Disclaimer: I own absolutely NOTHING from anything that is Marvel.. just my OC's. Thanks.
Chapter 11 - Are You Ready?
While Lily was gathering her things upstairs, the adults were talking in the living room while the were waiting to leave. "Laura." Steve started. "I want to thank you for letting Lily stay here.. I really appreciate it."
"Oh, it's no problem." she waved her hand. "Both of you and Giselle are more than welcome to come and visit."
"I'll keep that in mind." he nodded with a smile.
"We could throw some kind of party for Giselle." Clint suggested. "After she heals, of course."
"Yeah, I think she'd like that." Steve agreed.
"I'm ready to go, Daddy!" Lily announced as she ran down the stairs, a few minutes later.
"Okay." Steve stood up. "Come over here and say goodbye."
Lily set her little blue suitcase on the ground - along with her favorite blanket and stuffed animal raccoon - she gave Laura a hug. "Thank you.. for letting me stay. I had so much fun."
"You're welcome, Sweetie."
"Bye, Clint." Lily said, after letting go of Laura to give him a hug.
"Bye, Lily."
"Next time, can you teach me to use a bow and arrow?" she whispered, looking up at him.
Clint chuckled, slightly nodding his head. "Yeah, but you make sure you take care of your mom, she'll need your help."
"I will." she nodded letting go of him, then looked over at Steve. "Ready to go, Daddy?"
"Yeah." he gave Laura a hug, then shook Clint's hand. "Thanks again and I'll see you next week."
"Alright, Cap." he nodded. "Goodbye and safe travels."
"Thanks." Steve grabbed Lily's stuff with one hand and picked her up to carry her with the other, then he walked them out of the house and over to the SUV. She got in and after she buckled herself up, Steve put her things right next to her in the seat, then he got into the passenger seat.
"Everyone ready?" Coulson asked, starting the engine.
"Yep." Steve buckled up and sighed. "Let's go."
"Alright." Coulson nodded, then he drove off.
About twenty minutes into the drive, Steve glanced at the back seat and chuckled. "Lily's already asleep."
"It could be nap time for her." Coulson shrugged.
"Possibly." Steve replied, then there was a long pause before he spoke again. "With everything going on, thank you for coming here.. on short notice to stay with my daughter."
"It's no problem, Steve.. I'm happy to help. I just hope that Giselle a speedy recovery."
"Yeah." he nodded, then stared out the window and sighed. "Me too."
Two hours later, Coulson finally made it to airport and shut off the engine. "We're getting our things and just leave the SUV here."
"Okay." Steve got out, then carefully took Lily out of her booster seat. "Can you grab all of her stuff for me? I really don't want to wake her up."
"Yeah." Coulson nodded. "Go ahead and get settled in.. I'll get everything."
"Thanks." Steve reached over to grab Lily's blanket and raccoon before he walked over to the plane and got in. "Stark's private jet is nice." he muttered to himself. He laid Lily down on the little couch and covered her up, then sat down next to her head, and waited.
Five minutes later, Coulson got in. "Time to go." he breathed out as he put their things in the empty seats as the door to the plane closed. After that, he sat down and the pilot took off.
...
Once the plane landed, Coulson had the other agents grab their things and put it all in the limo that was waiting for them. Steve, on the other hand, had fallen asleep with Lily in his arms. Coulson thought that it was an adorable kodak moment, so he took a few pictures with his phone to show Steve later. "Hey, Cap." he lightly shook his arm. "We've landed."
"What?" Steve yawned, then rubbed his eyes with his free hand. "Where are we?"
"In New York.. at Stark's private airport hangar."
Steve's eyes shot open and he glanced at Coulson, confused. "Why are we in New York?"
"Well." he crossed his arms over his chest. "Stark had Giselle moved to his medical wing at Avengers Tower."
"Why? She was just fine where she was at.. in an actual hospital, in D.C."
Coulson threw his arms in the air. "I have no idea.. all I know is that the limo is gonna take us there, because - according to Stark - that is where Lily is going to stay."
Steve just frowned, slightly shaking his head, then he took a deep breath. "I'll wake Lily up and meet you in the limo."
"Alright." Coulson nodded, grabbing her booster seat, then walked off the plane.
"Hey, Lily.." Steve lightly patted her back. "Time to wake up."
"5 more minutes, Daddy."
Steve chuckled. "We can't wait 5 minutes.. the plane landed and the limo is waiting for us."
Lily quickly lifted her head off of his chest with her eyes wide. "I get to ride in a limo?"
"Yes." he nodded.
Lily gasped, scrambling out of his arms and off the couch, grabbing her blanket and raccoon. "Daddy, what are you waiting for?" she grabbed his hand as he sat up. "Come on!"
"Okay, okay." he chuckled at her excitement as he looked around. "Let me make sure.." he stood up. "Yeah, we got everything.. lead the way." both of them carefully exited the plane and walked to the limo.
Lily jumped right in, followed by Steve. Once he shut the door, the driver drove off. "So, where are we going, Philly?"
Steve chuckled at the nickname as Coulson sighed. "We are going to Avengers Tower - where your mom is resting."
"Will the rest of the Avengers be there?"
"They might." Steve cut in. "You'll have to wait until we get there."
"Oh, okay, Daddy." she nodded, then rested her head on his arm and enjoyed the ride in the limo.
...
Once they reached Avengers Tower and went inside, Lily was in awe. Everything in the lobby looked so cool to her. "Daddy." she tugged on the bottom of his shirt. "Can we stay here forever?"
"Um, not forever.. just for a little while." he paused. "Until Mommy gets better." a few moments later, a woman walked up to the three of them and Steve smiled. "Hello, Pepper."
"Steve." she nodded. "Phil.. it's good to see you both." she glanced down with a smile. "Hi, my name is Pepper."
"I'm Lily." she pointed up at Steve. "This is my awesome daddy."
"Yes, I know and you're right.. he is pretty awesome." Pepper looked back up at Steve. "She's beautiful and she definitely has your eyes."
"Thank you." he nodded, then turned his attention to Coulson. "Can you take her over to the fountain for a second?"
"Sure." he grabbed Lily's hand. "How about we throw some pennies in the water for good luck."
"Yay!" she cheered, as they walked away.
Once Lily was out of ear shot, Steve turned to Pepper. "So, why did Stark move Giselle out of a perfectly good hospital to here?"
"Because." she crossed her arms over her chest. "Tony feels as if it's not perfect enough for her and he wants the her to have the very best.. plus her being here, he can protect her, since he wasn't able to do that when she was living with those monsters long ago." Steve lightly nodded, remembering the stories that Giselle told him. "Tony feels that he owes it to her."
"Fine." Steve heavily sighed, running his hand down his face.
"Also, he went ahead and made a special room for Lily on your floor.. it's close to yours."
"Okay, that's good, because my daughter will be staying with me."
"Tony understands that." Pepper nodded. "Are you ready to see Giselle?"
"Yeah." he went up to Lily and Coulson over by the fountain. He smiled as he watched her make a wish and throw a penny in the water. "Hey, what'd you wish for?"
"A baby brother." she shrugged. "Will I get one?"
"Well, um.. we, uh." he stuttered, noticing Coulson smirking at him, then he took a deep breath. "Are you ready to see Mommy?"
"Yeah, Daddy." she grabbed his hand, then three of them followed Pepper to the elevators and went inside. Once the doors closed, she pressed the button on the panel and they went up.
Suddenly, Steve felt Lily gripping his hand and he looked down and saw that she was hiding her face into the side of his hip, so he immediately picked her up, then she wrapped her little arms around his neck. "Hey, what's wrong?" he whispered.
"I'm scared of elevators."
Steve kissed the side of her head and rubbed her back. "Daddy's here.. you're safe."
Pepper smiled as the doors opened. "Follow me.. it's this way."
"Do you want me to put you down now?" Steve whispered and Lily shook her head, holding on a little tighter to him as they went through the hallway.
After a moment, they stopped in front of a window and saw Giselle laying in a bed, hooked up to a bunch of machines and Tony asleep in a recliner next to her.
"Oh, Tony." Pepper sighed, opening the door, then they quietly went inside.
Steve immediately went over to the other side of the bed, looking down at Giselle as Coulson stood at the foot - both wishing that she'd wake up soon.