46 | inferna

Hope

Contrary to popular belief, this is not a sight for sore eyes. If anything, it's the source of my sore eyes and it's just making it worse as he continues to appear before me. What am I talking about? It's Dancing Justin Hammer.

I shared glances with Pepper and Natasha as I sat between them. We all have the same expressions on our face. Disgust. But then again, I think we always have that look on our face whenever Justin is nearby or when he's in our line of sight. We just couldn't help it. Just like he could not help to embarrass himself, which he is. likely to do later on because he's a magnet for humiliation.

I'm sorry, my littlest tribrid, for putting you through this.

"Ladies and gentlemen, for far too long, this country has had to place its brave men and women in harm's way, but then Iron Man arrived, and we thought the days of losing lives were behind us." Justin said.

Why am I not surprised that he's indirectly badmouthing Tony? Probably because it's all he ever does.

"Sadly, that technology was kept out of reach. That's not fair. That's not right. And it's just too bad." He added.

"Oh, Lord." Pepper whispered under her breath. I feel for her. With my pregnancy still in its early stages, I'm still sort of overwhelmed by the level of my emotions once they arise. When I feel sadness, I feel severely depressed. When I'm happy, I become too enthusiastic. When I'm angry, I'm outrageously mad. Pregnancy and my being tribrid are chemicals for chaos. Which is why I try to be as apathetic as possible.

"How long 'til he humiliates himself? I'm getting bored." I asked, crossing my arms against my chest, wondering when the entertainment would come. On top of that, Tony still hasn't arrived. Where is he and what is he doing?

Natasha simply smiled at me in response before we returned our attention back to the attention-seeker. Was that too harsh? Even so, I don't care.

"Regardless, it was an impressive innovation, one that grabbed headlines the world over. Well, today, my friends, the press is faced with quite a difficult problem. They are about to run out of ink." Hammer rambled, a side grin tugging on his lips, as if he finds himself funny. That's good, I guess. Self-love is important. Even if it does look brazen.

Two people appeared on the stage to remove the podium while Justin took a step back to let them before proceeding to his presentation.

"Ladies and gentlemen, today I present to you the new face of the United States military. The Hammer drone." Hammer announced the background music grew louder as his machines were revealed one by one. For the army, the navy, the air force, the marines, he has different kinds of machines for each group. And the cheers increased as Hammer announced each of them, the loud claps of approval swallowing the stadium. They approve of this? Seriously? Do we really know if they actually work?

"That's a hell of a lot better than some cheerleaders, let me tell you." Like I said, indirectly badmouthing Tony who made this entire expo and gave him a spot. "But as revolutionary as this technology is, there will always be a need for man to be present in the theater of war. Ladies and gentlemen, today I am proud to present to you the very first prototype in the Variable Threat Response Battle Suit and its pilot, Air Force Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes."

Rhodey? Did he completely cross to the dark side after having that fight with Tony? Speaking of that fight, I haven't spoken to him since. I have not asked Tony what has happened since then. I hope they've patched things up.

"What?" I muttered, confused at Rhodey's involvement with Hammer in this project of his as I watched one of Tony's suit emerge from below but modified to become this bulkier figure with a bunch of weapons stuck to it. What did they do to that suit?

Rhodey looked around the venue, basking in the cheers of the crowd before he brought his right hand to his forehead, doing a salute before the 'Hammer drones' followed, imitating Rhodey's pose. Oh, so they do work, I guess.

"For America and its allies, Hammer Industries is reporting for—" Hammer cut himself off when the noise similar to that of a rocket flying, the sounds of an almost deafening blow of the harsh wind and blazing fire got louder as it approached us, or rather, as he approached us.

Tony in his Iron Man suit landed front and center on the stage with a dramatic half-kneel. The crowd went silent on his arrival before they processed the person in front of them and went wild immediately after. Tony sure knows how to make an entrance. Unlike somebody else who thinks shuffling his feet towards the front was cool. It's not. Maybe it would be if it was a different person. But because it's Justin Hammer, it's not.

Then again, I'm biased.

I smiled at Tony's appearance and clapped alongside the crowd who were giving Tony much love and adoration, giving him a standing ovation. Rhodey and Tony stood beside each other and acknowledged the crowd, the two of them waving at the people.
I know they're talking to each other, I just can't hear them with all the noise the crowd is making. Then suddenly my phone vibrated in my pocket. Tony's face and name flashed on the screen and I furrowed my eyebrows as I flickered my gaze between my phone and him who's still on stage.

"You couldn't have just come to me?" I playfully asked with a small smile on my lips as soon as I answered the phone.

"Get out of here." He said. His voice stern and final.

"What? Why?" I asked, the smile instantly disappearing from my face when I heard the seriousness in his voice. It was like a warning.

"Fourteen words." Tony said before proceeding. "Vankov's alive. Hammer's with him. People in danger. You and tribrid baby, out. Now."

"Wait—" The call ended right after Tony said what he said before I could even get a word in. Fear crept up my spine at Tony's words. The man with the crazy whips is alive and he's working with Justin Hammer...and he's about to attack again. These people are in danger. My baby's in danger and at the split second that my head was sunk in a debate, I contemplated whether or not I should run to protect my baby or stay to protect the people.

This wasn't a matter of numbers. This was a matter of priority. Will I leave these people in danger to save my baby? Will I endanger my baby and save these people?

It wasn't a choice I was willing to make. So, I added option three: protect all of them.

"Nat." I called.

"Nickname basis already? Should I call you Andy, then?" Natasha joked. The only reason why I called her 'Nat' is because it's shorter. And I rather save my breath right now to prepare for the next couple of minutes of what I assume to be total chaos. But...Andy? It can be a nickname for Andrei. Andrei Howard Mikaelson-Stark? Is that okay for when the baby's a boy?

Get your shit together, Hope. Now's not the time to think about baby names.

"Debatable. But can you help me out?" I asked.

Natasha completely turned towards me with her eyebrows pushed together in bewilderment. "What is it?"

"Can you give me a gun?" I said.

"You want me to give a gun to someone with current anger issues? I don't think so." Natasha said, the corner of her lips curled into a smile as if what I requested was absurd. To be honest, she is right. Giving a weapon to someone who is as sensitive as a car alarm can be destructive. But I really need it.

"More like giving a gun to someone who'll be in trouble in a few seconds and can't risk using her powers too much because of the baby living inside her stomach." I said, not sparing Natasha a glance while I kept my gaze in front, watching Tony now speak to Hammer.

"What do you mean?" she asked right before we witnessed Rhodey's suit aim a big gun at Tony, as well as the Hammer drones. Each and every one of them lifted their weaponized arms and directed it at Tony, immediately alarming the crowd.

"That's what I meant." I replied to Natasha.

Everyone in the stadium began to run for their lives as Tony took flight again and left the venue through the roof, causing the drones to proceed to aim and fire at him only to continuously hit the glass panels on top of the stadium. It was raining shattered, cutting-edge shards of glass and that alone was enough to hurt a lot of people.

I muttered a curse under my breath before proceeding with a chant and throwing my hand upward to stop the shards of glass from landing on the people below. The shards were suspended mid-air like time had stopped, and the sight caused the panicking people to temporarily calm down and look for the source of the sudden strange activity only for them to direct their attention towards me.

Goddamn, these people. Do they really have to make my job harder?

"Move, people!" I shouted, the people jumping at the volume of my voice before turning around and running out of the stadium again.

I swiped my hand to the side, causing the glass to make contact with the wall and further shatter into tiny little pieces.

"Here." I turned to Natasha when she handed me a gun. "There's no point in talking you out of this, is there?"

"You're starting to get to know me better." I only responded before I took the gun from her grasp. The gun would only lessen my use of my magic at around 10% considering that what I'm fighting right now are robots which are most definitely built to withstand bullets. I mean, why wouldn't they be bulletproof? They're military weapons.

"Take Pepper and go." I told Natasha. She nodded at me before I started to approach the out-of-control robots. Some of the robots–including the suit that Rhodey's in, having taken flight and followed Tony while the others began to hop off of the stage and continue to frighten the public.

I'm gonna need more than just an ordinary gun.

"Vados." I chanted as I waved my free hand over the gun and walked towards the nearest drone.

I lifted the gun and aimed it at the machine before pulling the trigger, the bullet simply stuck to its exterior plates for a mere second before the bullet exploded, along with the machine. That did the trick.

"A Glock with 19 rounds at the center of a robot apocalypse. What could go wrong?" I told myself before continuing to take down as many killer machines as I possibly could without further using my magic.

At the corner of my eye, I saw Natasha and Pepper hurriedly approaching the backstage. I told Natasha to get Pepper out of here, where the hell are they going? I used my vampire speed to get to Natasha and Pepper only for me to also be face to face with Justin Hammer who was eagerly trying to push the two of them away. Then all of a sudden, Natasha pinned Justin on top of the table with his hand locked on his back.

"Now, you tell me who's behind this." Natasha asked furiously, hurting Hammer as she kept him within her grasps. "Who's behind this!" She demanded answers with her teeth gritting. I could hear it. And finally, Hammer blurted out the name.

Ivan Vankov.

Natasha released Hammer after he had told her Vankov's location and shared a glance with me. "Get Ivan. I'll stay here and make sure these machines won't go far." I told her.

She nodded at me before walking away, leaving Pepper and I to deal with the asshole in a suit and tie. He regained his posture at the same time his eyes landed on me. I already saw the look of irritation on his face, as if he already knew that I've come to yell at him for whatever is happening right now. He's not wrong though.

"I have no time for you, Mikaelson." He stated.

I gripped the gun in my right hand and pointed it at him in anger as I shouted in a fit of rage.

"Ego te nudis manibus post haec necabo. Ego litteram iens ut realis vehemens!" [I'm going to kill you with my bare hands right after this. I'm literally going to get real violent!] I hissed at him in Latin.

Like I said, vampirism already enhances my emotions. And with pregnancy, it seems to have magnified into a thousand. Because I'm not just angry right now. I'm murderous.

"Okay, Andrea, calm down." Pepper stood in between me and Hammer as he cower behind her, avoiding the loaded gun in my hand as she tried to get my arm down. "You've proven that people still do speak Latin."

"That's not what I'm trying to prove." I said with gritted teeth and an arched eyebrow while I focused my gaze on the man behind her.

I'm trying to prove how furious I am at Hammer.

"Yes, but that's the only thing you should prove tonight. Don't let your anger consume you and make you do things you will regret." Pepper lectured me.

"Oh, killing Hammer wouldn't be something I will regret. Trust me." I answered.

"Okay, then. Well, wouldn't it be fun to see him suffer in prison?" Pepper suggested.

Hammer in a prison jumpsuit with no strings to pull, no guards to do his bidding, no audience to desperately try to impress. It's a tempting offer. One that I should consider because I don't want my child to have a mother that's a murderer, no matter how deserving the human can be of it.

"Fine." I said when I settled my gaze on Pepper. "You handle this dipshit. I'll handle the other crap."

I gripped the gun firmer in my right hand before going out of there again. It was all a blur everytime I took down a machine. I have no idea if it's because everything is happening too fast or because everything is too overwhelming given the fact that a lot of people are running around, some of them already hurt and more of them about to get hurt. And now I have to think about my own kid growing in my stomach.

I jumped at the sound of something crashing from a couple of feet away, one of the Hammer drones. The rest kept firing at everything. They're not particularly aiming at anything or anyone. They just want to destroy everything.

I was down to my last bullet and I used it on one of the machines that are close to one another in order to make the others near it blow up as well. But the thing is, that was the wrong target. Because my eyes then landed on one of the machines who has its gigantic gun aimed at a kid dressed like Iron Man.

I may just be guessing, but I don't think that robot is smart enough to tell the difference between the kid and the real Iron Man.

I ran towards the kid and was about to use my magic considering that I don't have any other choice, until a suit came down beside us and blasted the machine. My eyes widened as it darted from the robot to Tony who's now standing in front of me and the kid.

"Didn't I tell you to get out of here?" Tony scolded.

"There are people in danger." I argued as I held the kid's hand in mine, making sure that he won't go anywhere else. Where are his parents?

"See, this is not hot. This is...so not hot because putting yourself at risk is not good for the baby!" Tony debated before another machine was about to approach us after locating Tony. He glanced at the robot before looking back at me. "Get out of here. Now."

That's the last thing he said to me before he took off again, getting the robots' aims to redirect from us to him only. I glanced at the kid beside me and crouched down to talk to him.

"Okay, kid, what's your name?" I asked as I held his arms, making sure that he wasn't frightened by everything that's happening.

"Peter." He answered.

"Okay, Peter. I'm going to make these bad people go away. Will you stay behind me?" I asked the little boy. With still his Iron Man helmet on, he nodded.

I pulled him behind me and stood in front of the frantic crowd as they sprinted away from the army of killer machines. There were many. Thirteen. I should just take them all down in one blow, right? It'll be less stressful. But it also requires more power.

The baby's going to be fine.

Hold on, little tribrid. Mommy's just going to work.

I half-extended my arms to the side and let my magic flow through my veins freely. My palms were up and my hair was blowing behind me as I fixated my eyes on the number of robots in front of me before I started chanting.

"Fumée chaleur vicieux enfermé les vitres la bas." I chanted and a trail of fire ignited from my position towards the machines and surrounded them, trapping them in place. It's not exactly a solution since they could walk through it. But I set the flames high enough to blind their sight.

The fire blazed higher and hotter, making everything around it ripple in sight. I could feel sweat trickling down the side of my face, my skin warming. And then suddenly I remembered Josie. Finally, a certain spell came to mind.

"Josie, help me." I told Josie as I reached for her while we stood in front of the Gargoyle.

"How?" she asked, standing beside me before taking her hand.

"Just repeat after me." I said. Once I felt her hand absorbing magic from me, I chanted. "Fluctus inpulsa."

A shock wave impacted the Gargoyle but we needed to do it again. We repeated the same spell, over and over again, letting the creature accept every wave that we exert from the spell that we were chanting until finally the Gargoyle was destroyed into tiny rocks.

"Help me, Josie." I muttered under my breath before I started chanting again. "Fluctus inpulsa."

I was using the bare minimum of my magic, but it was hardly doing anything.

"Fluctus inpulsa." I repeated, increasing the use of my magic but it needed more. I can't exert too much energy or else the baby...

But there's also a kid behind me, clutching on the fabric of my shirt as he hid from the robots. As well as the hundreds of people running for their lives. I can't fail them.

"Fluctus inpulsa." More, Hope. You need more energy. You need more magic.

Little one, hold on tight, I beg you.

I drew a deep breath and flexed my fingers as my gaze on the robots turned into a glare. If I lose my baby, because of them, I will really kill Justin Hammer and Ivan Vankov.

I can hear the ringing in the back of my head again at the same time my magic began vibrating throughout my entire body. I could feel the overwhelming power flow through me to the point that I'm convinced only a mere sigh from me would make something blow up.

That's my cue to blow them up.

"Fluctus inpulsa!" I shouted and everything else was inaudible right after every robot exploded right in front of my eyes. I quickly grabbed Peter and carried him before speeding away from the scene, to get away from all the scraps that were flying all over us.

We found ourselves back inside the stadium and for the first time in the last ten to fifteen minutes, we heard complete silence. It was so quiet that I could hear my own heartbeat again. I glanced at the kid who is now sitting on the ground before I crouched down and took off the Iron Man mask from his face, revealing his adorable features damped with sweat.

"Hey there." I said, making my voice as gentle and soft as possible to not freak him out. "Where are your parents? Who are you here with?"

"My Aunt May." Peter answered.

I nodded. "Okay, we'll help you find your Aunt May, okay? Do you have something of hers?"

Peter didn't say anything at first, but he did take out his hand from his pocket and held out a pair of eyeglasses.

"She dropped this while we were running away. She can't read much when she doesn't have it so I went back for it." He mumbled as he handed it to me. "That's why we got separated."

This kid is too caring for his own good. Even amidst all the chaos, he still went back for one thing because he thought his aunt needed it.

"I'll find her." I reassured him before holding on to the glasses and began muttering an incantation under my breath.

"Sequitur." I chanted as I held the glasses with both hands and continued to crouch down beside the little boy.

Flashes of images appeared in my mind, indicating the location of her aunt who had light brown hair falling beautifully in beachy waves, dark brown eyes, and slightly noticeable wrinkles on her forehead which seemed to be because of the fact that her nephew is missing.

"I found your aunt. Let's go see her?" Peter simply nodded and he held my hand tight before we started to make our way back to his aunt.

I'm already a mom even if my baby is still in my womb. So I can understand the look on the woman's face when I brought Peter back to her. I could see the worry that almost drove her out of her mind. The guilt that kept her beating herself up. The relief that washed over her when her eyes landed on Peter. And the gratefulness that she extended towards me when I gave him back to her vibrated through me, and it felt nice.

It felt nice that someone was thankful and appreciative of what I did for them. I was so used to people always referring to me as the villain that it surprised me when Aunt May referred to me as their hero.

"What's next, Ms. Mikaelson?" Asked one of the police officers after they've taken Justin Hammer.

I was going to answer his question when I was taken aback by how every officer was looking at me, waiting for my orders, as if...they trust me. Is it possible that they finally trust me? The person whom everyone was referring to as the monster all this time?

Do they finally see me as someone good?

"When they get here, you should station them at the south, east and both west exits." I told them, looking as confident as possible to make them trust me more.

"We shut down the 7 train in and out of Willets Point already." he answered.

"Well, have city buses there to ferry people to operating lines." I responded.

"Copy that. Are you coming with us?" He asked again.

I shifted my eyes from him and towards the area, briefly scanning the vicinity as I came up with a decision.

"No. I'm gonna stay here. Make sure everything's clear. Take Pepper Potts with you." I said.

The officer nodded his head before turning around and making his way towards the other officers to carry out the order I just told them. They're actually doing what I told them to do. This is...weird.

Throughout the rounds I did around the outside of the stadium, I've concluded that it's safe to say that it's nearly over. Nearly, because I still haven't heard from Tony. I know he's alive. He wouldn't let himself die right after he just found a way to live for me and the baby.

My feet stopped its tracks when I heard a beeping sound from one of the robots lying on the stairs. I darted my eyes towards its chest piece and saw it blinking bright red. I narrowed my eyes at it, suspicious. What is that for?

I took a step and was about to take it out of the robot until I was literally swept off my feet. The next thing I know, I was flying high up while pressed against the cold and hard metal exterior of Tony's Iron Man suit while we drove away from the explosion that came from the robot that I was standing in front of just seconds ago.

"Oh, my God!" I shrieked as I held on to Tony, my arms shaking as I found how high up we were as well as when I realized that my baby could've died if I had been blown up.

"It's fine! I got you!" Tony reassured me as he held me against him, making sure that I wouldn't fall while he took me away from all that mess.

We finally landed on the rooftop of a building and Tony settled me down on the ground, still holding my arms to see if I've regained my balance. Once I had, I took a few steps away.

"Here's a little advice, when something is beeping and blinking, run." Tony lectured me once he had taken off his helmet that had malfunctioned.

"Phones do that." I said.

"Phones don't usually explode," he retorted. "You know you could've seriously been hurt tonight. And if something had happened to you or the baby, you know I would never forgive myself because it'll be my fault!"

"It was my choice–"

"That is our baby–"

"And I'm sure that it's perfectly fine!"

"I'm not fine!" Tony exclaimed. I stopped and watched as Tony kept catching his breath. "I can't fail this kid and be an awful dad already before it's even born."

He can never be an awful dad. The fact that he's already worrying about being an awful dad just proves that he's not going to be. He cares for our baby and I know that that's enough to make him the greatest dad for our little tribrid. I can't say 'the best dad ever' because every cell in my body knows that he will turn this kid into a mini-him, and that I'll be screwed, so...

"You'll be an amazing dad." I said as I took a step towards him, placing my hands on his face and caressed his cheeks with my thumbs.

"I mean...yeah, I will be." He said, as if recovering from suddenly opening up to me and now trying to cover up what he had said. "I'm just being dramatic and...unnecessarily and disgustingly sappy. Hormones, I guess. Did you know that men can have a sympathetic pregnancy? Yeah, they said that—"

I cut him off when I tiptoed and pressed my lips against his, shutting him up. He quickly responded by kissing me back and snaking his metal arm around my waist, pulling me against him as he deepened the kiss. And I would've kept the kiss going longer, if not for my senses telling me that someone is here watching us.

Fortunately, it's just someone we know.

"Hold your hormones." Rhodey said.

We pulled away from each other and turned to look at Rhodey who was sitting a few feet away from us, looking amused.

"You can't say that to a pregnant woman." Tony said as he pointed his finger at him.

"I was talking about you." Rhodey said. Clearly, he heard what Tony said about sympathetic pregnancy.

I pushed my lips into a thin line to prevent the laugh that was rising from my throat.

"Yeah, I heard the whole thing. Congratulations on the baby, by the way, Drea." Rhodey added with a smile on his face. Well, he's having a hoot.

"Thanks." I just said with also a smile tugging on my lips before Tony spoke.

"You should get lost." Tony told him.

"I was here first. Get a roof." Rhodey argued. Tony could not help but laugh at Rhodey's joke, and neither could I.

"I thought you're out of one-liners?" Tony asked.

"That's the last one." Rhodey answered. Now, here's a clear picture of why Rhodey and Tony are best friends. Rhodey might be a lot more responsible than Tony but he's just as sarcastic and ridiculous.

"You kicked ass back there." Tony told him. So, they defeated Vankov together? Does that mean they're already good with one another? No more bad blood? No more wrecking our home?

"Thank you. You too." Rhodey answered. "Listen, my car got taken out in the explosion. So, I'm gonna have to hang on to your suit for a minute, okay?"

"Not okay. Not okay with that." Tony answered.

Rhodey simply stood up. "It wasn't a question." he said and with that, he took off.

I guess that's how Rhodey became the War Machine.

—

"You don't have clearance, yet." I told Tony when I caught him eyeing the S.H.I.E.L.D. folder with the title 'Avengers Initiative Preliminary Report' on the cover.

"How obedient of you, Agent Mikaelson." Tony joked.

I've talked to Fury and finally took up his offer of becoming an agent in S.H.I.E.L.D. but I'll start going on missions after the pregnancy. For the next eight months, I'm a pregnant woman. Right after that, I'll be a supportive mom and wife by day and a Level 7 S.H.I.E.L.D. agent by night. Well, not necessarily by that schedule accordingly. But you get my point.

Seems like my whole life is already laid in front of me.

"She's right." Fury said as soon as he walked into the warehouse. "I don't think I want you looking at that. I'm not sure it pertains to you anymore."

Fury sat down on the seat across from Tony while I sat down next to Tony.

"Now this, on the other hand, is Agent Romanoff's assessment of you. Read it." Fury said as he held out another file and handed it over to Tony.

"Just a warning, it's not good." I added.

I've seen the assessment. It's annoyingly true. Natasha did not spare a single detail.

"Uh...'Personality overview. Mr Stark displays compulsive behavior.' In my own defense, that was last week. 'Prone to self-destructive tendencies.' I was dying. I mean, please. Aren't we all? 'Textbook narcissism'?" Tony read each sentence out loud and the last sentence he read caught him off guard.

I remained silent by pushing my lips into a thin line, holding back my laughter while I waited for Tony to have his comments on the last one. I'm assuming he'll try to dodge that one, too?

"Agreed." He admitted. Well, that's a first. "Okay, here it is. 'Recruitment assessment for Avenger Initiative. Iron Man? Yes.' I gotta think about it."

"Read on." Fury urged him, causing Tony to look back on the report and continue to read.

"'Tony Stark not...Not recommended'?" Tony flickered his gaze between me and Fury, whose expression is completely unamused. "That doesn't make any sense. How can you approve me but not approve me? I got a new ticker. I'm trying to do right by Andrea and our baby. We'll be married soon and be a family."

Fury stood up from his seat and walked around the table before sitting on it as he looked down on Tony. Meanwhile, I'm sitting silent in my chair while I let Fury explain. I'm sure that right after this, Tony will be whining about why I didn't talk Fury into changing his decision.

Has he met Fury? I can't exactly talk him into doing anything unless it's about me. And this isn't about me. It's about Tony.

"Which leads us to believe at this juncture we'd only like to use you as a consultant." Fury stated.

Tony once again looked at me for a second before returning his gaze back on Fury and standing up from his seat and offering his for a handshake. Well, that's surprisingly uneventful.

"You can't afford me." Tony told Fury.

I spoke too soon.

I stood up and watched Tony walk away before turning back around to say something. "Then again, I will waive my customary retainer in exchange for a small favor."

I flickered my gaze between Tony and Fury, still looking pissed, but relatively considerate since he's going to hear Tony out. I feel like I'm the kid here and these two are my parents fighting each other.

"Rhodey, Andrea, and I are being honored in Washington and we need a presenter." Tony said.

Right. Apparently, after all our heroic acts, the public as well as the government think that we deserve to be rewarded and honored. To be quite frank, I'd rather sit at home and talk to my baby so that it'll memorize my voice. But Fury said that it'll be the perfect chance for the entire world to finally see me as a hero, not just the ones who saw me defend them.

At that point, I didn't care if some people still saw me as a monster. But, I'm bringing a new life into the world and I don't want my baby growing up being referred to as the monster's child.

So, I said yes. I'll go. And with Tony's addition about requesting Senator Stern to be the presenter made this a whole lot more entertaining.

"I'll catch up with you." I told Tony and squeezed his hand gently before he smiled at me and walked out of the warehouse, leaving me and Fury to talk.

"You're invited to the wedding, you know?" I told him.

Fury simply scoffed and shook his head as he got off the table and turned his back on me. "I ain't gonna stand there and watch the two of you bawl your eyes out. I have better things to do."

"Wow. Such a supportive boss. How lucky am I?" I jokingly said with a smile on my face.

"Just focus on yourself for the time being, Mikaelson. Make sure to be ready when you come back to the headquarters." Fury said as he continued to walk away from me.

"Don't I get to have a cool alias?" I asked, mostly joking.

Fury stopped in his tracks and slightly turned just enough for his good eye to meet mine.

"You already have one already, Inferna." He said, a smirk tugging on the corner of his lips before turning around and proceeding to walk out of the warehouse through the other door.

I'm not gonna lie, that name is starting to grow on me.

—

Sorry for updating later than usual. It's exam week and I've been preparing since last week. Still not sure when the next chapter's coming out but I'm thinking it'll be sometime next week. Next chapter will feature the wedding and the gender reveal of the baby!!