Fade - A Marvel Fanfiction

Chapter 8 - A Realization

Disclaimer - Certain dialogue belongs to Marvel.

The peace that surrounded me is soon broken by Tony and Steve's arguing. I focus my attention on them and try my best to eavesdrop but before I could get anything, Laura steps in front of them. Once the pair notice her presence, they instantly stop arguing.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Stark. Clint said you wouldn't mind taking a look at our old tractor. It doesn't want to start at all. Maybe you could-"

"Yeah, I'll give her a look." Tony interrupts before waving me over. "Come on, kid! Let's see if you can help."

I jump off the porch steps and begin to follow Tony towards the old barn. Before we are too far away he yells back at Steve:

"Don't take from my pile!"

________

Once we are in the barn, Tony starts pulling out different parts of the worn down machine while quietly mumbling to it. I do the same except with less talking, slowly floating different pieces of the machine as I examine them closely. Suddenly, a voice shouts from the other end of the room:

"Do me a favour and try not to turn it to life."

I quickly drop the floating parts and raise my hands towards the voice, slowly walking towards it. Tony extends his arm in front of me before I can get too close.

"Stand down. He's a friend," he whispers. I reluctantly lower my hands but I still become intangible, just in case.

"I take it Maria Hill called you, right? Was she ever not working for you?" Tony asks the man. The man then emerges from the shadows to reveal an older gentleman with dark skin, an eye patch covering one of his eyes.

"Artificial intelligence. You never even hesitated." The man accuses.

"Look I've had a long day. Like Eugene O'Neill long. So how's about we skip to the part where you're useful." Tony shoots back.

"Look me in the eye and tell me you're gonna shut him down." the man says.

"You're not the director of me," Tony comments stubbornly.

"Who are you?" I finally spit out. The man sits down on a nearby bale of hay and tilts his head in my direction.

"Nick Fury. And you?" he asks. Tony turns around and walks backward slightly, giving a better view of the older gentleman.

"Erin Schulz," I say quickly, but once I notice the pained look on Tony's face, I correct myself. "But now it's Erin Stark."

Nick then turns back to Tony with a look of confusion on his face.

"She your niece or somethin?" he asks.

"No, she's my daughter," Tony replies defensively. Nick looks at Tony in bewilderment but quickly recovers.

"I'm not the director of anybody. Just an old man, who cares very much about you." Nick continues from his earlier train of thought.

"And I'm the man who killed the Avengers." Tony shakily replies. He then rambles on and on about this dream, the vision he had. At first, I was confused as to what he was talking about but then it clicked. Wanda.

When she messed with his brain she caused him to see his worst fear come alive. She wasn't distracting them or slowing down their thought process. No... she was scarring them. Putting more weight on these people's shoulders, when they already had the world to carry. Nick's voice draws me from my train of thought and back to the situation at hand.

"It's that Maximoff girl. She's working you Stark!" Nick exclaims. "Playing on your fear."

"I wasn't tricked, I was shown. It wasn't a nightmare... it was my legacy. The end of the path I started us on." Tony concludes.