A/N I do not own any of the characters or their original stories. I'm looking for a beta reader! Please R&R for a happy author.
Pepper sat on the right side of the couch, carefully cradling a blonde head in her lap. She looked up to Tony, her eyes pleading and full of concern. The billionaire carefully knelt next to Fury and took in the small figure that was lying under a blanket in front of him. Long, wavy blonde locks were spilled all over Pepper's lap and covered part of the girl's face. Tony carefully wiped them away to get a better look at her sweet face. The girl's eyes were closed tightly, her golden lashes rested on her cheeks and casted small shadows in the dim light. She had a small nose surrounded by some light freckles and pink lips, which were pressed together in pain. A small frown adorned the girl's forehead, causing a crinkle in her smooth pale skin. Suddenly, a tear escaped and trickled down her cheek. Pepper wiped it away and gently stroke the girl's hair in an attempt to soothe her. Fury moved to take her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. Tony had never seen him this caring, but resisted to make a snarky comment about it. "What happened to her" he asked.
Director Fury sat down on the floor and shook his head. "We happened to her" he said. The playboy raised a questioning eyebrow. "Well that's informative." Nick gave him an annoyed glance and sighed. "Technically she belongs to us and to your father. He helped to create her." Tony Stark shot upright in disbelief and anger. "Howard created her? Was one super human not enough for him?" Next to him Steve cringed at this comment and Stark shot him an apologetic look, but he was in no mood for sweet-talk. "Of course it was not enough for him. It was never enough! And who's the one who has to clean up his mess… me!"
Nick Fury raised his hand and the billionaire shut up, seething on the inside. "Please Tony, that's not the point now. She's there and we'll have to deal with it." Nick gestured to one of the agents and Tony was handed a file with pictures and data. "May Lynne is essentially a normal human being, aside from some extra genes." Tony huffed sarcastically while flipping through the files. "Dragonfly, jellyfish, butterfly, oh and even some sort of nematode. Sure a very normal human being. What the hell were you trying to make?" Fury shrugged. "DNA is the same for every creature, it's easy to transplant. I'm not sure what she was supposed to be, but when she was born there was nothing special about her so they declared the experiment a failure. That was 23 years ago and she was given to the women who had given birth to her."
The director was interrupted by Bruce, who shoved past the men on the floor and sat down on the armrest, the water bowl in his lap. He dipped in the towel and carefully placed it on the girl's forehead. "Her fever is rising." Tony looked up at him. "So she has the flu, everyone call the press! Geez guys stop wasting my time!" He made ready to get up when Clint put a firm hand on his shoulder and pushed him back down. "Stop being an ass, Tony, and hear the director out." Annoyed, the playboy shook off his hand and whined "but what do you need ME for then. You've got your doctor and a bunch of mother hens to take care of the chick. I wanna go back to my plasma accelerator!" Pepper took a tip of the blanket and pulled it back, exposing the bare back of the girl. "We need YOU to find out what is causing THIS" and she pointed to darkened spots on the girl's shoulder blades.
He hated to admit it, but Tony was intrigued. He got on his knees and took a closer look, gently poking the too warm skin. The girl let out a whimper and weakly tried to move away. Pepper gave her boyfriend a chiding look. "Careful!" Stark mumbled an apology and caressed the dark spots. They felt oddly dry and the skin was so thin he could see the veins running underneath. A lot of veins. The billionaire frowned, there were not supposed to be that many. Very carefully, he tried to move the girl's skin to get a better look. He startled when suddenly a crack appeared with a soft ripping sound. Natasha gasped and Bruce yelled "Tony!" Tony quickly removed his hands. "I was only touching her very gently! Her skin is thin and dry like parchment." "Our doctors tried to heal those spots with all kinds of cream and lotions, but nothing seems to work. Every now and then chips will fall off." Fury informed him. "Her skin seems to become thinner and thinner. She's been like this for 3 days now."
Tony rubbed his face. "Well I may be genius, but I'm not a doctor. I have no idea what's going on. All I can see is the enormous amount of veins running underneath those patches, many more than humans are supposed to have." He took the girl by her small shoulders and turned her a bit to the light. "She doesn't seem to be in pain aside from those weird spots. JARVIS, scan her back and compare the date with an average girl of her age." "Yes sir, scanning in progress" the AI informed him. The genius Stark rubbed his eyes. It was way too damn early in the morning for this, he needed coffee. He got up, wobbled to the kitchen and made a mental note to never sit on his knees again. Tony felt his teammates staring at him and grinned. "Coffee, anyone?" He got several nods and yawns in return. "Girl may be dying and all he can think about is his goddamn coffee" he heard Clint muttering. The playboy's smirk widened and he threw a sofa pillow at the archer. "Don't get your lacey panties in a bunch, Legolas. I can't do anything until JARV is done scanning, I need data, remember? Now if you will shut up and help me with getting the party their coffee." He quickly duck as Clint tossed the pillow back and mock-danced his way to the kitchen with the grumpy man on his heels. "Good boy!"
Natasha shook her head as she watched the two men disappear. "Guys…" Thor was staring sleepily at the little figure on the couch. "I do not comprehend why we all have to attend this young lady's sickbed. I am in no way familiar with her, nor am I able to assist her at this moment." Natasha couldn't agree more and flopped down in one of the lazy chairs. Steve was pacing back and forth through the room. "Isn't there anything we can do to make her more comfortable?" Pepper shook her head. "Other than to keep her warm and hydrated, no. I'm afraid we have to rely on Tony for this one." She continued stroking the girl's hair, which seemed to have a calming effect on the patient. Nick Fury took May Lynne's small hand and awkwardly held it. He was clearly not used to soothing people. Soon after Clint came back into the living room, carrying a tray with cups and a huge coffee pot. Tony followed him with a plate of cookies and pop tarts, which make Thor sit up straight and rub his eyes. "Finally, some edibles for a hungry stomach!" he bellowed. "Thank you, my friend!" The demi god was immediately shushed by Bruce and Pepper and he mumbled a crumb-filled apology. Tony managed to rescue a cookie and nibbled happily on it while he listened to JARVIS's report.
"I compared her data with Caucasian females of her age, as that seemed to be the most appropriate reference group. Her general physical condition does not deviate from standard, aside from the raised temperature caused by the fever. Also, she is relatively small for her age and nationality. The most significant deviation is in the area of her shoulder blades." Tony huffed "no shit, Sherlock." JARVIS ignored him and continued explaining. "That area appears to contain much more muscular tissue than normal. This tissue extends from her shoulder blades to her chest. The increased muscle mass is accompanied by a large expansion of the vascular network. My scans indicate a very high energy consumption in these tissues, as if it is still developing. There also seems to be development of another tissue. I do not have sufficient data as to deduct the nature of this material. The skin above the highly active areas is being dehydrated and broken down for unknown reasons. The fever and pain is likely to be caused by the active processes at her shoulders" the AI concluded. Anthony dipped his cookie into his coffee and thoughtfully sucked on it. The rest of the team stared at him, waiting for him to make some sense of the jibber-jabber JARVIS had produced. Only Bruce seemed to have understood and was carefully investigating the dry patches on the girl's back.
Tony snapped out of his thoughts, popped the remains of the cookie into his mouth and smirked wryly. "Seems like she has something growing on her back"
