Retrospect『 avengers au 』

Chapter IX: Brainwashed

"It's a lot of work, but if you really have it in you, it's not like work. It becomes fun." - Stan Lee

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Chapter IX: Brainwashed

Tony stared straight ahead through the one-way glass, his charcoal eyes dark with a cloud of anger he masked well as the man in the little room on the other side of the glass refused to speak. The stranger's face held no emotion, his face relaxed in complete indifference as he kept his gaze locked on the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent questioning him. She was one of the best agents, as well as one of the best interrogators, yet the man gave up no information. Nothing. It caused Tony's teeth to clench behind sealed lips, wanting to storm inside that little room and demand the answer as to how a man could point a gun at a young girl's face and attempt to kill her. But he restrained himself, like a dog on a leash, and sat, and stayed.

Natasha Romanoff raised an eyebrow at the man beside her as he took a seat in front of the table before the one-way glass. "You good?" She checked with him, her arms crossed as she went back to watching the stranger, awaiting a response from Tony.

Tony ran a hand over his short goatee, ready to admit to Natasha how much he wanted to hurt the man for threatening Ariel, but he took notice of a few other agents in the room- including Clint Barton and Steve Rogers- whose gazes shifted to him in slight curiosity. Tony sighed quietly through his nose and simply nodded his head in response to Natasha.

The S.H.I.E.L.D. agent interrogating the man in the small room suddenly stood up and exited, entering the space where Tony, Natasha, Clint, and Steve were waiting, observing, as well as a few other agents working on devices.

"He's giving me nothing," Agent Steele stated flatly, a trace of frustration found in her tone as she dropped the files she had been holding, setting them onto the table Tony sat at. "I used the photo proof against him and he still didn't bother saying a word. Whoever he and this other woman work for, they're not ashamed of chasing and attempting to kill seemingly innocent people," Agent Steele continued, though her words blurred into the background of Tony's mind as he slowly inched his hand forward to retrieve the file of photos he technically wasn't allowed to look at.

Glancing back up to see no one paying him much attention, Tony flicked open the pale yellow folder to see documents, and mainly photos centered around the work of the man who sat in the interrogation room. He skimmed over the documents, only seeing the basic information about the man that meant nothing and didn't help with Ariel's situation. He examined the photos and immediately leaned back slightly, resisting the urge to cringe in disgust. Each photo contained a dead body, the life taken from it by the man, and Tony's stomach twisted as he took note of the brutal markings upon the bodies. Some of them were young women.

"What are you, five? It says 'Classified' in big red letters," Agent Steele suddenly interrupted Tony's thoughts, and his head shot up just as the blonde agent snatched the folder back up into her grasp, sending him a warning look.

"Sorry," Tony muttered half-heartedly, now distracted by the photos that were forever imprinted in his brain. Natasha seemed to notice Tony's stress level rising and nudged Agent Steele, whispering something to her, which coaxed her nod, then she left the room, followed by Steve and Clint.

The redheaded agent spun a chair around and took a seat facing Tony, her eyebrows knitted together as she met his gaze. "What is it?" She questioned.

The brunet sighed, running a hand through his hair as he sent another look at the man sitting in the interrogation room still, a blank expression still painting his face. Tony met Natasha's eyes. "He was moments away from killing her," he blurted, shutting his eyes briefly as he attempted to gather his thoughts. "I let her leave the tower too soon. I took her back to that beach too soon. If I just didn't do anything, she would have been fine. But now she's petrified, and she's mad at me," he muttered, bouncing his knee anxiously, avoiding eye contact with his teammate.