Tick Tock

Chapter Ten

Brent pulled the trigger first. 

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Charlie's hand was starting to tremble less, and she was getting more confident, despite the fact she was vulnerable outdoors. Anyone could have a drone or something up and they could see her face. 

"Tick Tock, you gonna get a move on, or should I start planning my retirement?" Tony asked, his arms crossed.

At this point, Charlie's chin was coming into view. She kept her wide eyes locked on Spider-Man's, looking for any reaction. The webbed wonder seemed to be frozen.

Her mask brushed past her lips, which she desperately prayed didn't smudge her nonexistent lip gloss or lipstick. 

Still, no reaction. Only the rise and fall of his chest.

Her nose came into view. Small freckles that were almost invisible appeared.

Happy came out on the platform. "Tony, there's a security concern you should know."

Tony turned to his chauffeur/personal assistant and frowned. "Why haven't you done anything about it?" 

A weird whizzing sound followed by a thud came from behind him. Happy sucked in a breath. "Mister Stark?" came Spider-Man - no. Peter's voice. 

Tony spun around, only to find his child on the floor, being held in the kid's arms. Her mask had yet to travel past her nose. Her hand was clamped around her neck, mouth agape in shock. Her chest was still rising and falling, but a panicked sound came from her.

Tony rushed forward in time to witness a small blur pierce Peter's neck. The teen let out a small grunt of surprise before he, too, joined Charlie on the floor. 

Tony turned to Happy. A silent exchange was done. Happy turned and ran inside, yelling for the Stark Medical. 

Tony didn't move the two spiders, even though Charlie was awkwardly positioned partially on top of Peter. Her head was resting on his chest, and his right arm was still wrapped around her. His left arm had come up to grip his neck.

"Charlie? Answer me." Tony said, gently shaking her. Only a low moan that was barely audible was her response. He tried Peter, but the poor kid was panicking, gasping. 

Tony saw Charlie's hand slip from her throat, the strength leaving her unable to staunch the blood flow. He pressed his hand against her throat, being careful not to block her airway. "Happy? Hurry!"

Peter's panicked noises were slowly quieting, helping to hide the low whirs from the two small blurs that put the two in their predicament.

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"Haha!" Brent exclaimed happily. The small dart flew back to the briefcase, just as Hammer said it would. Life was good for him. 

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In all honesty, the actual damage was only the holes in their necks. They healed up rapidly thanks to the teens' healing factors, and Charlie was able to show Peter her identity, and show her his.

"What?" was their reactions.

"Really? It's you?" was another phrase.

"Wow! Ooh, just out of curiosity, do you like How To Train Your Dragon?" Charlie asked, gesturing at the television in the medical wing. Peter nodded enthusiastically. 

"Do you like Star Wars?" Peter asked timidly. Charlie's smile grew.

So they spent the evening watching How To Train Your Dragon. They both laughed at Toothless' barfing up the fish for Hiccup to eat and wound up holding their breaths when Hiccup fell off of Toothless after they made the Red Death explode. 

When the credits began, they both noticed that, over the course of the movie, they had inched closer to each other, and were now almost touching hips. They both blushed, awkwardly scooting away, and that's when Peter checked the time.

"Oh, I'd better get going. Thanks, Mr Stark. Se - see you later, Charlie." Peter said, waving goodbye and then putting his mask back on. He went to a window and dove off.

"Better get going, Juliet." Tony said from behind her. "We're taking the Quinjet, so the ride will be short."

"Tony, I'm - no. Just, no. I am not in love with him." Charlie retorted, standing up and meeting Tony's eyes. "I'm ready to go."

Tony nodded and ushered her out the door, with the lights turning off automatically behind him. The Quinjet was waiting for them outside on the platform, and took off. 

On board, Charlie was spaced out, attached to the ceiling and deciding whether to fall asleep or fake being asleep so Stark wouldn't bug her.(get it? it's shameful)

She did, however, end up falling asleep, and her suit recognized this, with the fingertips and toes keeping the hold on the ceiling.

Charlie was floating.

Drifting aimlessly, and stars danced around her.

From afar, she could see a young woman, no older than herself, summoning plant life around her. The vines formed a large tornado, and the girl flung it at these... things... that were racing towards her. The things went flying, and the girl paused. She turned her head to face Charlie, and her crazy blond hair whipped around. Her hands moved gracefully, and a green glow emanated from them.

"Who are you?" Charlie asked in her dream. The figure cocked her head to the side, unaware that another thing was galloping straight for her. "WATCH OUT!"

The girl spun around, and Charlie woke up.

Jolting awake, she landed on the floor, gasping and trying to figure out what the heck that dream meant. A thing darkened her vision, and she looked up to see her adopted father staring down at her with an amused look.

"I didn't shake you that hard, did I?"

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