Little Miss Stark

Chapter Six

Stephen sat there, at the long table, along with the other members of the Avengers. Stephen had his arm propped up on the arm of his chair and held up his head with his two fingers, as he looked around the room, trying his best to listen to Steve, and Tony discussing and arguing. He exchanged glances with Bruce from time to time, letting him know that he was as much over it as he was. Natasha got between the two men from time to time, trying to lead them back in the right direction and Clint silently laughed at her when her efforts were in vain and the men got sidetracked again. Stephen sighed, looking at the clock. It was another boring start of the week.

"We need a guy in the chair. Someone who can hack into the system and open those doors for us on time."

"Already told you-" Tony starts.

"No, you need to be on the field with us. You're the only one who has the technical knowledge if something goes wrong, don't you remember?" Steve interrupted.

"Right..."

"What about a woman in the chair," Nat suggested.

Tony frowned at her, thinking she was referring to herself first. But of course, she wasn't.

"You're thinking what I'm thinking." Clint then said to Nat.

"Could work." Steve joined in, leaving Tony even more confused. Stephen looked at Bruce to see if he was getting it but, like him, he had problems following as well.

"What? What are you guys thinking?" Tony then interrupted.

"What about your sister?" Nat elaborated.

Stephen then leaned back into his chair, now understanding what they were up to.

"What about her?" Tony asked, still generally confused.

Nat rolled her eyes and then motioned to Bruce. "She could help us. I mean, I hear she's been helping out Bruce with stuff, right Bruce?"

She has?

Stephen turned his head to look back at Bruce.

"Eh. Yeah. She's been very helpful." Bruce agreed.

Tony sighed and rolled his eyes. Still, a common reaction when someone mentioned your name in his presence. 3 weeks passed since you'd first moved your lab into the tower and Tony had done his best to avoid you. Even Stephen hadn't seen you but that wasn't on purpose. He rarely was at the tower except when there were meetings. Like today.

"Have you even talked to her since the party?" Nat asked, already having an idea why Tony was still being so hesitant.

"No."

"Well, you should." Steve said.

"Since when did we switch the subject from saving the world to my sister?"

"We're just saying-" Steve tried continue but was quickly shut down by Tony.

Tony abruptly stood up from his chair and snapped. "Stop saying anything. Okay? Just. Stop." Tony then sighed and buried his face into his hand as he let himself fall back into his chair.

The Avengers all looked at each other, trying to figure out how to handle this situation. Soon all the eyes fell on Stephen.

He opened his mouth to say something, only to realise he didn't know what to say. He actually found himself agreeing with Tony. Not for the same reasons of course. He simply found it a bit too risky and dangerous to involve you.

Steve jumped in instead. "Why are you hating on her so much? She generally seems to be trying her best to make it up to you." Steve then adds, a little frustrated with Tony's tantrum.