I'm Iron Man, And I'm Agent Coulson

Chapter 70 Peace in Our Time

"I said I'm fine," I muttered, waving Steve and Tasha off, before taking a seat farthest away from all of them, and the sceptor.
The plane ride home was jovial, from their view, and full of laughter, mainly from Thor, and the successful mission.
Clint was layed up, but fine, since Nat had stopped the bleeding on his side, but we were still worried.
Bruce was silently sitting down, curled up in a large sweater, sweating, and listening to Mozart, as he tried to calm down.
Steve and Tasha were looking over the Intel we had accumulated, as Tony sat in front of plane, alone, and deep in thought as he talked to Maria.
I still hadn't come down from the momentary projectile vomiting, nor did I get involved in their relaxed posturing.
We had successfully done our mission, but my stomach ached, and my legs still shook with fatigue. I was having a hard time coming down from what happened. I still didn't know what happened but Steve said it was just shock, and exposure from the cold weather. We both knew it was more than that, but I simply agreed.

Something happened to Tony in that room, and I experienced something by those stairs, saw it, felt it push against my skin. It was still happening, and the longer I eyed the sceptor the more agitated I became.

I closed my eyes, forcing myself to go back to that cold ugly room. I could feel it in the air, pushing at my skin, and if I concentrated, which was hard considering my headache, I could see the fuzzy outline of blue whisps in the foreground, and a flash of black and stars.
I was grasping at the image, unable to make it out, but whatever vision, or momentary lapse of reality, wasn't meant for me. I knew it deep in my bones this wasn't over, far from it, but how, I couldn't say.
I argued internally with myself since I set foot on the jet, wondering why I was doomed to see all this, feel it, with no known precursors as to why? If I was supposedly meant for all this, if those whispers meant something, the burning and utter feeling of dread, then why wouldn't it make itself known?
I was tired of being left alone with all this, only to fail in the end, because I wasn't prepared, and the more I sat there, stewing, the angrier I became. Because I was useless, and all the bullshit which followed me since birth made no more sense than it did back then.
I had to rely on myself, my training, but looking up at the sceptor, I failed to believe I would be enough to stand up to whatever came, and something was coming.

I asked Tony, once he walked around the sceptor, if he was okay, but he refused to talk to anyone about what happened, and answered my question with his usual sarcasm.
His short syllable answers left me wondering what'd happened in that shadowed room in Sokovia, but no matter how many times I asked, or tried to approach him, he just shook his head and ignored my questions.
In my worry it also made me reach for some semblance of comfort, but too embarrassed to ask for it or tell anyone I needed it.
So I sat back, and closed my eyes, hoping we would get home as soon as possible.

"I told you, you'd be alright," Tasha assured, and nudged my shoulder, before kneeling down in front of Bruce, "except for the vomiting thing, and your little delusion," she mumured, as I clenched my jaw, and glanced over at Steve, "Thor, report on the Hulk."
"Delusion my ass," I whispered, and flipped her off.
"Hell is filled with the screams of his victims," Thor stated happily, as Tasha gave him a pointed look, "I mean, not his dead vic.... What I meant to say, is..you did an amazing job.."
Bruce groaned, and moved away, as Tasha shook her head, but Steve smiled, and looked away before he laughed.
"Jesus Thor," I snorted, "you're lucky you're hot."

Over Twenty-four hours Later

"Hey grouchy, you have any idea why Tony hasn't come out of the lab yet, and you look like crap?" Natasha contended, and pulled me out of my reverie.
She plopped down next to me as I sat near one of the large picture windows in the common room. It wasn't exactly quiet, since a few party planners and workers were busy setting up a party, Tony planned on throwing later on in the evening.
"No, I haven't really talked to him since we got off the jet. The sceptor's main priority right now,.." I shrugged, and kept my tired eyes forward, "Bruce hasn't come out either, but did you and Steve have time to look over more of the information we found? Did the prisoners get locked up?"