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Chapter Two: Unspoken

"You don't have to worry. You're safe." Stark assured again, as if unsure if the girl had heard him.

"No. I'm not safe. Actually, I'm far, far away from safe. I have to get out of here!" Hope though with her eyes still closed.

"You can relax now. You're not in danger anymore." The boy called Peter told her softly, but Hope was too scared to even breathe.

"Can you tell me your name?" Loki asked patiently, Hope opened her eyes to face the man but remained in silence.

Silence. Silence was the only thing Hope knew at that point.

"FRIDAY, check her vocal cords," Stark demanded. Hope was confused at first but for only just a second.

"Vocal chords in perfect state." The girl looked up where the voice came from with wide eyes, searching for the person or thing that was with them in that room.

"That's FRIDAY; She's an AI. She practically controls everything around here." Peter answered Hope's unspoken question, offering her a small smile. The explanation did nothing to calm Hope's uneasy heart."Say hi to our guest, FRIDAY."

"Hello, Miss. Jones." The robotic voice greeted, giving Hope a wave of fear.

"Oh, no. no, no, no. How the hell does this thing know my name?!"

"You did facial recognition before I asked. Good girl, FRI." Hope barely registered what Stark said with the ringing in her ears.

"No, no, no, no. They cannot know!"

"If your vocal cords are fine, why don't you speak?" Stark questioned, turning his attention back to the girl and instantly frowning further.

Hope felt the despair take over her, feeling and thinking too much all at the same time. She couldn't be caught. They couldn't figure out who she was. She couldn't go back. She couldn't go back. They were going to kill her for what she did, but not before they made her suffer enough to prefer to be dead.

It was too much. She felt despair and anxiety overwhelm her, feeling the suffocating sensation settle in her chest, taking in all the air she had. All of that in a room full of strangers who could take advantage of her weakness. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

Tony watched as the girl grew paler, she saw when her breathing became difficult and her desperate eyes when she grabbed her chest looking for air.

"Hey, hey... Kid." Stark tried to catch her attention, make eye contact, and reassure her that she was okay and she could breathe. The girl seemed to grow smaller when Tony met the scared eyes "It's okay. It's alright. Just breathe. You're alright."

Hope closed her eyes tightly and shook her head. Her chest seemed on fire and her head hurt like hell and she just couldn't breathe because she would go back and they were going to kill her.

"Hey, kid. Look at me. Look at me." Stark crouched down to stay at the girl's eye level without getting too close to not scare her even more. He could see from the corner of his eyes that Loki sharing the same worried expression but not really knowing what to do.

Hope obeyed the order given by pure instinct and met the man's worried eyes. "Just look at me, don't pay attention to anything else. Focus on me and on your breathing. Okay? Just me. Look at me."

Hope didn't stop looking at him, and Tony's gaze didn't leave Hope's as he kept repeating that she was fine, and all she had to do was breathe in and out, hoping that this would help her to calm down.

After a few long minutes, the world no longer seemed so suffocating to Hope, the tightness in her chest was no longer so tight, and in the end, Stark's eyes were still locked on hers.