FENRIR ※ Tony Stark [2]

6 - HIS GREATEST FEAR

NATHANIEL BEGAN PLAYING with a strand of her hair which made her crack a small smile. She swayed him absentmindedly, until her eyes caught a piercing gaze staring from the other side of the room.

It was that girl again, Wanda. She might've been only a kid, but she had a knack at setting Angie on edge. The Witch had barely said two words since last night's mission but Angie always found her glaring intensely for some reason. It was becoming seriously ridiculous.

The Harpy looked away uncomfortably, trying to focus on Nathaniel's happy babbling. Despite her best efforts, she couldn't stop thinking about Fenrir. As usual, the memory of her brother brought a very painful pang to her chest.

The first time Angie saw Fenrir, he had been much older than the child in her arms — around six or seven, in human years. Yet somehow, the memories felt as strong and real as if they had happened yesterday.

Fenrir never had a proper mother and so his sister always served that role. Angie was the one who would cradle him when he was frightened, rocking him gently until his crying stopped... much like she was doing to Nathaniel at this very moment.

"I failed you, little brother..." she thought with sadness.

Angie closed her eyes, feeling her heart sink deeper. When she opened them back, a flinch almost made her drop Nathaniel as Wanda suddenly appeared in front of her.

The Scarlet Witch's expression was hard to define. It was a look of concern but also sharp — like she knew all about Angie's wormhole of thoughts.

She extended her arms "Give me the baby."

The Harpy's mouth hung slightly agape, trying to find something to say, but she couldn't. It felt like she could breathe more easily as Wanda took Nathaniel from her.

"Thank you," she muttered discreetly and made her way out of the room before anyone could ask questions.

⁂

"MR. STARK, are you even listening?!"

Tony snapped out of his trance, looking up at the man who'd just spoken. Around the massive table, a lineup of corporate politicians and military representatives all stared at him contemptuously.

He heaved a long sigh, leaning back against his chair. This entire meeting drained his soul and he was counting the seconds until he could dart out of the room.

"I heard you the first twenty thousand times Lieutenant," he rolled his eyes "I'm sorry if you don't like it, but I have nothing else for you."

A low rumble rose. Clearly everyone around the table had something to comment but the Lieutenant's eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"So you're saying the prison was completely empty when you got there?"

"I'm glad the message is finally coming through."

"Mr Stark, you were the only one in that level after the intruders took down our security! Did you not notice anything at all?!"

"Only that you need better security."

The Lieutenant was clearly holding back obscenities. Tony might've found it comical in different circumstances but right now, he had no patience whatsoever for this.

"And you saw no one? Heard nothing?" another senator insisted

Tony rubbed his eyes tiredly, when was this going to end? "No and no."

Of course it didn't matter how suspicious the people around this table were; there was no way in hell Tony would tell them the truth. Not least because he was secretly glad Barton, Wanda, Lang and Wilson has made it out of that prison. The fact that they were sent there to begin with was utterly ridiculous. If his lack of cooperation was a hobble in the government's hunt to find them, then it gave him another good reason to lie.