The Seventh Avenger: Playing With Fire

Chapter 24: Breaking and Entering

          "Lyd. Hey, Lyd."

          A groggy groan tumbles from Lydia's lips, and her eyes gently flutter open upon feeling someone pat her gently on the shoulder. Blinking the sleep from her eyes, she peers up through her lashes to see that Tony is hovering above her. The bruises from the fights of the previous night stick out like a sore thumb across his pale skin, and, in her sleep-hazed state, she does note that the purple shadows that frequently colour the skin beneath his eyes aren't as vibrant today. Hopefully, this means that he has had a good night's sleep then.

          "Wakey, wakey, Kiddo." His fingers dig into her skin when she starts to lose her eyes, not hard enough to cause any real pain, but enough to keep her awake. At the glare she shoots his way at this, he sends her an apologetic look.

          "I know, but you gotta get up. We've got work to do."

          Rose Hill. Tennessee. Explosions, suicide bombings. Pepper. Malibu. AIM, Aldrich Killian. James, please. Her own eyes staring back at her. The Mandarin, have to find the Mandarin.

           The events of the past week flash behind her eyes with the last of his words, and they are enough to fully pull her from the previously peaceful slumber she had been caught in. Sighing, she throws the covers from her body and pulls herself upright, grimacing as every inch of her body throbs or cracks with the movement.

           After their discussion on the side of the road the previous night, the two heroes had clambered back into Savin's stolen car where Lydia had managed to find a stash of cash hidden in the glovebox. The sight of the few, crumpled, hundred-dollar bills had been a welcome sight, and the two of them had wasted no time in driving towards the first twenty-four-hour motel that they could find. Lydia had organised the room, believing herself to be the least recognisable of the two, and upon stumbling into the room they had paid for, had collapsed on the first bed, and passed out within seconds.

          Now, she stands upright, stretching her arms high above her head and sighing with relief as her shoulders and back pop. Tony steps back and reaches for something on the bedside table and, seconds later, offers her a small Styrofoam cup, the rich smell of coffee flooding Lydia's senses as she happily accepts it.

           "Thanks." She takes a sip, humming in delight as the slightly bitter liquid hits her tongue. Eyeing Tony before her, she takes note of his fresh dark clothes. "You've been out?"

          "Yeah. Figured we might need to some supplies, considering who we're going up against," he explains, jerking his head towards two plastic bags on his own bed. She eyes them curiously, but before she has the chance to ask what exactly they contain, he reaches for one of them and offers it to her.

          "Fresh clothes, courtesy of our glowing, not-so-friendly-friend. Go get dressed, and then we'll check to see if Ava has sent anything through."

         She gleefully takes the bag and, after thanking him and finishing her cup of coffee, wastes no time in hurrying to the bathroom. She spends a good, twenty minutes under the water, washing away every last bit of blood, dirt, and grime from her body. She takes extra care with the stitches still embedded in her skin, moving slowly so as not to strain her still tender wrist. With everything that had transpired the previous night, it is easy for her to forget about the ordeal back at the mansion in Malibu when the Iron Man suit had attacked her. It seems like a lifetime ago, with everything else that has transpired since then. It's enough to make her feel tired to the bone.

            Eventually, she emerges from under the lukewarm water and changes into the fresh clothes that Tony has provided. She scrunches her old, bloody torn clothes into a ball and chucks them into the bin in the corner of the bathroom before making her way out of the bathroom and back to the room where Tony awaits.