Stark's Daughter

Chapter 26

      I walked out of the room as everyone crowded around Demarcus. I can't tell if this is reality or if it's all one big joke. Maybe it's my mind messing with me, or maybe it really is real. Thor and Natasha stay with me, calming me down. Tears stream down my face in stress.

Pacing up and down the hallway, I made a decision and nothing will stop me. As I turn on my heel back up the hallway, I don't stop. I keep heading for the door that holds Demarcus behind it.

"Steph, you can't go in there!" Uncle Thor yelled as I pushed the door out of my way to see Marc.

"Don't tell me what I can't do!" I yelled back.

I feel like I look like a mess. My hair is brushed into my eyes. Tears trailed my face. I didn't make a sound until I huffed into Marc's shoulder. It felt good to be in his arms again, to feel his breaths. To hear his beating heart.

"Please tell me you're real. Please don't let this be another guilty dream, Marc." I cry into his shoulder, trembling with every breath.

"This is real, Stephanie. I'm really home." He replied.

As the words came out of his mouth, I held onto him tighter. This is my victory. This is all I've ever wanted for an entire year. All of my worries and pain have lifted from my shoulders.

He's back.

I pulled back and admired his smile that could cure my every problem and every worry. I smiled along with him, happy for him to be back. I let go of him and let the others have joy.

Marc looked around for a moment, "can you give us a minute?"

Everyone vanished out of the room and into the hallway. I say on the edge of the bed where Marc lies. There was another moment of silence between us both.

"Steph, tell me everything I have missed." Marc demanded.

I hesitated for a minute, finding the words to tell him what I've done. All the horrible things I've done in the past year. What one word could sum it all up. The one word that tells him I did what he told me to never do.

"I turned my humanity off while you were gone. Your dad was the one who helped me turn it back on. Junior also helped me through all of the terrible things I did...we're together now.... And just today did you show up on our balcony." I explained, quickly.

I felt as if Marc was silently scolding me in his mind. I know what I did was bad. I shouldn't have. I do regret it. I just can't think of anything better to do after I had lost someone I loved... Wait, what did I just think? Love? Do I love him?

"I..see...well...he's a lucky guy." He smiled.

He hesitated, "Steph, there is something I want to tell you... There's a chip in the back of my neck connected to an artery. If anyone cuts it out, I'll bleed to death. Whoever does try, then the chip will activate. The chip is like a vessel for Thanos to possess me with. I was sent back from one purpose...get you on his side."

Me mind went blank and my heart dropped to the floor. Thanos wants me....on his side.. Everything was silent as I stare off into oblivion. My eyes filled with tears, as to why he wants me. The thought itself could kill me.

"W..why does he want me?" I ask.

"There is Tesseract in me, but only half. That goo that got on you when we were in the lab. That goo had Tesseract in it and it absorbed into your DNA. Thanos needs the full Tesseract to get to his home to get more allies and more resources. Steph, we'd be his personal Bifrost." He explained slowly.

My whole world shattered to the floor in shock. I didn't know what to say.

"Marc, what if I don't join?" I ask.

"He'll come after you. And that's what I definitely don't want. He will torture you. Make you see things that..are just horrible, Stephanie." He says, holding me to him.

"You need to find a place where I can't do damage." Marc sighs.

Every word stabs me in the heart. Right as I get him back, he's torn from my grasp. As everyone crowded back in the room, Dad lets his hands fall onto my shoulders. Anna runs over to Marc and hugged him, tightly.

"Everything will be okay, little cat." Demarcus comforted her.

As she pulled away, she stood up beside Loki and Alice(Loki's wife).

"Do you still have that hulk cell in the basement?" Marc asked Dad.

Dad nodded toward him.

"I need a drill, some nails, and a pair of shackles really soon." Demarcus said, quickly.

~~in the basement~~

I watched as they took him into the cell. Loki helped out the shackles on him, along with nails that drove into his flesh. I cringed as each nail was inserted. I wonder where he had gotten the idea from.

"That looks painful." Clint said, glaring at the shackles that held Demarcus.

Marc looks from around Loki's shoulder, "yes, it is really painful."

Clint moved away from the glass cell  as blood oozed from Marc's wrists. I gazed at Marc, in horror and tears.

"Steph, you okay?" He asks.

My eyes found the floor and lifted back to him before I answered, but I couldn't. What words could describe what I feel right now? All I could do was shake my head and leave.