Thank god I am not claustrophobic. The cold cramped space inside the building’s ventilation system had me abnormally anxious. That anxiety could also be due to the raw anticipation that accompanied infiltrating the high-security research building of a deceased billionaire. I could glimpse the boy who inspired it all through the vent. His back was facing me, but I could see where his once-stylish clothes were torn and bloodstained from the ambush that had resulted in his capture. Nevertheless, despite how dirty and subdued his clothing had become, he stood out with his dark skin glistening in the starkly white room. I pressed my finger to the device in my ear. “Lia?” I whispered. “You see Darius?!” She shouted over the rush of air in the background. “Yup, top floor, west side. I can see twelve people from my position, including Audrey, but there’s definitely more.” I added, “Most of them are guarding Darius, so there shouldn't be too many others.” For a moment all I heard was the wind. “I want to go over the signal part. One more time,” she said finally. I let out a breath. “Lia—” “I know that you are confident in this, but we're putting my brother’s life on the line.” She hardened her tone. “I want to be sure.” I didn't bother saying that there was no such thing in this sort of situation. I just inhaled deeply before answering. “It’s simple, Lia. People want to kill me, so I decided that we should have a phrase where I can discreetly inform him that we are about to be shot at.” “And it works?” She asked doubtfully. “It’s worked every time so far.” I reminded her. When she didn’t say anything else I turned my attention to the individuals below me. I was several feet above their head, but I could still hear the faint sounds of their voices. I tracked Audrey's blonde head as she walked from her desk to Darius. Her piercing voice drifted up to me. “I love you, Darius. I really do. You’re a good boy, student, and brother. You’re my stepson, and I would like to avoid harming you, really I would, but I need you to listen to me.” She gestured to something across the room. “This man has information about what your father did to you, and I'm just asking you to do your thing. Dig around his head a little, okay? Get the answers I need and you could allow so many other people to experience your power. Can you imagine that?” She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “Tell me what he knows.” I saw Darius’s shoulders move as he inhaled deeply and exhaled. His deep melodic voice flew up into my ears like music. “I can’t do that.” “Can’t or won’t? Darius, I’m really tired of this back and forth.” “I can’t. I can’t read minds, or look through...memories. Whoever told you otherwise, lied.” She barked a laugh. “‘Lied’? Okay.” She walked back to the desk she had been rummaging through and returned with something small and black. Everyone in the room stopped breathing. She turned to one of the guards at the farthest edge of my view. “Mathew, you should be aware that I don’t tolerate liars.” She fired the gun and Matthew flew back into the wall before collapsing. I pressed the device in my ear again. “ETA?” I rasped. “Thirty seconds,” she responded. “Why, what happened?” “Make it twenty,” I said, and the wind increased in volume. I looked back down. Audrey was walking back to Darius. She analyzed his face. “Now that that’s been resolved, tell me, what makes you so special?” He was quiet. I barely breathed. She sighed and stepped back. “If that’s how you’re going to be…” She aimed the gun at his leg and was about to squeeze the trigger when she stopped short at the sound of an approaching helicopter. “What the…” Everyone turned to the window, and although I couldn’t see out of it, I knew exactly what they were looking at. I heard Lia’s voice in my ear. “I’m here.” “Copy,” I responded. She'd be aligning with the window momentarily, and I only had a few seconds. I braced myself over the vent recalled that night at the movie theater, the smell of buttered popcorn, the high volume of the speakers, and his arm around my shoulders. I yelled as loud as I could, “I am inevitable!” Everyone spun around in search of the source of the sound, and for a split second my heart stopped, what if he had forgotten? People were already beginning to shoot at the helicopter, but my fears dissolved when I saw that grin break across his face. “And I am Iron Man,” He whispered, raising his hands. “Do it,” I said, and the glass walls imploded. Then...nothing. The glass broke but no one was shot, and tiny collections of metal seemed to be forming in midair. Darius was eerily still. Lia’s voice sounded in my ear, panicked. “Did I forget to load them?!” I grinned. “No, he stopped them.” The guns attached to the helicopter ceased firing, and everyone was silent as the bullets began to form a barrier around Darius. Before I could tell Lia to move, one of the guards, raised his gun and fired a single earth-shattering shot directly at the helicopter. Darius’s eyes shot open, and I saw Audrey turn tail and run out the door. My grin widened when my boyfriend winked at the ceiling just before letting the bullets suddenly explode outwards and fly through every single guard in the room. A second later all of their bodies hit the floor simultaneously. He laughed in surprise when Lia turned the helicopter so the doorway was facing the windows. “Get in!” She yelled. He glanced up expectantly as he walked towards the empty window frames, and I rolled my eyes before kicking open the vent and dropping through, landing in a crouch on the ground. He smiled upon seeing me. “Hello, beautiful.” “Get in the damn helicopter,” I laughed. I froze when his eyes widened. “Look out!” He shouted. I spun around, but before I could dodge her attack her arm was around me, and there was a gun against my temple. Darius stopped mid-step. "Lift a finger, and I blow her brains out," she growled at him. I shut my eyes. "Go." "Never," he whispered. I felt Audrey's chin jut into my head before the weight of her body completely disappeared. I spin around and spot the lid to the vent lying a few inches from her unconscious body. I glanced up at Darius. He held out a hand. I took it, and together we jumped through the broken windows.