Author's Note: This chapter title comes from Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. The title of this fic is from a classic nursery rhyme called "One for Sorrow."

Chapter One - Beware (for I am fearless)

"Pull up the Germany footage again, JARVIS."

The video appeared a few feet in front of her, just past the holographic projections of the blueprints she was manipulating. "If I may, Danielle," JARVIS said. "I do believe this is bordering on obsessive."

"Is it?" she asked distantly. "Explode the engine for me, please. I need a closer look." Danielle reached out and scratched Bacon under his chin. He stretched, purring loudly.

"Of course."

The hologram expanded in front of her, the engine coming apart in pieces. She glanced up past it at the grainy security footage. "The guy in the horns. You're still not going to tell me who he is?"

"I am not allowed to share any details of Sir's current predicament."

"Predicament?" She frowned and waved a hand through her blueprints, dispersing them. "That's an interesting choice of words. Is he okay, J?"

"I am not allowed to share any details of—"

"JARVIS," Danielle said, voice cutting through his. "Is Dad alive?"

"He is alive."

She sighed shakily. "Thank god. And there's nothing else you can tell me?"

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be," she mumbled, staring at the security footage as it started over again. "What is that guy using? I've never seen someone be able to materialize something like that. It's all just theory."

JARVIS's voice was low when he responded. "Some things just defy explanation."

"Don't be ridiculous. Everything has an explanation. Sometimes it just hasn't been found yet. That's what science is for." She frowned at the blast from the staff the man was holding. "See, when I want to know something, I figure it out. And what I want to know right now is who the hell that guy is and how he's doing what he's doing."

"I do believe this is a point at which I should criticize you for your—"

Danielle froze. She frowned and paused the video with a wave of her hand. "JARVIS?"

"Someone has arrived on the roof. I am contacting Sir now. I suggest you remain here for the time being."

Danielle snatched up the gun on her workbench. The sudden movement made Bacon squeak and he scrambled to his feet, purring stopping immediately. "Do you know who it is?" she asked, checking over the rounds in her magazine before sliding it into her gun.

"There are two people. They are establishing something on the roof of the building, but I'm not sure—" JARVIS paused. When he spoke again, his tone was clipped. "I am locking down the workshop for safety."

"J?" Danielle flinched a little as the metal security doors came down around the walls of the room. "JARVIS, who is it?"

"His name is Loki and he is the man whose identity you have been asking about since the incident in Germany. Please remain here. Sir has informed his team and is on his way."

"Thanks, J. What are they setting up on the roof?"

"I am not allowed to—"

"Goddammit, JARVIS! Tell me what's going on. I get that there's so top secret governmental stuff here, but from my perspective there is a terrorist setting up camp on top of where I live and I want to know what's going on." The silence stretched longer than she was comfortable with. "JARVIS, I swear that if you don't tell me what's happening—"

"There is a machine containing the Tesseract currently being set up on the roof. It is the belief of your father and his team that our opponent has plans to use the Tesseract to open a portal in order to unleash and alien army upon the world. I believe that portal is to open above Stark Tower."

Danielle stared at the paused footage, mulling over what JARVIS had just dropped on her. The video was frozen on the staticky image of the horned man standing over a crowd of people, scepter raised. She took a shaky breath and set down her gun. As she pulled her hair out of it's messy braid and began tying it tightly back up, she said, "J, how far out is Dad?"

"Approximately thirty-seven minutes."

"Okay." She opened the locked box on her work bench and pulled out several clips, shoving them into the pockets of her shorts. She picked up her gun again. "Lift the lockdown on the workshop, please."

"I really must protest—"

"You're telling me that some maniac is about to declare war on New York city using an artifact from World War Two and that the closest person who can stop it is still over a half hour away, but you still expect me to just sit by and do nothing?" She glared at the ceiling. "Lift the lockdown."

He said nothing. But she heard the muted whir of gears and the metal walls lifted. Danielle crouched down and petted back Bacon's ears. "Stay here where it's safe, okay, baby?" She smiled and kissed his forehead. Then she stood back up and retrieved her gun. "Are they all still on the roof?"

"As far as I am aware."

"Okay. Radio silence, now. If they hear the ceiling talking it could give away where I am."

She hadn't realized that the absolute absence of sound could sound so reluctant. Then JARVIS said, "I'll inform Sir. You will not hear from me until his arrival."

"Thanks, J." She hesitated and stepped towards her father's workbench. Danielle slid her left hand into the Iron Man gauntlet sitting there. It adjusted to fit around her hand and she flexed her fingers. Satisfied, she pushed open the door and took a deep breath. Instead of the elevator, she took toward the stairs. She started climbing them two at a time.

Somewhere above her, a door slammed and was followed by the sound of footsteps. Danielle caught her breath and pressed up against the wall. She began counting her heartbeats as the seconds past. Twenty-six heartbeats later, another door slammed. The footsteps were gone. She took a deep breath and continued her upward climb. She reached the exit to the roof and took a deep breath, gauntlet and gun both at the ready. Two people, and it sounded like one had left the roof for the building. She would just hope to god that Loki had been the one to leave.

Danielle shoved open the door and kept her back to the wall as she stepped out, weapons raised. She immediately zeroed in on the man hunched over the large, pulsing machine. "Shut it down and step away!"

The man straightened and turned. She caught her breath, staring at how unnaturally sharp and blue his eyes were. That wasn't right. "I said shut it down!"

"You don't understand!" He was grinning widely, expression twisted into something manic. "It's beautiful! This is the beginning of everything! Just wait, just wait. You'll see!"

"I don't want to see jack shit except for you turning it off." She took a deep breath and the gauntlet started to hum as she powered it up. "I'm going to give you until the count of three. One—"

"What a juvenile method."

She whipped around, heart leaping into her throat. She fired the repulsor and the man leaned to the side to avoid it. He smiled, though it was chilling and didn't reach his sharp blue eyes. Eyes all too similar to those of the man by the machine. "What do we have here?" he asked curiously.

Danielle squeezed the trigger and also fired off another repulsor blast. The man avoided them and then his staff came up. Danielle ducked it, but then it caught her in the legs. She gasped as her ankle wrenched and she hit the ground. Gravel dug into her face and she spit out blood as she pushed herself up. A hand closed around her neck. It dragged her up and her weight began pulling her down. She writhed in his grip and started to bring up her gun. He slapped her hand away with his staff and smiled. "We can't have that, now, can we?" The scepter came up and its cold tip touched her chest. "Why don't I teach you how to behave?"

"I swear, if there's one hair out of place on my kid's head—"

"Sir, you need to focus."

Tony grit his teeth, coming to a stop above his Tower. "Update me, J."

"The barrier is pure energy. It's unbreachable."

"I got that." Tony dropped his gaze to the balcony below, where Loki was standing and smiling up at him. And behind him Danielle stood blank faced with a gauntlet on one hand and a gun in the other. She wasn't dressed for a fight. No, she was dressed in shorts and a crop top and his chest tightened at the dirt staining her skin and the blood painted across her face. She wasn't even wearing shoes, but one of her socks had gone from white to a splotchy red. "Plan B."

"The Mark VII is not ready to be deployed."

Tony tore his gaze from his daughter and landed. "Skip the spinning rims." He started forward and his machines came out, removing his suit piece by piece. "We're on the clock."

"Of course, Sir."

Tony looked to his right. Loki turned and started inside, Danielle just a half-second behind him. He faced straight ahead. He had to get this right and he couldn't let her distract him. That distraction could spell death for her.

Almost the moment he was inside, Loki called, "Please tell me you're going to appeal to my humanity."

"No. I'm too pissed and I passed that point a while ago. I'm going to threaten you, actually." Tony stepped down the stairs to the bar. "Drink?"

Loki looked vaguely amused. "Stalling me won't change anything."

"No, no. Not stalling. Threatening. What about you, Dani? Drink?"

She stared straight at him. "I'm not thirsty. Besides, I'm underage and you know it."

The fact that it was said in her voice with her familiar biting tone and yet without the faintest hints of her in her expression hurt more than anything else ever could have. He started pouring himself a glass. "You sure? I'm having one." He took a sip and then set it down, reaching for the first bracelet.

Loki glanced to the side at Danielle and then stepped past her to look out the window. She turned her head to watch him but didn't move from her spot. Loki switched his scepter from one hand to the other. "The chitauri are coming and nothing will change that. What have I to fear?"

Tony locked on the second bracelet. "The Avengers."

That made Loki pause and he looked back at Tony. Danielle's gaze, however, didn't leave the man.

"That's what we call ourselves," Tony said, picking his glass back up. "A team, I guess. Earth's mightiest heroes."

"Yes, I've met them." Loki had taken on a mocking tone. As Tony came around the bar, Loki stepped forward and looked almost amused.

"Yeah, takes us a while to get any traction. I'll give you that one. But let's do a head count. Your brother, the demi-god; a super soldier, a living legend who kinda lives up to the legend; a man with . . . breath-taking anger management issues; a couple of master assassins. And you, big fella. You've managed to piss off every single one of them."

"That was the plan." Loki stepped forward until they were face to face. "And since my plan is going so splendidly, I've decided to indulge a little. I have one Stark already."

Tony couldn't help the glance he threw towards Danielle. She had both arms raised, gauntlet and gun alike pointed at him.

"I think," Loki mused, "I would rather like to have the set." And with that said, he tapped his scepter against Tony's chest.

Tony felt more than heard the clink of the staff against his arc reactor. Confusion flickered across Loki's face. The scepter tapped again. Loki's expression darkened. "That normally works."

"Well, performance issues, you know. Not uncommon. One out of five-" He grunted in alarm, hands flying up, when Loki's grip closed around his neck. The floor disappeared from underneath him only for him to slam into hit a moment later. He coughed and climbed up. "JARVIS," he muttered. "Anytime now."

The moment he was on his feet, Loki had grabbed him by the throat again. "You will all fall before me," the man growled.

"Deploy." Tony gasped out. "Deploy!"

And at that moment, he went flying through the window. He screamed and flipped through the air before stabilizing, limbs spread out. "C'mon, JARVIS," he muttered, voice lost in the air he was rushing through. "C'mon."

He heard a beeping and saw the red scanning his wrists and some of the tightness in his chest let up, but not all of it. Metal locked around his arms and he breathed a sigh of relief as the familiar suit enclosed his body and he was once again in control. He fired his repulsors, reversing his fall and flying back upward.

As he reached the broken glass, he scowled and stared inside at where Loki was barking orders and Danielle was turning towards the elevator. "Oh, and there's one other person you pissed off!" he yelled. Loki turned, raising his scepter. Tony's voice grew dark. "And he doesn't like it when someone messes with his little girl." He fired his gauntlets and the blast hit Loki, sending him flying backwards.

Tony only had a split second of satisfaction before a blast hit him, knocking him backwards. "What the fuck!"

"Sir, Danielle is still under Loki's control," JARVIS explained. "As such, she has decided to attack his enemy: you."

"Shit!" Tony dodged the next blast. "Dani! C'mon, Dani, it's your old man!"

Another blast.

"C'mon, please—" He yelped as the next blast caught his shoulder. "Fuck no." He dove straight forward, inwardly aching, and hit her head on, grabbing her in his arms. They tumbled across the floor and he let her go instead of dragging her with him as he slammed into the wall. Coughing, he got back up. He lifted his faceplate and raised his gauntlets. "Danielle! It's me!"

Her expression was focused and familiar, making her look like she was concentrating on a boxing match with Natasha or a particularly difficult piece of music rather than trying to kill her father. Another blast. And another.

"No, no, no," he muttered. "Alright, that's it. Sorry, baby girl!" At his simple command, the suit peeled away and propelled him forward. He slammed his fist into her face at the same moment as a shot rang in his ears. Danielle dropped back, smashing into the ground and her gun tumbling from her hands. Tony dropped beside her, gasping and gripping his side. He stared at her, but she wasn't responsive. "JARVIS?"

"She's breathing, Sir. Are you hurt?"

Tony looked down and lifted his hand from his side. He hissed in pain, staring at the gash ripped through his shirt and skin. "Just a flesh wound," he assured his AI. He glanced back. "Where'd Rudolph go?"

"He seems to have escaped."

Tony stumbled to his feet. "No shit. Alright, c'mon, Dani." He dragged her up by under her arms and pulled her to the steps. "Sorry. Daddy would love to get you somewhere better, but he's got a world to save right now," he murmured. He leaned down and kissed her bloody forehead. "I'll be back quick. Promise." His side ached as he straightened back up. "JARVIS?"

The suit practically slammed into him and reformed around him. "Are we off to kill a god, Sir?"

"You bet your digital ass we are."

For just three seconds it felt like waking up to her natural circadian rhythm. And then her body started screaming. Danielle choked out a breath and found herself choking on bile instead. She lurched forward and tumbled downward, hands scraping against something sharp. She retched, back heaving. Her throat and mouth burned and she fell back, something digging into her back. She reached up to wipe her mouth only to find her hand heavier than normal.

Danielle stared at the gauntlet encasing her hand. Why did she have the gauntlet? Her dad was going to kill her. He was—

Oh.

She'd tried to kill him.

And just like that, she was hunched over and hurling again. Her mind spun, trying to catch up. Blue eyes, shooting at Iron Man, Loki's scepter against her chest, the man on the roof, the machine that was—

The machine.

Danielle stared out at the absolutely destroyed room. "JARVIS," she croaked. "JARVIS, what's happening?"

There was no answer.

"JARVIS?"

"Danielle!" Tony's voice came booming through the ceiling. "Thank god. Okay, get to the workshop, okay? JARVIS will put it on lockdown."

She struggled up. "The . . . the Tesseract. Is it still on the roof?"

"Oh, no. No. I know exactly what you're thinking. Go to the workshop, Dani! Go to the—" He cut off with a grunt and then a plethora of swears. "Goddammit! Cap! I need help up on Ninth!"

Danielle stumbled forward and picked up her gun. She limped towards the elevator and hit the button. It didn't respond. "What— JARVIS, open the elevator."

"I can't do that, Danielle. You need to go to the workshop."

She scowled and turned for the stairs, leaning on the wall for support.

"Danielle—"

"Screw off, JARVIS." She shoved open the door and started dragging herself up the stairs. Her chest burned and her ankle just didn't feel right, though she couldn't bring herself to look down. The door to the roof was ajar and she pulled herself through it. Her breath caught in her throat and she found herself staring at the rip in the sky. "Oh my god," she gasped.

Large beast after large beast was pouring through the tear, their moaning roars shaking her bones. Danielle swallowed and limped forward, gun up. "Shut it down," she ordered.

The man looked up, but this time his eyes weren't blue and his head was smeared with blood. His eyes went wide. "I wish I could. But the . . . . Loki's scepter. The energy."

She hesitated and then dropped her gun. "We need to shut it down."

"We can't."

"We have to!"

"The only way to would be to get the Tesseract out, and that barrier is impossible to get through."

She scowled and threw her eye across it. He was right. There weren't any weak spots except for the cube itself, well past the humming barrier. She screamed in frustration and slammed her left fist forward. Despite the gauntlet between herself and the barrier, she felt her hand and wrist give was just a little. She hit it again and again.

"You can't get through!" the man yelled. "It's impossible!"

Danielle ripped off the gauntlet, chest heaving. "Listen, in the last few hours I've been mind controlled, seen aliens, and tried to kill my own father. I am one hundred percent done being told what is and isn't possible because I don't think anything is impossible at this point!" And then she slammed her hands right into the barrier, digging in to try to claw her way through.

Her skin hissed and she could feel it boiling and peeling. Danielle screamed but kept pressing her weight forward. Behind her, the man was shouting something but she couldn't hear anything over the ringing of her own ears. The pain was lancing up her arms and across her chest and between her ribs. She shrieked and was about to pull back when she felt it give. Just a little, but it gave.

It was hard to see and tears burned her eyes. She gave another scream and pushed again. One hand went through and the barrier burned up her arm. Someone was screaming, and she was pretty sure it was still her. She reached for the cube. Just a little bit farther. Just a little.

Her fingers closed across the cube and she jerked it from its spot.

The burning up her arm stopped and she stumbled back. But even though the barrier was gone, it had been replaced by the freezing heat in her hand and crawling through her faces. Blue burned itself into her retinas and she fell. Or was she still standing? She wasn't sure anymore. All she was sure about was the pain and the blood in her throat and the way her hand was scalding.

And then all she was sure of was that all she could see was black.

"If it's all the same to you, I'll have that drink now."

Tony surged forward, snarling out, "Where's my daughter?"

"Tony!" Natasha's hand closed around his bicep. "Beating it out of him won't do any good."

"The girl?" Loki leaned to the side and spat out some blood. "I have no idea."

Tony growled and fought against Natasha's grip only to have a super soldier's arm come around him and drag him back. "What did you do to my daughter, you fucker! Where is—"

"Sir!" JARVIS cut in.

Tony growled at Loki before cutting his gaze to the ceiling. "What?" he snapped.

Before JARVIS could respond, the elevator doors slid open and Selvig stumbled out, dragging a body with him. "Help! Help her! I don't know what— She touched it! She closed the portal and she touched the Tesseract and I don't know what's happening to her!"

He couldn't see the body's face, but Tony recognized the orange crop top, as stained and torn as it was. "Dani!" He pulled from his teammates' hold and raced forward. Behind him, he heard Cap order Barton to bind Loki. Tony dropped to his knees, broken glass digging through his jeans, and took Danielle into his arms from the doctor. There was barely an inch of her skin that wasn't stained red and he could have sworn that he saw the bone of her arms. Her eyes were open but glazed and she was staring blankly upwards at nothing, pupils blown wide. "No, no, no, no." He pressed his fingers against her neck, slipping against her bloody skin. He shuddered in relief when he felt a steady pulse.

"How is she?"

Tony looked up and it took a moment for him to manage to focus in on the woman crouch in front of him. "She's alive," he croaked. "We need to get her to a hospital."

Natasha stared at him and then her gaze flicked to the teen in his arms. "Okay." She rose to her feet. "Cap, you mind carrying her?"

The man looked confused and concerned as he stepped over and crouched down, reaching for Danielle. "Of course not."

Tony pulled back, drawing his arms protectively around his daughter. "I don't—"

"Tony." Natasha's voice grew sharp. "Let Steve take her. You're practically dead on your feet and you won't be doing her any favors if you pass out while holding her."

He stared at her and she nodded. He took a shaky breath and released his hold, letting Steve take her from his arms. Despite relinquishing her, he still made a sound of protest. Natasha was up against his side in an instant, arm curling around his waist. "C'mon, let's not fall behind. You need a visit to the hospital too."

"But—"

"I won't let her out of my sight, Stark. I promise."