Tony's Secret Sister

Chapter Nineteen

Hours turn into days and days soon turn into weeks, each one passing in a blur as I sit beside the meeting room window, my eyes fixed on the street outside. My knees are hugged tightly to my chest, Stephen's scarf wrapped around my shoulders and my phone sat to my left, a picture of me, Peter and Stephen on the screen.

"Okay so does everyone understand what they need to do?" Tony shouts, stood at the head of the meeting table as he stares upon the team. Seven of the ten seats are occupied by the team, the spare two seats mine and Stephens as I sit apart from the group, a constant reminder of his absence.

Timidly, Peter lifts his hand into the air, a small smile on his face as Tony turns to face him. "Well, I have one question Mr Stark." he admits, letting his hand fall as his eyes flicker towards me, Tony's doing the same before they rest back upon Peter. Nodding for him to continue, Tony takes a seat in his own chair, crossing his arms against his chest as he shuffles in his chair. "You told us what we needed to do but..." Peters voice trails off, his eyes flickering towards me as his eyes soften. "what about mum?"

Silence invaded the air, the teams eyes slowly widening as they realize what Peters said. Sam, whose sat across from Peter, glancing rapidly between me and a completely unaware Peter, slowly putting the pieces together and causing his eye to wide as a gasp comes from him.

"When did she tell you?" asks Tony, his eyes fixed upon my figure as I sit, completely unaware of what's going on behind me as I lean my cheek against the cold window, hugging the scarf tighter around me.

"Erm about a week or two ago." Peter shrugs his shoulders, spinning around in his chair much to Tony's irritation. Rolling his eyes, Tony coughs loudly which causes Peter to quickly stop, his hand flying to his mouth as his eyes widen. "Was I not supposed to tell anyone Abi's my mum?" Peter asks causing a chorus of gasps to come from within the room.

Everyone turns to Tony who holds his hands up defensively, leaning backwards in his chair and acting all innocent. "Hey Peter's the one who didn't say anything." Tony reminds them as they all turn to Peter, a small smirk tugging at Tony's lips as Peter sinks into his chair.

"Hey! Mum told me not to because you'd freak out..." his voice trails off as he examines the completely shocked faces in front of him, the hint of fury in Tony's eyes causing his to shrink even further into the chair. "And now I can see that she's right."

Everyone turns to where I sit, unbothered by the chatter around me. My face is pale, bags forming under my eyes from the lack of sleep I've had over the past week. Every time I close my eyes I remember that night, the pain I felt. The pain I still feel. My clothes are the same ones I've been wearing for the past few days, a large shirt and joggers along with Stephen's scarf.

"Has she actually moved at all?" Steve sighs, his voice soft and sympathetic as he leans backwards in the chair, resting his hand on his chin. Slowly, I reach for my phone, switching it on only to be greeted by Stephens face and no new messages. Sighing, I turn it back on and turn back to the window, my eyes fixing upon the end of the path again.

"She hasn't eaten, spoken, slept or moved since Strange left." Tony explains, pulling himself up off the chair and grabbing a small blanket that sits in the end of the table, carefully wrapping it around my shoulders. I smile but don't look away from the horizon, hugging the cover tightly around my shivering body. "She just sits there, watching the sun rise and fall, letting her life pass by."

"And what about you Tony?" Nat asks, pulling herself up from her own chair as Tony lowers himself back into his. Walking around the table, she places a comforting hand gently on his shoulder, smiling weakly down at him. "Are you okay?"

"It breaks my heart seeing her like this. What makes it worse is it's my fault." Tony puts his head in his hands, rubbing his temples between his fingers and nursing the start of a migraine. "I just feel like she's slipping further and further away each day and that if I don't do something I'm going to lose her." He looks up, small red marks on his head from where he's rubbed it. Sighing, Tony closes his eyes and collapses further into the chair.

"Well what if we ask him to come back...nicely?" Peter suggests, his voice quiet and innocent in the back of the room. Closing my eyes, I let a small tear fall out before turning my head to face him and smiling weakly.

"He's never going to come back." I assure Peter before turning my whole body to face him. Its taken me a while but I guess I have to accept it. Sighing, I hug the small blanket tightly around my shoulders and look back at the confused faces in front of me.

"Is that the first thing she's said since he left?" Steve asks, his head turning to face Tony even as his eye remain fixed upon my small figure.

Tony nods once, pulling himself up from the chair and making his way towards me. Lowering himself onto the small couch by the window, Tony places a gentle hand on my shoulder before looking me in the eyes. "Why won't he come back Abi?"

"He hates me." I whisper, tears beginning to leak from my eyes as my nose tingles. Collapsing against Tony's side, I wrap my arms tightly around him and let the storm of emotions I've been holding in rush out, erupting all over Tony's shirt in the form of tears.

Tony gently tucks a strand of hair behind my ear, wiping away the tears as they come with the edge of his shirt sleeve. "Why would he hate you Abi?" He whispers soothingly as I sit up straighter, wiping at my own eyes and sniffing in violently.

"Because Tony..." I pause as another wave of tears breaks free from the damn I built, "I hurt people Tony. In case you haven't realised,it's what I do. I don't try to but I always do. And now I've hurt Stephen in the worst way I could."

"What did you do Abi?"

"Why not ask Sam? He saw." Everyone turns to face Sam, who stands there and shuffles on the spot, his focus suddenly turning to the ground at his feet. Why did she have to drop him in it?Scratching the back of his head,he opens his mouth as if to speak and closes it again.

"Well me and Stephen may have walked in on her kissing Loki." Sam admits, causing everyone's eyes to widen as a chorus of disappointed cries coming from them. Peter who sits in the back, frowns, his face curling into s disgusted expression as he scoffs.

"Doing what?!" Tonys voice reeks of dissapoitment as his head whips around to face me, his eyes wide and his mouth ajar. Swallowing hard, I shake my head at Tony, silently letting him know that it's not what he thinks. Completely understanding what I mean, Tony's eyes grow stormy, his hands curling into fists as his lips tighten into a straight line.

"I didn't want to-" I begin only for my words to be cut off as my voice breaks, my chin trembling as Tony pulls me tightly to his chest. He knows exactly what I went through last time, the abuse Loki put me through both mentally, emotionally and physically.

"Oh he is dead meat." Tony grunts, his hands stroking my head soothingly as he hushed my sobs. Nat looks Tony in the eyes, her own widening in understanding as she rushes across to my side. I guess after years of abuse yourself you recognise the signs.

Suddenly, the meeting room door bursts open to reveal Loki on the other side, a smile plastered upon his face as he takes in the room in front of him. My heart hammers against my chest as I begin breathing heavily. Tony hands me over to Nat who hugs me tightly, shielding me from Loki as Tony stand up, his frame between me and Loki. "I missed you too Stark." 

"You have some nerve coming here after what you've done." Tony growls, stepping closer to Loki as he taps his chest, his nanotech suit forming around his body as Loki stand their, his face lit up. "You are dead. Do you hear me? Dead."

Tony gets up close to Loki, puffing his chest out and standing straighter, trying to grow 4 inches so he's taller than Loki. A smirk forms on Loki's face and he has a mischievous glint in his eyes. Slowly, I peek above Nat's hands just as Loki's eyes land upon my own, his face growing dark as he steps closer to me. His hand curls into a fist causing me to instinctively jump, knocking Nat who attempts to calm me.

"Oh we both know you won't kill me Stark." Loki hisses, glancing toward the far corner of the room and towards Peter who sits in his chair, wide eyed and confused. Looking over towards Sam who stands in the seat next to him, I silently beg him to protect Peter. Nodding in response, Sam stands up, Steve at his side in an instant as the two stand in front of Peter protectively. Smirking, Loki turns back to Tony. "You wouldn't kill your sweet Nephews father now would you?"