Chapter 4- The Seraph and her silent cries

Gabriella woke up warm and comfortable, in her father's arms. She grinned as she took in the restful expression on her father's face. The way his mouth hung open and drool dripped out the side.

She looked to the side and was surprised to see Tony on the floor, her father's hand twirled through Tony's hair.

She was even more surprised to see Clint resting against her shoulder, Natasha's head in his lap. Thor was asleep on the arm of the couch, head lolling backwards while Steve was draped over a corner of the couch his hand resting in her hair. They all made one huge Avenger dog pile.

Gabriella smiled fondly at the mix-matched family she'd acquired. She pictured the photo of her and her mother that now rested in her backpack. If only her mother could see her now, she had found a family. She merely closed her eyes and snuggled back into her father's embrace. Waiting for the time when Fury would come to retrieve her.

-Later-

Tony was awakened by an angry shout, he didn't quite grasp what was shouted but as he blinked open his eyes he understood, Fury and a few SHIELD agents were standing at the door. Gabriella had been shoved behind Bruce and Clint. As Natasha, Steve and Thor all had weapons raised. Tony quickly walked between the two groups.

"Hey, guys. What did I miss?"

Tony laughed and Fury narrowed his eye.

"Move over Stark. I came for the girl, just as I said."

Fury snapped and shoved past Tony, coming to stand nose to nose with Bruce.

"Daddy, please move."

Gabriella whispered, as she hobbled past her father. She looked at all the Avengers, and went to each of them. She gently kissed Thor's forehead, ruffled Clint's hair, hugged Natasha, saluted Steve, hugged and kissed Bruce and then she went up to Tony, giving him a kiss before marching up to Fury and holding out her wrists.

He nodded to one of the agents who softly clipped handcuffs around her thin wrists. Fury marched out of the door, nodding to the agents as he passed. Gabriella made to follow him out the door but both agents stopped her.

One took out a camera and took a photo of her in her handcuffs, before putting the camera away and winking at each other.

"We'll it seems we have proof that we have Miss Banner in custody. So we can leave now."

One agent said to the other before both walked out the door and left Gabriella standing there, utterly confused.

"Wait, so I'm not going with them?"

She asked, confused as Tony ran over and scooped her up, grinning like a madman.

"Ha! It seems Fury was on our side after all!"

Tony cackled, as he hugged Gabriella tightly.

-TimeSkip-

The next few days were the best that Gabriella had had in a long time. In fact, she had never had so much fun in her life.

She loved everything about her new family. From the way Thor would eat all the pop-tarts to the way he would carry her on his shoulders when she wanted to feel tall. The way Tony would act all mean and stuck up, but when she was asleep would try to improve her braces.

She would always laugh at the way Steve would be totally clueless about the simplest tech, but she could always make him blush like a tomato when she called him Stevie. The way Clint would always watch violent TV shows with her and would always slow down when she couldn't keep up with him.

The way Natasha would act all cold and aloof but would teach her special fighting tricks she only needed her hands and arms to perform. But most of all she loved the way her father's eyes would light up when he talked about science and when she would sit up in the lab with him and Tony and would show him just how smart she was.

For as long as Gabriella could remember, she had loved space. The way she could chart the stars on a clear night from her mother's rundown apartment. The way they didn't change, how they were so constant.

It was after that, that Gabriella decided she wanted to be a Cosmologist. At first she had wanted to study Astronomy but then she decided she didn't want to just know about the universe, she wanted to know how it got there.

So she dove into Cosmology head on, not the study of make up, but the study of how the universe came to be. Stephen Hawking was her hero, he always had been. It was when she told her dream to her father that it really hit home to him she guessed.

That she wasn't just the broken child, but that she was above average intelligence, she was a genius just like her father.

She had never seen anyone light up that much accept her mother when she began to talk about her dreams. She had told her that she was just like her father, that she'd gotten his brain. It was one of the only things that had brought Betty joy in her last few months. She would have Gabriella sit on the bed with her and just talk.

Talk about cosmology, about Einstein's theories, about anything she wanted. And Betty would just lay there, listening to her daughter speak. That pretty voice with a more than slight lisp, telling her all about things she wanted to study when she got older. Betty sent a prayer to any God that may be up there, to help her daughter discover her dreams.