Tide & Ember - Avengers daughter story

Chapter IV

Juliet POV

I bit my lip. Tony didn't look particularly mad, actually, it almost looked like he found this amusing. He turned and walked out of the room without another word and I turned to look at Kaia. I assumed we were supposed to follow him so I briskly walked to catch up to a place behind him, Kaia following and coming up beside me. Oh please don't tell Steve. That isn't a very good first impression; snooping.

"Ok we are just going to ignore this little stunt you two pulled," he told us while still keeping his stare set forward. "Having you two will actually help prove my point." I assumed his point had something to do with the conversation I overheard earlier before Kaia dramatically yanked me away.

I wish I had just stayed in bed. I was starting to get sleepy and wasn't really in the mood to go anywhere that Tony was taking me. Especially if it included proving a point. I yawned, leaving a shiny layer of tears on my eyes that made my vision slightly blurry.

I recognized this hallway and knew where he was taking us; the conference room. My theory was correct, no surprise there. As we got closer to the door the same voices from earlier became more prominent with each step we took.

"But if they find out we had been lying to them, any sort of trust we built will be destroyed." I recognized Steve's voice.

"Maybe, but what happens when one of them goes into shock like Bruce mentioned earlier." That was Pepper. The word shock was spoken with a harsher tone than the rest of the sentence.

"There is still a chance they are in denial. Shock could still come." Bruce told the group. "Shock" seemed to be the word of the day.

"They did seem to take it a little too easily, don't you think?" Natasha inquired.

We followed Tony into the room and all the eyes turned to look at us in silence. All of their questioning glances felt like they were burning right through me so I tilted my head down and avoided all eye contact. I just wanted to melt into the floor.

"Is everything okay? Why aren't you two asleep?" I just looked up at Tony. I was questioning why I was here just as much as the rest of them.

"I found them," Tony said but thankfully without an edge in his voice. He didn't seem upset.

"Found them? Where?" Steve asked.

"Down in my lab." Tony raised his eyebrows at the group and they all went silent for a solid 4 seconds. "So now's a better time than ever don't you think?" At this pepper gave him a warning glance. I don't think she believed it was a better time than ever. Natasha quietly took a deep inhale and Steve was staring at the table leg clearly thinking.

"Why don't you girls sit down?" Bruce suggested. Doing as we were told, Kaia and I each pulled out a dark leather chair and sunk into the foam-like feeling. Kaia's eyes were searching each person's face, probably trying to read what was happening. Tony stayed standing but walked over to what seemed like the front of the room. The suspense was making me increasingly more nervous. Almost worried for what they had to say after how they've been reacting.

I kept my eyes low, it was too embarrassing to look at any of them in the eye after being caught sneaking around Tony's office. Especially Steve, my apparent biological father. I could feel stares on me though, making it that much harder to keep my eyes glued to the floor.

"Why are you two up? Are you feeling alright?" Pepper asked us again, only this time Tony didn't answer for us.

"I couldn't sleep," I told her honestly, meeting eyes with her. Kaia nodded in agreement.

Pepper turned to give Bruce a look, probably concerned about the "shock" they were talking about just before.

"I am really tired though," I added with a soft smile to try and ease.