Beginning

6.

Zephrine sat at a booth, waiting for Tony and Fury. She wore her signature brown jacket, red scarf, black jeans and black boots.

Fury and Tony walked towards the table. "Zephrine?" Tony asked. Zephrine got out of the booth. She ran towards Tony. He wraps his arms around her.

"Dad, they're spies. They kidnapped me", Zephrine said.

"You didn't hurt her, did you?" Tony asked Fury.

"Of course not", Fury said. "Let's sit down".

The three of them sat at the booth. "She doesn't need handcuffs", Tony said. Zephrine's hands were in handcuffs. Fury used a key to unlock the handcuffs and get them off her wrist.

"Dad, now may not be a good time, but I just want to know. Are you dying?" Zephrine asked. Tony sighed.

"Yes. I didn't know how to explain it to you or to Pepper. And I was going to tell you after Vanko attacked in Monaco, but...you were already going through a lot", Tony said.

"Don't worry, Zephrine. Your father is going to be okay", Fury said.

"You didn't have to bring her into this".

"I didn't bring her into this. She brought herself into this. Zephrine was going to expose one of my agents. Your daughter is very unique, Mr. Stark. I believe with a little more training, she'll be right for the Avengers Initiative", Fury said.

"What's that?" Zephrine asked.

"It's an idea. The idea is to bring together a group of remarkable people to see if they can become heroes",Fury said.

"Sounds like heaven. I'd like to join",Zephrine said. "Dad, are you going to join the Avengers?"

"No and I told him I don't want to join his super secret boyband", Tony said.

"No, no, no. See, I remember you do everything yourself. How's that working out for you?" Fury asked.

"It's...It's...It's...I'm sorry. I don't wanna get off on the wrong foot. Do I look at the patch or the eye?" Tony asked.

"I'll look at the patch. You look at the eye", Zephrine whispered to Tony. Tony nodded.

"Honestly, I'm a bit hung over. I'm not sure if you're real or if I'm having-".

"I am very real. I'm the realest person you're ever gonna meet", Fury said.

"That's what scares me", Zephrine said.

"Where's the staff here?" Tony asked.

Fury looked at the blue veins on Tony's neck. Zephrine noticed it too. "Is that from his Arc Reactor?" Zephrine asked.

"Yes", Fury said.

"I've been worse', Tony said. Natasha and Alleb walked towards them.

"We've secured the perimeter, but I don't think we should hold it for too much longer", Natasha said.

Tony looked at her and Alleb. "Huh",Tony said. "You're...fired".

"That's not up to you", Natasha said.

"You're fired too", Tony said to Alleb. Alleb just smiled.

"Who said I work for you?" Alleb asked.

"They're spies. I told you something wasn't right", Zephrine said. "Natasha Romanoff and her name Romanoff".

"We're with S.H.I.E.L.D", Alleb said.

"What is your name?" Tony asked.

"That's classified".

"But it's simple", Zephrine said. Everyone looked at her. "You said your name is Alleb, which is indeed a real name. Not popular, but it's a name. Here's what else is special about it. Alleb is spelled A-l-l-e-b. But spelled backwards, it spells...Bella. Your name is Bella". (Enola Homes, anyone?)

Bella smiled. "It's actually Isabella, but I prefer to be called Bella. You're clever", she said.

"Your daughter is unique, Stark",Fury said.

"Let's get down to business. You made your girlfriend your CEO, you're giving away all your stuff. You let your best friend fly away with your suit",Bella said.

"Now, if I didn't know any better-" Fury started, but was interrupted by Tony.

"You don't know better. I didn't give it to him. He took it", Tony said.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. He took it? You're Iron Man and he just took it? The little brother walked in there, kicked your ass and took your suit?" Fury asked. He looked at Natasha. "Is that possible?"

"Well, according to Mr. Stark's database security guidelines, there are redundancies to prevent unauthorized usage", Natasha said.

"A simple 'no' would've been nice",Zephrine mumbled.

"What do you want from me?" Tony asked Fury and Natasha. Natasha got out of the booth.

"What do we want from you? Uh-uh. What do you want from me?" Fury asked.

"We don't want anything from you? Why can't you leave us alone?" Zephrine asked.

"You and your father have become a problem, a problem I have to deal with".

"Zephrine has nothing to do with this",Tony said.

"Yes, she does".

"She's 15".

"14", Zephrine corrected.

Natasha came back. "Hit him", Fury said. Natasha shot Tony with something. The blue veins on his neck disappeared.

"Oh God. Are you gonna steal my kidney and sell it? Could you please not do anything awful for 5 minutes?" Tony asked. "What did she just do to me?"

"What did we just do for you? That's lithium dioxide. It's gonna take the edge off. We're trying to get you back to work", Fury said.

"Give me a couple of boxes of that, I'll be right as rain", Tony said.

"It's not a cure. It just abates the symptoms", Natasha said.

"Doesn't look like it's gonna be an easy fix", Fury said.

"Trust me, I know. I'm good at this stuff. I've been looking for a suitable replacement for palladium. I've tried every combination, every permutation of every known element", Tony said.

"Maybe you haven't tried all of them",Zephrine said.

"Told you she's smart", Bella said. "You didn't try all of them".