FENRIR ※ Tony Stark [2]

2 - ONE WAY MIRROR

FOUR YEARS is a long time. Angie had always known it. She had felt every day pass with an increasing weight on shoulders. The further she got from Earth, the more it reminded her of the time she was losing.

The grains in an hourglass can only fall. Time doesn't wait for anyone.

To make it even worse, it had been her choice to be away for so long. She had roamed every corner of the universe, never admitting defeat. She kept silencing the nagging voice in her head. The one who constantly berated that the search for Fenrir was never going to amount to anything.

That voice had been right.

In the end, her legendary stubbornness had given Angie nothing but four long years away from her loved ones.

But of course she hadn't expected things to stay static while she was gone.

But this...? No, this she could have never expected.

In the four years since the Battle of New York, Earth had seen more havoc than she had in her entire lifetime.

She had stayed quiet the entire time Fury spoke. As per her request, he narrated everything she had missed: from HYDRA's infiltration of S.H.I.E.L.D, to the Winter Soldier, to Tony accidently creating Ultron, the Battle in Sokovia, all the newest additions to the Avengers, the disappearance of Bruce, the Accords that tore the team in half and all the chaos that ensued...

When he finally finished recounting everything, Angie maintained her unsettling silence. Her gaze was empty, the emotions on her face, even harder to decipher than usual.

Admittedly it was a lot to take in at once, but she had insisted on hearing the entire story right away, and he delivered.

"I... I don't know what to say."

Of all the responses she could've given, this was probably the most pointless one, but at least it had the credit of being honest.

So many elements of this story were deeply confusing to her; starting with Tony signing the Sokovia accords. As much as she racked her brain, she couldn't understand why Tony, of all people, would want to do that. It was so unlike him.

Back when the Avengers had just been formed, he constantly protested S.H.I.E.L.D's overpowering authority. In fact, it was the very first thing they bonded over. But now, to find him on the obedient side was just baffling... And to find Steve on the rebellious side was even crazier.

But maybe she shouldn't be so puzzled. Judging by Fury's recap, they had all gone through so much these past few years, it was bound to change them in some way. After all, even she was not the same woman she had been four years ago.

However, imagining the Avengers fighting each other still made her sick to her stomach. How could it possibly come to this? As much as she tried to reason herself, to think Tony could've become so unrecognizable simply broke her heart.

She buried the thought somewhere in the depth of her mind and tried to keep a straight face in front of Fury.

"I just... I don't understand," she finally admitted in one breath.

"What don't you understand?"

"How could things get so out of hand?" she muttered in disbelief before glancing back at him sharply "Where were you when the team were off trying to kill each other?"

Fury inhaled deeply and shifted in his seat "You don't understand. The rest of the world thinks I died two years ago," he stated in the patronizing tone she absolutely hated "I lost my authority when S.H.I.E.L.D went down."