Can't See the Truth

Toni woke up upside down in a large oak tree. She could see a multitude of leaves in piles on the ground as the blood rushed to her head.

“Fuck,” she hissed as she tried to sit up. Her legs slipped off the branch, causing her to lose whatever balance she had. She fell out of the tree, hitting most of the branches on her way down. She hit the hard ground with a thud, sending vibrations through her chest and body. “Shit,” she moaned.

“Are you alright?” A male voice called. “That’s an awfully long way to fall.”

Toni sat up and looked in the direction of the voice, locking eyes with an older man with blonde hair, silver-rimmed glasses, and a bowtie. The Englishman held a brown bowler hat in his hands.

“Yeah,” the teen said as she stood up. “It didn’t hurt as much as I thought it would.” She sighed and looked around the woods. “Where am I? I don’t...I don’t recognize this place.”

“Where I come from, we call it a Hollow,” the Englishman said as he placed the hat on his head. “But it doesn’t come from your memory. It’s a collaboration, really.”

“I’m sorry, what?” Toni asked. “Who are you?”

“My name is Doctor Bradstone, and I’m here to kill you.”

****

“Hetalia!” Tony Stark shouted as he pounded on the young woman’s door. “Open this damn door!”

“No! I don’t want to risk infecting all of you!”

“That’s why you need to come out here! My daughter is sick and dying because of you! Open the damn door!”

“Go away!”

Tony sighed and rolled his eyes. If he had been in his Iron Man suit...

“Man of Iron,” Thor started as he walked closer to Tony. “The young Shadow has not been out of her room for two days. Please, will you tell us what is wrong?”

“Not now, Point Break. Has Fury called back yet?”

“Indeed he has. Our German friend is speaking with him right now.”

“Swell,” Tony muttered under his breath. In the two days that his daughter had been in a stasis, the only people to know what was really going on were Tony, Bruce, Hetalia, Loki, and now Schaefer. They didn’t want to alarm the rest of the household just yet.

“Herr Stark!” Schaefer called from the kitchen. “A vord, please?”

Tony gave Thor a quick nod and half ran to the kitchen where his handler of sorts was waiting.

“What’s up, Fritz?”

“Fury is sending some people over.”

“No, that’s not what we need right now, Schaef. What we need is some answers.”

“Zat is vat I told him, too. He still thinks it vould be proper to send in a response team.”

“But we’re the response team, Schaefer.”

“Ja, I know,” the agent said quickly, cordless phone still in hand. “But Fury-”

“What about Fury?” Steve asked as he walked into the room.

“Nothing, Steve. No worries. Go back to bed.”

“Tony, you haven’t slept in two days. You’ve been yelling at Hetalia through the door, you spend more time down in the lab with Bruce than you do with me at all times, and you’ve been sharing these sympathetic looks with Loki like the two of you are hiding something. I haven’t seen our daughter in two days, either. Please, Tony, tell me what’s going on.”

Tony quickly shook his head, trying to hide any and all emotions from his newly wed husband. “Please, Steve, just go back to bed.”

“Not until you tell me what’s going on.”

“What do you think I’m doing down there anyway?” Tony unintentionally snapped. “I’m always down in my lab. I’ve always had trouble sleeping. Nothing has changed.”

“Nothing except that we’re married, Tony, and you’ve been spending a whole lot of time with Bruce.”

Tony paused, trying to see through Steve’s accusing tone. “What are you trying to say, Steve?”

“I’m starting to think that you’re cheating on me with Bruce.”

Tony and Steve just stared at each other, letting the silence. settle in.

Schaefer cleared his throat uneasily. “Vell, I sink I’m going to leave you two alone. Remember, Herr Stark, Fury’s coming tomorrow.”

“Got it, Schaef.”

Awkwardly, and without a moment to spare, Agent Schaefer scurried out of the kitchen towards Brooke’s room.

“Tony, please talk to me. You’re hiding something from me and I just want to help.”

****

Toni ran through the woods, jumping over fallen trees and ducking under low hanging branches. She took a chance glance over her shoulder to see Bradstone chasing her. Her breath hitched as she tripped over a boulder and went tumbling down.

Her hands and knees made contact with pavement as her heart rammed against her chest in fear. Her eyes shot up, quickly analysing her surroundings. Suddenly, she was in a large at nighttime under a brightly shining street lamp. She quickly looked behind to see a long, winding road.

Wherever she was, it had no connection to the woods she just came from.

Then, coming from the direction Toni had just come from, Bradstone emerged over the crest of a hill, hands in pockets and light gleaming off his glasses.

Toni scrambled up and ran down the road, trying to find a safe house to hide in. The road was lined with buildings. Most of them were dark and closed up tightly, sending off an aura of abandonment. In the distance, she could hear techno music playing in the wind. She got the sudden feeling of need. Toni knew that she needed to go to the source of the techno.

****

It had been three days since Schaefer called Fury. Tony had refused to tell Steve what was going on. It was because of that Steve chose to move back into his old room and revert back to his old schedule to avoid seeing Tony until he decided to come out with the truth.

Bruce was in a similar situation as Tony, only he didn’t have someone like Steve to make matters more stressful. Instead, Pamplemousse was worried about her daddy’s well-being.

A knock on the door drew Tony out of his fog of sleep deprivation. He sauntered to the front door and pulled it open, not surprised in the least to see Fury standing in the doorway with a large group of men in hazmat suits behind him.

“Mr. Stark,” he said plainly.

“Good luck,” Tony muttered. “She won’t come out of her room.”

Fury nodded. “We’ll see about that.”

Notes