Nexus - Into the Marvelverse

1st POV: Zero:

I put down the binoculars after observing the base. Nothing major, which meant the true base was inside the mountain. All we could see was the entrance to a 'mining site' protected by a few 'security' guys.

''So, what do you see?,'' asked Pietro.

They were all quite far away from the base. With a speedster, a portal creating guy and a girl that can sense minds there was no reason to get closer and risk exposing ourselves while observing.

''Not much. Can only mean one thing. The true base is inside the mountain. I saw a few cameras and a few 'security' guys patrolling the entrance to the 'mining site'. Probably a secret entrance, with the mining site being true and used as cover. We need to get closer to be more certain,'' I summarized putting the binoculars on the table back in Swiss through a portal.

''You said we will do this silently. But how exactly? You kind of failed to give us any concrete plan back in the safe house,'' Wanda asked.

''Hard to make a plan when you don't know the layout of the enemy territory. I was just laying some ground rules. You two have any problems with killing? I better hope not. These are basically worse Nazis,'' I retorted.

''We killed before, so no. Now, what is the plan?,'' Pietro informed.

I picked myself up and turned around to them.

''Taking care of the cameras won't be easy. I could create a small portal and cut the wires to deactivate them, but it also alert them to our presence. Once we get closer I can look for an access terminal and hack it. Though I doubt there is one outside, which means we need to get inside while working around them. Wanda, how good are you with your magic? Can you make it so that the security guys won't notice us even if we stand right in front of them?,'' I told them. We shared some information about our powers. Pietros speed. Wandas telepathy and telekinesis (for now). And my portals.

Wanda looked contemplative before answering:'' Inducing fear is easiest, but I can also manipulate them to ignore us. Though be aware I may fuck it up.''

''That is reassuring. Fine we will work with that. Once we are closer I will be our eyes in the sky with my portals. I will tell you where there are dead spots in the cameras sight. Which brings me to you Pietro. You will use your speed to take a look around. Anything that might look out of the ordinary and lead to a secret base. Do not worry. Anything goes wrong and you get caught, I will create a portal in front of you and you can escape. Then we will attack the base. Once inside we will deactivate the cameras and kill anyone quietly and gather any intel we can,'' I explained while handing them each an earpiece to communicate.

Why didn't I just teleport inside to deactivate the cameras, including all other technological security before killing all HYDRA agents and be done with this?

I saw it as a team building exercise for all of us and therapy for the Twins. Sure they volunteered to be experimented on by HYDRA, cause they wanted to get revenge on Stark, but this was HYDRA we were talking about.

They were at best unkind when experimenting on humans at worst deriving sadistic pleasure from it. Wasn't there someone who had experiments performed on them without anesthetics, because fuck them I guess? It would do the Twins good.

Sike.

You thought.

It was more tense this way. Besides who didn't love a good spy thriller action sequence? Every Sherlock needed his Watson.

The Twins equipped the earpieces and nodded. Splendid. I created a portal much closer to the entrance, but still far enough away that we wouldn't be noticed. I looked at Wanda and nodded towards her. She looked to concentrate for a while, clearly trying to do her magic and affect all the guards. She frowned and opened her eyes.

''We are still to far away. I can't bewitch them from here. What now?,'' Wanda told me looking apologetic.

Oh.

I can't complain completely. Sure she may be a reality warper, but clearly she was still in her infancy. Now, why did that sound familiar?

I immediately found a solution, not even needing to think.

''No worries. Only means more work for me. Slight addition to our plans. I will scout now and create small portals very close to the enemies. Particularly in their deadspots overlapping with the cameras. Then you bewitch them and Pietro and I will do our thing,'' I explained her patiently. She looked a little annoyed. I wanted to make sure her under performance was no issue.

''Won't the portals make noise,'' Pietro asked, immediately after nodding.

''Pietro, can you ever be bothered to pay attention? They make zero noise. Or have you forgotten how we only noticed him after he clapped?,'' Wanda closed her eyes and sighed frustrated. She answered before I could.

Pietro held his hands up, before gesturing towards me. Wanda prepared herself while I dropped my binoculars back in my hand. I looked through them, trying to find the right opportunities.

In no time at all Wanda cast her magic through the portal and bewitched all of the guards. 

Now the actual plan can begin. I cast a portal high in the air and observed the cameras then I directed Pietro around aaaaaand...

Fuck off.

I wanted to limit my powers only to what I gave my persona. Make it more authentic. Include stakes. Have fun while role playing (not THAT kind of role playing perverts).

Unfortunately, Pietro sucks and I needed to intervene by quietly hacking the cameras, twice, to continue to display a normal image. Yes, I'm playing as Starks 'son', which means I'm good with technology. But physically. Not with my mind across space thanks to my technomancy.

Which is great.

Because, now I now we make for great spies. 

Thanks, Pietro. 

...

...

I'm greatly annoyed. But I'm cool. I'm calm. Just a hick up. Honestly, I should have expected this. If you want to do something well, then do it yourself.

But hey, teambuilding exercise and spy thriller. Am I right?

In no time at all he found a hidden entrance behind a bookshelf. Wanda and I went through a portal and stepped near Pietro

A bookshelf.

In a mining site.

You can even see the scratch marks on the ground.

...

...

I feel severely and deeply insulted. My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined. So much for having fun.

There was no camera pointing at the bookshelf. Which honestly, smart. The cameras are visible and why would they point at a bookshelf? That would draw attention. Casting some quick magic to see if there are cameras on the other side, because I already failed the self imposed challenge.

We are back to square one, cause there are no cameras. Fantastic.

''So what now?,'' asked Pietro smugly, clearly thinking he did a good job. Wipe that look from your face asshole. You didn't perform as you should.

''Want me to clear the entrance with my telekinesis?,'' offered Wanda

''We could do that or we could just...,'' I said while pushing the bookshelf to the side and revealing an open entrance. The Twins looked at each other and stepped through. It was a dark room so I dropped myself a flashlight through the portal. Illuminating the room and observing it, revealed it to be nothing more than a dusty abandoned room. Nothing suspicious in sight.

I watched enough spy thrillers to know it was a decoy. 

Nevermind.

That is what I'm talking about, baby. We're back in the business of having fun.

''It's just an empty room,'' said Pietro,'' You sure there is a HYDRA base here?''

''Certain of it,'' I assured him,'' Hold out your hands. I'll give you flashlights, then we can search this room. Look for Anything suspicious.''

They did as instructed and we began looking for a hidden entrance. Or more like Pietro. His impatient ass began running around kicking up dust everywhere.

Congratulations Pietro. Your sister is now going to have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or some other lung disease.

Ass.

Be glad I gave you two some protections from the dust. They still ended up coughing, but now they wouldn't get sick from anything. There was also other types of substances in that dust that simply shouldn't be here.

HOLD UP.

WAIT A MINUTE.

Did HYDRA put drugs and bacteria in that dust to ward of intruders? But the dust was completely natural. Which means that there was another entrance somewhere. Like a backdoor, so that no one would disturb the dust. 

YES!

The suspense is building up. I'm so glad I only did a preliminary search now. 

''For fucks sake Pietro, what were you thinking?,'' Wanda complained after some coughing. She put her hand in front of her mouth and nose.

''Sorry! But come here, there are other scratch marks,'' Pietro also coughed and put his arms over his mouth and nose.

We made our way over to his position. And he was right. Had he not disturbed the dust, the scratch marks would have been very hard to see.

''Well done Pietro,'' I patted him on the shoulder. I was the only one that didn't cough. I was beyond such feeble mortal afflictions. I also had a helmet.

Guiding my flashlight from the scratch marks up, I saw a wall. A normal looking wall. There were no ridges or the like to suggest it was actually a door. I gave a small knock and the sound suggested the wall was thin. I dropped a knife in my hand from a portal and began slowly burying the blade in the wall. It gave way without much resistance. I began slowly cutting the wall into a door. 

The three of us looked inside the newly made door.

''Is that ... a site of a ritual?,'' Wanda speculated.

She wasn't wrong to think so. This room also looked a little dusty, but much less so then outside. There was a pentagram and dried blood on the ground. I went inside and looked around. I found a picture. How 'strange' that it was forgotten here by someone. I picked it up, immediately recognizing the person in it. It was one of the mysteriously disappeared person that was announced almost a decade ago. He was horrifically disfigured and positioned in a certain way on the pentagram. Going by my guess he was still alive here.

''Who is this?,'' Pietro asked, the Twins looking over my shoulder.

''Someone who was announced missing years ago. Guess we know what happened to him. Looks like he was 'sacrificed' by a 'cult' in a 'ritual' ,'' I said, emphasizing some words and dropping the photo. Poor guy, he likely was fetched from the streets and used as nothing more than a prop.

''So, was this after all a bust? There is no HYDRA base here?,'' Wanda asked.

''You need to understand that your HYDRA party was run by an idiot. A huge mansion in the middle of the forest, even if it is near a village? That just screams Frankensteins lair. Most HYDRA bases a really like THIS. Subterfuge, decoy, misdirection and all that other trite,'' I explained looking up. It was a little to high to reach. I could have found a stick, but why do that when I can be extra. I put my hand through a portal and began tapping on the ceiling. Eventually I found the desired sound and punched up.

All three of us looked through the clap door, spying a elevator shaft beyond.

Now this is what I'm talking about. Seriously, thank God, that I didn't completely survey this base with my powers and only did a preliminary search, because DAYUUM. This is a good employ of subterfuge.

I spied a ventilation shaft in the elevator shaft. And I had an idea.

''We are not going through the door. It seems we finally found the proper entrance to the HYDRA base and knowing our luck there will be cameras directed at the entrance and other stuff as well. We are not taking the elevator. See that? That is a vent shaft, we are going through that,'' I shared our plan. And immediately brought out my toolkit via a portal. Then I opened another portal and unscrewed the bolts from that vent, I grabbed the lid and propped it against the wall to not make any noise. I created a bigger portal, big enough for a human to crawl through.

''Follow me. If we are decently lucky we are going to stumble over the security room and I can turn off all cameras,'' I said entering the vents. It was a little cramped but sizeable enough that a human could crawl through. Hope the Twins don't have claustrophobia. Once Pietro crawled through I closed the portal.

I couldn't help but be a little disappointed while we crawled through the vents. There were no traps deadly or otherwise in it. No one looks up. Every one forgets about the ventilation shafts. I mean just look at all that dirt. And is that mold? Wanda gagged. 

Well, we know who will take the first shower when we are done here. The Twins are really lucky I'm protecting them from all kinds of disease and sickness. I'm an asshole, but they are my allies and I owe them that much at least. Fuck my enemies, but if they are my allies then it is a bit of a different matter.

Sure I said that I didn't want to use more powers than I ascribed to my persona, but I am a sore loser. Getting my allies killed by something as silly as disease was dumb. And thanks to Pietro we were a little past that anyway.

Meh.

All of this around me, more than made up for my disappointment. Besides, I quickly found out that improvising my plans on the spot is way more fun than everything going according to my plan. I mean, if I REALLY wanted to have everything go to my plan, I could just mind control everyone.

Thank you, Gwen Stacy.

Boosting my brains processing abilities just catapulted me so far so quickly. It wasn't amiss to claim that my powers now grow exponentially. This reminds me I should request Gwen to teach me about black holes and radiation and a few other stuff.

Sure, I may bitch and moan, about my plans going wrong, but I actually like it this way much more.

No, plan survives first contact with the enemy after all.

Every now and then, we crawled over a grid, allowing us to spy into the HYDRA base. All things said it was a small base. In no way shape or form was it the size of the Twins HYDRA base. There weren't that many people inside it, but there were a shit load of cameras. As in, enough cameras that there was literally no blind spot.

Another grid and we saw a room full of cryopods with humans inside them. At least I assume they were cryopods. Could be incubation pods for all I know. I could use my powers to check, but gotta keep up with the spy thriller. I can be patient for a few more minutes.

Another grid and we could see a woman walking tensely through the corridors. She wore a doctors attire and was looking at a clipboard. Lady, you couldn't look any more shady if you tried. 

And finally we stumbled upon the security room. And while there we a shit ton of security guards. there were no cameras and half of them inside the room looked at the monitors. I looked behind me at Wanda and gestured her to remain silent.

''Wanda, same plan as before. I create portals, you bewitch them to ignore us,'' I whispered in my mic. The two of them heard me and nodded. Since there were no cameras, finding blind spots was easy. The more she bewitched the more blind spots there were and finally her job was done. Well that was ridiculously easy. I created three portals beneath us and we dropped in the room with a small thud.

We picked us up and while the Twins looked at me for further instructions I just walked up to the first guard and snapped his neck, killing him.

''Go around and snap all their necks I suppose. Unless you want a knife. Guns do too much noise, even with a silencer,'' I turned to them. Well, they both wanted knifes, since they felt queasy snapping someones neck. As if slitting their throat was more clean, now the whole floor is filled with blood puddles. The stench of iron was as disgusting as their nazi ass character.

I approached the terminal and began working my 'Stark' blood and putting on a show. I wasn't just pressing random buttons though. I knew what I was doing and more like used my tecnomancy sprinkled here and there to speed things up. Not only was I disabling the cameras and all other security measures, I was downloading terabytes of stuff on my USB I slotted in. You think an USB can hold terabytes of info without my assist? Let alone how long it would have taken to download everything.

''That was surprisingly easy. I thought it would be more difficult,'' Pietro commented.

''We make a good team and cover each other most glaring weaknesses. Trust me. Were it just me it would have taken several days of gathering info about their shifts and all that crap. And keep in mind that this is just a small HYDRA base. Some of the bigger ones took me weeks. One even took me several months. We make a good team,'' I lied to them, typing away at the computer.

I didn't need to turn around to see their smug pride. I could feel it like the glaring sun. Guess, they never received praise from their captors.

Hold up.

Strucker isn't dead, because I killed Ultron too quickly. I subtly cast some magic and felt him somewhere in the world. Should I kill him? Nah, I'll let him sow some chaos, besides he was not in my immediate range.

''So what now? What are you even doing?,'' Wanda asked, shaking some of her limbs with disgust trying to get the mold off.

''I'm downloading everything and disabling all security. Once that is done, we can take a look around the base. I'm more interested in that woman. She definitely was up to something, so we may be on a timer. Wanda you got a look in her mind?,'' I answered.

''I looked. But it was all jumbled, too many things going on at once. All I know is that she had an intense desire to escape,'' Wanda explained.

You know what? Once this is over I'm getting the two of them to train. It occurs to me that Strucker must have kept them weak, to control them. Their performance should be so much greater.

''In that case we can assume that the guards will soon enter an alarmed state. Guess that is on us for choosing a poor time to enter,'' I said typing away.

''The computer say anything about those pods we saw?,'' asked Pietro.

''No. The exact purpose is not listed here, but that doesn't mean we can't find out. Someone wants to escape. And going by their doctors attire she may be important enough to have some intel for us,'' I speculated.

''You want to save her? Does that mean we will stop sneaking around,'' Pietro asked with some excitement.

Impatient ass. Yes, sneaking is slower than just busting down the door, but come on.

''First we will observe her. I doubt we will get her to trust us immediately to reveal her intentions. She'll probably assume we are working with HYDRA and play dumb. We'll watch from the shadows and jump in when necessary. Which means Wanda, it is your time to shine again. You have been kind of the MVP here, bewitching everyone to ignore us,'' I praised. It wasn't a completely altruistic purpose. Wanda can start her training now, though technically she already has been training.

''You said it yourself. We cover each other weaknesses quite well,'' Wanda said with some amusement. Yeah, yeah. I wonder how long you'll say that once you realize you're a reality warper.

Also don't look at her with a face of betrayal Pietro. It would be unhealthy to live your whole life with only your sister, without ever letting anyone else inside your circle. You two need to meet new people to learn and heal.

I pulled the USB out, having finished what I set out to do and turned around. 

''Well, what are we waiting for? Let's roll,'' I said walking out through the door. The Twins following me.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We kept to the shadows, the HYDRA agents ignoring us as we walked the corridors. We kept an eye out for that woman or anything else that would garner attention.

Considering the small size of the base, it came as no surprise that we found her easily. We started following her.

Can you stop fidgeting you dumb bitch? Do it with confidence, do it like you mean it, do it like you belong and are meant to be here. I get that she is just a doctor, but you are surrounded by HYDRA spy agents. Get a fucking grip over your acting. We saw some agents excusing himself and going somewhere when he looked at her for a bit. The three of us shared a glance. Which honestly. How does that even work, considering I have a helmet? Whatever.

The woman came to the end of the corridor. And swiped her card. Out came a girl that looked somewhat similar to the woman.

''X-23 reporting for duty,'' the girl tried to drone. Ah I see. A rebellious spirit. Truly one of my people. Put some more deapan in your voice girl, if you want to sell your obeisance.

''No, no. That is not what I'm here for. Come Laura, We're running away from here. Ok? We're leaving this all behind us. Come one,'' the woman told her.

No surprise there that Laura looked suspiciously at her. She probably thought that they were testing her loyalty via a test or something. That is kind of how abusive relationship work. Wanda tapped me on the shoulder to get my attention and gave me an inquisitive look. For her this was probably enough confirmation that they needed to help her, but I shook my head and gestured them to stay put.

The woman shook the girl out of her trance and told her to follow her. When she wouldn't follow, the woman grabbed Laura by her hand and began dragging her behind her.

When they passed us, Laura stopped and sniffed the air in our direction.

''Laura, come on. What are you doing?,'' The woman demanded, being forced to stop in her tracks, despite being bigger than Laura.

''There is a strong smell of blood coming from this direction,'' Laura made to grab towards us, but the woman pulled very hard to grab her attention.

''Laura we don't have time for this. We're on the clock!,'' the woman whispered harshly. Laura trailed after her.

See this is why one should make the least amount of messes when doing espionage. She probably smelled the blood beneath our shoes. Can't say I didn't enjoy the trill of getting caught. It was fun. The Twins on the other hand released a sigh once the threat of getting caught passed them and gave me an apologetic look. I waved them off and began following after them at great distance, the Twins after me.

Great enough sense that Wandas bewitchment almost don't work on her. Strength that should not belong in a smaller girl.

And her name.

Laura.

Laura.

Laura!

Of course. Only one person fits those characteristics. Laura Kinney. Which would make the woman Sarah Kinney and her mother. Look, I knew some things about the X-Men, but in large I followed Spider-Man and the Avengers narrative. All I wanted from the X-Men was to stop Jean Grey from turning into the Dark Phoenix and maybe some other things as well.

Because some idiot decided to repress her trauma or suppress a cosmic entity. Seriously what is with people not taking mental afflictions seriously? Therapy was great! It helped me massively in learning to control my anger issues before the war. Or jumping head first to conclusions? Even I wasn't taking anything I saw at face value, because of my metaphysical knowledge and doing my own research in the backgrounds, just in case.

Anyway.

This is actually great. If I remember correctly, before Sarah died she gave Laura the address to the X-Mansion. And now we will have a reason to visit the X-Mansion. It would have been hella suspicious if two people not possessing the X-Gene escorted one who possessed it to them and demanded entrance.

They got hold up a few times. Sarah did a good job at lying. Much better then previously. Maybe because she noticed it was actually working and was getting more confident for it. She told them that Subject X-23 will be brought in for evaluation.

Lol, no.

It was clearly a trap and they were luring them into it.

Oh, no. Right when she was about to exit the base a barrier slammed down and blocked the exit. Who could have seen that coming. Massive flashlights shone down their lights on them and multiple agents came out and pulled their guns on them.

We moved a little to the side in the middle of the standoff between all of them.

Was that... a massive box close to the ceiling facing the entrance/exit protected by armored glass? Oh! I get it. Bullets obviously don't work on Laura. Or more like the do, but she just outheals them. Gases on the other hand are a different matter. I think. I looked around for some vents and sure enough I found some.

A woman stepped in front of the HYDRA agents and smirked sadistically. Whoever this was, Laura had some beef, because she snarled and hissed at her. Geez, girl. Calm down. I know you possess animalistic traits, but that doesn't mean you are an animal.

Awww. Look at the mother putting her daughter behind her as a form of protection. Not that it means much, considering your completely human, but hey, the sentiment was there.

The light turned on in the box and a man stepped forward close to the glass, looking on down at all of them, his face both utterly forgettable and smug.

''Rice,'' Sarah bit out.

''That would be Dr. Rice to you, Kinney,'' Rice corrected her. Ah, it was one of THOSE people. His death will bring me great satisfaction. It really is a talent to make yourself so disliked with one sentence.

''How did you get wind of our activities?,'' Sarah asked.

Rice chuckled smugly. Yup. Keep going buddy, just make yourself more dislikeable like a two bit wannabe cartoon villain.

''Did you really think we wouldn't catch you doing something so nefarious as escaping with our first successful clone of weapon X? We always kept track of you. Still I have to say, I didn't expect you to be able to disable all security measures or be so ruthless when killing all those guardsmen. Which begs the question on how you did it. Oh, who am I kidding? You are not that kind of person to pull the trigger. Which can only mean one thing. You had help. And knowing how fresh the blood was, we can assume your accomplice is still in the base. Seeing as we have closed both exits and are guarding them both, we are certain to catch them. Which makes you virtually useless,'' Rice boasted. See what I mean? One of THOSE people. 

THANK YOU, PIETRO!! For agreeing with me, if your cringing face is anything to go by. Wanda looked at me anxiously and fidgeting. I gestured her to remain calm a few moments more.

To no surprise, Sarah looked utterly confused at what Rice was telling her.

''But no. Shooting you would be to simple. Was it ever so annoying to hear you advocate for X-23s well being. Going on and on about its needs. How many times must I tell it to you. It is not a person. It is an animal. One to be trained and directed towards our adversaries. I can see, that even now, you disagree with me. So here, let me demonstrate it to you,'' Rice continued his monologue and took out a remote, before pressing a button.

Some gases were released through the vents, though it was more accurate to say it was some kind of scent. Why though? You are not gonna kill us with, sniff, sniff, what I can only assume to be the smell of decomposing onions and molding banana. Jesus, must they make every thing unpleasant?

Oh? Laura began holding her head and snarling and twitching and moving erratically while stumbling around.

''Laura! Rice what did you do to her?,'' Sarah screamed frantically panicking.

''When you weren't looking we took X-23 and conditioned it with a trigger scent. Should it ever not comply with our orders we would simply get it to do its job by inducing a murder frenzy via the trigger scent. I guess you would be the first subject that will get to see the fruits of our labor,'' Rice boasted, making Sarah pale and turn back to Laura slightly stumbling back.

Guess the scent make sense now. It was very unlikely for one to stumble on this smell in the wild. Huh, fascinating. The Twins looked at me again and were starting to get visibly frustrated when I mentioned them to wait some more.

Sarah was now stuck between a rock and a hard place. Laura was getting murdery and to her back were HYDRA agents with guns. Surprisingly she did not plead or try to get Laura to fight the trigger scent. Honestly that was so cliche and overdone. I approve.

Unsurprisingly, Laura lost the battle and lunged for Sarah, while bringing out her adamantium claws. And nope. Straight through the portal into the huge ass office where Rice was.

Upps. Did I accidentally drop a massive object through a portal, blocking an escape through them and locked you in with a murderous and dangerous individual? Man you must really regret installing that armored glass now. Going by those screams, it seems Rice was agreeing. Still sorry Laura. All that shooting must mean he wasn't alone in there. Still, if that was me, it would be therapeutic and cathartic to murder my abusers.

The woman quickly processing what happened ordered her men to shoot Sarah. I simply created small portals in their muzzle and voila. They all died via headshots.

All things considered it was kind of anti-climatic.

Then again. We had a speedster. Who if he would put in some work, will only get faster. We had an untrained reality warper, but even so telekinesis and telepathy were powerful skills. And me, another reality warper, even if I did restrict myself. It was fun bullying those Nazi scum. 

We stepped through a portal and appeared near Sarah. She whipped around and we all ignored that womans 'Who are you?'

''Yo. That woman. What is her strength, weaknesses?,'' I curtly asked.

''Her name is Kimura. She can control her density to the point not even adamantium can harms her. Otherwise she is normal. Any kind of paralyzing agent will do the work, if you get her to consume it,'' Sarah quickly fired off. Honestly? Good recovery. I expected her to be shocked and speechless a little bit more.

Also seems I will get my explosive bang to my spy thriller at the end. All good spy thrillers have a chase scene or fight at the end.

Kimura snarled and leapt for us. Pietro engaged her immediately. Wanda assisted by throwing some objects with her telekinesis every now and then and I remained by her side. I opened portals at the right time protecting Pietro from anything hitting him. I had no trouble letting his ADHD ass unwind a little. Wanda must think like me, seeing as she didn't bewitch Kimura to remain still, so we could drug her.

''Let us talk about you. I'm Zero. This is Wanda and that over there is Pietro. Her brother. You are?,'' I asked her, causing both women to look at me like I'm insane.

''Is now really the time to do this whole introduction thing? I'm Sarah, if you must know,'' Sarah answered reluctantly.

''I noticed some resemblance between you and that girl, that is currently skewering Rices corpse,'' I told her pointing at Rice getting stabbed multiple times against the armored glass.

''That is Laura. She is a clone of someone, but half of the DNA of that person was damaged so I gave her mine and carried her to terms,'' Sarah explained reluctantly, when she saw me looking at her expectantly. I wasn't distracted though. Kimura grabbed Pietro and picked a gun. The bullet flew in her eye via portal and Wanda slammed her on the ceiling before slamming her back down.

A speedster getting caught. You are embarrassing me here dude. We are training your ass at the first opportunity.

''Ignoring the obvious issue with what you just said. We can philosophize about the proper terminology later.

We couldn't help but overhear some of the conversation we heard earlier. Something about a trigger scent? Do you think Laura will get out of it herself? Or do we need to do something to get her out off it?,'' I asked her. She looked contemplative for a while.

''I don't know. This is the first time I'm hearing about this trigger scent. But I suspect that if we get her outside and far away from this room she should calm down. But that would be difficult. You have to understand she has superb senses. She would smell the scent from miles away,'' Sarah rationalized. I nearly gagged. Get your shitty imperialistic system out of my face. You call yourself a doctor? Disgusting.

''Wait. Is that why she nearly smelled us in that corridor? In that case I'm willing to believe she has superb senses, if she can overpower my bewitchment,'' Wanda explained pulling all the guns and corpses away from the area so Pietro could run better.

''So that is why Laura stopped in the hallway. How did you do that? You said something about bewitchment? I'm guessing it has something to do with the mind, so a form of telepathy,'' Sarahs doctor senses were tingling. She was still tense, because she was surrounded by strangers and a dangerous situation. But she was coming around.

Yes, my child. Become one with the absurdity of the world. Reject normalcy and hold a conversation during a fight.

''Hold up. Maybe we don't even need to transport her away from here? I can try and use my magic to calm her down. Zero, do you think this could work?,'' She offered Sarah and asked me. Good. Good. She is taking the initiative and starting to think for herself.

''There is no reason not to try. It should be no more different than the magic you cast on all those guards. Seeing as you already have plenty of practice you should definitely try it. Can you do it from here or do you want me to portal her here?,'' I approved. Might be a little difficult to subdue her once here, but a little danger never harmed anyone.

''No she is close enough. Be ready to portal her anyway,'' Wanda said and began concentrating.

''Portal? As in a Einstein Rosen Bridge through the space time continuum? Are you using a device or do you possess the X-Gene?,'' Sarah fired off.

''Not to my knowledge. Nevermind that. What about all the pods? What are the all for?,'' I asked. She frowned confused.

''What pods? I had the highest clearance and I never heard of those pods,'' Sarah asked.

She wasn't lying, I could tell thanks to my powers. In that case. Look at little junior, still not understanding how this game works.

''Then it is something we must look into. We can't go without finding out what the pods are for,'' I replied making Sarah nod shakily.

Sike.

You thought. It takes 5 minutes for the brain to truly die and would you look at that Laura didn't stab Rice in the head. Certainly his face, but not his head. I picked a plethora of skills recently thanks to my new processing power of my brain and the clone specifically dedicated for training.

Yoink.

I quickly scanned his hippocampus.

Let me see. Let me see. I just wanted to make extra sure I had the truth. I had no interest in being blindsided and I assumed that there was no other terminal in this base. I certainly saw none in that room when we looked through the grid in the vent shaft.

Ah. So it was incubation pods. He was trying to clone Laura multiple times, to not only have multiple assassins, but also have an army of them. Unfortunately all clones turned up dead. He had several suspicions, but frankly I don't care. I had what I wanted.

That was his plan? Man he really was every bit of a two bit wannabe cartoon villain all the way to the end. If nothing else, I gotta respect his dedication towards mediocrity.

''I'm done. She should be calm now,'' Wanda told me. I immediately created a portal and mentioned Laura to come through. She looked at it hesitantly, but came through when she saw Sarah.

''Yo, pipsqueak. We're here to save you. Do not resist,'' I joked trying to light the mood. Jesus girls calm down you look like you want to skewer me with your talons.

''I'm 16,'' She retorted sharply.

''Come again?,'' I asked. She looked like a 13 year old.

''No, she really is 16. They didn't feed Laura all that much, because her healing factor would keep her alive even without food. I have been trying to give her whatever I could, but she is still malnourished and didn't grow properly,'' Sarah confirmed. Wanda and I looked at her and then at Laura.

''Ok. First of all,'' I began using my arm like a sword and tapped Lauras both shoulders,'' Stand tall. You're strong for having it made through hell. Second of all, Wanda. We are cleaning up and then getting some food into her.'' Wanda sharply nodded disgust on her face. Thank you Wanda for expressing what we both felt right now.

''Not without me you don't. Kimura and I have something to settle,'' Laura growled presenting her claw daring me to challenge her. I nodded at her. Who was I to stand in the face of revenge?

''Whats up speedster? Couldn't finish me yourself, so you called for your bigger siblings?,'' Kimura taunted seeing us approach.

''Nah, not really. And only she is my twin. The black one is my friend and the other I guess an ally,'' Pietro replied stepping slightly back at seeing the look on Wandas face. She was furious. Well, guess I know if she has empathy. She must be really grateful I stopped Hulk from rampaging.

''Aww. X-23, it seems you made some friends. I wonder how you'll react when you watch them die in front of you,'' Kimura taunted her sadistically. Laura growled but said nothing. Probably for the better.

With four angry enhanced individuals against one it should come as no surprise that Kimura found herself on the ground.

''Wait, wait, please. I didn't want to hurt anyone. They made me do it. I never asked for any of this,'' Kimura pathetically pleaded. 

Bitch please. You are giving D-List actors a good rep. And frankly your acting is atrocious. I mean seriously? You clearly displayed sadistic tendencies not even 2 minutes ago and now you are playing the damsel in distress?

Unless...

Oh, for fucks sake, Laura. You really fell for the rage bait?

Kimura lunged for Laura who approached her aggressively. However I wanted none of that. And the fight has been dragging on for long enough.

I created a portal to the back of Kimura and grabbed her before throwing her through another portal with all the force I could muster. Massive amounts of water quickly filled the room, enough that it went all the way to our ankles. I needed some more force to throw her against the water streams pressure, but I don't care.

''Did you do what I think you did?,'' Sarah approached us, the water splashing around her steps.

''Yup. I sent Kimura to the bottom of the Mariana Trench,'' I confirmed. I was a little sadistic too, bitch. I made sure to witness your final moments, you fucking vermin.

''Ingenious. Whenever she changes density she changes mass as well. And she can't swim upwards if she weighs too much. She could change her density to float upwards, but then she wouldn't resist the sheer pressure around her. Either way she is going to die,'' Sarah explained, making Laura perk up. Sarah was right. Unfortunately, the bitch panicked and was crushed into pulp. Pity I wanted to feel her drown.

''So she is dead? Truly?,'' Lauras voice was small and exhausted. She was in disbelief, that her abusers are all finally dead. That she was free. Huh. Guess in spite of all that horrific shit she went through, she was still a girl who was hurting.

''Dead and gone,'' I said giving her a comforting headpat,'' Anyway. Pietro. I know you may be tired, but can you do your thing? Look for anything suspicious that would suggest a hidden entrance to that pod room.

He disappeared and appeared again. That was fast as fuck.

''It was easy. There is a wall with a small draft of cold air coming out,'' Pietro told us to follow him. And he guided us to a wall that looked completely normal. Before we could even start to look around for a switch, Laura used her claws and cut a door in the metal. She looked at me expectantly.

Uhhhhh, ok?

I don't know what you want from me and I'm not reading your mind. You're not an enemy so you get to keep that privilege.

Oh.

I get it. She was abused and a sign of affection makes her feel good. Fine I guess. I can initiate the healing process.

I gave her two pats on her shoulder, before stepping in. Sarah looked around and inspected some of the equipment.

''I never... You were right. These are pods. Incubation pods, to be exact. And going by their appearance I can only assume they were trying to clone Laura. I should have known. Rice was always talking about an army of X-Weapons. We can count ourselves lucky that they are dead,'' Sarah choked leaning against the wall. Well, nothing new there for me at least. The others looked a little ashen. They have all seen Lauras powers.

''Wait. This is something I don't get. The X. Does it stand for something?,'' Pietro asked, wanting to have their suspicions confirmed.

''The X-Gene is a gene that grant people powers. Not everyone possess it and not everyone who possesses it has it active. It needs great stimuli to activate. Each X-Gene is unique to their host, which is why they all have different powers. Laura is a clone of James Howlett or as he goes by nowadays Logan. She has the same powers as him. Which is also another thing. Children of X-Gene carriers are almost always carriers themselves. Laura is unique in having Logans powers, because she is a clone,'' Sarah gave us a brief explanation. We all listened attentively.

''You told me, you don't know if you are X-Gene carriers? Do you want me to test it in the lab, before we leave?,'' Sarah offered. We all, except Laura, nodded. Might as well get one final use out of the base before leaving. Not like traces of the gene test will remain I will wipe everything from here.

Some time later we had the results. All of us waiting in the lab and watching Sarah work. Unsurprisingly I won't have it. This is more for the Twins. Clarity about their power will do them good.

''Alright. Zero and Wanda you don't have the X-Gene, whereas Pietro you do have it,'' Sarah summarized after nearly a hour.

''What? But how? You said the X-Gene needed great stimuli to activate. I suppose that would be Loki's Scepter, but then how do I have powers?,'' Wanda asked panicking slightly.

''How doe Bruce Banner have his powers. How does Thor? Or Captain America? The X-Gene is not the be all and end all of superpower acquisition. All that matters is that you have now some more truth about yourself and gained some clarity,'' I said.

Pietro embraced his sister and told her:'' He is right. And I won't think any less of you for not having a X-Gene. You think me that shallow?''

Wanda set her face and nodded:'' Both of you are right. Sorry. It was just ... It was silly. Forget it.''

Awww. How adorable. She must have thought that as Twins they needed to share everything and must have worried about not having the X-Gene. Wonder how she'll react when she finds out she is a conduit for Cthons Chaos Magic.

''Welp, moving on past that touching moment. Time to blow this place to kingdom come,'' I said putting my hands through portals and pulling out two C4s.

''You know. I'm curious. Where do you pull all this stuff from,'' Pietro said, carefully grabbing one of the C4s.

''I have a safe house specifically for hoarding stuff,'' I revealed casually. Which reminds me. I need to get rid of that place and everything in it. Now that I can conjure stuff by manipulating atomic structures, I can just create stuff out of view and then pull it in with portals.

''Can we watch?,'' Laura asked. Oh right, that would be cathartic for someone like her. I nodded.

10 minutes later we watched a little bit away from the base as I let Laura press the button. 

Wow.

Big boom.

Brings back memories.

Anyway, I wiped EVERYTHING about our little DNA test from the HYDRA base. I was paranoid like that.

''Anyway we are done for today and I did promise to fill Lauras belly with food. Let's go,'' I said creating another portal and walking through.

''Remarkable. There seems to be no limit on the range to your portals. Where are we?,'' Sarah asked.

''In one of his safe houses. This one is in Swiss,'' Pietro answered.

''Look. You two show them around the house and I will fetch food for all of us,'' I ordered before leaving, not bothering to hear their answer.

You can never go wrong with cheeseburgers. I entered a McDonalds in Romania. They guy looked at me weirdly for being dressed as I'm and asked for clarification if I really wanted 100 cheeseburgers

''Did I stutter?,'' I retorted, making him move. Eventually after an hour he my order was done. I left him the equivalent of a 20$ tip because I felt a little bad for him. People like him have to deal with so much bullshit daily. I also made sure not to scramble the camera feed, just to fuck with S.H.I.E.L.D and send them on a goose chase.

''Yo, I'm back. We're eating cheeseburgers today,'' I said going through the portal and putting the food on the table. I turned around and spied the women sitting on the couch watching a show, their hair wet and dressed only in a towel. I'm guessing Pietro is taking a shower, for I can feel him in the bathroom.

''I don't mind you taking a shower. Hygiene is important, but why not dress in clothes?,'' I said approaching them. Wanda and Laura blushed and pulled the towel tighter around themselves. Women what did you expect?

''We had no other set of clean clothes,'' Wanda murmured bashfully. Laura nodded.

''Oh, I forgot,'' I said before putting half my body through a portal and coming out with multiple clothes and presenting them to them.

''Why do you have multiple sets of womens clothes?,'' asked Wanda suspiciously.

''Don't ask,'' I replied.

''No, seriously...,'' Wanda began.

''Don't. Ask,'' I interrupted firmly and presenting the clothes again. Let her think it was something embarrassing or the like, I frankly did not care, so long as I did not need to explain them that I conjured them from thin air.

Pietro came out and I threw him his own set of clothes. They all dressed one after the other in the bathroom.

''Cheeseburgers? Thank god, I'm famished,'' Pietro celebrated grabbing a few of them.

''Calm down. You're one third the reason why I bought so many. I know about your increased metabolism. Laura being the other one and the rest of us the final one. Laura, your stomach was empty till now, don't eat too quickly or you'll get sick,'' I told them grabbing a few for myself.

''It is fine. My healing will take care of it. I want to eat,'' She replied immediately eating the cheeseburgers.

''Fine. If you get sick, you know where the toilet is,'' I replied.

They all stopped eating when they saw me cut the burger with a knife and put the smaller size with a fork through the portal into my mouth. I could see the judgement in their eyes. Defiantly I cut another piece, waved it around a bit to taunt them and put it in my mouth via portal again. The mask stays on.

''Anyway. Sarah, what was your big plan after escaping?,'' I opened up the subject. Yes, give me the address and the reason to visit the X-Mansion. Serenade me and bless me with divine knowledge.

''We were only thinking about escaping. Not what came afterwards. I guess we were just going to run from place to place,'' Sarah said frowning a little.

Cue vinyl record scratch sounds in my head.

Huh?

Bitch I know full well....

Actually let me just double check, just to be extra sure. Lady, you experimented on children. The privilege of not having your mind read does not completely apply to you. I only read a few parts of her mind.

Mental clearing of throat.

Bitch I know full well you have the address of the X-Mansion.

Oh, who was I kidding? I didn't completely mind.

Improvise.

Adapt.

Overcome.

I was more concerned with what kind of impression and hopes she had between me and Laura. Don't get me wrong, I will help her heal from all that abuse, but I had a girlfriend. Thank you very much.

At times like this I found it annoying not to reveal somethings about myself. But while the mind rapist can't read my mind he can read the one of those around me.

''That was your plan? Hope for the best? What about money issues?,'' I said. Maybe there is a way I could put some pressure on her.

''I'm a doctor and a geneticist. I would have offered my services for a few. And If that wouldn't have been enough... She suffered enough. I would have made some though choices,'' Sarah replied firmly.

Yeah, I knew what she implied. Way to turn the pressure around on me. She gets extra points for not lying as well. She meant what she said. Gotta respect that even if she did experiment on children. I could see that the rest understood her implication as well.

''Of course, we are not freeloaders. I will offer you my services and treat any of your injuries. All of you. All I ask is that you let us stay with you,'' Sarah pleaded.

''I will help as well,'' Laura chose to follow her mother figures example. The Twins looked at me, making it clear it was my call.

I gave a loud exaggerated sigh and nodded.

''Fine, you can stay. Guess I'm gonna have to find a bigger place for all of us. This place is getting cramped. And tomorrow we are getting you all some clothes,'' I told them.

''We have no money,'' Wanda said.

''Don't worry I'm rich. Besides I gotta have to pay you something for your help. You helped me immensely today,'' I assured her.

''What do you even do anyways?,'' Pietro asked me.

''I'm good with technology. I work as a free lancer for cyber security. I do good work,'' I lied to them and shrugged.

''Will you always wear this costume? We haven't seen you take off the helmet once,'' Pietro asked. I nodded and said nothing more to that, making Pietro throw his hands up.

''Anyway. We had a big and eventful day. I will make the beds and transform the couch, I will leave the sleeping arrangements to you,'' I told them taking a bite.

''Wait. What about you?,'' asked Sarah.

''I will sleep at another place of mine. Unless you want someone to sleep on the floor or get cramped together in bed,'' I reasoned.

''I will sleep on the floor. No negotiating. This is your home I don't want to trouble you too much,'' Sarah replied and I shrugged. Fine by me. I don't really care. Once you sleep in the trenches with bullets flying over your head, you can sleep anywhere. Even near strangers.

Fine Sarah. We'll do it your way. I guess it is back to waiting until the mind rapist detects our presence with Cerebro. If nothing else, we can bust more HYDRA bases and help more people.

Meh.

I wasn't complaining to much. I had a lot of fun today and I fulfilled my very important daily quota of doing a good deed. 

Besides, they all look content. Both the twins and the Kinneys. Look at us. Our little traumatized dysfunctional family.

Yippie.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st POV: Bell:

''You want me to what?,'' Gwen asked me, the day after our date. While my Zero persona was doing his thing while I was teaching Gwen new swinging techniques, he was now buying clothes and looking for a new place. I on the other hand requested Gwen to study up on black holes.

''I want you study black holes and tech me how they work,'' I repeated my request patiently.

''Black holes? As in center of the Milky Way black hole? Traps even light black holes? Probably a singularity black hole? That black hole?,'' Gwen rambled off quickly, looking slightly dizzy.

''I can always ask Peter,'' I told her.

''No! I will look it up. The barbeque is on Saturday right? Does Sunday sound good?,'' Gwen immediately offered me. Heh, too easy.

I suppressed an eye twitch. Fucking marvel geniuses man, I swear.

''I'm surprised it took you so long to agree,'' I told her wanting to hear her reasoning.

''I know I told you I would help you, but come on. Black holes?,'' Gwen complained.

''Ah, I see the realization of what a reality warper does has finally sunk in. I was wondering why you were so accepting of my claim during our date,'' I retorted.

''No, no. I do believe you. But it is one thing to know about something and to be presented with it. You know? Both scenarios require completely different mindset,'' Gwen assured me. I nodded. Yeah I have no idea what you were trying to tell me.

''Still black holes, huh?,'' she trailed off contemplating some things.

I dropped my head in her view.

''Wanna see a magic trick?,'' I asked her teasingly. She huffed and nodded, sufficiently distracted from her thoughts.

I snapped my fingers in front of her face and suddenly I was holding a rose. I presented it to her, but then I changed my mind before she could grab it and put it behind her ear. I gave an appreciative hmm, starring at her. She blushed.

''You can be so romantic sometimes,'' Gwen told me.

''Sometimes?,'' I asked putting on an affronted face.

''Sometimes,'' repeated Gwen casually, smiling when she heard me gasp.

''I shall remember the betrayal until my dying day. This heresy will not stand,'' I gesticulated making Gwen giggle.

''You know if you want to be more romantic, you could fight crime side by side with me again,'' Gwen suggested. She definitely had some screws loose if she considered crimefighting romantic.

...

Actually, what am I complaining about? Lets fucking go!

I nodded at Gwens suggestion making her brighten up.

''Great how long will it take you to change into your Nexus attire?,'' Gwen said putting the rose and the table and grabbed her suit from its hiding place. She turned around facing me, only to find me in my Nexus attire already.

''Right. Reality warper. Of course,'' She murmured to herself. Still that didn't damper her spirit at fighting crime alongside me again. She shooed me outside and told me to wait on a roof after giving me web fluid.

By now I could make my own web fluid, but it meant more to her if I would use hers.

I jumped through the window from Gwens room.

I also now have officially determined what Nexus' strengths will be. 

My Nexus persona will be semi spider like. Can stick to walls. Great strength. Great constitution. But no spider sense, in return for ridiculous durability. And of course the brain drive from Scarlet Nexus. Just like in the game it was on a timer. How much time? Whatever the fuck suited me best, which meant it was going to be inconsistent as fuck. And I was going to have telekinetic and telepathic powers during brain drive. Because why not? The brain drive was going to be my trump card, I wasn't gonna unleash it on just any low level crook.

Such an ability needed a proper showdown after all.

Soon enough Gwen came out and I swung after her. 

It should go without saying that we just straight up bullied the criminals. We were also insufferable, because of our constant flirting. Somewhen Spider-Man joined us and it was just overkill. Could we have done more by splitting up and covering more ground?

Yes.

And we do that. But not always. Today was just one of those days we just hang out, because why not. The city was relatively silent today.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

3rd POV:

''I came as quickly as I could,'' Pepper told Steve. He gave an appreciative hmm.

''Let me brief you quickly. (Steve proceeds to give a quick summary about Ultron and Zero),'' Steve explained.

''And Ultron is dead? Are we sure of that?,'' Pepper asked hoarsely. She had so many questions. But the murder AI should take priority.

''We checked every possible way. We are certain Ultron is dead and gone. The only thing that remains is Zero and well. We really don't know what to make of him. Whatever he is, we were hoping you could talk to Tony. He is taking this hardly. We thought you best suited for this. He has been in his lab almost 24/7 probably looking for any sign of Zero,'' Steve reasoned.

''No, you are right. I will talk to him. Just one question. How sure are we Zero is who he claims to be?,'' Pepper asked faintly. Maybe it was just another one of these situations where the woman believed it to be true, only for it too turn out false.

Steve cast her a grave look:'' We have investigated this a lot. All things lead to the same conclusion. The chances of Zero being Tony's child are immense, though I suppose until we get his blood sample to do a DNA test we can never say for certain. Though you can imagine how well he took that suggestion.''

''Alright. I will talk to him. Thank you for informing me about this all,'' Pepper said to Steve before leaving. He nodded and watched her walk away.

Pepper entered the elevator and said:'' Jarvis, It is good to have you back. Please take me to where Tony is.''

''It is good to be back, madam. And of course. Should I Order new wine, Ms. Potts?,'' the AI asked through the speakers.

''New wine? What do you mean? Has he been drinking?,'' Pepper asked.

''No, Ms. Potts. He has destroyed every single collection of wine and other alcoholics he had in his collection. He still hasn't ordered anyone to clean it up and he hasn't taken my offer to have someone call up to clean it,'' Jarvis explained.

''Oh. It is that serious, then. And please have someone clean it up. I don't want that safety hazard harming anyone,'' Pepper told the AI.

''Unfortunately it is just so, Ms. Potts. And I have notified someone as per your request,'' Jarvis summarized.

The elevator opened and she arrived at Tonys lab. Bruce wasn't here, though why she didn't know.

Tony looked .... sick. He looked more tired than ever before, he was looking at multiple screens at once, probably trying to locate Zero somewhere in the world.

''Tony?,'' Pepper tentatively called out. He jumped and whirled around.

''Oh, Pepper it just you. Did two weeks already pass? I thought you were still going to be one week away,'' Tony asked her. He had bags under his eyes.

She knew what he was talking about . A few days before Ultron she left for a business trip. Seeing as the Ultron matter was resolved in just three days, was he in here for a week and a half? Why did the others only call her yesterday if that was the case?

''Tony the others have told me about everything,'' Pepper said.

''Ah, yo you have come to see the failings of the great Tony Stark, have you? I will make this right. I already found him in Australia s few days ago. He bought a 100 cheeseburgers in a McDonalds in Sydney. A real american my son. Though I doubt everything was for him. That speedster must have greater than average metabolism. And all three of them want me dead, because what else is new? Did you know he might not be the only one? It was called project Wunderkind. A HYDRA experiment. Take the children of highly intelligent people and turn them into weapons for their cause. We don't know what happened to the others or if Zero was my only child among all of them. We suspect what happened. Did they tell you what we suspect? They suspect Zero killed all of them. Going by the personality profile of him he seems like a hero. Make though choices. Choices people his age shouldn't make. I should have been the one to make that choice. Better yet, no one should make that choice, but we don't live in a perfect world. Do we? Did they tell you how we fought against Hulk? You should have seen it. I can show you the recordings right now. Jarvis bring out the recording. By the way, my son can create Einstein Rosen Bridges and rip a hole in the space time continuum. We were said to be decades away from such technology. He has absolutely kicked our butts on that ship yard. I never could have theorized you could use portals in such a devastating and offensive way. Did I tell you how he had me dead to rights, but hesitated? It means there is still some child in him that hopes for his father. You hear me, Pepps? I need to make this right. I need to find him and make everything right,'' Tony ranted , turning halfway back to the monitor. Continuing to rant, though Pepper stopped paying attention.

Pepper shuddered. She never saw Tony like this. Zero really did a number on him. Then again she shouldn't be too surprised. The others told her that until recently he seemed fine and only recently began acting like this. But that is what he always did. Bottle everything up until it exploded in his face.

He handled it both better and worse than she expected. She had expected him to die from alcohol poisoning, instead he may possible have abandoned alcohol for good? She wasn't completely sure if he would revert back to the alcohol. She wasn't even gonna suggest Zero might not be his child, he seemed frantic in believing it to be true, to the point of being unreasonable. That was a subject for when he calmed down. 

She hugged him from behind and he stilled stopping in his rant.

''I'm pregnant,'' she blurted the first thing that came to her mind.

WHY DID SHE SAY THAT? WAS SHE STUPID? SHE WASN'T EVEN PREGNANT OR HAD ANY SUSPICIONS OF A PREGNANCY. ARGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

Tony whipped around, suddenly reinvigorated and surprisingly calm. Holy shit. Did that actually work?

''What did you say? The last time we did it was three weeks ago and you're taking the pills,'' Tony argued.

''The pills are not perfect. And it was 2 and a half weeks ago. One day before I left for my business trip actually,'' Pepper playfully corrected.

She wanted to crawl under a rock and die. Why wasn't she putting a stop to this?

''It is true,sir. Condoms, claim a success rate of 99,9%. All other preventative measures are bellow 95%. Except vasectomy, that one can claim a 100% success rate,'' Jarvis added his two cents.

Tony starred at both of them for several seconds.

''I'm doing it right. I will do everything properly. I will marry you. Jarvis order start looking into baby beds. Also look up manuals about baby rearing. Find me the best maternity doctors and...,'' Tony fired off, only to be interrupted by a finger on his lips.

''Tony, clam down. We can do all these important things later. For now I would really like it if you take a bath and some long overdue sleep. And I'm mean sleep. Not a nap. Alright?,'' Pepper ordered him hugging him.

''I will do that. You are right,'' Tony agreed with her absentmindedly and walked away.

When he was far enough away she dropped into his chair and slammed her face into her hands.

She hated herself. What has she just done?

''Ma'am you are not actually pregnant are you?,'' Jarvis asked her.

Great now even the AI was judging her.

Couldn't she have found something else to get Tony's mind to focus on. Then again she knew how much being a good father meant to him. It was both his greatest wish and greatest fear. That he would fail as a father and be like his own father. Sure he made some peace with it, but trauma doesn't disappear overnight. Guess she knew him better than she thought. A new chance to do parenting right would at least force him to no longer be self-destructive in his pursuit to correct his mistakes with Zero.

Was she seriously trying to justify her fuck up in any way? She slammed her face again in her hands.

They had feelings for each other. She knew that, but there was always something. He was too self-destructive. She was too busy. He was insufferable arrogant. She was tired from all that work. Etc. Etc. Always something in the way. Always something to nitpick. The two of them danced around this issue for years. The marriage talk even came up previously, but she declined.

There was no way she could make it right. He will despise her like nothing else for betraying his trust like that. He knew she knew how much this topic meant to him.

Fuck. 

Fuck!

...

...

...

She was ovulating today.

And Tony was both tired and absentminded from all the implication of what having a baby meant. Besides he was always so enthusiastic when they did it.

But she didn't plan at all on having a baby. How will that affect her work schedule.

But she has no one to blame but herself, for this fuck up. This one is COMPLETELY on her. If Tony finds out he will hate her.

But if she does go through with it, she might end up pregnant.

But...

But...

But...

But...

If Tony hates her, she might lose him for good. For all their troubles and problems she genuinely loved him.

Shit.

...

...

...

...

...

Pepper gave a sigh and clenched her hands into fists to gather her resolve. She will do it.

She will do it.

This is completely on her. It is up to her to make it right.

She was mature enough to admit that.

Besides going by her observations, Tony was trying his hardest to be a better dad. Hell she never thought he would harm his beloved collection in any way, but the others told her he hadn't drunk a drop of alcohol in weeks.

She will do it.

...

...

...

...

''Uff,'' Tony groaned as a weigh settled on him. He opened his eyes and spied the person on top off him.

''Pepper?,'' Tony asked.

''Shush. I'm horny,'' Pepper told him. She was terrified he would suddenly be to much of a gentleman. It occurred to her just how many things could go wrong with her plan.

''But the baby,'' Tony feared.

''My aunt told me some things. You can have sex at the beginning and near the end of the pregnancy. I'm horny,'' she told him, before claiming his lips stopping any further protest.

...

...

...

A week later she found out she was pregnant and she felt light headed at her plan having actually worked. She had non stop sex every night with Tony, so it should come as no surprise to her, but still...

She was gonna do it with him until the day her ovulation would have stopped under normal circumstances.

Just to be extra sure.

She couldn't deny that while a part of her was terrified, she was also elated.