Chapter Nine

Rosie:

When I awoke, every muscle in my body ached. My brain throbbed inside my skull, pounding a violent migraine into action. I groaned, sitting up slowly. It was a struggle to keep my eyes open. They felt heavy, like someone had attacked hundred pound weights to my eyelids.

I looked around groggily. I was surrounded by glass. Four walls of thick pristine glass. Fear coursed through me.

No.

I bolted upwards to my feet, causing my leg to cry out in pain. Rolls of heavy bandages were wrapped over my jeans and around my calf, exactly where the arrow had punctured my flesh.

"You can take that off now," I heard a voice say. "It's probably healed."

I looked up to see Tony Stark and Steve Rogers, the two of them on the opposite side of the glass. Tony was standing tall, arms crossed over his chest, his dark eyes watching me intently. There was a gash that sliced across his cheek. Steve was in the corner, leaning against the wall. He looked lost in thought. There was one other man I didn't know who was with them, with dark hair and a bag of arrows slung over his shoulder, lounging comfortably on the floor. I realized quickly that his must be Clint, the archer, the one who shot me. I glared at him.

"So I guess it's back to the drawing board, huh?" I said, my eyes challenging all three of them. "What makes you think I can't escape this one?"

"Because this is the same prison that held Loki," Tony said, stalking towards me to stand only a few mere feet away from the glass. "And he barely managed to escape it. Plus, we're on a Helicarrier. So even if you did, by some miracle, escape—which you can't—you have nowhere to go except back here."

I tried to fight back my frustration. No escape meant I was here forever. "Where's Fury?" I asked. The last thing I wanted was him taking me by surprise. I might be a prisoner, but I wanted to know where that mad man was at all times.

"In a meeting with the press and the government," Tony said flatly. "Fixing all the trouble you caused in New York."

I felt my face twist into a snarl. Tony scowled right back, every muscle in his body tensing. That was when I noticed the bright yellow bandage wrapped around his arm. How much damage had I caused him?

"What's that for?" I asked, curious but not concerned.

"Blood test," Tony said, his eyes still glaring into mine. "Are you trying to pull a prank or something?"

I scoffed. "Yes," I said. "That's exactly what I'm doing. This is all a very big, very elaborately detailed prank. Do you like it? I've sent the entire city of New York into a frenzy, and purposefully caught the eye of S.H.I.E.L.D. just to get locked in this glass prison. Funny, isn't it. Ha ha, ha ha." My mock laughter echoed through my room, my voice dripping sarcasm.

Steve gave a low chuckle from the corner. "She has your personality…" I heard him murmur.

"Shuddup, Spangles," Tony snapped, his dark eyes then turning back to me. "That's not what I'm talking about and you know it. Natasha told me your little secret."

I raised my eyebrows. "So you know?"

"Do I know that you're my daughter? Yes. The blood test confirmed that," Tony said, a strong amount of dislike in his voice eminent. "Do I believe it? Of course not."

Pain washed through me. I could've collapsed right there, but I locked my legs in place. Any other kind of pain I could take, but this was unbearable. It wasn't physical pain, but mental, and it stung me to the bone. I'm not going to lie, I'd caught myself several times in the past imagining what it would be like to tell Tony he was my father. I hadn't expected him to greet me with open arms, but the man was so cold, glaring at me in an almost accusing way. I knew I was a monster, but I'm still his kid. Wasn't it just one of those things where you're supposed to instantly love them, no matter what?

"What?" I asked, not attempting to mask the pain in my tone. I saw Steve's eyes fill with hurt, and I even thought I saw a glimmer of compassion in Clint's. But Tony, however, remained firm, his face strictly set in a cold, hardened mask. So much for instant love.

"I don't believe you're my daughter," he repeated. "So what is it? Was this a dare? Or cash? Are you after cash?"

The hurt inside me was quickly replaced with anger. I was in disbelief about what I just heard. "You think I'm doing this for some damn cash?!" I screeched. "You think I'd stoop that low?!" My eyes flashed with rage, my blood boiling. Tony didn't take so much as a step back from the glass. Fool. "And you said the blood test confirmed it! How can you say you don't believe it?"

"Who's your mom, then?"

"Estelle Carter," I said, cringing inwardly as I said my dead mother's name. "Not that you'd remember."

Tony's brows furrowed in confusion, and I sighed, frustrated. His expression only confirmed my statement. He didn't remember who my mother was.

"It would've been near the end 1996 when you met her, if my math is correct," I said, deciding to elaborate. Perhaps going into details would jog his memory. "She was a college student, a history major. You know, lots of curly red hair, and really, really green eyes." I watched, satisfied, as Tony's face grew very pale. Red hair and green eyes hit a memory—good.

"She was on a tour of Rome, where you just so happened to be at the time. One thing led to another, I guess, and after your little pow-wow with my mother which you seem to remember so well," I said the words through my clenched teeth. "She got pregnant with me, at only nineteen. But I bet you didn't even know her age, did you? Not that you would've cared, really, because you got what you were after anyway. Well, because of you, she had to drop out of the college she worked her ass off to get into. Her parents disowned her for being pregnant out of wedlock, and she took up a low-paying waitressing job just to get by. And when I came along, she could barely afford to take care of me, let alone herself."

"She remarried," Tony said, though he swallowed hard before he spoke. "To Agent Roth Simon."

I nodded. "True. And let me tell you, he was a better dad than you could ever be."

That seem to hit him where it hurt, but he chose not to show it. "I didn't have much respect for anything back then."

I glared daggers into his head. "So that makes it all okay, then, right? Ignorance conquers all, and that's that?"

Tony opened his mouth, but no words came out. I expected either Steve or Clint to back him up, but they both just stared. Somewhere, a million miles away, a pin dropped. "I'm sorry," Tony managed after a while.

"You should be," I hissed. "It's your fault."

He didn't like that too much. When his eyes met mine again, I could no longer read him. The stiff, unsentimental mask had taken the place of his emotions. "Who else knew?" His voice was rigid once more.

"Fury knew," I said, remembering Fury's words from back at the hospital. "Fury knew from the moment he saw me."

"You certainly have your father's fire," Fury didn't sound surprised. It was more like he was expecting it.

"Don't go there," I growled, anger swelling in every muscle in my body. "You said you've read my file, which means you know the truth."

"It was in my file," I went on. "But he must've erased it before he let you see it," I jerked my head in the soldier's direction. "So what happens now?" I asked, my attention turning back to Tony. His eyes were narrowed, examining me with the slightest amount of shock. He was realizing how much I looked like my mother, with my bright orange-red hair and alabaster pale skin. He blinked a few times, but it was no use. It didn't matter which way he looked at me, I still had his chocolate brown eyes at the end of the day. Then he cleared his throat loudly.

"What happens now?" Tony repeated. "I'll tell you what happens now. You might be my daughter, but you're dangerous and you're lethal and I don't want you coming near me or anything I care about. You're going to stay in that glass cage, where you can't hurt anybody but yourself. As for me, I'm going to get some coffee and fix Mark IV, that you very so happily destroyed."

Before I could even say another word, Tony had turned on his heel, stalking out of the room. I felt numb. Words had never hurt so much.

Rosie freaking tore into Tony, good Lord! But he was really nasty back, so I guess she kind of asked for it. I kind of feel really bad for Rosie, though! I mean, her parents die, she's chased around by the Avengers, and then her dad rejects her. I need to make this less depressing… I SHALL GIVE HER THE GIFT OF CHOCOLATE! Lol, anyway, thank you to all those who follow/favorite/review and keep up with this crazy ass story! Keep favoriting/following/reviewing, I really appreciate it! I LOVE YOU ALL! *pulls everyone into giant group hug* HUGGING! Pardon my craziness, haha... Oh, and I have a lot of events coming up in which I will be away from my computer, but I promise I'll post the next chapters as soon as I can! Until next time! Love y'all!

-Charlotte

In response to reviews…

Lady Rocelyn—Thank you so much! It was really hard to try and write the beginning chapters because I had to leave like really subtle hints but not too much that it would give it away!