For the Love of a Father ✓

Dark Dreams

We're loaded up on a quinjet, heading to the African coast. I'm sitting in the back, in a corner by myself. My newfound powers are dancing around my fingers, illuminating my face in a pink glow. "Hey." I look up and Steve is standing before me. "It's going to be ok."

"I'm not sure about that. If the mind stone gave me powers similar to Wanda, then we need to be prepared for anything. They're practically humming inside of me. It's like they're right underneath my skin, itching to get out." My hands are shaking, from nerves or the power bubbling right underneath the surface I wasn't sure.

Steve grabs my hands, stilling their movements. "You're going to be ok. I won't let anyone hurt you."

"You can't make those promises. We have a responsibility to the world, their safety comes first."

"We're coming in for a landing." I hear Clint say from the front. I school my features, once more hiding behind a mask that I had spent years building.

"We're going to do this in teams. Banner, you stay with the jet unless we need you. Clint, Natasha, you two sneak in separately, stick to the shadows. Thor, Tony, Myra, and I will be frontline." Steve orders and we all nod. Dad goes to suit up while the rest of us prep our weapons.

...

We manage to sneak in and I stick close to Steve, our footsteps silent as we come to the center of the ship. "Stark is... He's a sickness!" We hear Ultron yell.

"Ah, Junior. You're gonna break your old man's heart." Dad says as he lands in front of us.

"As long as that's all he's breaking." I say under my breath. Steve hears me, however, and places a hand on my shoulder.

"If I have to." Ultron responds. I stand up straight when I see the twins behind him, and feel a probing in my mind. Going on instinct I give it a mental shove and feel her exit my head.

"Nobody has to break anything." Thor says, trying to keep things from going to shit, as they normally do for us.

"Clearly you've never made an omelet." Ultron says back.

"He beat me by one second." Dad says and I could practically see the annoyed look on his face.

"Ah, yes. He's funny. Mr. Stark. It's what, comfortable? Like old times?" The boy, Pietro, asks.

"This was never my life." Dad says, his voice pained.

"You two can still walk away from this." Steve tells the twins.

"Oh, we will." The girl, Wanda, assures him sarcastically.

"Touch him, Glinda, and I'll rip you apart from the inside out." I say, taking a menacing step forward, my hands glowing with power. I see realization dawn on Wanda's face as my powers practically mimic her own. Steve puts a hand out to stop me.

"I know you've suffered." Steve says, still trying to deescalate the situation, but Ultron scoffs at him, bringing our attention back to the AI in the middle.

"Captain America. God's righteous man. Pretending you could live without a war. I can't physically throw up in my mouth, but..." Ultron begins before Thor cuts him off.

"If you believe in peace, then let us keep it."

"I think you're confusing 'peace' with 'quiet'."

"Uh-huh. What's the vibranium for?" Dad asks.

"I'm glad you asked that, because I wanted to take this time to explain my evil plan." He pulls Dad to him while more Legionnaires dropped down from the ceiling, engaging the rest of us.

My hands glow and I trust my instincts as I move my hands in such a way that tears the one robot apart, before it can hurt Steve or myself. While I'm distracted, the Maximoff girl uses her powers to toss Steve aside. "I thought I warned you of what would happen if you touched him." I tell her, throwing a ball of energy at her. She blocks it and sends one back but I have years of combat training and easily dodge it. I distracted by a blue blur and Steve getting knocked to the ground.

I hold one of the robots in the air with my powers while Steve tossed his shield, slicing them in two. I follow Steve as he approaches Pietro. "Stay down, kid." He orders. I lose sight of the girl and that does little to calm my nerves.

"Thor, status." Steve asks, as we watch him from his spot a couple of floors above us.

"The girl tried to warp my mind. Take special care. I doubt a human could keep her at bay. Fortunately, I am mighty." And then Thor goes silent.

"So much for him being mighty." I say with a roll of my eyes. Steve and I are thrown apart, to opposite sides of the room.

"Steve!" I yell but before I can do anything I feel a fog come over me and I'm no longer on that ship in Africa.

I'm standing in the middle of a concrete room. The air around me is cold. This doesn't make any sense. I shouldn't be able to feel this. I'm aware that this is only happening inside my head. "You knew." I hear come from the side.

I turn and I see Dad and Steve, standing on opposing sides. "I didn't know how to tell you Tony." Steve says desperately.

"You need to choose!" Dad yells, looking over at me. I stand there, speechless, unable to move, unable to speak. "Do you hate me that much that this requires that much thought?" He asks, his eyes filled with sadness. I turn to look at Steve. His eyes are shining with unshed tears.

"I... I..." but I can't make a sentence form. When I look at Steve, I see love, hope, a future. And when I look to Dad, I see every childhood wish I ever had fulfilled. When I make no move to declare a side I watch helplessly as they both walk away, disappointment covering their features.

I scream out and I'm shaken from this vision. As my eyes come back into focus and I take in that I'm still aboard the ship, I see Steve in front of me, looking just as dazed. I throw my arms around him as tears silently fall down my cheeks. That was worse than my darkest nightmares.