In My Eyes

Ch•13- A Maniac

     "You know what my old man use to say to me?" Aldrich Killian entered the rusty lab filled with dying flowers and broken windows. Maya was already standing in there at one of the computers, looking conflicted.

     Tony had been captured a few minutes ago and was just now waking up from being unconscious. His arms were suspended up on a bed and his legs were tied so that he couldn't move. Blood stained his temple and lip. He was now helpless.

      "One of his favorite of many sayings... The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese"." Killian stepped down the stairs towards Tony, almost looking pleasant even though he was corrupt and evil.

      "You're not still pissed off about the Switzerland thing, are you?" Tony asked sarcastically, not giving a damn if he still was or not. Tony had been through a lot over the past two days and he was just too exhausted to care about things right now.

      "How can I be pissed at you, Tony?" Killian asked with a small smile, he sat down at one of the stools near Tony "I'm here to thank you" he continued. Tony kept on glaring at the man "You gave me the greatest gift that anybody has ever given me. Desperation. If you think back to Switzerland, you said you'd meet me on the rooftop, right? Well, for the first 20 minutes, I actually thought you'd show up. And the next hour... I considered taking that one-step shortcut to the lobby. If you know what I mean"

     "Honestly, I'm still trying to figure out
what happened to the first mouse-" Tony interrupted, but Killian ignored and went on with his speech.

     "But as I looked out over that city, nobody knew I was there, nobody could see me, no one was even looking. I had a thought that would guide me for years to come. Anonymity, Tony" he nodded to the Iron Man. Thanks to you, it's been my mantra ever since. Right? You simply rule from behind the scenes. Because the second you give evil a face, a bin Laden, a Gaddafi, a Mandarin, you hand the people a target"

Tony shook his head in disappointment
"You're something else"

"You have met him, I assume?" Killian asked.

"Yes" Tony rolled his eyes "Sir Laurence Oblivia"

      "I know he's a little over the top sometimes. It's not entirely my fault. He has a tenden... He's a stage actor. They say his Lear was the toast of Croydon, wherever that is. Anyway" Killian flipped open the little latches on the side of his briefcase "the point is, ever since that big dude with the hammer fell out of the sky, subtlety has kind of had its day"

"What's next for you in your world?" Tony asked.

      "Well, I wanted to repay you the selfsame gift that you so graciously imparted to me" Killian held up three tiny orbs to show to Tony before letting them role on to the floor. They began to hum before a holographic image popped up from the orbs "Desperation" Killian said as a whisper.

      The footage was of little Jessi strapped in to the chair. Her skin glowed a sickening color of orange as Extremis ran its course. Sweat stained all over her skin. The color could be seen through her dirty white t-shirt. She grit her teeth from the obvious pain and leaned her head back against the chair. Tony couldn't breath.

      Everything he ever cared about was now in front of him, withstanding pure torture. She seemed to be pleading as tears streamed down her face. Tony closed his eyes and rattled the restraints, letting out a small, quiet whimper. That's my Child he thought, forcing himself to look at the hologram How could I let this happen to my Child? Jessi's chest convulsed and she arched her back. Orange Extremis filled every vein in her body

      "Now, this is live. I'm not sure if you can tell, but at this moment the body is trying to decide whether to accept Extremis or just give up. And if it gives up, I have to say, the detonation is quite spectacular" Tony cringed, tears were threatening to spill down his bloody face. Jessi eyes which were now fire orange sprang open for a moment before her body relaxed for a split second.

      Another wave of pain hit, causing her to cry out "But until that point, it's really just a lot of pain" Killian clicked off the hologram and the video ended "What kind of man leaves his Daughter to be taken, huh? I'd never do that to my kid. And you, especially! It's your job to save everyone Stark" Killian stood up from the chair and walked towards Tony who was still trembling from the footage.

      "The great big Iron Man is so busy protecting everyone else that he forgets to protect his own child... Well" Killian scoffed, standing right in front of Tony "Iron Man is only Human"

     Killian suddenly gripped Tony's neck, choking him "We haven't even talked salary yet. What kind of perk package are you thinking of?"

     "Let him go" a sharp woman's voice commanded from behind the two men. Killian slowly turned around to face Maya who was holding a poison weapon up to the side of her neck.

"Maya..." Killian raised his hand up.

"I said, let him go" she demanded again, taking another step back.

Killian looked slightly shocked  "What are you doing?"

      "1200 CCs. A dose half of this size, I'm dead" Maya spoke shakily, not wanting to die but willing to. She couldn't stand this, she couldn't stand the kids pain, Tony's pain. She was done.

      "It's times like this my temper is tested somewhat... Maya, give me the injector" Killian instructed the women.

"If I die, Killian, what happens to your soldiers? What happens to your product?"

"Maya, We're not doing this, okay?"

      "What happens to you? What happens if you go too hot?" Maya challenged. Killian took a deep breath as the veins in his neck began to glow orange. The Mandarin was about to explode with rage. Killian was the Mandarin, he always was. But, he didn't explode in anger, he didn't yell.

      He turned back to Tony and forced a smirk before raising the gun that was on the table and proceeded to shoot Maya dead. She stood there for a split second after the bullet penetrated her torso, and then she fell.

     "The good news is, a high-level position
has just been vacated" Killian placed the gun in his belt.

      Tony stared down at Maya's lifeless body for a moment "You are a maniac" he uttered, not taking his eyes off the women.

"No, I'm a visionary. But I do own a maniac. And he takes the stage tonight"

      A/N: wow dark chapter, remember to think happy thoughts!