Chapter Text
‘Haw.’ Tony Stark prodded the inside of his cheek with his tongue. ‘You know, Rogers insisted she doesn’t do that stuff anymore.’
‘And how would he know?’ Jessica Jones asked.
‘He doesn’t,’ Tony said. ‘I’ve got no idea why he keeps defending her.’ Truth be told, Tony was more inclined to believe Jones than he was to believe Rogers. Attacked with no provocation vs. I was mind-controlled for several years – what a no brainer. The fact that “calming her” hadn’t worked suggested to Tony that Jones’s brain had built up defences against mental manipulation, which could only happen under prolonged exposure. ‘So how can you actually tell when someone’s trying to screw around in your head?’
‘It’s kind of like a pressure,’ Jones said. ‘And it’s a gut reaction – kind of like when you know you’re being watched.’
Yeah, the brain would, after years of being externally controlled, logically develop a way to recognise the same thing happening again. The fact that Wanda had indicated to Tony that it may be a recurring thing. It was something to consider, and it wouldn’t hurt to check. ‘Know anyone who could scan for them?’
Jones cracked a smile, probably guessing why he was asking. ‘Personally, no. But I know someone who would.’
Tony left shortly after and called up Rhodey and Hill and told them what had actually happened, rather than Rogers’ version of it.
‘So, basically,’ Rhodey said, ‘she triggered somebody with PTSD.’
‘Pretty much.’
‘So this means Wanda is potentially still extending the use of her powers?’ Hill asked.
‘Yeah, Jones gave me the name and workplace of someone who’s well-enough connected to check,’ Tony said. ‘That’s where I’m going now.’
‘Well, where is it?’ Rhodey asked. ‘We’ll meet you there.’
Sure enough, when Tony arrived as Force Fitness Gym, Rhodey and Hill were waiting for him. They went inside. Lennie Alice was apparently having a snack in her office. The woman herself looked to be in her mid-30s and was filling out some paperwork as they came in. There were three chairs set out in front of her. ‘There’s coffee in the percolator if you want some.’ She nodded her head towards the table along the side of the room.
‘How’d you know there’d be three of us?’ Tony asked, going over to the percolator.
Lennie set her pen down and sat back in her chair. ‘Jess didn’t mention? I’m a seer. I saw you walk in before you actually did.’
Hill and Rhodey glanced at each other before looking at her. Tony turned away from the coffee. ‘How does that work?’
‘From the balance of probability and the principles of cause and effect,’ Lennie said. ‘My husband had it first – it was a quirk that popped up in his family every now and again. When he died, he passed them to me via a genetic transfer. Of course, I had to alter my own molecular structure in order to take it.’
‘What do you mean?’ Hill asked.
‘Precognition shows you every available possibility,’ Lennie said. ‘If a decision changes – anybody’s decision – it can change the entire outcome. I have to calculate what is most likely to happen, and I had to train for 10 years to learn how to do it properly.’
‘That makes sense,’ Tony said. ‘So do you know what I’m about to say?’ He handed Rhodey and Hill a coffee before retrieving his own.
‘Yup.’ Lennie nodded. ‘So, what’s Maximoff’s problem with you anyhow?’
‘She thinks I killed her parents, apparently,’ Tony said.
Hill elaborated. ‘Their apartment was destroyed during the Sokovian Civil War and their parents were killed. They saw an unexploded bomb with Stark’s name on it.’
‘In the middle of a war?’ The look on her face reminded Tony of his mom when he tried to spin her a story about why a vase or a window was broken. Which, when you thought about it, was reasonable. People died in wars. If you were holding a grudge for casualties that occurred in a war then...
‘So far we haven’t been able to track the bomb,’ Rhodey said.
‘So it was probably fake,’ Lennie said. ‘Especially if there was no “boom”. Can’t say I’m really surprised about Rogers though.’
‘Really?’ Tony asked. ‘Why not?’
‘I was actually around when they first injected him.’ Lennie saw the looks on their faces and chuckled. ‘The modifications to my molecules had the side-effect of decelerating my ageing.’ She went on. ‘My husband was working for TECHNIT and he was stationed in that SSR base. He called Rogers a naive little idiot. The only reason he did the first mission was because Carter got the intelligence, and Howard flew him out.’
That surprised Tony. ‘Dad was a pilot?’ And he would have to have been a good one to get in and out of enemy airspace without being spotted.
‘Yup.’ Lennie stood up and picked up her canteen. ‘But the point of it is that Rogers was only successful because he had competent people around him. Theo said he had zero respect for authority, but he was so polite about it that most people didn’t notice, and he was quick to jump to conclusions.’
‘That explains so much,’ Hill said. ‘He decided early on that the Maximoffs were just misguided kids who wanted to defend their county.’
‘Must be dumber than I thought,’ Lennie mused.
‘Dumber how?’ Rhodey asked.
‘He can’t tell the difference between a civil war and an international war,’ Lennie said. ‘In a civil war, you’re not fighting for your country – as I’m sure you already know; you’re fighting for who is in control of your country.’
Maria let out a noise that indicated agreement. ‘That’s not even mentioning the fact that they volunteered for HYDRA.’
For a moment, Lennie’s eyes glazed over. ‘He’s got an ulterior motive.’
That must’ve been a vision. ‘You saw that just now?’ Tony asked.
‘Yeah,’ Lennie said. ‘He wants to use her to clear the way for someone else – looked like Bucky Barnes. Right.’ She clapped her hands and then rubbed them together. ‘We can kill two birds with one stone. You came here to ask me for someone who could scan for mental manipulations.’
It wasn’t a question. Tony answered it like it was anyway. ‘Yes.’
‘I’ve got one,’ Lennie said. ‘He can not only scan you, but he can put up defences against her influence as well. And he can find out what the hell’s going on with Rogers.’
‘So where is he?’ Hill asked.
‘Westchester.’