FENRIR ※ Tony Stark [2]

25 - THE PROMISE

He was drawing breaths with excruciating difficulty. The flicker of life was already escaping his eyes as he looked up to his sister one last time. In his gaze, she saw no hatred anymore, there was no resentment. In that instant, he was like a little boy again, clutching on to her with eyes full of incomprehension... and fear. He didn't understand what was happening to him. He didn't want to die.

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry..." she kept repeating, holding onto him as hard as she could, like it could stop the life from slipping out of his body.

Fenrir's skin felt damp under her palm as she brushed strands of hair away from his face, just like she used to do when he was a child. His breathing was becoming more labored by the second, the wound having destroyed half of his chest.

Her heart-wrenching sobs echoed in every corner of the cell as she held her brother in his last seconds of life. She was still begging for his forgiveness long after he was gone.

⁂

The hour following Fenrir's death was the longest of Tony's life. Silence had fallen over the cell, only broken by Angie's soft weeping. It got quieter after a while, until he couldn't hear anything anymore. She was still hunched over her brother's lifeless body but she wasn't moving.

Tony had no strength left. He stood there, in a trance, hoping and praying Angie would find a way to forgive him.

The silence became unbearable. More than anything, it killed him to see her like this. He took a step towards her, gently placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Angie... darling..."

She slowly lifted her tear-streaked face from Fenrir's shoulder. Tony could tell how much effort it took for her to look at him.

He helped her back on her feet, but her knees buckled as soon as she glanced back at her brother's lifeless body. Had it not been for Tony, she would've collapsed on the ground. It was hard to imagine ever finding the strength to stand again.

The sound of her cries filled Tony's blood, she broke in tears again, burying her face in his shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Angie, I'm so sorry," he muttered in her ear "It had to be done. I'm so sorry... It was either us or him..."

He regretted saying those words almost as soon as they left his mouth. Of course there was a reasonable explanation. Of course, Angie knew this was inevitable. She knew Fenrir left them no choice... but right now, she didn't need to be reasoned with. She just needed to grieve.

Her brother had just died. Whoever he had been. Whatever horrible things he had done. He was still her brother.

Despite the four years of agony, of clinging to the hope of reuniting with him... if Angie had known she would find her brother only to lose him again a second time, she would've preferred never to find him at all.

"I couldn't save him Tony..." she muttered in a shaky breath.

"Hey, hey," he cupped her face, forcing her to look him in the eyes "None of this was your fault. You didn't do this to him, do you hear me? You loved him despite the person he'd become and that was the greatest gift you could give him."

He stared into her tear-soaked eyes for long seconds. Her muscles finally relaxed ever-so-slightly, releasing some of the tension. Tony's arms closed in around her and she rested against his chest, letting the tears slip silently down her cheeks.

He let out a quiet breath, thankful that she wasn't pushing him away.

It is a privilege to be loved by you. If only Fenrir had realized that.

__________________

Woah how is this story over already? 😭 I spent almost one year of my life working and publishing it and I'm hella emotional right now.

So this was the final chapter of Book #2 of The Saga of the Harpy. The epilogue is in the next part, so keep reading.

There WILL be a Book #3 set during Infinity War and Endgame but I don't know when I'm going to start working on it. Keep an eye out for that.

I am also working on not one, but TWO spinoff stories, starring brand new OCs which I am SO excited about. I will start publishing soon and I think you guys will love them 😍

Also, I just published a Social Media fanfic called The F*cked Up Club with RDJxOC. It links in with The Saga of the Harpy and it's basically the fictional 'real life' events happening during the 'filming' of Book #1 (ANGRBODA). So definitely check it out!

Thank you so much for giving my humble work a try and making it all the way to the end of this book. Thank you for all the votes, comments, they always warm my heart.

I love you all ♡

-L