Fade - A Marvel Fanfiction

Chapter 14 - Wishing I Could Forget

I stand backstage as Dad shows off his latest tech to the M.I.T. students. He's been working on his little pet project for a little while but never told me the specifics about it. All he would say is that he needed to change the acronym from B.A.R.F.

I watch as he steps into a white background that suddenly turns into a classy living room. A older woman plays the piano while a young man sleeps on the couch beside her, a Santa hat hanging off his head. Her voice soothes my rattled thoughts as her gentle hands press against the keys. 

Then a man with ghost white hair appears on the scene as he adjusts his expensive suit. He then flips the blanket of the young man's head and the older woman begins to speak.

"Wake up and say goodbye to your father, dear."

A young Dad then emerges from the blankets as he gives his father a dead stare. The scene begins to play out. Dad talks to what I assume as his mother lovingly and gives nothing but sarcasm to his father. But something seems off when his mom tells him this is the last time he will see them. They died unexpectedly in a car crash shortly after that... didn't they?

The scene soon disappears and changes to a more familiar one. I remember the large windows and white walls like it was yesterday. A younger version of myself sits on the floor beside a nanny. The woman tries to offer me toys and games, but I just sit there in silence and watch her. 

My younger self immediately jumps up at the sound of Dad's voice as I race over to him on my tiny legs. Dad drops everything he was carrying and picks me up into a bear hug, causing me to laugh. We exchange a few words as the both of us share a tender moment.

As soon as the blast goes off, the memory of me being taken is soon pushed into my mind. Younger Dad lays on the floor in pain as he watches me helplessly be taken away. A uncontrollable tear slowly falls down my face.

The background becomes clear once again and Dad appears with a set of high tech glasses on. 

"Binarly Augmented Retro-Framing, or BARF. God, I gotta work on that acronym." Dad begins, making me chuckle lightly.

 "An extremely costly method of hijacking the hippocampus to clear traumatic memories. It doesn't change the fact that they never made it to the airport, or that I missed twelve years of raising my only daughter."

At that point in his speech, my attention is drawn away when my phone buzzes in my hand. I hesitantly turn it on to see a message from Peter. With a small smile on my face, I unlock it an begin to text with him.

I giggle at Peter's last text and the one professor looked at me like I was crazy. Once I returned my phone to my pocket I see my Dad has stopped talking, a look of despair clearly written across his face. I quickly scan the teleprompter to see Pepper's name ready to be announce except for two issues. One, Pepper didn't come because of reason number two, Dad and her's breakup. 

Acting on instinct, I go to cut in on my Dad's speech but I'm held back against my own will. It takes all of my patience to not use my abilities on these idiotic security guards. Luckily, Dad improvises and quickly leaves the stage, walking towards me. With my own strength, I pull the two security guards of my arms and attach myself to Dad's side.  In an instant we are swarmed by a group of professors and event coordinators, but I could tell that Dad wanted to be anywhere instead of here.

"Please give my Dad some space before I call security." I say bluntly to the surrounding crowd. Of course they don't listen.

Before I could raise my voice again, Dad had found an easy escape route. We both blitzed towards the exit and left the crowded room. Together, we walked in silence towards the elevator. Both of us knew that words couldn't fix anything at this moment and what Dad needed right now was to be alone with his thoughts. 

I noticed a short woman waiting at the same elevator that we were, instantly making me nervous. Trying my best to hide the purple sphere that surrounds my right hand, I slowly begin to pull out the knife I had hidden in my boot. I guess old habits die hard. 

"You going up?" Dad asks after clicking the button on the side of the elevator.

"I'm right where I want to ." The lady says while reaching into her purse. In an instant, I balance my knife midair with one hand while the other invisibly grabs onto the woman's hand. Dad does the same as I do, grabbing firmly onto her hand. She then looks at us as if we were the crazy ones.

"Its... an occupational hazard." Dad explains. The woman nods before speaking.

"I work for the state department, human resources. Its a boring job, but it enabled me to raise a son. And I'm very proud of who he grew up to be." the woman says with a proud smile on her face. Her face then becomes hostile as she shoves a picture onto Dad's chest.

"His name was Charlie Spencer. You murdered him. In Sokovia. Not that you care in the least. Who's going to Avenge my son Stark? He's dead, and blame both you and your daughter." she says before walking away from us.

A small tear escapes from my eye, the feelings of guilt that I had so carefully locked away threatening to break through. I guess Dad sees it since he gently wraps his arm around me. Looking up I see that he has a few stray tears of his own falling down his face. He then guides me into the open elevator and clicks a button that closes the doors.

"It's going to be okay, Bitsy. I promise."