Callie has always lived in the darkness, men coming and using her at their will. She thought that this was all there was to life, she couldn't remember any different. That is until The Avengers pulled her out of the darkness and made her one of the...
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Tony P.O.V
When we finally get home it's after 10pm and Happy is laying on the couch with a sleeping Callie in his lap. Steve brushes past me and picks up his niece, sitting down in the armchair, sighing with relief. He has been acting moody and disgruntled towards me all day, I plan to ask him what his problem is privately tonight.
"How was she?" He asks, rubbing his face in her hair causing her to stir.
"She was great, we made cupcakes, played super heroes, and watched a show." Happy grins, "how'd everything go for you guys?"
"It went smoothly, I don't honestly think he needed us." I say, pouring myself a scotch and offering one to Happy which he accepts. "Want a drink Stevie?"
"Huh? Sure." He's kissing her now, cycling between her nose, cheeks and forehead.
"Steve buddy, you're waking her up."
"Why do you care? I just want to see her for a bit. I'll put her back to sleep after." He says testily.
"What if she decides she's hyper? Then what?" I ask, unsure where the hostility is coming from.
Thor, Bruce and Nat come in interrupting us.
"Clint took one of your cars Tony, says you owe him." Bruce yawns, snagging the drink that I was about to hand to Steve and collapses onto the sofa.
"Yeah, no worries." I laugh. "So he had kids? Crazy."
"Yep! Three of them now," Natasha replies, pouring herself a glass of wine. "They're going to come visit this weekend."
"He was really great with her," Happy muses. "Anyway, that was fun. Let me know if you need me to watch her again. I'm going to go home." He says standing.
"Okay thanks Happy. See you tomorrow," I say, waving goodbye. "Okay, Steve she needs to go to bed." I say, standing up to take the little girl.
His eyebrows drop at me and he holds on tight. "No she's fine, I'll just hold her."
"Nope, pass her over."
"Tony come on, just give me a minute to hold her." He pleads, sounding on the verge of hysteria.
The room becomes quiet and I'm hyper-aware of the fact that everyone is watching the interaction.
"Steve, I'm the Daddy, I'm putting her to bed now." I lower my voice as I wrap my arms around Callie and pull her from his resistant grip.
He sits back huffing and I'm surprised to hear him cuss me out under his breath.
"Seriously?" I whisper aghast, and carry Callie the few feet to her bedroom.
I come back a minute later and shove Thor's feet aside so I can sit down on the couch, grabbing my drink off the coffee table.
Thor sighs, stretching his legs out across my knees.
"Dude, what the fuck?" I laugh, trying to push him off.
"You sat here, I wanted to lay down, so I'm going to." He grins, propping his feet up on the armrest.
"You could've sat literally anywhere else," Steve grumbles.
I look over to see him glaring at me and I sigh, rolling my eyes. "What's wrong?"
"You're just so entitled."
"Steven, she needed to go to bed."
"Whatever."
"Are you actually giving me attitude right now?" I laugh in shock.
Thor shrugs at me uncomfortably, and Bruce and Nat share an awkward glance.
"Okay, you've been being a little asshole all day, what did I do?"
He blushes and looks away.
"Why have you been a grouch all day?" I ask again, sitting up.
"You just..." He breaks off mid sentence to growl, shifting in his chair so he's sitting straight up. "You just left her, she was so upset and you just left." He glares at me accusingly, his face twisting with emotion.
"Buddy, she was throwing a tantrum, she was misbehaving..."
"She thought we were abandoning her, Tony!" He stands up, angry tears tracking down his face. "She thought she was being abandoned. "He pulls his hands through his hair, his voice hitching.
Thor sits up. "We weren't though, she'll learn that we always come back. She was okay, it will help her trust us."
"But she was so sad," Cap whispers, a sob catching in his throat.
"Oh honey." Natasha stands and tries to hug him, but he jerks away, she steps back stunned and sits back down.
"I know, it felt shitty, but like Thor said she was fine. She ended up having fun, it's okay," I tell him, trying to diffuse the situation.
"I'm going to bed," he sniffs, dragging his sleeve across his face before retreating down the hall.
Once I'm sure he's out of ear shot I say, "he's really emotional right now hey?"
"He just came out of the ice, I'm sure he's having a lot of confusing feelings," Bruce muses, and then he adds more softly, "my room is next to his... I hear him crying sometimes."
My heart seizes, I suddenly feel compassion for someone who I normally find irritating, it's confusing. "Does anyone know how old he is?" I ask, something I've been wondering awhile.
"In his 20s?" Nat answers, shrugging.
"Yes but is he close to 30 or closer to 20?"
"No idea." Thor replies, "I'd guess younger though."
I nod thoughtfully, it would make sense. "Alright, I'm going to bed." I announce.
Instead of going to my own room though. I find myself walking into Callie's and scooping up her warm little body, I wrap her in her blanket and carry her down the hall.
Her eyes flash open and then squeeze shut at the bright light in the hall, "Daddy?"
"Hi baby, Daddy's just bringing you to sleep in Uncle Steve's room okay? He needs some cuddles," I whisper and she nods, blinking slowly, on the verge of passing out again.
After a minute I arrive at his door and pause, I feel like I can hear muffled sobs through the door making my heart twist. I tap on the door before opening it. It's dark and something shifts in the bed, "Tony? What the hell?" He croaks.
"Are you, uh, okay?" I ask.
"What? Yes, just leave me alone," he mumbles, turning into his pillow.
I walk over and pull back the covers, sliding the little girl under them, "Uncle?" Callie reaches up and grabs Steve's face.
"Callie?" He chokes then looks at me, "what are you..."
"She wanted to sleep here," I fib.
I see him smile then pull her close to himself, pushing his face against hers, "I missed you," he whispers and she says it back.
"Goodnight," I tell them, then I kiss Callie's forehead and instinctively kiss his as well making him pause, "uh, sorry, force of habit."
He clears his throat and tells me goodnight and I leave, feeling much better about the whole situation. I obviously need to be more aware of other's emotions.
