***
The van went over a bump.
The big Agent slammed his head into the ceiling, leaving a slight dent in the metal roofing.
“Ow,” he said slowly, rubbing the top of his head. The thick, slow voice all but confirmed Connor’s hunch that though the brute may be strong, he wasn’t particularly smart. Something had obviously backfired in their serum.
It was time to make his move.
Connor rolled quickly, pulling his legs into his body until his head was toward the interrogator. Planting his hands above his head, he lashed out with both feet, connecting solidly with the Agent’s face. The big man with the impossible strength crumpled under the blow.
Behind him, the interrogator tried to stab Connor with the needle.
Compared to the Extremis-enhanced Agent though, this man moved as slow as molasses. Connor’s hand shot out, grasping his wrist and squeezing, simply crushing it until his fingers opened, neatly dropping the vial into Connor’s hand.
“Hey, what’s going on back there?” The shouted voice came from the front as the man wailed in pain at his mangled wrist.
“Shut up,” Connor muttered and hit the man square in the face with his right hand, eager to ensure that it worked again after the deadening blow he had taken earlier.
The man crumpled.
Excellent.
Turning toward the rear, he saw his first target starting to move. He jumped on the big man and slammed a fist into his face until he lay still. The blows broke one of Connor’s fingers though, depriving him of his full power.
“Dammit,” he swore.
Escape was more important at the moment. The vial had to be delivered into the proper hands. Whatever it may contain, he knew it wasn’t the type of tranquilizer that worked on shifters. That was a deep golden color, closer to opaque than it was translucent. He took the needle, bent the metal around on itself, and jammed it in his pocket.
The rear doors swung open under a booted blow to the center.
Noise assaulted him as the van moved quickly through the city streets. Cars passed on one side, and the van passed vehicles on the other side.
Connor motioned for the truck behind him to stop, then grabbed one of the doors, ripped it off its hinges, and jumped.
He landed on all fours on top of the metal door and proceeded to hold on for dear life as he careened through the road. The truck behind him hadn’t stopped, only slowed down, and the driver slammed on both the horn and brakes as Connor’s side crunched into the front, sending him spinning wildly in another direction. A car swerved to avoid him and the mirror broke off on Connor’s head. He reached up and pulled a shard of glass from where it had impaled itself on the back of his head.
This was not my brightest idea.
A deep horn sounded as he flew across the small strip of empty pavement, marked only by a yellow line, that divided the flow of traffic.
Connor looked up in horror as he slid under the trailer being towed by a semi-truck. His brain barely had time to tell him he wasn’t going to make it before the rear set of wheels came close. Connor rolled to pull the side of his body that held the vial away from the wheel, but this had the unfortunate effect of leaving his other leg completely exposed.
The big wheel went up and over it.
He screamed in pain as bone shattered in his shin from the weight of the trailer on his leg. The big rectangular box on wheels tilted back and forth wildly as it settled back on the road, but Connor barely cared.
The vial was safe, but he may not be. His leg would heal, but it was broken and in a bad way just then. Feeling the leg, he gritted through the intense pain, focusing himself as best he could to ignore the waves of agony that were explodinging from his leg.
There!
The break was bad; he needed to reset it. If he could. Putting all his pressure just below the break, he pushed the remainder of his leg away from his body. The pain was intense, to the point he thought he might black out, but bit by bit, the bone pulled apart until it was straight again.
“Over there!”
He glanced over his shoulder as he slowly began to release the pressure. The healing abilities of a shifter meant it would begin to knit almost immediately. It would be some time before he could walk properly on it, but several minutes and he would at least be able to hobble along.
Unfortunately, it didn’t look like he had that much time. The black car from earlier had apparently rejoined them and was in front of the van. It had stopped and men had emerged, threading their way through the multitude of cars to get at him.
He had to go, and now.
Using the door as leverage he climbed to his feet—foot, for the time being—unsteadily. The two closest men bunched up as they approached. It was just what Connor had been waiting for. He picked up the door, whirled it around his head, and sent it spinning at the pair like an oversized Frisbee.
The men yelled and dove out of the way, allowing Connor time to hop his way from the street. He went down the first alley he found, leaving the gawking eyes of the stopped residents of the city behind. What was about to happen was not something they should have to see.
It didn’t take long for his pursuers to catch up with him, but as long as they didn’t include the troll of an Agent, he hoped to be okay.
He snatched the lid off a trashcan, holding the round metal object in his right hand, to protect his shattered leg on that side. The continual hopping wasn’t helping, as pain continued to shoot from the leg with every bounce and landing, each motion jolting the break in his bone.
Backing down the alley, he stopped, looking around him. With a nod, he decided to make his stand.
The sudden cessation of his retreat caused the four Agents to slow their approach. By the looks of it, none of them were Extremis-enhanced, but he didn’t know that for sure. Besides, four against one was going to be tough with only one leg. He wouldn’t be able to spin to protect his flanks and rear. The closed confines of the alleyway would help, but only a little.
“Let’s go then,” he taunted. “Come on. Come at the wounded guy.”
One of the four nodded at two others, who proceeded to edge past Connor, staying just out of his reach. He made a mental note to try and eliminate that one first. The others deferred to him. Cut off the head, and the body will die much easier. It was one of the first tactics taught when it came to fighting multiple combatants. Eliminate the most dangerous or the leader first. As far as Connor could tell, there was not one of them that was more dangerous the rest.
The leader pulled out a knife.
He shrugged mentally. Okay, so that one dies first then.
One man came at him from each side. The leader brandished his knife and approached the side with the shield, while the larger man came at his left side.
Connor waited until they closed in, then feinted against the unarmed man before reversing course and thrusting his shield at the knife-wielding hand.
Both men backed away, but he didn’t make contact with either. His leg was severely limiting him. A third man approached from the middle now, while the fourth hung back, waiting for an opening.
The knife waved back and forth, forcing Connor to match it with his shield, distracting his attention as the others closed in. They knew he was stronger than them, but all they had to do was get him to expose himself for one moment…
The middle attacker lunged, but he went for the shield side, forcing Connor to slam the metal circle down, bending it around the hapless man’s head. The man to his right moved a split second later, jerking Connor’s attention that way as he blocked with his left arm.
Which left his weak side open.
The knife dug deep, coming in under the makeshift shield that he had been bringing back up to try and protect himself. Connor roared in pain, his right arm shooting directly out. The trash lid caught the man full in the face, sending him spinning to the ground. The metal disc, now completely warped, fell to the ground as Connor let it go.
He jumped as hard as he could off one leg, his hands grasping the lowest rung of the fire-escape ladder that he had positioned above his head. Pulling up with his core, he freed up his strong leg, which now lashed out and caught the man who had attacked from his left full in the jaw. Bone cracked and the man dropped like a brick.
Connor released his hold and fell to the ground, hissing in agony as his weak leg was jolted from the landing, even if he didn’t absorb any weight on it.
The fourth man looked around, and then took off back down the alleyway.
“Coward,” he muttered, picking up the deformed lid and hurling it after the man with all his strength.
It glanced off the man with a deflecting blow, causing him to stumble and fall, but otherwise not doing any damage. The enemy Agent got up and all but hurled himself out of the alley.
Connor turned down into the alley. Gingerly he put his leg down to test it, but even the slightest touch left him in agony.
“Fuck,” he said, then coughed, the action bringing up a bit of spittle with it. Frowning in distaste he ran the back of his arm across his face.
It came away red.
“What the fuck?” he said aloud as the metallic-iron taste of blood hit his system.
Reaching down, he pulled up his shirt, grunting in pain as the skin screamed its protest at the movement.
The knife wound was still bleeding, red blood soaking his shirt and pants. His frown deepened. The wound must have been deeper than he thought if it hadn’t clotted already. Connor tugged the shirt down over the wound, holding his hand against it to put pressure on it as he moved down the alley toward the road on the far side. The last thing he wanted was to be around when the Extremis Agent regained consciousness and came after him.
As he hopped along, Connor’s focus narrowed to the only important thing. The one thing that would make it all worth it. Agony rocketed up and down the right side of his body, the waves of pain almost blinding him as they assaulted his senses. But his bear came to the front, the more simple, animalistic side taking over, redirecting the pain away from the one little pocket of his mind that contained a thought. A singular purpose that repeated itself over and over and over.
Get back to Maddy!