Leah Stark - The Unknown Child

2.12.0

Tony's POV

The next morning, I woke up with a crick in my neck from sleeping under Leah's desk. I noticed she had curled up into me and seemed to be at peace, which was all I could have asked for.
I stroked my daughters hair and gave her head a small kiss before getting up to get changed in my own room. I decided it would be for the best if I wasn't there when she woke up, mainly because I didn't know if she would be in a memory loss state like last night.
I quickly left the room, giving a quick look in to make sure she was definitely still there before walking into mine. I picked out a simple t-shirt and jeans to wear before walking into the kitchen to make pancakes for all of us.
Obviously, I didn't know how to make them well, so I got FRIDAY to pull up a recipe, which I followed as closely as possible. Except I didn't have plain flour, so self raising should be fine, right?
I went to put the first in a pan when FRIDAY alerted me to my daughters distressed state. "Sir, it appears she is calling for you. She also seems to be displaying panic attack symptoms. You should probably stop making pancakes and get over there now."
I ran, getting Fri to alert the closest avenger that spoke Russian, just in case. As I got there, I attempted to open the door.
Locked.
My mind went to the worst place instantly. She had been taken again. I started jiggling the door, trying to force it open. "Leah! Open the door! Please!" I yelled, panicked.
Natasha turned up soon after me, pushing me to the side. "Tony, you need to calm down." She said to me swiftly before talking in Russian. "Лиа, можешь открыть дверь, пожалуйста? Это только я, Наташа и твой отец, Тони. Я не собираюсь причинять тебе боль, я обещаю." Leah, can you open the door please? It's just me, Natasha, and your father, Tony. We are not going to hurt you, I promise.
I heard the lock click and the scampering of feet behind the door as Natasha slowly turned the doorknob and entered cautiously, me behind her.
I looked to see my daughter cowering under the desk, tears in her eyes.
Natasha stood by the door and gestured me in, as I slowly walked to my daughter. "Hey kiddo, what's wrong?" I ask crouching next to her.
"When I woke up, you weren't here. I was scared they had hurt you. I was so scared." She said shrinking into me.
"Hey. It's okay. It's all okay." I said holding onto my obviously breaking child.
"No. No it's not." She said, tears rolling down her pale skin.
"Why? Why isn't it okay."
"Because I'm trying so hard. And it's not enough. I keep trying to remember everything and all I can think about is back there and I can never seem to remember everything that I did with you. And it sucks. I'm trying Tony, I really am!"
"Shhhh. It's okay. I'm trying too. I even tried making pancakes for you this morning. It's okay to be frustrated. Just tell me, okay?"
"I'll try."

Sorry for the short chapter. Schools been taking up a lot of my time and I've also got to start on my film school entry portfolio to go to film school as well as focusing on my collage/sixth form entry and exams so I've been super busy. I'm going to try to post as often as I can, but don't expect to much from me.
Also I was wondering if you would rather have more chapters, or for me to go through and make the earlier chapters better? Feel free to comment what you would like and give me criticism if you want, I really appreciate it.
Finally, I'm also thinking of writing an original story. So if you want to see that, look out for it!
Thanks for reading!
-CJ