Valen: A Collector's Item

Out the Window

Valen hadn't left her room in days. Not even when Pepper and Tony returned home with Morgan. Happy tried to check on her before he left, but she wouldn't open the door.

Tony would leave food outside her door every day and knock to let her know it was there whenever she got hungry, but it was never touched. He was starting to get desperate asking her to do new things each day. Trying to bribe her outside with anything he knew she liked. Nothing worked.

When Pepper walked by, she always said good morning, good night, ask how she was feeling, or ask if there was anything she could do. She mainly avoided the topic of a certain boy, but she did tell Valen that Peter would now be staying home the rest of the school semester because of the bombings at M.I.T. They would finish the school year online. Even though it was a touchy subject, she knew Valen would want to know he was safe.

With that information, Pepper could've sworn she heard Valen move on the other side of the door, but it went back to being quiet. Valen felt guilty for not leaving her room especially with there being a newborn baby, but she couldn't make herself move. There was no motivation to even use the restroom.

One night, when everyone was asleep, Morgan wouldn't stop crying. It sounded like she was being murdered by the way she was screaming. It felt like hours to Valen, waiting for someone to shut her up, but when she wouldn't, she threw her covers off of her and stormed into the nursery.

Valen picked up the baby and tried to mimic what she has only seen in Wakanda. Mothers holding a baby in their arms while gently swaying them back and forth. It seemed to work because Morgan stopped crying and her big brown eyes studied Valen in the dim room. The lights were off but there was a nightlight that slowly spun a constellation around the room.

"You're annoying. And I can say that because you don't know what I'm saying." Valen whispered. "I'm sad but you don't hear me testing my lung capacity."

Morgan reached out her little hand and grabbed onto Valen's hair. She yanked on it hard, dragging her head to the side. The baby laughed, but Valen wasn't as amused.

"Ow! Let go of my hair you brat. That hurt." With no free hands, Valen threw her head back and shook it until all her hair fell behind her shoulders. "You should arm wrestle with that strength."

The two of them looked at each other. One smiling, the other glaring. Valen's cold demeanor slowly softened though as Morgan yawned and blinked several times to beat away the sleep that was coming on.

"You're not so bad. You remind me of someone named Boo. You don't know who that is? Of course not. I'll tell you all about her. She thought seeing people in pain was funny too."

Valen continued telling Morgan all about the little girl from Monster's Inc unaware Pepper and Tony were watching and listening to her through the nanny cam. Valen told her that when she got bigger they would watch it together. She held out her pinky and very gently squeezed all of Morgan's fingers as a promise.

This happened almost every night. Morgan would scream in the middle of the night and Valen would go in there and tell her stories. They would range from movies she's watched to her time as an Avenger. Pepper and Tony would always listen in on the two, not because they didn't trust Valen with Morgan, but because they adored their bonding time.

Valen would still hide away in her room during the day, but at night she was a completely different person.

"I can tell you all my secrets. I know I can trust you. You can't tell a soul." Valen pointed out as she sat in the rocking chair with Morgan in her arms. "Like one time in the field, I blew up Dad's Quinjet. No one knew it was me. Well except ... Never mind."