𝐏𝐞𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 (marvel fanfic)

Chapter 25

When Sarah woke up in cold sweat from a nightmare, it was 3am. She felt just as tired as she was when she went to bed. Her head throbbed and she was painfully cold. She grabbed a heavy pullover before washing her face and going down to the main floor hoping to find some food or some distraction.

Her brain was already fully awake; she wouldn't be able to go back to sleep anyway.

There was no one in the room, she couldn't tell if she was relieved or not. The silence felt heavy. She opened the fridge to find something to eat. She grabbed a yogurt and plopped down in front of the TV to see if there was anything new.

Bringing her knees up to her chest, she brought her arms around her knees, finding comfort in the warmth it provided her. She was about to let her head fall on her knees when the channel she turned on attracted her attention.

"So, what do you think about this new ability user here? Is he a menace, a decoy for the Avengers, another mutant? No official statements have been made in regards to him yet." Behind the female journalist, pictures of Sarah flashed by. Not the most flattering ones she had to admit with some irony.

In front of the journalist, a specialist in the domain of superheroes shook his head, "This is not a new mutant, that person appeared for the first time during the New York invasion." He proceeded to explain their first appearance.

"So this person usually lays low, right?" She prodded, voice sharp and slightly reproachful, "Then why do you think he appeared in this situation? Why now?"

"Without any official confirmation we can't be sure but one thing's for sure, he helped save a lot of people that day. That is an undeniable fact."

The journalist didn't seem satisfied with that answer. "We can see that this person can control bodies of water, that is quite the powerful ability, yet we can't help but ask ourselves why didn't that person help earlier? There have been countless incidents where these abilities could have prevented countless casualties!"

Sarah sneered, getting up to get a glass of wine. Only after having downed a full glass did she feel ready to continue listening to them.

"There could be many reasons that prevented him from acting earlier, an inability to control his powers, a health-risk, a side-effect to his powers, a lack of time, many factors can be taken into account there. Who can really know what is going on behind the scenes?"

The journalist replied, "But with his powers he has a duty to step up for the common good." She put both hands on the table, trying to hammer in her point. "He has a moral obligation to step up."

Sarah couldn't help but sneer. What sense of obligation? Toward whom? Neither Hydra nor that journalist had done anything to help her, ever. She wasn't a saint, she wouldn't give an arm to someone who wouldn't even give back a finger. She wouldn't slave away using powers she hadn't asked for, saving a world who had kidnapped her from her own.

The man in front of the journalist remained calm, crossing his fingers to stare at her. "As long as we're sitting behind our desks watching from the sidelines, we have no right to judge him on that, right?"

The journalist clearly wanted to refute and argue but she knew that it was true, she wasn't the one putting her life on the line there. And as of yet, the mysterious hero hadn't made a mistake she could point out. But she would be waiting.

She reluctantly ended the argument as the time allotted to her emission came to an end. "I suppose that is true. Now all we can do is keep an eye out for this new hero and hope he will use his powers for the common interest of America."

"Are you enjoying the ego boost?" Tony came in, a spot of oil on his face, and a glass of whisky in hand. He had probably been working in his lab.

"So far so good," Sarah answered sarcastically. She knew the journalists were like sharks waiting to tear her to shreds at the slightest mistake, sniffing out for the tiniest drop of blood. Being in the public eye had never done her much good.

Even when she was a scientist presenting her latest discoveries, people always tried to take apart her every words. Some things never changed.

It used to annoy her to no end—she had better things to do than to argue with people who couldn't do half the things she did in her domain.

Tony went to the counter and grabbed some snacks. After a moment of hesitation he asked, "Wanna take a look at my lab?"

Sarah looked up at him, before looking back at the TV. "Yeah, I have nothing better to do anyway."

Some time later, Sarah was observing water she had put in an electron microscope.

"Found anything interesting?" Tony asked with some curiousness, sliding towards her with his rolling chair.

Sarah hummed, observing intently the droplets of water. It was tap water, nothing inherently interesting. But what she wanted to know was how far her control over her powers went. She never had the money to truly research such a thing but Tony had a lot of expensive machines ideal for her.

She let her hand concentrate on the water, trying to feel a bit deeper than she usually did. Trying to control not a vague blob of matter but the molecules themselves. After only a few seconds, she had to let go, panting heavily.

"Did you succeed?" Tony asked from over her shoulder, making her jump slightly.

Sarah merely shook her head. It was like trying to do needle work with fingers the width of a head. Impossible, frustrating and tiring. She felt she was close to something, but at the same time it felt very out of reach.

When Tony saw her sigh and lean back in her chair, he asked, "Are you giving up?"

"As if." She would be failing her scientific soul if she gave up on such an interesting subject of research. Plus she had an inkling controlling the molecules themselves would allow a wider range of power. If she knew how to control the molecule's mouvements to an extreme degree she could change the state of the water—creating ice would become possible.