Altered - A Marvel AU

Chapter 21 - The Contract

Megan's POV

I knew I must've been dreaming as Faaz was standing, perfectly fine, in front of me. He took my hand, "Oh Gods, Faaz am I dead? Am I with you in the afterlife?" Faaz laughed his infectious laugh that would often leave me in giggles as well. "No silly, you can't die, remember you're a goddess." I stared at him, confused, "I never told you that, how do you know?" he sighed, "You find out stuff when you pass from the mortal world, Baji." I bit my lip, "Oh, don't worry about me, I've been offered paradise, so all is good." I smiled, ruffling his hair, "oh yah?" he nodded.

"But enough about me, I need to talk to you about you." "What about?" "I know you may blame the Avengers for my death, but they were clueless to my actions, you want to know the real person to blame?" "Kronos." My brother and I said simultaneously, "Yeah, so maybe you should consider joining the Avengers and ridding the world of his evil." "But, what about you?" Tears fell from my eyes as I looked at him, he smiled at me, "I'll be okay. Mom's okay. Just please, make a smart decision based on your heart not on revenge." "ok." I whispered and he sighed contently, "Remember me, but don't cry over me, I'll be fine." he kissed my cheek before I saw him slowly fade into the golden surroundings.

I woke up in a cold room, freezing. I opened my eyes, trying to shield them from the light but discovering my arm was chained to the metal chair. I pulled at it, I could probably break it with my strength, but I needed them to trust me. The door creaked open and a figure approached me, I looked up to see Steve's pale blue eyes. "How are you feeling?" "Like you care." I croaked. Steve sighed, sitting opposite to me, "Meg, I care about you." "Steve please, you're here for business, let's talk business." He shrugged, "If that's what you want." He opened a folder, gingerly placing a paper in front of me that suspiciously resembled a contract.

"This just states that you'll agree to work with the Avengers in destroying Kronos. If you wish to stay on the team after that, it will be completely up to you, otherwise you can go about your business. You cannot kill or harm any of the Avengers or blame them for any events that had unfolded during our last battle. If you agree to these terms, feel free to sign the contract with the pen I have just provided you." I grabbed the pen, about to sign, "Wait." I looked up at Steve, "That's it? No resistance? No blame?" I sighed, "Do you know how I feel right now?"

Steve shook his head no, "I feel like I've lost a part of me, like I just lost myself, my identity. I feel like a part of me has shriveled and died and that part can never come back. I feel like my heart keeps exploding, blowing up into millions of pieces because it can't take the pain. I feel like I not only lost my best friend and my brother, but rather I lost my child and my whole world. Faaz was my baby and now he's gone at just 11 years old. He can't go to University or get married, or have a career, all because I made a lot of bad decisions in my life. If I was never involved with Kronos, all this would've never happened. So, I don't care who did what, all I care about is to get this son of a bitch."

Steve nodded and I signed my signature on to all the papers, handing the pen and papers back to him. He took out a key from his pocket and undid the handcuffs on me as I calmly walked by him and into the room where I presumed everyone was watching and listening to me. "I need a room." I said and a dark-skinned man with a black eye patch over one eye came into view, "Of course. I can show you to your room." He led me through the long corridors into a set of rooms that looked similar to dormitories, he showed me my room. "On one side to you is the Captain and on the other side is Natasha Romanoff. I hope that suits you well." I shrugged my shoulders, "This is just temporary so it's fine." Fury nodded and left me to be as I walked into my room.

I decided to take a shower, however I realized that all of my clothes were at Kronos's facility. The idea to bust in there and kill him while he least expected it was tempting, however I denied it. I heard a knock on the door and opened it to see a lone package on the mat with no one there. I opened the package and saw a black suit that looked identical to mine, "Thought you might need some clothes." The note read. I tucked the note into my bedside drawer and spread out the clothes, indulging myself in a long, hot shower.

***

A knock came to my door shortly after I had taken my shower, "Come in." Natasha walked in with a handful of things in her arms. She carried them to me, looking at the space beside me on my bed, "May I?" She asked and I nodded, "By all means." She sat down and dumped the items onto my bed, "I thought you might need some basic stuff." I noticed her looking down and not making eye contact with me, "I don't blame you." "What?" She looked up at me, "I don't blame you for the death of my family, It wasn't your fault nor was it Tony's." She sniffled, her eyes trying hard to hold back her tears.

"I just... I thought that maybe they were to the other side and I was about to cross when... it all happened so suddenly." her voice cracked several times and I reached out to hold her hand, "My brother's in a good place. Besides, you did what you were asked to do, Kronos is a real ass." I said and I was surprised to feel my cheeks wet as well, she pulled me into a hug, letting me sob onto her shoulder. "It just hurts so much." I whispered and she rubbed my back, "I know, I'm so sorry Megan." I could feel my insides wretch horribly with each sob, I could feel my heart begin to sink with each tear and I knew that it would take a long time before I would be okay.

"I'm here for you, we all are." Natasha whispered and even though I didn't want it to, hope sparked in my heart for a new family. Natasha gently unentangled herself from me and reached out to wipe the tears from my cheek, "It'll hurt now, but I promise you it will get better. Besides, Tony is the best at turning pain into humour." Natasha snorted and I smiled. "Ladieesssss." We heard Tony's voice sing in the corridors, "Speak of the devil." Natasha mumbled and I laughed when Tony burst through the door of my room. He looked at all the items Natasha dumped on my bed, some which were female sanitary products, "Ouuu, are we PMSing." I shook my head, "No."

Tony nodded, he walked in and sat on the rolling chair, rolling it to my bed, directly in front of me. "I think Banner was looking for you Romanoff." "Like hell he was, Stark." Tony grinned, "Take a hint." Natasha looked at me, "Scream murder if he makes you uncomfortable." I let out a quiet laugh that didn't quite reach my heart and Natasha walked out of the room. Tony turned towards me, "Listen, kid-" "Kid?" I raised an eyebrow, "What, you're like more than a decade younger then me." My eyebrow remained in its position, "Alright, Alright. Megan, I just wanted to apologize."

"For what?" He stared at me, "For letting what happened happen." I shrugged, "It's not like you could've stopped it." He shook his head, "No, bit still-" "Tony, don't blame yourself, or you'll go crazy. Just help me kill Kronos and we'll be fine." He nodded, I noticed that he looked absolutely miserable, he might've been joking around but right now, he had bags under his eyes af if he didn't sleep, his lips were chapped and his hair was messed up as if he had been running his hands in them. "Tony, stop torturing yourself, we're good, don't worry."

He grinned, "It's because of my good looks, isn't it? Well I'm flattered, but I have a girlfriend." "Tony-" "Oh ok, if you insist. But only one night and only because, well have you seen yourself." "Tony." I laughed, pushing at his arm. "Right." he muttered, still grinning at me. "Um, there's a debriefing in a short while." Steve stood in the doorway, his arms crossed over his chest and his eyes flitting between me and Tony. "Thanks." I muttered coldly, I smiled at Tony, "See you later." He nodded and grinned back at me, "Later, Meg."

"So he can call you Meg and I can't?" "He didn't leave me." he sighed, "No, I suppose he didn't." Steve muttered and closed the door to my room.