Tidal Wave [Peter Parker]

Part 3- Breakfast

Sage was able to fall asleep and stay asleep for the rest of the night. She didn't wake up until 10:12 a.m. The sunlight was streaming through her window and it bathed her room in a pale yellow light. She breathed in a deep waking sigh as she sat up and remembered that she was in the Avengers' tower. Sage glanced at the clock and decided to find her dad, surely he was awake. She wanted to change her clothes but when she went to her closet and opened the sliding door, she became overwhelmed by the amount of stuff inside. Instead, she tossed her hair up into a bun and walked out into the hall barefoot with King on her heels.

There was an ambient noise coming from the kitchen and an aromatic smell. Sage followed the smell to find a crowd of people eating pancakes at a long table. No one noticed her at first, they were all immersed in their own conversations.

"Who are you?" a voice called from the kitchen.

Sage turned to see a beautiful red headed woman cutting fruit. "I-" she stammered.

The woman's eyes started to glow and red light emanated from her hands. As if by literal magic, the woman picked up the knife she'd been using to cut the fruit and aimed it at Sage's forehead.

"Wanda, that's enough!" Tony said standing up from the table.

King started to growl at the woman Tony called Wanda.

She turned to him, "Who is this?"

Other people started to stand up from the table. Sage recognized Dr. Bruce Banner and Captain Steve Rogers. Vision and Peter were nowhere to be seen. A lump started to form in her throat as Steve said, "Tony do you know this girl?"

Bruce pushed in his chair and started to talk to Sage and Wanda. He recognized the frightened look in their eyes. "Both of you need to take a deep breath, please, let's not escalate this. Wanda, put the knife down." He waited for her to return the knife to its block telepathically before continuing, "And you," he turned to Sage, trying to ignore King's growling. "What's your name?" She tried to look around but Bruce said, "It's okay, ignore them. Keep your eyes on me." She focused on his dark amber eyes.

"Sage."

"Why are you here?"

Tony cleared his throat, "Because she's my daughter, Bruce."

The room erupted in argument. Bruce stayed where he was and didn't say anything, his eyes widened. Tony crossed the room and shielded his daughter from the others. "Sage, go find Peter and don't come out until I come get you." She nodded and he whispered, "His room is right next to yours, go!"

He watched her run down the hall with King. When Tony finally turned around everyone was staring at him in silence. In true Tony Stark fashion, he shrugged.

"Tony, you need to start explaining." Steve said.

"Okay everyone, just calm down. Her name is Sage Stark, she belongs to me and Pepper. When she was seven we sent her to live with Happy's cousin so she'd be safe."

"Be safe? From what?" Natasha pipped up.

"From me, from my crazy life as Iron Man and as Tony Stark," he gestured to the tower and then sighed. "The same year we sent her away, our house was bombed. We all almost died. If it wasn't for Jarvis, I would've lost Sage forever. So Pepper and I decided it was better for her to be safe than to be with us."

Bruce pushed up his glasses and crossed his arms. "Is she okay? That's not something that kids should be expected to process."

Tony rubbed his face, "Believe me I know. That's why I got her King, the dog." He looked at Bruce. "She and Peter found me when I was in the hospital. She needs me, she needs us," Tony looked at everyone. "Because I don't know if I can help her alone."