Present of the Past || TONY STARK fanfiction

CHAPTER 28: ''Just my luck''

Tony.

"So, what Am I looking at here?" I asked, my head was pounding and my eyes were burning. I wanted to be anywhere but here. Steve and Natasha were standing behind me. Nat had her hands crossed behind her back and Steve was towering over her, his arms crossed over his chest. His shield was strapped on his back. Pepper was standing in the corner of the room. She had a guilty look on her face.

I don't think I was supposed to see her and Steve together. It's not like they owed me anything. Pepper deserved the whole world. She has been putting up with my Bullshit for the past six months. She earned a full-paid vacation more than anything.

I noticed Steve looking at her occasionally, checking if she was okay, and I couldn't help but notice the faint sting in my chest. I wouldn't ever have that. The one person I wanted to spend my life with isn't here anymore.

I decided to push these thoughts aside and focus all my attention on the case in front of me. Natasha looked at Steve as he nodded. "S.H.I.E.L.D. intercepted some intel" Natasha started. "There have been reports of buildings on fire," she said and I shook my shoulder.

"So, we have an arsonist in the city, let the NYFD handle it" Natacha shook her head.

"The NYFD went and tried to find the cause of the fires. The only thing they found was this black substance" The picture changed. "So Steve and I went and took samples but we want to keep them off books because of this" The DNA sequence of the substance Matched with another one. But by the way that everyone was shifting in the room, It didn't mean anything good.

"What's the other DNA sequence?" I asked, scared of their answer. Natasha didn't say anything and just pushed a button. It felt like someone made the ground disappear. Ransom's DNA profile appeared on the screen. I had to grab onto the table next to me to keep my balance. My eyes teared up. "I-is she- How?" I muttered as my voice broke. Natasha shot me a sorry look, shook her head, and sighed.

"No," she whispered. Then a picture of Killian Aldrich appeared. "When Ransom got kidnapped he was able to extract some or all of her powers" Part of the mission and autopsy report also appeared. "We don't know exactly what killed her. Was it her injuries or the lack of power in her body.  We weren't able to complete the autopsy before she was taken away"  My body ran cold. "And with Malick's help, We have no idea how much he knows and how far the research on this goes"

"He's making his very own super soldiers" I looked up at Steve.

"That makes them incredibly dangerous," Steve noted. "Without the proper help and the right environment, these people could bring a lot of damage to the city and other people."

"I am well aware of that, Rogers." I spit. "But I don't know Ransom's powers well enough to stop them," I said. Steve frowned and scoffed.

"What?"

"How can you not know her powers when you spent years with her?" I bit the inside of my cheek. That stung. I've known Ransom for about 13 years. But I've known her with her powers for less than a year and by the time we both figured it out, she was gone. But Instead of letting him hurt me like that, I bit back. 

"Don't start with me, Rogers," I threatened. "You dated her for almost a year and had no idea" I spit, I noticed Pepper shifting uncomfortably on her feet. I knew this must've stung and I felt guilty for hurting her like this."Might I also remind you that we had to lock her in a box to keep her from turning New York into a pile of ashes" I yelled. "We even had to call in your precious Peggy for help" I spit. 

Steve's jaw tightened. If he could hit me he would've. I admired his self-control. That could never be me. "Yeah, that's what I thought," I said. It was quiet for a bit.