Chapter 4

Raven hobbled on her boot to the kitchen of Clint's farmhouse. Of all the cells she imagined Shield to throw her into, she never guessed a farm. Instead of being sullen and annoyed it was like they threw her into a five-star hotel. Despite the company being two Avengers who made notes each time she took a shit. The last time she was on a farm she was on an outing for foster kids. The first and last trip she was on before being kidnapped. No one wanted to take her because all the other children thought she was weird, and the other social workers morbid. She had begged her foster mother to let her go. Being on her best behavior to the point it was unsettling. It had been worth it.

While other kids fussed for a ride on the horse she wandered off and found the cow pen. One of the farmhands found her and let her pet one of the calves. Its eyes and soft hair were branded into her memory. Cows had such kind eyes, big and brown with long lashes. She made a joke about the mascara-lashes and the farmhand laughed. He even showed her the machine used to groom the cows because they liked being combed. Showing the cows taking turns rubbing up against it, smiling in their own way. She was the only one to have seen it. Most the kids called her daft for finding a smelly cow better than a horse, but she stood firm with her favoritism. She had been so proud of her trip she drew a picture of the farm hand, the cow and the machine. They pinned it up on the overcrowded fridge up until her last day at the house. Her foster father teased her daily saying she should own a farm one day. A diary farm so she could take care of cows all day without having to kill them.

The farm also reminded her of her worst nightmares. Not the kind that scare you but make you wake up in tears. Of being in her old bed at her foster home, only to come downstairs and find a Hydra lab. The farmhouse was everything she ever wanted, a sanctuary away from the world. Being there was equally soothing and frightening, because in the end this was still Shield. A prison on a stunning island. She was determined to act like everything was okay. Not like this a transit point. Raven was going to have a bowl of cereal and not think about the noose around her neck, or the chaos left in her wake. The farmhouse could catch fire right now and she'd keep eating.

"Hungry?" Clint asked. He entered the kitchen without a care, finding her reaching for something in the high cupboard shelf.

She wasn't used to living with caring housemates. Her handler often left for days. Somedays the fridge was stocked, other times she had to order out or make her own dinner. Having Clint and Natasha around (they said it okay to call them by their first names) wanting her to be comfortable made her nervous beyond articulation. They knew her secret but they weren't obligated to care. Did they pity her lot in life or had a decision been made behind her back? Either way their presence made her anxious like a fighting dog.

"Just looking for a snack." Balancing was hard on one foot with bad ribs but she was hellbent to succeed.

Clint snorted. "You could have just asked. The doctors want you to avoid any unnecessary strain, you did take a beating after all."

"I'm fine," she lied. Everyday for the past week she woke up in pain. Whether from her ribs, her shoulder or the fact she was on new meds that made her hypersensitive to everything. She gathered her old pills were all laced with something extra once she stopped taking her anxiety pills. Never did she think her whole prescription cocktail had to go. New heart meds, no sleeping pills, regular daily vitamins and on-the-shelf pain killers. She wondered while her nerves roared in distress, if her internal organs were singing hallelujah.

"Uh huh," he gestured for her to sit down. "What do you want?"

"I'll have an apple then," she deadpanned. If he was getting food for her she wouldn't ask for anything else. No one was going to accuse her of ordering anyone around. "See? I had it all under control."

He rolled his eyes, seeing through her ploy. "How about some yogurt with that? Tasha won't mind."

Raven didn't protest as he set her up with a plate, knife, an apple and the carton of yogurt. Natasha liked those greek flavors that she too, secretly adored. She had to retain a squeal of delight when she was offered one. Weeks of being in a bunker without proper food, being fed through needles, Raven craved pigging out on all her favorite snacks. Before her imprisonment she had ridiculous food restrictions that went beyond safeguarding her heart. Retaining her glee she began to cut the green apples into even thin wedges. Plenty for the portion of yogurt. Clint chuckled at her diligent concentration. Orderly without fail, come what may.

"You always do everything seriously huh?"

"Eh?... I guess." She frowned at his statement. If everyone would leave her alone she might actually unwind. It wasn't her fault all this supervision made her jittery and snippy. She hadn't been babied since she was eight.

He joined her at the table with water bottle. "Look, Natasha wants me to tell you that someone is coming by today." His smirk fell away. "A visitor who wants to see you."

"An agent?" She guessed. The bell was getting ready to toll for her after all.

"No. It's... It's Tony. Tony Stark. Natasha's bringing him here, he wants to meet you."

Clint figured Raven would either be a cold, tinier version of Natasha or a pain in the ass like Tony. Even after being tortured and imprisoned for six months Tony bounced back. Raven never spoke and she like to stare out into the endless fields. Her silence might have intimidated him if she didn't jump like a spooked cat whenever they spoke to her. Or the fact she spent a whole day doodling on her boot like a five year old with colored Sharpies. He guessed it was related to the constant string of abuse she experienced since she was four. When you kept to yourself no one had cause to hurt you. Yet to think someone as damaged as her going through hell and clawing her way out without any help was astonishing. She was horrendously amazing, but she was just a kid in the end. A kid who watched her dad become a hero while no one rescued her.

Her face changed at the mention of Tony's name. Surprise, disbelief and back to that frown. It was a cute frown, her nose scrunched up, lip twisting into scowl. She never expected him to come. Tony was somewhat of an asshole but he never doubted he would want to see Raven. Did Hydra teach her that he'd never help her? That they were the only people who would care about her? It was basic conditioning. For that reason primarily, Natasha insisted that Fury tell Tony about Raven. They believed he might surprise Fury, and help Raven. She had done nothing but survive, she shouldn't be punished for that.

"He just wants to meet you," he added when she resumed to cutting her apple. Now slicing down like a guillotine. She said nothing and kept her gaze down. "He won't stay long if you don't want him to."

It occurred to him Raven might be scared to meet Tony. At a loss about what to do or say. He pitied her in that respect. She was kidnapped and tortured because she was his daughter. Her life was stolen to become better than him and help Hydra eliminate Shield and the Avengers. Her purpose was the destroy his legacy. Clint couldn't begin to list all the conflicting emotions swimming in her head; torn between what Hydra beat into her head and what she truly felt.

She said nothing and moved to open the carton of yogurt. Just as her fingers pulled back on the foil cap a car horn beeped. From the first honk Raven's other hand clenched around the carton in a vice. Sending yogurt all over her hand and the table. She immediately start to shake, stammering apologies and hyperventilating like she spilled nuclear waste. Clint rose for a paper towel wiping her hands and the table. Brilliant timing, he thought sarcastically. Doing his best to be quick but deft with his clean up.

They learned in the first few days Raven didn't like being touched. She tolerated being held by her hands or forearms but anything higher sent her recoiling like a cobra. Along with people standing too close. Typical abuse victim behavior; wary of any and all threats to her person. When he took her hand into his, he instantly felt how stiff she became, like a corpse in rigor mortis. Fingers still curled like she was still holding the yogurt cup. She was a rabbit playing dead for the predators.

In the corner of his eye he saw Natasha's red hair at the door. Behind Raven's head he made a signal for her the back up. Raven wasn't ready for any company. She saw him and her hair disappeared from the front of the porch. He turned back to Raven.

Soothed her he said, "It was an accident. No big deal." He tossed the soiled tissues on the table.

"I didn't mean to do that." The way her voice cracked at the most mundane accidents killed him. What did Hydra do to her?

He nodded, "I know you didn't mean to do that." With no missions he was glad to help Raven out. One psychological trauma survivor to another. Hydra had played with her mind and emotions at the worst points in her life. Picking at all the cracks until she crumbled. She was in desperate need of a second chance, and some patience. "It's okay. I needed to practice my clean up skills anyways."

"I didn't mean to do that," she repeated much slower and softer. "I didn't mean to do that." And just like that she crawled away from the world. Beating her fingers against the edge of the table. Whenever she had a panic/anxiety attack her instant coping mechanism was humming or drumming a beat with her fingers. After a few minutes she'd come out of it like she never left. Clint sighed in defeat, resuming his clean-up while Raven powered through her ordeal.

"What's going on?" Tony questioned.

Natasha lead him up to the empty farmhouse from the nearest airport, which wasn't that close at all. He hadn't seen the place since the fiasco with Ultron. It sank in as he walked up the steps, that his daughter was in there. He ran here to hideaway from the monster he created. Now he was returning to see someone he created that Hydra trained to be a monster. A bizarre deja vu. If Cap was here he might have something to say about it. And just when he thought the suspense was finally going to be over, Natasha stopped him.

"We can't go in yet... Raven's not ready for company just yet." She gestured to a swing-chair near the door. "Clint will let us know when she's ready."

Tony took a seat beside Natasha. Was she getting ready or something? Maybe she was just as nervous as he was right now. She knew about him for years, probably watched his life as it went by in high and lows. Thinking of how he behaved before Iron Man, he wondered if she saw that too. What she thought of him. Picturing a little girl watching him run around, party, advocate weapons of mass destruction made him want to sit in the car and hide like a drunk kid staggering home in shame. How old was she when he became Iron Man? When Ivan Vanko almost killed him? During the Manhattan Invasion? Ultron?

"So," he clapped his hands briskly together. "I'm surprised you haven't said anything."

Natasha sighed. "You don't need anyone kicking you in the teeth right now. You didn't know about her, no one can blame for that. Hydra intercepted the letter her godmother sent to you. You couldn't have known."

"It's like Hydra's obsessed with me or something," he quipped.

She gave him a sympathetic smile. "She's not as bad as Fury might have made her sound... She just caught us off guard. Her file was buried deeper than Bucky Barnes'."

Mentioning Bucky made Tony's jaw clenched. Hearing his name reminded Tony of how intricately Hydra had attacked his family. How he had to look into the eyes of his parents' killer and just deal with it. Steve was considerate enough not to bring Barnes around him unless absolutely necessary. Seeing him prodded at the ancient wounds, threatening to tear them open. Pepper loved to say, one day it will be easier to look at him. But presently he couldn't stomach thinking about him.

"Don't bring that up please," Tony reminded Natasha.

"I was only making the point that Hydra buried her deeper than any of us could have stumbled upon. We wouldn't have found her if she hadn't blown up that base." She reassured him, "Nick was more shellshocked than you. He never imagined something like this might happen again. And so soon."

"That's why he's so ready to tuck her away?" Tony snorted. "To live with himself?"

"Aren't you here for the same reason? So you can live with yourself, no matter the outcome?" She pointed out. "She's not what you think she is. Her file makes her sound more intimidating than she really is in person."

"You are trying to make feel better?"

Her smile fell away. "If you're going to do what I think you are, you need to hear this. She needs help and a lot of patience. She wanted to get out of Hydra. Went through a lot of hell to do it. Raven needs somewhere safe to recover, to start over. She's young," she added, "much younger than when I got out. There's hope."

Natasha's past wasn't so secretive anymore. The Red Room, the training, her life before Shield and Clint. It gave Tony the confidence to ask, "How bad was it?" In respects to Raven.

"She doesn't talk about it but I've notice things. Scars, behavior patterns, PTSD symptoms. Rebellious spirits are hard to break, and she's not all that broken."

She was cut short by Clint knocking on the door, and stepping outside. He nodded in greeting to Tony a dish towel tossed over his shoulder. "Just give her a minute." He glanced over his shoulder. "She had a little episode again."

"I expected as much," said Natasha. To Tony she explained, "When Raven has a panic-slash-anxiety attack she zones out for several minutes and fidgets with her fingers. When she snaps out of it, she goes on like nothing happened."

Tony blinked. "Wait, she had an episode – Just now?" The assassinations barely blinked at this news. "Does she do that a lot?"

"It just certain things. It's expected," Natasha reassured. "The first night she had a nightmare and threw herself out the bed. Almost broke her other leg."

Seeing Tony's stunned expression Clint took over. "She broke her right leg, burned her right shoulder and has fractured ribs. Still doesn't want any help with anything," he added grumpily. "She'd break every other bone in her body before she takes a helping hand." He peered over his shoulder into the house. "She's eating again. You ready?"

Tony threw up his arms, "As ready as I'll ever be."

If she appeared sick in the picture, in person she was a well put-together zombie. She didn't raise her head at his entrance. Although he made sure his footsteps were loud enough, short of becoming cartoonish. Her gaze was focused on her yogurt and apple slices. She isn't going to look at me unless I talk to her, he thought tiredly. Tony had no clue what to say. He saw the huge bandage on her shoulder and her rigid posture in the chair. Was she in pain? It was jarring to think a sixteen year old fought her way out of a Hydra base without getting any life threatening injuries. He glanced down at her boot and noticed the dainty drawings on them. Trees, birds, waves, butterflies and boats were laid out like a tattoo sleeve. Some of them even ran together like a collage. She's artistic, he noted. I can work with that.

"Hi," he weakly announced himself. "Is this seat taken?" He pointed to the chair beside her, opposite her propped up leg.

God, she did look like his dad. The way she stared at him brought back memories, Howard questioning and irritated. With a lazy shrug from her, he sat down. Her face was seriously bruised, some of them were faded to yellow while the others were still dark and swollen. It was hard to tell where her black eyes ended and dark circles began. Looking at her made him guilty somehow. Where was he when she was being beat down? Plotting her escape and fighting to stay alive?

"So Raven is it?" She returned her gaze down to her lunch. But at least she looked at him for half a minute. "Rough week huh?"

Even he had to wince at himself. He talked himself through worse situations, why was he so tongued tied? Raven shrugged once more, "The farmhouse's new."

He was startled at her voice when she spoke. It broke his concentration and gave him the opportunity for small talk. "That's a hell of an accent you got there." Her accent was thick and unmistakeable. He didn't expect her to still have it despite only living there for eight years of her early childhood. Before Hydra started moving her around. Come to think of it he never met any Irish Hydra operatives.

"I was born there," she deadpanned.

Her clipped tone went vaguely unnoticed. "And you still got it huh? You would think after eight years -"

"I go back sometimes," she snapped. Realizing her volume she quieted down. "For my birthday and stuff... Not like anyone cared about me going back."

Whether she was embarrassed over losing her cool, or wounded at being forgotten, the knife in his gut twisted. He knew what it was like to feel forgotten, like when his father shipped him off without a care. She was breaking his heart. What he supposed to say after that? He couldn't imagine asking about her childhood.

"So what are you planning to do after you're off house arrest?"

"Disappear," she stated scooping a dollop of yogurt on an apple slice. "I'm sick of being Raven." She tucked the slice into her mouth, averting her eyes from him.

It was the nicest jab anyone ever took at him. He had prepared himself for the typical I Hate You and You Ruined My Life rants. Instead Raven politely and discreetly said she was "sick" of being affiliated with him. A crystal glass insult. It was a relief she hadn't blamed him to his face, it meant he had a chance. He could make this right, for the both of them.

"Maybe you need to give Raven one more chance," he suggested. "I mean you think Raven has nowhere to go once she's all better. What if I say there's a room at Avengers Tower with her name on it?" He paused to gather himself, if he pitched this wrong she wasn't going to bite. And he wouldn't drag her out there kicking and screaming. "No commitment. Stay as long as you want to figure stuff out. Rent free."

He expected an immediate response but Raven was baffled, doing a double take like she hadn't heard him right. Cheek swollen with food she stared down at her hands, and began to fidget. He didn't know why he envisioned hyperactive finger twitching. Like a bored child as a restaurant she rhythmically tapped the table edge, he couldn't make out if it was a tune or a morse code. Had he set her off? Great going Stark. Haplessly watching he sat powerless as she began to manically hum to herself, eyes squeezed shut tuning the world out. Despite remembering Clint telling him she rode these episodes out on her own, he felt compelled to help. Thinking if he halted her drumming she might snap out it, he lifted his hand to hold her hands. Reaching for her hands she leapt back like an angry snake. What happened next was a combustible domino effect.

Inches from her hands she propelled herself backwards, spooked. With a high pitched yelp the chair she was sitting on slide back. Resulting in her foot, resting in the chair beside her, to lose its balance making her curse quite colorfully as she flapped for stability. Tony mortified of the agony she would be in if she fell, rushed to push her back toward the table. Luckily she lifted her foot to prevent that other chair from sliding away too. By the end of it the pair were side by side, out of breath.

"Everything okay in there?" Clint questioned when he all but ran in. He glanced from Stark to Stark awaiting an explanation.

Without a glance at the other party they both responded. "Nothing."

Their synchronized answers surprised them both. Tony gawked at her and Raven vice versa. There was no words to describe what happened. After a few moments of silence Tony began to chuckle to himself. Thinking their little party trick was a sign that they should give each other a chance. She didn't think so. Raven bit her lip and turned her eyes away somewhat embarrassed. His laugh died down and he shrugged to Clint. He couldn't always have everything.

Within two weeks her world transformed from a snow globe to a spinning top. No one was acting the ways she anticipated. Tony Stark came to see her and stayed for dinner. Having him sitting across from her at dinner stole her appetite. Seeing him was disorientating enough, eating with him was pushing it. With a shrivelled stomach she excused herself to go sit on the front steps, staring up at the sky. Tony's offer buzzed around her ears for the whole day. Be Raven for a little while longer. Come to New York and live in the Tower. She gnawed at her knuckles wracking her brain for all the ways this could go wrong. What was she even supposed to do at the Tower? Twiddle her thumbs all day? Not that she wanted Shield work in place of Hydra work. It was a question of what was in it for Tony Stark.

"You really put your fingers through a lot."

His jabs weren't helping her indecision either. She turned away from him chewing at her knuckles incessantly. He noisily sat down beside her. What was his problem? He wanted to see her, but now he wouldn't leave. His presence was spoiling her well-thought out plan. Worse than the iceberg that sunk the Titanic.

"Clint said you like views. You know at the Tower we have a great view of the city. If you like an apartment with a view," he added lightheartedly.

He was trying so hard to initiate a conversation, but Raven had no idea what to tell him. What did he even want her to say? Bravely she glanced at him. She never fathomed being this close to Tony Stark. He was always this person on tv or a glossy picture in magazines. Forever out of reach and not quite real. Now beside him she saw his age, the pores on his face, the movement of his chest as he breathed. He was so tangible and real, her ears and noses smoked with steam. This was her father, no longer a sad daydream. She spent years wondering what she'd ask him, what to tell him and how to react. After all she went through with Hydra, to get to a moment like this was unfathomable. All her plans had turned to ashes, along with her silly daydreams. The magic of meeting him was now a bag of cheap confetti.

"Not a talker huh?" He turned to her and Raven darted her eyes away.

How long had she been gawking at him like an idiot? He probably thinks I'm mental, she thought hunching her head closer to her chest. She didn't care if it hurt her ribs a little. She wanted to disappear.

"I know, I know," he sighed. "You didn't really want to meet me anyways. You were ready to disappear and put the past ten years behind you. I just -"

"I didn't think you would come," Raven interrupted. If she never got to see him again, she was going to be as honest as she could risk. Much louder she said, "I didn't want to ask because I didn't know if you would care or not. My godmother said you wouldn't want to meet me. Ever."

Her Auntie Irene, who's wish to get rid of her came true in the way she never imagined. When she figured out the father she had wasn't her real father, she nagged her for information. After two constant years of pestering Raven had a handful of clues. He was an American businessman and clever like her. He didn't know she existed, and if he did he wouldn't want to meet her. He had lots of money and no time for a strange, naughty daughter. Hydra coddled this fear like a seedling. To confess it made her wring her fingers over and over.

"What?" His face contorted in confusion. "Your godmother said that? But wasn't she trying to -"

"She wanted to get rid of me. She just had to die for it to happen." Raven clenched her fingers, twisting them like a stubborn rag. "I kept nagging her about you, who you were and what you were like – because she said she met you. I guess she either wanted you to take me off her hands or piss off and get me to shut up about you."

"So you thought I wouldn't come?" She nodded. "Is that why you're all...?" He gestured to her frantic hands. She stiffly bobbed her head, embarrassed at her lack of composure. He rubbed his head studying her nervous tick. "She told you I wouldn't want you?"

"Because I was bad and no one wanted a mad dog in their house," she supplied.

"She told you that to your face?" Exclaimed Tony.

There was a lot of things her godmother told her. From calling her mother a whore to trying to get her committed to a children's asylum. Shield thought Hydra made her monster, they only perfected the mould. It was one of the reasons she edited her personal files and kept one true copy for herself. With several of her original tutors and associates dead, her origins were becoming their own mythos. The more Hydra thought their plans worked in creating the perfect leader, the better it was for her. It made her escape possible because no one was prepared for her standoff or the fact she blew the base up. Abuse never broke her, it made her stronger.

"She didn't like me very much... She didn't want to take care of me after what happened, so she kept trying to get rid of me."

"Why?"

"Because it was her fault and she knew that I knew. She told my mum's boyfriend I wasn't his, and he went bonkers. Got drunk and tried to drown me in the tub, my mum came home and he bashed her face in in the living room." The memory used to throw her into hysterics. Now it was an acidic ache in the back of her skull. "She managed to pull me out the tub before he took her to the living room... There's a big stain on the floor where all the blood went. Auntie Irene poured bleach on it everyday when she saw it. She swore blood was stuck in between the splinters."

Raven broke into the old flat the last time she was in North Dublin. The new tenants covered the discolored splotch with a massive carpet, completely ignorant to its true identity. They probably thought it was renovation accident gone wrong. She stroked the spot, one last time. Saying goodbye to the horror the memory held in her heart, her mother and the spot she took her last breath. She never visited the neighborhood again.

Tony was now tense, staring out into the field. "Are you alright?" She asked. In the corner of her eye Raven saw Tony becoming pale.

His voice was tight and strained. "That's a lot to take in. And you were four?"

"Five when the county put me in the foster care system," she added. "A year or so later I was in Hydra."

Tony grimaced. "You can't catch much of a break huh? No wonder you want to get a clean slate, yours is pretty much about to tip over."

"Foster care wasn't so bad, I was only in two homes. The first one was shit but the last one was okay."

"What happened in the first one?"

"People hate when kids are smart enough to call them out," she stated. "They thought I'd benefit from a heavily structured household. It made me act out more." Tony rubbed his nose bridge. "I'm sorry, I said too much. I'll shut up."

"Hey, no," he hastily assured her. "I just need a second. It's everyday you meet your daughter and find out her life makes hell look like a yoga retreat."

Raven thought she'd be more offended with his stupid jokes. "It's more like if the Divine Comedy was a Winnie the Pooh book."

Tony guffawed. "That's a good one. You're pretty funny when you're in the mood." After a light pause he spoke again. "I want to make some things right. I'm not much of dad – to be fair, I just found out I am one. And how bad of dad would I be if the day after I meet my daughter for the first time, she disappears out of existence." He glanced at her to see a transparent smile on her face. His excitement was welcoming. "Is that a smile? At least I can do that right."

His regretful tone urged Raven to speak. There was a pause as his smile died down. "Meeting you was nice. I never thought I would, but you don't want to live with me. I'd be an awful flat mate," she rambled, "I don't sleep much so I just skulk about the place. I appear out of thin sometimes too. Plus I hear you have a girlfriend, she probably won't like me. I shouldn't come into your house and wreck every -"

Tony touched her hand, she jumped from the contact but didn't pull away. His grip was gentler than she expected. It didn't pinch or make her flesh crawl. "Hey, I'm no prize either. Ask anyone, nine times out of ten they'll call me an asshole – which is a horrible way to prove my case, but I digress." He patted her clenched palms. "My girlfriend is completely okay with you moving in. And insomnia is totally fine, I've had a few late nights myself. This isn't a roommate agreement where I kick you out if you don't pay rent or do the dishes. If you move in you'll have a permanent spot on the lease." He squeezed her hands. "It'll be your home Raven."

Raven wasn't a chatty person so a nod was all he got for an answer. On the surface he was collected and certain but, deep down he was shitting himself. He just let in a girl he barely knew into his home. Something about how adamantly she believed he wouldn't want her, her godmother beating her down before Hydra stuck their claws into her, got to him. There was no way he'd live with himself, letting her think she never had a chance being a part of someone's family. Sure he laid on the charm and persuasion a bit. He refused to leave the farm without her. It'd feel like the biggest regret of his life if he did.

He texted Pepper once Natasha started helping Raven pack. His hands shook a little and he craved a strong drink. It was hard to imagine her whole life fit into an oversized duffle bag. Her room was going to be a bit empty when she unpacked. Though he was sure once she settled in she'd decorate it however she wanted.

Until now it hadn't dawned on him what he was doing. He was unofficially adopting Raven, along with a new plate of responsibilities and duties. There were going to be articles, pictures and gossip spreads. Most of all, there were going to be questions. He and Pepper were going to have to work an air tight story for that. Technically Raven had already been adopted according to the county of North Dublin. All they had to do was surgically play down the kidnapping and her initial role at Hydra. If they didn't and the media found out a kid was stolen to topple Shield, it'd be a nightmare. More accusations of corruption in Shield, demanding answers, and worse of all the scrutiny of Raven.

Okay, he internally calmed himself, we'll just keep her in the Tower until we have a good story. Something we can all agree on. Fury preferred the easy way of making her disappear, and yet he gave him this chance to do it the hard way. Tony wouldn't be surprised if Clint and Natasha were planning a victory dinner when he left.

He texted Pepper once more as Raven said her goodbyes to Clint and Natasha. She's coming, he typed. Don't freak out if she doesn't talk much. Remind me to look into Shield affiliated psychological and physical therapists. She might need some extra clothes.

What do you mean extra clothes? She responded back.

She hardly has anything. The clothes she had on were Clint and Nat's. But she's definitely a size small. Small everything. Extra small if you can find it.

Okay.

Tony chortled at her response. He could practically hear her sighing to herself. He was preoccupied on wracking his brain for anything else Pepper might forget, when Clint snuck up behind him.

"Shield is gonna lose their mind when they hear about this. Another Stark," he teased.

Ignoring the excitement and queasy jolt down his spine, he smirked the comment off. Another Stark. He pictured Pierce saying the same thing with an evil grin. Knowing full well he killed the last one. What would his dad have said if he knew how twisted his legacy had become?

Tony wagged his phone in Clint's face. "Me and Pep will handle the press. You and Natasha slip Fury some Tums." He spied out Natasha and Raven still talking. "Those two got close pretty quick." Hopefully she and Pepper would be the same.

"Yeah," Clint smirked. "We all swore Hydra made another Red Room. I think Tasha's happy she was something else, and it helps she reads Raven like a book."

"I'm suddenly imagining Steve's reaction to this. Another one of my secrets causing problems in Shield."

Clint snorted. "You know better than anyone, Steve's hobby of rescuing and housing Hydra defectors. He'll be the last to talk."

That part of Steve Tony missed right about now. He did miss talking to the boy scout, he'd probably have some good advice for him. But like poison, Barnes' sin spread to everything Tony held dear.

So they finally meet! I decided to give you guys a long chapter after dragging it out for so long. As always tell me what you think, review to fuel my fingers and enjoy!

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