The Futurist With No Future

  “Are we supposed to have an exorcism?”

  “Clint.”

  “I'm serious. We fight bad guys, how do we stop a ghost?”

  “Clint.”

  “Do we run in, bibles locked and loaded?”

  “Clint!”

  “Sorry.”

  Bruce rubbed his temples for the hundredth time that day as he sat in what use to be Tony's lab. He felt sick when he first walked in there, unsure if it was from sadness for losing a friend or from guilt for avoiding the room. He had hoped that being in the lab would help them figure out exactly what to do with the problem at hand, but the only thing he managed to find out was that the room effected each person differently.

  Natasha’s memory became awful. It had started with forgetting why she was in the lab. Then they noticed it was getting worse when she nearly kicked Clint thinking he was an intruder. Once they got her out into the hallway she agreed to avoid the room all together. Especially after they told her she had screamed about forgetting who she was.

  Clint mentioned it was becoming harder to hear. It wasn't a sudden loss of hearing. It slowly got worse the longer he stayed in the room, but he didn't always notice it. Bruce had caught him messing with his ears, as if something were stuck in them, multiple times. Yet for whatever reason, they had to fight to get Clint out of the room every once in awhile.

  Bruce noticed he wasn't affected negatively. Or so he hope. He found he was more relaxed. He didn't feel angry. The shadow the other guy cast felt smaller every moment he stayed in there. He knew it probably wasn't healthy but he barely left the room now. He could only hope in the long run, this was a bad thing that he became addicted to.

  Thor walked out of the room as quickly as he walked in. As soon as his foot touched the floor of the lab he seemed to be drained of life. Almost like he was becoming mortal. He actually grew older it appeared. With help from the others he was up on his feet in the hallway, watching Bruce work from a distance. He didn't want to find out what exactly happened to him. Neither did the team.

  One thing that surprised everyone was that ghosts didn't look the same. When they finally saw Tony, the mistook him for a hologram. Just like the ones Tony had that made his lab alive with electricity. He had a blue tint to him and it was almost like he was made of pixels. He didn't look like a ghost. He looked like a form of technology. But that didn't stop him from looking dead. Bruce winced thinking that was probably how he always looked and no one noticed.

 Steve on the other hand had greeted them as soon as the came to the lab. He told them how much of a struggle it was for them to leave the room and that's why Tony was avoiding them. No one mentioned that he was obviously lying through his teeth. They did notice that he looked younger. He also had no color to him. He looked like he was from a black and white television show. Even as a ghost (or whatever he had become) he was still a man out of time.

  Bruce pretended he didn't notice the way Tony stayed away from them. He pretended he didn't see how Tony would observed him as he worked from a distance. He pretended not to be hurt when Tony barely spoke anymore. All the times the team had joked about how talkative Tony was seemed like a cruel joke in itself. Irony was a bitch.

  After several hours of planning, the team decided that in order to save Steve and help Tony move on, they were going to have to ask for help. They didn't necessarily like the idea, but it was all they had. While Clint and Natasha went to hunt down Steve's possessed self, Thor was off getting the help they required, leaving Bruce alone with Steve and Tony.

  “What's it like? I mean you're technically still alive, so it's probably strange.” Bruce was gathering as much information about Steve's situation considering Tony was still keeping his distance.

  “I mean I feel fine, except for feeling cold all the time. It's like I'm back in the ice. I can only assume we're all affected based on what we fear or something strange like that. As Tony would say, ‘I hate magic.’”

  “You think magic might have something to do with this?” Bruce raised an eyebrow, he hadn't taken magic into consideration mainly because he didn't want to deal with it.

  “Wouldn't surprise me.” Tony voice made Bruce jump slightly.

  The look on the billionaire’s face as he appeared was one of annoyance. He hated to admit it, but the way his ‘friends’ avoided anything that had to do with him pissed him off. Especially considering all their equipment was made by him. Even the building they stayed in. The only thing he hated more was that now that they were here, they were in trouble. He wished he had figured out how this whole being dead thing worked before they got involved. Especially Steve.

  “Which is why I'm still not on board with your call for help decision.” Tony grumbled as he crossed his arms.

  “We have to fix this somehow. If it was the other way around and you had to decide what to do you'd do the same thing.” Bruce shrugged his shoulders as he spoke.

  “Uh, no. I'd build something cause that's what I do. Not pass it off to someone else to handle it because I'd rather avoid the situation all together.” Tony growled between bared teeth.

  “Tony, we aren't trying to avoid you.”

  “Oh, just because you aren't any more makes it all better, huh?”

  “Tony.” Steve hissed before he got too angry and destroyed something.

  “Of course you'd defend them, Cap. You did the exact same thing. Avoided the room like it was a disease.” Tony was fuming now.

  “I only did it because it hurt thinking about you being gone.”

  Tony chuckled. “If it was anyone else you wouldn't do that.”

  Steve glared down at Tony. “Listen, I'm sorry for how we handled everything, but that doesn't mean you get to-”

  “You don't get to tell me what to feel. You're not dead. When people thought you were, they kept looking for you. You came back and everyone loved you. I die and everyone acts like I never existed. I show up again and everyone rushes to the rescue, not for me, for you. Because Steve's still alive. We have to save Steve.” Tony looked like he was going to cry. His hands were shaking at his sides as he repeatedly closed them into fists.

  “Tony we're trying to help you too.” Bruce joined the conversation again with a whisper.

  “No. You're trying to help me move on. Making sure I'm gone for good. If I'm not here, you can continue on with your lives without feeling guilty.” Tony looked down at the floor. Tears started to flow and Bruce hated that his mind wanted to study how a ghost could cry instead of wanting to comfort his friend.

  The sound of Bruce’s phone receiving a message broke the tension.

  -Found the imposter Steve. Boy you weren't kidding about it being Tony’s dark side. He just littered. Lord almighty, send help.-

  Bruce could help but chuckle at Clint’s message. When he looked up he saw that Tony was hiding again. They probably wouldn't see him for a while. Especially after that outburst of emotions. Talking about feelings was rare for Tony and his emotions were probably heightened now that he was a ghost, so it was no surprise he'd be awol for a while.

  “They found him. Well you. I'm not sure how to word this situation.” Bruce shook his head as he spoke to Steve.

  “Hey. Don't worry about Tony’s words. He'll come around.”

  Even though Steve looked unsure, Bruce nodded with a small smile.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

  “What took you so long?” Bruce raised his voice slightly as he heard footsteps approaching the door to Tony's lab.

  “You must really think I'm stupid.” What sounded like a mixture of Steve's and Tony’s voice combined echoed through the hall.

  “Shit.” Steve whispered.

  “Your little spies aren't very convincing when I personally know them. And boy, muscle memory is great. Being Steve made it too easy to take them down.” Tony's other half appeared in the doorway as Steve, with a wicked grin.

  “You didn't kill them did you?” Tony had reappeared now.

  “No no. Don't worry. I need you all alive. For now. You see I've found that I can only possess people in this god forsaken room. Still feeling safe in here, Brucey?” As that question flowed into the room, Steve's actual body dropped to  the floor unconscious. What looked like a red, electrical virus traveled through the air until it reached Bruce.

  With a chuckle, Bruce’s eye flashed red and his lips grinned at Tony and Steve.

  “Now this is more like it. With my mind capable of accessing Bruce's, I can finish what I've started.”

  “No. Don't. You have no reason to hurt anyone.” Tony's voice shook as he spoke to his ‘dark side.’

  “Why is it you assume I'm going to hurt someone.” Bruce’s voice was barely louder than a whisper.

  “You are his dark side. Or did you forget?” Steve nodded his head towards Tony as he spoke. He didn't notice how he seemed to be fading away.

  “Quiet. You'll be back in your body soon. Then you can leave and pretend this never happened.” Bruce’s face looked disgusted as the being controlling him spat words out at Steve.

  “What are you going to do?” Tony mumbled.

  “I'm going to complete our unfinished business.”

  With those words, ‘Bruce’ walked out the door, leaving a nearly faded Steve and a confused Tony, waiting until help arrived.

 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

  “Captain Rogers! You are yourself again?”

  Thors voice brought Steve back to consciousness. With a deep growl Steve sat up from his position on the floor. A quick scan around the room told him Tony was hiding again, for reasons unknown.

  “It's Bruce. He's taken over Banner.” Steve breathed out in a rushed panic.

  Thor stared down at Steve like they never had met. With a jolt of sudden realization, Steve jumped up and lead Thor out of the lab.

  “Thor are you crazy? Did you forget what that room did to you?” Steve’s breath was loud and chaotic in a way.

  “For a moment there, yes. Now you say Dr. Banner is the new target?”

  “We think he's going to become the Hulk and attack someone or something. I really don't know.” Steve looked down at the floor.

  Tony appeared in the doorway. “ Bruce is here. Stuck like me. It's just like when you were being controlled.”

  “Make sure he's okay. I'll be in there in a minute.” Steve didn't turn to look at Tony. For some reason he didn't want to see the man while he was back in his own body. He hated that he was okay while Tony was still stuck.

  “Worry not, Captain. Help is here. It took a lot of persuasion, but he's here to help.” Thor placed a hand on Steve's shoulder.

  Tony was back in at the doorway. Disapproval all over his face. “I'm still not okay with this. There's got to be a better way to fix this.”

  “Tony we don't have a choice.” Steve mumbled, still not looking at Tony. He mentally swore at himself for once again avoiding Tony.

  “If he helps he's just going to want a favor from us. That could mean anything like the end of the world.” Tony muttered.

  Steve didn't want to admit that Tony had a point.

  A chuckle ceased all arguing as all eyes locked on the help they requested.

  “You must be truly desperate to come to me for help.”