Universal Chaos

Chapter 15

Sutton was conscious enough to know that she was not screaming. But she was gasping for breath as each separate universe flashed before her. It was like the last time it'd happened, back at Sam's house. Only this time it was moderately less painful. Still, she gnashed her teeth together as the bolts of lightning crackled through her.

Why, why, why?

Khan had already come through. He was there.

Her limbs were on fire, trembling. Colors and shapes blurred together and Sutton felt pressure building and building and building. There was too much pressure, her lungs couldn't expand. There wasn't room!

And then it popped.

As quickly as it'd appeared, the energy burst and fizzled out of her. Sutton came up for air, reaching to the reactor as the haunting, pressing weight finally left her chest. Someone grabbed her hand and pulled it away from her. She tried to wrench her arm away, but a force kept her from struggling and suddenly the energy hadn't just eased, it was gone. Cut off.

Sutton panted and blinked; the light of the room finally registered and the fuzzy forms of two figures began to solidify.

"You're still here."
"Steve." His name came out in a sigh and her muscles went slack. He was propping her up and she sank back into the comfort of his touch. She swallowed thickly and tried to get her tongue working again. "I didn't mean to," she said. "It wasn't me. I-I wasn't even-"

"It's ok. We know."
"Do we?" Tony's voice rose up, tense and hostile.

"Yes, we do," Steve insisted.

Sutton's vision finally cleared and she was looking up at Steve's concerned face. She flashed him a weak smile to try and ease his furrowed expression.

"I'm ok." She sighed. "Good news; the suit actually works. I hardly felt a thing."

Tony made a clawing gesture with his hands and may have let slip an expletive or two.

"Do I have to baby proof everything? Seriously? Your hair? Do we need to shave your hair off in order to curb any future accidents?"

There were flashing red alarms going off in her head; she needed to defuse Tony before he ruptured something. She wasn't sure her usual joke would go over well at the moment.

"I'll tie my hair back."

"Oh! You'll tie your hair back! Great!"

Ok, well that didn't help either.

Sutton turned to Steve and gripped his hand, pinning him with a serious look.

"If he kills me," she said slowly, "I want you to have my toaster. You can sell my Jane Austen novel; that should get you enough money to flee the country."
"This isn't a game!" Tony paced in front of them and Sutton stiffened. He'd never shouted at her like this. He'd never derailed a coping joke so thoroughly.

"I know that," she said defensively. "I'm trying not to freak out."

He stopped pacing a moment and stared at her. She could see his expression shift from enraged and sink down into an exhaustion. Her chest ached.

"If that wasn't you trying to believe something, then what happened?"
Sutton sighed and closed her eyes as she pinched the bridge of her nose. She felt Steve squeeze her shoulder in a show of camaraderie. She was still resting against him. She didn't move.

"This hasn't happened since Sam's house," she said. "That was-that was when Khan was, I think, breaking through."

The room went silent and still. A sickening unease trickled in through the walls. Tony twitched.