The Seventh Avenger

Chapter 64: Chaos

The room is thrust into an eerie silence at my words. It was so silent, that if someone were to drop a pin right here and now, the sound would easily be heard. While Ava, Nat and Fury don't seem surprised in the slightest at my revelation, the remaining four are. While Bruce and Steve shoot me looks of confusion, not understanding who it was that I was talking about, Thor's grip on me slackens and he moves to stand in front of me. "I do not understand. Who is this Richard Hoult you speak of?" he demands not unkindly.

I can't contain the flinch at the mention of that name, still quite properly comprehending the truth behind it. That Richard Hoult, or Anthony Masters or whoever the hell he was, was actually my father. That I was related to the man responsible for the deaths of dozens of SHIELD agents and possibly more. The monster that Doctor Connor Barkley had fearfully informed me off, who had slaughtered these agents as easy as breathing due to his abilities without hesitance and no remorse for doing so.

This...this monster, was my father.

I can't bear to admit the truth behind him to Thor and the rest of them, however. Not when a wave of shame crashes over me, caused by my father and his actions. What would they think when they learned the truth? When they learned about what it was that he had done? They would certainly view me in a different light, that was a given. How could they not, when I was the supposed daughter of a ruthless killer with abilities of her own?

But while I shared these concerns, it appears that Nat did not. The assassin had managed to school the features of her face back into her usual blank expression sometime during the past few moments. With her eyes still trained on me, she explains, "Richard Hoult was an agent of SHIELD back in the '80s. But SHIELD didn't know that he was working as a spy, revealing SHIELD secrets to a yet unknown agency. Richard Hoult was just an alias of his. His real name is Anthony Masters. Some refer to him as Taskmaster though."

"And when we found out what it was that he was up to, we tried to stop him," Fury calmly adds. His only eye looked anywhere but at me as he spoke, though his guilt still clouded his face. "Only he fought back and went on a killing spree. He was gifted, and there wasn't much that we could do to stop him."

"How many agents did he kill?" Steve asks.

"We sent seventy of our best agents after him. Only ten made it back alive."

I can feel everyone's stunned surprise at this, nobody saying anything in response to the Director's words. I knew that they were all shocked though. Sixty to one? It didn't seem probable. Especially if SHIELD had truly sent their best agents after him. Yet it was the complete and utter truth, as disturbing as it was. The words of Doctor Barkley- who had been an eye witness to the whole event- and Fury confirmed this.

In the silence, I can't help but sneak a glance out of the corner of my eyes towards the billionaire, who hadn't said a word since I had revealed what the file had said. Much to my dismay, he was leaning over one of the benches with his back to me which prevented me from being able to read anything on his face and try to figure out what his thoughts on this were. The fact that he wasn't looking at me caused my stomach to churn, unease settling deep within me as the genius who normally always had something to say, was completely silent now. I silently willed for him to say something or at least turn around and look me dead in the eye, and send me a look that told me everything would be OK. It was what he normally did in situations like this.

But he did neither of these things. He only ran a frustrated hand through his dark hair with his back still to me.

"I'm sorry, but if you knew that this man was, in fact, Lydia's father, then why didn't you share it with her?" Bruce demands, not only coming to my defence but also voicing the thoughts that had been racing around in my head since Fury had first revealed that he had known this for two years. "You didn't think that she had a right to know?"