From The Ashes - 011 (Patreon)

[A/N: I originally planned to return to 'The Wanderer' but I felt that this story wasn't quite there yet and needed some more chapters so that you could all get a general idea of where it was heading.

Enjoy!]

Chapter 011 – Talk

[2012]

Sitting in silence around the little lounge area in the rather battered Stark Tower while they ate the food that he had ordered from the little shawarma joint a few blocks away, which he had always wanted to try out and luckily survived the invasion, Tony and the others waited for Noah to show up as they rested after having dealt with some of the aftermath of the battle.

Though since they were all exhausted and injured, or simply not suited for that type of work, they hadn't joined the rescue efforts like 'The Phoenix' had, for which the news was already praising Noah to high heaven while subtly condemning them at the same time for not doing so.

Instead, Stark and the others had handed over the sceptre to SHIELD and chained up Loki with some magical restraints, which Thor had somehow pulled out of his sleeves, before locking him in a room.

They had of course talked about the fiery stranger and tried to guess his identity and origins since his name didn't turn up any result even after he had J.A.R.V.I.S. search through all known databases.

But even the oldest amongst them, a godly princeling more than a thousand years old had never heard of a being that fit Noah's description, so they had set aside their discussion for now in favour of filling up their bellies while they waited for him to appear.

And with a small eruption of dark blue smoke, Noah did exactly that.

Tensing up for a moment, they all looked at the man for a moment, unmistakable respect and trepidation in their hearts. None of them had yet forgotten how he had taken down the Hulk with a single blow, especially not Banner himself who looked at Noah with a deep frown.

Stark didn't know what the biochemist was thinking when facing the possibly only person capable of controlling the 'Hulk', which Banner considered to be a separate part of himself.

Relief? Fear? A mixture of both?

Tony wasn't sure but he himself felt gratitude for Noah for saving his life and the city by taking the missile through the portal. Though there was also a large part of curiosity mixed into it, the scientific part of himself wondering what kind of being the black-haired man was.

“We ordered some shawarma.”, Tony simply greeted the man to ease the atmosphere, pointing at the leftover food in the large paper bag, “I don't know if your kind has to eat but if you do, just help yourself.”

“I am still human, Mr. Stark. Even if only partly.”, Noah replied while grabbing himself a wrap with ground beef, cabbage, some other vegetables, and sauce, “Thank you.”

Thanking him politely, Noah found a place on an empty leather armchair to sit down before taking the first bite, sighing quietly as he seemingly relaxed quite a bit, his exhaustion visible like it was true for the rest of them.

The atmosphere had eased up a lot after this short exchange, even if Noah's cryptic answer made most of them curious, though it was Bruce who spoke up and asked a question that brought some tension back to the room again.

“If you are only partly human, then what is the other part?”, the dark-haired scientist with the anger issues inquired, his stare almost penetrating.

Noah though didn't seem to be bothered by the direct question as he just raised his head and looked calmly at Bruce, his answer causing a chill to run down Tony's spine.

“I don't know but I might very well be the Devil.”, Noah replied quietly, his grey eyes showing not a ripple of emotion before he just turned his attention back to his food.

Stark didn't notice it until his body's alarm clocks woke him from his frozen state but the burning of his lungs told him that Noah's answer had caused his breath to get caught in his throat, and judging by the silent atmosphere, the others didn't feel much different.

From a view of strength, Noah might very well be the Devil.

…

"So you don't know the origin of your 'abilities'?", Steve broke the short silence as he asked with a tone that suggested he didn't believe Noah, a frown on his face while he looked at the stranger, before he added, "Where are you from and why were you after the Tesseract?"

Unlike Stark, he was very much filled with vigilance as he looked at the grey-eyed stranger, the fact that Noah had admitted to taking the Tesseract's power for himself made Steve reluctant to trust him even a little bit.

He had seen firsthand what kind of damage Schmidt's greed for the power contained inside the Tesseract had caused.

The many lives that had been sacrificed for one man's ambition, among them his best friend, Steve remembered the war with clarity, and so he found it hard to see anything but a threat in Noah.

…

Looking at the Captain, I had no problem discerning the origin of his displeasure. Had I just destroyed the Tesseract, things might have been different, but since I had taken its power for myself, Rogers didn't trust me one bit.

I could sense his emotions clearly through my Haki, the proximity making it easy and giving a very clear picture of his emotional state.

Still, I had no intention of revealing my secrets since they were part of my strength, giving me an advantage in this rather chaotic Universe.

I also didn't trust any of those present, not because I wasn't convinced of their upright character, which I wasn't. But more so because I didn't really know them.

Despite the movies that I had seen, they were strangers and none of them had earned my trust at this point, especially not the two spies. I was sure that Barton and Romanoff would report everything that I told them to Fury, so I intended to keep my answers vague or not answer at all.

After all, I didn't owe any of them an answer in the first place. I was only here so that I wouldn't have to bother with being hunted down by the Avengers after stealing the Tesseract's power.

I didn't want to make unnecessary enemies but that didn't mean that I had to make friends. I was fine with them being acquaintances as long as they would let me get by in peace.

With a light smile on my lips that didn't quite reach my eyes, I replied: “I didn't get my powers through an injection if that is what you are asking, Captain Rogers. It is because of who I am, that I am what I am, which is all you need to know.”

Admittedly, my answer was cryptic and not really helpful but technically, I wasn't even lying as I responded to his first question as the whole reason that I had Marco's abilities was that I had died as Noah Hatahle and some god-like being had seemingly taken pity on me.

I wasn't mocking myself with these thoughts, it was just the truth.

"And I remember that I already told you that I seek to empower myself.", I added, "The Tesseract was just a convenient tool to aid me in that goal without me having to cause unnecessary bloodshed."

"A tool that belonged to SHIELD and could have been used to produce endless amounts of inexpensive energy for all the people on Earth.", Barton finally interjected.

"I think you know as well as I do that, that is not the truth. The project name 'Phase Two' should ring a bell, doesn't it? Not to mention that the cube has no 'owner'.", I countered, effectively shutting up the professional killer.

"It is a cosmic object that existed since time immemorial, and even Asgard didn't come into possession of it until long after its creation, before losing it again."

, turning to face Thor, I added: "I am right, am I not, Son of Odin?"

A light frown on his face, Thor nodded calmly, acknowledging my statement even though he most likely thought that the question of the cube being ownerless was one to argue over. He didn't voice his thoughts out loud though and I understood that he gave in since he was probably thinking of asking me for my assistance later on.

After all, I wasn't oblivious to the fact that I was his only hope of reigniting the Birfrost in a short period of time, or at all for that matter, even though such was unlikely.

“You seem to know a lot about the Tesseract.”, Bruce stated, his tone hiding an obvious question.

“I know enough.”, I replied without further expanding on the truth of the matter.

“For what do you seek power? What are you after, what kind of goal needs this kind of strength?”, Steve questioned loudly, his tone measured and low.

His question caused all the other Avengers present to look at me quietly, all of them seemingly eager to get an answer to this question.

Still, I couldn't really explain to them that I had seen part of what was coming and that I sought to protect myself from being swept away by powers beyond my reach and understanding.

I couldn't really tell them that I was seeking strength to be free to be myself in a world that was about to welcome an age of chaos since I had no intention of making any major changes in the timeline.

Though I also knew that they needed an answer to quell the budding fear in their hearts. They needed an answer that made me seem human – vulnerable.

And so I gave them one.