This Is not my work, I just wanted to have this story posted on FF for ease of access. I have included all of the first post, and will include all the author posts in his chapters on spacebattles.

-x-x-x-
Chapter 34
-x-x-x-

My Christmas present for 2009 was pain beyond imagining as every single cell in my body was reborn in the pure fires of creation. My training in both the mystic arts and Chi had given me advantages that our test subjects lacked, allowing me to bleed off the excess power not into the surrounding environment as heat but to instead return it to the Phoenix Force from whence it came, but the whole experience of my body being rebuilt was agony beyond anything I had ever experienced.

Once it was over though...well it was amazing. I was already coordinated, years of martial arts tends to ensure that, but now I was constantly aware of every facet of my body at all times and had literally perfect coordination. I was already more physically fit, thanks to years of exercise in Chi rooms, than all but a bare handful of people world wide but now it was like I was weightless. My senses had been decent, now I had the eyesight of Hawkeye, the hearing of Daredevil, a preternatural sense of touch, and a nose that could give a blood hound a run for its money. I had possessed a phenomenal memory and general intelligence that was by any measure well above average, I now had perfect recall of my entire life and could think, draw, plan, and simply operate on a level that I couldn't even really imagine before Extremis.

The first thing I said, turning to Bruce who had been overseeing my enhancement, was "How did you cope?"

When he cocked his head in question I continued "With everyone else being so slow? If your mind works anything like mine now does then you had to be so incredibly lonely."

Bruce blinked, "Ah, yeah. You get used to it, at least you didn't have to deal with a childhood and puberty where you didn't understand that everyone else doesn't idly re-derive the laws of physics from first principals as they wait for the bus to school."

I laughed slightly "And you couldn't use your astonishing intellect to predict and model them?"

Bruce shrugged "No, I could. It just made life pointlessly boring when 99.9% of the time I could predict entire conversations word for word before they even began. One reason I joined you was that around here I can only manage a good seventy percent on average.

"It's been quite nice since Betty got enhanced, I loved her as she was but her being able to really keep up with me is nice."

"Relationships with equals are what I prefer as well. But enough of this, I'm going to test out my new body." I said, making my way towards the testing room when Bruce said "Have fun."

I had barely entered the room when Natasha came through one of the other doors, watching as fire danced around one of her hands. She looked up and smiled, broadly, at me. "Care to spar?" she asked.

"With pleasure." I said, smiling back even as I ran towards her at my enhanced bodies full speed.

As we fought I understood the reports I had read about Captain America being a living weapon, a combat machine. Absolute mastery of your own body combined with super human senses and a mind that made computers look slow, Natasha and I were inventing and discarding entire combat styles that perfectly countered one another even as we sparred around the room. Every muscle twitch was read, processed, analyzed, and integrated before it was even perceptible to the best trained normal human. Every punch and kick was perfectly thrown and perfectly timed.

We fought all out for hours before, by unspoken consent, Natasha started running through each combat style she knew one after the other. I would fight back, creating the perfect counter before turning whatever style she had just used against her until she had countered it and moved onto the next. With Extremis keeping each individual cell of our bodies in literally peak condition we were fighting as ably at hour thirty as we had been at minute one, but eventually Natasha broke off and said "This kinda takes the fun out of sparring, makes it too easy."

"True, how about we move onto something that will be more fun then?" I said, smiling wickedly as I tapped Scorch's little gift to Extremis and turned the clothes I was wearing to vapor.

Many, many, many hours (and positions) later Natasha said "Congratulations Raith, you out fucked a god."

I laughed, long and loud, before finally saying "I think I had some unfair advantages. Say what you will but the emotional connection does add something, and now you have the stamina to keep up."

"True.", she replied as she rose up on one elbow and started playing with my chest "Any preferences for my new body?"

I laughed again "I'm not that out of it Nat, that's a more loaded question than 'Does this dress make me look fat?'"

"I'm aware, but it isn't every day that you get to put on a new face." she countered.

I smiled "Actually, you can put on a new face every day. But no, I don't really have a preference Nat. Hell, you probably have read my preferences better than I ever have and your flesh - as enchanting as it is - has very little to do with why I care about you."

"Romantic." she said, giving me a kiss before snuggling into my chest.

I dryly replied "Truly, I am one for the ages. So what do you think of the upgrades?"

"That I am very glad I took your offer all those years ago. Although it is a pity that Elektra can't join us, I want to see what she can do enhancing a body like ours with Chi." Natasha said.

I sighed slightly "I'm just surprised we never actually bothered to DNA map her before this, must have just slipped our minds. I suppose we all thought the Black Sky stuff was purely chi based."

"You think the unknown parts are dragon DNA?" she questioned.

I shrugged "It would explain the totally unknown DNA and mesh with what we know about how a Black Sky is conceived. Regardless, I'm hopeful that it is dragon DNA."

Natasha looked up, meeting my eyes "Oh? Why?"

"Because I know where some dragon bones are and how to access them. If we can get a sample then we should be able to understand what has happened to her, and maybe even how to integrate the Chi absorption abilities shared by the Dragons and the Black Sky into Extremis." I explained, thinking through the alternations the news had made to my longer term plans. It was no longer viable to just inform Danny Rand what was behind the vault door and why he should never open it, pity. That was so much easier.

Natasha thought for a moment before saying "That would be interesting, so when do we go and grab these dragon bones?"

I sighed "That's the problem, they are locked behind a vault buried forty stories down in the bedrock under New York City and opening that vault requires the Iron Fist. And Danny Rand isn't going to return home until 2016."

"Ah." was her one word reply as she used her finger to doodle on my chest "Any idea why Alkasha refused Extremis?"

I winced at that, remembering the private conversation the two of us had after she refused.

"No, Octavian. Over the years I've made deals that were necessary at the time but have consequences all the same. You know the enemy I will die to, and whose thrall he is under." she had said.

"And I take it that the terms of your deal with that entity are what keep you from accepting Extremis?" I questioned, my voice quiet.

She smiled, her face serene, as she shook her head "No, I'm quite sure that entity would be thrilled if I benefited from Extremis."

I had thought for a while before my eyes widened "You're a gateway to Earth for it? Aren't you?"

"Well done Octavian, and yes I am. So long as anyone on Earth has undergone the ritual than anyone else can to, using the current hosts as their gateway. But if no hosts exist then that entity will be barred from its easiest method of accessing Earth. And those pathways must be gone before the Titan arrives else he will have a powerful ally." she had calmly said, even as we discussed her necessary death.

"Yeah, I know why she refused Nat. And no, it's not really something that I can talk about." I said aloud before shaking my head slightly in a futile attempt to get unpleasant thoughts out of my mind, and then deliberately changed the subject "Seeing as you are going to be wearing a new body tomorrow, one with a face that isn't on SHIELD's most wanted list, would you care to do me the honor of making that dinner party in New York that I have to attend tomorrow night less boring?"

"It's a date." she said.

-x-x-x-
A/N
Yah, Extremis enhancements finally. And yes, Cap upgrades are bullshit. Especially when you combine it with limitless cellular energy.