Disclaimer: I do not own Avengers or any Marvel characters. I'm just borrowing them.
Sarah: Wow, you continued so soon after.
Sarge: Your story line isn't leaving me alone.
Renata: More like I moved into her brain.
Tony: Good lord the OC's are running the crazy farm.
All three girls stare him down.
Steve: I would run if I were you Tony.
Three and a half years after the events of The Family We Fight For
"Bank Star, bank!" Cassie screamed into her mic seconds before Sarah, in Lady Iron Star armor, crashed through the edge of a building and tumbled across the pavement. "Iron Star? Iron Star respond!"
"I'm going to need a lift," came the tired groan a few seconds later. The sound of the helmet clanking against the road echoed through the communication lines. "Anyone have eyes on Modoc?"
"He was headed toward you," Buck reported as he vaulted over car and threw Talia toward another robot. There was a long pause before a scream filled the air. Heads whipped toward the sound to see Modoc trying to extract the Lady Iron Star armor from Sarah. "Where the hell is Bowman?"
"Got one better," a new voice said before the sight of a young woman dodging debris caught the eye of Buck.
The battlefield turned to silence as the robots became motionless and a visibly tug of war between Modoc and the newcomer occurred over the Lady Iron Star armor.
"Hey, Eli, take out Modoc," Buck ordered smashing another robot.
Eli ran through the battlefield and threw three throwing stars straight into the headband of Modoc. The screech that followed signaled the end of the fight as Cassie came forward as Stature to restrain Modoc.
Renata Rezinova-Stark made her way the final feet to where Lady Iron Star had fallen after the fight ended. Renata knocked on the facemask queuing it to open up and reveal the tired face of Sarah Barton.
"You do a lot of stupid shit," Renata commented propping her head up on her palm. "You have EMP bombs for a reason Blondie."
"And I used them on the robots until Modoc locked up the suit." Renata raised an eyebrow and watched as Sarah forced the suit into the sitting position. "I can't wait until you take over the suit. Your abilities will increase our effectiveness on the battlefield for sure." Turning to look at Renata, Sarah raised an accusing eyebrow. "And that day would be sooner if you ever showed up for your lessons."
"God not this again. Whatever, do you want me to fix the suit enough to limp home?" she asked.
"Please." There were several moments of silence between the pair as Renata repaired the suit with her techonopathic abilities. Sarah brought herself to her feet and nodded her thanks to Renata. The rest of the team was finishing cleanup. "Bowman, come in."
"Ugh, I'm here hon. Sorry, got pinned down in an alley."
"Getting older babe?"
"Shut up."
"I've got to take the suit back. It was still undergoing repairs from the last fight. You are in charge of clean up. See you at home everybody," Sarah said before jetting off into the New York skyline.
Tony looked up from his screens as the Lady Iron Star armor sputtered to a halt in the lab. JARVIS brought the arms down and started to disassemble the suit from around Sarah. Tony glanced up at the woman as she emerged.
"Rough day?" he asked before looking back to his diagrams and tweaking them.
"It would have been easier with Renata piloting," Sarah countered. The metal shoulders pulled away allowing her to roll her shoulders. "I miss hand to hand combat."
"You beat the hell out of everybody nearly every day," Tony pointed out.
"That doesn't count, I pull my punches." Sarah jumped off the platform instead of taking the stairs and walked over to Tony. "You need to talk to Renata about taking over the suit. She's never comes to her lessons Tony. I think she wants you to teach her," Sarah admitted.
"I'm retired," Tony answered.
"I don't care Tony. Just talk to her please. I want to get my feet back on the ground and Renata in the air. She wants this; I can see it in her eyes." Sarah turned Tony toward her and ruffled his greying hair. "You're a father to both of us and we both look up to you, I've just known you longer. You have a daughter Tony, it's time to start teaching her all the family secrets Tony," she insisted. Turning on her heels, Sarah headed toward the door.
"Want me to adjust the neural interface protocols again? I noticed they were sluggish again," Tony called as she headed out. Sarah paused in the door and looked back at Tony.
"Yeah do it. But I can't wear the suit too much more Tony. The interface is painful during every application. That's another reason Renata needs to be in the suit. She'll wear it until she's done and she can have the interface in permanent. I can't. Please, just talk to her." Sarah closed the door behind her and jogged up the stairs.
Renata was waiting at the top with her arms crossed wearing an expectant look on her face. Sarah leaned against the other side of the hallway and leaned against the railing.
"What he say this time?" Renata inquired.
"That's he's retired," Sarah replied with a tired yawn. "Just talk to him. This," she motioned between them, "isn't going to work out. You and me, we have the same issues our fathers did. But get him to train you soon; these interfaces are going to kill me."
They were. Even as Renata glared at Sarah with annoyance in her eyes, she could see the tiredness seeping into her bones and the pale complexion that had become more apparent in more recent months. The strain of wearing the suits was slowly killing her; the serum just wouldn't let her die. Despite all their differences, Renata was still worried for the team leader.
"Go rest, you've got a few hours before dinner," Renata said shifting and letting her arms drop to her sides. "Though I think Laura was looking for you."
"I'll check in with her before I go take a nap. Good luck."
"Uh huh."
It wasn't hard to find Laura; all Sarah had to do was follow the sound of a complaining three year old. Laura had her head in her hands and was rubbing her head as little Marina Logan babbled away at her mother while her brother Steven Grant Rogers the Third, or Grant as everyone called him, stared at his twin with a peculiar expression on his face.
"Marina why are you torturing your mother?" Sarah asked as she walked up.
"Aunt Sarah!" The little talon-bearing toddler leapt at Sarah and latched on. Luckily, though Marina's mutation had developed at birth, her claws were only the size of a small paperclip right now. "Mommy said naptime! Grant wants nap. I no want nap."
Laura looked up at Sarah with a grimace. Grant had trouble sleeping by himself, more than once he had woken up screaming about his dreams, and only managed to sleep while sleeping next to someone else. Laura hated naps but she knew it was something the kids would need.
"Fine then you play with your mother and I'll take Grant for naptime cause I was about to take one myself," Sarah said ruffling the toddler's blonde hair. Sarah placed Marina on the ground before picking up her dark haired brother who cuddled into her arms.
"Thank you so much," Laura said standing up. "I was going to go crazy."
"It's okay Laura. Go play. Me and little Grant will get some sleep, right little man?" Grant nodded sleepily into her neck.
It was an odd coincidence to Sarah, she had discovered, that just as Junior had been drawn to Stephanie because of her similarities to Sarah that Sarah was drawn to Grant because of the similarities with his father. With the exception of Grant's hair, Grant was the mirror image of Junior. Some part of Sarah hoped that's why they had formed the bond they had, that some part of her brother was in her nephew and remembered all the times that she had taken care of him growing up.
Her last thought as she laid down to sleep with Grant tucked in her arms was how much she missed her brother.
Renata snuck up on her father as he catalogued the latest injuries to the Lady Iron Star suit. Throwing her arms around him, Renata giggled into his shoulder as he jumped from the contact.
"Don't do that," he complained.
"Sorry, had to." Renata kissed the side of his cheek and plopped down on the desk. "I only fixed the suit up enough to get her home."
"I don't want you out on that battlefield without a suit Renata," Tony said leaning back in his seat and turning toward his wild child daughter. "Do you hear me? Until you've taken over the reins, you're not allowed out on that battlefield."
"Would you rather Sarah have the suit torn from her piece by piece Tony?" Renata countered harshly.
"I'd rather you just attend your lessons!" Tony snapped.
"I'm not training under her. No way in hell."
"Why the hell not?"
"Because, damn it, if I'm going to do this I want to learn from someone who actually knows what the hell they're doing! Someone who can tell an integrated circuit from a RAM chip!" Renata shouted as she stood up and paced the floor. Her eyes were filling up with tears and Tony nearly reached out to pull her into his lap. "I came here for a reason Tony. It sure as hell wasn't to go to school. I could go to any university in the world; they would beg to have me as one of their alumni! But I can only get to know you here." Renata turned her piercing gaze to her father. "You're here in New York so this is where I came."
"Sarah knows the difference between an IC and RAM, ICs are smaller," he chuckled with a little smirk. "I think it would be a good bonding experience for you two. Just think of all the mayhem you could cause once you're a team."
Folding her arms, Renata countered with, "I think I've made my position quite clear and I'm not budging." With the iconic Stark glare, Renata stared him down
"Stubborn," Tony muttered looking back at the suit.
"Huh, I wonder where I got that from," Renata teased as a small smirk lit up her face. "So what do you say, old man? Got time to train me?"
"Damn it," Tony grumbled shaking his head. "Fine but you get to tell her and you are not allowed to touch the suits until at least two weeks in."
"I have dibs on the Lady Iron Star proto type you've been working on. I want to play around with it."
It's not Lady Iron Star, Natya. That's your suit. Tony commented in his head but allowed he said, "Oh hell no!"
"I'm not going to blow it up Tony. I just want to make it functional. Come on, please?"
"You might not blow it up but you might blow up the mansion." Tony let his head hit the headrest. "I'm not going to be able to talk you out of this am I?"
"Nope," she replied putting emphasis on the P.
"Shi-." Tony raised his head and leveled a look at her. "You are aware that your stepmother and Sarah will kill us both if another suit flies through the kitchen again, right?"
"Oh they can try."
Laughing, Tony ruffled her hair and stood up. Renata smacked his hand away as he said, "All right Natya. Let's get to work. We have a lot to do if we're going to get you mission ready."
Cheering inwardly, Renata followed her father to the simulator to work.
Aaron walked in the school doors hours later. Tony had passed him on the way out, the older man headed back to Stark Mansion with Renata. There were still some students running around the school but most of them were turning in for the night.
"Dad!" Aaron turned to see Maggie jumping down the stairs. "Mom went to take a bath after dinner but she hasn't come back out yet and the door is locked. She hasn't put the others to bed yet. Permission to have Sassa open it?"
"SASSA DO IT!" Aaron shouted and started taking the stairs two at a time. By the time he reached the bedroom, Sassa had cast a spell over the lock to open it up. Torunn pulled Sassa back while James held Stephanie close to his chest. The twins stared at the door with wide eyes.
Aaron opened the door slowly and looked inside. Crossing the floor in a few steps, he knelt next to his wife who was staring at the wall of the bathroom blankly. Her skin was abnormally pale even with her worsening condition and she wasn't moving. The water was cool to his touch.
"James, get Doctor Williams and Bruce here now. JOCASTA? How long has she been like this?"
"Two hours sir but she had instructions not to alert anyone else death was imminent."
"Discontinue that order," Aaron snapped.
Talia and Laura came into the bathroom, the shouts from the kids and Aaron alerting them to something. Talia drained the water while Laura pulled a towel off the rack. Aaron slid into the tub and pulled her close while Laura draped the towel over her prone form.
"Uncle Bruce and Doc Sadie are here," Frankie panted as he ran to the entrance of the bathroom.
"Talia, Laura, get the kids to bed," Aaron said to the women. The pair ushered the kids out while Bruce and Sadie came into the bathroom.
"How long?" Bruce asked kneeling to cheek her pulse.
"Two hours according to JOCASTA." Sadie checked her pupils for dilation and took her blood pressure. With Aaron's help, they checked for any spinal damage before agreeing to move her down to the medical wing. Bruce brought over a quilt and wrapped it around her after Aaron had stood up with her in his arms.
The walk was a silent one as they took her down. A few kids popped their heads out to watch them pass until Talia and Laura sent them back to bed. Buck followed after the trio down and helped Aaron get her into the bio-scanner.
"Huh," Sadie mumbled looking at the results.
"I'm calling Tony," Bruce said already dialing his partner in crime.
"What is it?" Aaron asked walking over.
"Her neural pathways are being interrupted. I'm going to put her on life support to make sure if her lungs or heart go we can keep her alive," Sadie said. "I've never seen something like this but the good news is her brain is healing."
Aaron followed Sadie back to Sarah's side and watched as she was treated. A nagging feeling settled in his stomach and didn't go away no matter how much Buck assured him she'd live. Something just didn't feel right.