AU-2: Vengeance Tears Chapter 4: What Donald Blake Decided To Do, an avengers fanfic

Chapter 4: What Donald Blake Decided To Do

Stark Industries Global Headquarters, Queens, New York

Stark, Pym and Janet sat around the table in a secret, secure conference room adjacent to Stark's private office suite. Stark wore bandages on his forehead, but you could barely see them for his helmet. He sat at the head of the table wearing his full suit of repulsor-powered armor, with only the face plate open. And Pym had a fresh particle disc belt around his waist. Janet, whose particle device wasn't ready to use, packed a .38 caliber automatic pistol on each hip, given to her by Stark.

After what had just happened, they knew they couldn't be sure they were safe. Even here. And they didn't intend to get caught unprepared again.

Worse, they didn't know if they could be safe again anywhere. Ever.

Silence reigned. Stark had briefly strummed his fingers on the table at one point, thinking. But with his metal gauntlets on, it sounded like a horse cantering through the room. So he stopped. Since then, there hadn't been a sound.

Finally, Janet broke the quiet. "Don said he felt like the person knew him?"

Stark looked up as if wakened from a daydream. "The guy told Don he'd thought about killing him for years." Stark paused. "Said the guy hated him, like Don had done something to him."

"But Don didn't know him?" Pym asked.

Stark glanced over at Pym and hesitated. He shifted in his seat. "There's something I don't think I ever told you guys. Don told me once that when he was in that other form, he had . . . memories. Of people and places he didn't recognize."

"How is that possible?" Pym asked.

"Search me. But just now in the infirmary he told me he had did have a feeling he'd seen the guy before. But he had no idea where, and no idea who he is."

Stark got up and started pacing, his boots clomping heavily on the floor. "But of more immediate concern to me, he also has no idea what this guy is capable of."

Another long silence followed. Then Pym leaned forward and propped his elbows on the table.

"Which means we're sitting ducks."

"Exactly."

"What do you mean?" Janet asked.

Stark answered. "This guy broke into a secure facility. To which he followed Don, it would appear, by flying. He blew a hole in the side of the building apparently without any weapon. Then he tossed me across the room with a wave of his hand. And we don't even know if this was the full extent of his powers, or if he was just getting warmed up. Maybe he can turn invisible too. Maybe he's sitting right here in the room with us, listening. Or he could come blasting back in here at any minute." Stark gestured with one hand. "Ergo, we're sitting ducks."

Pym shook his head. "So what are we going to do, sit around and wait for him to come back?"

Stark scoffed. "Not on my watch, pal. We're going after him."

"And how are we going to do that?"

Stark opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again.

"The guy can change form," Pym said. "Remember? That's what Don said. So how do we go after him? We don't even know what he looks like."

Stark stroked his chin. "Okay. Well . . . since we know he's after Don, we do sit around and wait for him to come back. Then we take him on, all four of us, together, suited up, powered up."

Just then the door opened. Blake hobbled in. He bore bandages around his head and on his cheek, and had one arm in a sling. But his staff was back in hand. He leaned heavily on it.

"Don!" Everyone said at once. "That was fast," Stark said. "The doctors let you go?"

"They said as long as I stayed close by, they'd let me come to the meeting." Blake's voice sounded thin; his face looked tired.

"Great! We were just making plans on how to deal with this guy."

Blake exhaled a small laugh. "Yeah. So was I."

Stark resumed the discussion. "Hank made a good point, which is we can't really go after this guy since he can change what he looks like. So, we're going to wait here for him to come back, then we'll all take him on, together, ready this time."

Blake hobbled into a seat. "And how long do we wait around?"

"As long as it takes."

Blake leaned forward. "Come on, Tony. Look at you - sitting around a conference table armed to the teeth because we're afraid this guy could come crashing in at any moment. You can't live like that. You gonna wear that Iron Man suit in the shower?"

"Hey, it's rust proof, pal."

Blake shook his head. "No. Not a good plan."

"Well what's yours?" Stark asked.

Blake sat silently for several seconds, his face twisting as if the words he wanted to say hurt coming out. Finally, he answered.

"I leave."

Stark looked skeptical. "And go where?"

Blake shook his head. "I don't know. It doesn't matter. I'm not talking about leaving to go somewhere else." He looked around at each of them in turn. "I'm talking about leaving the team."

Stark and Janet both started talking at once. "What? No! What are you talking about? We're a team."

"You're a team," Blake answered to the last comment he heard. "Ever since the ship, you guys have been working away on your inventions. Which is terrific. You're perfect for each other. One of you invents something, another improves it. Each of you brings something to the process."

Blake shook his head again. "But I acted like I could just go back to practicing medicine. As if discovering the power of the gods was just a weekend hobby." He paused. "When what I should have been doing was seeking answers."

Blake leaned back and stared off to one side, his face twisted in self-rebuke. "I've been a fool to act like I could go on, business as usual, after what happened to me. I should have been finding out who I really am. Where I come from. What these memories in my head are. If this being that attacked me really does know me, who else out there might know me? Who are they? Where are they?"

"All those years, seeking my destiny." Blake dropped his hands into his lap. "And once I found it, I shied away from it." He looked around at the others. "Well now it has found me. I can't shy away from it anymore."

"So don't," Janet pleaded. "But you can still stay a part of the team."

"Janet," Blake interrupted. "That . . . thing could have killed you. Could have killed Hank or Tony. Because of me. Even if you're willing to live like that, I'm not. I won't put your lives at risk on my account."

"Uh, excuse me," Stark said. "But I think putting our lives at risk kind of came with the territory when we agreed to this whole Avengers thing."

"Maybe when we were talking about doing good deeds in the world, or bringing killers to justice," Blake answered. "But this is a whole different level of entity."

"So just give us a little more time. We'll think of something." Stark turned to Pym. "Hank's been quiet. He's probably already thought of something."

Pym didn't answer. Stark leaned toward him. "That was kind of your cue, big guy."

Pym continued silent a long time before answering. "Actually, Don's course of action makes the most sense."

Janet stared at Pym in shock. "What are you talking about?"

"Just listen to what he's saying. He's right. We're just starting to learn about our new technologies. He, on the other hand, can become a god - instantaneously – at any moment he chooses." Pym turned toward Blake. "In fact, the most likely explanation of this enemy that attacked us is that he's another being like you. And just as you don't know the full extent of your powers yet, we also don't know the full extent of his."

Pym turned back to Janet. "Given what we know right now, Don's course of action makes the most sense. For that matter, who's to say it's best that he stay with us? What if we're holding him back somehow when he's around us? How do we know it's not more dangerous for him to be here, with us, rather than out there alone? We're the ones struggling to figure out how to use our weapons. He's a god."

Janet crossed her arms. "You know, for once it would be nice to hear your heart overrule your cold, calculating mind."

"Janet, please," Blake interrupted. "I appreciate what you're trying to do." Blake turned toward Pym. "And I appreciate your intellectual honesty in saying what you just did." He looked around at each of them. "But there's nothing any of you can say that will change my mind on this. If anything were to happen to any of you because of me, I would never forgive myself." He looked back at Janet. "And Hank's right. I've got the power of a god, right here in my hand." He brought his staff up from the floor. "It's time I used it."

"But what will you do?" Stark asked.

Blake considered this. "I'll change into that other form, and stay in it." He looked at the staff in his hand. "Then I'll follow my hammer. I have a feeling it still has secrets to show me yet."

No one said anything for a long time. Finally, Janet broke the silence.

"And. . . when will you be back?"

"That depends on the answers I find."

Janet revised her question. "Will you be back?"

Blake repeated himself, but more thoughtfully this time. "That depends on the answers I find."

"You know, we could try to stop you," Stark said.

Blake smiled. "You remember how that worked out last time you tried it. And that was without me fighting back."

"Yeah? Well smack that cane on the floor one time, and we'll go another round."

Blake kept smiling . . . and showed no intention of striking his cane on the floor. "Tony, I'm not going to fight you. You're my friend." He looked around at the others. "As are all of you. That's why I came back instead of leaving without saying goodbye. I wanted you to know . . . ." His voice cracked. So he said nothing more.

One by one, Pym, Janet and Stark lowered their heads and stared at the table instead of at him. But no one protested any further. When Blake saw they had accepted the inevitable, he nodded.

"Alright."

He pivoted on his cane awkwardly and started toward the door. "I might as well get started. The longer I stay here, the longer I put all of you in danger." When he reached the door, he turned back. "And the longer it'll take me to find answers."

Blake scanned the room. "Well. . . this is it. Goodbye my friends."

"Wait." Stark spoke up glumly. "Let me at least get you to roof access. You can transform there without anybody seeing you. And that way this creep can't jump you walking out of the building." Stark got up, clomped across the floor, and walked Blake out.

A short time later, he returned. Pym and Janet were still sitting, silent, each staring at a different point on the table. Suddenly they heard a blast like a thunderclap from the rooftop. Janet lowered her head.

"We'll leave a light on for you," Stark said in a whisper.

After a long pause, Janet asked, "What do we do now?"

Stark shrugged, clomped over and sat down again. "The only thing we can we do. We carry on."