Honesty
honesty.
015.
He wished that he could be surprised by the question, but in reality, he was kind of expecting it. Stiles glanced at the multiple pairs of calculating eyes staring at him, awaiting his explanation, and suddenly he was filled with the overwhelming urge to get the fuck out of there. What was he thinking? There was no way in hell they'd believe a story that included a Japanese demon. Most of the people in this room barely believed in the idea of werewolves.
"Stiles." He peered over at Tony, who nodded his head in an encouraging fashion.
At least he believed him, however, he wished that it didn't take that video to convince him.
"Okay," He began, drawing out the end of the word. "Technically," His voice raised an octave at the end of the word as he averted his attention back to the file in front of him, "that wasn't me. I mean, it was me, but it wasn't me at the same time." Stiles paused before he could start rambling, taking a breath in order to retrieve his thoughts.
"You expect us to believe that?' Clint butted in, his skepticism obvious in his tone.
"How about you shut up and let me talk?" Stiles countered, looking up with a sharp look. So far, he was not a fan of the archer. "Anyways," He stated, unable to keep his frustration out of his voice. "There's this...thing. It's called a Nogitsune- it's a Japanese demon. Whoever it possesses goes 'void' and...and it got to me." Stiles closed his eyes, hating the way panic rose in his throat and how the pit in his stomach grew. "It made me do really terrible things, the Sheriff's station was one of those." He opened his eyes, meeting the gaze of Natasha.
"That doesn't really answer my question." She stated. "Why would this...Nogistune make you do that?"
A frown pulled at his lips, and despite the silence of the room, he could hear someone speaking,
"We're going to destroy all of them, Stiles. One-by-one."
He felt his heart stop when his eyes flew to where Steve was seated, but it wasn't the Captain that stopped Stiles from breathing, it was the newly re-gauzed figure standing behind him.
"U-uh," It was apparent that no one else saw the entity, what they did see, however, was how Stiles' skin lost the little color it had remaining. "He, uh," Keeping his train of thought while simultaneously trying to ignore the Nogitsune was hard. Especially when he couldn't completely convince himself that it wasn't real. Why was the Nogitsune here? Why did he keep showing up, as both the broken soldier and Void duplicate? "He craves chaos and strife, hurting my family created all of that, I guess."
This time, he was unable to keep to the frown from his face, and he wanted nothing more than to get far, far away from where he was. The stress he was feeling about practically exposing himself to the Avengers combined with the discomfort and anxiety he felt from the presence of the Nogitsune was really starting to make him freak a little bit, and he could not do that again.
He grit his teeth as the ugly, terror-inducing laughter left the mouth of the Nogitsune as he circled the table. "Come on Stiles, we can kill them all. We will kill them all!" Beneath the table, Stiles' thumb pressed into the bandaged cut on his palm, drawing more blood and causing him to bite back a hiss of pain, however, it was enough to expel the Nogitsune from the room, supporting Stiles' theory that it was all just a figment of his exhaustion.
"You said that he got to you," Fury said, "How did he manage that?"
Stiles' was slightly taken back by the words because while he was expecting them to ask questions, he was mostly assuming they'd be about how he wasn't telling them the truth. Regardless, he couldn't help but let out a small, stale laugh. "That's a whole 'nother story on its own."
"Well," The way Fury's one-eyed stare can be more intimidating then most people can be with two eyes showed a true testament to the Director's character. "As you can see, we have the time."
Stiles rolled his eyes, "I assume that you guys heard about the string of murders that happened at the beginning of the school year in Beacon Hills?" He tilted his head, awaiting the nods from the adults. "Those weren't just...they weren't just from like, any ordinary serial killer?" He inwardly winced at the way the words sounded, "It's really a mess, actually. How do I even explain this? Uh..." He took a pregnant pause as he tried to figure his word out, "Okay, so, werewolves have packs, okay? And a member of the pack, the alpha's right-hand, it's called a druid emissary or just a druid. But once in a while, and I'm talking like, a big while, the druid can go dark side, and they become a dark druid or a darach."
"Is this exposition important?" Bruce spoke up, "I mean, not to be rude, but what's this all for?"
Stiles raised an eyebrow before nodding, "Uh, yeah. Because the thing that killed all those people was a darach." Suddenly, the team looked intrigued, though it left Stiles slightly unraveled by the thought that a murderer interested them. But, you know, whatever. "It was human sacrifices. Virgins, warriors, healers, philosophers, and...guardians." The last one came out as a whisper. "She was my English teacher, and she killed them. She..." Images of Scott standing in the parking lot, flare in his hand, doused in gasoline passed through his head, followed by the empty room in the school, save for a strangled Lydia and a transformed Scott. Then it was the hospital. Then the bathtubs full of water.
"She..." His voice cracked, though he quickly cleared his throat. He was vaguely aware of the way that Sam was staring at him, though it was more like he was studying him, not judging him. "She took my Dad." He sighed. "And Scott's mom. And Allison's dad. And she tried to kill my best friends."
"Wait," Rhodey interrupted, "Nowhere does it say your Dad died..." He trailed off, giving Stiles a look that reminded him of the way his Dad looked at him when he caught him lying.
"He didn't." He stated. "We saved them. We kind of...well, you see, we sacrificed ourselves for them." He said the words slowly, unsure if they would make sense. "As surrogate sacrifices. We kind of died and came back? I'm not exactly sure how it worked, but when we went under, we found where she was keeping them. It was this dead tree stump in the middle of the woods, they call it the-"
"The Nemeton." Thor interrupted, staring at Stiles in bewilderment. "You...you are your friends are the ones who have awakened the oldest of the Nemeta."
"You know it?" Stiles tilted his head in confusion. "And the what? The Nemeta?"
"The Allfathers placed the Nemeta on Midgard in order to prevent the energy from the Bifrost to destroy Earth. However, the Nemeta are only housing for the power of the Bifrost, the power travels through the trails underground-"
"The telluric currents?" Stiles supplied.
Thor nodded, "The Nemeton that you gave power was the first to be put on Midgard, and it's the strongest. Heimdall informed me that it had been awoken through a sacrifice, but never who had done it."
"Hold on," Coulson put his hand in the air, "Does someone want to explain to me what the hell you're talking about?"
"The child speaks the truth," Thor stated, ignoring the way Stiles gave an indignant protest at being deemed a child. "Midgard is not stable enough to hold the power of the Bifrost, the Nemeta hold the power that would otherwise tear apart the earth, and transforms that power into something more manageable. But once the wrong people began to tap into the energy supply, the Allfathers cut the tree down. But they were still alive."
"And we gave power back to them." Stiles furrowed his eyebrows. "Well, shit." He breathed.
Fury stood up, "I think we have enough information for now." He stated. "We obviously have things we need to discuss without certain people," He cast a look in Stiles' direction, causing the seventeen-year-old to roll his eyes.
"So what are we going to do with Stiles?" Steve questioned.
"I'll have someone take him to his room-"
"Get him some food too," Tony interjected.
Fury gave him an annoyed look, "I'll have someone get him some food and take him to his damn room," He finished.
"Yeah, can we not talk about him like he's not sitting right here?" Stiles said and while he was met by dirty looks, he went ignored.
"Hold on, that doesn't answer the question- how does this connect to the possession?" Stiles wanted both to cringe at the description and punch Natasha for the reiteration of the question, but he settled for a nice glare instead.
"When we went under, we supposedly opened some...door in our minds. I thought I got it fixed, but I guess I was wrong." He shrugged.
"Stiles," Thor said carefully, and his eyes held a glint that showed that he knew something. "How exactly did you guys become surrogate sacrifices?"
This was something that Stiles didn't like to talk about, or even think about because then he could feel Lydia's fingers pressed into his shoulders and the frozen feeling of the ice. "It was a ritual," He began, ducking his eyes from the God's sharp stare. "We, uh, drowned."
The silence in the room was so intense, Stiles' swore everyone could hear the intense beating of his heart.
"I think this is enough." Fury stated once again, nodding towards Coulson.
"I need Agent Hill in Room 25D." Coulson spoke, probably into his earpiece, judging by the way he pressed his hand to his ear.
"Hold up, you owe me a sandwich, I'm not eating shitty food again." He sneered.
Once again, no one answered him. Instead, they seemed to opt for silence. Fortunately, the quiet died when the door opened, and a woman in a black S.H.I.E.L.D uniform walked in. "Director Fury," She stated.
Strangely, she reminded him of Allison.
"Hill, please take Mr Stilinski down to the cafeteria, then to his room. I'm sure you've been briefed on his case." Hill looked over at Stiles, her eyes calculating before she nodded, gesturing for Stiles to stand and follow her.
He paused for a moment before standing, feeling slightly uncomfortable under the stares of the adults. With a sigh of exasperation, Stiles followed Agent Hill out of the room, feeling even more uneasy as he was left with the woman. It wasn't that she made him feel uncomfortable- he didn't think she'd hurt him unless he provoked her- it was just that she intimidated him in the same way that Black Widow did.
"So, uh, what's up?" He stated.
Agent Hill glanced at him before looking forward, successfully ignoring him. The teenager rolled his eyes, crossing his arms. He was once again experiencing an extreme chill that he couldn't shake and he hoped that getting some (hopefully good) warm food in him would help.
"How old are you, kid?" She questioned as the two of them stepped into an elevator.
Stiles looked over, briefly catching the sight of his reflection in the mirrored walls. "I thought you were 'briefed on my case'." He mocked, using air quotes.
She rolled her eyes, giving him an unimpressed look. "Briefed on your case, not your person."
He had a snarky comeback in mind, but he decided he didn't really want to get hit today. "Seventeen."
Hill nodded, staring forward once again, but Stiles was still under her intense gaze, though now it was through the mirrored doors of the elevator. He could tell that she was sizing him up, obviously trying to decide if he was an actual threat or not, and Stiles was slightly ashamed to admit that he probably didn't look dangerous at all. If anything, he looked the opposite of a threat. The sweatshirt he was wearing hung off his body, looking oversized on his (malnourished) frame. His sweatpants did the same thing, and the whole outfit made him look smaller. It also didn't help that he wasn't wearing any socks.
Finally, the elevator doors opened, and Stiles was quick to step out, but he let out a yelp of surprise when a hand wrapped around his upper arm, pulling him back. His head turned quickly, meeting the face of Agent Hill.
"Dude!" He exclaimed.
"You really think I'm gonna let you run off?" She questioned and Stiles' jaw fell open in shock.
"I was just stepping out of the elevator!" He stated, shaking his arm out of her grip. "It's snowing outside, do you really think I would just run out there with no shoes on?!" He rolled his eyes, "I'm dumb but not that dumb."
Hill looked at him for a moment, scoffing loudly before she began to walk, throwing a look over her shoulder that told Stiles' that he better follow her, and while the idea of escape played in his head, his hunger was stronger and he found himself strolling after her.
-
"Are we just going to ignore the elephant in the room?" Tony finally spoke after a brief silence since Stiles was taken out of the room. "I mean, how the hell did we miss three kids basically killing themselves to save their parents because a psycho bitch lady kidnapped them to revive a magic tree? This is completely in our line of work and we knew nothing about it!" He stated, his fingers tapping against his arc reactor in his panic.
"We didn't even know that werewolves existed until fifteen minutes ago," Natasha stated. "The only person who knew of the Nemeta was Thor."
They all looked to the god, "The Nemeta was supposed to be protected," He stated. "Unfortunately, it was not, but Heimdall assured me that it was not that it was not that big of an issue." Thor explained, "I did not know that it would come to lead to...all that."
"They're just kids and they're trying to do the same things we do." Steve interjected, "They may be enhanced, but the difference between those kids and us is just that, they're kids."
"It's not just that they're kids, kids can be powerful whether they fight off the big bads or not, it's just...how did we miss this? They were out there doing our job." Bruce stated, causing Tony to nod in agreement.
"Can we all agree," Sam questioned, "that Stiles went through some pretty fucked up things, and no offense, but he's obviously pretty messed up. I don't think he was lying."
"So we're just supposed to believe that a demon possessed him and made him kill people?" Rhodey countered, and it wasn't because he wanted to believe that Stiles was a killer, it was because he didn't want to believe that things like demons were real.
"Actually, yeah," Clint replied, "Loki basically possessed and he made me kill people. Gods and goddesses exist, I think it's perfectly reasonable that shit like werewolves and demons can exist." He stated, rubbing the base of his hearing aid.
He felt guilty that he went in with full force to interrogate Stiles. And now that he had time to think about it, he was kinda impressed by the kid's ability to keep his snarky facade in the face of Avengers, especially because everyone but Natasha was a whole lot larger than him. Any other seventeen-year-old kid would have cracked instantly under the pressure. However, they still had some reason to be suspicious of him, because Stiles had abilities that none of them knew anything about, and the only things they have learned about his powers was what he showed them.
"I think we can all agree," Sam reiterated. "That the kid has been through some seriously fucked up shit. I've seen guys with PTSD, and he has the same look on his face."
It was unnerving to think about, that such a young person could have possibly gone through so much in their life to give them such a mental disorder, and another unnerving fact about it was that everything that happened to Stiles started happening not even a year ago.
"I hate how we're doing a full 360 and completely not acknowledging the fact that we all pretty much acted like Stiles was a mass murderer without actually getting all the facts. And we all know what happened the last time we did that," Tony zeroed his focus onto Coulson, who at least had a shred of decency to look ashamed for his faked death.
"I," Thor began, looking a bit saddened. "I could sense something, a darkness within him. But I assumed it was due to accusations made against him, however, I realize that the darkness is from the dark energy of the Nemeton. It's burdened him."
"That's exactly what I'm saying," Tony sighed, rubbing his forehead. "We're supposed to be the guys that stop shit like this."
"I get what you're saying," Natasha stated, "And yes, we made snap judgments. But still, I think we still have reason to be wary of him. Are we forgetting that he managed to take Steve down in a matter of 5 seconds?"
"You're right," Fury interrupted the discussion. "And as much as it pains me to say this, you are too, Stark. So let's put an end to this damn "we can agree" bullshit and get to discussing the bigger issues here. While mistakes were previously made, I have to say that good things have come from it. For example, we've uncovered another person with superhuman abilities as well as an entire species that are genetically modified humans," He paused, taking in the disapproving looks of the Avengers. "Oh shut the hell up, I am a man of my word, I'll leave his little friends alone." He rolled his eyes.
"Regarding the fact that Stiles has these...powers," Phil chimed in, "Obviously he doesn't get to just leave, which poses the next question-"
Fury gave a sarcastic smile, "Who's babysitting?"
-
"Alright, what do you want?" Maria Hill was unimpressed with the fact that her Director- of a very exclusive, prestigious government agency- assumed that her skills included babysitting a seventeen-year-old teenager who followed behind her like a lost puppy.
The kid was quite a character to be seen, his head craning around in almost every direction as she led him to the cafeteria, obviously trying to take in everything.
It was hilarious, really.
Now, they were standing in front of an electronic kiosk, a touch screen displayed for them to order their food. Stiles was looking at the screen, his eyes scanning the stock photos of the food, his nose crinkling. "Given my experience with your food, I'm not sure if I want anything. Sanitizer and cardboard are not good for my diet."
She rolled her eyes, her annoyance with the kid apparent as she tapped the screen. "The food that the people in the holding cells is usually pretty bad," She shrugged. "Subpar, I guess. Do you think Tony Stark would allow bad food to be served her?" She sent him a look that read duh as she continued to place her own order.
The paninis in the cafeteria were amazing.
Maria could feel the kid's eyes studying her for a moment before he watched her finish ordering, using the finalization of her food as a sign to step up and order his own food.
Stiles' stared at the screen, his eyes flickering over the many options. He was fucking starving, that was no secret. But upon the offer of food, his stomach stop flipping and hunger stopping gnawing at him, he had no idea what he wanted to it.
So like any respectable teenager, he settled on mac and cheese and curly fries. He looked back over at Agent Hill, shrugging his shoulders as he gave a clumsy gesture towards the screen, trying to signify that he was done. He was getting ready to voice his actions to her when he caught movement behind the woman, his eyebrows furrowing as he recognized the girl standing only a few yards away from him.
"Darcy?" It was a little louder than intended, considering that he wasn't really meaning to get her attention, but he ended up doing it anyway.
The woman whipped around, her eyes landing on him, and a huge grin spread across her face, though it was quickly followed by a mask of confusion.
"Dylan?" Right.
Dylan. That was the name he was using when he met her.