Hiding in the Shadows

Chapter 26 - Bathroom Kidnapping

When I awoke the following morning I felt as though I had been plowed over with a truck. (A/I) was essentially screaming at me to get up at this point and all I wanted to do was roll over and go back to bed. But I really didn't need to piss off my father anymore this week so I told (A/I) that I was up then crawled out of bed to take a sponge bath, hoping not to aggravate the burn I had received the night before.

I changed my bandages, happy to see that the burn did seem to be healing, but it still looked pretty severe. Hopefully it would heal soon as the last thing I needed was for my father to find out that I actually got injured while on patrol.

My arms were also peppered with bruises from when I was being pinned down so I chose to wear a sweater to conceal them. After finishing getting dressed, I grabbed my backpack and headed downstairs for breakfast.

For some reason, most of the Avengers were crowded around the island in the kitchen, even though most of them weren't usually up when I awoke. And if they were, there were few who ever ate breakfast when I did. Glancing at them suspiciously, I placed my bag and down and started cooking up some eggs, also turning on the coffee machine to brew some coffee.

"We heard about last night," Steve finally spoke, making my internally groan and prepare for his lecture.

"You were Shadow the whole time, (Y/N)? Damn, you've turned out to be a pretty good liar after all," Nat commented, making me smile.

I turned to her, "pretty good? I managed to fool Natasha Romanov, the world's best liar, I think I deserve better than pretty good."

"Look, we're not here to discuss how good you are at lying, which you shouldn't take so much pride in, by the way," Steve interjected, looking disappointed that Nat had changed the subject.

"Yes, I know. You want to tell me that it was completely irresponsible of me to put on a suit and starting fighting bad guys. You can save your breath, I've already had a fight with my father about it," I informed him, turning my attention back to my eggs.

"Well, I think you were pretty badass out there," Sam complimented, receiving a glare from Steve.

"Come on, Steve, you are really in no position to reprimand me. You were exactly like me when you were a kid, Bucky's told me all about it. Except I actually have the proper training and a protective suit while I'm being an idiot and getting into fights."

"I would actually beg to differ, you're exactly like Tony. And that's why he is so concerned about your well-being. Do you know how many times he's almost gotten himself killed?" Rhodes interjected, making me roll my eyes.

Steve sighed, "I know you are like me, that's why we're telling you that you should listen to Tony. I don't want you getting into fights that you can't win like I did."

"That's where you're wrong, Steve, I always win," I replied, pouring the coffee into a travel mug and dishing out my eggs on a plate, deciding that I would eat my breakfast in the car so that I wouldn't have to deal with his pestering. "I'm sure you have a wonderful speech prepared, Steve, but I gotta go so that I'm not late to school."

"You don't have to leave for another ten minutes, (Y/N)," Vision spoke up, looking rather confused.

"Uh, I have to meet with a teacher before classes start," I lied, although I wasn't exactly trying to sound believable.

"For someone who just called themselves better than pretty good at lying, that excuse really sucked," Rhodes called out after me.

"You really suck, Rhodes!" Came my lame comeback as I continued walking to the exit of the compound.

Happy was waiting in the front of the building, confused when he saw me so early and with my breakfast. I quenched his curiosity by explaining, "the Avengers were driving me crazy, so I'm eating in the car."

He nodded understandingly, "they know about the whole Shadow business?"

"You found out about that too? With all of the people Tony told I'm surprised I didn't wake up to a headline revealing myself to the entire world," I sighed, sliding into the car so that I could put my coffee down and free up my hands to eat breakfast.

"Tony's just trying to keep you safe, he told everyone he thought needed to know to make sure that you didn't sneak out again. Has he started your Avenger guards yet?"

"Wonderful, I'm getting babysitters now? Just what I needed to hear this morning," I complained, finding myself left with no appetite. However, I knew I needed the food to refuel the energy I had lost last night, so I continued to eat anyway.

"It's for your own safety, (Y/N), surely you can see that."

"Yeah, I can see that he's trying to do it for my own safety. But he seems incapable of realizing that I don't need him to protect me."

...

"So are you going to tell what's going on?" MJ interrogated, as she jogged up to meet me.

"What do you mean?" I replied innocently, knowing that there were a million things wrong at the moment.

"You and Peter, what happened?" She clarified, shocking me with her interest in our relationship.

I shrugged, "we had a fight."

She rolled her eyes, grabbing my sleeve and dragging me into the nearest bathroom. I chose to let her take me where she wanted, not willing to show off my assassin skills to fight my friend. She led me into the biggest stall and locked the door behind her.

"I'm not letting you out of here until you tell me exactly what happened. Ned and I worked hard to get the two of you together and I want to know what tore you apart," MJ demanded as she crossed her arms and leaned back against the stall door.

I raised my eyebrows, "you really think you can hold me in here? I have about a million different ways to escape running through my head."

"You won't be able to evade me forever and we're safe in here, you know no one actually goes to the bathroom during the passing period, they'll wait until class starts, so we have some time to ourselves. But if you would rather confess to the whole school, I'll open the door for you right now."

"Damn, are you sure you're not part of SHIELD or HYDRA or some other super secret organization?"

She rolled her eyes, "you know how I feel about those types of organizations. Now spill."

"Well Peter already knows and he's probably going to blab to Ned so I suppose I might as well tell you. But you have to promise that you won't tell anyone, and I mean anyone, is that understood?"

"Now I'm starting to feel like you're in SHIELD."

I shrugged, "I mean, close enough. The Avengers initiative was set up by SHIELD."

"Are you trying to tell me that you're an Avenger? Because I'm sorry, but I'm not going to believe you."

I shook my head, "no, I'm not an Avenger, they wouldn't let me in at my age. But my dad is one."

"Your dad? Who are you?"

"My real name is (Y/N) Stark," I confessed, sitting on the windowsill in the back of the stall. "My father, Tony Stark, decided that he wanted me to start attending public school so I could get into a good college if I choose to live my life as (Y/N) (L/N) instead of telling the world that Tony Stark has a daughter. Oh, and I probably shouldn't tell you this, but I'm also the woman they call Shadow."

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(A/N): I am so exhausted, but I need to drag myself to rehearsal today ugh. Anyway, I hope that you enjoy this chapter! How do you think MJ will react?