A Future Boy is the Pasts Problem

On The Truth

So, this announcement happened several chapters from now on ffn, buuuut this story seems to be doing well here too. So ya'll get a special treat!

This story has a discord! Just add this: /5UKBwMAnJw to the end of the regular discord.gg link to join. Look forward to seeing ya'll there!

By the way, I dropped some special hints in this chapter so leave a comment to let me know if you picked up any of them. Fun times are ahead readers!

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0=change focus to a different character

00=scene change (no matter how big or small)

000=timeskip

F000=this means that we move back to the next avengers time.

P000= No this is not poo. it's moving back to the past.

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Chapter 12: On the Truth
F000 (~The Tower Infirmary~)
Tony cracked his eyes open slowly. He had a crick in his neck and his body was a little achy after sleeping in that chair. He looked around the infirmary and smiled when his eyes landed on Azari. The Panther Cub was sitting up and reading from a book. Light streamed in from the windows of the infirmary. He'd gotten so used to living in the artificial dome in the arctic that the light from the city give him an incredible sense of its beauty every time he saw it.
"Morning, Azari. What are you reading?" He asked as he sat up, stretching slightly. Several pops resounded from his back. Azari looked at him over the book and smiled slightly.
"Some mystery book Torunn found. Pretty sure I already know who did it," He replied with a smile. Tony chuckled lightly. He remembered Cap liked those. T'Challa would always have a book with him, though he wasn't always reading. Books were something of a rarity now a days. It's a miracle Torunn had even found one.
"How many chapters in are you?" He asked.
"Just finished Chapter 12," Azari answered.
"Not too far in then. Let me know when you're right about who did it," Tony knew that the kid was smart. He could imagine that Azari was definitely right about his guess. "On another topic, how are you feeling?" Azari paused and put his book down.
"I'm okay... But I can't really feel my powers," he admitted. He glanced down at his wrist where the bracelet had once been. Tony had removed it once they'd gotten him back to the tower, but he still hasn't felt anything from them.
"The bracelet?" Tony asked, noting the area Azari was looking at. The boy nodded.
"The robots put that on me so I couldn't use my powers to short them out or escape. I thought that the bracelet being off would mean I could feel them again, or use them, but I haven't been able to," Azari explained, disappointment and worry clear in his voice. Tony stood up from his chair and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Give it time. If that bracelet was on you for as long as you were missing, it may take a while for your powers to resurface. They will come back though," he assured him. Azari nodded slightly, looking back at his book a moment. Tony let his hand fall from Azari's shoulder. "I'll let you get back to you're book. But if you need anything, just ask Jocasta to let me know and I'll come running." Azari nodded again. Clearly there was a lot on his mind still, but he seemed more at ease.
"Thanks, Tony," he said, giving the old man a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. Tony smiles back nonetheless.
"Anytime, Azari," He said and gave him one more visual once over before heading to the door. He glanced back at Azari to see the boy once more engrossed in his book... He was glad to have him home.
As he left the infirmary, he looked at his chart again. One of the doctors would be up to check on Azari here in a while. From what Tony knew, he was recovering well. As soon as the docs gave their okay, he'd be able to train and work on accessing his powers again. He'd be okay.
Tony made his way down the hall and stopped at an elevator. As he waited for it to come up, his thoughts drifted to the winged girl. He had to admit that the wings were a dead giveaway as to who she might be, but he'd thought she'd died in the attack. She was so little, he couldn't imagine how she would've survived, let alone get her wings. The elevator dinged and he stepped on when the doors opened up. He clicked the number of one of the complete redone floors and waited. It stopped and the elevator doors opened, as he stepped out he scanned the room. It was full of survivors, some from the recently liberated lab where they had found Azari. The people stopped their conversations or little jobs they were doing to stare at him. He smiled at all of them.
"No need to stare everyone, I'm just here to check on things and make sure everyone is adjusting well," He told them. They stared another moment before going back to doing what they were before. He walked through the floor, counting the beds and how many they belonged to them as he went. He needed to know if overcrowding would be an issue as they keep liberating people before more housing opens up, especially if more labs exist out there. He paused at a pregnant red head not far away from him who looked rather tired but was working on sewing some pants.
He approached the table she was working at with a kind smile.
"Hello there," he said softly. She looked up and quickly tried to hide her tiredness.
"Oh! Hello Mr. Stark! What brings you by my sewing station?" She asked, attempting to sound chipper. She was young, probably about 25, and had green eyes. She reminded him of Pepper.
"Truthfully, you seemed tired. I wanted to check that you and your little one are okay," he said, gesturing to her stomach. The girl seemed to deflate slightly as she looked down at her stomach.
"We're doing just fine. You don't have to worry about us," she replied and held up the pants. She was inspecting her work. Tony could tell though. He hadn't gotten to see several of the people he knew when they became pregnant, but the ones he did see showed him that it was no walk in the park.
"Now, what happened to taking breaks, Amina? You shouldn't be pushing yourself too hard," a male voice came from Tony's left. He looked at the source and saw a man that looked to be in his sixties, a good ten to eleven years older that Tony it seems. He wore a worn sweater and a cream white shirt underneath. Amina's face flushed with color at the his chiding.
"I'm not pushing myself, Henry," she denied. Henry shook his head.
"You need a break. That's doctors orders," He replied. Amina sighed and put down the pants. Henry looked at Tony. "Good to see you, Mr. Stark. I hope you're not down here because of Azari.."
"No, nothing like that. Azari is actually reading a book right now," Tony told him, watching the relief cross the old man's face. "I just came to down check on things. Make sure everything was in order. I also had a question. Where's one of the tablets?" Henry gestured in a direction further down the hall. He lead him in the direction as he spoke.
"What is this visit really about, Tony? You have people keeping track of things on this and other floors, there's no reason for you to come down here. I'm guessing it has to do with this question of yours," Henry spoke once they were further away from the majority of the people. Tony sighed and nodded. He'd known Henry as one of the doctors from Francis' scavengers. He'd become somewhat of a friend to him. It was good to talk to someone a little closer to his age, even though there was still a good gap there.
"A lot's happened Henry. You heard about the people we rescued from that lab and you know about James, Hawkeye, and Azari," Tony began, pausing to think over his words. Henry raised an eyebrow and nodded for him to continue. "Well, something happened when we were at that lab. A number of things may have come from it. We may have found Hawkeye and James."
"That's wonderful! Where are they?" Henry asked. He noticed the look on Tony's face after he said this.
"That's where things get complicated. They're somewhere that is extremely difficult to reach. I'm worried that we won't be able to get to them in time. And not only that, but Pym is there right now. Somehow he was stuck there and we don't know why or how to get him back yet," Tony told him, the worry clearly in his voice. They both stopped when they reached the tablet Tony had asked about earlier.
"Don't worry Tony. If anyone can find a way to them you can. After all, not only did you defeat Ultron, you raised those kids. They're smart. Either you'll find a way to get to them or they'll find a way back to you," Henry told him, a smile on his face. Tony couldn't understand how the good doctor could have so much faith in him. Did everyone look up to them in this same way? He nodded and looked back at the tablet on the wall.
"I appreciate your confidence, Henry," He said, trying to give an assured smile again. "One more thing did come out of what happened. I saw a girl, just briefly, who seemed familiar. I wanted to see if anyone here or on other floors may know her." He messed with the tablet and entered in a code before a picture of the winged girl popped up. He zoomed in on her face and looked at Henry. The doc was studying the picture carefully.
"Well she definitely seems familiar. Though I don't have a photographic memory so I can't be sure where I've seen her. However, I'll certainly ask around," Henry told him.
"Thank you," Tony said, hoping that someone may recognize her. Henry patted Tony on the back.
"No problem, I'm happy to help. You should get back to your lab if you're going to get to those kids," Henry said. Tony nodded and gave Henry a somewhat genuine smile.
"Right. But umm..."
"Don't tell anyone about James and Hawkeye, I know," Henry waved him off. "I'll see you later when I come to check on Azari."
"Thanks Doc," Tony said, shaking hands with Henry before making his way back towards the elevator. He paused by Amina's table, where she was once again working on some pants. "If you ever need help, there's no shame in asking. Many would be glad to give a hand, myself included." Armina looked up at him and smiled slightly.
"I promise, if I need help I will ask," she said. He smiled back and walked towards the elevator. Once inside and the doors were safely shut, he let out a breath. He closed his eyes and pictured Pepper. He could still remember the last day he saw her. Still remember the day she broke it off. He could still remember the email he had received six years later. He could still remember the hospital she had been visiting with her daughter going up in flames in the attack. His heart ached. He hadn't thought about her in some time, having been so caught up in raising the kids. Then fighting Ultron. Then he was organizing people and building new armor. Then he was fighting robots. Then he was looking for James and Azari and so on. He hasn't stopped long enough to remember his friends. He hadn't stopped to think about her.
Sometimes he preferred it that way. Sometimes he felt guilty about not pausing to remember those that had been closest to him. Now was one of those times. He leaned on the wall of the elevator briefly, giving himself a rare moment to grieve.
The doors opening alerted him to the elevator having stopped at his floor. He opened His eyes and stared at the hall as he stepped off.
He made his way down the hall, listening to the quiet that unsettled him. The tower was once so full of life, and it was becoming that way again... before...
"Tony?" Torunns voice cut through his musing. He stopped walking and turned to his right. Torunn was wearing her Asguardian armor. Clearly, she was about to go on patrol. "What are you doing?"
"I was checking on things downstairs. You're heading out on patrol?" He asked. She nodded.
"I wish I wasn't the only one, but I know our family will be whole soon," she said, giving Tony a smile that told him just how confidant she was in him. That confidence it seemed everyone shared, but hers meant a great deal to him. He smiled back.
"Yes we will. Be careful while on patrol," he said, giving her a hug. There was so much more behind those words he knew she sensed. He couldn't lose her too... even though he's found James, Francis, Pym and Azari, three of them are still out of reach. They're still lost. He couldn't handle losing another daughter. She hugged him back.
"Always," she said and pulled back with that same smile. He nodded and she turned around, walking in the direction of the landing pad on the side of the tower. He watched her leave before making his way to his lab. The moment he entered, Jocasta gave him an update.
"One of the videos and several files have been uncovered from the algorithm you've been running."
Tony turned his attention the files as they were brought up for him. He looked them over carefully. He blinked when he realized what he had in the files. More specifically one file. It was one of Ultron's files, found within the tower system.
It was a file on Rogue.
P000 (~At an AIM Base~)
Rogue slowly opened his eyes. His head hurt and he didn't know where he was. He looked around, noting things as he did. He was in a cell that seemed to be made of energy. He was on an uncomfortable metal cot. He had electronic cuffs on his hands and guards outside his cell. He could see that beyond the guards was some kind of lab with the men in yellow suits. He caught sight of something on one of their screens. It was a stone that he recognized. He might have some leverage here....
"Time Subject is awake," one of the scientists said, noticing him. Time subject? They know...Rogue thought darkly.
"No use in pretending to sleep then," He replied to the scientist that had noticed him. He sat up, struggling some from the cuffs keeping his hands together. "And I have a name y'know."
"No, don't know, nor do I care. I am not assigned to you, but I'll grab who is," the scientist told him and Rogue could hear the smile in the man's voice as he continued. "You won't like him."
"I don't like you, where does that leave us?" Rogue deadpanned. The scientist just scoffed and walked away. Rogue watched him leave and started mentally working on his plan.
00 (~Tony's Lab~)
Tony waited in the lab for his team. He'd called the meeting after seeing the scan results Pym and Sam has gotten, but Cap had been adamant about looking for Rogue and Widow wasn't answering. He had no idea where Thor was. He wasn't able to assemble them until now, almost a full day later, which might've been just as well. He'd helped Clint in monitoring Francis' condition, which seemed to be improving well enough. They'd have to watch him carefully when he wakes up. See if he exhibits the same behaviors that he'd witnessed in Rogue the day before. For the first time in months, it felt like pieces of the puzzle were coming together.
He heard the lab door open and Hawkeye, Falcon, Pym, and Hulk entered. Hulk was giving Pym the side eye, trying to gauge the kid it seemed. Tony didn't quite understand why the big green didn't like the kid, but maybe he'd find out during this. Pym was figuring nervously, his eyes darting around the room.
"Where's the others?" Hawkeye asked. Tony leaned against one of his work tables.
"They're on their way. How's the kid holding up?" He asked, prepping the things he needed to show them in Caps tablet. It gave his hands something to do while
"Okay I guess. He woke up to eat and use the restroom before he went back to sleep. The sedative should be out of his system by now. Do you think what we saw on that scan is keeping him asleep like this?" Clint asked, glancing at the door.
"It's definitely possible," Tony said seriously.
"What scan thing?" Hulk asked, making Pym jump slightly with his voice.
"You'll find out soon, big guy," Tony replied, looking at Pym again. Falcon had sort of positioned himself between Pym and Hulk. It was kind of funny looking, especially knowing that Falcon has voted against Pym staying with them but seemed to like the kid now.
"Stark, what is the meaning of this meeting?" Thor asked, coming into the lab as well. He noticed Pym was there and raised an eyebrow. "And why is the small one apart of an Avengers matter?" Pym looked offended at that and opened his mouth to say something.
"Hey-" Cap coming in with Widow interrupted Pym. The small teen shut up, seeming to decide against continuing his sentence. Tony looked at the two.
"I take it the Rogue search didn't go well?" He asked.
"No, we didn't find him," Cap said, crossing his arms. He seemed slightly soar about this. Widow didn't comment, her face remaining neutral. Tony didn't try to crack it. Instead he laid the tablet down looked around the room, double checking that everyone was there.
"Everyone's here. Good. Before I start, Pym," Tony looked at said person. Pym straightened up, staring at him apprehensively. "I'm going to go over some ideas I have and you need to be straight with me on them being right or wrong. I don't care about time interference, I need straight answers. Understand?" His voice was firm and held no room for argument. He was kind of surprised at hearing it. It reminded him a bit of his father when he was actually around and it seemed to work. Pym's eyes were as big as dinner plates and he nodded slowly. It was almost like he felt like he was in trouble, which wasn't his intention. At least he knew that he had Pym's full attention. "Good."
"Tony, what's this about?" Cap asked, bringing things back to the meaning of this meeting.
"A lot Cap. Like I said, I have a lot of theories on what's been happening, but more specifically I have one about why you and Hawkeye have been feeling the way you have been with these kids. And I suspect the way Widow has felt as well?" Tony looked at Natasha, noting the surprise that slipped through her neutral mask. She looked at everyone and then slowly nodded. Tony could tell she didn't like admitting this, so he was surprised she did.
"What is this feeling of which you speak?" Thor asked. Tony looked from Nat to Cap, knowing he could explain it better.
"With Rogue, since the day Hawkeye and I met him, I've had this feeling. It's like I should know the kid. More than that... it's like..."
"I should be protecting him, not fighting him," Natasha finished Steve's explanation, confirming just how close her feelings were to Caps. He nodded. Tony watch Pyms involuntary responses to this.
"You hate to see him in pain. There's something wrong with this picture, but the answer as to what it is just out of your reach. You can't help until you figure it out," Clint spoke up, thinking of Francis yesterday. Pym scratched at the back of his neck, listening to this seemed to make him... sad. Thor looked at the three that spoke.
"You sounds as if you were put under some spell," he mused wearily. Tony shook his head.
"Not a spell. Cap, what did you tell Hawkeye when you saw our other guest?" He looked at Cap again. He wanted to see if they'd put it together as he had.
"That he looked like Clint..." Cap got a look on his face.
"Where is this going?" Hulk asked, annoyed that Tony hasn't gotten to the point yet. Pym raised his hand a bit. They looked at him expectedly. Tony nodded his approval when a second of silence passed. That seemed to be what the kid was waiting on.
"Who's Rogue?" He asked, genuinely confused. Everyone seemed taken aback by this. Especially since Rogue has tried to beat Pym to death, they figured he'd know.
"Uh... you don't know who that is?" Tony said incredulously. Pym shook his head. He didn't get everyone's reactions to the question. Tony pulled up a picture of Rogue, from the rooftop. Pym gasped loudly at the image. He shook slightly and looked down. The image was when Rogue had been unconscious, before Tony had brought him to the rooftop. The look on Pym's face was one of recognition, but also held no fear like Tony had expected. It was one of great concern.
0(~Pym's POV~)
Pym stares at the picture, memories flooded his head, mostly James growing up. Then he remembered his last encounter with him. That's not my name! Echoed in his mind. He felt almost num. He knew James was here, but he thought he might've gone back to their time with the rest of their friends. His hair was as long as when Pym saw him. So the picture had to be recent, but the circuitry was missing. He wondered if that was a good thing.
"When was this taken?" He asked, his voice surprisingly shaky. Tony blinked a bit.
"Yesterday," he answered.
"Why do I get the feeling that you know him beyond what happened a week ago?" Cap asked, clearly picking up on Pyms behavior. The teen looked at him and debated what to say. He then remembered how Tony began the meeting and nodded.
"We grew up together," he mumbled, looking back at the picture. "Me, him, and two other kids..."
"The friend that raised you that Francis talked about?" Hawkeye asked, clearly remembering their previous conversation. Pym nodded.
"Francis wasn't raised by him we met him later."
"If you were raised by this person, and you clearly don't call them your parent, what happened to your parents?" Widow asked. Pyms shoulders sagged as the story he grew up with ran through his head. Unlike his brothers and sister, Pym was just a baby when Ultron attacked. He never got to know his parents. His silence seemed to speak volumes as they realized what it meant. Pym shook his head just to confirm it. Tony got a look on his face, one that Pym recognized as a 'I hope to God I'm not right' look.
"Pym... I think you can guess what I was thinking... am I wrong?" The billionaire asked, his voice containing the same message. Pym looked at him, then looked at Cap, Widow, and Hawkeye.
"That feeling you all get with Francis and Ja-Rogue... it's the same feeling I bet Hank and Janet Pym would get if they met me...." the teen told them and it seemed to click into place with everyone.
"It's not just a nickname..." Clint said and Pym shook his head. He didn't know if he was talking about himself or Francis.
"It is but it's also my last name. My full name is Henry Pym Jr. My friends just called me Pym growing up and it stuck," he shrugged, but this felt like he'd just dropped a bomb shell.
"Odin's beard," Thor muttered. Steve and Natasha looked at each other. Clint looked at the door. Tony's face was paler and he had a death grip on the work table he was leaning against. Pym didn't dare look at Hulk, but also could tell that Tony had realized what exactly he'd just said. His friends, at least some of them, are dead in the future and it's a more recent future than any would like.
"How long..." Tony asked, breaking the silence. Pym didn't answer. "Pym, I said-"
"Tony," Pym interrupted him, slightly shocking him by the use of his first name. Pym hadn't called him that since coming here a week ago, sticking instead to 'Mr. Stark'. "I want to tell you all everything. You have no idea how hard it is for me to stand here and look at you right now. But I don't know how badly this could affect the timeline. I don't know if it'll screw up my life with my make shift family or make it to where someone was never born. Despite everything that happened, I can't risk something happening them.." he sounded so serious. So solemn. The Avengers could practically feel the weight of the words. The kid was talking like he had to grow up. The silence was so palpable you could cut it with a knife. Pym hated the silence. Having so many 'siblings' meant silence was so unusual it unnerved him.
"So if you grew up with Rogue, was he always like... like we've known him?" Falcon posed a good question. Pym shook his head and glanced at Clint again.
"He didn't even go by Rogue. A year ago, Francis and him got into a fight. He left our base to cool off. Our teammate, Azari, followed him to check on him. That was the last time I saw them. They disappeared that night. We later figured out they'd been kidnapped but we didn't know where. Francis beat himself up about it. It was hard on all of us..." Pym trailed off for a moment, looking at the picture again sadly. "We thought we had a lead six months ago. Francis went in before we had all arrived. By the time we got into the building he was gone... we'd lost another friend."
"The ambush... he was the friend you were looking for," Clint thought out loud. Pym nodded.
"You seem to know more about this than us, Hawkeye?" Widow stated. Clint didn't look at her.
"I got to talk to Francis before he collapsed. Keep going Pym," he urged, able to tell the teen wasn't done. Pym took another breath.
"For the passed six months it's been me, Torrun, and my guardian... our world has a lot happening in it. We could barely handle everything by ourselves, let alone keep searching. But we didn't give up. It paid off. A week ago, T-our guardian found a lead that panned out. We infiltrated the building and found Azari." Pym smiled for the first time since he entered the room. "He was hurt but alive. Unfortunately, Francis and... him weren't there. But still, the win gave us hope. Then we got ambushed ourselves. Our guardian told me to get Azari out of there, but we were surrounded. We wouldn't have made it out. Then an orange flash happened and we were suddenly falling from the sky. That's when I saw Francis. He saved Azari's life. Then he had to run... he was being chased by something, I didn't see what though."
"What's this kid look like?" Hulk suddenly spoke up, making Pym tense again. He knew this Hulk didn't know him, but that didn't stop his last encounter with the Hulk of his time from playing in his head when he spoke. Tony pulled up the security camera footage. Hulk saw the white haired young man sleeping in the infirmary and instantly became enraged. "That's the guy that shot Falcon!" He shouted angrily.
"What?" Everyone else seemed to say in confusion. Hulk turned to stomp his way to the infirmary, but Clint quickly moved to get in his way.
"No! You are not going after him Hulk!" He stated firmly, clearly as protective of him as he'd stated earlier. Pym readied his stingers, though he didn't fire, still scared of the consequences of doing so.
"Make me," Hulk sneered challengingly.
"Nobody is making anyone do anything, especially here. Hulk, what do you mean he shot Falcon? When?"
"I'd like to know this as well," Falcon said, struggling to remember which incident Hulk is talking about. The big guy crossed his arms, seeming to decide against just charging to the infirmary for now.
"When the dinosaurs were attacking," he told them. Falcon had a look of realization on his face.
"When my pack was damaged! That was him? You saw him do that?" Falcon sounded incredulous. Like he couldn't believe that he'd held a conversation with the person who did that when his team needed him.
"Yeah I did. Almost had him too," Hulk gave Tony a glowering look that made him step back slightly.
"You're the reason he ran..." Pym mumbled.
"Let me guess, you brought him back here after that?" Hulk looked at Stark and the question confused the billionaire.
"What?" Tony said, still processing that. Clint shook his head.
"No, he brought him here after we stopped him from getting kidnapped by AIM a few days ago. Him and Pym are the reasons Falcon and I stayed behind yesterday, in case AIM came for them," Hawkeye told Hulk, equally confused as to what the big guy was talking about.
"You said you'd take care of him and the blond," Hulk looked at Tony accusingly. Pym froze a second, his stingers powering down as a thought crossed his mind.
"I didn't say anything, when all that was going on I was too busy running from skull and working on armor I could actually use," Tony states, slightly defensively. Pym knew, he knew Torunn and his Tony had been here when all the chaos was happening. That had to be who he was talking about.
"What color was the armor?" Pym asked.
"What-"
"Black and Red," Hulk cut off Cap's question. Pym smiled at that.
"And the girl? Blond, gold armor, red cape, big ass sword that's almost as long as she is tall?" He asked, though he already knew the answer. Hulk nodded.
"Yeah, that's her."
"We saw a girl like that too. She actually saved Hawkeye from getting shot," Widow told them. "She had a symbol on the sword like the one on your hammer, Thor." Thor blinked and looked at Mjölnir.
"But... that's not possible," the Asguardian said. Pym shrugged.
"Sure it is. That was Torunn," He said. He watched it click into place for Thor, before looking back at Tony. He was starting to feel like he may have been saying too much. "You said you had other theories Mr. Stark. What are they?" He slightly brought things back to subjects of the meeting. Tony took a moment to keep his head from running off in so many directions with the information they'd gathered. He cleared his throat.
"Uh, right..." Tony looked at Hulk. "Whatever you saw Francis do, I'm not sure he had control of it."
"Whaddya mean?" Hulk asked, crossing his arms. He was clearly thinking about something. Tony took another second to organize his thoughts. He swiped away the footage of Francis and picture of James, much to Pyms disappointment. Then he pulled up what Jarvis found on the scan Pym did.
"This," Tony pointed to the findings of the scan. The Avengers moved closer to get a better look. The scan showed a foreign object on the brain that had several small masses protruding from it. One of the protrusions seemed to be near or on the brain stem, connecting the two. Pym and Clint shared a look.
"What is that?" Cap asked.
"You remember what happened yesterday after Rogue woke up?"
"Yeah, red eyes and collapsing," Widow said.
"Francis collapsed yesterday too, after a bad headache. Hawkeye, Falcon and I got this scan from him," Pym informed those who weren't there yesterday.
"When Rogue collapsed, my suit couldn't scan him to find out what was wrong. It was blocked, specifically in the area around his head and shoulders. Apparently Jarvis had the same issue when trying to scan Francis," Tony elaborated his point.
"So how did you get this scan then?" Widow asked, looking at Pym.
"Pym came up with a pretty brilliant solution actually," Falcon stated, making said person beam slightly. Clint gave him a nudge to say 'explain' silently.
"Oh, um... Jarvis said a frequency was blocking him from being able to scan him. So I used one of Hawkeyes sound arrows and reverse engineered a frequency that canceled out the blocking frequency," Pym explained and shrugged. To him, it wasn't a huge leap to make and it helped his friend somewhat.
"Remember, this thing they found is on the brain. There's not a lot of room between it and the skull, so this has to be tiny. Given that I couldn't scan rogue, we can probably assume that he has one of these too. The frequency emitted may be the way AIM tracked him. It's a bit of a long shot, and could take some time to figure out, but I think we can find where AIM brought him this way," Tony finally finished his thoughts. "And maybe figure out what this is."
The Avengers looked at each other. Cap looked relieved. Widow did too though she was still using her Neutral mask. Thor looks like he was still trying to piece together the earlier conversation. Tony actually couldn't tell what Falcon was thinking and Hulk almost looked conflicted. A rare thing to see.
"Sir, Francis is beginning to wake," Jarvis informed them, breaking everyones train of thought. Pym and Hawkeye looked at each other and Pym rushed through the door. He needed to be sure his friend was alright.
00 (~At the AIM Base~)
Rogue looked up again as another Scientist approached his cell. This one wasn't wearing a mask... and they were a woman it seems. He raised an eyebrow at seeing her. Given what the earlier scientist had said, he thought it'd be a man assigned to him.
"Time subject 0013. You seem surprised," she spoke. He shrugged.
"The guy earlier said I wouldn't like 'him.' When referring to you. So yeah, I guess I am a little," he stated. The woman sighed in frustration.
"I told him to stop using my improper pronouns Damn it," she muttered, pinching the bridge of her nose. She shook her head. "No matter, I'll simply speak to him later. For now, you are my priority."
"Because of my relation to the infinity stone that showed up a week ago?" Rogue asked, watching as her eyebrows shot up and she stared at him. Then she narrowed her eyes.
"How do you know of that?" Her tone was supposed to sound threatening, but Rogue didn't care. In fact, he allowed himself to smirk a bit.
"You call me a 'Time Subject.' You have men working on the time stone in this place. It's not exactly a stretch," he deadpanned. "But that's not the only reason I know about that." He wasn't gonna tip his hand completely, but in order to get his plan to work she'd need to be curious enough.
"Oh? Do tell?" She asked, clearly being methodical. She was trying to pretend to be his friend clearly. She wanted whatever he had. Perfect.
"No. If I tell, I lose cards. And I need all the ones I have," Rogue replied simply. He leaned back against the wall of the cell.
"You do realize that we have ways to get information," She stated, crossing her arms. He shrugged.
"Sure, but honestly, there's nothing you could do to me that would be worse than the hell I've already been through." He stated. "But... I'd be willing to share some of what I know if I can also get what I want." She mulled this over a moment. He could see the gears turning in her head. She gave him a smile that almost looked genuine. Almost.
"Very well, what is it you would like?" she asked. He knew she was thinking it'd be something petty or the obvious 'let me go' response. Something she could easily get around.
"No. I'll talk to the head of your organization. Work something out," he watched her grit her teeth when he said this. She clearly didn't like her boss. Human emotion was interesting to observe but so easily manipulated.
"We'll see," she said. Then she pressed a button on something outside his cell. The cell began filling with gas. Rogue started coughing from the gas, doubling over after a moment. "For now, we have some tests to run," she stated. He didn't like the tone she used, but commenting was not something he could do right now.
The world around him went black.
F000 (~Torunn~)
Torunn flew over the city, looking at the beauty of it. She loved patrol. The wind flying around her was always amazing. Being so high up gave her a chance to think. Not to mention the quiet in the tower was almost too much for her. She was so used to Pym pulling small pranks, Azari checking on her, James playing some song loudly from his room. Then there were the games or training always going on. And Francis joined the team...Her family is almost never quiet. Or at least...it was.
"Torunn!" Someone yelled from below. She slowed down, looking where the voice cane from. She'd reached one of the sections of the city being remodeled without even realizing it. A volunteer builder was the one that had called to her. He was waving too. She floated down to him.
"Can I help you?" She asked politely. He nodded in an embarrassed manor.
"We're having some trouble getting some beams and equipment up for the roof. Could you maybe help us get them up there?" He asked. She looked at the roof and then back at the builder.
"Aye, I can. Where is the supplies you need me to bring up?" She asked, happy to help with the rebuilding. He let out a sigh of relief and showed her where and what they needed. She assisted in bringing them up and holding beams when needed. She even decided to stay and keep helping today. They hadn't seen a robot on the streets in months and the only other place with robots she knew of had them all demolished during Azari's rescue. So she felt okay staying and assisting. Before she knew it, they'd gotten the foundation for roofs of several homes that were well on their way to completion. The sun was beginning to set and the workers were preparing to either go to their own homes or to the shelters set up. It had been a good day.
"Thank you so much! We very much appreciate the help. This work would've taken us so much longer to get to this point without your help," The builder who had originally asked her to help told her. Torunn gave him a smile and a nod. The distraction had been nice to have for the time.
"Of course. The rebuilding of our home is extremely important. I'll always be happy to lend a hand where I am able," She replied, dusting off her hands. She glanced at the sun again as it set. "I should be getting back to the tower. If you ever need any more help and see me flying, don't hesitate to yell again." He grinned and gave her a thumbs up.
"You got it. Thanks again," He said. She waved and then took off into the air. The sunset was beautiful, the sky an explosion of color that reflected off the city in an incredible way. She felt very much at peace for the moment. Tony was waiting for her when she came back, the look on his face quickly replaced the peaceful feeling.
"What is it?" she asked. Tony motioned for her to follow him as he turned from her.
"There's something I found. It's about James," he said, his tone a mix of emotions. Torunn felt the weight of worry set in as she followed him. As they entered his lab, she saw what Jacosta had projected. She stopped in her tracks, staring at the file. There was a picture there, next to a name she didn't know. The face in the picture, she did know. James. He looked like he was sleeping and in bad need of a haircut. Her eyes stayed on the picture a moment before scanning what was written in the file. A look of confusion crossed her face.
"What... What is this? Why does it say Rogue?" Torunn felt the nerves rise in her as she kept reading, her confusion turned to horror at the actions listed further down. "He.. He couldn't... why would-" she couldn't finish as she turned to Tony. He has a forlorn look on his face as he stared at the same photo.
"From what I've been piecing together in the last few hours, when James went to the past, that was the name he decided to go by. And he wasn't himself. He was considered an enemy until Francis came into the picture... It's still difficult to remember why though," Tony told her and rubbed the bridge of his nose.
"B-But how could he do all this? What's listed here? " She felt almost numb from reading that list. It ranged from releasing criminals, to working with bad organizations, to attempted murder... She didn't know how to take this.
"I don't think he had a choice in the matter. Azari told me that he'd changed while missing and his eyes... They're closed in this picture, but Azari said his eyes were turning red and that the same thing happened to Francis. Some time ago, we faced an invention of an enemy of ours. Microbots. They partially controlled everyone but me because I was in my armor. A side affect of the microbots was that those controlled had red eyes," He told her what he was thinking. Torunn let that sink in.
"You think he'd being controlled?" She wanted to confirm, but she knew that it was the only thing that would make sense. Tony nodded.
"I don't know everything that happened in that lab, but I wouldn't put it passed...whoever was running it to work on microbots similar to MODOCs," he said, thinking back to what Azari said.
"I think we should pay that place another visit," She said. He agreed, but turned to her.
"In the morning. It's already dark out. If he's up for it and the doc gives him an okay, Azari may be able to come too," He said, trying to leave less room for argument by bringing Azari into it. Torunn seemed about to protest. She wanted to get to the bottom of things, now! However, she knew that rushing things was how they'd lost Francis in the first place.
"Alright... only so Azari may join if he wishes," She reluctantly agreed.
P000 (~The Tower Infirmary~Francis~)
Francis slowly opened his eyes, struggling to adjust to the light. He felt like he'd been put through a blender. He was disoriented. His head had a dull throb going in it. He tried to glance around the infirmary, but things were blurry. He briefly closed his eyes again, slowly recalling what happened. A migraine made him pass out. Since when did he get migraines? Aside from the headache, he was feeling weird. Not quite like himself. He didn't like it.
Rapid footsteps became clearer and clearer. Someone was running down the hall. He cracked his eyes open again, attempting to focus on the doorway. Soon, a yellow blur showed up in the door way. It took a moment to focus. He saw Pym there.
"Hey short stack," He muttered, taking a deep breath and looking away from him. The bright yellow of Pym's suit wasn't helping the throb in his head. He heard Pym approach the side of his bed. He glanced at him briefly. Pym's face went from concerned to relieved.
"Are you okay?" The shrinking boy asked.
"Yeah, little headache left over from that but I'm fine," Francis told him.
"We have some pain killers to help with that," Clint's voice drew his attention back to the door. He let out a dry laugh.
"That worked so well earlier," Francis muttered. Clint shrugged and approached the bed, standing by Pym. There was something in the way his younger father was looking at him now. He couldn't quite place it.
"Migraines aren't easy to combat, but headaches can be managed with water and Tylenol," Clint told him. "Jarvis?" On command, two cabinets opened in the wall. He grabbed water and a packet of headache meds. He set them on the table by Francis. The young archer pushed himself up. He opened the packet and grabbed the water. After taking the meds he drank half the water in the bottle.
"Thanks," he said with a sigh. Some silence passed a few minutes. Pym clearly had something on his mind. "Pym, what's on your mind?" Pym took a second to respond, raising Francis' suspicions.
"They know..." he finally said. Francis took a second to process all the possible meanings of those words. One settled hard though. The way his father looked at him.
"You mean..." Francis wanted to clarify. Pym nodded, the silent confirmation had him looking at his younger father. Clint gave him a smile.
"Gotta say, your nickname makes a lot more sense than you simply having good aim," The Avenger said. Francis was searching for the right words now. There was a pit in his stomach. Something inside him told him that this was bad. He didn't know why though.
"Yeah, I bet," He let out a slightly nervous chuckle. "Still up for testing it?" Clint nodded. "Sure, you think you'll be able to keep up?" Hawkeye said, issuing the challenge. Francis gave him the signature smirk of the Barton's.
"Easily," Francis replied. It had been so long since he'd actually trained with his father. Despite the pit in his stomach, he was looking forward to it. Pym looked between the two, surprised by how quickly a challenge had been issued. He grinned.
"I'm watching this!" He said excitedly.
000(~Rogue~)
Rogue groaned a bit. He was back in his cell. The tests they'd conducted had not been pleasant. His body still felt heavy from the gas earlier. The other scientist was right. He didn't like her. He hoped he'd be able to get even with her during his escape, if it came to that.
"Time Subject 0-"
"Rogue, my name is Rogue," he snapped, interrupting the scientist outside his cell now. He wasn't going to put up with not being called his name right now.
"Whatever. The boss what's to see you," the scientist said. This piqued his interest. He looked over at the scientist.
"Really?"
"Yeah. So get up," the scientist responded. He purposefully waited a minute before he got up. This should go according to plan. If not, he'd figure it out. The scientist opened his cell, guards at the ready in case he tried something. Somewhat smart. Rogue walked out and was escorted through several halls. He took note of rooms, things he saw and where they were going. They entered a room and he saw... a giant floating head with disproportionate arms and legs. That was not expected. He felt an urge to laugh but managed to hold it back.
"I'm going to guess you're the guy in charge," Rogue stated. The Giant head seemed to be sizing him up.
"I am MODOC! The greatest mind ever created," The giant head introduced himself. His voice was weird. Rogue didn't like it. "Interesting... you have a great amount of technology within you. I can sense it. Why is that?" This made Rogue tense. His look hardened.
"Reasons I'm not here to get into. I'm here to make a deal," Rogue said, swiftly cutting off that subject for conversation. MODOC chuckled.
"Yes, I heard about your offer of information on the Infinity stones. Something that would be invaluable for us to research and use," MODOC spoke. Rogue wanted to shudder. His voice was so creepy. The giant head moved closer, prompting Rogue to take a small step back. "How do I know you have what you say and aren't just lying to escape?"
"If I was gonna use this to escape I would've done it by now," Rogue replied, crossing his arms. "I have a way to find the infinity stones. Tony Stark figured it out, I stole it from him." He stated bluntly. The reaction to the name of Iron Man surprised him. MODOC got a crazy look in his eyes and zoomed even closer, absolutely in Rogues face.
"YOU stole this from an Avenger?!" The giant head yelled in his face. Rogue didn't shrink back but god did he wish this giant head had a freaking breath mint.
"Yeah. They were preoccupied dealing with the carnage brought by the time stone. I took advantage of the opportunity," He said, his nose scrunching slightly at the lingering smell. MODOC seemed to be attempting to figure out if he was lying or not.
"Why would you need information such as this?" he asked, floating back from Rogue. Thank God. His breath sucked. Rogue thought as he let out a breath he'd been holding.
"I have a mission I plan to complete. The infinity stones can help me do that," He stated simply.
"What mission is this?" MODOC asked again. Rogue took a moment to think, wondering if he'd react just as manically to his mission as he did to the name 'Tony Stark'.
"I want to be rid of the Avengers," he said carefully. For a second it seemed like MODOC broke, going silent and staring at him. It almost made him uncomfortable. Then MODOC grinned.
"It seems we have similar goals. Perhaps, we can achieve them through a temporary partnership," MODOC offered the suggestion. Rogue mulled this over. So far he wasn't a huge fan of this place. However, with Hawk being MIA, he'd need some kind of help when facing them, just like he needed help running. He was well trained, but realized that as long as the Avengers were together, he'd be unable to complete his mission in the time frame necessary alone.
"It seems we do," Rogue said, allowing himself to smirk. This was going to be interesting.

~

Interesting indeed Rogue! This chapter was one of my favorites to write even if it changed the direction I was going with the story.

Now tell me, did ya'll pick up the hints? I'm dying to know!

The next chapter is the beginning of things that have been stuck in my Head for years! It's gonna be a good one!
~March 10, 2021~