𝐉𝐎𝐍𝐄𝐒-𝐑𝐄𝐘𝐍𝐎𝐋𝐃𝐒-𝐉𝐎𝐍𝐄𝐒 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐐𝐔𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒, 𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐘𝐎𝐑𝐊

EZEKIEL

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'Mr Stane, we apologize for the draconian safeguard measures but here at JRJ,' Jones grinned with reason, 'discretion is a necessity.'

Zeke's nerves were coming to play when he seized his lips into a borderline fake half-smile, arresting the choking twitch of the plasticine that clad his fingertips. He had designed it himself, biotech weaponry that could halt the world on its axis as and when he had liked it. He quickly tugged the leather gloves tighter on and shrouding the wires underneath. It was a drag to go through security with his bodily enhancements, but he crafted a lie about the augmentations being his pacemaker. Like he would ever need one.

'Of course, gentlemen. I have put your money where your mouth is,' he explained. 'Shall we begin?'

The only purpose of the meeting was damage control. To Zeke, this company was like his sacrificial lamb knocking on his door when his plan was starting to shape up the way he liked it. JRJ had wanted his impromptu methods to provide them with a cigarette, to be put simply, that would allow customers to smoke to their delight and lose weight at the same time. Not that he had cracked the formulae to make it work, it was just simply because he would rather put his money in something the world could never forget.

The conference room's lights dimmed so as to get the projector started up. The holograph-testing table lit up with a deep blue glint, glitching with starting troubles and soon expanding to show the human brain. All six of the investors had started the mumbles and Zeke started to get rubbed off the wrong way. He hated that he wasn't the centre of attention until—

'What are we looking at?' The fattest one asked. Of course, the round one would speak up first. He was the one who was eating up seventy per cent of the manufacturing money. Only today, he had planned an experiment like never before.

'The tobacco I have synthesized is higher in the basal metabolic rate,' he began, taking short steps around the room, only to gauge the exits. He counted two: one behind the fat one and the wall-window at the end of the table. 'So, congratulations. You are, now, the men who will keep traditional smoking alive even after it should be buried six feet under.'

When a wave of whispers went across the table, he sighed out in all dramatism. 

'Did you know, gentlemen, that I make and manufacture next-gen pieces of equipment for freak-show lunatics and AGM? Since I was eleven, actually. And once you struck your deal, I have hit the ceiling.'

'What is the meaning of this, Ezekiel?' Jones himself spoke up, stirring the heavy air. He was nervous and Zeke couldn't help but widen his smile. 

'I'm saying this as that bloke,' Zeke emphasised, 'you folks are lousy. I've dealt with murderers even mad scientists but you... you want to addict these kids and kill them yourselves. And honestly, that's a bit of a stretch.'

'JRJ is a company targeted in that specific sector,' one said in a grating tone. 'We can't help it.'

'Mm,' he hummed, pocketing his gloved hands. 'Sure, you can't. That's why I needed you. Your money and your lab equipment, indefinitely, to upgrade my tech. To upgrade me.'

'The hell are you on about?'

The chairs dragged across the marble, all of their faces holding a combination of fear and fury. Zeke rolled his eyes, shrugging off the thick, dark blazer he was adorned in and tossing it behind him. Rolling up his sleeves, he showcased the hair-thin set of wires that jogged up to his arm and plugged into his Extremis-enhanced spine that interconnected with his hypothalamus. It was a painful surgery he had to undergo in order to fit the repulsors with his nervous system. 

'Roxanne, call security—'

'Security!'

Apparently, a normal human being uses nearly eight per cent of their caloric energy to do routine-level bullshit. Respiring, blinking even heartbeats - all of it went by this energy source that they didn't even know they had. What Zeke had managed to do was harness this potential, power it down to a nine per cent for these functions and utilize the rest of it. A surplus of power in his body. 

And what could he do with this power?

One of them flung profanities at Zeke as he grappled the edge of the massive, oblong table and careened it towards the window. He flexed his fingers as the table collided with the fibreglass and breaking it to a million shards, powering up the energy in his fingertips and releasing it at the currently airborne table with a squinting aim. The wooden splinters rained down below like sharp bullets and Zeke stood above it, squaring his shoulders at the scene. The noise, the chatter, the disturbance—this was what the world really was.

'You can do that.'

He spun faster than a spike, raising both his fingers this time and letting his fist stream a blast through the security who came through the door. He let a sad pout gather on his face when he looked at one of the shareholders dead in the eyes, suddenly flashing the bright golden flare right into his chest. It left a blackening and bloodied hole through his crisp suit and modding him into the carpeted wall. Jones dropped dead like a limp fish.

Zeke beamed for the vents next, allowing the gas to accumulate through the room and kicking one of the security guards aside to steal their gun and aim it at the centre coagulation of smoke. The room ignited into amber flames, the smoke billowing out through the window and escaping into the midnight sky. A scalding tentacle of flare nearly nicked off a part off his arm. Faraway, he heard the oncoming blazing sirens and the fire alarms activated. That was his cue to leave.

'Bring the car out front, Sasha,' he ordered into the micro comm in his ear. The gushes of flames wrapped around his skin, leaving his expensive suit to hang in tatters around him. He struggled to see clearly, heading to the sill of the skyscraper. 'I'm coming down.'

'How in the fuck—Zeke!'

One minute Zeke was standing and the next, he was off. An exuberant smile took over his face as he leapt into the bustling, demolished street below and the blood singing in his veins. The air cut through his body in a violent rush of chill, pushing against his face as he saw the crevasse of the street arrive shortly. He let his legs lurch in first, drawing in a deep breath as he planted his feet securely on the asphalt with a crack. The bones cracked into a position and healed just as fast, his neck rolling to crease off the tension.

The motorcycles and cars around him screeched to a deafening halt, one long limousine rounding through the driveway and pausing on his left. People pointed and stared, Zeke stood amid is and bathed in the attention. Being the biggest exhibitionist, he stuck his arms out and bowed deeply only to be disturbed by his own. The passenger window of the limo rolled down to reveal an awed blonde, her lips lifting to a sneer. 

'Get in.'

Zeke grumbled, snaking in his battered and jangled body into the leathered space and soon, making himself comfortable. He shut his eyes for a second, feeling the raw power—his own energy—course within him. 

'You're lucky you survived that,' she spat. 'I can not believe you.'

'I can,' he said simply. He snapped his eyes open when he gathered the thoughts of the most important situation at hand. He stared at Sasha pointedly. 'And, I am feeling amazing, thank you for asking.'

'Don't act snippy, you fuckwad,' she mocked. 'I had meticulously planned twenty exit strategies and none of them involved busting out the goddamned window.'

'Performance benchmarks were required.'

'Oh, aren't they a curiosity?'

'I'm overly cranky so do not start with me, Sash,' he warned, tearing off the last piece of clothing on his chest. He laughed when Sasha drunk in his naked glory, huffing with a glare at his expression. He grabbed the sports bottle which contained his special recipe, energy drink and chugging on it to revive his drained power. He saw Sasha plug her nose, waving a hand in the air when the thick scent of something rancid wafted through the cab.

'Oh, mother of God,' she moaned. 'That smells like piss.'

'It's every vitamin and protein in its natural state,' he sighed, chugging once more. 'I added sweetener.'

'It's like motor oil,' she groaned, rolling down the window to let the fumes out of the car and into the rushing air.

'Fuck off, Sash,' he muttered. 'So, how's my girl doing?'

Ah, his love. His darling. Just the thought of her made him want to pluck the miserable world off the gravitational pull from the sun and place it in her warm hands. To see that charming smile on her lips and watch her dark hair curl right around her neck with a drag of her fingers. Her body pressed under him, just like old times, and her warm hands all over his body. Her blue eyes that smouldered like a fire coming ablaze when he touched her where she liked it. She was everything Zeke wanted in a woman—feisty, gorgeous and submissive.

No one could treat him like her. 

The first time he had seen her was a year before she finished university. In a hurry to get to class, she had bumped into Zeke and had cast him a blazing scowl that instead of frightening him off but had managed to get him captivated. She was a hard one to please, he had remembered, the traditional roses and chocolates didn't seem to work at all. Zeke felt him shake his head to rid off the trance, a small smirk on his lips. He had missed her too much. 

Ever since that day she had left, not a moment had gone without her suave cerulean eyes sparking up his thoughts. She was an enigma and she was all his.

'Boarded the plane to Tabora,' Sasha mentioned in a silent drawl. 'Our boys landed there a day ago. Just in case.'

'And Stark?'

'With her, actually. Cancelled his trip on the Stark jet.'

'Wonderful,' he commented, piling his hands behind his head in a glorified gesture. Two birds with one stone. And here he was thinking this was going to be a tough heist to pull off.  

'I'm going to get her back, Sash. By then tomorrow, I'll have her here.'

'If you are lucky,' she scoffed.

'I always get what I want,' he said, dead certain. 'Always.'

∞

𝐅𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐑𝐀, 𝐀𝐅𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐀

ELEANOR

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I woke up faster than a cat in iced-water, every sense in my body driving me to claw my way upright. A scream curled around my throat, fighting to be let out still, I stubbornly smothered it back down. The usual numbing paranoia which accompanied the screams in my head jostled me where it churned, my breathing coming out in rapid pants. I realized the change in scenery; the confined seats and the table unfolded in front of me blocking my path into the aircraft's aisle. I finally remembered boarding the plane with Cal and the stressed-out night when I had with no sleep at all.

'Woah, hey,' a familiar voice came into earshot, a hand locking around my waist. I gasped. 'Elle, you're okay.'

 I merged my terrified eyes with Tony's appalled brown stare, concerned about what I was stranded about. What was he doing here? He was in a soft jerkin and track pants, a baseball cap over his head managing to shroud his identity in the flight.

Startled by the recurring horror and bathed in cold sweat, I held his face and scanning his face for any signs of bruises of where I had hurt him. 'Are you hurt? Did I hurt you?'

'What,' his eyebrows twisted in confusion, 'no, of course not.'

'Nothing to see here,' he ordered in a sound voice to the people who had their prying eyes on my terrified posture. I fought the urge to let out the forceful sob that was in my throat. He rubbed my arms, telling off the passengers once again who watched us with attentively, wondering what the hell caused me to snap. He pushed me to sit back on the seat, my hands going to my eyes to soothe the throbbing pain around the corners.

Insomnolence had become a companion that would not quit. It haunted my nights; ruling my days. I stopped my prescribed medication for the past few weeks, seeing an improved mood but sadly, they continued to persist. The same nightmare, the same sound of bullet meeting flesh and the shrill scream of terror. 

'I thought you were off the meds,' he said silently, breaking my stupor.

Mentioning my trouble sleep in a flight full of premium-economy class passengers was the first strike. Boarding a flight other than his own only to sabotage my trip and putting his reputation in line was the second. One more, and he was out.

I distinctly remembered boarding the plane with Cal, and the window-side seat empty when I crashed into unconsciousness. At least I didn't startle the entire plane, I convinced myself. As long as people didn't think I was a deranged terrorist on the loose, I was on the safe side. Cal beside me cleared her throat, settling back into her seat while blowing a breath up into her blonde bangs. So, Cal was in on this, too. 

I peeked at him through a crack in my fingers. 'Guilty. Sorry.'

Tony's lips curled downward with disappointment. He looked away from me, sinking into the cloth cushion on the seats, trying to get the correct angle to rest his head. 

I sighed. 'How did you get on?'

Before I had left home for work, I had visited his knocked-out self in the workshop and pressed a warm kiss of goodbye without waking him up. Still, I struggled to figure out how he had gotten on board. 

'Like everyone else. With a flight pass,' his answer was clipped. I continued to prod at him, waiting for him to explain how. 

And he did. 'I got on this shitty plane for you. At first, I thought, why not just take the suit? And then I wanted to spend some time with you since yesterday it wasn't viable, no thanks to you. Now that I'm here, I feel deceived.'

'Tony,' I started. 'It's not a—'

'Trust me, Elle, it is the biggest deal. I know what it's like to lose your mind just thinking about sleep.'

'And, I'm doing fine,' I pressed on, laying a hand over his lap. 'It's fortuitous, you know?'

'Yeah,' he scoffed. 'Fortuitous enough to scare people off in a five-meter radius.'

'Can we drop this?' I pleaded. 'Please?'

Tony shook his head, placing his palm over mine and squeezing it lightly. I watched as he glanced up after fiddling with my fingertips with a concerned stare. 'I care about you. I'm a bit rusty with the loving gestures but I'm not heartless. I just want to,' he sighed, 'help you. Because you are very dear to me.'

I leaned into him, my heart warmed by his sweet words to place a soft peck at the edge of his lips. I let my forehead rest against his temple, my breaths caressing his neck. The gentle warmth that radiated calmed my raging senses, my hands relaxing.

'Thank you,' I mumbled. He did not move, only dragging finger past my palm to acknowledge my statement. I used a finger to trace the rough ridges of his anodized metal reactor, smiling as I did. 'Your help is much appreciated. Really, love.'

He tossed me a short-lived grin, doing a one-shoulder shrug. I let my cheek rest over the side of his neck, listening to the stuttering thumps under the skin. He remained silent, the cap hanging lower than usual over his eyes. I reached over to push the hair away from his forehead.

'What's our ETA?'

'About thirty minutes,' he answered. He beckoned me closer and I went in with a silent laugh. 'I left Rhodey on the Stark jet to fend for himself.'

I made the perfect 'O' with my lips. 'I do hate a pissed-off Rhodes. Was there booze?'

'Tons of it.'

'Then, we're good. He'll be drunk off his arse by the time he lands,' I patted his thigh. 'We might want to lay off the topic of Iron Patriot.'

He groaned lowly at the sound of that. 'Let's be honest, honey. War Machine was way cooler.'

'Agree to disagree. Give him the credit of pulling it off in the first try inside the suit.'

He gawked at me, wide-eyed. 'I didn't?' I scrunched my nose, jutting my lips in a so-so gesture. 'Really —oh, wow you're serious.'

'Threadbare clothes, stranded in a desert, that thing in your chest,' I pointed to his arc reactor, 'and very nearly flatlining? That isn't pulling it off, it's harakiri by technology.'

A beat passed, slow realization sinking in. I pursed my lips, pulling up a lopsided smile.

' . . . excuse me, while I sob over my busted heroism trends to my Daily Globe.'

∞

[ w/n: hope you liked this one! ]

[update (14.01.2020): edited and rewritten, everyone! did not add anything new because it was perfect the way it was :) ]