DYER | STEVE ROGERS

𝐈𝐈.𝐗𝐕𝐈𝐈𝐈

〚 MATEO 〛

Darla walked into The Avengers Tower, previously known as The Stark Tower. She was immediately pulled into a hug by Pepper.

"Hey Kid." Tony smiled and waved towards the young girl. "We need to talk."

"Oh God, am I in trouble?" Darla questioned with a half hearted chuckle but the serious expression on Tony's face said she should be doing anything other than laughing. "Oh, am I actually in trouble?"

"No. No. You did nothing wrong, Darla." Assured Pepper. "But I'll leave you two to talk alone."

Darla watched as Pepper walked away, which made the blonde more nervous.

What did her and Tony need to talk about privately?

"Tony, what's going on?" Darla questioned. Tony walked up to the girl and placed his hand on the small of her back guiding her through the hallways and too a smaller room.

It was a side room, painted in white but the fact that it was empty made it look much bigger.

"I found Mateo." Tony announced slowly. He knew he would regret telling the girl, but she deserved to know. She had spent the past seven years looking for the boy.

"You did?" Darla questioned excitedly. "Where is he? Can I see him?" She questioned looking around as if he was going to walk around the corner at any second.

"He's not here, kid." Tony whispered, he watched as she furrowed her brows.

"Well, can I have his number or something. I want to thank him for all he did for me." Darla stepped forward slightly, making Tony take a step back. "Tony, you're scaring me. What's wrong?"

"He's not here." Tony repeated. He didn't know how to say it lightly. He didn't want to hurt the blonde's feelings. He had grown to care for her too much.

"Where is he then?" She questioned, tears filling her eyes. "Tony, where is he?"

"I'm so sorry." Tony shook his head, he hated seeing the girl so upset. Over the past few years she had become like a younger sister to him. "He's-"

"No." Darla shook her head. "No." She repeated. "Where is he Tony?" She shouted louder. The more distraught she got, the louder the voices were. "Shut up." She clutched her head. "He's not dead. He's not dead."

Darla had spent the past seven years searching for the boy who saved her life. The boy who despite not knowing her, risked his whole future for her. The boy when she was a teen she dreamt of marrying.

"Darla." Tony reached his hand out for the girl.

"HE'S NOT DEAD." She screamed throwing her hands up in front of her to keep Tony away, only for him to be blasted across the room. "This isn't real." Darla whispered as she dropped to the floor.

She felt like her whole world was crumbling before her.

She had always dreamt that she would be able to see Mateo again. That she would be able to properly thank him, so she could show him that she changed her life around because of him. She wasn't the same girl from seven years ago and that was all thanks to him.

"Darla." Tony whispered as he slowly walked over to the girl. "You're going to be okay." He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his chest as she sobbed.

"What happened?" She sniffled, clinging onto Tony's shirt for dear life.

Tony closed his head, he was hoping that she wouldn't ask.

"I found him days after you called me. I thought, maybe if I talked to him, I'd understand the accident more. But then I found out he had the same-" Tony paused not knowing what word to use. "condition as you."

Darla didn't understand what Tony was saying, so she pulled away and give him her full attention.

"Mateo could hear the voices too." Tony paused. "He got into the wrong hands. He turned to HYDRA. They started to experiment on him. They wanted to see how far the voices could go, if he could do anything else."

"Could he?" Darla questioned, angrily wiping the tears from her cheeks.

"He could." Tony nodded. Mateo managed to master his abilities, but they pushed him over the edge. Tony hated reading the files that he had found, they seemed almost too unbelievable.

"I want to. I don't want to be defenceless anymore. I don't want-"

"You don't understand, Darla, they pushed him too hard. That's why he died." Tony said slowly, hoping it would help her understand.

"I don't care."

It was the truth.

She didn't care.

She didn't care if she died anymore.

She didn't care if she pushed everyone away.

She didn't care if everything went to shit anymore because she had lost one of the only things that was keeping her together.