Endeavour Nikolas Stark is perfectly fine as is.
As a child he had been extraordinary, finding a home among the friendliest of people at Charles Xavier's School For the Gifted, and finding himself Gifted in many ways just beyond the X-Gene in his DN...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Dreams are sweet, until they are not.
Six months prior.
Nikolas knows what it is like to feel helpless.
There had been times when he was a child where his body autonomy had been taken from him and those around him did everything they could to decide the best, even if it wasn't.
When Pepper found him, he had been sobbing. The weight of his body pulling on the crest of his wings brought tears to his eyes every time he shifted. She had screamed, the sound drastically overwhelming for the doctor, he found his voice miles away.
"Oh god Nikolas!" She moved towards him, entirely unsure as she climb the flight of stairs behind him and started touching the chains.
Her fingertips touched his back and he screamed, the feeling almost painful as she touched the most delicate part of his body. The soft down feathers tearing from his skin and drifting to the ground.
"Nikolas I need to touch you, I need to pull the chains-"
"No!" It was the first word he found himself capable of speaking. He moved his wrists, the metal heavy there. "Wrists, wrists, wrists, wrists-"
Pepper took a deep breath, looking to Nikolas' wrists and finding the metal hidden underneath the chains. She reached forward, pressing her fingers to the small fingerprint box found there, the bangle fell to the ground without issue.
"Oh. I remember these." Her voice was soft and small as she reached for the other wrist.
The freedom came over Nikolas immediately, his body lifted in the air, the metal imbedded in his wings shattering instantly the shards flying through the air as he fell to the ground.
It was not the first time he wished for the ability to heal himself and it certainly wouldn't be the last.
Pepper fell to the ground beside him, her hands reaching for Nikolas but not touching him. "Hey, hey, hey, you're gonna be okay Nikolas."
Her mind was too loud and more than anything Nikolas wanted her to stop thinking.
A voice spoke, his dad's voice, loud in the earpiece found in Pepper's ear. "I'm almost out of power. I've got to get out of this thing." There was a pause. "Please tell me you found Nikolas-"
Pepper cut him off, her voice sharp in Nikolas ear. Subconsciously Nikolas leaned away despite the pain that came from the movement. "He was in Sector 16, but he doesn't look good. Tony- Tony he needs a hospital now."
She put emphasis on the word and more than anything Nikolas wanted to fight her on the statement.
Nikolas found himself drifting for a few minutes. His head feeling as though it were miles away from him as Pepper tried to speak to his dad.
When she touched his arm he pulled away. Rocking back and forth and trying to breath deeply. "I have to help your dad, Nikolas I need you to stay here- stay safe." She stood and Nikolas followed despite her attempts at getting him to stop.
When he stood, the world shifted against him and he found himself leaning into Pepper despite the fact that he did not want the texture or emotions associated with the woman.
She propped him up against the railing and without considering why, Nikolas found himself reaching out for a specific technology. His dad's suit was on the roof, with Obadiah. Just the thought of the man made him panic and his mind reached for the suit without considering why. He grabbed at the technology, halting it as best as he could while working.
His dad reached for him mentally and he smiled.
"It's not working Tony!" Pepper's voice was to loud when she said it and Nikolas tried his best to move.
Nikolas' wings wouldn't move, every shift to them brought another wave of pain and so the doctor lifted himself up with his mind. His head hurt with every thought that passed through it, but he knew he had to do.
When he stepped into the arc reactor, Nikolas knew that he was going to feel helpless minutes from now. The machinery had malfunction and the override switch was inconsequential. The only way to do what was necessary was to do it himself, his mind reached for his dad's.
Nikolas felt powerful as he pressed his hand into the glass of the arc reactor and released all of the energy just behind it. His dad had screamed his name, yelling for him to get away, but the doctor just took a deep breath and fell into the stream of energy.
Nikolas looked up at the ceiling, his eyes finding his dad's just through the glass. The horrified look in his eyes and the panicked emotions that he had pushed in his direction. There was still blood dripping from his wings, but the pain felt far away.
His eyes fell shut and he was counting again.
Ten.
His entire body felt like it was on fire.
Nine.
Nikolas' world turned blue.
Eight.
His wings extended high above his head, as if they were reaching for the sky that he longed to be apart of.
Seven.
Nikolas didn't have to wait before the night sky surrounded him, it felt as though he were floating.
Six.
Something about where he was going felt familiar, but all Nikolas wanted was his dad.
Five.
He wanted to scream.
Four.
The power from the arc reactor never faded, his veins felt as though they were on fire. Nikolas woke up in increments when he landed, each time his voice hoarse with the screams of pain he kept forcing out.
