Leah Stark - The Unknown Child

1.03.0

Tony's POV

I sat by the side of the girl. I felt sad for her. The way she reacted showed she really didn't have a good childhood. She freaked out because of a knife, and not a normal freak out like anyone would have if they were being mugged but full on panic attack, as if she had experienced the worst kind of violence before.
She was a child for gods sake! A child!
A tap on my shoulder startled me and I looked over to Bruce smiling gently and leading me to his office.
I sat down on one of the seats near his desk and he sat down after me.
"From what I can see from the x-rays and the physical examination, the kids been through a lot. She has several old fractures that's aren't healing any time soon, some even look self set. She has scars like a stab wound and several other cuts all over her body and most have uneven stitches. I can't even imagine the stuff that kid went through before she broke in here, but whatever it was it wasn't pretty." Bruce said, consern consuming his voice.
"Bloody hell." I muttered, though internally I was pissed off. "I had a feeling she had a screwed up childhood but stab wounds and self set bones. What the fuck? Who would even do something like that?"
"We still have to identify her Tony. We have to at least know who her parents or guardians are before any legal action happens." Bruce spoke softly.
"FRIDAY identify the girl in med bay 03. Then run a background check on her and her current guardian. Email me what you find." I said. " I'll be in my lab Bruce, use FRIDAY to notify me when she wakes up."

Leah's POV
When I woke up I was in a bright white room on a clean bed in a hospital robe. Holy shit! Someone had to have changed me out of my clothes which means... my face flushed a shade of pink. As I sat up, a dull ache in my neck from the needle.
The door creaked open and Banner walked in. I pushed myself towards the head board. I didn't want to be stabbed again by a needle of any kind.
"Don't worry kid. I not going to give you an injection or hurt you. I came to have a chat with you."
"Oh" I whispered, relaxing in the bed.
"Okay, so firstly what's your name. In full please."
"Leah." I said simply.
"Okay Leah. What's your last name?" He insisted.
"I don't have one anymore."
"What do you mean you don't have a last name anymore?"
"I don't use it. It doesn't matter what it is anyway. I've been gone for ages and no one came looking for me so don't even try contacting him. He won't care and if he got me back I'd be dead anyway." I said, relatively pissed off.
"Okay then Leah. I won't ask any further then." Bruce backed off. "When I examined you, you had poorly stitched up cuts and your bones looked like you self set them and hadn't been seen by a doctor. You wanna tell my what happened Leah?"
I remained silent, shifting uncomfortably at the question.
"Leah, it's okay if you don't want to talk about it. It's just so I can put it on record."
"I don't wanna talk about it." I muttered.
"That's okay," Dr Banner smiled. "So is it okay if Tony comes in and talks with you. He's been very concerned about you."
I nod.
"Also," Bruce said " I'm sorry for injecting you with the tranquiliser. I was worried you'd hurt yourself otherwise." He said leaving the room.
I sat in silence for a few minuets before Tony came in.

Tony's POV

I was in the lab when FRIDAY notified me that the kid was awake. I practically ran to the medical ward where I was greeted by Bruce coming out of the kids room.
"Is she okay?" I asked panicked slightly.
"She's perfectly fine Tony, let's talk in my office." He said in his calming doctor tone.
When we reached the office I sat down in the chair.
"I won't tell you her name if that's what you're hoping. That's for her to tell you. I'm just going to tell you to avoid the injuries and how she got them. Just try and talk to her like a normal person, not an abuse survivor. She scared at the moment, just make her feel comfortable, okay?"
"Got it." I said mumbling. I walked out like a child sent to the principals office gaining a laugh from Bruce. I ran towards the elevator first to find whatever she had used to hack into my system. When found a 2005 laptop, I laughed a bit, before picking it up. Tony Stark, the only tech designer to be defeated by old tech.
I walked back towards the girls room thinking of what to talk about. Obviously I wanted to talk about where she learned to hack like that and what she was interested in, but I also wanted to know things like favourite food, colour and if the kid even went to school. She seemed nice enough.
As I opened the door to the girls room, I noticed her staring intently at the door. I walked in.
"Hi kid. Can I sit down with you?" I said in the softest tone I could manage.
She nodded. That was a start.
"Can I ask you something Mr Tony?" The girl said in a meek voice. Oh god I thought not another kid who's gonna call me Mr something or rather.
"Sure thing!" I said enthusiastically, hiding my pity.
"Are you by any chance Tony Stark?" The small girl asked, timidly.
I nodded slowly, and very awkwardly.
She smiled a bit but went back to looking the room.
"So!" I said loudly, making the kid jump. "What's your name then?" I said peppily, somewhat mimicking Pepper.
"Leah." She said.
"Well, Leah, here's your laptop." I said pulling the laptop out from behind me and passing it to Leah.
She grabbed hold of it quickly and a laughed a bit.
"I could get you a new one if you want. I'd even add your own version of FRIDAY on it." I said laughing still.
"But all my data..." she said with the look of defeat.
"I can download it onto the new one and convert the files." I said.
She gave a suprised "Oh" and looked at her feet.
We talked for a while about where she learned hacking. She said she learned it at the libraries she visited and it was also where she had learned everything she knew.
She said she hadn't gone to school since she left home and had lived on the streets for a while to. It broke my heart knowing the kid had been on the streets without anyone to take care of her.
"So you wanna stay in the tower with me and a couple of others for a while? We're moving to the facility soon though so if you came with me, you'd probably move in with us and have your own room." I asked.
"Wait, what?" The kid shouted.
"Do you w..."
"I know what you said, just what? Move in with the avengers! This isn't a prank show right? Your serious?"
"Deadly" I said with a fake serious look on my face making her laugh.
She rushed up to me, and locked me into a strong hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" The girl said
"No problem Leah, no problem." I said returning the hug

Aaaaaaah! I love this chapter so much!!! Bruce is a softie to all and Dad Tony is such a nice guy!!!