A/N I do not own anything might be mentioned in this chapter, or the MCU. I only own Natalia and this plot. This is six weeks later than the last chapter, and all of Natalia's injuries (with the exception of the cracked skull) have healed to the point she's had the casts taken off. Also, she's bonded with each of the Avengers, mostly Pietro, Wanda, and Peter.
Also, I know it's not called the 'Avengers Complex' but I prefer to call it that.
I unconsciously flex my stiff wrist. Despite extensive physical therapy, it's still stiff a lot, and it's looking like it'll stay that way. I'll just have to deal with it. My ribs are still tender, but healed. My leg is also sometimes stiff, but otherwise feels healed. The only thing that hasn't healed completely is my stupid cracked skull and amnesia.
I'm currently standing in my bedroom, resting all my weight on my right leg obviously. I don't want to risk falling, my left leg is still weak from six weeks of inactivity.
I survey my bedroom. It's walls are painted white, and it has white furniture, making it look really pale. There's a queen sized bed, two bookshelves, a large closet, a bed stand, a beanbag in the corner, a full size mirror in the other corner, and a desk. I currently have absolutely nothing to decorate the furniture with, so Tony asked me earlier if I wanted to go out to shop with him or Pepper. I agreed, and I'm going in a few minutes with Pepper. As I have no other clothes to change into other than the assortment of pjs I wore while I was recovering and a pair of shorts, t-shirt, and leather jacket, I obviously chose the shorts, t-shirt and leather jacket. For shoes, I chose a nice pair of converse. I quickly put my long black hair into a ponytail and head out of the door.
I walk out of my room and look around, realizing I don't know where to go. I see Clint at the end of the hall.
"Excuse me?" I call. He turns around and heads toward me. "Can you help me find the entrance of this place? I'm supposed to meet Pepper there and I just realized I don't know my way around," I say, grinning sheepishly. Clint shrugs.
"Sure thing. Follow me, kid," he orders, and I follow him through the Complex.
"Thanks!" I say once we reach the front door. I see Pepper, and walk over to her. She's holding crutches. Uh-oh.
"You're using these," she says, thrusting them at me. I know by now to not argue. It's pointless. I could probably win an argument against anyone but her and Natasha. They were unmovable.
I grab the crutches, holding them awkwardly. I haven't used them before.
"You'll get the hang of it," she assures me, and we head on out.
We go to several stores, and I get more shorts, a few hoodies, some sweatpants, and skinny jeans while we were casually talking.
We were in the local mall when I spotted some guys following us.
"Pepper-" I begin to say. She cuts me off.
"I know, Natalia, I know," is all she says. She calls Happy, our driver, but before he can get here, the guys are all the sudden right behind us. One of them tries grabbing the back of my leather jacket. I whirl and hit him over the head with the crutches. Two of the other guys continue to come at me, and one of them goes after Pepper. She's fighting back, winning the fight, and I have to focus on the two guys attacking me. One of them punches me in the eye, and I take my crutch and hit him over the head with it.
"Hey, what do you know, these things do come in handy," I mutter, knocking the last guy out.
"Oh my gosh Natalia, are you okay?" Pepper asks, rushing over to me. I shrug.
"They got a hit in on my eye, but that's all. Let's go, we're attracting a crowd," I advise, and we quickly leave the mall. Happy meets us half way out of the mall and walks with us to car. We drive silently home.
When we enter the Compound, all of the Avengers are standing near the entrance, looking grim. Even Tony doesn't say anything as we walk inside.
"What's wrong?" Pepper immediately asks, seeing them.
"Blitzschlag got out," Steve says quietly. Blitzschlag? That name sounds familiar. Hm…
"What happened to Natalia?" Bucky asks, seeing my eye, which by now is swollen shut. My head is starting to hurt.
"Four guys attacked us in the mall. Three of them went after her, and one came after me. With the exception of her black eye, there was no other injuries. At least for us. Them, on the other hand… Well, if you want to see the fight, you should just look it up. I'm sure it's blowing up right now," Pepper says, with some disgust.
"Before we look at that video, we need to get ice on that bruise," Steve says, and we all move to the kitchen, where I sit on the counter and put ice against my wound.
"Natalia, we have something to discuss," Pepper says, exchanging a look with Natasha. "Now, if everyone would please leave us for a few minutes?" She asks politely, and everyone files out. I sit nervously on the counter, worrying over what she might want to talk about.
"Yeah?" I ask her, trying to stay casual and not freak out.
"You know how Natasha has had temporary custody of you? Well, we discussed it, and if it's okay with you, I would like to have permanent custody of you."
"Yes! I mean, I'd love that! Thank you, Pepper!" I say, my face breaking into a smile. I don't know what I was expecting, but this sure wasn't it.
"Really? Wow. That was easier than I thought. I just have to finish some paperwork, and you're officially a Stark!" She says, smiling. I pause for a second.
"Does that mean Tony has custody of me too?" I ask, curious. I wouldn't mind it if he did, I just wanted to know.
"No, just me," she assured me. I don't know how that works, but okay. "Although to the public, you're going to be our adopted daughter. Also, because Stark's so popular, there's going to be a lot of publicity. Will you mind that?" She asks, clearly concerned. I shrug.
"I have a mom now. I don't care," is all I say. Despite not remembering anything about my past, I've been told my dad was evil and I never knew my mother.
A/N So Pepper and Natalia were attacked, but by who? Even I haven't figured that out yet. Also, I'm happy Pepper adopted Natalia. I know in a lot of fics, the kid is usually adopted by Natasha (and I love those fics), but I feel like Pepper is the right choice. She's the only emotionally stable person, plus she's around more often. And Natasha isn't exactly a good role model, despite currently being a good guy. I also lowkey (highkey) ship Clint and Natasha. Oh, another thing (this A/N is just one big ramble) Pepper and Tony are married. Yup.
Thanks for reading, and please please review!
-Elle
