Rhiley came to first.
Her arms were suspended above her head, wrists bound with zip ties so tight her fingers had gone numb. Her feet dangled inches above the ground. Pain coursed through her—raw, electric—every nerve ending screaming, every joint aching like it had shattered and reassembled wrong.
She groaned through cracked lips. "I should've stayed in the damn car."
Moments later, Tony stirred beside her, a groggy grunt escaping his throat. His head lolled until his gaze locked on a familiar face.
"Okay," he muttered, sarcasm thick in his voice. "Great. Zip ties. This is just like old times."
Maya Hansen smiled faintly. "It is, isn't it?"
"Oh yeah," Tony mumbled. "Real party."
Rhiley rolled her head back with an exaggerated sigh. "I already feel nauseous. Please don't flirt in front of me."
Maya didn't reply. She lifted a slim, handheld device and pressed a button.
Electricity exploded through the collar at Rhiley's throat. Her body snapped taut, jerking violently as a strangled gasp tore from her lungs.
"It wasn't my idea," Maya said, voice flat.
Tony jerked against his restraints, disbelief and anger flashing across his face. "Did you just shock her?"
"Yes. She talks a lot."
"You took Killian's card."
"I took his money."
"Slut," Rhiley hissed through her teeth.
Another shock. Her body seized again, lips parting in a broken hiss as blood pooled at the corner of her mouth.
Tony turned away, face tightening. "She's not gonna stop talking."
"Thirteen years later and we're in a dungeon," he muttered. "Lovely."
Maya gave a humorless shrug. "You're in a dungeon. I'm free to go."
Tony narrowed his eyes. "You look real free."
Maya stepped closer. Desperation was buried deep in her eyes now, twitching beneath the surface.
"Extremis is almost stabilized. I'm so close."
Tony's voice dropped, sharp and cold. "It's not. I've seen it, Maya. People are exploding. They're painting the walls with themselves. You're kidding yourself."
"Then help me fix it." She pulled a folded note from her pocket—Tony's handwriting from New Year's Eve, 1999.
"Or," she added, eyes flicking to Rhiley, "I'll be forced to dissect that over there. See what makes her tick."
Rhiley coughed and grinned through her exhaustion. "You should buy me dinner first."
"For the love of God, Rhiley,"
Tony flinched as Maya pressed the button again. Rhiley's scream echoed through the room. Blood dripped from her mouth as her body sagged, limp.
His voice hardened. "I remember that night. Not the morning. Is this what you've been chasing all these years?"
He glanced toward the projection of Pepper. "I wake up every morning next to someone who still has a soul. You used to care. You had a conscience. Ideals."
He growled. "Get me out of here. And she's coming with me. No dissections."
The heavy door creaked open behind them.
YOU ARE READING
Radioactive | Bucky Barnes
Fanfiction"I want to go back to the time you first told me your name." Rhiley, the twin sister of Howard Stark, finds herself wrapped up with the one and only James Barnes. The next time she sees him is on her new assignment with the 107th Infantry Regiment...
