The shadow Hunter

chapter 60

"Clara" Tony breathed as the three of us approached him and Steve. "You look-" He started. "Like hell I bet." I finished for him, my tone bland.   Steve gave a look that said it probably did. I had been too scared to look in the mirror for a long time now, too scared to see the person I had become, to see the person I was. I would have rather stared directly into the sun than at myself.

There wasn't a lot of time for a catch up. Tony asked how i had been, where i had been. I was fine, I told him. You know, about, i told him, although the return of my heavier Russian twinge probably gave the answer away. He asked me about my hair, I told him i dyed it.  What he didn't do was ask why i hadn't been in contact, why i hadn't assured him more recently if I was ok. I would of deserved to be shouted at for those things. But he didn't. The 5 of us went inside the compound where we met Scott Lang and Bruce, hunched over computers and electrics. I was shocked to find Bruce as neither Bruce or the Hulk but more of a hybrid. 

"It took a lot of gamma radiation experimentation, but i got there in the end." He explained as an answer. Scott looked up at me and Clint and stuck out his hand towards me. "Hi I'm Scott Lang, Ant man, you may remember me from Berlin, 2017?" He prompted. I cautiously took his hand, shook it once then let it fall. "Your the guy that got really big?" I questioned. He smiled and nodded proudly. "Oh and then your legs got all tied up and you fell over." I remembered. He looked slightly less proud at that.

The 7 of us sat around the conference table on the first floor. "This is a fully functional time-space GPS." Tony explained, holding up a metal bracelet. "Now all we need is the Pymms Particles,"  Scott nodded, "Check." He stated proudly. Tony acknowledged him and then spoke to all of us again. "And a time machine." He stated. I laughed under my breath, "That's it?" I questioned. "I have the plans, all we need to do is build it." He explained. Clint leant forward, resting his elbows on the table. Since the dark alley in Shang-Hi, i had noticed Clint had changed a lot. He wore his hair differently, more spiked up, and he had a whole sleeve of tattoos on his right arm. It's funny how people dealt with grief by getting ink permanently drawn on their skin. I had done the same. In addition to my bird on my shoulder and my widow tattoo, i had added a rose at the top of my spine, to represent my mother. On the back of my right heel there was a small 'P'. I liked how it stood for both of them. There were others but they were all meaningless. 

"How do we know this is going to work?" Clint asked. Tony glanced around at all of us. "We don't." He admitted. This is exactly why i didn't want to leave Russia. I had been given hope now and maybe this wouldn't even work. I shook my head slowly. "I'm only gonna do this, I'll only get involved if it will work." I told them. I wouldn't put myself through this, go through all the pain and effort just to be let down again- it would feel like losing him a second time. Tony looked at me, "But for the chance that it won't work, there is the same amount of chance it will work." Tony sighed and leant forward, whispering, "Do it for him." He knew as soon as he said those words, I wouldn't be able to say no. "But only if we have everyone's help." He looked towards Steve and Nat. "Will we be getting a full team?" He asked. Nat and Steve glanced at each other. "We are working on it."

We couldn't get to work until the rest of the team showed up and so Tony drove us back to the house in the country. We sat in an odd, unsettling silence. What do you say to your dad who you left two years ago? What does he say to his daughter who he hasn't seen in two years and has clearly become a sociopathic murderer? I felt glad when we reached the house and then i felt awful and sick. I stepped out of the car and the doors slammed behind us. I heard a bark from inside the house and Marley, much bigger than he was when i left, came bounding out the house, and scurrying to my feet. he jumped up at my knees and i crouched down to rub his head and stroke him. "Hey Mars." I muttered as i scratched behind his ears.