Belonging - A Bucky Love Story (Marvel/Avengers)

2

"W-what is that?!" Brenna demanded in nervous alarm.

"Shh, calm down, B," Tony cooed, "it's okay; that's what's keeping your heart beating."

Brenna calmed down, taking a moment to examine the device. When she gently tapped it, a feeling of vibration ricocheting throughout her entire chest. Whatever this thing was, it was much larger on the inside of her than the outside. "What's the glowy thingy?" She asked curiously.

At this, Thor moved to kneel before Brenna. Even kneeling, his head was taller than her's where she sat. "It is a gem element from Asgard," he explained, "a sun opal."

Before Brenna could ask anymore, Tony jumped in. "I tried everything on this planet to wake you up, but nothing would work," Tony told his daughter.

"Your father believed that something from my realm, even just a common gemstone," Thor went on, "would be strong enough...and he was right."

"It's so pretty," Brenna muttered before looking to the kneeling man, "thank you." She turned her gaze from Thor to Tony. "Does it really work..?"

Tony smirked and teased, "you tell me, Honey B."

Brenna took a deep breath and gazed down at her feet once again. Slowly, she pushed herself off of the bed. Her body felt tense from not having moved in so long, but she found herself standing strong. It worked.

• May 27, 2014 •

It didn't take long for Brenna to start walking and moving like a healthy person again. The power of the Asgardian stone in her chest made her much stronger than she could ever have hoped to be. And ever since it was placed into her chest piece, her body seemed to be teeming with energy.

She was caught up on a lot in the past couple of weeks. Tony told her about his own experience with the chest piece. Brenna was told about Iron Man and other other Avengers that had risen since she fell asleep. She was told about the events of New York and even HYRDA.

But Brenna's favorite part about being back was being older. Now twenty years old, she would have much more privilege than before. And taking advantage of this, she began to take combat lessons with Natasha. Tony had mixed feelings about it. In one hand, he didn't want his daughter to ever have to fight. But in the other, he knew the harsh reality of the world; fighting would be an important skill to have.

He was just going to check in on the two of them now. When Tony entered the wide open training room, he found two sweat-drenched women. "Someone's been making up for lost time," he teased, tossing his daughter a bottle of water.

Brenna caught it with one hand, immediately opening the bottle and beginning to drink thirstily. Natasha, who already had her own bottle, took a few sips. When Brenna's bottle was empty, she tossed it swiftly across the room, landing it perfectly in the small trash bin by the door.

Tony followed the bottle with his eyes and gave his daughter an impressed look. "Nice shot," he complimented.

"Thanks," Brenna responded, smiling at the praise.

Natasha shook her head as she and Brenna approached Tony. She met his eyes and put a hand on her hip. "She's excelling," Natasha reported with a proud smirk, "faster than anyone I've ever taught before."

"I'm ambitious," Brenna explained smoothly.

"Hopefully not too ambitious to miss your own birthday party," Tony reminded.

Brenna's eye opened wide. "Right!" She exclaimed in remembrance, "I should go shower." She then began to race out of the room, shouting back as she went, "thanks for the lesson, Natasha! Love you, Daddy!"

Tony smiled as she left, still unable to fathom his gratefulness for Brenna's waking. But Natasha didn't smile. She scrunched her eyebrows. "Was she always this energetic?"

Tony blinked. "Uh, you mean when she was frail and dying?" He asked almost defensively, "no, can't say she was."

"I'm sorry, I didn't..." Natasha trailed off. With a sigh, she reworded herself, "before she started having heart problems."

The father's smile faded slightly. "No," he responded, "but, she did just rest for six years. My guess is she'll calm down after another week."

Natasha looked down as she asked formally, "..you don't think it's the opal?"

There was a short silence as Tony search his mind for the right words to say. "I doubt it," he countered, "like Thor said, it's just a gemstone."

"A gemstone from Asgard," Natasha clarified. She and Stark met eyes. "I'm just saying, we have no idea what it could be doing to her."

Tony frowned. "Well, quite frankly, I don't care," he replied sternly, "and niether does Brenna. She is walking again. She's alive again. If that stone is doing anything to her, it's good things. So I'm not gonna question it." He left the room before Natasha could say anymore. But as much as he didn't want to admit it, he knew that she was right. He had no idea what he was messing with.