Chapter 60
Tony's eyes widened and his hand reached toward Teresa trembled. He couldn't aim at Pepper. "Pep, what are you doing?!" he said in a strangely distant voice, trying to understand her. What was that supposed to mean? He glanced briefly at Teresa, who was bristled on her arm and looked as stunned as he was, which was quite surprising. That she is capable of such emotions.
"This isn't going to happen, Tony," she began, explaining her head as proof of her words, "you can't... You can't do this to Peter. Do you know how he'd react if he found out you killed his sister? She's still a child, Tony. Both of them are still children."
"But she's dangerous! At first, Peter spoke completely out of the way, and now you too? Your best trait, to see the good in everyone, is also your worst trait," Tony said, sighing. "What are you not understand about it, Pepper? I have to neutralize her before she hurts us or kills Peter. We can't let her kill him! You can tell me she's just a child, but that doesn't change the fact that she weaves devilish plans and wants to deprive us of a son. And I can't afford that," Tony growled, trying to get around Pepper, but she grabbed him by the shoulders.
"She doesn't want to kill him! At first, she wanted to, but then she changed her mind and—"
Tony laughed gloomily. "And do you really believe her, Pep? Honey, please, this really isn't the time. Don't be naive.”
"Tony, you're not a murderer," she tried to stop him, unknowingly giving Teresa time to calculate the situation and subjugate them so they wouldn't threaten her until Peter showed up.
"Maybe I will become one again today because no one will endanger my family. No one," he hissed hatefully at Teresa, who smirked at him.
"I won't let you. I won't let you hurt her. For Peter's sake. He wouldn't want this, even when Teresa is what she is," she replied in a firm voice, looking seriously into his face. It was a moment for Teresa. Tony stopped concentrating and tore his eyes away from his potential victim. The brunette kicked Pepper's legs in one well-aimed blow, just as the plane began to descend to where she was to meet Peter so he could say goodbye to his parents and leave with her. Pepper screamed in surprise, and Tony caught her in his arms before she hit the floor. Teresa, meanwhile, managed to grab Iron Man's glove, which she had put on her left hand and grabbed the pistol firmly with her other hand.
"I promised Peter I wouldn't hurt you," she shouted at them, aiming her weapon as Tony raised his hand again, "so don't make me change my mind. I don't want to hurt you. I want to give you the opportunity to say goodbye to him. So do not make any sharp movements, or you will not get the opportunity," she hissed, a twinkle in her eye. Pepper was frightened for a moment, but she wasn't nearly what she had been of Mary at the time. Teresa was a child. Somewhere deep inside, she could be a good person. Only Mary deprived her of the opportunity. And Teresa needs someone to revive her and bring her to the surface.
"Are you playing merciful?" Tony grinned. "Let me laugh. You pretend to keep your promises. What a great favor this is from you—"
The plane was about to land. Teresa calmly snapped the magazine and loaded the pistol, interrupting Tony's speech, "If you're not worth the favor, I have no problem depriving you of it. But know that Peter will be very sorry, can not to say goodbye to you. So like I said, Anthony... one bad sharp move and I'm going to shoot you," she added coldly, keeping her eyes on them.
Tony hugged Pepper tighter with his free hand as if trying to protect her. He glared at Teresa, trying to anticipate her next steps if he attacked her and she responded to the attack. If he had Natasha here, or at least Friday, he would be more confident. This way he could only rely on his experience and possible luck. It had always stood by them. If he stayed a little longer, he wouldn't be mad at all.
They landed. Teresa sat contentedly in her seat. And she waited. Minutes passed, and Pepper and Tony didn't know what to make of it. Although the brunette no longer looked at them, they still felt that she could see everything, that she could see inside of them. It wasn't until she turned her head to the door that Tony realized that now was his chance. Now or never, he told himself. Pepper and Peter will eventually understand. He had to act now while there was still time.
But at that moment, the door opened just as Tony raised his hand and aimed the repulsor at Teresa. Pepper shouted. Peter stood there, panting, in his suit, staring at them.
"Peter!" Pepper shouted. No, no, he couldn't be here. Even though she had promised not to hurt him. He should have stayed home, safe.
Teresa was immediately on her feet, but this time she aimed her weapon at Peter instead of Tony. He froze in place, but then noticed Tony's gloves and he gasped. "Dad, no!"
But his sister just smiled. "Anthony, you try something, and I'll shoot your son. You will watch him die in pain, and you will not be able to do anything about it. And now give me the bracelet, I stopped enjoying it. I'll count to five, and if the bracelet isn't at my feet by that time, I'll shoot the boy. One. Two -"
At three, there was a clang as the bracelet landed on the floor a short distance from Teresa. Did Tony have a choice? He had already missed his chance. He couldn't risk it. He knew she knew no mercy, even if it was her brother.
"When do you understand you don't have to do this?" Peter whispered to Teresa. "We can help you. We can stop it. We can... start again."
"But we'll start again, Petey," she assured him. Then she laughed. "You have to prove you're good, right? You're playing a hero. So I guess that automatically makes me a villain. From your point of view. From my perspective, it's different."
He nodded as if he were really listening to her. "But you're not a villain, Teresa. Somewhere in there... somewhere deep down is buried the little girl who is in the photo Richard gave me. Monsters are not born, but form during life. Not all is lost if you give it a chance."
"Peter," Tony said quietly, unhappy with the turn of events because this couldn't have gone well, "you can't save everyone."
"But at least I can try," he replied, glancing at him briefly. "She's my sister, she needs me," he stressed, almost begging, he needed to be understood. His eyes wandered back to Teresa. "Whatever you do, you're still my sister. There are things that don't change."
"Okay," she nodded and smirked, "because you're running out of time, brother. I promised you a chance to say goodbye to your parents. So here they are, and I didn't twist their hair as I promised. Although it was a bit of a nutshell, because we've had some hard times together during that time, so what are you waiting for, instead of taking full advantage of those last minutes, you're talking to me and persuading me, trying to convince me that I am in fact, a completely different person -"
"But you are," Peter interrupted calmly. He was surprised where the peace and courage came from. "What you're showing us all here is just your mask. Defense from the world. You don't want to experience further disappointment anymore, you protect yourself from your surroundings and you don't want to let anyone get to your body so that it can't hurt you. Who we really are and who we have to be, who we become to survive are two different things. I don't hate you. I feel sorry. I want to help you," he told her softly, slowly reaching out to her, as if she were a shy animal as if she were an angry creature who needed to hear calm words of consolation to quell the rage. "Please. Let me help you.”