Belonging - A Bucky Love Story (Marvel/Avengers)

20

Tony came to a hault in the middle of the long hallway he and Brenna were walking down. He gave her a look of surprise and asked, "really? Now, don't push your luck, B; I'm letting you off easy."

"I'm not being smart," Brenna explained quickly, "I'm serious. I just mean that I learned so much."

She leaned agaisnt the wall, Tony moving to mirror her on the opposite wall. He clasped his hands in front of him and raised his eyebrows. "You mean, the electrical plasma that you learned to generate?" He asked knowingly.

"Yes, but also," Brenna went on cautiously, "I mean, I got experience; real experience. And I'm not trying to 'push my luck', but..I did really good." Tony frowned, getting a feeling that he knew where this was going. "I wanna keep helping people." And there it was.

Tony's eye fell shut and he shook his head excessively. "Mm, no, not an option," the words spilled from his lips uncharacteristically nervously.

"Why not?" Brenna pushed, "you know I have what it takes."

"Brenna, no," Tony opened his eyes and asserted, "I said no, I meant no, and that's it."

Brenna frowned at her father. There was a long silence before she spoke quietly. "When you first put the sun opal in my reactor, you had to know I wouldn't be waking up normal," she told him, "but it'd be better than not waking up at all."

Tony looked away from his daughter as he recalled his suspicions he'd had about the stone. He'd tried so hard to conceal it from his own self. His eyes stung as he stared down the hall.

Pushing off the wall, Brenna stepped closer to her father and continued carefully, "and now, I have these abilities."

Tony wrapped his daughter into a tight hug. "B....I promised you'd have a good life," he breathed out.

A memory was sparked back to life in Brenna's mind. You're going to live. And you're gonna have a good life, Brenna, I promise you that. That's what he'd said, so many years ago. A good life. One that didn't have anything to do with aliens or ex-nazi cults. No heros or villians. No Asgardian stones and unnatural powers.

Tony had wanted his daughter to go back to school, get a job under him at Stark Industries. For her to have a family of her own one day. And the most bizzare and dangerous thing that would happen to her would be a minor car accident.

"I do have a good life," Brenna's soft words pulled Tony from his thoughts. "And now, I can help other people have good lives, too."

That really did it for her father. A tear slipped down his cheek as he tightened his arms around her. After a deep sigh, he spoke, "ahh..you're too good a person." He then let her go. "For now, just stick with your training," he told her, "but the next time the Avengers are needed...you'll be one of us."

• June 21, 2014 •

Brenna was sitting in the main Avengers living room, watching a movie on a much-larger-than-necessary TV screen. She had a TV in her own room, but she loved the atmosphere of the giant living room. All of the lights were out, only moonlight shining in from outside. Pepper had been watching the movie with her, but fell asleep on her half of the large couch they shared.

Tony came in, noticing the movie still rolling. "Hey," he called in a whisper shout, approaching Brenna from behind. Brenna turned around and smiled, watching her father round the couch. "You know, it's almost three in the morning," he informed her.

"Yeah," she responded in a whisper, smiling crookedly up at her father, "shouldn't you be in bed by now, Mister?"

Tony rolled his eyes. Ever since her return, Brenna was sleeping less and less. All thanks to the limitless energy the sun opal gave her. And as a factor of this, she often teased Tony in a parenting manner, telling him to go to bed on time and what not.

"Shouldn't you?" Tony retorted. "I get that you don't need sleep," he added, "but everyone else in the building does." He walked over to Pepper and gently lifted her so as not to wake her slumber. "TV, off," Tony told her quietly with an amused grin, "you can finish the movie in your room."

Brenna sighed, but did as she was told. "Jarvis, pause the movie and move it to my room, please," she muttered as her father left with Pepper.

"Right away, Ms. Stark," Jarvis replied, his volume turned down due to it being night.

Hopping off the couch, Brenna snuck silently to her room. Once inside, she closed the door behind her. The lights were off as she made her way to her own private living area. But the movement of a shadow to her left caught her eye. Heart leaping in sudden fear, Brenna realized that she wasn't alone.