The Revenge of Devil | Irondad, pepperony

Chapter 12

With a smile on her face, Teresa walked down a dimly lit hallway that led to their smaller makeshift labs. It was a little nostalgic, the last time she had gone this way was when they had taken the necessary things and moved to the Ross Labs complex. She missed it, but she was sure that one day she would get the labs back, even though they had already done the most important job in them.

She opened the door to a smaller lab she assigned to Hammer. She found the man in glasses sitting at a table, staring at the computer screen. She must have smirked. There had been no sensible talk with him since they returned here. She knew it was definitely not because he had to modify himself and move from perfect equipment and enough space to such a small chamber with the minimum of things he needed for his job.

"Good morning, how are we doing?" Teresa whispered, suspiciously in a good mood. The last few days she was quite cheerful, you could say almost reckless because she was convinced that they have victories in their sleeves this time. If she could, she would laugh at her mother's face. It was astonishing how much cruelty and cold she could find in herself, and she thought Mary was the coldest-blooded monster she had ever known. But then it was enough to go look in the mirror. She didn't hide anything. She sometimes felt that Mary didn't show her cruelty completely, as if something was holding her back. Motherly love? She doubted it. She had so many opportunities to get Tony Stark or Pepper Potts, and she didn't. Why didn't she kill Pepper then, and choose just abortion to rid her of her baby? If she removed her from the path, it would all be easier for her. But she would probably have to do something completely different, like Teresa.

"What do you think," Justin growled into his coffee mug, looking away from her as if afraid his eyes might betray him. Teresa chuckled softly. Why was he still trying to hide from her? She knew everything. They were all so legible, so easy to see through, that she was almost bored, and even the famous ice queen Natasha Romanov was easy to read. They all were exactly the same. They were all hampered, bound, and destroyed by love, which became their weakness. Which, of course, Teresa intended to use again. At first, she just looked them all up to get to know them a little deeper.

"But you poor thing, don't you still think of Quentin?" Teresa sighed and sat down in a chair at the opposite table. She began to go through the papers and divide them into piles.

Hammer didn't even look at her. He didn't even have to answer her, she knew very well what was going on. From that day on, he was haunted by lively nightmares in which Quentin was dying over and over again. And he couldn't save him. He kept asking himself what would happen if he came a moment earlier, or if he managed to heal Quentin somehow. Whether that would give him at least some time before the doctor took him into his care. But the attacker aimed precisely; right so that Quentin would spend the last few moments of his life in excruciating pain and bleed to death within minutes.

Attacker.

He looked up at Teresa, who was muttering a quiet melody while working. He still didn't know who had killed Quentin, but none of the Avengers could have since they left before they arrived. So it must have been one of their own. And who was Quentin closest to and who was the head of the whole project? He was just looking at her. He was ninety-nine percent sure Teresa had killed him. But why? She did work well with Quentin. Did he do something? Or did she just get tired of him, she stopped needing him, so she decided to get rid of him because it was safer? Because he could talk? The dead man will no longer speak.

Is a similar fate waiting for him too? Will she just stop needing him soon, and shoot him so he doesn't get in her way? It didn't occur to him at first, he was full of euphoria and excitement at being part of something big again that would help destroy the Starks. He was blinded by his desire for revenge for not thinking about further consequences. Only Quentin's death opened his eyes. He withdrew, closed up. And he watched what was happening around him.

He watched the young woman. Where did so much hatred, so much cruelty, come from? Has it never been remorse that she leaves behind only dead bodies? More and more?

"What are you thinking about, dear Justin? If it was I who killed your darling?" She interrupted his thoughts. He winced. "You should calm down, you're shaking a little. Take a deep breath, drive away from the anger. Come on, we both know that anger won't help, it'll just hurt you. Anger darkens your brain, makes you a fool. And stupidity will kill you."

"Did you say something like that to Quentin before you shot him?" Hammer snapped, unable to hold it back. He immediately regretted saying the words. He noticed Teres' eyes flashing.

"Watch your tongue, Jus. One day you might regret it. I know that pain will change people. So let the change play into our cards and don't hurt us," she whispered darkly, glaring at him. "I'm giving you one last chance, Justin. Then I won't be so merciful, remember that."

Of course, his fate was sealed. She had him in her hand, he was at her mercy. They were all like her puppets, like the pawns on the board whom she sacrificed whenever she liked.

It's okay. It's okay.

He was really shaking. He slowly set the mug back on the table, afraid his hands might betray him. He clenched them into a fist and tried to calm his tremor. It didn't help much. Why did Quentin's death change him so much? Did it make him weak because he thought too much about death and how much blood he already had on his hands? He stared desperately at Teresa. She looked so calm, satisfied. How could she handle it? How could she sleep peacefully at night? How could everyone sleep peacefully at night? Will they be all monsters without a hint of emotion until each of them also dies some Quentin?

"I can still see it in front of my eyes," he suddenly confided to Teresa, as if he no longer had control over his body, his mind. "How do you do it? How can you fight your demons and still win over them?"

A grin curled her lips. She looked out the window, then replied slowly and in a determined voice, "Because my demons are me."

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What do you think about Teresa? 👀 To be honest, we really like her... Just wait for more of her "scenes".