The Other Stark

Chapter 10

At 10 a.m, the Avengers were sitting around a table at one of the meeting rooms of the tower, only waiting for Tory.

"Sorry I'm late," she said entering the room, taking the only available seat, next to Nat.

"Alright. Let's start." Cap said, getting the attention of everyone.

"I'm going straight to the point. Romanoff and Barton, want you two to get anything you can from Rollings. The earlier we get the information, the earlier we can start searching and stop whatever HYDRA is planning next. Starks, what you've been up to?"

All the attention in the room flipped to the siblings.

"Okay, so I think we all agree to obliterate those viruses samples right? If any of those little microorganisms get in the air, we are screwed. So Tony and I came up with something that will destroy them in no second, leaving no trace it even existed." Tory explained to them in brief words. Every time she got too excited, no one never understood a thing.

"What about the poisonous gases?" Natasha asked.

"She thought Bruce could take a look at them, see if he can come up with an antidote or something. HYDRA had really powerful ones in hand, and if they escaped with any of those samples, I don't even know the number of people that would die. We need to work faster." Tony stated.

"Anyone who has any new information, warn the others. You two, anything you get, I want to know. Stark, that thing get ready, let us know too."

"Roger that Capsicle," Tony exclaimed saluting him. Steve rolled his eyes and got out of the room abruptly, not even dismissing any of them. Everybody stared at each other confused. What had just happened?

"Did I say something?"

Tory got up from her chair and burst out of the room, after Steve. That just let everyone more confused.

...

Victoria went to the first place that came in mind: the gym. Steve always went there if something was bothering him, or if he was angry, or most likely when he couldn't handle the memories from the past anymore. When she got there, the training room was empty though. So she went to his room, but nothing either.

Thinking over all the places Steve could be, suddenly her brain lit up. She walked to the elevator and got to the penthouse. He sometimes liked to look at New York's skyline and sketch. It was autumn. That meant the wind was starting to get chilly and the colors were all in shades of red and orange.

Tory slowly walked to the balcony doors. She could already see his silhouette. Sat in one of the couches, pencil in hand. Victoria stayed there watching him for some seconds. She always wanted to take a look at his drawings but didn't want to ask. She only saw the ones that he showed. The woman knew those sketches were his privacy, drawings of things he wished never happened, things he admired or his nightmares.

Taking a step ahead, Tory came into view, and she knew Steve could feel her presence, but he gave no sign. She walked to the couch and took a seat on the other side of it, giving him time to decide what he would do. He hesitated.

"F.R.I.D.A.Y. cut the footage and the sound from the balcony," she ordered, knowing Tony and Natasha were too curious for their own good.

"Now, you wanna talk? Or are you going to keep running and ignoring that miserable look in your face?"

He didn't even bother to look at her, but the blond had stopped drawing. He slowly closed the book. Tory moved closer to him, and Steve wrapped his arms around the woman, tightening the embrace, but said nothing for some time.