The War Without Fate

Chapter 10- Symbolically Destroyed

After we had buried all the bodies in the field and the National Mall was covered in sectioned piles of dirt we began to walk back toward where the plane was supposed to pick us up. We stopped in the middle of the street. Brown stone houses were on the street and the people who lived in them were looking out of our windows again. Each one recognized us and came out onto their front steps with items they had found around their house with anything with the American flag on it in their hands. Once all out on their front steps they thrust their items into the air singing the national anthem.

The plane landed and we all climbed on board as it took off I looked out the back. The hatch still open as it began to take off and I saw rows of streets all around with people out on their front steps raising the flag and singing at the tops of their voices. The hatch finally shut in the back of the plane. Closing the song and the sight of the people out of our knowledge.

“What are we going to do?” Asked Clint, glancing around at us all.

We were without a leader. They had cut the head off the snake. And the body lay squirming around as it dyed off. It didn’t matter that I had given that speech to the people. There was nothing we could do. People like him didn’t have weaknesses. I stopped myself. What was I saying. I had been a person like him. Granted not to that extent but certainly close enough. Those people did have weaknesses and it usually stemmed from wherever there problem was that made them what they are today. We just needed to strike a nerve.

“We use the resources we still have,” I answered with determination “We find out everything we can about him. If S.H.I.E.L.D has access to anything it would be to information. If we can find his family, his friends. Anybody and anyone who made him who he is today. We find them and we exploit them and then we kill them like he did to us. The only thing he understands is fire. So we will fight fire with fire. There is no extinguishing this. We are at war and people don’t start a war unless they have a real bone to pick. We will kill him just like his scum family. We will find anything and everything that will get to him and we will completely demolish it.  We will win this. He can not take our country like he took our loved ones.”

The plane landed quite suddenly and I realized how long I had been talking. From the look on all of their faces it seemed that I had gotten through to them. Clint and Jacqueline stood up together and marched off the plane commanding the mulling around agents. Looking for information. Even though they knew exactly what had happened.

The rest of us filled off together and Tony walked over to me. He took my hand in his metal clad one and brought me along through the sliding doors to the meeting room. He stepped out of his suit and brushed himself off. He sat down next to me and starred at me. I examined his reddened eyes and haggered look.

He sputtered a little bit and broke into tears again. I stood up and held his head to my. He wrapped his arms around me and sobbed. I helped him up off the chair and walked him down the hall to the room. Looking back at the meeting room where all the Avengers were watching us walk down the hall. Their sad eyes speaking their apologies to us.

I led him into his room and sat him down on the bed. His sobs got progressively louder until he was crying out at the sky. He had fallen to his knees and held his face in his hands. I had gotten down on the ground next to him and held him in my arms.

 Eventually they subsided until his shoulders simply shook. He wiped his tears on my shoulder and looked up at me. He reached his hand up and untied my mask, pulling at the ribbons.  The mask fell from my face and clattered on the floor. His hands caressed it and he rubbed his thumb on my cheek. I watched him intently. Looking for signs of how he was feeling and what he would do next. Grief did crazy things to people.