Between Worlds

2

Riley's P.O.V
I followed Steve down a spacious hall to laboratory of sorts with a couch in the back of the room by the window wall. He gestures toward and I lay down on the couch with my short, dark hair spreading around me. I turn my head and I see Steve cleaning a needle to take my blood to test it.
"Steve?" He nods, signaling that he's listening "what's he like? My dad I mean."
I hear him chuckle. "I honestly don't know Stark that well or for a long time," he pauses, "but he is a good character...and a hero. He not only saved my life many times but the world as well. I admire his bravery."
I remember every word mom used to say about Tony Stark-I mean dad.
'He was just as lazy then as he is now,' mom would say,' a playboy billionaire is all he will ever be. You're lucky that you did not grow up knowing him.'
I sigh and Steve walks over with the needle. I wince as he sticks me with the needle. What he says next is almost like he was reading my mind.
"You should know that Stark isn't the same man that your mother knew and if he is your father, you should let him redeem himself from what he did in the past." He retrieve the needle and takes it over to an oval like machine and put it in.
I turn onto my side to look out the window.
I know. I think to myself. But could he ever care for me even if I am his daughter?
As I drift off to sleep facing the city of New York, I hear the machine beep and faintly hear Steve mutter 'Stark, let's hope your just as good at parenting as you are with your armor'
And I fall into a peaceful sleep...

I wake up to hear Steve having an argument with someone who obviously isn't to happy.
"You know Starks isn't going to be happy when he finds out, right?!" Someone hisses.
"You think I don't know that?! She. Is. His. Daughter." I hear Steve mutter then sigh," he will be mad either way if I keep her hidden or tell him so I don't think there IS a solution,Clint. Besides, she just Lost her mother and has no where to go."
"Fine," I hear the man named Clint say "It's up to you to break the news to Stark." I open my eye to see that I've been moved from couch in the lab to the living room couch with Mia at my feet.
Out the window, I see the sun starting to peak over the buildings. The sky is a light blue with orange rays of the sun streaking through it.
The elevator dings and I hear the rattling of the doors slide open. Out of the corner of my eye I see the man walk toward the elevator.
"Break it to Stark easy. He's still affected from Loki's attack and not to mention the Mandarin's attacks. Plus, he just got his arc reactor removed."
* * *
The next time I wake up, the smell of burning fills my nose. I open my eyes to be blinded by sunlight streaming through the windows. When Mia notices that I'm awake, wags her tail and crawls over to try to lick me. I sit up and pet her.
"Hey, you're up, good morning, you fell asleep in the lab so I carried you to the couch," Steve says from behind the stove. The smell of burning bacon returns, wayfaring from the stove top. I wrinkle my nose at the smell. Steve laughs. "As you can tell, I'm not very good at cooking on modern technology."
I stand up and stretch my legs. I yawn and walk to stove. "I can smell that," I grin, "How about I take over the cooking for now."
Steve holds his hands up in defeat and backs away slowly. "Take over, please," he says ," I'm tired of polluting the earth more than it already is." He grins and walks to the couch and sits down. Steve burnt all of the bacon and almost caught the eggs on fire so I had to start the breakfast over again.
When I finished cooking, I took two plates of fresh bacon and eggs to the couch and handed a plate to Steve.
"Can I ask you a question?" I ask. Steve nods and I proceed "What were the results of my blood test from last night."
He takes a deep breath "They came back positive. Tony Stark is truly your father."
I'm speechless. I thought that when I found out if he was my father or not, that I would be happy to have at least some family still alive or overwhelmed so many other feelings put together or even relived if he wasn't. Steve pats me on my back to reassure and sooth my complex feelings right now.
The TV turns to the morning news coverage. The cover story is on a massive explosion in a port on the coast of Miami, Florida a few weeks ago.
"Breaking news overnight," the reporter says, "Three weeks ago, the world thought that on the fateful day of the bombing to his home in Malibu, California, that Tony Stark, also known as Ironman, was dead. Two weeks ago the country and its inhabitants were overjoyed to learn that Stark was not only alive but on a mission to save the world.
"Two weeks ago an explosion at a pier in Miami, Florida, uncovered the truth about the so called 'Mandarin' attacks. After Stark's girlfriend, Pepper Potts, was experimented on by the man behind the Mandarin, Eric Savin, he entrusted the best doctors in the country to extract whatever remained of the experiment, extrimis, in her body. Stark also decided to fix himself by removing his invention, the arc reactor, from his chest.
Now we go live, to Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, Florida, where Tony Stark and Pepper Potts are being discharged and sent home at this moment."
The screen goes to Stark being hoarded by cameras with who I assume to be Pepper, and climbs into a sleek, black limousine and drove off, leaving the reporters in the dust.
"Did you know he was being discharged today, Steve?" I ask getting up and washing my plate off.
He shakes his head. "No. Tony never said a word to me."
Ding! Ding! Ding! Steve's phone rings.
"Well now I do." He tilts his phone for me to see. The caller ID comes up.
Tony Stark.