For your love

Bonding time

Dressed and ready to go, Evie wakes Sten to do the same. Giving him the room to have some privacy she grabs her luggage and goes to wait in the living room. On her way there she hears raised voices that she recognizes as Tony and his girlfriend Pepper. She went to pull her phone out of her back pocket to see the time when she remembered that Rumlow destroyed it. All she knew was it was at least 8 o'clock in the morning meaning they must have been talking/arguing for close to four hours. Not wanting to be caught eavesdropping she started walking again this time much quieter. That is until she heard Pepper say something that really made her listen.

"All I'm saying, is I don't understand why you brought her to our floor Tony. You don't really know this girl and it sounds like she could be dangerous. I'm just worried about your safety. What if she went through with whatever the plan Pierce had for you? She could have killed you."

Okay she had valid points, but what a bitch. She was right though. Neither of them knew her, but Steve did. If he trusted her then why couldn't she? And hadn't the fact that she had forcefully been keeping Tony away from her this whole time proof that she didn't actually want to kill him?

"Come on Pep, Evie wouldn't kill me. Maybe punch me in the face a few times, but I doubt that she hated me enough to kill me." She couldn't help, but smile at him defending her and his accurate description of her with pursed lips and a shrug. He wasn't wrong, she chuckled to herself.

"That's another thing. If she hates you so much and is telling you to leave her alone, why are you trying so hard to be in her life? It's not like she's a kid. She's a grown adult." Again, rude, but valid points.

"She's my kid. I'm not just gonna walk away from her no matter how much she hates me. The whole point is to get to know her. Try to make up for the twenty-three years that were stolen from us. I'll do whatever I have to show her how much I love her because I do love her. The moment I found out she was mine I loved her." Evie was speechless. She didn't realize he cared so much for her already.

Sten chose that moment to exit the guest bedroom with his suitcase in hand. He went to ask why she was just standing in the hallway like a creep when she held up her hand. Turning tear filled eyes of shock and disbelief towards him she motioned him to follow her to the living room.

"Why are we being quiet?" He whispers to her once they exit the hallway glancing behind them.

She whispered back. "Because Tony and his girlfriend are arguing. She walked in at 4 am, saw me and assumed he was cheating on her. We set her straight, but then came a whole other can of worms. He hadn't told her about me being his daughter because he knew I didn't want anyone else knowing because of Hydra. I hadn't realized he hadn't told anyone else about me until yesterday at Oma and Opa's."

Her brother's brown eyes widened and gave her his signature 'that's interesting' face. Setting his bag down he crossed his arms and tilted his head. "So how much are we on the 'I hate Tony Stark' scale today then? One to ten." Evie takes her time to think about it.

Tony had given her space like she asked for. He'd even shown that he cared enough to buy her a gift for her birthday, which she never took and now felt bad about. And then there was yesterday. He got her to listen to him. They had even bonded in their shared love of mocking friends. Not to mention him helping her through her nightmare and their semi-decent conversation before Pepper showed up. Clicking her tongue she tells him, "I'd say about a three point seven five. Which seeing as how until today it was at a solid fifteen this is major progress."

Giving her his 'hmm good' face Sten agreed. He initiated doing their secret hand shake making her laugh. High five, hands clasped backwards five, down low, right feet tapping three times before switching to left foot once and ending on a pinky promise. "So are we waiting for something or are we headed out?"