Lost || Tony Stark's Daughter

Chapter VII • The Aftermath

He was dead.

Coulson was dead.

Some say that once you lose enough people, you start to get used to it. I supposed I wasn't made of the same stuff as those people. Every death effected me; it never got easier.

Phil Coulson had always felt like a constant; one of the only things that was always present in an ever-changing world. I couldn't imagine this crazy world without the man that never failed to make me laugh.

I could feel the soft beating of my father's heart against the side of my face: the only thing regulating my breathing. He had settled me down in his lap after the tsunami of my tears had subsided and I was nestled into the crook of his neck, the damp stains on his T-shirt drying slowly against his skin.

"These were in Phil Coulson's jacket." Fury said, breaking the solum silence. I lifted my head slightly to see the Director had flung a set of bloody cards. I didn't have to look closer to know it was my friend's Captain America trading card collection. His pride and joy. "Guess he never did get you to sign them."

A few more droplets of water escaped from my brown eyes.

"We're dead in the air up here. Our communications, location of the cube, Banner, Thor. I got nothing for you. Lost my one good eye. Maybe I had that coming."

"Yes, we were going to build an arsenal with the Tesseract. I never put all my chips on that number though, because I was playing something even riskier. There was an idea, Stark knows this, called The Avengers Initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people, see if they could become something more. See if they could work together when we needed them to, to fight the battles that we never could. Phil Coulson died still believing in that idea, in heroes."

Suddenly dad's arms tensed around me and he sprang up from his seat, lifting me off his lap in a swift motion. I watched him, stunned, as he walked out of the room without a word of explanation or excuse.

After a seconds hesitation, I followed him.

"Dad!" I called after him, trying to catch up with him.

The corridors of the Helicarrier were a hubbub of people dealing with the aftermath of Loki's attack and escape. Many of the agents I passed were sporting cuts and bruises, some still unattended to. I supposed working a job a dangerous as this one, one got used to a few scrapes here and there.

This musing made my heart sink. I had thought that I wanted to be a part of this world as my mother had once been, but a nagging creature of doubt and fear had wormed its way into the pit of my stomach and it writhed when the very thought entered my mind. How could I ever be good enough, brave enough to be an agent of SHIELD when I couldn't even withstand a gunfight without freezing up?

I had followed Tony through the Helicarrier into the Detention Centre where he came to a stop before the empty space in which Loki's cell once stood. Without saying anything, I slipped my hand into his larger one and he squeezed it gently.