Stark's Daughter

Chapter 9

( the following scenes, continued, are also used from the movie. )

It feels good to be looking into his eyes. There's a certain safety and protection that I was lacking just now. He saved me again. I'm going to end up owing this man so much. With Steve's attention on me, it left the man in the crowd vulnerable. Loki aimed his staff again and shot directly at the man. Steve threw his shield towards the man, blocking the fireball. It ricochets off of the shield and back at Loki. It strikes him to the ground. The crowd gasps and screams with the chaos. The three other duplicates of Loki disappear, leaving only the original man.

Steve stands up, balancing himself. The shield comes back to him and he begins walking to Loki, "you know, the last time I was in Germany and saw a man standing above everybody else, we ended up disagreeing."

"Huh, the solider. A man out of time." Loki scoffs.

"I'm not the one who's out of time." Steve remarks.

Suddenly, Steve jumps up and pummels into Loki. However, Loki isn't phased by this. He aims his staff and blasts Steve. He's thrown into the air and his shield lands right at my feet. My heart thumps against my chest, as I grab the shield and chuck it in Loki's direction.

I don't pay attention to where it goes or if it even hit Loki at all. Instead, I run over to Steve to make sure he's okay. Now that they have the chance, the rest of the crowd begins running and screaming away from Loki.

"Nice aim, kid." Steve says, dusting himself off and standing back up. I look over at Loki, who's now laying on the ground again. Woah, I actually helped Captain America. Steve runs to his shield, while Loki stays on the ground. I watch as Steve goes behind Loki to get his shield... then Loki disappears. Before I can say anything to Steve, I feel a hand grab the back of my neck. Chills run down my spine as I see a glimpse of Loki behind me now.

"It's a pity your parents didn't teach you manners. You should've listened to me." Loki whispers in my ear, keeping a tight grip on my neck.

He points his staff to my head, making Steve stop in his tracks. Steve puts up a hand, trying to prevent Loki from doing something.

"You will all kneel before me." Loki tests.

Without another word, Loki frees me from his grip. I stumble to the ground. I peer behind me to see what happened. To my surprise, all of the Avengers stood around Loki. Thor walks over to me and picks me up, carefully. He asks if I'm okay, but I can only nod in response. I'm a little shaken up, but I really am okay. Tony walks over to us with a serious expression and furrowed eyebrows. He scoops me up from Thor and holds me against his chest, like a baby. Any other day, I would not have allowed this... but it's actually very comforting, even though I'm pressed against a suit.

Tony and Thor decide to take me to the Tower, while the rest of the Avengers stay with Loki. All I can think about is what a good impression I just made on everyone. Bruce is really going to hate me now. He was right. I'm a burden who needed saving... again. They'll probably send me back to the system. I don't know how I'm going to talk my way out of this one...

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I must've fallen asleep on the way back to the tower, because I open my eyes to my room. Everything seems normal. There's no noises, nothing out of place... nothing. I'm surprised that I'm still here. Imagine that I woke up in the foster home in my bunk... I'd shit myself. I slip out of bed and open the door to my room quietly. I make my way up to the balcony floor- the one with the huge couch. I'd like to think everyone hangs out up there as much as possible. I just know I want to apologize.

As soon as the elevator doors open, I find all of the Avengers, except Thor. Everyone is scattered around the room. Steve is sitting on the couch with Natasha and Bruce. Clint stands beside the bar to my right and Tony paces around the room, probably wondering if he made a mistake by adopting me. I don't blame him, if that's what he's thinking.

"You got yourself in a hell of a mess back there." Clint says, noticing me.

In a matter of seconds, all eyes are on me. I step out of the elevator and immediately start blushing. I clench my jaw, scratch the back of my neck, then nervously laugh, "yeah..."

"Why did you leave?" Natasha asks, as sweet as she could.

"I heard all of you talking about me. If you think I'm a burden, then just put me back in the system. I won't say any names- Bruce-, but if you'd just give me a chance... maybe I can be a part of the team someday." I say, watching Bruce respond to this with his expressions.

"A part of the team, huh?" Steve asks.

"Yeah, I know. That's a stretch, but I just wanted to say that I'm sorry. I know it was a stupid decision which ultimately marked me as the exact thing I didn't want to be- a burden." I respond.

"Well, it was a stupid decision, but you're not a burden. You could've gotten killed, but we'll just dismiss that for now. Are you going to do it again?" Tony asks.

"No." I answer confidently.

"Alright. All is forgiven. Now it's time for bed." Tony says, crossing his arms.

"Stephanie? Come talk to one of us if you're feeling like that, okay? You don't have to run away from your problems." Natasha says, "you're not a burden, sweetie. Not to any of us. And don't listen to Banner. He's just a cranky old man."

Bruce shoots her a death glare, but Natasha ignores it. I nod and head back into the elevator.

"I'll be down in a few minutes to say goodnight." Tony promises as the doors shut and the elevator takes me down a few floors.

Once I'm settled in bed, the door to my room opens. Tony walks over to my bed and quietly sits on the edge.

"Hey. Seriously, don't listen to Bruce. He really is just a grumpy old man. Besides, he doesn't speak for all of us. He'll come around. On another note, you scared the hell out of me tonight. It's my first day of parenting and I already lost you. We have to work together on this, okay? I'm not exactly 'Dad' material, but I want to be. I want to give you a good life. I want to protect you.. but it gets tough to do that when you've always got one foot out the door. Jesus, I feel like I'm giving myself advice. I need you to trust me." Tony says, carefully reading my expressions.

I nod, "okay. I can do that."

"I'm not asking you to trust me right away, but if you can work your way up to it... just tell me what I can do and I'll do it." He responds.

I nod again in response. Tony stands up from the bed and starts towards the door.

"Where did Thor go?" I ask.

"He had to make a trip somewhere else. He should be back tomorrow, feel free to ask him about it. He won't hurt you. He looks big and mean, but he's not." He replies, "goodnight Stephanie."

"Goodnight." I say as he flicks the light off and closes the door.