One Shower
While Clint and Sam fell back, Rhodey and Vision lifted into the air. Tony and Wanda kept an eye on the others. The resting four moved forward. But before they reached the cajun, he managed to throw five cards at them. Bucky dragged Sharon out of harm's way while Natasha and Steve hid behind the shield. That gave Remy time to send a few cards towards Clint and Sam. Sam lifted into the air but Clint was hit and thrown into a wall. He tried to get up but another card exploded the wall behind him and he was knocked back again. The next card was stopped by Wanda and it exploded harmlessly in the air but Clint had had enough. He went over to the couches and sat down. Two explosions so close, plus the hit he got from crashing into the wall was enough.
“Hawkeye out.”
Remy smirked but then he had to duck under the shield that had been thrown at him. Tony pointed Sam over to where Rhodey and Vision were floating and Falcon flew over there. Meanwhile both Bucky and Natasha had managed to get next to the cajun. Bucky tried to hit him with the metal arm but the boy just made a backflip and landed on a low wall. His balance was perfect even though he swayed a bit upon the landing. The same second his feet touched the wall he flung a few cards towards Rhodey. The man managed to avoid the cards and fired a blast at Remy. That forced him to jump from the rock. While he was in the air, Steve threw the shield at him. But Remy managed to grab it while he was in the air, charge it, flip his body around and throw the shield at Vision. The android simply phased through the shield. What he didn’t notice was that Sam had stopped in the air behind him and hadn’t noticed the shield. The sheer force that it was thrown with knocked Sam out of the air. Tony catched him up with his power and lowered him gently to the ground. At the same second, Remy threw a charged card at Tony. It was stopped by Wanda but that gave the cajun enough time to throw a few cards towards the unshielded Sharon. Bucky, that had rushed over to pull her away from the harm, was caught in the blast from the card. They were both thrown into the wall behind him. But his enhanced body took the hit much better than her and he managed to stand up again while she groaned and slipped off the stage.
“Carter and Falcon out.”
Sam had gotten off the stage. Even though Tony had been gentle while lowering him, the blast had somehow messed up his wings and he felt unsure on the ground without the wings to catch him in case. Meanwhile Steve managed to get his shield back but he didn’t dare to throw it again. Remy had now gotten over to the offensive. He used the cards to make the flying ones busy and managed to hit Steve with the staff in the head. The staff had been charged and the small explosion sent the Captain flying. Rhodey flew over and caught him. Remy saw his chance and sent a charged card towards Rhodey. At the same second he hit his staff on the ground and sent energy through the floor towards Wanda and Tony. They were sent into the air and could therefore not shield Rhodey who was carrying Steve. The card stuck in the suit and exploded sending both men flying. Rhodey lost his grip on Steve and both men crashed down. Logan smirked.
“Rogers and War Machine out.”
Fury was a bit terrified. This man was dangerous. His pain resistance was impossible to grasp but on the other side, after what had happened to him when he was with Stryker explained this. And the way he moved was impressive. Almost as if he was made of rubber at times. And he somehow always knew where the next hit would come from. Now Tony had managed to find his balance in the air and lowered himself gently. Wanda didn’t have the same luck. She flew through the room but a second before she hit the wall, Vision caught her. He lowered her to the ground and then flew off towards Remy. The cajun smirked at that and charged a few cards. But before he managed to throw them, Tony had used his power to throw him up into the air. He was sent flying towards the wall. In the last second he twisted his body around and when his feet touched the wall, he kicked off it and sent a whole deck towards the others. Wanda and Tony put up shields but it was not enough. This charge was much stronger than any of the previous. Tony strengthened his shields and managed to extend them to Natasha who was standing closest to him. Wanda, who had tried to shield both herself and Bucky, had less luck. They were both thrown backwards. And this time Vision didn’t manage to catch her. She flew off the stage together with Bucky.
“Wanda and Winter out.”
Now only Tony, Natasha and Vision were left standing. Vision floated down and stopped next to the other two. Remy stood next to a low wall and nonchalantly flipped the cards in his hand.
“Had enough?”
Tony turned to the others and said quietly:
“Viz. Keep him busy. Nat, you get close to him. I’ll cover you.”
Vision lifted into the air again. He started to shoot at Remy which forced the cajun to hide behind one of the walls. But Vision exploded the wall. Remy jumped from behind it only to get kicked in the stomach by Natasha. He didn’t lose his cool and didn’t show the pain. He jumped back and hit Natasha with his staff. She managed to dive under it and delivered the next hit. But he spun around and grabbed her in a headlock. She was going to hit him with her elbow but stilled when she felt him hold one of her own knives to her throat.
“Damn thief.”
He smirked and turned to the others.
“If you don’t want me to hurt her you better stand down.”
Slowly Tony and Vision lowered their hands and Vision landed on the ground. Tony shook his head slowly and said:
“Fine. Tony, Nat and Viz out.”
Remy released Natasha and handed her back her knife. She gave him a playful punch. At the same moment Logan went onto the stage and nodded.
“Good job. Especially with the full deck. How are your feet? And don’t you dare lie.”
The cajun hesitated but then he answered in a quiet voice.
“Not fully healed but quite good. But I need to get out of these boots.”
Logan nodded again.
“Yeah. And the rest of you need to shower. You stink.”
That was when they all noticed that during the fight Remy hadn’t gotten sweaty even though he moved more than any of them. Tony looked around and asked:
“You do the lunch Brucie?”
Bruce nodded. Pepper got over to Remy and put a hand on his elbow.
“You’re going with us and you’ll rest.”
Tony smiled at the motherly tone Pepper took on but his smile faltered when he noticed that Remy had froze. He realized then that Remy never really had a mother figure. Jean-Luc’s wife was dead. Jean-Luc's mother was the only real female that had ever taken care of Remy. Pepper noticed the change too but didn’t let it discourage her. She gently pulled him towards one of the elevators and they stepped inside together with Bruce, T’Challa, Fury and Vision. Remy glanced towards Logan but the man shook his head.
“I need to shower too. Carrying you around was a bit tiresome.”
Remy stuck his tongue out and the doors closed. Steve and the others went into the second elevator while Natasha and Tony stepped into the third. Clint tilted his head.
“Hey! Why are you two going together?”
Tony smirked but before he could answer Natasha cut in.
“Tony has two showers.”
The door closed before Clint could say anything else. Tony smiled over to Natasha.
“Two showers? And here I hoped for some hot action in ONE shower.”
Natasha smacked his head.
“Shut up Stark.”
Then after a few seconds she asked:
“Why did he want to train? He could barely walk.”
Tony sighed.
“Remy doesn’t like it when people thank him for something. He would rather have the whole world hunt him than one person thank him. He simply doesn’t believe he deserves any thanks after what he has done in the past. He felt that Fury was going to thank him for saving that girl. So he asked Logan to train knowing that Logan would help him.”
Natasha tilted her head.
“So he believes he is responsible for things he had no control over. Just like you.”
Tony shook his head.
“I know what I’m responsible for. And I also know what I am not responsible for. It’s different in Remy’s case. If he was walking down the street and a cat got hit by a car on the same street, he would blame himself. He believes that he is responsible for many things that he couldn’t have changed. He blames himself. And whatever you say, you won’t change his mind.”
There was another thing Natasha didn’t understand.
“Why did Logan push him so hard. Especially with getting that claw out.”
Tony sighed again. He knew that question would come.
“Remy is used to training with Creed. And Creed never held back. But while Creed couldn’t control himself, Logan has perfect control. And Remy thinks that in order to get stronger, he needs to be able to work around pain. Logan knows that. He knows that he has to push Remy in order for him to be happy with the training. And since Logan has control over himself Remy trusts him enough to let go of some of his own control when they are training.”
Natasha was thinking it through when Tony decided to take something up. He looked at her with hesitation and started:
“When I was leaving for Hydra…”
“I kinda wished you didn’t have the mask on.”
His eyes widened.
“You knew?”
Natasha nodded.
“From the time when you confronted me after Vanko. You weren’t really mad that day.”
Tony smiled. Of course she would have noticed. She was a master spy. Natasha took a step towards him. He smiled, took her hand and dragged her towards him. She leaned up and kissed him. And he felt like he had came to heaven. He pulled her close and deepened the kiss. When they finally pulled apart he smirked.
“One shower?”
Natasha’s eyes were shining with happiness.
“One shower.”