Avengers [Fluff/Smut/Angst]

*Once Upon A Dream*

"The evil queen tried her best to make everyone suffer the same lonely fate she did. Because her true love was taken from her, she cursed the land to never have happy endings again. Snow White and Prince Charming needed to find a-.." While reading an old fairy tale, Gloria stopped reading once her husband, Nathan, knocked on the nursery door. A man in his early forties peered in the room to get a look at his wife who happened to be reading to their soon to be bundle of joy. "Did she stop kicking?" Nathan asked, hoping his wife could get some rest now. "I think so. This kid already has me exhausted. She keeps kicking my ribs." Gloria groaned out resting her hand on her round stomach. She gave a light chuckle before holding her hand out, Nathan swept in helping his wife from the rocker they bought for the nursery. "Tomorrow. We'll finally get to see her darling face and we can teach her the periodic table. I'm excited to teach her about our work." Nathan sounded ecstatic and already in love with his newborn, he placed his palm onto Gloria's stomach, he let his thumb brush along her nightgown.

The next day the two started checking in the hospital to have their first child. After sixteen hours of pushing and screaming a beautiful bundle of joy was born. Nathan hovered over his tired wife and smiled wide, tears rolled down his face as he kissed his wife on her forehead. She did so well and their daughter was even more than they ever hoped for. "What is the baby's name?" A nurse asked for the birth certificate. Gloria stared down at her wailing daughter then looked up to her husband. Nathan gave a smile and spoke up all while reaching out to touch his newborn with his finger, a soft brush of his index finger to his daughter's cheek seemed to calm her. "Sera Elizabeth Mitchell." Nathan stated lowly and happily. From that moment both Nathan and Gloria wouldn't miss a moment with her, their work has been the only drive they had for years, having a child made them feel complete and content.

From eating and sleeping, to tummy time and sitting up, to first steps and words, Sera grew up partially around her parents and their work which had been privately funded by Stark Industries. It ran in the family to be handy and observant, Sera definitely recieved her intelligence from her folks. Sadly her time with her parents would be short lived. At the age of six her folks didn't come home, she was being watched by a babysitter but when the parents didn't show up after midnight the sitter called the local P.D. Sera had to be taken in by the state, since she was so young and had no other living family, she never really understood what happened. She heard adults whispering amongst each other, words like poor thing or abandoned, even terrible parents. Sera spent the majority of her youth mute and closed in.

Group homes were difficult to face, the room she often slept in felt hollow and lonely. Even though there was plenty of other kids sharing the room; everything still felt unreal. It wasn't until an older woman came to the home looking to adopt, she seemed well dressed but she smelled like cigarettes and a sour citrus scent it was like a strong perfume which would make you sneeze. The children played outside while Sera sat under a tree reading a book, she enjoyed reading but when children asked her to play she would happily agree and run wild with the others. Hearing her name being called Sera froze for a moment to see the headmistress wave her over with a grin. Coming over she bat her eyes and used her fingers to sign, when Sera arrived to the home she refused to talk and needed a gentle nudge, the mistress at the home made it a fun game to better understand the child in her care by teaching her sign language.

The older woman watched the two use their hands to talk and sign for certain words. Sera flicked her finger out then made a fist to exagerate her motions. It seemed she was a little hesitant until the mistress gave her a moment to process. Sera glanced up at the woman wondering why she even wanted to adopt a kid in the first place, after a minute or two she faced the woman better with more respect and held out her hand to shake it. "Oh." The woman hummed out rather amused. Taking the child's hand she gave a smile but used her other hand to tighten Sera's hand around her fingers. "It's about grip kid. You have to shake like you mean it and stare the person down like you mean business." After Helene said this, Sera perked up and looked up from her brows shyly, making an effort to do as instructed. Satisfied with the child Helene let go of her hands then straightened up.