Some Things Never Sleep

Chapter Forty Five

"Miss Rogers, Mr.Stark would like to see you in the lab now." McConaughey said from the ceiling. It seemed like Tony had kept McConaughey as the AI system inside the facility. She had been drawing in her sketchbook but quickly closed it the moment she heard McConaughey.

"Did he say what he wanted?" Emma asked curiously.

"Mr. Stark only stated that there's something you need to see." McConaughey replied vaguely and Emma sighed. She reluctantly got up from her bed and started heading for the door of her bedroom before leaving her room all together.

It had been exactly one week since the confrontation with Toomes and Emma still hadn't heard anything from Peter. She supposed Tony was trying to keep them separate because he was still deciding what he going to do with them. Emma thought Tony might've been considering taking her out of school but she wasn't sure. Sometimes she didn't understand the eccentric billionaire but Emma wasn't angry with him either. Although she missed Peter, she was just happy to be back at the compound in surroundings that were familiar to her.

Emma finally made it to the lab area of the facility which she hadn't been to in a long time. She saw Tony through the glass doors and he smiled at her before quickly waving her in. It was so strange for there to be no more anger and resentment between them. Emma felt a whole lot better letting all of that go and she knew Steve would be happy for them too if he was there. Her and Tony making amends was exactly what Steve had wanted.

"Mini Cap, you're here." Tony announced as if he were surprised that she actually showed up. Emma raised an eyebrow at him as she entered the lab, the glass door closing automatically behind her. She looked around the lab curiously and found that not much had changed about the lab since she had last been there. Stark still had all his Iron Man suits in their correct spots against the wall as well as prototypes for new devices displayed on some of the holographic monitors.

"You didn't think I would come?" Emma questioned and Tony gave her a sheepish look.

"Well, you've never exactly listened to me in the past so..." Tony awkwardly trailed off. Emma bit the inside of her cheek somewhat nervously as she tried to hide her own awkward feelings about the situation.

"Forgive and forget, remember?" Emma said shortly before moving. "Now what is it that you wanted me to see?"

Tony nodded as he remembered what he had brought her down to the lab for in the first place. He gestured for her to follow him to the back of the lab and she followed him. She was quite curious to see what Stark had planned. He finally stopped in front of a pedestal in the lab that had a blanket tossed over the top as it was obviously hiding something from view.

"What are you up to, Stark?" Emma asked as she eyed the mysterious hidden object. Tony grinned but his grin soon faded as a more serious look came over his face. He seemed quite sentimental which wasn't something normal for Tony Stark. Tony then pulled the blanket off the concealed object and Emma gasped in surprise. Steve's shield. She glanced over the shield and took in every single little detail that she could. The shield was still Captain America's infamous shield but now it had scratch marks all over it. Emma figured that it was most likely from the Black Panther. She just wondered why Steve no longer had his shield.

"I told him to leave it." Tony said suddenly as he looked at the ground, almost looking ashamed of himself. Emma looked back over at him curiously. "He left me there and went over to Barnes' side immediately which pissed me off. I told him that the shield didn't belong to him...that he didn't deserve it but that's not true. I'm the one who doesn't deserve it...and it never did belong to me. My father made it for him and I had no right taking it."