MePersonally
To stay alive you've got to kill your mind.
Bucky tensed. He looked at Natasha and his eyes widened.
"I tried to kill you...", he stated, "I nearly did..."
Silence. Only the birds were singing. And she was so distant, so cold. How could he know whether or not she was still there, deep inside? She had said that Natalia was dead. How could she be when she was standing right in front of him? How could she be when her hair was still red, like the autumn? It had been their sign, their little thing to show everyone that they were more than that. They were more than pain and fear. There had been comfort in a war zone, and that comfort had been their glances, their intimacy.
He pulled her closer, trying to get rid of the feeling that someone was watching. It was probably just a leftover from his time as a killing machine. His head felt invaded, not like himself. And that was bad, really bad. It wasn't comfortable at all, having someone poke around in there.
"I... guess I'll leave now...", he said, letting go off her. He just left her there, standing in the middle of the woods. He was about to cry, or worse. And this wasn't just sadness. This was worse. He was so angry with himself, felt so helpless. He needed to get away, as far as possible. Away from that feeling that something was inside his head. Something that didn't belong there. So he just ran off, away from them all. His head was numb and he was shivering, though it was really warm around him. He just needed some time alone. Some time to work out what was real and what wasn't. Though he wanted to kiss her, this was necessary. He couldn't afford to have anyone close to him standing in his way. Because if he snapped now, it was for good.
Tony stared at Steve for a few seconds. He was about to punch him, but he didn't.
"And you? Still trying to befriend a killing machine?", he answered sassily, "Haven't you noticed yet? He's a step away from wiping us out."
Tony's aggression was growing and he had always been good at provoking people. He just couldn't help...
"Oh wait but that doesn't matter. Because before that happens your tunnel vision will have destroyed everything already. You'll have killed all your friends because they said something about your childhood friend that didn't fit your small field of perception when it comes to him. I just hope that you see it soon enough, Steve. Before he hurts you too. You know... I trusted you."
The last sentence was a small taste of how betrayed the genius felt. Steve didn't even try to understand his point of view. He just tried to blindly save someone who was gone. Tony knew what brainwashing did to people. And he knew it wasn't that kind of thing one could change easily. It was -usually- permanent.
"I'm sorry for that...", Tony told Pepper and took her hand, "But there's a lot more to it than just a fight."
He looked at Steve again.
"I'm not gonna spend one day next to that killing machine. Who knows, maybe my parents weren't enough. Maybe he wants my fiancé and my baby, too."
"What did you do now?", Pietro asked quietly, "Did you tell him to hide?"
He grinned and looked at the spy, who was still staring after the man.
"That love story is really interesting", he mumbled, and placed a hand on Wanda's shoulder, "But you know what? I'm hungry."
At lunch break, Alicia sat down next to Peter. Her hair was tied together now, because it was too warm to keep it open. She unpacked her lunchbag and pulled out a sandwich, that seemed to be about a day old. Lici looked at it and sighed. Then she looked at Peter.
"The ones we love, huh?", She grinned and took a bite from her Sandwich, "was that some superhero thing or real talk?"
She swallowed and rested her eyes on him, waiting for an answer.
"Oh and I know where you were yesterday. Some guy made a video of a cop fighting Spiderman."
She licked her lips, trying to hide how much this turned her on. The danger he had been in taking photos of the crime scene, hiding in the background, waiting for the superhero to turn up.
"You were there, weren't you? Taking pictures of that superhero for your boss."
She grinned again and casually took his hand into hers. When was this guy going to ask her out?
J was confused by the sudden change of location, but he didn't really mind. That guy wasn't only crazy, but also a magician. One more reason to keep him around. Schizophrenics like that were easy to control if you told them what they wanted to hear. Chaos, he always said that like it was something bad. No, chaos wasn't his aim. His aim was fear, terror, distrust. Madness. And if those Avengers were as unorganized as that guy claimed, it was easy to manipulate them. He would show this city that they weren't safe from anything. Especially not from death and terror.
"And what role do you play in this game, Honey?", he asked the man next to him, "Because if this should be a relationship, we have to set our dominance."
Tongue to scars.
"If this is business, what do I get out of it? You want to rule, but what do I get?"
"I tried to kill you...", he stated, "I nearly did..."
Silence. Only the birds were singing. And she was so distant, so cold. How could he know whether or not she was still there, deep inside? She had said that Natalia was dead. How could she be when she was standing right in front of him? How could she be when her hair was still red, like the autumn? It had been their sign, their little thing to show everyone that they were more than that. They were more than pain and fear. There had been comfort in a war zone, and that comfort had been their glances, their intimacy.
He pulled her closer, trying to get rid of the feeling that someone was watching. It was probably just a leftover from his time as a killing machine. His head felt invaded, not like himself. And that was bad, really bad. It wasn't comfortable at all, having someone poke around in there.
"I... guess I'll leave now...", he said, letting go off her. He just left her there, standing in the middle of the woods. He was about to cry, or worse. And this wasn't just sadness. This was worse. He was so angry with himself, felt so helpless. He needed to get away, as far as possible. Away from that feeling that something was inside his head. Something that didn't belong there. So he just ran off, away from them all. His head was numb and he was shivering, though it was really warm around him. He just needed some time alone. Some time to work out what was real and what wasn't. Though he wanted to kiss her, this was necessary. He couldn't afford to have anyone close to him standing in his way. Because if he snapped now, it was for good.
Tony stared at Steve for a few seconds. He was about to punch him, but he didn't.
"And you? Still trying to befriend a killing machine?", he answered sassily, "Haven't you noticed yet? He's a step away from wiping us out."
Tony's aggression was growing and he had always been good at provoking people. He just couldn't help...
"Oh wait but that doesn't matter. Because before that happens your tunnel vision will have destroyed everything already. You'll have killed all your friends because they said something about your childhood friend that didn't fit your small field of perception when it comes to him. I just hope that you see it soon enough, Steve. Before he hurts you too. You know... I trusted you."
The last sentence was a small taste of how betrayed the genius felt. Steve didn't even try to understand his point of view. He just tried to blindly save someone who was gone. Tony knew what brainwashing did to people. And he knew it wasn't that kind of thing one could change easily. It was -usually- permanent.
"I'm sorry for that...", Tony told Pepper and took her hand, "But there's a lot more to it than just a fight."
He looked at Steve again.
"I'm not gonna spend one day next to that killing machine. Who knows, maybe my parents weren't enough. Maybe he wants my fiancé and my baby, too."
"What did you do now?", Pietro asked quietly, "Did you tell him to hide?"
He grinned and looked at the spy, who was still staring after the man.
"That love story is really interesting", he mumbled, and placed a hand on Wanda's shoulder, "But you know what? I'm hungry."
At lunch break, Alicia sat down next to Peter. Her hair was tied together now, because it was too warm to keep it open. She unpacked her lunchbag and pulled out a sandwich, that seemed to be about a day old. Lici looked at it and sighed. Then she looked at Peter.
"The ones we love, huh?", She grinned and took a bite from her Sandwich, "was that some superhero thing or real talk?"
She swallowed and rested her eyes on him, waiting for an answer.
"Oh and I know where you were yesterday. Some guy made a video of a cop fighting Spiderman."
She licked her lips, trying to hide how much this turned her on. The danger he had been in taking photos of the crime scene, hiding in the background, waiting for the superhero to turn up.
"You were there, weren't you? Taking pictures of that superhero for your boss."
She grinned again and casually took his hand into hers. When was this guy going to ask her out?
J was confused by the sudden change of location, but he didn't really mind. That guy wasn't only crazy, but also a magician. One more reason to keep him around. Schizophrenics like that were easy to control if you told them what they wanted to hear. Chaos, he always said that like it was something bad. No, chaos wasn't his aim. His aim was fear, terror, distrust. Madness. And if those Avengers were as unorganized as that guy claimed, it was easy to manipulate them. He would show this city that they weren't safe from anything. Especially not from death and terror.
"And what role do you play in this game, Honey?", he asked the man next to him, "Because if this should be a relationship, we have to set our dominance."
Tongue to scars.
"If this is business, what do I get out of it? You want to rule, but what do I get?"