Survivor's Guilt ~ A Marvel Story

~23~

Tony

I stepped into the ridiculously large barn for Barton. I'd always pictured him in some messy studio apartment somewhere. Not in a large farmhouse with a wife and two kids, a third on the way.

The wooden walls were covered in farm equipment that was picking up dust. Arrows and targets were leaned against the walls. Those looked used.

I stepped up to the green Deere tractor that Barton's wife had asked me to take a look at. "Hello, Deere." I smiled at my own joke. "Tell me everything. What ails you?" I began to fidget with the metal parts, looking for how to diagnose the problem and then fix it. I took the gas cap off when I heard a familiar voice from the opposite side of the barn.

"Do me a favor." My lips pursed at the side of Nick Fury as I let the gas cap fall back against the tractor. "Try not to bring it to life."

I sighed, knowing that there was absolutely nothing wrong with this fucking thing. "Why, Ms. Barton, you little minx," I whispered under my breath. "I get it. Maria Hill called you, right? Was she ever not working for you?" I didn't need the answer, I already knew the truth.

"Artificial intelligence," He moved on knowing the same thing I did. "You never even hesitated."

"Look, it's been a really long day, like Eugene O'Neill long," I referred to the playwright. "So how's about we skip to the part where you're useful?"

Fury stared at me, his features showing that he did not care about anything I had to say. He'd made up his angry mind before he arrived. "Look me in the eye and tell me you're going to shut him down," He ordered as if I had control over that thing anymore.

"You're not the director of me," I reminded him.

He shook his head. "I'm not the director of anybody. I'm just an old man. Who cares very much about you." His gaze was sincere and I knew it was. He'd brought the Avengers together to stop Astrid and Loki. 

"And I'm the man who killed the Avengers? I saw it," I admitted to him. "I didn't tell the team, how could I? I saw them all dead, Nick. I felt it. The whole world too. Because of me. I wasn't ready. I didn't do all I could." The vision that I'd been shown, the future I'd been shown, was painful and I couldn't stop it. I was weak. 

"That Maximoff girl, she's working you, Stark. Playing on your fear," He responded confidently as if it was something simple. As if I didn't see the world end. 

"I wasn't tricked, I was shown. Wasn't a nightmare, it was my legacy. The end of the path I started us on."

Fury stood and walked toward me, his hands in his pockets. "Speaking of mind people," Fury remarked and I knew where he was going.

"Astrid is-"

"I'm not done," He snapped. "Why would you bring the girl who tried to wipe us from the face of the planet into the team without consulting me? And don't say I don't direct you because we both know that's bullshit. I brought this team together, I deserved to know about this." His voice was angry and I couldn't blame him but I also knew he wouldn't understand. 

I scoffed, cleaning off one of the tools with a white rag, trying to keep my hands busy. "Look, I know what you think about her-"

"What the world thinks about her," He corrected me and I met his gaze. A strange sense of protectiveness flooded through me. 

"No, Fury. You weren't there when she stood in front of us as Ultron and his androids attacked us. We would've been a lot more injured had she not been there," I replied, my voice rising. "You don't direct us. And she's staying."