AN: I only own Emily and the little bits I didn't borrow from Marvel.

Chapter 1

The sound of small children singing broke through my sleepy haze. Grabbing my phone blindly, which may or may not have taken a few tries, I swiped to answer the call. "Do you have any idea how creepy it is to wake up to the sound of kids singing 'Itsy Bitsy Spider'?" I asked Natasha.

"It's not my fault Tony assigned us all ringtones, and even you can't figure out how to change them," my big sister retorted. "And besides, why were you sleeping? It's the middle of the afternoon."

"I'm attempting to recover from the flu," I told her, then sniffed. "Bruce brought me back a present from India."

"So, in other words, you've been huddled on the couch, wrapped in a blanket, drinking hot cocoa and watching Harry Potter movies for the past few days," she guessed astutely.

"There may have been some Disney in there," I sighed, taking a sip of the mentioned beverage. "Gah, that's cold," I moaned.

"I have another pot heating for you, Miss Emily," JARVIS's crisp British voice floated from the ceiling. "DUMM-E will be bringing it to you as soon as it is ready."

"Can I marry you, JARVIS?" I moaned. "You seriously are the best."

"I'm not sure Sir would approve," was his response.

"Tony would be ecstatic," Tasha corrected. "Man, I miss having JARVIS at my disposal."

"That's what happens when you move out of the Tower," I reminded, feeling a little petty. After all, my big sister and best friend had moved out in the same week.

"We'll be back in a couple of weeks, kotenok," she said, and I could just see the smirk on her face. "It's just a temporary assignment."

"How am I supposed to be the Avengers' doctor when half of the Avengers aren't even here? Did Fury think about that?" I grumbled. Of course, the Director was a touchy subject for me, even before he'd assigned Tasha and Steve to work at the Triskelion for six months.

"I don't remember you complaining like this when Tony was back in Malibu," Tasha reminded. "Or when Bruce went back to India for a few months. Or when Thor was back in Asgard."

"How was I supposed to complain that the god of thunder went back home? And it's not like I can really do much for him. He heals too quickly for me to even be able to do anything. And Bruce brought me the plague back from India, so he's not going back anytime soon," I stated emphatically. "I won't let him."

"Uh huh, I want to see you stop the Hulk from doing something he wants."

"Bruce loves me. He wouldn't Hulk out on me."

"Speaking of love, I keep trying to set Steve up with girls, but he always says he's too busy. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?" she asked, trying to be sly.

Unfortunately, I knew her too well. "What are you getting at, Tasha?"

"Well, I think it's because he's actually in love with you," the superspy said bluntly.

I spluttered on my new hot cocoa. After I was done choking, I managed to gasp out, "Did you hit your head on your last mission? I think you need to come back to New York so I can do a CT scan."

"Of course not," she dismissed. "But think about it. He's always there for you. I mean, the man has your favorite kind of hot cocoa in his kitchen in D.C., just in case you happen to visit. And he doesn't even drink it! And after… After the Battle of New York, he took you in like a stray kitty. He didn't let other people see you for days."

"He was just being a good friend," I protested. "Steve is not in love with me."

"Just like you're not in love with him, right?"

"Exactly," I said, ignoring her sarcasm. "We are best friends, nothing more."

"That's sounding rather familiar to me. Why does it sound familiar? Oh yeah, that sounds just like my protests, before I got together with the man I married."

"Just because you and Clint were like that doesn't mean that Steve and I are."

"You so are!" she argued. "When you're together, it's like the rest of the world doesn't exist. You cuddle on the couch together. Half of his clothes are in your closet. Deny it all you want, but you're in love with him, Sweetie."

"Whatever you say," I said tiredly, just to get the crazy Russian off my back.

"So, how's Carter?" Tasha asked next, throwing me completely.

"Well, other than the fact that I broke up with him three weeks ago, I'm sure he's great," I laughed.

"You broke up with him? Zamechatel'nyy! Oh, that's fantastic! But why didn't you tell me?" she demanded.

"You've been a little busy lately," I reminded. "And what do you mean, wonderful? I knew you didn't really like him, but I didn't think you'd be this ecstatic at the news."

"Kotenok, he was a jerk. When he was around, you weren't you. You let him make all the decisions, never doing what you wanted. It was always what he wanted. And I just had a feeling about him, something off," Tasha told me. "Everyone thought he was bad for you."

"And no one thought to tell me?" I was too tired to get more worked up about this.

"Would you have listened?" she asked, then took my silence for the correct answer. "Didn't think so. But it doesn't matter now. You're free of him, and that makes me so happy for you. So why did you break up with him?"

"I just, I don't know. I just felt like we were growing apart, not wanting the same things. We never actually saw each other. And he kept pressuring me to sleep with him, and I just wasn't ready for that," I confessed.

"You guys dated for two and a half years, but you weren't ready to have sex." From any other person, that would have been condescension. From Tasha, it was confusion.

"Well, it's not like we saw each other every day," I explained. "It was more like a weekend here, a couple of days there. I didn't feel like we were really in a committed relationship, you know? And I'm not a huge fan of non-committed sex, especially since I'm most likely the product of one."

"Oh, Sweetie, you are adorable," she sighed.

"I know, I'm old-fashioned. Laugh it up," I grumbled.

"No, I think it's sweet. I kinda wish I'd been able to have that mindset." I could hear the wistfulness in her voice.

"Well, now you have Clint," I reassured her.

"Yeah," she replied, and this time, I could hear the smile in her voice. "Speaking of, have you heard from him lately? I know he's on some kind of mission, but Fury won't update me since I'm no longer his partner."

"You know, if you informed SHIELD that you're married, I wouldn't need to play the middleman. And yeah, I have. He should be coming back tomorrow, Thursday at the latest."

"Oh good. Well, when you see him, give him a kiss for me."

"I think I've kissed your husband enough to last me a lifetime, thanks," I retorted.

"Oh, that's right. Well, say hi to him, and save your kisses for Steve." With that, she hung up before I could do more than angrily squawk.

"Whoa, was that you, Emily?" Darcy asked, peeking around the doorway. When I nodded, she continued. "I totally thought Clint was back for a second. Anyway, JARVIS informs me that it's been more than six hours since you last ingested something other than hot cocoa, so I'm going to feed you," she told me, coming to pull me off the couch. Then, seeing the condition of my hair, she amended. "After you shower. You're gross."

"Thanks, Darce," I muttered, but headed to my quarters nonetheless.

"You're welcome, Sunshine," she chirped.

For all of my grumblings, that shower felt amazing. I ended up washing my hair three times, just to make sure it was clean. And the water running over me was pure bliss. Once out, I felt more like a human being again.

Dressed and my hair braided down my back, I headed to the communal kitchen. While we all had kitchenettes in our rooms, Tony had also installed a gourmet kitchen on the shared floor. And Darcy, since moving in somewhere around February, had claimed it as her own. And as none of the rest of us cooked, besides Steve, we gratefully handed the reins over to her.

"Look who's back in the land of the living," Tony crowed when he caught sight of me.

"Don't be mean, Tony," Pepper scolded.

"Yeah, don't be mean, Tony," I echoed his girlfriend. "I might cough on you."

"I am really sorry I got you sick, Emily," Bruce piped up. "So, so sorry."

"It's okay, Bruce. It's not like you did it on purpose," I shrugged. "And besides, now I've gotten my yearly illness done and out of the way."

"Yearly illness?" most of the room's occupants questioned.

"Yeah, I usually get sick once a year. And if I don't get it out of the way before the end, it's usually really bad. Like when I got bronchitis on top of double ear infections," I answered. "That was when Clint broke his leg, I think. The first time."

"How many times has Robin Hood broken a leg?" Tony asked curiously.

"I've lost count. He's got more metal holding him together than tendons at this point. His x-rays are like one of those hidden object pictures."

Tony looked rather interested, but Darcy bringing over a huge pot of soup stopped him. Or rather, Darcy directing Thor to bring it over. "I'm so glad we've got Muscles over here to help out," she beamed. "I'd have never managed that by myself."

"Why soup? It's the middle of April," Tony pointed out.

"Because Emily is sick, and when you're sick, you get soup," she replied, like it was obvious.

"Thanks, Darce. It looks fantastic," I complimented.

"Smells amazing, too," Bruce added. Sadly, he didn't notice her blush. Then again, if it wasn't on the molecular level, he didn't seem to notice a lot.

We had dinner, like a very odd, very dysfunctional family. But then again, that's pretty much what we were, all of us in the Avengers Tower.

It was a quiet evening, until, all at once, every single cell phone went off. I knew what that meant, but I was the only one. Out of all of us, I was the only one who'd been with SHEILD during the Battle of New York. And that's how long it had been since we'd had a SHEILD-wide alert.

We all pulled out our phones and read the message. It was quiet as we all processed it, until-

"Son of a-"

"Tony!" Pepper admonished.

"I'm sorry, but I wasn't expecting something like this!" he defended.

"I don't know how you could have expected Director Fury would be murdered, Tony," Bruce said sardonically. "Unless you planned it."

"I've thought about it, but never seriously. The old pirate is gone," Tony said softly.

"He was a worthy leader," Thor added, in his quietest voice. Which really wasn't that quiet.

I stayed quiet while the others all discussed the newest development. What had happened? Who had done it? Who was going to take his place?

"Excuse me," I said quietly, pushing myself from the table.

Everyone else fell silent as I left the room, and I knew they were curious as to what my problem was. They all knew I wasn't Fury's biggest fan, but they didn't know why.

Once back in my room, I locked the door behind me. "JARVIS, make sure no one else is listening, please," I asked the invisible butler.

"The room is secure, Miss Emily," he told me, completely professionally. Then again, he was technically a computer.

"Thanks, J," I replied, before dialing a number on my phone from memory. When the other end was connected, I simply said, "Hi, Daddy."

AN: Well, here it is! And two whole days before the deadline I gave myself. Just so you know, this chapter starts the day after Steve and Natasha's mission at the beginning of CA:TWS. So the whole part with her asking him about his dating life was just her way of finding out if there was hope for Emily. She's a sly matchmaker :D

Anyway, thanks to all who read my last story, and a HUGE shout out to all who've reviewed/favorited/followed. Daddy's Little Girl has over 100 favorites and nearly 150 follows. You have no idea how much that means to me. I'm so glad you like Emily's story, and thanks to all who've continued on to read this one. I'm not sure when the updates will be, but I won't leave you hanging. Thanks everyone!