Lilliana: The Oldest Maximoff [Discontinued]

Busted Pt. 2

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"So, now that we know for sure that Lilli's alive, what do we do about-" Nat asks.

"I don't know what we'll do about that yet. But we need contact Clint, Sam, Banner, Thor, and anyone else that deserves to know the truth about Lilli.  We'll do that on the way to see Stark. We both need to have a word with him." Steve announces.

"Alright," she nods, "let's get back on the road."

"I just finished talking with Lilli."
"Yep she's alive."
"A coma,"
"Tony Stark,"
"She needs time to think."
"I know it sounds impossible."
"She's back"
"Yes, Lilli."

"Okay, I think that's everyone." Nat states.

"We've still got a few minutes until we get there." He replies.

-+-

"...pull anything like this shit ever again, or I will do a lot more than just threaten your employees."

"Shit!" Tony yells, scolding himself.

"That sounds about right," Nat mutters.

Tony turns to find Natasha Romanoff and Steve Rogers in his doorway.

"Oh my god," Tony mumbles, wiping his hand down his face.

"Yeah, oh my god. What the hell were you thinking?!" Steve yells.

"I was trying to protect her, and keep her safe." He defends.

"From who? Us? We're-"

"No from everything that was going on. From herself."

"We're the closest thing that she has to a family. We helped her to the best of our abilities. She was depressed and lonely, but we got her to the other side of it." Steve states.

"I was trying to help her." Tony mumbles.

"Well, guess what? We already did that because you put her in that tough position in the first place!"

"I didn't! Okay? I didn't." He raises his hands in defense.

"But you did! You made all of those weapons, Tony. You!" Steve points.

"But, I stopped making those weapons before Sokovia was even bombed."

"What?" Steve stutters.

"Someone that used to work for me, sold them behind my back. He was someone that I truly trusted, and that was why I didn't suspect it. But he sold them on the black market. I figured it out right before Sokovia was bombed. I put an end to the whole thing," he gestures, "but I was too late."

Steve and Nat stay silent.

"I lost someone that I love like my own child because of it," Tony's voice cracks, "I was just trying to make sure that I didn't lose that little girl again."

"She's not a little girl anymore, Tony." Nat reasons.

"I know that she's not, but I didn't want to admit that I did that to her," a tear slips, "I took that away from her... But I couldn't bring myself- not deep down- to believe it."

"Tony, I'm so sorry. I had no idea" Steve defends.

"I know," he whispers, "but now I've lost her. Probably for good."

"You didn't lose her for good. I'm sure she'll come around." Nat reasons.

"She might've, before everything, but she's changed too much." Tony explains.

"We'll explain everything to her, we'll reason with her," Steve states, "maybe if we tell her you found-"

"How are we even going to break that to her? It's all going to be too much for her. She'll shut down." He replies.

"She's stronger than you think, Tony. She'll pull through." Nat says.

"Where are they now, Tony?" Steve asks.

"They're with Pepper at the compound." He explains.

"I'll give her a call in a few days. We need to let her process this first. She already said that she needed space." Nat responds.

"Alright," Tony nods, "but we can't wait too long to tell her. She deserves to know and if we don't talk to her soon, it'll just make things worse."

"Yeah, we'll figure something out."

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"I need to get out of these clothes," I mutter under my breath.

I pull into a nearby malls parking lot.

I may or may not have stolen Walter's car. It's really nice. If I knew any better I'd say that it's from his paycheck from Tony Stark. So I don't really feel bad about it.

"Here we go," I pull into an empty space.

I mean, I could easily just go back to my old house for some clothes. But there's no fun in that, especially considering that I found a company credit card in Walter's car. Tony could do with a little bit of payback. Not that it would hurt his wallet much anyway.

I waltz into the mall and look for clothing stores.

The first one is too... Pink. The second one is filled with dresses for parties. I might go back there later if I need to crash one. The third store is... Perfect.

I end up buying at least a dozen sets of clothes.

The cashier rings it up the total to $180.57

"Thank you, Tony's bank account." I mutter under my breath.

Then, I make my way to a shoe store. The ones I have now don't exactly cut it. And I'm not picky. There's just honestly that bad.

I pick out a few pairs. Some running shoes, a casual pair of tennis shoes, some combat style boots, and some slip-ons.

"You're total is $260.49" the cashier women states.

I place the credit card into the machine and wait for her to tell me that I can leave.

I hate being in a giant building full of strangers.

"Have a good day,"

I give a fake smile and exit the building, bags in hand.

The bags are thrown into the bag seat of the vehicle.

"Alrighty, where to now?" I mumble.

I mean, I could go back to my old house. Tony might show up though. Eeeh, yeah I don't think so.

I could just get a hotel. There's some pretty nice ones down the street, but that might be too expensive- wait I have a Stark credit card. That idea will do perfectly.

Time for a little more payback...

Author's Note:
So Tony isn't the bad guy? Yep, I'm sure most of you already guessed it. Steve and Nat say that they're going to help him break something to Lilli, but what? What could they possibly be hiding?