The Flame (Avengers Fanfiction)

16-God Bless the Child

I've been awake for a few hours when Steve walks in, holding a bouquet of sunflowers in one hand and there is a teddy bear in his other hand. I smile at him, shifting on the uncomfortable hospital bed. After I passed out in Tony's arms, I was brought to the Helicarrier. According to Bruce, I had two broken ribs and a good amount of internal bleeding. I was also extremely dehydrated and lacking some nutrients. Thanks, siblings.

"Hey you." I say with a smile. Steve smiles and sets the flowers down on the table, handing me the bear. I pick it up with the hand that doesn't have an IV in it and hold it close.

"How are you feeling?" Steve asks as he sits next to my bed. He leans forward slightly, being careful with my IV. His blue eyes are focused on me. Is this what it feels like to have a healthy relationship with a possible romantic partner? To have someone's undivided attention?

"Like shit, but I'm on painkillers!" I say with a grin. Steve chuckles and shakes his head. His smile grows wider, the skin around his eyes crinkling. I held the bear closer to me. The last time a boy bought me a teddy bear, I was in college and the bear smelled like pot. This bear smells clean and feels oh so soft.

"You are something else, aren't you?" He asks as I move my hand, wincing as I tug on the needle. Steve carefully moves the tubes so I'm not yanking on them anymore.

"I've been told that a lot, Steve. Oh, I'm sorry you saw me naked like that. Usually I wait for the second or third date. Maybe the first." I smirk ever so slightly. A pink blush spreads act as his cheeks as well on the tips of his ears.

"I-Uh-Uhm..." He stutters, which makes me laugh. He runs a hand through his growing blonde hair.

"I don't think you should cut your hair. I think you'd look really good with long hair." I say and he blushes even harder. Steve shakes his head, the smile never leaving his face. I laugh again, but I guess I had laughed just too much. There's a sharp pain in my abdomen and I cry out slightly.

"Hey, maybe we should calm down." Steve says soothingly, a concerned look on his face once again. I sigh and rest my hands on my stomach. The last time you were in a hospital, you lost the baby. Steve brought you a bear and sunflowers then too. You were in a similar bed, similar gown. The room smelled the same. Steve put his hand on mine and suddenly I'm jolted out of my daze.

"Are you okay?" Steve asks and I plaster the smile that disappeared back onto my face, turning to look at him. I'm about to say some lie, but thankfully Tony decided to walk in at that very moment. Steve turns to look at my brother, nodding in greeting.

"Hey Rogers, can you give us a moment? I'd like to talk to my newly returned sister." Tony says, motioning to me on the bed. Steve smiles at him.

"Yeah of course. I'll talk to you later, Peyton." He says before getting up and walking out of the room. Tony takes Steve's seat, leaning back and crossing one leg over the other.

"Do you want to know why they took me? They were by siblings and they wanted me to continue our family line because my sister couldn't have children. And I made it clear that I had the ability to have kids." I tell my brother suddenly. My abdomen feels empty, but I still leave my hand there.

"Fuck." Tony mutters, rubbing a hand through his hair. I nod, my thumb rubbing my stomach.

"Apparently, I got the most power of all four of us because I took our shared mothers powers before I killed her. I think that's how I killed them during my Burning. I just overpowered them." I say softly and Tony nods, uncrossing his legs and shifting his chair.

"Clint Barton was the father, wasn't he?" Tony asks suddenly. My eyes widen slightly before I turn my head away from him.

"We aren't doing this now, Anthony." I responded. I push away the fear and the anger bubbling up inside of me. He knows, oh God, he knows.

"Why wouldn't you tell me it was Clint? Why did you hide it?" He pushes the subject and I shut my eyes, trying to keep my emotions under control.

"We are not doing this now, Tony. It's not important-" I keep my eyes shut as I speak but he quickly cuts me off. From the noise of the hair scraping against the ground I know he is now standing.

"Not important? Are you fucking kidding me?! You not telling me that he's the father of your child is fucking important!" Tony snaps at me and my eyes snap open, moving my head to look at him.

"It's not important because there isn't a fucking child, Anthony!" I growl at him. He glares at me, his brown eyes filled with nothing but anger. That emptiness fills me again.

"You're protecting him, Peyton, and you fucking know it!" He growls back. I laugh humorlessly and it only makes him angrier.

"I'm not fucking protecting him, Tony. It wasn't important who the father was by the time you found out. The baby was gone. It was dead. We had already gone our separate ways and I had made it clear I had wanted nothing to do with him." Tears are running down my face now and my throat hurts. "He didn't have to feel that pain I felt, he didn't care about the baby. And you-You bringing it up doesn't fucking help."

The room is silent for a while. I feel hot so I force myself to calm down. I rather not see how much stronger my powers got after the last Burning. Breathe, kid, breathe.

"Well we can't just brush it under the rug." Tony says, his voice softer now. I open my  eyes, looking at my older brother. He was looking at me, tears brimming in his eyes.

"I'm not asking you to, but I need my time, Tony. I know you shouldn't have had to seen me like that and I know the situation is shitty, but there's nothing we can do about it. What happened, happened." I tell him. I've never sounded more like an adult. Tony sits back down, carefully holding my IV hand.

"When did you become responsible?" He asks, his voice quiet. I give him a small smile, my cheeks wet from the tears.

"I think my siblings might've beaten it into me." I joke and he snorts, shaking his head.

"I never knew you had siblings." Tony says, his eyes on my IV. I shrug.

"Neither did I. They were very Children of Corn-y. Very culty." I tell him and Tony laughs, "I'm really the winner of the group."

"Yeah you are. You fucking scared me, y'know." He says, looking up at me. I nod. When did we get so serious?

"I know. I'm sorry." I tell him and he nods. There's dark purple bags under his eyes. Is that because of me? Or is that because he still isn't sleeping from what he experienced during the Battle of Manhattan? If I brought it up, he would just ignore it. He'd play it off. Just like I would do if he would've asked me about the dark marks under my eyes.

"Also, Steve brought you flowers and a bear. Again. I didn't even bring you anything." Tony smirks and I roll my eyes. My brother, my true brother, wiggles his eyebrows at me.