Chapter One
Tony Stark sat with the other Avengers around the dining room table, eating lunch. They had all just returned from a mission the day before and were enjoying a day off. So far, Bruce and Tony had once again been holed up in the lab, working on upgrades to Natasha and Clint's uniforms to protect them from stray bullets and debris.
Natasha and Clint, who had received minor injuries due to bullets tearing through their uniforms, had been mainly sitting in the living room, alternating between watching tv and playing chess. Thor, who was confused by this so called "chess," took it upon himself to sit and watch. He valiantly cheered for the king to take down opponents, only to be confused when Clint explained that the king did not have significant power in the game.
Steve had been his usual leader self, walking around and checking on his teammates. He would bring Clint and Natasha water, and he would make sure Bruce and Tony had plenty of coffee. He himself was fine and had sustained no injuries, but he wanted to make sure his team was well taken care of. At 11:30, he had made lunch and demanded everyone eat together. It took some convincing for the scientists in the lab, but they finally agreed in order to appease Steve.
"I still do not understand. How can the king, such a mighty individual, be so powerless?" Thor looked sullen as he ate his lunch.
Tony raised an eyebrow as Clint sighed. "It's just how the game works Thor. We don't question the power of the pieces, we just do what the rules say."
Tony and Bruce looked confused until Natasha stage whispered, "Thor is concerned with the lack of power the king in chess possesses."
Tony cracked a smirk while Bruce shook his head and chuckled. "How long has this discussion been going on?"
Clint looked at his watch. "This is hour 2 and 23 minutes and 4 seconds."
Thor suddenly slammed his hand down. "Perhaps we should make a new chess game! The kind shall have the same powers as the queen, and they both shall rule equally in the game. Natasha, does this not align with what you call feminism?"
Tony snorted an uncontrolled laugh at Natasha's blank stare, contemplating whether to flip Thor over the table or poison his food. Thor, however, was oblivious, and he just smiled a large, proud smile for his solution. The other Avengers were infected by Tony's laugh and Thor's enthusiasm. Soon, they were all laughing and it felt like they were a normal group of friends.
Until JARVIS came over the intercom.
"Sir, there has been a terror attack in London. Director Fury is on the line." JARVIS flashed up a newscast of a smoking subway entrance in London, people were streaming away like ants, fleeing the scene. Another screen popped up showing Director Fury's face.
The Director spoke in his normal clipped tone, "Avengers, there has been an attack in London. I want you to suit up and head over there."
"With all due respect sir, this is more of a national security issue and garners foreign policy response. The Avengers deal with weird stuff. This is mostly normal." Bruce was calm and respectful, but it was clear by his words that Bruce did not want to interfere in London's affairs. The media nightmare that would arise from the Avengers interfering with world foreign policy would be tough even for Tony to smooth over.
Fury glared with his one eye at the group. "I need you to extract someone from London."
The Avengers sat up straighter. Extraction? Of who? Why? Was an agent compromised? But why have Earth's mightiest heroes handle something any standard SHIELD agent could handle?
"Who?" Natasha's voice brought the group out of their own minds. Fury frowned before looking off screen and holding up a picture. The picture showed a brunette little girl with curly pig tails wearing a blue school uniform. She had a wide smile with sparkling brown eyes and two missing teeth.
"This is Evelyn Johnson, age 7. She is of interest to SHIELD because we've been tracking her since she was five. Her intelligence is off the charts for a seven year old, and we believe the group behind the terror attack wants to kidnap her."
"Why have you been keeping tabs on a child?" Clint asked, studying the picture intently. He appeared to be memorizing every detail in preparation for the mission.
Fury glared at Clint. "That's classified." Tony raised an eyebrow before discreetly pulling out his phone. While pretending to pay attention to Eye-Patch, he hacked into SHIELD. He was pulling up the girl's information when Fury yelled at him.
"Stark, get out of my systems!" Fury turned off screen and wild tapping could be heard. The other Avengers turned to Tony and watched as he threw the girl's information up on the screen.
Her intelligence was measured and was indeed off the charts—she was a child genius. She was set to skip a few grades after finishing first grade. Her mother was Elise Johnson, a model in England. There was no mention of a father, and no scan of a birth certificate. There was, however, a file that said a few underground organizations had been tracking the girl in addition to SHIELD, attempting multiple times to kidnap her for her intelligence.
"You've been protecting her," Steve deduced aloud as Fury gave up on trying to keep Tony out. "But why?"
Fury opened his mouth only for Tony's phone to start ringing, an unknown number on the screen. He looked confused before answering.
"You've reached Tony Stark, for future calls please be sure to go through Pepper Potts. My business hours-"
"Mr. Stark, this is Sarah Welch of Child Protective Services in London, England." The cool professional voice of a woman flooded Tony's ears and he furrowed his brow in confusion. "I'm contacting you about Evelyn Johnson."
Tony for once cut the snark. "I'm sorry, I believe you have the wrong number. I don't have any relation or information on Evelyn Johnson." The other Avengers and Fury raised their eyebrows, though Fury looked as though he was forcing his confusion.
The woman on the other end of the line waited a beat before he heard the shuffling of papers. "Mr. Stark, do you recall the night of December 31, 2004?"
Tony frowned. That was specific. "I can't say that I do. That was a long time ago."
"Do you remember Elise Johnson, a supermodel at your New Year's Eve party?"
Tony again answered 'no' knowing for sure that at that time in his life he would have been too drunk to remember anyone that attended his parties, but he began to connect the dots. And then Ms. Welch confirmed them.
"Sir, on September 22, 2005, Elise Johnson gave birth to Evelyn Johnson. According to the birth certificate we have, you are listed as the father. Furthermore, Elise has written in her will that should something happen to her, Evelyn would be turned over to your care. It is with great sadness that I tell you Elise Johnson was killed in the subway explosion earlier today. She had been on her way to pick Evelyn up from school. We have her in my office now."
Tony had stopped listening after the word "father." He looked at the other Avengers before glaring at Fury. "Thank you ma'am. Give me time to get to London."
"Thank you Mr. Stark. Is there anything I should tell Evelyn?"
Tony sighed. "Tell her the truth to the best of your ability. Thank you, goodbye." He hung up the phone before returning his glare full force at Fury. "You knew."
"He knew what?" Steve asked, hoping to distract Tony from engaging in a screaming match with Fury.
Fury cut in hastily, wanting to deliver the news before Tony could. "Evelyn Johnson is Stark's daughter."
The Avengers were silent as the revelation settled over them. The looked to the picture JARVIS had projected. When they looked hard, they saw the similarities. The hair, the dark eyes with the mischievous glint. But they saw the soft curve of her face and rosy-cheeked complexion of a woman they did not know.
Clint spoke up first. "But she should be fine with her mother. We can't just sweep in and take her away."
Tony shook his head sadly. "Elise, her mother, was killed in the explosion. She had been on her way to pick Evelyn up from school."
A long pregnant silence settled over the team. It was horrifying that something so awful could happen to such a young child, especially one that looked as happy as Evelyn in the picture. It was a while before Tony spoke again.
"Elise had me in her will to continue Evelyn's care should anything happen to her." Tony stood up and looked at his team, his friends, conveying a new sense of purpose. "Let's go get her."
The other Avengers sprang to their feet and minutes later they were in the Quinjet headed to Tony's private plane. The team was in for a long ride.