A/N: This one is a long one and was kinda intense to write. But, since I have trouble translating emotions, you probably won't cry like I did. I feel like you should review, to make me feel better.

Maria POV

I was gradually getting pulled back into reality. At first the only thing I was aware of was the agonizing pain radiating through my body. Slowly, I was becoming more aware of my surroundings. A dirt floor beneath me, bars around me, and it was disgustingly hot. My eyes opened all the way and I carefully sat up. I began examining my injuries. My left shoulder was dislocated, I had at least six cracked ribs, and there was definitely something wrong with my spine. My upper body had seemed to take all of the impact and my legs looked generally unharmed.

I heard a small moan on my right and my head snapped toward the sound. Lying on the ground in a cage next to mine was Loki. I dragged myself over to where our cells connected. I stuck my good arms through the bars and could just barely reach him. I started roughly tugging his hair.

"Loki!" I whispered "Wake up! I have no intention of going through this imprisonment alone! Loki!"

He began to stir and I could tell he was coming back to the land of the living. I pulled at his hair harder.

"Ow…" he grunted "Stop that please."

I stopped pulling but left my hand in his hair. "Wake up."

He moaned "Give me a second." I waited a beat and he looked up at me. He didn't seem to like what he saw. "Well, you look terrible."

"Oh Loki," I sighed "You sure know how to make a girl feel special."

He snorted, and then reality hit him. He got up quickly and began examining the cell. He didn't say much but occasionally he would shake his head. I laid my head against the cool floor while he continued his little investigation. I was starting to doze off when he plopped back down in front of me.

"The Jotuns have been planning this for a while," he informed me "These cells are definitely Jotun made and they have been here for a while."

I glanced up at him "And, this helps us how?"

"It doesn't."

"Great, got any ideas?"

"Well, I believe our first plan of action would be escaping."

"Really, I hadn't thought of that. I was just planning on lying here hoping that the Jotuns would kill us quickly."

He shook his head "They would draw out the process as long as they could." I raised my head and stared at him for a moment. Realization hit him. "Oh, sarcasm! Sorry."

I rolled my eyes and set my head back down. "What happens if we don't escape soon?"

He took my hand and held it in both of his "Torture."

"Oh, is that all? I don't think they could make me feel worse than I already do."

"Physically, maybe not. But, in your state, they won't be interested in physical torture."

I snorted "Why break something if it's already broken?"

"Exactly, they are probably going to get deep in your subconscious and fuck around."

"Always fun."

He squeezed my hand tightly "Maria, if we don't find a way out in time-"

"Grr, now is not the time for that sort of thinking."

A door slammed in the distance. Large footsteps thudded down the path in front of our cells. The Jotuns opened Loki's cell door and threw someone in. Corey's unconscious body hit the ground with a thud and the Frost giants locked the cell back up. Loki crawled over to Corey to check up on him. He was still breathing do, I knew he was alive. I just wish I knew more about his state. My door was thrown open and a Jotun stepped in. I rolled over onto my back and hissed in pain. He reached down to grab me and I sunk my teeth into him. He pulled his hand back for a second but was mostly unaffected by my attack. He tossed me over his shoulder and my adrenaline started pumping. I was hitting, and kicking, and biting him with all of the force I could muster. I fought with all my might until I was injected with something. My whole body went limp and my brain was starting to get all fuzzy.

Loki was shaking his cell door and he reached out to me "Remember where you are!"

The Jotun and I entered a new hall. We walked into a smaller white room and he threw me into a reclined chair and strapped me down. A small man stuck an IV in my arm.

I giggled "You tiny, you're not a Giant."

He smiled down at me "No, but I'm not from Midgard either." I could tell. His eyes were a strange toxic green and his skin was the orange of a bad spray tan. "What's your name?" he asked

I was going to lie, "Maria Stark." But, I didn't seem to be able to.

"Hm, any relation to Howard Stark?"

Howard? How would he know him? "Yes, he's my grandfather."

"Really? How interesting. Stark Industries helped us build this little place. I mean, not for the torture of Midgardians but, we were testing out some weapons that would affect the psyche." He injected something into my IV "Sadly, the program was eventually shut down due to a lack of proper funding." He sighed remorsefully. I could feel blackness closing in on me. "Good night, Miss Stark."

I jumped awake. "Ah!" I rubbed my temples. What a weird dream. I flung my legs out of my little bed and hopped down. My nightlight was throwing different shapes along the wall and I used its light to find my way into the hall. The light in the living room was still on. I was shuffling through the living room into the kitchen when I was stopped.

"Isn't it past your bed time young lady?"

"Sorry Mommy." I rubbed my eyes and looked at her. She was sitting on the couch working, she had tear stains trailing down her face and I knew she had been crying again. I walked over to her and curled up in her lap. She spent most of her nights crying, Noah died a couple weeks ago and it didn't feel like she knew how to be happy anymore. She started running her fingers through my hair.

"Did you have another bad dream?" she cooed softly.

I nodded and took one of her hands in mine. My chubby child hands looked funny next to hers.

She sighed "You've been having an awful lot of those lately."

I shrugged.

She gave me a tight hug and buried her face in my hair. "I love you." She whispered

I hugged her back "I love you too."

She pulled me off of her lap and patted my bottom "Off to bed now. Steve will be here early tomorrow and I know you are going to need all of your energy."

I slunk back toward my room and noticed the light on downstairs. I peeked behind me to make sure my mother wasn't watching and darted down toward the lab. I punched in the code and slid in the door.

"Daddy?" I called

He was at his work bench tinkering with something. He looked back at me and smiled. "Hey kid, shouldn't you be in bed?"

I shrugged "I couldn't sleep."

His face got softer "I know the feeling." He waved me over "Come look at this."

I came over and he plopped me down in his lap. He rested his chin on my shoulder and began showing me some things he tweaked on the thrusters of the suit. I added a comment or a question here and there and he would smile and explain more.

"See," he explained "this way it will use less fuel to keep me up in the air for long periods of time."

I furrowed my eyebrows "But, wouldn't you be freefalling every other second?"

"Yes but, I have shortened that time so-"

Mom cleared her throat behind us. I looked at her and sunk back into Dad.

"Maria, go to bed now." She ordered. I ran past her and scuttled up the stairs. Halfway up I stopped and listened. They were fighting again, they fought a lot nowadays. They fought about how to run the company, and money, and Iron Man, and me. They refused to talk about what happened to my brother and I knew their fighting was how they vented all their pent up feelings but I still wished they would stop. I finished my ascension up the stairs and walked past my room. I opened Noah's door and slid into his bed where the world was safer.

I gasped as I was ripped back into reality. The orange man was standing above me and staring at me curiously.

"Well," he smiled "That was quite a show."

I tried to clear my head "What?"

"Oh, let me explain. See these little wires attached to your head?" Well, I do now. "They are taking all your little visions and projecting them on this tiny screen." He patted a small box that looked a lot like a television. "This way we can see the things that we need."

"Why?"

"Knowing the thoughts of your enemies can be a very useful thing Miss Stark. Right now, you are feeling a bit sentimental and a little lonely. We can always use human emotion to our advantage." He pulled out another syringe.

"N-n-n-n-n-n-no, please don't-" He injected the fluid into the IV and I was pulled back under.

I woke up to the sound of glass shattering in the other room. I could hear my parents' yells echoing throughout the house. It had been over a month since Noah died and they still wouldn't talk to each other about it. I could hear doors slamming and someone stomping around the house. I got up and pressed my ear to the door. It sounded like everything they had ever fought about was resurfacing. Mom was yelling something about how him being Iron Man was going to kill us all.

"What do you want me to stop saving people?" Dad yelled

"You are putting the lives of your family in danger! You should care more about us than your job!"

"Being Iron Man is more than a job Pepper!"

"While you're out gallivanting around, your family is falling apart!" he must have said something I didn't hear because Mom growled and threw something "I can't even talk to you anymore!"

"Why? Because I'm not Steve?" he shouted. What did Steve have to do with anything?

"What does he have to do with anything?"

"Don't think I don't know what is happening in my own house! I'm not blind Pepper!"

"You are so childish and selfish and vain! You can't even do one thing for anyone else!

"I do everything for other people! I haven't done something for myself in a decade!"

"If you are really so selfless Tony, I want you to do one thing. Choose."

"What?" he sounded shocked

"Me or Iron Man?"

"Pepper," his voice had grown significantly softer "You know I can't just stop being Iron Man. The world needs me."

There was a long moment of silence before she responded.

She sighed "I hope you're happy with the decisions you've made Tony." I heard her go into their room and start shuffling through the drawers.

"Pepper." You could hear the tears in my dad's voice "Please, don't do this."

"I didn't do this Tony…you did." She trudged into the entry way of the house.

"Pepper, we should talk about this."

"Tony, I'm done. I've had enough of all this. I just can't…I can't…Goodbye Tony." I heard the door slam. He must have gone after her because I didn't hear any other movement. After a few minutes, the front door opened again and only one pair of feet shuffled inside. I hurried and jumped back into bed. My door creaked open and Dad tiptoed in. He came and crawled under the covers with me. I wrapped my small arms around him and hugged him with all of my might. We slowly drifted off to sleep.

When I awoke the next morning Dad was gone and a pleasant aroma was filling the house. I crawled out of bed and shuffled into the kitchen. I sat at the breakfast counter and was immediately served blueberry yogurt pancakes. I stared at them and then looked into the trashcan. Not a single burnt pancake.

I looked up at my dad "So, when did Steve get here?"

He laughed "What, don't think I could have done all this by myself."

Steve appeared behind me "I got here a few hours ago." I turned in my stool and hugged him.

I spun back toward my pancakes but I couldn't eat them. I took a deep breath "She isn't coming back, is she?" Steve took my hand in his and Dad brushed a strand of hair out of my face.

Dad sighed in defeat "I don't think so."

My pull back into reality wasn't as violent this second time. It felt more like waking up from a vivid dream. It took me a moment to remember where I was. It was getting harder to distinguish what was real and what wasn't. My mouth was dry and it was obvious that I was out longer than the last time.

"Welcome back." The little orange man smiled "Thirsty?" he put a glass of water to my lips and I drank it greedily.

I finished the glass before I saw the error of my ways. "Did you just poison me?"

The man laughed "No, I need you alive much longer."

I sighed "What for?"

"You do have access to some of the most powerful weapons technology on this planet. Once we have fully taken over, we intend to use your knowledge and power to help conquer other worlds. But, first, we need you to be a little more obedient."

I groaned as he injected more of the fluid into my IV.

I heard the front door shut and I leapt out of my bed. I ran out of my bedroom and jumped right into my dad's arms.

"Miss Stark," My nanny scolded behind me "You should be in bed!"

"It's alright Ms. Payne, I got it from here. You can go home now."

"Alright Mr. Stark, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Don't bother coming in," he started carrying me toward the lab "I'm gonna be working at home for a while. I gotta spend some time with my kiddo."

Ms. Payne grabbed her bag and left. Dad carried me into the lab and punched in the key code.

"Wanna see what I was working on today?" I asked excitedly. I jumped out of his arms and ran over to the work table. I picked up the Iron Man arm I was working on and showed it to him.

He looked at me worriedly "I don't know how I feel about you working on the suit…"

"Too late, I already did. Look, you know that rippling effect you wanted the thrusters to pull off, but you could never do anything about that moment of freefall?"

"Uh-huh." He prodded.

"I think I may have solved that problem.

We both sat down on the bench and I set the arm back on the table with a loud clank. His eyes widened significantly.

I snorted "Don't look so surprised."

His face reverted back to normal. "Sorry. So, tell me all about it."

"Well, instead of it rippling straight, it will ripple in a circular pattern. You would be making small microscopic circles the whole time with only a nanosecond of freefall. You wouldn't even notice the motion and yearly it would save enough energy to power Malibu for a little over six months. I have already run the diagnostics and, if we start now, we could have these flight ready in under a week."

He just smiled at me for a while. "Do you know how smart you are?"

I snorted and rolled my eyes "Stop that."

"No, really, you are the smartest person I have ever known. Smarter than me, smarter than my father, smarter than everyone. You are going to change this world one day and make it such an amazing place." He brushed my hair out of my face "God, you're growing up so fast."

I smiled "I'm only ten, Dad. I still got some growing up time."

He looked sad "You're going to grow up so much faster than you expect. Anyway," he shook his head "I want to get a closer look at this before we go into manufacturing overload. Can you go upstairs and get my sonic screwdriver off of my dresser?"

"Sure, Dad." I hopped off of the bench and he flinched "Wow, you're jumpy today. Having anxiety today?"

"Just a little."

I hugged him "Just remember to breathe."

I skipped out the lab and into the hallway. I stopped in the middle of the hall when a thought occurred to me. Sonic screwdriver? That wasn't a real thing. Wasn't that from Doctor Who? I was about to turn back to the lab when an explosion erupted below my feet. I structure of the house collapsed and I fell into a vacant part of the lab. I hit the ground and a support beam trapped me on my side. Smoke was filling the room at an amazing rate and I could feel the heat of flames behind me. I tried to wiggle free from the beam but I couldn't seem to get loose. I took a deep breath to scream for help but only ended up with lungs full of smoke. I began coughing and spitting up bile from the pit of my stomach. My eyes were running like mad and my vision was blurring. I felt my shirt catch fire behind me and not even smoke could keep me from screaming. I felt the flames lick their way up my back with an agonizing slowness.

"Maria!" I heard some one yell and they followed the sound of my cries.

Steve dived into the hole that I was trapped in and freed me from beneath the beam. He grabbed me and climbed out of the hole. When we were back in the hallway he put out the last of the flames on my back. He threw me over his shoulder and ran out the closest exit.

Everything was kinda blurry after that. I screamed for my dad but, no one would tell me what had happened to him. At some point the ambulance had come and Steve was sitting in the back with me. After all of that, I blacked out. The whole night I had nightmares of being trapped in that fire for eternity.

I awoke in a haze. I was lying in a bed on my stomach and covered in bandages. The smell of anesthetic and the inhuman whiteness told me I was in a hospital. I could tell I had been put on some very heavy pain killers due to the strange fuzziness of everything. I looked around me as best as I could. Natasha and Clint were sitting asleep together in the small chair. Bruce was talking to Steve in a corner and Thor was pacing back and forth at the end of my bed. I looked around for Dad but couldn't see him anywhere.

"Hey guys." I mumbled. My voice was hoarse and barely audible but they still seemed to hear me. Thor and Steve rushed to my side while Bruce woke Clint and Tasha. I smiled at them groggily "How is everything?"

Steve's eyes started watering "It's good to see you awake, kid."

Thor smiled softly "Of course, this woman is a maiden of iron. No, puny fire could hold her down."

Natasha sat on the other side of me and tied back what little was left of my hair. She began brushing it softly. "Do you need anything baby?"

I shook my head slightly "Where's Dad?" They all looked at each other. "Oh my God, is he okay? Has he been hospitalized? What room is he in?" I started to slide out of the bed but several pairs of hands stopped me.

Steve took my hand and looked me in the eye. "Maria, sweetheart-"

"No!" I ripped my hand from his "Where is he?!" I yelled

No said anything. Bruce came over and knelt beside me. "Maria, honey, he's gone."

"Gone? Gone where?" My brain was taking a long time to process what I was being told.

"He didn't make it to the hospital. The explosion… He didn't make it."

I finally understood what they were saying. "He didn't…make it?" I mumbled to myself. I let the words bounce around in my head for a while. I started screaming "NO! NO! NO, NO, NO, NO!" I was thrashing around and slamming my fists into the bed. I could feel blood beginning to soak through my bandages and Tasha tried to calm me down. She tried to reason me into calmness but I just screamed louder. I started ripping the IVs out of my arm. Orderlies entered the room and Steve held me down. I felt a needle pierce my skin and moving became harder and harder. When I couldn't thrash around anymore I began sobbing violently into my pillow. I felt hands try to comfort me but none of it was any good. I just sobbed until the medication covered me in darkness.

I slipped back into reality and clung to it like a life preserver. I refused to go back into my drug induced memories. I would fight getting sucked back in with all of my might. I tried to hold back my sobs but every time I thought I was done a new wave of pain crashed over me. I looked around for the little orange man but he was nowhere to be seen. I could hear crashing and yelling coming from the end of the hallway. I tried to sit up but I was still strapped onto this stupid chair. The crashing stopped and I could hear people talking. Footsteps were coming closer and closer to my door and I tried to escape my restraints.

"Check in there." I heard a voice order from behind the door. The door swung open and a large man with long red-brown hair, a massive beard, and an axe stepped into the room.

He looked as shocked to see me as I was to see him "Hello maiden," he greeted "I am Volstagg, may I be of service?"