediately. "He'd keep Layla hidden, and when he destroyed your team and lured you to us, he could kill his parents, like he's always wanted." Jackson scoffed. "Not that it matters now. He's dead. Your friend Jamie Madrox just killed him."
"So what? Now you kill me?" I wondered. But that was too easy - they had been searching for me far too long for my death to be the end game.
"Not yet. First, we'll wipe your memory. Then we'll do what we'd planned all those years ago, we'll turn you into a Super Soldier. You'll fight for us, defeat everyone that we come across, and when we have no use for you, we'll end your life," Frollo said with a twisted smile.
"No, you can't do that!" I said. I remembered what it was like to lose my memories the first time, to not know who I was or what my purpose was. I couldn't go through that again. Even if I escaped, I'd never remember my team, or all the things that we did together. I'd never remember the mistakes that I'd made, the people I'd lost, the parents I'd never know. "No!" I pushed every ounce of electricity from my body, encasing Agent Frollo in a bubble of pain. He screeched and fell to the ground, writhing. Then his body stopped moving. He was dead.
Jackson's eyes glazed over. He grabbed my arm so hard I heard my bones crack. "I wish I'd never laid eyes on you, or your mother! I spent years of my life trying to find you, and for what? You're worthless, you're nothing!"
"No," I said softly.
"You're unpredictable, dangerous, evil. You're a Rogue." He punched me in the face and I fell backwards on the table.
"I've lost my sister, and my mom. I am feeling grief like I never thought possible, so if you want to kill me, Joseph Jackson, do it!" I yelled, bracing myself. "Do it!"
"Not on my watch," a voice I recognised all-too-well said. I'd know that voice anywhere.
"Stark?"
The Iron Man suit flew into the room and Stark stepped out of it.
"Tony Stark?" Jackson asked, not able to hide his surprise.
"In the flesh. I'd tell you to run, but I've got the Iron Legion waiting just outside to tear you limb from limb. You're not walking out of here no matter what what you do, but I thought I'd give Rogue the choice," Stark said.
"The choice?" I asked.
"Do you want to kill him yourself?" he asked
I stood up, looking into the face of the man who took my memories - who made mine and my mother's lives miserable, the man who was going to kill me himself. Without even thinking about it, my hand clenched into a fist, and I hit him as hard as I could. But once wasn't enough. I hit him again and again, unexpected tears pouring down my face as I took out every ounce of my anger, grief and frustration on one of the men who had caused it. He couldn't take the sole blame - without Kilgrave, everyone I loved would still be here. But in that moment, using everything but my powers to bring Joshua Jackson down was satisfying enough.
I stopped while he was still breathing, allowing Stark to grab him and throw him from the room, where the Iron Legion could finish the job.
"Are you OK?" he asked me. I shook my head.
"You?"
He shook his head. "Um, Rhodey died. Fury and Pym, too."
Hank Pym was the first person I ever met who knew my mother, the one who'd started me on the path to finding her. And now I was more convinced than ever that his warning not to go looking for her was a warning of protection.
Fury was the father I'd never had but always wanted, the one who took me in when no one else would. I'd never be able to repay him for turning me into a hero, when all I could see was a rogue.
"I'm sorry."
I reached out for Tony and hugged him. I hadn't hugged him in so long I'd almost forgotten what it felt like.
"Thank you for coming," I said.
"Jessica Jones said you needed me, how could I not?" he whispered. "Wanna get out of here?"
I nodded. "But what about Bucky? Kilgrave's control must have worn off now that he's dead."
"I'm right here." We turned around to see a sheepish-looking Bucky standing behind us.
"I'll leave you guys alone," Stark said, exiting the room.
I walked towards Bucky, standing in front of him. Even though I knew that he was back to his old self, something had changed. After everything that had happened with Kilgrave, we were different. Maybe we weren't the people we thought we were.
"I'm sorry for all of this," he said.
"It's OK, I know Kilgrave made you do it." I said, still wary of him.
"Listen, don't take this the wrong way, but I'm breaking up with you," he said.
"What?" I asked. "Why?"
"Well, I don't know if you know this but, I have a habit of turning into a psychotic assassin and trying to kill the people I love." He smiled and I forced myself to smile back. This was the ultimate 'It's not you, it's me' speech. "I'm going back to Wakanda. I think, going under the ice again could be good for me. Maybe, when they figure this thing out, you and Steve could come and wake me up?"
I couldn't tell him about Steve. I couldn't send him to be frozen knowing that his best friend wouldn't be there when he woke up.
"We will," I promised. We hugged, and a part of me never wanted to let him go. But the bigger part knew that I had no choice. He had to do this, for him. And I had to let him go once and for all, for me.
He left the room and Stark came back in.
"You didn't tell him about Steve?"
"I couldn't. Steve's one of the only reasons that he wants to be better, I can't take that away from him."
"I get it," he said. "And, I'm really sorry about Romanoff. In fact, forget that, I'm sorry for everything. Everything I've ever done to hurt you in any way, I'm sorry. I'm an idiot."
"You're not an idiot," I told him sincerely. "We were both as bad as each other. We were selfish, we made the wrong decisions." I gave him a small smile. "But we've been here for each other, through everything. And that matters more than the things that we can't take back."
He nodded, mirroring my smile. "Come on," he said. "We have a team of people coming here soon, and they just lost their leader."
We walked from the room and through the tower hand-in-hand. Everything had changed and yet, here was Stark, back with me in the place where everything started. I just wished we hadn't lost so much along the way.
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Thank you for reading. I hate to say this, but this is the penultimate chapter of this fanfic!
So this time next week I'll be uploading the last chapter(s) of this story - thanks so much for reading up to here!
How do you think it will end? Vote and leave me a comment xx