The Dark Witch: Rising (Avengers Fanfic)

Chapter 13

"Stark."

It was a quiet warning that came from Steve Rogers. He wanted them to stay calm but Tony was having none of it.

"Tell me this one thing first patchy, how long did you keep her away? How long did you chain her up?" He demanded, striding over to him with a glare so intense even Natasha blinked.

Both Fury and Tony locked eyes.

Neither moves neither breaks it.

Then Fury does. He's the first to turn away, choosing to sit down on the chair, hands resting at the front of the table.

"Sit," he says.

Tony gaped, outraged.

"No-"

"Sit, or I won't tell you."

Tony glowered and forcefully plopped himself down, opposite to Fury, his eyes swirling with restrained anger.

Natasha remains quiet. Choosing instead to let the director handle this.

Steve opts to do the same as he leans forward on his chair, all three of them waiting for Fury's explanation. At the back of his mind, the mental images of Lorelie's brown eyes and anguished face disturbed him.

Stop it.

He shook his head in an attempt to get her out of his head.

Meanwhile, the Director of SHIELD had cast his eyes downwards. He was regarding the table with a lost look.

He too felt personally responsible for Lorelie, and look what happened.

So after a long moment of silence, Fury starts to speak. "1986. That was the year Lorelie Brook came to SHIELD. She was only five years old."

"Now I wasn't as high in command as I was today but I've heard of her--heard of what she could do." At this, he gives Tony a stare to keep him in his place since the billionaire was clearly getting fidgety.

Natasha frowned.

When she worked with Lorelie before, there was no indication of any powers. She had just been an ordinary Agent.

The manifestation of her abilities only appeared after HYDRA took her, which led the spy to believe that they experimented on her.

So what was this?

Fury, well aware that all eyes are on him, leans back on his seat to put a hand into his coat pocket. "I didn't know where her powers came from. There was no indication and as far as I know, no one was even looking for her."

"Who would've thought the answer had been in front of my face this entire time?" Fury glances over at Tony and smiles sarcastically. "I think the files you saw are proof of that,"

Tony resisted the urge to say something spiteful so he nodded instead.

Looks like those breathing techniques Pepper taught him were paying off, his posture was starting to slacken.

Fury gazes at the team before him, knowing Natasha had no idea what he was saying.

He takes a deep breath before he begins the second part of his explanation.

"SHIELD was the one who experimented the Tesseract on Lorelie. Not HYDRA as you were led to believe."

The effect is instantaneous.

Natasha sucked in a sharp breath and Steve lean forward, clenching his fists terribly tight.

This was what Tony was referring to earlier on when he said HYDRA had nothing to do with it.