Double Agent

Chapter 12

*Chapter is in Tony's POV*
It had only been a couple of weeks since Maura left. Tony was taking it harder than the others. He'd tried to keep up his act of normalcy, but he wasn't fooling anyone. Every time he thought about the events that went down, he questioned what he missed.

How could she do something like this? We were family. We are family. We're blood. I welcome her into my home and onto the team, and this is how she repays me?

"Tony?" Pepper called from the door.

"Yeah?"

"Are-are you okay?" she stepped into the lab, walking toward where he sat slumped over at a table.

"Why wouldn't I be?" he looked up from his hands, locking eyes with his wife.

"I just..." she sighed softly, taking in his disheveled appearance. "You know you can't blame yourself, right?"

"Then who do I blame, Pepper? Huh? Who? Tell me!" he snapped. He had been trying to keep it together all week, not wanting to show how upset he was. If she hadn't come in here, then maybe he would've kept his emotions at bay until he calmed down.

"I don't know, Tony. Your parents? Hydra? Regardless, it isn't your fault." She reached out, laying a hand on his shoulder.

He leaned into her touch. It felt good to have someone there, someone that cared enough to try and understand him. "Maybe before, I could have blamed them all. But she was here, Pepper. She spent two years in our home. I trusted her. I let her into the family; I let her onto the team... I let her meet our daughter. I did all that, no one else." He shook his head, running a hand through his hair, letting go of his anger.

"You're right. You did. But Maura made a choice to betray that trust. Nothing you did or didn't do could have stopped that." She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and gave him a comforting squeeze before leaning forward, planting a kiss on his temple.

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"It's been months, and we've done nothing to try to save her," Tony argued with the others, all sitting around the large conference table. "I have to do something. I can't just leave my sister with them."

"We can't risk it, Tony, you know that," Steve tried to reason.

"And why not?" he questioned. "You risked everything multiple times for Barnes," Tony countered. "This is my sister we're talking about here."

"It's different, Tony, and you know it."

"Steve's right, Tony," Bruce added, "Maura made a choice herself to go back to Hydra. No one forced her to leave."

"We all know how Hydra is. They brainwashed her for years! She -"

"Tony!" Natasha interrupted, her voice loud and commanding as she stared at him, "Maura was here for two years. She made the conscious choice to go back."

"What if she didn't, though? What if they sent her here? What if everything she told us at the start was a lie?"

"Then that's on us. We opened ourselves up to that infiltration. But the bottom line in all of this is that Maura betrayed us, Tony. She lied, she manipulated, she took advantage of us. That's on her," Natasha said firmly. "Look, I get it. But she's been gone for four months. You need to come to terms with the truth, Stark. I'm sorry."

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Maura had been gone for six months already. Morgan had slowed in her asking about her aunt, which meant she was doing much better. Tony had tried to make peace with Maura's betrayal, but every time he thought about it, he felt angry again. It didn't help that every time he saw Morgan, he couldn't help but feel guilty, too. Maura's betrayal of the team and of Tony was one thing. But for her to betray her niece? It was something else entirely. Tony could tell Morgan still missed her aunt, even if she didn't fully understand what was going on.

"Daddy?" Tony heard Morgan's soft voice, breaking his train of thought.

"Yes, sweetheart?"

She walked into his office. "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course," he answered as he lifted her into his lap.

"Is Aunt Maura a bad guy again?" she asked softly.

"I don't know how to answer that, kiddo. I don't know what your aunt is doing or planning," Tony said.

"Do you think she will ever come back?" Morgan asked innocently.

"I don't know, sweetheart," Tony responded truthfully.

"Daddy, if she does come back, you won't hurt her, will you?" Morgan looked up at him with big brown eyes full of fear.

"No, no, sweetie," he tried to assure her, though even he didn't know what would happen if Maura ever showed up at the Tower again.

"Good," Morgan nodded solemnly, settling into Tony's arms.

"No matter what happens," Tony began, causing Morgan to look up at him, "You still have all of us here."

"I know, daddy," Morgan smiled weakly, "I just miss Maura."

"I know, kiddo," Tony pulled his little girl closer and kissed the top of her head, "Hey, why don't we ask Nat and Wanda to take you to the park or something? Huh? Get you out of the Tower for a bit and have some fun?"

Morgan nodded eagerly and hugged her father tighter. The pair walked out of the office and went to find the two women. Tony gave Natasha a credit card to use and told her they could take Morgan anywhere she wanted to go.