I don't won anything MARVEL
It was a day later, and within those under 24 hours (he did say a day, not 24 hours) Tony still could not find any new information on why Alice was mad at Peggy and Steve. He's even resorted to asking Peggy and Steve. They wouldn't answer him though, he just got the death glare from Peggy (he wondered if she was related to Natasha, because their glares were equally as scary) and Steve ignored him to the best of his ability.
Even everybody else who had been on the Island were avoiding him. It was as though they knew something, and by avoiding it made it more obvious. But Tony had the feeling that more was going on than he originally anticipated. He even had the feeling that Steve wasn't completely sure what was happening.
Ever since Alice had come back from the 1940s, Steve had always been with her when he could be. Whether that was helping her with her home school work, at the park, or during a storm. He was always there for whatever it was, and the two were close. Alice was so open with him that it even to Tony it hurt.
Well, apparently she wasn't completely open with him any more.
Something had happened on that Island, and while it sounded like he was being over dramatic Tony was annoyed. The air was getting thick, awkwardness and sadness were in the air. Maybe he could ask JARVIS? Then again, JARVIS liked Peggy (maybe it was being she was friends with his name sake) so he probably wouldn't tell him if Peggy told him not to.
Then again, Tony knew that Peggy wasn't the best with the so called newfangled gadgets so maybe she would have forgotten? Even if she had, Alice probably hadn't.
"Maybe I can ask Jarvis…" Tony mused to himself. Human Jarvis would tell him, wouldn't he? Then again, he never had met or helped little Tony grow up. So, he wasn't as in Tony's life as old Jarvis had been. Damn.
Tony sighed, something was up and he needed to find out what it was before his head exploded. He hated not knowing things, so this was torture.
And while this place was very big, on the outside and even more so on the inside, it seemed too tiny on that day. He needed to breathe, a place where the air wasn't as thick and suffocating. Yet, he couldn't seem to find one.
He just wanted somewhere where he could hide out for a bit, think. Maybe make a flow chart of reasons why everyone was upset. Maybe there was an earthquake at the island and things broke? Then again, Pepper would have phoned him immediately if that had happened. So thinking seemed like a good idea, and maybe it would help ease the headache that was forming in his brain.
Tony was so absorbed in his own thought he never heard the child in question walking up to him. "Uncle Tony," she greeted. Tony turned his head to see Alice looking up at him. She was carrying around her pink mad hatter travel mug that he and Pepper had gotten her when she was three. Although that thing was old, she treated it like a diamond, it was as perfect as it had been the day she got it.
Tony smiled softly down at the child. "Hey kid, got hot chocolate?" he asked as he raised an eyebrow at her cup. Although, she couldn't exactly see it from behind his sunglasses. Alice had hot chocolate almost every morning, and the only people who were allowed to make it were either Pepper or Steve.
"No, it's tea." Alice explained before taking another sip. Tony gave her a look, since when did she drink tea? She was turning into her mother's daughter. She looked like her, well besides her blue eyes, and Peggy was always drinking tea. She was like the perfect stereotypical tea drinking Brit. (Tony at that point was assuming all English kids (and all English people) drank tea, although since he didn't actually know any he would not ask anyone about that).
"Did your mom make it for you?" Tony asked as Alice finished the short walk over to him and sat down on the hard bench.
"No."
It was sunny outside, and while the air wasn't as thick as inside, Tony could still feel the tension. He almost thought of asking Alice if she could feel it too but decided against it.
All the Avengers had different times to train people, their times would go down as the people became better. Tony did have a business to run after all. At the moment, Steve was training some recruits, and they were running around the building. They'd already gone by twice, and Tony had a feeling Steve was treating them like they were in the army like he had been.
Tony could tell Steve was standing on the other wise of the building because he hadn't seen him yet. Plus, most of the training took place over there. On this side, there was a couple of miles of field to look across. There were even some hills. But if you got to the top of the tallest hill, you could see a town in the distance.
Really, you could walk to that town if you wanted to. Nobody wanted to though, actually, nobody had left the base yet.
Tony glanced over to see Alice swinging her legs. She was carefree, and to the naked eye it would seem as though shew as perfectly fine. Yet, Tony could see through that.
He still wanted to know what the hell was happening.
He watched as Alice carelessly lifted the mug to her mouth and took a big gulp. He inwardly cringed, not wanting the child to burn herself.
"Be careful," Tony warned her. "You don't want to burn yourself." Tony was worried, even though he knew that whoever made it had probably already made sure it wasn't too hot for the child. Nobody want to face Peggy or Steve when they were mad that their child got hurt, even if this child wasn't even talking to them.
"Don't worry!" Alice grinned up at him. "It's iced tea!" Tony rolled his eyes, of course it was. Whoever thought of that was actually quite smart. Suddenly a recruit ran past and Alice waved at them. So, she was in cheerful mood. Maybe whatever had happened had blown over?
"Smarty pants." Tony smirked without looking down at her. He pulled his sun glasses down for a moment, but realized it was still too sunny to take them off. He placed them back on properly and then glanced down at Alice. She couldn't see his eyes moving, so she was oblivious as she watched Potter chase something over the grass. Tony realized the sun was shining right on the girl, and must have been hurting her eyes because she was squinting. He also noticed though, that the sun shining on her made her glow (and made her eyelashes become invisible). Even after spending most of her time on the Island in the sun, she was whiter than crest tooth paste!
"So," Tony started. "Why are you ignoring your mommy and daddy?" Alice gave him a critical look, almost a dirty look! Tony looked down at her, exaggerating the movements for her benefit. She looked away though, and back at the field. Obviously she was going to give up this little secret.
Slowly, they started to hear Steve yelling at the people running as they came into view again. "… I could run faster than you before the serum!" they were jogging quickly, almost running, while Steve was jogging behind them. He was going slowly for him, and to Tony it looked like it must be painful for Steve to go that slowly. "Faster!"
Steve turned his head to the side him he heard a snicker, and saw Tony in his sunglasses, and Alice without anything protecting her eyes. "Come on, move it!" Steve called to the recruits before jogging over to the two onlookers.
"Working them pretty hard, grandpa." Tony said mockingly. As the last one of the runners went out of sight, Tony had a feeling they were starting to walk. Nobody was crazy enough to continue running when they were that out of breath.
"They aren't going to get any better unless they're pushed to their limits. It's good to know your limits." Steve shrugged with indifference before he swiftly picked Alice up. Tony could tell Alice was just about to try and get away.
The billionaire watched as conflicted feelings started to wash over the little girls face. While she obviously was trying her very hardest to be angry with her father, Tony could tell she also wanted to hug him. Alice was a daddy's girl, and he knew that she could never stay mad at him for too long. Steve seemed to know that too, as he pressed a kiss to the side of Alice's head. Tony could see Alice struggling to stay angry. Ah, the struggles of a six year old. Life was so tough.
"You're sweaty." Alice decided to say. She was staring at her bottle intently as she started to curl into her Steve. Triumph started to spread across the Captains face, but it was ruined by Alice going straight again. "Very sweaty."
"I know." Steve sighed. There was defeat in Steve's eyes. This child was going to wear Captain America out emotionally. Tony could see it. But doing this, her little act of I am mad at you was also going to make it worse for her. When she blew up, Tony could see everything being worse than it originally would be. It was too late to do anything too. "I am going to come see you later, okay?" Steve said to her as he bumped her up higher on his hip. Alice never said anything though. "We're going to have a little talk."
Alice still didn't respond as she took another sip of her drink. Steve kissed her head once more before placing her back on the ground. "Put on some sunscreen if you're planning on staying out here." He said to her before turning back to yelling at the recruits.
"You have your dad acting weird, kid." Tony said as he watched Steve's retreating form. "You're acting weird too. Everything okay?" Alice just shrugged before sliding off the bench and walking off.
Often Steve wondered what was going through Alice's brain, but for the past two days it was more than wondering. He needed to know what was going on in her little head to understand why she was acting this way. When he had seen her sitting with Tony in her black skirt and white button up shirt, even smiling and giggling, he assumed she was in a good mood today and ready to talk, or even hug. But apparently he was wrong.
Even though she said she would, Peggy still hadn't told him what had happened the day before. She'd gone off to bed just after Alice had, and woken up before him. He hadn't seen her that day, and was wondering if she was avoiding him or it just seemed like she was. Because Alice seemed to be.
Steve was a nice guy, ask anyone he really was, but he was in a bad mood. Peggy was upset about something Alice did, Alice was upset for a reason nobody was completely sure of, and really all the emotions in his family were out of whack. Nobody was even telling him what happened. So, when he was yelling at his troops, it was more for his benefit of getting his anger out more than theirs. He understood that he was being unfair to the youngsters. Yet, he couldn't stop.
"Stop!" he called to the men and woman who had still been running their laps. The others were sitting on the ground, panting where they had started. "Good job today! That's enough for today though. Hit the showers!"
Everyone, as usual, followed his orders. He faintly could hear them whispering to each other, saying he was in a bad mood. They didn't know the half of it. Steve subbed his temples, trying to ward off an oncoming headache as he turned towards the buildings. The place had three sections, the rooms for all the people that worked there, the main building with the offices, gyms, and other places, and then the Avengers place. That was where all the Avengers and family lived. Each had their own sections that were under lock and key. For privacy reasons. And while they each had their own kitchen (thanks to Stark wanting everything high class) they usually ate all together. But from where Steve stood he couldn't see anyone in the kitchen.
Steve walked towards the door, ready to head up to his and Peggy's floor to have a shower, but decided against it. He needed to punch something. He needed to go to the gym. Tony for some reason put their personal gym in the main building, on the complete other side of it. So, Steve walked through the hallways, nodding at people politely if they spoke to him. He glanced in every room for Alice but never saw her, the only person he saw was Angie in the dance studio.
Finally, after his short walk through the building, he got to the gym. He was surprised to see he wasn't alone, and even more surprised to see that is was Peggy at the punching bag. She was hitting it aggressively, obviously she had the same idea to channel her anger at gym equipment, and was hitting it like she would attack a hydra agent.
Steve cautiously walked over to the side, in her view, and watched her punch it, wanting to make sure that she wasn't going to hurt herself. Because while Steve knew Peggy knew what she was doing, he could never not be careful.
Thankfully, they were alone. Steve wasn't completely sure where the other Avengers were but knew that if they were here he and Peggy would be getting questioned. He was supposed to be the nice Captain, not the drill sergeant. She was supposed to be the cold agent, not the upset mother.
So, he was thankful that the only sound that filled the room was that of their own heart beats and the sound of her fists hitting the bag, hard. Steve noticed that she wasn't wearing gloves, and looked up at her face. He was surprised to see what she was almost crying. A few tears had even escaped and were making their way down her red cheeks. Her hands were even starting to bleed. This was not the Peggy he knew, the Peggy he knew everyone knew. I hate you
Well, actually, he knew this was Peggy. Of course this was Peggy. She had more sides to herself than just a cold agent. She wasn't a 2D figure, she was a person. A human being with emotions, and reactions to her emotions.
"Peg. Peg, no. Peggy, you need to stop." Steve said as he grabbed her hands before they could once again hit the leather bag. In turn, she started to hit his chest. Steve took it, because he knew she couldn't physically hurt him unless she shot him. And while he hoped that was highly unlikely, it had happened before so you never know. Suddenly, she was resting her hands on his chest, although they were still in fists, and had her forehead resting on it. She was crying, sobbing even. Steve wasn't completely sure whether hitting him caused the crying, or it was something else. He was thinking it was something else though.
This was the moment when even though it was across the building, Steve glad that Tony had insisted on a private gym for the Avengers. Because this, the crying, would not go down well if someone had walked in that wasn't close to them. Steve knew it probably wouldn't go well if an Avenger even walked in.
Steve felt all of Peggy's weight being placed on him, so he slowly brought them both down to the floor till they were sitting there. "Peggy, you need to tell me what's going on. What happened?" Steve whispered to her as he brought his thumbs to her cheeks to wipe away the tear tracks. This was the end of the line. No more keeping whatever this was from him.
"Not here." She whispered back, her voice thick with tears. It broke Steve's heart to see her so broken up about this. So, the two sat there in silence. The only sound was her occasional sniffle as she tried to get a hold of her emotions. Steve held her throughout this, never wanting to let go. "God, I'm so pathetic."
"No you aren't. You are strong and beautiful." Steve said as he pressed a quick kiss to her lips. Peggy gave him a watery smile. Finally, they were good enough to leave the room without arousing suspicion. The two walked through the hallways quickly, trying to avoid eye contact with people as they walked past. Angie even gave them a weird look as they passed her, head down.
When they got to the Avengers building, and walked up the stairs, Steve's eyes swept around the living room kitchen area for Alice. He wasn't looking very hard though, he was more worried for Peggy. They needed to talk. But by not looking very well, his eyes swept over Alice as she pressed herself against the wall, trying to avoid them.
Alice did not want to be seen. She was upset. She did not want to be here, not at all. She found it quite mean and rude, how she had to be here against her will. What did she ever do to be taken away from her Island? Nobody ever told her when they'd go back. What if this was permanent?
Alice had only gone inside to avoid her dad and get her sunglasses. Now that she had them, she made her way back outside. It was nice out, and very sunny. She looked over and saw Potter running around, obviously enjoy this place. Maybe even better than the island.
"Traitor." She whispered not loud enough for him to hear, as she glared at the pop. She walked a little ways into the field and sat down with her back against a small tree. With her iPad on her lap, she went onto the new app she had downloaded: Dr. Panda goes to space. At least her iPad was consistent. Since it had no real brain, it couldn't even consider becoming a traitor.
I hate you
"Doll face, I need to know to be able to help." Steve whispered in Peggy's ear as they swayed. Currently the couple was standing in their bedroom, swaying to music that didn't exist. This was as close to dancing as they had gotten since Peggy appeared in this century.
"Don't call me that, ever." Steve was relieved when Peggy cracked a small smile. This was an improvement. Very much so. "But I don't think you want to know. You won't be very happy." Steve tightened his arms that were around her waist slightly.
"I do though," Steve murmured as they slowly stopped swaying. They were just standing there in the middle of the bedroom, wrapped up in each other. Steve wanted Peggy to be happy, but couldn't help unless she let him. "I love you, Peg.
"And I you," Peggy whispered as she leaned up to give him a peck. Steve smiled down at her before resting his chin on the top of her head, waiting for her to tell him what he wanted to know. She seemed to be collecting her thoughts, figuring out what to say. "Well," she cleared her throat and pulled out of the embrace. "It all started when you phoned to say we would be moving here – you might want to sit down."
Steve looked at her concerned but followed her advice and sat down on the edge of the bed. The he listened to Peggy recount her encounter with Alice.
It was a bright, hot, sunny day and Peggy had been outside playing by the pool with Alice. The little girl had insisted on going swimming with her, yet once they got to the water Alice freaked out.
Apparently she didn't know how to swim, and the idea of swimming scared her for some reason or another. So, Peggy in her bikini (a high wasted one with a modest top thank you very much) stood in the shallow end of the pool near the side as the little girl stood at the edge of the pool, toes only inches away from the offending water.
Peggy had her hair up in a ponytail, trying to avoid getting it wet. Thankfully, it also helped keep it out of her face as there was a wind picking up.
"Alice, aren't you getting cold out there?" Alice shook her head at her, yet was shivering from the wind. Peggy would have chuckled if she didn't think Alice was being so ridiculous. "Darling, come here. I'll keep you safe in the water. It isn't that bad."
It broke Peggy's heart slightly when she thought about the fact that her daughter refused to trust her and come into the water. She was so insistent that they must go swimming, and now that Peggy was wet she refused to come into the water. Peggy wondered if her pink hello kitty bathing suit had ever been used!
Sighing, Peggy started to swim backwards into the sun heated water. If her daughter wouldn't enjoy it, she would.
Potter, who was outside with them, was going crazy about something or other and barking like crazy. "Potter, stop barking at the bird." Peggy didn't know if it was a bird or not, but she just assumed it was because of how isolated they were. The dog didn't listen to her as he ran behind Alice. And while he was usually very careful of the tiny child, it seemed as though the dog momentarily forgot this and knocked Alice into the water.
Alice screamed as she hit the water with a splat. Peggy instantly swam quickly over to her flailing daughter. Peggy quickly gathered Alice up into her arms.
"Shh, it's okay. Ali it's okay." Peggy shushed and soothed Alice. Peggy knew that Alice had not breathed in any water because of the fact that she wasn't coughing. She was just a little shaken. Alice seemed to think she was dying, and was clinging onto her mother.
"Mummy," Alice cried as she put her head on Peggy's slick shoulder. Peggy rubbed her hand up and down Alice's back to try and calm the little girl. She felt hot tears dripping onto her shoulder.
"Darling, look, you're in the water." Peggy whispered in her daughter's ear. Alice lifted her head off of her mom's shoulder and grinned. The tears were instantly put away.
"Mummy! Mummy look I'm swimming!" Alice exclaimed as she clapped her hands. After that she kept them attacked to Peggy though. "Don't let go."
"I won't, I promise." Peggy promised as she laughed and moved deeper into the water, bouncing Alice as she went. She loved the sound of her daughters laugh, it was like music.
An hour later they were done their swim, and Peggy had taken Alice to her bedroom to get dressed again. Then she had gone to her own bedroom to get dressed as Alice talked to Angie. Once she was out she picked up and smiling and giggling daughter and brought her to the kitchen.
Peggy made a small fruit salad for Alice's snack, and was just finishing when her cellphone rang.
"Hello?" she answered as she placed the pink, plastic bowl on the table in front of Alice. The little girl happily started to eat the fruit without a care in the world, and Peggy watched as Alice tuned her out.
"Hi Peg." Peggy felt relief go through her system as she heard Steve's voice come through the phone. She also felt her heart go to mush slightly, it felt like it had been so long since she last heard his voice.
"Steve, are you okay?" she asked worriedly. She glanced over at Alice who didn't seem to be paying attention to anything she said.
"Yeah, for the most part we all are," Peggy felt a smile fall onto her face. "Look, we have a new base." Steve's voice said through the phone.
"Really?" Peggy leaned against the counter and looked out the floor to ceiling windows that faced the ocean. While she loved this place, and the views were amazing, she missed civilization and working. She had never wanted to be a stay at home mom, and it seemed as though that is what she was becoming.
"I think that you and Alice should come live up here. Angie and them too, it will be better for all of us up here. Plus, then we're away from the isolation that comes with that island." Steve explained and Peggy couldn't help but agree with him. She nodded until she realized he wouldn't be able to see her, and that she actually needed to respond.
"Steve, as much as I agree with you, are you sure?" Peggy asked as she glanced over at her daughter. Alice seemed too had lost interest in her salad and was instead looking over at her in curiosity.
"Yes."
"Well, okay… tell Tony that we are going to need a way out of here though. Okay… love you… see you soon." Peggy hung up the phone and looked over at Alice who was staring at her. Peggy sighed as she pulled a chair out from the table and sat down. "Alice, we need to talk about something."
Peggy watched the smile start to drift off of Alice's face. Obviously she was not happy with this. "Mummy…" Alice's voice could have counted as a warning. It was obvious she thought Peggy was joking.
"We're going to be moving away from the island. Isn't this exciting?" Peggy said with as much enthusiasm as she could muster, hoping that Alice would take it as a good thing. Apparently not, because before she could react, Alice was out of her seat.
"No!" she screamed and ran off to her room.
Steve listened to Peggy tell the story about how she had gotten their daughter to be more comfortable in the water, only for it to be ruined by a tantrum. Alice had gone from unresponsive upset, to full out almost tantrum. Steve had never heard or seen Alice act like this before. And it all ended with I hate you. The only time he even heard her use the word was at specific items, like water or sea food. Steve had always seen Alice as sweet, never angry. And never saying one of the worst things a parent could hear their child say, yet she said it. Even though Steve highly doubted that she had meant it, it had still been said.
"I don't think she means it." Steve said to Peggy as he hugged her close and kissed her forehead. He looked down and saw Peggy had closed her eyes, tears were starting to well up again and Steve didn't want her to cry. "That sounds so un-Alice like though. What do you think brought it on?"
"I thought so too… and I don't know, maybe the idea of moving?" Peggy responded as she rested her head on his shoulder. Steve sat that her tears were starting to now dry up. That was a good sign. "I'm starting to think we should talk to her though."
Steve agreed with her. "I think so too."
Before they left the room, the two showered since they still smelt from the gym. Then they got into more comfortable clothes, Peggy into a pair of leggings that at first she was sceptical about then realized they were very comfortable) and a loose fitting white button up shirt. Steve got into a pair of jeans and t-shirt, which was probably too tight but Peggy wasn't complaining.
When both were dressed, they made their way over to Alice's bedroom. The door was only open a crack, and when Steve gently pushed it open the two saw the little girl setting up her tea table. It wasn't as nice as the one at the island, but Tony had gotten her a new tea set for it. She didn't say anything, and even if she knew they were there she was ignoring them. Like she had been for the past day and a half. Stepping back slightly, she admired her work on setting up the tea set nicely. Quickly stepping forward, she fixed a spoon and turned a handle so it was the same way as the others before heading over to the shelf that would soon be covered in stuffed animals. For now it just had four.
"Alice." Steve said from the doorway. Alice turned around quickly, seemingly startled, and studied her parents for a moment. They were making their way into her bedroom. Alice noticed that both looked tired, which aged their appearance slightly. Really, both still looked incredibly young for the years they were born in and the year it now was, but also being a parent was hard and aged you more than you'd like to say.
All of the sudden a thought appeared in Alice's head, a reason why they'd be coming to talk to her. "Are we going home?" she asked hopefully. Steve watched as her eyes lit up at the question, but knew he had to crush this. And even though he didn't want to, he shook his head and watched as her face fell. The words I hate you were even starting to echo in his head. He shook it though, trying to banish the three words.
"We need to have a talk." Steve said as he looked down at her. Alice made a face at him that was suspiciously close to a glare.
"Not until we get to go home." Alice snippily said as she turned around, making her hair fly.
"Alice this is home now." Steve tried to convince her. He knew he was treading on thin ice and knew that he wasn't equipped for this situation. He was a super soldier, he never had someone to look to in this century for taking care of children, and he didn't even get to see Alice when she was a baby, and neither did Peggy.
"No it isn't!" Alice yelled and stomped her foot. "The island is home! This is not and I don't like it! I don't want it! I want to go home right now!" Steve could tell this was going to turn into a tantrum, and he assumed Peggy was aware of that too.
I hate you. "Don't yell at us, missy. We are your parents." Peggy said as she walked over to where Alice was standing. "Look at me, darling. We need to talk." Peggy said in a softer tone and knelt down beside her daughter. Alice didn't turn though, and so Peggy tried to turn her about by taking hold of her arm. Alice turned quickly and hit Peggy's hand away. Not hard enough to actually hurt her physically, but mentally that was a blow.
"No!" Alice yelled. I hate you
"Alice Rogers." Steve warned her as he walked over and started to pull her over to the bed. Alice screeched though and hit him away. Really, she was doing more damage to herself than him.
"No. No! NO NO NO!" Alice screamed as she pulled herself out of his grasp. Peggy held up her hands in surrender as she stood up. Both could take on Nazi's and hydra. Yet a six year old having a tantrum brought them to their wits end. Neither knew how to deal with it.
"Alice Sarah Rogers!" Steve exclaimed as he tried to grab her arms to stop her from hurting herself.
"Go away! I want to go home!" Alice screamed at them. "I don't want you! I want Pepper! Where's Pepper?!" I hate you
Peggy walked over to where Steve was standing and put a hand on his arm. "Let's go, close the door, let her calm down a little bit." He nodded and they walked out of Alice's room, watching her cry and yell and flail. Yet, they didn't react to it. I hate you
In the room, Alice was no longer screaming at them. She was screaming at herself. Logically, as logically as you could be at the age of six, she knew that they needed to be there for her father's work and for the good of the world. Yet, she was still upset with everything that was going on. She wasn't exactly sure why they needed this new base of to be here. Also, she never meant to hit her mom or dad, or even yell at either of them. Alice couldn't control herself. Her emotions and actions were out of whack and she didn't know how to fix it.
Alice fell to the ground crying. She just wanted her Aunt Pepper to explain everything to her. She wanted to mom to sing and shush her and her dad to cuddle her. Yet part of her was telling her that they hated her now. They were mad and it was all her fault. Maybe, they wouldn't want her anymore.
I hate you. I hate you. I hate you. I hate you. I hate me.
Tony was sitting downstairs with his arm around Peppers shoulder, with Angie sitting next to them, and Howard across from them. He had no clue where Jarvis and Anna were. They all heard two pairs of footsteps coming down the stairs before Peggy and Steve appeared. The two seemed exhausted as they walked over to the couch and sat down.
"No luck?" Angie asked her best friend. Peggy shook her head and sighed. Angie gave her friend a sympathetic smile. She was as clueless as her in this situation.
"I think that maybe she is tired." Pepper said as she looked up from her laptop screen at the two parents. She had known Alice longer than them and knew that when the child got tired she became irritable.
"Maybe give her a time out?" Howard suggested as he thought back to ways his parents would parent him or his brother.
"I don't think that would work, Alice is beyond reasoning." Steve frowned. What could they do?
"Take away her iPad?" Tony suggested. He seemed to go into thought for a second before regretting his idea.
"I believe that would make everything worse." Peggy sighed deeply. Everyone was stumped and out of ideas. How were they supposed to take care of a temperamental six year old who didn't seem to want their help?
A couple of hours later, Peggy and Steve had decided to go for a much needed walk. So they left the building, thinking that maybe some space would help Alice feel better and become ready to talk. It was a good idea. So, they left Angie alone in the living room watching reruns of a show called New Girl. She didn't seem to mind one bit.
Pepper on the other hand, had decided that leaving Alice wasn't exactly the best of plans. She had heard Alice's earlier screams for her. So now that Alice had finally quieted down the woman walked to her niece's bedroom. She knocked lightly before opening the bedrooms door.
Alice was still sitting on the ground where she had been left earlier that day. Instead of being crumpled though, she was now sitting cross legged and staring at a stuffed animal intently. Pepper noted that it was the one she and Tony had bought her right after she was brought from the SHIELD labs. The woman also noticed the signs that Alice had been crying. Her eyes were red and swollen, and there were tear tracks down the girls face.
Pepper felt her heart constrict at the sight of the slightly pathetic looking little girl. Alice looked so exhausted that she could pass out right then, and Pepper knew that the girl would sleep well that night.
In truth, Alice wasn't as tired as she looked. She was filled with gut wrenching guilt for yelling and hitting her parents earlier that day. She felt sorrow and other emotions for what she did, and sorrow among other emotions were something no six year old should have been feeling.
"Hi Ali, how are you doing?" Pepper asked her as she walked further into the room and closed the door behind herself. She knelt down in front of Alice and studied the child's face.
"I'm sad." Stated Alice. "And something else… I feel butterflies all over my tummy. I don't feel well Auntie, make it go away."
"I think you feel guilty." Pepper said slowly as she provided the word that Alice didn't know. "Maybe you should tell mommy and daddy that you're sorry?"
Alice nodded at her aunt's idea. In truth, she had also been thinking that but was too scared to go talk to them herself. What if they hated her now? Tears started to fall down her face again.
"No more of that nonsense." Pepper said as she wiped away the salty water from the child's face. "How about you write a letter to mommy and daddy to say you're sorry?" Pepper offered the idea out. Alice nodded.
"Okay." She agreed and stood up and walked over to a bin full of papers and pens. The two went over to the little tea table and made themselves comfortable before setting to work.
It was dark out by time Peggy and Steve finally got back. They had decided to go into town, and walked the whole way there, got a nice dinner, and then walked back. Truthfully, it was nice and calming. And also gave Alice lots of time to calm down and become ready to talk.
And while it seemed like everyone was asleep as the area was peaceful and quiet, they could hear voices coming from the back. Walking behind their building, they found the Avengers (minus Thor) plus Angie, Pepper, Howard, Jarvis and Anna having a camp fire.
"Look who decided to come back!" Tony exclaimed loudly with a large grin. Angie pulled Peggy down to sit beside her. Peggy smiled at her friend as she was handed a beer.
"How was your walk?" Bruce asked more calmly as Steve sat down on the grass beside him. Peggy liked Bruce, he was calmer than the rest which was nice.
"Wonderful. It was quite calming, which was nice because of this hectic day," Steve looked around for his daughter. "Walking was a nice change from cars." Finally he saw the little girl running around.
Alice had always been interested in fireflies, but Steve had always put her to bed before they came out. So he wasn't surprised to see her running around after them in her Frozen pyjamas and bright pink hello kitty slippers. Natasha and Clint were watching her, talking quietly.
Potter was even out there, but for once he wasn't running around and instead was sleeping beside the fire, his head resting on paws. Steve smiled at his daughter who looked carefree, happy, as she ran after the little glowing bugs. Her hair was pulled back into a braid so she obviously had just had a bath before this.
Everyone sat around chatting and drinking for about an hour. Steve looked down at his watch at one point and saw that it was almost eleven, way past Alice's bedtime of seven thirty. By that point, the little girl was already asleep on Natasha's lap. He stood up and walked over to the red head.
"I got her." He said to Natasha who smiled up at him. Steve picked up Alice and cradled her like a little baby. At that moment she looked like one, not a worry in the world. An obvious difference from the screaming child she was earlier that day.
Peggy followed his lead and stood up. "I think we're headed to bed." She said.
"Mom and pops going to bed already? So lame." Tony joked with a grin. Pepper hit him lightly and he mocked a look of hurt.
"Isn't it past your bedtime, sonny." Howard mocked Tony. The man glared at his future/past father, which was completely uncalled for. How dare he mock him.
"Goodnight guys," Steve said with a roll of his eyes as he walked over to the sliding door and opened it without a sound.
"Goodnight." Peggy smiled at them tiredly before following Steve inside and closing the door behind him.
They walked up and into Alice's bedroom together. Both were slightly surprised to see that only a couple things had been thrown and were out of place. Steve suspected it had been more but someone had cleaned it up a bit. Either that or Alice didn't throw things when she was angry.
"Daddy?" came Alice's groggy voice. It was muffled by his shirt that she had pressed her face into at some point during their journey up the stairs.
"Sleep, baby, we can talk about it in the morning." Steve whispered to her as he took the slippers off of her bare feet and tucked her securely.
"'ell mummy I wuve 'er…" came Alice's slurred sleep speech as she rolled over onto her side, not opening her eyes at all to see that Peggy was in the room.
"I will." Steve promised as he kissed her forehead.
"I wuve 'ou dada." Alice slurred before she drifted off into sleep. Peggy walked over and tucked a loose piece of hair behind Alice's ear before kissing the child's temple.
"I love you too my darling." Peggy whispered to her sleeping child. Steve smiled at this, although he couldn't forget what had happened earlier that day. He didn't think Peggy was likely to forget either. They needed to talk to Alice to sort all of this out, soon.
"She is so precious…" Peggy whispered to him as he came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. The two of them looked down at Alice in the dim light that came through the open window. They heard the slight murmurs of talking and yelling from outside, but nothing alarmingly well so they knew Alice would be okay.
Steve pressed a kiss to Peggy cheek. "She looks like what I would have imagined you to be when you were little." Steve said quietly to her. Peggy smiled slightly as she laced her fingers through Steve's.
"Goodnight my precious princess…" Peggy whispered one last goodnight to her daughter before the two parents left her room and closed the doors behind them. They walked over to their bedroom.
When they turned on the lights, Peggy's eyes took a couple of seconds to adjust, but once they did she was shocked to see white paper sitting on the corner of their bed. She didn't remember putting that there, and she doubted Steve would have done that either.
"Steve." She said as she nudged the oblivious super soldier. He looked over at Peggy and then followed her gave down to the bed. His eyebrows furrowed as he tried to think of who did their but nobody came to his mind either.
Peggy walked over to it and gently picked it up.
MuMmy and DAddY it read on the front in messy, childlike block letters.
"It's a letter from Alice," Steve said quietly. The two sat on the edge of the bed as Peggy opened the letter and their eyes went over the writing.
To MummY and Daddy.
I aM sorrey that I got mad. I waS just sad becuse i love the islaNd and i didnt want to leeve. I now what i did was wrong and i am sorrey.
MumMy, i did not mEan to hit you. I am sorrey if i hurt you. I loVe you, and dOnt hate you. I never hate you. Never aver.
Daddy, i am sorRey i yelled at you and i am ok if you arE made at me. Pleese accept my soRreys.
I wAs scared aNd i aM sorRey.
Love
AlicE
Xoxo
Peggy smiled slightly at the little girl's apology letter, and while she wasn't mad at Alice anymore she needed to know what she was scared of. It wasn't a want, it was a nagging need. The feeling that felt as though it would get worse as time went on if it wasn't fixed. "She's too cute to stay mad at." Peggy whispered to Steve.
"We're still going to talk to her tomorrow, her behaviour was unacceptable." Steve reminded her but nodded along with agreement. Alice was too cute.
"Of course, but for now, let's sleep."
So originally this story had a different ending, but after consulting my friend I decided on using this as the ending.
Also, I left a lot of things spelt completely wrong and some letters capitalized in Alice's letter because she is six.
I do not have the remotest clue what the Dr. Panda app is, I just went into most popular apps for ages 6-8 in the app store.
Please review if you seem like you should, and if you have any questions, comments of suggestions for this story you can PM me or message me on tumblr: while_the_world_sleeps