I stood there with my cell in my hands. Could I really do this? I couldn't trust myself to save the driver with my ability. But I felt I could trust Bruce and he trusted me.
"Sage just try…please." He begged. The fuel had just reached the fire with a whoosh it set a light and I knew it was now or never. I lifted my right hand and concentrated closing my eyes. I could feel the heat, feel it filling me up. Absorbing the heat and energy, so much, there was so much of it. I began to close my hand; it was the only way I could do it, visualising my hand crushing and extinguishing the flames.
"Sage! Sage!" Tony's voice seemed far away and suddenly his hand was on my arm. I opened my eyes and found myself on all fours; it had been a long time since I had tried anything like this, simply for the fact that I had no intention of using my ability. "Are you alright?" I looked up at him, focusing.
"Yeah, just…haven't done anything like that in a long time." He pulled me to my feet and moved to the truck pulling open the door. "Is everyone ok?" I asked looking on the ground for my cell, picking it up.
"Yes don't worry." He replied as I lifted my cell.
"Bruce?"
"Sage…thank god. I told you, you could do. It was close though." Close? I looked up and over to Tony's car everyone did seem fine. In fact no one seemed scared or worried; no one seemed the slight bit interested in what I had just done. Tony had seemed odd since I thanked him for the dress, he seemed to regret something right before the accident and Bruce just happened to call when I needed him. I whirled on Tony. How did I not see it from the start?
"You set me up!" I screamed at him.
"Sage." He said turning his hands raised in submission. "Sage look it had to be done."
"Had to be done? And what if I hadn't have done that? If I hadn't have saved him? What then?" I heard Bruce calling my name down the phone. He had known too, that's why he knew to call me at that exact moment. I spoke quickly into the cell. "How could you? I thought I could trust you, but you knew all along." I spoke quietly into it before ending the call.
"Sage come on, Fury needed to know you could handle the stress, that you really would use your ability if you had to, if we needed you to." I was angry, angrier than I've ever been. I finally trusted someone, agreed to help them and it was all just a trick, an elaborate set-up to see if I really would help them. I could feel the heat funnelling through my body; my hands shook and began to glow from the heat.
"I hate you." I spat at him. I had to stay calm I wouldn't hurt anyone; I refused to let this change me. I turned and marched away to his car. The people we had 'saved' watched me curiously clearly they were all S.H.I.E.L.D agents. I grabbed my jacket and the things Tony owed me, my suit, bag and shoes and started to walk away leaving the dress behind.
"Sage where are you going?" He called after me.
"Anywhere that you and your Initiative aren't." There was a turn off nearby, a gas station or something I would call a cab from there and be done with all of them.
"You going to walk all the way home?"
"I have money and a cell. I'll call a cab." I growled at him as I continued walking.
"Sage at least let me take you back!" He called. I stopped and turned to look at him as he stood there trying to look helpless.
"Take me back? Take me back?! I am never going back! I am going home! I am going back to Whitman and White to live my life how I planned. I will not be using my….curse! I want nothing to do with any of you!" I screamed at him as my cell rang in my bag. I turned on my heel again and began to march away.
"Sage…Sage, look I'm sorry ok?!" He shouted at me. I felt something, a little stirring in my chest, but sorry wasn't good enough.
"Have a nice life Stark." I walked and carried on walking till I got to the gas station and called a cab.
The next couple of days I tried to forget about it all. I went food shopping, paid my bills, cooked and cleaned. I couldn't forget though no matter how hard I tried, I was hurt, I felt betrayed. The one thing I felt sure of while on the Helli-Carrier even though it was only for a short time was Bruce. I thought I could trust him, I thought he understood me, but I was wrong. I knew as I always did that the only person I could trust was myself. I grabbed a glass and poured some orange juice before heading back into my living room and finding Clint sat on my sofa.
"Jesus Christ what are you doing in here! What are you doing in my home? Get out!" I shouted at him angry that after all they did he would come swanning into my home.
"Sage, please just listen to me. What happened was Fury's doing, Tony may have had something to do with it as he was there with you. But the rest of didn't know until it was too late." He shouted back at me quickly so I couldn't stop him. I froze in the door way, did it really matter if they knew about it or not? "Natasha and I found out when you were leaving the mall. We told him to stop it, Bruce and Steve arrived and said the same, Fury didn't want them to know, he knew they would definitely have stopped this from happening. When he left we decided we'd help any way we could. But we couldn't get to you the only thing we could do was have Bruce call you and help you through it." He sighed rubbing the back of his head.
"And that makes a difference?" I asked angrily.
"I hoped it would. I hoped it would make you see that we're on your side, we wanted to help you not Fury." I looked down at the glass in my hands thinking.
"You want a drink?" He shook his head as I sat down on my chair. "I'm not cut out for this Clint. It scares me. What I'm capable of."
"None of us ever are. But courage comes from doing what you're scared of. Taking what scares you the most and using it to do good. I'd like to think it's something everyone really wants to do." I noticed the bag at his side when he reached into it. "This is the suit Tony did for you, complete with eye mask. I hope you'll come back, show Fury that he can't break you, that you're better than him." He handed me a black bundle stood and left.
I got up and walked to my room unfolding the bundle to reveal a skin tight long sleeved jumpsuit, the material felt strange beneath my fingers. It had loops for a utility belt and then a belt with a fire emblem on the front the little black face mask fell to the floor along with a piece of white paper. I put down the suit and stooped picking up the mask and the paper.
Fire Cracker I'm sorry,
Tin Man
Was all it said. Maybe it was time I grew up and stopped living in the past. I knew right from wrong and knew how to control my ability. Maybe it was time I did whatever but myself seemed to think I could do. Maybe I needed to believe in me.
A/N: Thank you to everyone that's taken an interest in this and reviewed you guys are awesome!
