Maria Stark

by agentbanner

Hours after Maria Stark was born, she was taken. Years later, Tony see's a lady on the street who looks just like Pepper, but him as well. Steve simply asked for ingredients from a neighbor. Never would he think that he would fall for her.

1. Chapter 2

Okay, so I was really bothered by some of the mistakes and such in the first Maria Stark, so I changed things. The plot is still basically the same, but several things are different and it's slightly longer. I didn't want to take down the first one because I like that one too so i'm just posting this one here as well. It's pretty much the same story with a little more fluff and less mistakes(i hope).

By far it had been an interesting day. It had started out normal, with Pepper making breakfast and Tony stumbling out of the workshop in the earlier hours. The usual grumblings had gone on before Pepper rushed off to go to the office, despite Tony and the doctor telling her no. Tony had gone back to flipping through some of his latest Iron Man suit designs when the call came. Jarvis shut off his music. "Hey!" Tony protested.

"Sir, the company has called several times." Jarvis informed. "They say Mrs. Pepper has been taken to the hospital." Tony froze. Pepper went into labor? Now? Throwing his stuff down he dawned his Ironman suit and flew to the hospital where Jarvis told him Pepper was. Landing on the roof he wiggled out of the suit and down the stairs surprising the nurses around.

"Pepper Stark?" He asked, mildly frantic. The nurses gave him confused looks before Jarvis spoke in his ear.

"You're on the wrong floor sir. Two down room 101." Tony thanked Jarvis and Peppers tracked cellphone before hurrying there.

Tony Stark paced the hallway of the hospital. He never let his worries show, but this one time seemed acceptable. Besides, pacing didn't mean that he was worried. No. He was just bored of sitting. That was it. Tired of sitting. A scream came from the other side of the door he was pacing by. His eyes grew wide. Faltering in his pacing he reached for the doorknob when a hand touched his. Startled, he jerked his hand away and looked at the person. Bruce Banner stood, smiling slightly, next to him. He gulped. A nervous smile appeared.

"Bruce." He greeted. Bruce patted Tony on the back.

"Don't look so nervous. I'm sure she'll be fine. The others are on their way." With that he sat on a chair across from the door. Tony faced him.

"What others?" He asked, confused.

"The others. Romanoff and Barton, Steve, and Thor if he can." He shrugged. "Communications with Asgaurd are still in the testing phase. We think he got the message." Before Tony could comment that Bruce had invited two assassins and a thunder god here, another painful cry came from the room. At the same moment the rest of the Avengers, not including Thor, rounded the corner along with Rhodey.

"Ouch." Clint Barton comments. Tony moved to say a snappy comment back, but the door popped open. A doctor in a pristine white lab coat walked out.

"Tony Stark?"

"Yes that's me." Tony said frantically. The doctor smiled brightly.

"Congratulations. You can come inside now. Pepper did wonderful by the way. I'm sorry there were complications and that you could not have been inside the room." The doctor gave a smile and moved aside to let Tony in.

---

Pepper leaned back into the hospital beds pillows with Tony squeezed in next to her. He lay on his side with an arm draped around her. The day had passed in a blur after he had gone into the room. Pepper had been covered in sweat, but a smile was on her face. A pink bundle had been in her arms. After Tony held his little girl in his arms, they were moved to another room where the guests could come in. His little girl had been passed around from person to person. It was funny watching Clint and Natasha hold her. Natasha didn't really know what to do with her and just passed her off to Clint to hold. Cling seemed to be a natural with the little girl, which gave Tony lots of new jokes but he kept them to himself at the moment.

Steve cooed over her and held her in awe, continually commenting on how pretty she was. At first Steve had been worried about his strength and the possibility of crushing her, but Tony waved that off. Both parents knew Steve would never do anything to hurt their child. Luckily Thor made it in time. By far out of everyone he had absolutely no idea what to do. While he was certainly the most fascinated, he only held her for a moment. In fact, he just sat in the chair with her in his arms. Tony later swore he heard Thor mutter, "puny human." With tenderness in his voice, but Pepper just rolled her eyes at him fondly. Bruce had loved holding the little girl. This little girl didn't know whom he was, she wouldn't make him mad, and she hadn't cried at all. Rhodey had scooped the baby up in his arms and laughed slightly. He thought it was great, crazy, but great that Tony and Pepper had a child. All of them left at the same time –visiting hours were up- with congratulations, well wishes, and promises to visit again.

"Pepper?" Tony mumbled.

"Yes?" She whispered back.

"I already miss her." Pepper laughed softly.

"Hmm." She hummed. "Me too. I can't wait to take her home tomorrow."

"Good job today." Again she laughed. Her hand carded through his hair, making both sleepy.

"Thanks."

"Thank you." He said after a few minutes of silence.

"For what?"

"Maria River Stark." Pepper kissed Tony on the head. Both fell asleep quickly after that.

---

The sleeping couple awoke to yelling. The hallway lights shone through the crack below the door. Darkness still filled the room though. Glancing at the clock Tony saw it was 3:49 in the morning. Pepper sat up, Tony followed. She reached for his hand. Worry filled her voice.

"What do you think is going on?"

"I don't know but I'm going to find out." He kissed her head and walked towards the door. The yelling had gotten louder. Words could be made out.

"Stop him!"

"He has a child!"

"Don't let him get away!"

Tony threw open the door to see a man charging down the hall towards him. A pink bundle held in one arm like a football. Doctors and nurses ran behind the man, yelling and pointing. Instant panic filled him. A pink bundle. Like the one Maria was had earlier today. But the chances it was Maria were low. Right? The man suddenly made a turn down a hallway away from him. He licked his lips. What if that man had Maria? He could hear Pepper saying something to him but it didn't register. His feet were already taking him towards where the man and doctors had fled. It lead to a stairway. Instead of going down them he ran to where Maria and the other children were. He ran up to the glass where you could look at them and froze.

"Tony?" He heard Peppers voice behind him. "Tony, are you okay?" Pepper touched his shoulder before looking at the glass with him. She gasped. Tony pulled her into a tight hug, shielding her from the sight. He breathed in deeply as she began to cry as questions tumbled out. He pulled her away from him. Looking her in the eyes he spoke.

"I am going to go downstairs and see if they caught the man who took her. Go back to bed." Pepper shook her head. Grapping his hand she started to lead the way to the elevator.

"No. She is our daughter. We are going together." Downstairs in the lobby cops had gathered. Chair were strewn everywhere along with paper and clipboards. A fight must have broken out. Doctors and nurses spoke with the cops around the room. A doctor, whom was speaking to the chief cop, saw them walk out of the elevator, hand in hand. The man frowned and pointed to them. Tony and Pepper walked towards them.

"What happened?" Tony demanded. "Why wasn't Maria in her bed." The doctor opened and closed his mouth like a fish. Finally the cop spoke.

"We believe the man who came in here broke in there just to take your daughter."

"Dam right he did. None of the other children are missing are they? Did you catch him?" He almost yelled. Pepper squeezed his hand tightly, silently pleading him to stay level headed. Tony sighed, frustrated. "Do you know who he was, what he looked like, a motive, anything about him at all?" The cop shook his head sadly.

"We have suspicions, but no real evidence." The doctor stared at the floor. Pepper started to cry again. Tony pulled her into a hug. He asked if they could both go home. Seeing no reason for the couple to stay the cop said something about looking for the man and Maria before letting them go. Tony had Happy come and pick them up. Tony carried Pepper into the tower. He laid her down in their bed and drew the covers over her. Right as he was going to go put his iron man suit on, to go look for the man who took Maria, Pepper started to cry in her sleep. He lay with her and comforted her for a while before taking off in search for Maria and whoever took her.

---

Tony and Pepper Stark stood in the kitchen. A small birthday cake with 23 candles light shone brightly in the darkened room. The couple blew out the candles sadly, just as they had done for the past twenty-three years. Two cards lay on the table. One from Pepper and one from Tony, both envelopes were labeled to Maria. When their missing daughters first birthday came around they baked a cake and wrote her letters. Every year they did the same thing. Tony cut two slices of cake. Along with two glasses of wine they curled up on the couch. Neither spoke. Pepper turned on the television. The news was on.

Tony's phone rang loudly. Aggravated he glared at the caller I.D. Everyone knows not to bother him today. Nick Furry was calling.

"What do you want?" He demanded. Pepper sat up, uncurling herself from him.

"We have a situation." At those words the television flashed breaking news. Not bothering to see what it was Tony kissed Pepper and went to get his suit on. Pepper continued to watch the news. A prison was shown. A news reporter appeared. Behind her, pictures of a man and a women flashed by.

"We urge everyone to stay indoors. Currently two prisoners have escaped. A Gary Star and his wife Michelle Star have escaped. These two are known for their cunning skills in hiding, technology, and vast varieties of sciences. We have several teams currently trying to find them. Please stay indoors." Pepper looked out the window as Tony flew away to help.

Tony had been gone hours. It was around four in the morning but she hadn't slept all night. All she wanted was for him to come home. Or at least she wanted him to call. The news had claimed that the Avengers had apprehended the prisoners. Whether that was true or just a lie to keep the public calm she didn't know. Her phone rang. It was Tony. Frantically she opened it.

"Tony?" She asked worriedly. A soft chuckle resounded from the other side of the line. Pepper sighed in relief.

"Hey Pepper." Tony said.

"Where are you?"

"I am on my way home. Capsickle is with me. Happy is bringing us back in the car."

"Steve is with you?"

"Yeah his flat complex may have possibly accidentally gotten hit with Thor's lightning and burned to the ground. Complete accident." She could hear Tony's smile.

"So the bad guys were near his flat?"

"More or less. Anyway he's going to spend a few nights with us until he either finds a new flat or they fix his."

"Alright. I'll make sure a guest room is ready for him." They paused in the conversation. Normally Tony would have either hung up by now without a goodbye or just said bye and hung up. "Tony, what's the matter?"

"Nothing. Nothing. We are almost home. Bye." He hung up. Pepper cleaned up the two slices of half eaten cake, the wine glasses, and placed a glass case over the rest of the cake. She walked down a corridor and made sure a large room was prepared for Steve. By the time she had walked back into the kitchen area the elevator pinged open. Steve and Tony walked out.

"Hello Pepper." Steve nodded. Tony rolled his eyes and hugged his wife.

"Hello Steve. Your room is down that corridor, third door down on the left." Pepper greeted over Tony's shoulder. Steve smiled before heading that way, obviously tired from the nights events. Once she heard the door shut she spoke. Slowly she rubbed circles into Tony's back. "What's wrong?" She whispered.

"After we had caught the prisoners, I was walking one of them back towards a jet to transport them back to Furry when I saw her." When he didn't continue she asked.

"Who?"

"This girl. She looked just like you Pepper. Your hair, the way she walked and held herself, and she had a mix of my and your blue eyes. I-I don't know. The girl was a perfect blend of you and me. I thought it might have been Maria…but I turned to give someone the prisoner and when I looked back she was gone. I searched for her for a while but it seemed hopeless. Jarvis got a good look at her so I'm having him scan the area for her. I know she's probably not Maria but if she is I just want, I just- I, we searched so long for her and what- what if…if," Pepper cut him off.

"I understand. Come on, you're tired. Lets go to bed."

---

"Steve? Oh thank goodness you're okay. I was away when I heard the building caught on fire, but I thought you were still in the flat." Steve turned from the pile of ashes he had been staring at. Relief flooded through him. A smile lit up his face as he was embraced in a hug.

"Maria," he breathed. "I'm glad you're all right too. I'm so sorry we couldn't spend your birthday together as we planned." Steve broke away from the hug only to grab her hand in his. Lacing his fingers through hers, he looked her over. Her copper hair was pulled back into a ponytail but her brown side bangs fell into her eyes. She was dressed in a simple navy blue skirt and white V-neck. Gray high heels only added a few inches to her height; she was still only up to his chin. Her blue eyes shone with sadness as she pulled him over to where their flat used to be.

"It's fine Steve. Duty called. Where are we going to stay now? I stayed with a friend last night. I would have called you, but I wasn't sure where you were. And you don't have a cellphone." She pointed out, a continuous argument between the two. Seeing nothing in the piles of ash that seemed to be salvageable, Steve led them away and back into the streets.

"Hmm. Have you had breakfast?" He asked, avoiding the housing question. It was sad to loose what had felt like his first real home since the ice. Thankfully all of his older, more sentimental things were stored safely in his room at Avengers tower.

"I haven't." She replied. Steve smiled. He began to lead them to their favorite coffee shop.

"How about we discuss everything over breakfast?" Maria only hummed in agreement. Leaning into him as they walked she smiled. How she got so lucky as to have Steve, she would never know. Her life had been a hard one so far. One she didn't tell anyone about before Steve. Kidnapped as a child she was raised by criminals. Steve accepted that no problem. He claimed that she was her own person, not her parents. What Maria didn't tell Steve was that Gary and Michelle Star, the two masterminds who had broken out last night and caught again, actually broke out of prison to have dinner with her for her birthday. They even brought a present. The odd family had an odd relationship. Maria thought that might be too much to comprehend in one day. It would also be a long story with lots of explaining.

Steve had moved into the apartment across the street from her five years ago, when she was only 18. Being friendly she had taken over a batch of chocolate chip cookies. He had smiled at this, almost looked relieved. Throughout the months Steve remained a quiet neighbor until he asked for a cup of flour one day. Again he seemed nervous, but Maria invited him in as she got it for him. That was the first time they had really talked. Maria ended up coming over and helping with the baking (it was a pie). He claimed that the stove was different than the one he was used to back at home. Maria had waved it off and proceeded to show him how the oven worked…and the microwave, blender, and any other appliance that he seemed to not quite understand. Maria had instantly known that Steve was Captain America. From the nervousness to the confusion about modern days to the way he looked and all the food he ate, it was obvious to her. She had been raised to see things like that and make those connections though.

Steve and Maria began to find one another at each other's flats more often. Whether it was cooking, reading, watching the history channel, or simply talking both found it natural and rather enjoyable. Maria took him to a museum about a year after they met. Knowing full well he wouldn't want to go to a museum about himself, she told him they were going to one of her favorite locations to go on a lazy day-which the museum is Maria's favorite place to go on a lazy day. He went gladly with her. Once in the museum she tugged him by the hand, causing him to blush but he didn't let go, until they were in the right era. The 1920s.

"This is my favorite area. I love the enthusiasm about new ideas, the ways people dress, the music…" Maria trailed off, lost in the past. Steve stared at the displays. It was like having a slice of his life back. She felt his hand gently squeeze hers. Maria pulled him through the museum explaining everything in all the sections, as she had practically memorized the entire museum. "Oh! This is Captain America's section. It's a rather small room, but we don't know much about him. S.H.I.E.L.D. didn't give out much information to the public." She rattled on. At the mention of S.H.E.I.L.D. Steve looked at Maria, here eyes were wide. "Oops! Just forget that last bit. I'm not supposed to know about that. In fact the whole public isn't supposed to know about that." She gave a nervous chuckle.

The room was small, just as she said. No one else was in the room with them. A replica of his outfit stood in a glass case along with a replica of his shield. A video was playing on a screen of Captain America doing one of the promotions for war bonds. When he punched "Hitler" they laughed.

"I still remember how many times I've done that. Over 200 times." He mumbled. Maria stopped laughing. She stared up at Steve with a sort of happy sadness that matched his smile. He had just inadvertently told her he was Captain America. Finally noticing her staring at him he fumbled over his next words. "Um, I just heard that he did that. From one of those movies I watched… Yes." He finished. Maria shook her head smiling.

"Whatever you say, Captain." She pulled him through to the next exhibit while he protested her statement. Before they left the museum they went back to Captain Americas room one more time. Once again no one else was in the room with them. "Sometimes," Maria began but trailed off. Steve frowned at her sad tone.

"Sometimes?" He questioned. She sighed.

"Sometimes I wonder what my life would be like I had not been kidnapped. I wonder who my biological parents are, if they miss me, if they looked for me or if I have siblings?" She took a pause. Not knowing was something that always bothered her. Because her blood had all the chemicals in it, it had become nearly impossible to get any biological data out of it. She had tried many times with no results. "But then I remember that my life now is great. I wouldn't change it for anything. I met you after all. You're the best thing that's happened to me so far." Maria stared intently at the ground. Maybe she had gone to far? After a minute of silence Steve's voice startled her.

"When… when I woke up nothing seemed right. Nothing was familiar anymore. Nothing felt like home. And just like you did, I met you. Things began to fit into place. You gave me my first home after the ice. Oh Maria, what I'm trying to say is that I'm Captain America." His voice came out in a mild whisper.

"I already knew." Smirking, Maria whispered back.

"Who are you Maria Star?" Steve mumbled as he led her out of the museum.

That was the day they became a couple. It wasn't too long after that they moved into her flat together. Neither boasted about being in a relationship. In fact neither told anyone. It never came up and they didn't have any friends in the same friend group. Maria had friends in her book club while Steve was friends with the Avengers. Should people ask then yes, they would answer, but no one asked.

Upon reaching their favorite coffee shop, Secret Coffee, they sat in their usual seat outside. It was a small coffee shop wedged in the corner a large building surrounded by even larger buildings. The busy streets of New York surrounded it. From where the couple sat they had a perfect view of Avengers tower. Both cradled their cups in their hands, content.

"I stayed there last night." Steve said abruptly.

"You stayed where?" Maria asked, fully aware that he meant Avengers Tower.

"I stayed at Avengers tower." He said softly, not wanting others to overhear them. It wasn't like they could though with the constant buzz of the city talking and the honking horns.

"Really?" She took a sip of her white mocha. "What was it like?"

"Big, obviously. I've stayed many times before. It was very… well I don't know how to describe it. Fancy isn't the right word. It was comfortable I guess. Not a worn out t-shirt comfortable but a new t-shirt comfortable. Well maybe not even that. All of the technology was confusing still. Lonely." He ended with.

"Lonely? Why?" Steve blushed. He mumbled something into his drink. Maria smirked. "What was that? I couldn't hear you." Steve glared at her before saying it, once again softly.

"Because you weren't there." She smiled and leaned across the tiny round table to kiss him on the cheek.

"I missed you too, soldier." Neither spoke as they drank the rest of their drinks. The topic of where to live had been forgotten for the moment. After their drinks were finished they began to walk again. Avengers tower grew larger as they walked towards it.

"What would you say about living in Avengers tower for a while?" Maria stumbled at his words. He steadied her quickly and wrapped an arm around her waist.

"Avengers tower?" Her voice was surprised. Superheroes lived there. Her past was by no means a superhero. Heck, what she did currently for money was by no means Superhero material. The thought made her stare at the ground. They had been dating for four years and while now, she rarely killed people and only got the information, but she knew Steve didn't approve of her job. That had been a really hard thing to tell him. Both were always scared that she would be the Avengers next target. Steve pulled them out of the traffic of people and onto a bench.

"Yes. Avengers tower. I know it's not ideal considering your job, but Tony and Pepper are-," Maria interrupted him.

"Steve it sounds wonderful." She held his hands in hers. "You always talk about your friends and it would finally be nice to meet them. Besides, I could finally meet them and maybe you can come with me to book club next Thursday."

"W-what? Really?" He stumbled.

"Yes, really." She nudged him with her shoulder. "It doesn't seem like that bad of an idea. Free home, probably a really good kitchen, a large bed… Seems pretty perfect to me. And we can not worry about having to find housing now and look for the perfect place later."

"Your amazing." Steve declared with a kiss to her cheek before pulling them both back up and headed towards Avengers Tower. "I have my own floor. It's the fourth to the top. The one above mine is the room with the balcony. That's the level with the theater and bar. Below me is Clint and Natasha's room, they share. Below theirs is Thor, then Banner last. Pepper and Tony's room is above the balcony room. Oh! My room has this really big kitchen, but I don't know how to use any of the appliance…" He trailed off, rubbing his neck in embarrassment.

"Well, we'll fix that soon enough. So do we go through the front door?" Maria questioned. They stood across the street. Maria's trained eye caught the hidden paparazzi walking around. "There are a lot of paparazzi." She commented. Steve nodded in agreement.

"Let's go through the back."

"There's a back?" Steve managed to get them safely across the street and around the building. The back had doors as well, but they weren't glass and were barely noticeable. "Sneaky."

"Good morning Jarvis." The second the door was open Steve pulled them through quickly. An elevator dinged open. "Is anyone home Jarvis?"

"Dr. Banner is in his lab." Maria looked for the source of the voice in the elevator.

"Lets go there. Oh, Maria, Jarvis is a… an... an A-."

"I am an A.I. sir. Artificial Inelegance."

"Thank you. This is Maria Star, we'll be moving in for a little bit." With that the elevators opened. "This is Bruce Banner's level. His rooms are over there but he spends most of his time in these labs. Bruce!" A bark haired man looked up from his microscope. He smiled and gave a nervous nod. "Bruce, this is Maria. Maria this is Bruce Banner."

"Steve, hello." Bruce Banner stood motionless in front of her for a moment. Maria. The thought of Tony and Pepper flashed through his mind. "Hi Maria. It's nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too Dr. Banner. I've read most of your reports on gamma radiation. Have you ever tested Steve's blood?" This shocked both men. Noticing their blatant stares she explained. "Well its different and I wanted to compare it to my blood and normal blood. See what all is different." Bruce cracked a smile. Her blood isn't normal?

"Lucky for you I'm looking at it currently. Take a look." Maria excitedly bounced over to the microscope and peered through. She started to mumble amazed comments.

"Maria and I will be living in the tower for a while. Tony burned our flat down." Bruce's eyebrows rose.

"Our," he commented with a smile. Secretly he was glad that Steve was finding friends and fitting in.

"Yes, our. I've been dating Maria for about four years now." Bruce chuckled.

"How on earth have you kept that a secret from Tony and Clint?" Steve shrugged. His eyes went wide, alarming Bruce. Bruce turned to see Maria holding a syringe.

"Maria?" Steve questioned with a concerned tone. She rolled her eyes.

"I've used a syringe before. I just want to compare my blood to yours, and see of Dr. Banner here can make anything out of it." With that she drew her blood, then carefully placed it onto a glass slide, and under the microscope.

"What's wrong with your blood?"

"Come take a look doc, quickly before it breaks the slide." Bruce looked through the microscope and instantly stood back up. He then looked again. Bruce couldn't believe what he was seeing. Many of the properties were ones that Steve's blood had. A portion of them looked like his blood though. Hulks blood. The lenses slide cracked, just as his did when he tested his own blood.

"That's amazing. How did that happen? Your blood is," Bruce stopped talking. He couldn't describe the blood without using terms she might not understand. He looked at Maria in awe. She pushed her brown bangs to the side and smiled.

"Its pretty cool isn't it? I didn't do all of that to myself, just so you know."

"It must have been excruciatingly painful." Maria nodded. Glancing at Steve she smiled.

"Can I stay and talk to Bruce for a while? You might not understand all the terms and it would be boring for you." Steve nodded, kissed her cheek, and called back that he would be in their new room. Maria tied her copper hair back in a ponytail. "So what's the prognosis?" She half joked.

"Before we get into all of that, is your hair naturally like that?" She gave a light laugh.

"Yes, it is."

---

"Hey Bruce." Tony called into the lab. Bruce looked up from his papers. He had been examining the DNA tests still, completely absorbed by the answer. He couldn't wait to run some more tests.

"Tony, how did the date go?" Tony smiled brilliantly.

"It went swimmingly. How has your day been?"

"Fine." Bruce leaned over a microscope, jotting down some notes. Tony watched him wright.

"What's this?" Tony picked up the papers that lay around the microscope. One handwriting he recognized as Bruce's but the other was clearly a female's cursive. "Who came to the lab?" Bruce never brought anyone into the lab. In fact, h rarely left the tower without prodding. Who did Bruce know that Tony didn't?

"Isn't the blood strange?" Bruce changed the subject rather excitedly. "It's almost a mix of Steve's blood and mine." Bruce handed another paper to Tony and moved to let him look at the blood. Tony looked at the microscope and pulled back suddenly.

"The glass broke. The blood broke the glass." He stuttered out. "Just like your blood."

"That was my last sample. I could ask her for more blood, but I feel bad. I've already taken three liters..." Bruce shuffled from foot to foot. He had been doing his best to keep his heart rate down over all the excitement. "I really need to get my heart rate down. Don't mess or blow up any of my experiments. Make sure to keep these papers away from the others. Goodnight Tony." Tony watched Bruce leave with interest.

"Jarvis where did Bruce get this blood from?"

"Mr. Rogers's friend. They are currently residing in Mr. Rogers level." Capsickle brought a friend to the tower?

"Who is it?"

"Unidentifiable." Stark almost dropped the test tube. Unidentifiable? That had never happened to Jarvis. Going over to one of the large windows he commanded Jarvis to show him the tapes from when Steve was there. Jarvis darkened the rooms and placed the holographic screen on the window. The first shot was of Steve and the guest's backs coming into the building. When they entered the elevator the view changed giving him a full view on both. Tony sucked in a breath. It was her. Her. The girl he had Jarvis searching for.

"Jarvis! Why did you not tell me it was her?" He let the tapes roll, following Steve and her up the elevator and into Bruce's lab. The sound was low; he couldn't make out what they were saying.

"I could not identify."

"You didn't identify her? I gave you the clip of when I saw her. You should have been able to put them together. Show me the clip of the day I saw her. Turn the volume up on the one from today." Right as the volume turned up the screen went fuzzy. When Jarvis pulled up the video from the other day, it was fuzzy as well. Black and white static covered the screen. Tony was baffled. "Jarvis. What happened to the tapes?"

"It is as though they were never in my system, sir. " Tony immediately ran to the floor where the AI's systems were located. Nothing was out of order. No viruses, nothing downloaded, absolutely nothing was wrong with the AI. So why couldn't he look at the videos? Jarvis had said they were on Captains level. Maybe it was time for a visit.

---

"Oh really?" Maria laughed. "Is that what this is?" She ran around the kitchen table and into the kitchen. Taking the flour bag she climbed over the counter and into the living room before Steve could catch her.

"Yes, I'll call it home initiation. You're lucky it's not what Tony and the others made me-," his words stopped when a fistful of flour hit his face. His blue eyes twinkled happily. "Now its on." Throwing the refrigerator open he grabbed the two cans of whipped cream. Uncapping them both he held them up.

"What did they do to you?" Maria laughed as Steve jumped over the counter like her. It was a blizzard of whipping cream, flour, peach pie filling, and the eggs that were all meant for the pie they had been baking.

"I'm not going to tell you." Steve replied smugly, only to be met with a peach-filling ball to hit his face.

When Tony stepped out of the elevator he almost felt as though he should try again. The place was splattered with different foods and from his view of the living room he could see a peach flying across the room. A half laughing battle cry was heard as he saw the lady leap over a turned over couch, which he was sure wasn't in the right place anymore. Seconds later Steve was standing up, the lady on his back smearing some mixture of food onto the super soldiers face. Steve spun in a circle and stopped. Both saw Tony standing at the elevator.

"Tony!" Steve greeted, his face still being smeared with food. "We were baking a pie."

"I can see." Tony's eyes were glued onto Maria. Maria didn't bother to look up at Tony after she saw him the first time. Instead she focused on gathering whatever food off of herself she could get and shoving it down Steve's shirt and on his face.

"Oh! Tony, this is Maria. Maria this is Tony. We'll be living here for a while if you don't mind." Tony nodded. Maria. Her name was Maria.

"I don't mind. Should Jarvis prepare a guest level?"

"No, I'll be staying with Steve." Maria spoke up.

"Hey stop that," Steve mumbled. Both started to laugh as he struggled to stop her from shoving the food down his shirt. They ended up falling backwards when Steve slipped on a banana peel. Maria's head hit the edge of the coffee table with a loud crack. Steve rolled off of Maria quickly. "Maria? Maria, are you alright?" Steve helped Maria into a sitting position.

"Oh my god." Tony mumbled. Maria didn't even bother to check her wound. She knew what Tony was looking at. She could feel the gaping hole the table corner had left and the missing piece of skin. "Her heads cracked open. Major. Jarvis! Call an ambulance!" The blood continued to rush out of Maria's head.

"Don't call an ambulance Jarvis! Do you want to stand up?" Steve calmly asked. Maria nodded so Steve began to pull her up with him. "I'm sorry."

"Are you crazy? We shouldn't be moving her! Jarvis! Call-,"

"Jarvis please don't call an ambulance. I'm fine." Maria interrupted. She leaned away from Steve to stand on her own. She ran her hand twice over where the blood was gushing out before turning to Tony. "I'm fine."

"You're not okay! You just hit your head on the corner of the ta-,"

"Look at my head, I'm fine." He huffed at being interrupted again, but looked non-the less. He gasped. Her head was fine. There was no indication that her head had ever been split. Even her hair had grown back. "See? Fine. Jarvis don't call the ambulance."

"Okay," Tony took a deep breath. "Two questions. First, how did you do that? Second, have you told Jarvis who you are?"

"I can regenerate and yes, I've actually told Jarvis who I am many times yet he can't remember. He doesn't seem to think I'm a threat though."

"You can regenerate. So Bruce has been looking at your blood."

"Yes, I gave him several samples to work with earlier."

"Three liters isn't several samples." Tony made his point. Maria gave him an eye roll that looked so much like Pepper he felt as though his heart would burst. He needed to know who she was. "Tony Stark." He introduced properly. She smiled and held her hand out before retracting it.

"Maria Star. I would shake your hand but… Thank you for being so kind to Steve all these years." Tony blinked several times. Did she just thank him for being kind to Cap? Steve, seeming to sense Tony's ability to not reply at the moment, spoke up.

"I can feel the mixture of food hardening on my back. So if you don't mind I think I'll go shower before it becomes a rock. We'll clean up tomorrow or stay up all night doing that."

"I should go too." Maria added.

"Don't worry about the mess, I'll send someone up to clean it." Tony waved off as he walked towards the elevator. The only thing racing through his mind was Maria. Not the Maria here in his tower, but the Maria he held for an hour, the Maria the Avengers had cooed over, the Maria that was taken that night. For just a second he connected them together again, but instantly shook it out of his head.

---

"I'm sorry." Steve mumbled into Maria's hair. They had been lying side by side in Steve's large bed for a while now, neither quite ready for sleep. Steve had his arms wrapped around Maria's middle and his nose pressed into her vanilla scented hair. Maria rolled over to face him, their noses pressing. She placed her arms on his chest.

"What are you sorry for?" She whispered.

"We didn't bake the pie," he joked. She laughed softly.

"What's really bothering you?"

"Bruce said your blood was a mixture of mine and his. I can't imagine what that's like." He stared into her eyes. Maria looked away and bit her lip.

"Want me to explain everything without rushing?" Steve nodded. Unraveling herself from him she sat up and leaned against the headboard. Steve followed suit.

"I didn't even get a day with my biological parents. The night I was born, Michelle and Gary Star took me away. They didn't bother to see who my parents were or to even save the tags on me that would tell them those facts. The only thing they looked at was my name, Maria. So they kept it. Apparently my blood is immune palladium poisoning which in theory should help me become," Maria stopped talking at Steve's slightly confused face. "My blood is the reason they took me." She shortened.

"Why is your blood immune to palidim?"

"Palladium," she corrected. "I don't know why. From day one they went back into hiding with me and began experiments. Their goal wasn't to hurt me, but the whole reason they took me was so they could have a test subject. Someone they could turn into the perfect assassin. Like you and the super soldier serum but for evil. They didn't have a set formula or the exact effect the chemicals would have. They made me immune to many diseases and poisons. My earliest memories are of lying in a bed in excruciating pain, wishing it would all just stop. When I wasn't being injected with chemicals I was being taught languages, computer sciences, mathematics, chemistry, biology, anatomy, karate, street fighting, swords, guns, hand to hand combat, training exercise…." Maria paused, thinking about all of the things she had to do. The list could go on for hours, but she didn't want to bore Steve.

"Thankfully they gave me the power to hold more information in my brain otherwise I would have burst. The scariest thing for me was when I was young, my father told me he was sorry, and then stabbed me in the leg. It healed quickly and then he stabbed me in the heart. Which also healed. Once it was established that I could regenerate things got tougher. When I was 10 I was sent on my first mission. It was an assassination. After that the ball began rolling. Bad people began to know my hiring name and trade, getting me to do a large range of things."

"The Master." He mumbled.

"What?" Maria sat straight up. "How do you know that?"

"You came back from a mission one time; when I asked you how it went you replied, 'it went smoothly. I am the master after all.' I was confused by your statement and it stuck in my mind."

"I slipped up. Drat. My guards down around you Steve."

"Just as it should be." He quipped back.

"Anyway," she drawled. "I just got better at what I did and more well known until finally, I left the Stars. They got arrested anyway."

"You just left? From all the hard work they put into you it doesn't sound like they would just let you go."

"That's another long story for another time. I've been on good terms with my parents for forever. It's complicated."

---

Pepper kissed Tony once before loading onto the plane. Work called her away for a dew weeks, yet again. Tony went home alone. Bruce, Maria, and Steve had been avoiding Tony for the past week, but Tony couldn't think of any reason why. Walking into Bruce's lab he smirked. It was his lucky day. Bruce was talking with Maria as they looked over some papers. Neither heard the billionaire walk in.

"So palladium poisoning?" Bruce questioned. Tony instantly became worried. Palladium poisoning was what he suffered through when his reactor was rejecting him.

"Who has palladium poisoning?" Tony demanded. Whoever it was they needed to get it out of them now. Palladium poisoning is painful and kills slowly. Bruce looked up from his papers startled, but Maria just kept flipping through Bruce's blood results.

"No one. Not yet at least."

"What does that mean? You can't possibly want to inject palladium poisoning into your blood stream. Its extremely painful a-,"

"I've done it before. With the right equipment this time I might be able to see why my bloods immune to it though." She cut in lazily. Bruce nodded as he prepared the syringe with the palladium poisoning he had gathered. Maria shoved the papers into Tony's chest, forcing him to hold them so they didn't fall to the floor.

"Her bloods actually immune to hundreds of things." Bruce commented as he wiped the inside of Maria's wrist.

"How do you know that?"

"Well I know certain things I am immune to because of reasons, but Bruce has been helping me figure what else I'm immune to." Maria sat on the table as Bruce began to attach wires, an iv, and other machines to Maria.

"How did Bruce help you?" He began to flip through the papers she had given him. It was an impressive list she had here. Clostridium botulinum, ricin, Dart frog, potassium cyanide, strychnine, and most snake bites were just a few of the long list she was immune to.

"Using his resources we've been injecting it into myself, watching how my blood, heart, and body reacts, then going through a series of tests to see if it affected my brain or any motor skills." Maria didn't even grimace as Bruce place the needle in her arm.

"Ready?" He asked. She nodded and he gently injected her with the poisoning. Maria didn't move. The beeping machine attached to her heart rate stayed constant. They sat in silence for fifteen minutes to let the poison run its course.

"I don't feel any different." She said monotone.

"This poisoning will take time. Tony can tell you about that." He added quietly. Tony shot him a glare.

"Is that why you were all worried when you walked in? You know about palladium?"

"My reactor used to be made of palladium and it slowly started to give me blood poisoning, like we're doing to you right now. It took months for me, but it didn't have a direct way into my blood. You though injected it straight in so it should take less time. Give it a week or two."

"You're healthy now." She commented. Bruce began the process of taking all the machinery and wires off of her.

"I made a replacement reactor that wouldn't poison me and hold the energy." He simplified, rather than giving the entire science portion of it. Maria hopped off the table, wires and iv gone.

"Who wants dinner? I'm pretty sure Steve's been making pasta for me and Bruce, but with his and my metabolisms I'm sure there is more than enough for you to join us as well."

"Cap cooks?" The trio made their way towards the elevator.

"Mm'hmm. He's a fantastic cook, once he learned to use all the appliances." Bruce nodded in agreement.

---

Maria walked down the street, shivering; winter was right around the corner. She stopped briefly at Secret Coffee before making her way down the street with Avengers tower looming ahead of her. Her heart beat faster with each step. She had been offered a new mission, one she accepted, as she had not been on one since they started to stay at the tower. Steve wouldn't have to know the specifics, but if things went wrong she could be on the Avengers hit list. She flicked her red bangs behind her head. Dying her hair red was only one of the requirements for the mission. She also had brown contacts over her brilliant blue eyes, French manicured nails, and a new wardrobe for the mission.

Walking into the Avengers tower lobby, she felt out of place without Steve. She had never entered it from the front. Steve was coming out to lunch with her before she'd have to leave; he had said he would meet her in the lobby. Glancing around at the people, and all the potential exits of the room, she didn't see him. Biting her lip, she walked over to a screen on the wall, showing the news. No one else was in the room with her except the receptionist who was behind the overly large desk. She hadn't taken notice of Maria yet. She sipped the coffee she had bought at Secret Coffee, she had one for Steve too but if he didn't come soon she'd drink them both. The clicking of heels filled the room. Knowing it wasn't Steve she didn't look, until a voice spoke to her.

"I love your dress! Where did you get it?" Pepper Stark gushed at the red haired lady in the lobby. Pepper had actually stopped right outside of the lobby to watch the lady as she walked in and watched the TV. Something seemed familiar about the lady, but she had never seen her in her life. Maria glanced down at her dress. It had a sweetheart neckline with a skirt that changed into layers at her hip and ended right below her knee. The dress was white but the layers changed length and color until the bottom layer, the longest one, was a dark shade of red, matching her hair.

"I actually made the dress myself." She admitted.

"Well it's lovely." Before Pepper could say anymore a voice called across the room.

"Maria." Steve was walking towards them. Pepper turned back to the red haired lady. Maria. The name always brought pangs of sadness through her.

"Mr. Rogers." Maria greeted. He smiled mildly confused at the use of his last name.

"Sorry I'm late. I got caught up in a book. Pepper, you're home! Welcome back." He greeted.

"Hi Steve. I'm very glad to be back. Are you staying with us?" Pepper had composed herself. She smiled at the two people.

"I was, I just recently found a new flat and moved in. Just visited Bruce. We have to go actually, I'll see you at dinner, Pepper?" Steve said.

"Yes." As they were walking away Maria turned around and said one last thing.

"Nice to meet you Mrs. Stark. Maybe I can come back and make you a dress of your choice sometime." With a final smile the couple made their way out of the doors. "You were late." She said with a small smile.

"Yeah, sorry about that. You look different." She wrapped her hand in his.

"Bad different?" She mumbled.

"No! You're still beautiful." He said apologetically. She shoved him with her shoulder.

"I was joking. I know I look fabulous. I'm actually going on a new mission today. It should only be for a week or maybe less. It really depends on how fast I can seduce and gain their trust. I'll have to be careful though, seeing as the Avengers might not like whom I'm going after. Which is why I am not telling you who it is. Don't worry its just for information." Maria sat them down on a bench, leaning into Steve.

"My first few nights at our home will be alone."

"I'm sorry. At least we got everything moved in." Steve nodded and placed a kiss on the side of Maria's head.

"Be safe on the mission okay? I don't want Fury to tell me the next mission is going after the Master."

"I'll try Steve. I'll try."

---

With Maria gone for a few days, she was supposed to come home tomorrow night, Steve decided it would be safe to have the others over for dinner. Tony had instantly said yes, practically yelling into the phone that he would bring Bruce and Pepper. Clint, Natasha, and Thor agreed to come as well. Steve was excited to have his friends over. Maria and he had found a large new flat in the city, and had moved in last week right before she left. It had a master bedroom and bath, and three guest rooms with baths as well. A large kitchen was down the hall from the entrance, and led into an even larger living room. The flat was an older one that needed more repairs, which was why they took it. They liked the older feel and brick walls in the living room. Steve had just begun cooking when the doorbell rang.

"It's open!" He yelled. Bruce Banner nervously walked into the kitchen. He gave a wave in greeting. Sitting upon a barstool, he was about to speak when the door burst open again. Bruce glanced around for the exits in the room. Steve abandoned cutting his tomatoes, but took the knife with him. As he turned the corner to go to the front door Pepper's voice drifted down the hallway.

"I'm so sorry Steve! I told Tony to wait, but it was useless." She apologized. Tony plopped down on a bar stool next to Bruce, who had calmed down a little. Pepper came into the kitchen with Steve. "When were you going to put the pasta in?" She asked, noticing the boiling water and tomatoes.

"Now, actually." Steve glanced over as she put the pasta into the boiling water. Finished with the tomatoes, he turned around to get the garlic bread ready, only to be scared by two more people sitting on his bar stools. Natasha and Clint had walked in silently after Tony and Pepper. Clint smirked as Steve fumbled with the bread. "Hey guys."

Thor arrived several minutes after they had started eating. His booming voice could be heard in the kitchen from down the hallway. Thor had brought a box of chocolate chip pop-tarts for dessert. Laughter filled the room as Clint and Thor squabbled about things. Everything was going fine. No one had asked Steve about the feminine touch in his flat or questioned about the pictures on the wall as he had yet to introduce Maria to Clint, Thor, Pepper, and Natasha. He didn't mind if they asked, he just didn't want to give too much information out on accident. Such as the reason she's away being a mission to get information.

"So Steve, I noticed a picture of you and a beautiful young lady on the wall." Pepper watched him with a knowing smile. Steve's neck tinted red. It was Maria and he when they went to the beach together. She had on a blue with white polka dots sundress that matched her blue eyes; her copper hair was in a ponytail with her brown bangs flying into the wind while Steve held her hand as a stranger had taken the picture. He loved it.

"That's Maria." Natasha and Bruce suddenly seemed interested with Pepper's questions. Clint, Thor, and Tony were still in their own world of jokes.

"Maria, lovely name." Natasha commented.

"Yes, I think so too." Steve took a large bite of pasta, his third bowl.

"So where is Maria tonight?" Bruce asked. "She came by a few days ago and had lunch with me, mentioned a trip she was going on. It sounded rather interesting." Steve smiled. He liked the friendship that had been growing between Bruce and his girlfriend. It also had made a friendship between him and the doctor bloom. Often he would walk in on Maria and Bruce fighting, and yet the Hulk never came out.

"Oh," Pepper suddenly exclaimed. "Was that the young lady that I spoke with the other day? That Maria? She's gorgeous Steve! Does she dye her hair often? It was red when I saw her."

"Thank you Pepper. She's a-," Steve was interrupted by the door being forced open then slammed shut. Everyone was instantly alert. Tony had taken hold of Pepper's hand. Steve motioned for them all to stay silent and put. Slow, dragging footsteps came from the entryway accompanied with a loud thump. Whoever had entered had dropped something on the ground. Steve grabbed the fork and knife closest to him. Natasha and Clint had both pulled out handguns, pointing them at towards the hallway. Thor's hand wrapped around the handle of Mjölnir. Tony and Pepper were the only one's without a weapon, but they held tightly onto each other's hand. The intruder's shadow came into the room, Steve pounced.

---

Maria groaned as she leaned against the door. She forgot her key. Again. Throwing her shoulder against the door she burst through. Steve and her did this often. Both forgot their keys and were strong enough to break the door lock. Almost once a month they had to change the door. Not caring whether any of the weapons went off she threw her bag down. The flat was quiet. Shuffling her feet slowly, she was about to get into the kitchen when a knife was lodged next to her head. The things that happened next were involuntary; her body reacted on its own. Whoever she was fighting was strong. Two shots hit her shoulder blades. A ladies scream came from the kitchen. Not even flinching she shoved her assailant to the floor stabbing the knife from the wall down into the floor next to –

"Steve?" Maria said in shock. She was strategically placed over him so he wouldn't be able to move. Steve's blue eyes stared back into hers.

"Maria?" Steve breathed. Maria bit her lip and groaned in pain. She relaxed and laid on top of him. Loosening her hand on the knife, she placed it on the floor.

"I'm home." She half mumbled half sang. Steve chuckled a little. He ran a hand through her hair. It was comfortable until a voice spoke up.

"Not to ruin the moment or anything, but Clint and I both got a shot into her shoulder blades." Natasha said calmly. Instantly Maria was standing up: Steve as well. Both looked at each other. Should they tell the others about her regeneration? Tony and Bruce already knew after all.

"Maria can you go to your room and I'll go get the tweezers." Bruce ordered softly. Maria nodded and quickly made her way down the hall after a kiss to Steve's cheek. Bruce made his way down the hall after her, stopping in a bathroom to grab the tweezers. Steve turned towards his dinner guests. Pepper was shaking with Tony standing in front of her in a protecting manner, Clint and Natasha were inspecting their weapons, and Thor had his hammer tightly in his hand, prepared for another intruder. Tony glared at Steve.

"What the hell just happened," He seethed. Tony brought Pepper into a hug, but continued to glare at Steve over her shoulder.

"I'd like an answer as well." Thor said, rather softly. Steve rubbed the back of his neck. Glancing around he saw the blood splatter from Marias wounds all on the wall and his shirt. The knife was still lodged in the ground by his feet. Side stepping the knife he began to talk.

"That was Maria," was his only explanation.

"I got her name. Maria, your girlfriend Maria?" Natasha asked.

"Nat she looks really familiar." Clint whispered to Natasha. Steve's heart sped up. Had Maria and the two spies fought before? Was she their next mission?

"Yes." Steve replied to Natasha. Tony's eyes went wide.

"Maria that's been staying in the tower with us? I understand why you're not worried about her health right now, but damn she knows how to fight. Cap she had you on the floor in seconds. Who the hell is she? Who did you bring into my tower? You know Jarvis can't recognize her. Any of the films that I have of her instantly fuzz out and you know wha-," Tony ranted on, his voice rising to a yell.

"Stop it!" Maria yelled, interrupting him. All eyes turned to Maria, whom was standing a few feet away from Thor. Her storming blue eyes burned with anger. Bruce stood behind her, a frown in place. She had obviously changed her clothing. What was tight black and grey leather pants and tight black tank top was now sweat pants and a loose blue t-shirt. She pointed a finger at Tony. "Don't you yell at Steve. You don't know anything about me or Steve and I. I can explain." She commanded. Maria saw Pepper lean deeper into Tony, a pang of guilt rising.

"Are you sure?" Steve asked worriedly. Maria turned to him. She nodded.

"Not everything-everything." She said in a code only Bruce and Steve would understand. "But everything."

"Shit." Clint suddenly exclaimed. "I know who you are. You're the Master." Natasha pulled a gun out, pointing it right at Maria, who didn't react.

"Okay, maybe everything-everything." Maria shrugged.

"The Master?" Thor asked. Natasha nodded.

"The Master. Born and bread assassin. Fury ordered us to kill her years ago, but we haven't been able to find her. Natasha here shot her several times last time we saw her. Thought she was dead till the assassinations of her type continued. It's claimed that she can't die." Clint said. He had a gun pointed at Maria as well now. Steve had slowly moved over to where Maria was. He stood slightly in front of her.

"Let's not kill Maria just yet. Why don't we let her speak first?" Steve asked cautiously. Steve entwined his hand with Marias. Natasha growled.

"She needs to die. Do you know how many people she's killed?" Natasha's accent leaked through; something that happened rarely.

"Just as many or even more than you Nat. Please." Steve begged, hating the low blow he just made. Steve and Natasha had started working out together after Loki was sent back to Asguard. Their friendship was something he valued. Her gun lowered, followed by Clint's.

"Hurry up and explain." Natasha and Clint sat back down at the table. Thor followed suit. Pepper had unwrapped herself from Tony as they sat down at the table. Bruce, Steve and Maria were the last to sit down. She shrugged.

"I regenerate."

---

Maria rolled her eyes, trying to hide her nervousness. Fury and others wanted a demonstration of her regeneration abilities. Fury, someone who wanted her dead, had her in front of him about to be shot and stabbed. He didn't just have her, but he had Bruce also, the only other person who really knows all about her condition in the science way. Bruce had tried to convince Fury that the regeneration was real through science, and even though Clint, Natasha, Thor, Stark, and Steve had assured that her gunshot wounds had closed, Fury still wanted to see for himself. Fury's intimidating stare did nothing to Maria except make her want to slap him for making her so nervous. She slouched against the wall, Steve at her side.

"Are you sure about this?" Steve worried.

"I've gone through worse than a few knife cuts and gun shots. This is nothing compared to those times." With that Maria pushed off from the wall and headed towards Fury. "Can we get this over with? It's my night to make dinner." Fury simply nodded. Steve moved to where Tony, Bruce, and Fury were behind the glass. Maria stood in the center of the small room, Clint and Natasha on either side of her.

"Go." Fury commanded. Not bothering to take turns, both Natasha and Clint fired shots first into her legs then up to her head. She kept her face neutral and stood strong. Steve had lurched forward to help her at the first shots. His face changed from worry to displeasure as she was shot. Blood splattered everywhere around Maria. Bruce faced away when the first shot hit the side of her forehead. She rolled her eyes and winked at Steve. The shooting stopped.

"I'm out of bullets." Clint said. Natasha nodded in agreement. Natasha pulled out several knifes instantly throwing them at Maria. Clint popped his arrow out, sending several arrows at her as well. It wasn't a pretty sight. Steve turned around. Seeing knifes and arrows slice through his girlfriend was never something he wanted to see. Tony turned around as well.

"Jesus Furry can't you see she's still standing? She regenerates I think that's been proven now. This is mad." Tony growled. His anger seemed to be coming out of nowhere. While he wanted to see her regenerate, something in him snapped.

"I agree with Tony. This is torture." Thor agreed.

"Sta-" Furry started.

"Sir I believe he's right." Maria called out. "I am still standing, my wounds from the gunshots are gone, the majority of the knifes and arrows have already fallen out as I've healed and what more can you do? I think the fact that I lived through the gunshots would be proof enough. If you want I could swallow a bomb. I've done that several times." Maria pulled several knifes from her leg, tossing them across the floor. Steve spun around. She had swallowed bombs before? Tony and Bruce slowly turned around. Fury just stood there. "But understand this Mr. Fury. I will not be your lab rat. I would rather be your enemy." Maria threatened. She threw the rest of the projectiles to the floor.

"You already are our enemy. We ordered you killed exactly seven years ago."

"Wrong. I am not your enemy. It may not look like it, but we are on the same side. I used to be your enemy. Not anymore."

"Lets get you cleaned up." Steve said. Even with the blood caking her body, he held her hand and stood close as they walked away.

"I like that Steve has someone." Thor commented.

"Yeah me too, but who is she really?" Tony mumbled as he walked away as well. The blood stains covering the two agents and the rest of the room were starting to make him sick.

---

Christmas was coming soon. Steve and Maria didn't have plans. Just spending it together would be enough. Tony had other plans though. He invited all the Avengers over to his house for Christmas. Not the tower, but his actual house. Maria flipped through the mail casually when she came upon the invitation. It was in a red and gold envelope, a sure sign that it was from Tony. Steve wasn't home yet, but she really wanted to see what it was. She tore through the envelope and pulled out the paper. It was red with green trim. Swirly letters on the top addressed it to a Mr. Steve Rogers and a Ms. Maria Star. She chuckled. Maria continued reading the colorful paper. A Christmas party at Tony's house. That sounded like fun. The door opened and shut.

"Steve! Pepper and Tony invited us to go to a Christmas Party. I'd like to go." A loud thump came from the kitchen. That wasn't Steve. She placed the mail down on the table. Grabbing the closest thing nearest to her, the cordless lamp Tony gave them, she made her way over to the Kitchen. Another thump came from the kitchen. Someone swore. Someone she knew.

"Mom?" She called out. Stepping into the kitchen Gary and Michelle Star turned around. Both had a pot in each hand. They smiled awkwardly at her. She sighed. Her parents placed the pots back on the counter. "What are you doing here? Do you really need to steal my kitchen utensils? Last time you stole all the knifes and Steve came home before me an-"

"Steve! You're still with him? That's wonderful!" Her father interrupted. His grey eyes shone with excitement. Stubble covered his chin and deep purple coloring was under his eyes. Maria examined her mother. Michelle Star also had the deep purple coloring under her eyes.

"Oh Dad, Mom, how long has it been since you've slept? Seriously. When did you break out? It wasn't on the news and you didn't signal me." She took one of each her parents hands and lead them to the couches. Once they were sitting comfortably, both of their eyes drooped.

"We broke out three days ago. I'd explain how, but it might take a while. In simple terms we cloned ourselves without really cloning ourselves." Gary drifted off into sleep.

"Night Dad." Maria took a blanket from a basket off to the side and placed it around both her parents. Michelle grabbed her daughter's hand. Maria looked into her eyes.

"We missed you." She mumbled before drifting off to sleep. Maria smiled softy.

"I missed you too Mom." She whispered before stepping back. Gary had fallen onto the arm of the couch and Michelle had leaned onto Gary. All Maria could do was smile. Until the door opened and Steve's voice rang through the house.

"Maria?" Steve called from the hallway. Maria ran through the kitchen and caught Steve at the end of the hallway.

"Shh, I have guests over. You may not like them, but please just let them sleep. Come help me make dinner for us four." She said. Steve tensed. Guests he wouldn't like? This couldn't be good. Maria took his hand. "Please?" Steve nodded. They walked into the kitchen. Steve looked over the bar, past the table, to see the couch. No one was there.

"Maria where are your guests?" He asked. She handed him a large pot. Puling spaghetti out from a cabinet Maria gestured towards the couches with it. After Steve had filled the pot with water and placed it on the stove to boil he walked over to the couch. He frowned. These people looked familiar. It hit him. "Maria." His voice said angrily. "Maria." His voice had tones of worry, but mostly angry as he walked back to the kitchen where Maria promptly put a knife and two tomatoes in his hands.

"Cut." She commanded as she peeled a head of lettuce. "I know you're mad."

"Maria I'm mad, but is it okay for them to be here, after what they did to you? How did they get out?" He hadn't started cutting the tomatoes. Instead he was leaning against the counter watching her. She sighed.

"You're supposed to be cutting the tomatoes Capsickle. I know they treated me badly, trust me I was there, but after I left and didn't see them for a while, the next time I saw them things were different. I can't really explain. Even with the whole breaking out of jail thing and meeting in creepy warehouses they're still my parents. They used cloning without really using cloning. Have you cut the tomatoes yet?"

"Yes, where do you want them?" Maria pointed to a smaller pot she had put on the stove.

"Put the pasta in while you're at it." He poured the pasta in the now boiling water and spoke before she could give him another task.

"Are you 100 percent sure their not going to stab you with any needles or tell everyone all your deepest darkest secrets?" Concern bled out of his voice. Maria threw the loaf of French bread at him. He caught it and cut it in half.

"Yes Steve. I am 100 percent sure. Although we need to turn the radio on so we know when the prison notices their absence." She smiled sheepishly at that. Steve laughed gently and shook his head. "Are you done being angry?" She asked cautiously, placing a hand on his shoulder. He abandoned the bread on the counter just as she abandoned her lettuce. Wrapping his arms around her waist he pulled her close.

"I don't know if angry is the right word. What they did to you was wrong and no human being should have to go through that, but they gave me you. You wouldn't be you without them. They gave me you and that's all that matters." He smiled down at her.

"Oh Steve," Maria sighed. Right as she leaned in for a kiss an excited squeal came from the couch area. Both turned their heads to see the Stars ducking back under the shield of the couch. "Mom, Dad," Maria groaned. Michelle's eyes popped back up twinkling with excitement. "If you're awake you might as well come and meet Steve. Dinner's almost ready too, but you guys need to wash up. At least your faces and hands." Gary and Michelle shuffled over to the hallway leading towards the rooms. Once the bathroom door was shut Maria let go of Steve and went back to her salad.

"I'm done with the bread, the pasta is almost done, as well as the sauce, so all we need is your salad." Steve wiped his hands on a towel before setting the table. Once both of them were done and the table was completely set, food and all, Maria started to worry.

"What's taking them so long? I'm going to go check on them." Maria knocked on the bathroom door only to be met by silence. She turned the doorknob, surprised that it was open. "Mom? Are you ok-," Maria stared into the empty bathroom. She heard the front door shut then open and close once more. Maria went back to the kitchen to find Steve reading a note out loud.

"Dear Steve and Maria,

While we would love to get to know Steve and spend time with you dear, we're afraid we can't. A friend in the prison notified us saying that they know we aren't in prison. Sorry sweetheart. We thought we would have more time. Maria, we'll see you at our planned time next time, no more jumping in and scaring you. Steve, you hurt our break our little girls heart and we will murder you. Don't test us. We love you Maria! Don't forget that. We're so sorry we can't stay, it all smelled so delicious.

Love,

Mom and Dad." He handed the note to her.

"I figured they wouldn't stay for dinner since you're here, super hero and all. I guess this means that Furry will be calling for you to go get them." She smiled. "I'm actually proud of them for being able to escape so easily. You know they let you capture them right?" Steve's face turned to a shocked one. Maria laughed. "Their geniuses. If they didn't want to get caught, they wouldn't ever be caught."

"I guess your-" The house phone rang, interrupting Steve. Picking it up he nodded before saying he would be on his way.

"Duty calls." Maria mumbled.

"Bad news, it's not just your parents that escaped. Remember the guy Tony captured a few years ago? I think I told you about him. He calls himself Venom?" Maria stopped breathing.

"No. He can't be out. My parents are in danger if he's out. I have to go find them!" Maria ran to her room and grabbed a hand gun along with a couple of knifes. She placed them strategically in her shorts, floral combat boots, and sweat jacket. Steve called out her name.

"Hurry up and I'll take you to find them on our way to the Tower. I have to go there until they figure out the location of Venom. Your parents too." Maria and Steve raced out of the flat. Flying down the streets on his motorcycle, Maria instructed him to all her parents hiding places on the way. At the second warehouse they entered, only to find it empty, Maria called her parents. By good luck her parents answered.

"Mom?" Maria shouted into the phone.

"Mari we're on the run. You shouldn't be ca-," her father started.

"Daddy Venom broke out of prison." Silence met her on the other end. She heard her mother whisper no again and again. "Dad, you and Mom need to get to a safe place. One where Venom would never think you would go."

"He knows all of our hiding spots! He was our partner for years!" Her mother's worried voice groaned.

"There isn't one place he doesn't know about?" Maria's breath picked up. What are they going to do? "Mom, Dad, stay where you are. I'll come protect you."

"We both will." Steve said, surprising Maria. He held her free hand. "If their going after your parents then I'll go with you and help capture Venom."

"What about my parents, if you're their then won't you have to take them too?" Maria whispered.

"If I happen to turn around and they've disappeared when I look back…" He let his sentence sink in. Before continuing. "It's not like they've committed mass murder within the last few years. All they've done is break out of prison and make food that makes others sick. Right?"

"Right! They aren't as evil as they once were."

"Hey!" Her parents shouted. "We're just as evil. We just had a change of… mind. Yes. A change of mind." Maria gasped.

"I have an idea. It's not the best one, in fact it's awful, but it might work. Can you meet us at the coffee shop I told you about the other day? Yes that one. Good. See you soon." Maria hung up and dragged Steve back to his motorcycle. "We're going to Secret Coffee to pick my parents up." Steve didn't question her. They jumped on and went off. Maria spotted her parents walking towards the coffee shop in the darkness where the streetlights didn't reach. Maria pointed. "Just go to the tower. Tell them I'm bringing guests."

"You're taking them into the tower?" Steve yelled back.

"Yes, Venom will have to come get them. Why not bring him to us rather than search for him?" With that she jumped off the motorcycle. She summersaulted across the pavement before hitting the curb. Standing up she frowned. One arm hung limply by her side. Michelle and Gary ran up to her. Gary watched as her arm fixed itself.

"That's amazing. I'll never get used to it." He whispered. Maria rolled her eyes and took a dramatic bow.

"Come on, we're going to Avengers tower. Now keep up." She set off at a fast pace. One her parents could thankfully keep up with. Once inside the tower she ushered her parents into the elevator. "Jarvis? Where's Steve?"

"With Tony and the others in the room with the balcony. Shall I take you there?"

"Yes please. Mom, Dad, you need to stay with me and keep your mouths shut." She glared at them, causing them to both nod their heads quickly. The elevator started moving.

"Sweetheart," Michelle started. "Are you sure this is safe? Taking us to the people who want to throw us in jail."

"You'll be fine. They'll know not to attack you. If they do Steve and I will protect you. Besides, Romanoff and Barton know I'm the Master, but they haven't told anyone and I'm not in jail yet. Well actually all of the Avengers plus Pepper know I'm the Master, but only the spy twins know the true extent of what I've done. And they all know I can regenerate. Don't worry."

"Venom knows." Gary whispered, scared.

"He was the one who picked you up from the hospital that night. He knows who you really are." Michelle said. Maria gave her parents a questioning look. The elevator stopped moving.

"What does that mean?" She asked, but Michelle shook her head slowly.

"I don't know. It almost feels like an advantage of some sort." Maria shook her head as the doors opened.

"Show time." The trio stepped out, catching Barton and Steve's attention. Steve nodded and went to Maria's side. Barton stared, his hand slowly going for his bow. "Barton if you shoot my parents I will kill you." This caught the room's attention. Natasha, Pepper, Tony Bruce, and Fury all turned around from where they were huddled around a computer.

"Your parents?" Fury stated. "That makes things hell of a lot more complicated."

"Just listen. Venom is an enemy of my parents, I'm sure he's hunting them down, my thinking was just to bring him to us rather go where he will have the upper hand." Fury seemed to think about it.

"I think it's a good plan." Steve commented using his Captain America authoritative voice.

"If this plan doesn't work I'm taking matters back into my own hands. I'll be taking their ass's back to prison when this is done though, even if the plan works." With that Fury marched out to his helicopter. Steve squeezed Marias hand, worried.

---

Bruce had been talking with her parents non stop for the past three hours. It was nine o'clock now. They we're just waiting for Venom to make his move. Pepper was talking with Steve on the couch while Natasha and Barton had gone out onto the balcony. Tony maneuvered his way over to Maria.

"So is your hair naturally like that?" Maria laughed. "What's so funny?"

"Bruce asked that same question the first time we met. I think it's like this because of my mutated genes."

"Well you can regenerate. I would call those genes very weird." Tony smirked at her.

"Actually, my genes were normal when I was a baby, same with my blood. Ask my parents about all the science stuff if you're really interested. I hate having to explain it all."

"What do you mean?" Tony turned towards the Stars whom were now drawing on a whiteboard, who knows where they got that from, with Bruce. "I mean their evil scientists and all, but you're their kid."

"That's where things get complicated." She threw him a smile that just about stopped his heart. It looked so much like Pepper's smile. Her laugh, her main hair color, her facial structure, his eyes, the brown bangs… He had promised Pepper that he would stop thinking about this Maria as though she was their lost daughter, but he couldn't. So many things just screamed Pepper.

"Maria," he mumbled. Maria smiled, before she had a chance to say anything Natasha and Barton were bursting through the doors yelling 'duck'. On instinct Maria threw Tony to the floor and covered him with her body right as the windows blew in. Glass flew threw the air towards all of them. Maria heard a deep, growling, angry noise; one she identified as the Hulk. The second the glass had stopped a small round object flew into the room. A grenade.

"Grenade!" Maria heard Steve's voice filled with fear, and it only boosted her actions. She couldn't let anyone get hurt. She would not let anyone get hurt. Tony watched in horror as Maria grabbed the closest large shard of glass, cut her stomach open slightly, placed the grenade inside, and curled herself into a ball on the floor, rolling away from everyone towards the hall.

Steve's stomach churned. He had seen many horrible things happen when kidnaped, but Maria is his girlfriend. Steve yelled Maria's name. His world stopped as the grenade exploded. Instead of fire bursting everywhere blasting people into the walls, Maria blew up. Nothing seemed real to Steve. His girlfriend's blood splattered his face as he watched her burst into a million pieces.

The Hulk roared. Tony, whom had been closest to Maria, had blood covering him all along his side. Natasha and Barton stood up from behind the bar. The Hulk uncurled itself from Gary and Michelle; he had protected them during the blasts. Pepper shakily stood from where Steve had quickly, and strategically, placed her behind the couch. Tony rolled over, away from where Maria had been, towards the bar. Vaguely in his mind he felt someone helping him up, one of the spies. No one moved.

"Well this is a sad scene." A voice drawled out. All heads snapped to the window where a man had appeared. His outfit was an all black business suit: black shirt, tie, jacket, pants, and shoes. Even his hair was black. A smile seemed frozen onto his face.

"Venom." Gary whispered angrily. Michelle moved behind her husband while the Hulk moved in front of them. "Why can't you just stay away? Look what you've done. If my daughter dies…" Gary stared to make a move, but the Hulk held him back. Venom let out a bark of a laugh.

"Your daughter?" He crooned. This time Michelle moved forward, only to be stopped by the Hulks other arm. The assassin twins pulled out their gun and arrows. Steve had maneuvered Pepper behind him. Tony had moved over to Pepper, discretely pressing the bracelets he had grabbed while behind the bar. Venom tsked at the spies and Gary. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. And you're still calling her that, Gary? I would have figured they found her by now. Or at least she figured it out herself. You do know who her real parents are, don't you?"

"She is our daughter. We raised her." Michelle growled. Venom waved his hand through the air, brushing the words away.

"Then what am I? The unloved family member? I was the one who took her from the hospital that night."

"Like that matters. At least we were more thoughtful when she was in pain and we let her enjoy whatever of her childhood we could salvage." Gary yelled at him.

"Oh, yes! Taking her to the zoo once when she was six accounts for all the mistakes you've made with her. I'm sure her real parents would have done a much better job. She would have grown up with a cute bedroom, a pet, a father who stays up too late working on everything but still makes time for her, a mother who cares for her when she's sick, and several aunt and uncle superheroes." Venom smirked. "Her real parents would not have tested on her like a lab rat."

While Venom spoke, Natasha and Barton had been preparing their weapons. Hulk kept letting out grunts of anger at the story. Tony had Pepper wrapped in a tight hug behind Steve. Without warning Barton let an arrow go at the same time Natasha threw three knives. The objects bounced off of his skin, harmless.

"What are you?" Tony asked, not sure if he was awed or disappointed. A mix of both he supposed.

"He's a monster." Michelle whispered. "While we were experimenting on Maria, trying to make her how she is now, he was practicing on himself. Using several of our formulas he created a way to have skin that won't break with sharp contact like that. We don't even know if he can die."

"Oh and you're precious Maria isn't any different?" Venom argued.

"Maria can die." Gary said softly. "We didn't make her invincible. That would be cruel." Steve thought about this new information. He wasn't invincible either. They could grow old together, albeit slowly but together non the less. While this information soaked in Clint let an explosive arrow fly. It got tangled in Venom's black hair before exploding. A small puff of smoke covered his face, but he didn't fall. Tony moved away from Pepper and Steve, preparing for the suit to come. It hit him gently and attached quickly. With Steve using a barstool for protection and Tony using his suit them moved forward to attack.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Venom pulled a gun out and shot Hulk. Instead of a bullet wound it was a serum. Hulk instantly started to wobble on his feet, his green skin started to tan and his form shrunk. Michelle and Gary grabbed onto his arms as he fell backwards, unconscious. As the Hulk shrunk, he shot Romanoff with a different serum. She stumbled backwards after yanking it out of her skin. She started to fall, but Clint caught her.

"Natasha? Nat?" He called as she too fell unconscious. Barton laid her on the floor before taking another arrow out to shoot. The smoke around Venom had cleared, leaving him a clear shot. Venom rolled his eyes.

"Did you learn nothing?" Venom said. An arrow was shot as another gunshot was heard. Barton fell to his knees before falling onto Natasha's stomach.

"What did you do to them?" Steve growled. Venom held up a gun, pointing it straight at Steve. He held his barstool up, but Tony stepped in front of him.

"I needed them out of the way. They'll just cause trouble. Besides, I came here to see you Steve. I want to test your blood."

"No."

"No? You'll just have to suffer the consequences then. Let me have some of your blood or I'll kill Maria's beloved parents. The only real connection you have to her anymore." He held up two guns.

"You hurt them and I'll," Steve growled, pushing Ironman aside.

"You'll what? Kill me? I'd like to see you try." As he held one gun up Steve rolled over to Michelle and Gary to protect them with his barstool. Venom laughed. "Guess again." He sang. His hand swung to the other side of the room where Ironman and Pepper stood.

"Why do you want them dead? They've done nothing wrong. They aren't Maria's family." Steve questioned. Gary and Michelle winced. Venom chuckled, pleased with everyone's reactions.

"You didn't tell anyone? I'm surprised none of the Avengers have figured it out yet. Maria was taken from the hospital the night she was born. Gary and Michelle decided to keep her first name, Maria. It's just a coincidence that their last name is only one letter off from yours. Star, Stark. Maria River Stark." He smirked. Tony stiffened. His suspicions had been true all along. The hair, the eyes, the way she spoke and walked.

"We were going to tell her eventually." Gary mumbled. "She's our daughter, but we thought she would want to leave us for all of this. Here she would have a normal life, even with her mutation. We… we didn't want her to abandon us."

"Oh how touching." Venom rolled his eyes.

"Steve don't give him your blood." Ironman commanded. Pepper nodded in agreement. Venom shrugged.

"Your call then." Venom pulled the trigger, but the bullet never hit Ironman.

---

Maria groaned internally as she felt herself being put back together. She hadn't done that in a while. Her heart lurched as Steve's voice calling out her name repaid in her mind again and again. Slowly she stood up. Luckily she had made it into the hallway as she blew up, and conveniently the largest piece of her heart had landed on the end of the hallway. After she had found clothing, a large pair of sweatpants and shirt, she made her way into the hall, doing her best to stay where no one would see her. Venom was talking.

"No? You'll just have to suffer the consequences then. Let me have some of your blood or I'll kill Maria's beloved parents. The only real connection you have to her anymore." Maria nearly ran out there. She wasn't about to let her parents die.

"You hurt them and I'll," Steve growled. Maria grinned, Steve didn't even like them, but he was willing to protect them because of her.

"You'll what? Kill me? I'd like to see you try." Shuffling was heard, what she suspected to be Steve moving to protect her parents. "Guess again." He sang. Guess again?

"Why do you want them dead? They've done nothing wrong. They aren't Maria's family." Steve questioned. Who was Venom pointing his gun at?

"You didn't tell anyone? I'm surprised none of the Avengers have figured it out yet. Maria was taken from the hospital the night she was born. Gary and Michelle decided to keep her first name, Maria. It's just a coincidence that their last name is only one letter off from yours. Star, Stark. Maria River Stark." Maria froze. The Starks are her real parents?

"We were going to tell her eventually." Gary mumbled. "She's our daughter, but we thought she would want to leave us for all of this. Here she would have a normal life, even with her mutation. We… we didn't want her to abandon us." Maria's heart sunk. She would never leave them.

"Oh how touching."

"Steve don't give him your blood." Ironman commanded.

"Your call then." Maria knew what he was going to do. She ran out of her hiding spot and tackled Venom, not allowing him to shot Ironman or Pepper, but herself. Using all her force and speed she quickly got them to the edge of the balcony. Without a second thought she pulled him over the edge with her. Venom clawed at her as they fell, tangled together. Maria managed to push herself away from him only to look up and see Ironman flying towards her. Glancing down at the ground she looked back up at him. Slowly she shook her head; he wasn't going to get to her in time.

Venom hit the ground first; she heard it along with the bystanders' screams. Next she hit the ground. Searing pain filtered through her as her head cracked open while the majority of her bones broke. Ironman landed on the ground next, without crashing. He threw his mask off to the side leaning down to Maria. Her blue eyes stared blankly back at him. Gently he placed a hand on the side of her face.

"Oh Maria. Please be alive. Please. I've only just met you." He whispered. Angrily he stood up and marched over to Venom. His suit hummed with energy as he prepared to fire upon the man with everything he had, determined to break the man's skin. The people who had gathered scattered. Venom rolled onto his back.

"You didn't save her did you?" Venom mocked. "Is she dead yet?" He didn't spare anything as he shot him. Several minutes later the police had arrived guns pointed. Ironman stopped shooting, but Venom laughed weakly.

"You can't stop the plan." He spat before his eyes closed. When Venom didn't move Ironman kicked him in the side. No reaction. Blood began to trickle out of the man's mouth, causing Ironman to get the answer. Just because the skin wouldn't break, doesn't mean that the insides won't break. He signaled for the police to come closer.

"He's dead, I think. His name was Venom, just broke out of jail. Killed Ma-," Tony stopped talking. When he turned around to point out Maria all that was there was a bloodstain. "Maria?"

"Mr. Stark?" The police officer closest brought his attention back to Venom. Tony shook his head.

"I have to go. The right people will be here soon to take care of his body." With that he flew back up to the balcony, letting it take of his suit before Pepper ran into his arms.

"Tony, is she?" Pepper couldn't finish her question. He hadn't brought her back up with him.

"I don't know Pep. She was broken lying there, but when I turned back she wasn't there. We have a chance that she's alive." Pepper smiled at this. She brought him inside to where the Stars were attending to Bruce, Clint, and Natasha. Steve stopped his pacing when Tony entered the room. Tony held up his hand.

"She might be alive. I took my eyes off of her and she wasn't there when I looked back. Venom gave us a message though. He said we can't stop the plan." Peppers grip on Tony's hand became tighter. The Stars chuckled from where they were tending the unconscious.

"What's so funny?" Steve spat.

"You all don't know Venom like we did. We grew up with him, we lived and worked with him for years, and Maria knows him. She probably heard that and went to work destroying whatever is left of his plan. Don't worry you are all safe. Don't worry about Maria either. She's a big girl. We raised her, and know she can do whatever she puts her mind to. She'll come back when she's done." Gary didn't look up as he spoke. Steve left the room holding onto that hope.

---

Steve stared at Avengers tower. A coffee, once warm, was wrapped in his hands. Christmas day was tomorrow. His sigh floated away into the wind, he really had to stop doing this. Every Saturday he came to their favorite coffee shop. Everyday Saturday he sat in their seats facing the tower. Everyday Saturday he became sadder that she wasn't there with him. This couldn't be healthy. He had trouble sleeping again too. For the four years that Maria and he had shared a bed, neither had nightmares. With her gone they returned full blast and some. They weren't just of his past anymore, but Maria's broken body or Maria not ever making it home. A waving hand brought him out of his thoughts. Tony hand in hand with Pepper was walking towards him. The billionaire flashed him a pearly white smile. He waved back slightly.

"May we sit with you?" Pepper asked. She was worried about Steve. Maria's disappearance had really hurt Steve. The one thing that really brought him, truly connected him, to the new century was Maria. Besides the Avengers, Steve's reason for living was Maria. They spoke about him dating Maria; since they now knew she was their daughter. Pepper was all for it. It took Tony a while, but a few wonderful stories about Maria from Steve and Tony was all for it as well. Tony had a search team looking for her, but they had found nothing.

"Of course." Steve gestured towards the two empty seats. He gazed into the busy Christmas shopper filled crowd. People stared at the Starks, but Tony and Pepper didn't seem to notice any of the people who were slyly taking pictures, the people pointing, or just the overall attention.

"Are you coming for Christmas tomorrow?" Pepper asked.

"I am. Are the others coming?" Steve drank a sip his coffee, only to grimace at its coldness. Stark smirked. Pepper's phone rang twice before she answered it and excused herself from the table. She walked over to a less crowded section of the coffee shop's patio. Tony watched her protectively.

"So how are things? You haven't been over in a while." Tony took his eyes off his wife for a second to look at Steve.

"Things have been goo-"

"Pepper." Tony stood abruptly. "Pepper's gone." Steve stood and followed Tony over to the patio corner where Pepper had gone. "Jarvis prepare the suit. Steve can you look for Pepper over there and I'll go this way?" Steve nodded. Tony's only fear was loosing Pepper or leaving her alone in the world. It had been hard hearing about their daughter's life and to know they many never see her again after just learning she was alive. Steve searched through the crowded streets. He looked through the heads of people to thankfully see the blonde-copper hair he was looking for. Pepper was running though, away from him at that. Before he could do anything Pepper was trying to cross the street.

"PEPPER," Steve yelled as he saw the incoming car sliding on the ice. Pepper shielded her face with her arms a second before she was hit. Steve shoved his way through the crows until he got to her. "No, no, no," he mumbled at Peppers limp form. Placing a hand over her mouth he could feel her breath. "Ambulance. Someone call an ambulance!"

---

The house was quiet when Maria entered. It had been a full year since she had been there last. Tears threatened to form at the thought of seeing Steve again. Her heart beat faster. Steve. Damn she missed him. That was the worst part of defeating Venom's plan, being away from Steve without any contact. A renewed energy surged through her at the thought of finally getting to be with him again. Throwing her bag to the ground in the kitchen she ran to their bedroom.

"Steve?" She burst in. No one was there. Searching the rest of the house she found he wasn't there. That was what she had suspected though. Deciding there would only be two other places he would be she set off on foot for Avengers tower. Her copper hair was longer than ever, it flowed down to the top of her waist in layers. What had once been brown side bangs were now straight bangs. Tight jeans, high-heeled boots, a white shirt, a maroon leather jacket, and a black scarf kept her warm. Pulling out her cellphone she called him. It rang. And rang. And rang. And rang what felt like forever. Steve had to have his phone on him. Just this once.

"Steve?"

---

Tony paced the hallway of the hospital. This time there were no screams of pain, but a deadly silence. He sat down, devastated. He could have stopped this. Why did he look away from Pepper? His hands ran through his hair and left them there. Bruce sat in silence next to him. His nerves were bad because of his worry. Anger radiated through him that this had to happen to Tony even after what had happened to Maria. What was Pepper doing out in the street without looking?

Steve had been pacing the hospital walls for what felt like hours. It was his fault. Pepper getting hit by a car was his fault. He could have stopped it. Steve couldn't face Tony yet. Not now. First Tony lost his daughter, then he got her back, and then he lost her again. He had Pepper and now he might not. All this family seemed to do was be ripped apart. Tony taken hostage and ripped away from Pepper was something she still had nightmares about. Steve and Pepper talked about it sometimes. They mainly talked about Maria though. Deciding he needed fresh air Steve found his way to the roof of the hospital. The cold wind felt like a slap in the face. One he felt he deserved. His phone scared him, ringing loudly in the quiet. Not bothering to see who it was, he was really too depressed to care, he answered.

"Hello?"

"Steve?" A rushed voice said. Maria. He nearly dropped the phone in shock.

"Maria!" He exclaimed happily. Maria laughed on the other end. All of his bad feelings went away with her cheery laugh.

"Oh Steve. I've missed you so much."

"I missed you too." He gushed.

"Steve where are you?" He felt a large weight fall upon his shoulders.

"I'm at the hospital Maria." He said softly, back in the hospitals hallways. She gasped.

"Why? Are you okay? Are you hurt? Is Bruce hurt? What happened? How lon-" She rushed out. He heard her breath pick up and heard her as she began to run. "What hospital?" He gave her quick directions.

"I'll wait for you in the lobby and then fill you in."

"Stay on the phone until I get there?"

"Of course." She stopped talking but he heard her occasionally yell at people to move, the beat of her breath, and her occasional worried mumble. Steve stopped at the end of the hallway. Bruce and Tony were sitting in chairs across from the door that would lead them to where Pepper was. Neither man looked up from where they stared until Steve started calling Tony's name a few meters away.

"Tony, tony, tony," Steve's wide eyes and frantic calling must have done something to Tony. He stood up instantly. His eyes glanced at the phone Steve held in his hand. Steve held the phone out. Tony listened to the street noise on the other side.

"Dammit, move! I'm in a hurry!" Maria's voice yelled.

"Maria?" Tony mumbled, astonished.

"Tony?" She said back. "Where's Steve? Can you tell him I'm almost there? What floor are you on?" Tony looked up to tell Steve, but he was gone.

"Steve's not here."

"Never mind I see him. I'm going hang up now, okay Tony? I'll see you in a few." With that she hung up.

Steve ran tapped his foot impatiently as he watched the hospital doors for Maria. The second she ran through the doors he had her in his arms. He spun her around several times before setting her down. His hands moved from her waist up to her face. Her blue eyes were watery and a shaky smile graced her face.

"Hi Steve." She said softly. Her arms were wrapped strongly around his middle. Their faces inched closer before Steve closed the gap. A nurse behind the desk cleared her throat, causing Maria and Steve to split apart, but their hands connected. Both gave sheepish smile before Steve pulled her away. "So who's been hurt?" Maria asked softly. Steve grimaced.

"Pepper." Instead of taking the lift he guided her up the stairs. Taking two steps at a time they ran up the stairs. "She was hit by a car when trying to cross the road this morning." He said bitterly. Two more hallways and they would be there. Before Steve turned the final corner Maria pulled him into a hug.

"Tell me what happened." Maria had sensed the underlying anger Steve had.

"I was at our coffee shop. Same seats and everything, the ones facing Avengers tower. Pepper and Tony came and joined me. We were talking when Pepper's phone rang. She excused herself and went to talk to whoever it was. Tony looked away from her for a second and she was gone. He went one way down the street while I went the other. Then I spotted her. Before I could get to her the car came. So Tony called an ambulance and I carried her. We've been waiting for news on her health. Then you called." Steve shook his head. "I should have been able to stop that car Mari. If I had gotten there two seconds earlier." He drifted off. Maria ran a hand through his hair.

"It's not your fault. You don't know who called her, do you?" Steve mumbled something before kissing Maria quickly.

"Why haven't we thought of that? Oh Mari it's good to have you back." He pulled her around the corner. Bruce and Tony were still sitting in the chairs, staring at the door. Maria smiled. Not letting go of Steve's hand she half ran down the hallway. Bruce looked away from the door to where they were coming down the hallway. His eyes grew wide before a smile grew. He stood and walked the few steps to meet the couple.

"Maria!" Maria finally let go of Steve's hand and flew into Bruce's open arms. Tony had finally looked away from the door. "It's so good to see you. I'm glad you're safe."

"I missed you too Bruce." He held Maria at arms length before stepping away for Tony. He seemed shocked that she was really there. "Hey Tony."

---

"What if things go badly? What it Tony and Pepper are disgusted somehow or what if my parents disagree or gosh what about Bruce or maybe Nat will," Maria rambled on in the elevator. Steve laughed. It was funny seeing her panicked. He kissed her to silence her.

"It's going to be fine Mari. I'm sure they all approve of our relationship; I asked both Gary and Tony about it, well at least if they were okay with us dating. Also you know Nat is fine with it. She asked about you the other night. Said you needed to call her back, apparently she has big news." Steve said. She squeezed his hand tight. Natasha and her had become good friends over the year. The two had worked together to find the last person in Venom's gang, the one who had not only called Pepper saying they had Maria, but the one who hit her with the car. At first it was strange working with her old enemies, but they soon got over wanting to kill each other. She had also gotten pretty close to Clint as well. Maybe it was just their pasts that let them connect so much, but the trio could always be found together in the gym, movie room, balcony, or roof on Wednesdays, which had become their hang out day.

"You should stop worrying. You know these people just as well as I do, maybe even more. You connect with them on a level I can't. Clint and Nat will surely be excited for us. Bruce too. I think he was all for us being together since the day I brought you in. Thor will be delighted, even if you don't know him I do and I'm sure about that. We've already told Gary and Michelle and you saw how happy they were. I wouldn't worry about Tony and Pepper."

"I guess your right." Maria sighed. Thor was someone she found funny to be around. He didn't completely know the customs of Earth, always asking questions or getting things wrong. Steve and Thor were good friends, which made Maria happy. She knew Steve hated not knowing everything and having Thor around helped relieve that a little.

"Although," Steve added. "If Tony goes for his Ironman suit we're leaving." Steve seemed a little more nervous now. Maria laughed.

"Maria!" Clint and Natasha called from behind the bar. Clint was shaking up some drinks while Natasha sipped a blood red one.

"Congratulations." Nat smirked at Maria's slightly reddened cheeks. Natasha had already seen the engagement ring. Always the observant one. Clint furrowed his brow before looking over at the couple. He smiled brightly.

"Congratulations!" He yelled, a little drunk. Tony and Pepper came in from the balcony.

"What are we congratulating?" Tony questioned. Ignoring the question Maria opened her arms. He and Pepper each gave Maria a hug. "How are you?" Maria and Steve internally sighed. Neither one had noticed the rings.

Marias was a small white-silver ring with two red gems and a blue gem in the middle. Steve's was the same but thicker. Maria had thought it would be fun to get rings made in his colors. She was just rambling on one day about how fun it would be to design them and then went on to tell him how she would. It would be a reminder that they can live normal lives and still be Captain America and the Master- she was working on getting Fury to let her be on the Avengers team. Clint, Natasha, Bruce, and Steve were all for it. It had taken a while to win Steve over though. Tony and Pepper didn't like the idea though. Too much danger from their point of view, even with her past.

Once everyone was situated on the couches, Pepper then Tony then Steve then Maria on one, then Natasha then Clint on the other, the movie began. Bruce and Thor came in about a third of the way into the movie. Thor became confused quickly so they restarted the movie. Steve went through and tried to explain some of the reasons people would do things in the movie and how things worked. Maria shook her head. They had their own language just as Bruce, herself, and Tony did. The popcorn had run out with complaints from the spies for more. Maria volunteered to get it. Bruce joined her by the microwave.

"Congratulations. How did he ask?" He asked softly. A knowing smile lay on his lips and a twinkle was in his eye. He had become just as much of a father as Gary was and Tony became, but most of the time he felt like an older brother. They certainly fought like siblings in the lab.

"He asked me yesterday, which as you know signifies the date I came home last year and left the year before, at our favorite coffee shop." She held her hand up for his inspection of the ring. He chuckled.

"Red, white, and blue. Captains colors."

"I was talking about how fun it would be to get rings like this a couple of weeks ago. I couldn't believe he actually did it, but I'm very happy with them. How did you know he asked? We're curled up under the blanket, you can't see the rings." Before Bruce could answer the popcorn was beeping and the spies were calling out like children for the popcorn. Plopping back down on the couch Steve was still moving his hands around, explaining some piece of machinery to Thor, a phaser to be exact.

"Captain, you have a ring. Is it a new weapon? Or a symbol of honor?" Thor boomed. The room got quiet. Maria had been in the process of handing popcorn across Steve to Tony, with her left hand holding the side of the bowl. The newly engaged shared a quick look before the spies, who were comfortable enough to be drunk with Maria and the others, started singing a marriage tune, Thor booming congratulations and something about coupling, and Bruce looked for exits in case of Tony's reaction.

"Surprise?"