AVENGERS: Project Angel.

PART 15.

TONY POV:
A few minutes after the pirate dragged Angel out of the room he returns, he clears his throat and we all look to him "We need to show Angel that she can trust us, she will be incredibly useful on our side."

Looks like she kicked some sense into him.

"We've just had a little talk, as long as she is being honest with me, then she's just confused and doesn't know who to trust. I need you to treat her carefully, Stark take the camera out of the guest bedroom, leave the door unlocked." I nod, I see Angel approach the pirate from behind as he continues talking "She will not leave this tower, I don't want her to be seen, if the press see a girl with wings we're screwed, understood?"

Ah, little Rapunzel, trapped in the tower, but it's a cool tower so she'll be fine.

We all nod, he turns on his heal and almost knocks into the little Rapunzel "Understood Sir." She gives him a smile, he nods his head slightly to her and heads for the elevator, she walks into the infirmary. I'm the first one to break the silence "Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair!" Legolas chokes on his jello, I hear Nat snort, but Angel laughs and plays along, she pulls out her black hair and lets it flow down her chest.

I think that's the first time I've seen her hair down, it's nice.

With a cheeky smile she scans the room "So, the robot's mother Gothel, who's my Prince?" "What!? I'm not the witch!" "Isn't it your tower?" "It's the Avengers Tower." Capsicle joins the conversation "Now you admit it?" Everyone laughs, I send Angel a playful glare, she replies with a wink.

I think we'll get along just fine.

Angel takes a few steps and stumbles, Bruce sticks out an arm to stabilise her "Let me help you get back to the bed." "Thank you." Everyone else in the room gets back to their conversations, once she's sitting back down Bruce approaches me, he speaks in a quieter voice "Who's cooking dinner? She's had too much of a beating."

Uh oh, she's going to have a tantrum.

"How about the cowardly bird and either you or Metallica?" He nods and makes his way over to Birdie, they leave the room, Angel watches them, curiously. I speak up "So, who wants to watch Ninja Warrior?" Nat, Legolas, and Rapunzel, with assistance, make their way over to my bed which is closest to the television. We all sit watching the contestants fall and put their bodies to the test. A little while later Birdie runs in, sneaks Point Break and Capsicle out of the room before heading back out. A few minutes later everyone missing from the room walks in holding cutlery and plates with spaghetti bolognese, we all sit back ready to eat, I notice Angel's expression, chewing on her bottom lip.

She looks like she's trying to stop herself from complaining about not getting to cook.

She speaks "Who cooked this?" Bruce places the blame "Mainly Sam." A huge grin forms on her face "Well, this is really good!" "Thank you." She grins, everyone chuckles at her reaction, she turns slightly red "Sorry, I've spent the last... 15 or so years only eating food I've cooked." Bruce speaks "15 years? Why 15?" She speaks in a quieter, gentler voice "I've been cooking all of mine and dad's meals since I was 12, when my..." She takes a deep breath "When my mother died..."

Oh...

Everyone remains silent for a few minutes, I quickly send a text to the Pirate "Mother died when she was 12." In the room a few sorry's are heard, she waves them off and eats another forkful of spaghetti, before looking back up at everyone, she swallows and speaks "Can we please move on? Someone say something, anything." We all continue eating and talking, whilst watching the Crystal Maze, apart from Angel who eats in silence.

She definitely misses her mother, she's not crying but she's probably trying to act tough, keeping her walls up.

After eating she doesn't even protest when Bruce offers to do the washing up, she stumbles back over to the bed she was laying on earlier, lays down and curls up on her side. Metallica sits on the bed also, sitting behind her back, leaning against the headrest, he strokes her hair.

How are they not a couple? Perhaps she helped the prisoners like this, when they needed the comforting.

After a little while my phone buzzes, it's from the Pirate, it's a document named 'Project Angel'. I open it, it contains everything we've currently found out about her, discreetly I pass my phone around the room. The only people who the phone isn't passed to is Angel, obviously and Metallica who probably knows more than we do, but is loyal enough to not share without her permission. The phone returns to me, I put it back in my pocket.