A/N: Hey guys! So here's the next chapter and it gets kind of dramatic, so i'm sorry for that! Enjoy!
Maria joined the others a little while later and something in her demeanor made everyone feel uneasy. Maria tensed as Steve put an arm around her, making him look at her in worry.
"You alright?" He asked, his voice just loud enough for her to hear.
"I'm fine, don't worry about it." She said coldly, looking straight ahead as Steve handed her a plate of food.
"I'm not hungry." She said, looking down at the plate.
Steve looked at Emily, who was almost as confused as he was, but regained her composure and pointed to the plate of food and then at Maria as if to say, 'remember what I told you. Make her eat even if she doesn't want to.'
Steve sighed, "Darlin', you need to eat something." He said softly, his tone almost pleading as his bright blue eyes bore into her grey ones.
She shook her head once more, "I'm not hungry, I already told you that."
"No. I don't care if you're not hungry, you need to eat. You can't keep skipping meals like this." He said, his tone stern, which not only shocked Maria, but everyone else as well.
"Steve's right, Maria." Betty said as she joined them, sitting down beside Bruce.
The woman looked down in thought before her head snapped up, sending a murderous glare in her sister's direction, causing for Emily to cringe.
She knows I told him. She thought, meeting Maria's glare with wide green eyes.
"You told him!" She growled, clenching her fists as she got up, staring her sister down as Emily got up too.
"Well, if you weren't going to tell him, someone had to! You can't keep secrets like that, 'Ria!" Emily said, raising her voice and taking a step forward, closing the gap between them.
"Steve doesn't need to know. I kept that from him for a reason." Maria said through clenched teeth, the two sisters briefly forgetting everyone was staring at them in confusion, only John and Danny knowing exactly what they were fighting about.
"Yes he did have to know! You're just being the secretive bitch you've always been!"
Maria was shaking as she looked at Steve, then to the others, and back to Emily.
"Maria?" Steve asked softly, only shutting up when she sent a murderous glare in his direction. This was exactly what Emily had warned him about.
"Maria, calm_" Emily started, only to be cut off when Maria turned around and slapped her across the face with enough force to knock her to the ground, holding her right cheek. Emily looked at her sister with a mixture of shock and fear, causing for Maria to back away and look at everyone's shocked expressions before she turned and ran into the woods as everyone got up and ran after her, calling her name, except for Pepper and Bruce, who stayed behind to check on Emily.
"It's my fault for causing that type of reaction. I shouldn't have pushed her...you guys probably hate her now." Emily said, watching as Bruce sat down beside her with a first aid kit.
Pepper looked at her, a sad look in her blue eyes as she said, "No, of course we don't...we were shocked I will admit that, but we don't hate her. It's going to take a lot more than that for us to hate her. It's not your fault either, Emily. Maria knows you mean well and she isn't used to people actually being there for her and she just couldn't control her anger or the anxiety attack that she seemed to be having."
Bruce nodded in agreement as he reached into the first aid kit and took out an ice pack, holding it up to her cheek that was already starting to form a bruise.
"I know, but she's never hit me before and I don't know what caused that reaction."
Bruce gave her a reassuring smile as Pepper took the first aid kit and put it off to the side, "Well, you did the right thing about telling Steve whatever it was that you told him, but based off her reaction when Steve forced her to eat, i'm guessing it has something to do with an eating disorder?"
Emily nodded, "Yeah...Steve's probably telling everyone what I told him because they're no doubt wanting answers about why she flipped out."
Pepper nodded, "Well, he isn't going to lie, that's for sure. Maria probably thought everyone was judging her and she didn't want to be seen as weak, so she deals with it in the worst possible way." She said, giving Emily's hand a reassuring squeeze and a soft smile in attempt to make her feel better.
The three of them looked up as everyone emerged from the woods.
"That was quick, did you find her?" Bruce asked, looking up at them expectantly.
"No, friend Bruce..it seems that lady Maria has disappeared."
"Yeah, she runs pretty fast for someone who's anorexic." Tony said, sitting down beside Pepper, confirming Emily's suspicions.
"Used to be, Stark!" Steve snapped, running a hand through his blonde hair as he sat down and put his head in his hands.
"Don't worry, Uncle Steve, we gonna find Auntie Maria!" Lilith exclaimed, sitting down next to him as she tried her best to comfort him.
"She's right, Maria can't have gone far." Natasha said, giving him a sympathetic look as Jane spoke.
"She's right, but we can't do much about it now. It looks like it's about to rain." Jane said, causing for everyone to look at the sky, taking in how dark the sky looked at only ten in the morning.
Realizing that she was right, everyone went to take shelter in their respective tents, leaving only John, Danny, and Steve out.
"She's going to be fine, Steve. I know my daughter and she's strong." John said, getting up and heading back to their tent with Danny who gave Steve a reassuring pat on the back. He was also concerned about his sister, but at this point with rain coming there was nothing to do.
Steve stayed outside for another hour or two until the rain started before he too went to his tent, hoping Maria would be back soon.
The rain continued throughout the afternoon and well into the night and everyone slept soundly, all except for Emily, who could also tell that Steve was having trouble sleeping due to the fact that he kept tossing and turning. Emily sighed and got up, putting on a pair of shoes as she opened the tents door and heading outside, thankful that no one else woke up upon hearing her leave and ran to Clint and Natasha's tent, already soaked to the bone.
The rottweiler that slept in the corner of the tent was the first to wake up upon hearing the teen enter the tent.
"Hey, Natasha!" She whispered, careful not to wake Lili or Clint as she shook the assassins shoulder.
Natasha's eyes snapped open as soon as Emily touched her, but relaxed when she realized that it was just her.
"What is it, Emily?" Natasha asked, looking at the girl with tired green eyes.
"Can I borrow Roxy? I'm going to look for Maria."
"Right now? It's almost five in the morning!" Natasha snapped, keeping her voice low as not to wake up the child that slept to her left.
"I don't care, she's my sister! I'm not waiting for this God damn weather to pass because by then Maria could be hurt...or worse! So please can I borrow Roxy?" She asked, tensing up when Clint moved, waking up and looking at her.
"What's going on?"
Natasha sighed, "Emily wants to go looking for Maria."
Clint gawked at the teenager, "Do you know how dangerous that could be? It's raining cats and dogs out and i'm pretty sure that Maria is staying away for a reason. Also, usually when people run to the woods, it means they want to be alone." Clint explained, only half sarcastic at the last part as he looked at her with tired eyes.
"Well, i'm not asking for anyone to come with me. I just want to borrow Roxy to go find her and i'm pretty sure that she's calmed down by now and won't slap me again, please?" Emily begged, a pleading tone to her voice.
"Fine. Roxy's leash is over there." Natasha said reluctantly, nodding to the black bag that had the Rottweiler's red leash, not liking the idea of the girl going alone, but knew that she wouldn't want them going with her.
"Thanks guys!" Emily said, hugging each of them, careful of Lilith, who was still passed out between the two assassins.
"Just be careful, kid." Clint said, watching as she left the tent with the dog, heading into the woods in the direction that Maria had run off in.
Emily didn't start calling for Maria until she was far enough away from the camp site.
"Maria! I know you're out here!" She called, the Rottweiler barking in agreement as Emily tripped over something, falling in the mud, causing for the dog to start licking her face as if thinking that was going to help.
What the hell? She thought, turning around to find that she had tripped over a pair of shoes, but not just any shoes.
"Maria's shoes!" She exclaimed, picking up the muddy shoes and holding them out to Roxy, who sniffed at them in curiosity before barking in excitement and pulling her leash out of Emily's grip and ran ahead of her, making the brunette run after her, through the swamp and didn't stop until she caught up to Roxy who was barking at something...or someone, up a tree.
Emily sighed and looked up, seeing through the darkness that Maria was sitting on one of the branches.
"Maria! Get down here!" Emily yelled, peering through the rain and the leaves in which concealed her sister.
"Leave, Emily." Maria said coldly.
Emily growled in frustration.
If she won't come down then i'll climb up there myself.
This probably wouldn't end well.
A/N: Let me know what y'all think! Y'all can make predictions, give ideas of what you want to happen, and can still predict what Maria is hiding from Steve. I can tell you now that she is NOT pregnant! I don't know if or when she will get pregnant in one of my stories, but she isn't in this story. Please review :)