"Do you think we should get a restraining order?" Pepper asked, her face clear with worry. They all knew this day would come, but it didn't make it any easier now that they were dealing with it. Peppers hands begun to shake and Tony had a flat affect that made him hard to read. Rhodey on the other had found it difficult that they had to deal with the scenario at all.

"I have a bad feeling about this." He snapped his eyes darting over to the water fountain. There was four Starfish swimming in the pool, alerting to everyone who was in the house. Maria was upstairs somewhere, her hearing aids out and mind wandering in places her parents couldn't even begin to imagine.

It was starting to become more of a habit, and Tony found himself using ASL more than normal but walking not unheard of. Steve was having a difficult time with Maria simply because he couldn't speak a lot of ASL, and struggled to form the right words with his hands. Maria was gentle and patient often reforming his hands to make the words right. Slowly he was learning.

Tony found his mind couldn't wander anywhere else. His mind was too over whelmed with what they were facing. The truth was everyone had a bad feeling about this. They all wished they could ignore it, but there were very few things in life that you could ignore. Closing his eyes Tony let out a deep sigh. He wanted to solve the problem without his daughter's knowledge but he knew she would be furious.

Everyone in the room felt sick and all adults looked to each other silently agreeing that Maria had a right to know, and had a right to determine what they should do.

"Jarvis call Maria down." Tony requested, ignoring the quick witted response from the A.I. Pepper reached across the couch gently grabbing his elbow in support. Maria came down the stairs moments later, and her eyes quickly scanned the room.

"I wasn't really going to wear the low cut top, it was a joke." She said, standing in the entrance of the living room. Pepper could see so much of her father in that statement, trying to make light in a situation that was clearly not a good one. Maria crossed her arms in front of her chest fully realising that something wasn't right.

"This is serious isn't it?" Maria asked stepping forward and sitting down on the floor in front of her family. Pepper nodded her head looking towards Tony who was trying to find a way to break the news to her without upsetting his daughter.

"Your mother was granted parole." He said softly, watching Maria's face twist in confusion. She couldn't understand why Pepper had been given parole, and had no idea what for until the reality of what her father was saying sunk in.

He didn't mean Pepper Pots, he meant the woman she lived with before she came here. They all watched as Maria's face drained a little, none of them understanding what she was thinking. She felt fear creep into her chest.

"She also requested to see you." Tony continued a wave of nausea hitting him hard. The very idea of that monster seeing his daughter made him ill, how anyone could even dare request a visit after doing something so horrible was insanity to him.

Maria was silent for a moment and they all waited for a response. It was clear Maria was scared, and angry. Running her fingers through her long hair, she leaned forward her face scrunched in thought.

"The answer is no. I'm not interested and unless she bothers us we don't need a restraining order." Maria said, her face slowly turning from white, to its normal pink self. They could all still see the distraught look on her face, and knew she was finding it difficult to process the information.

"Maria?" Pepper asked leaning forward to gently grab hold of her daughter, only to be stopped by Maria raising her hand. She didn't want to be touched.

"It's okay, it's just a shock that she would want to see me. I have no interest in seeing her, she is nothing to me, you're my family not her." Maria closed her eyes gently; she took a deep inhale of breath and then released it.

Maria knew her father's mind was spinning with thoughts and that if she didn't leave now, they would spend a long amount of time discussing something Maria had no interest in talking about. The woman could jump of a bridge for all she cared and with any luck she would.

"Look, I don't want to talk about it right now. Steve and I have somewhere we have to be." Maria would have said anything to get out of the discussion, but she really did have somewhere to be. She and Steve had agreed to show up to a fundraiser for the deaf.

Children were beyond excited that captain America was showing up and even through Steve knew he should be nervous he couldn't help but not be. Maria would be there, and Maria would happily translate for him.

Tony didn't want her to go, because she was clearly not fine and when he shifted forward on the couch to challenge her on the matter she shot him a stern look. "Don't!" she snapped stiffly standing up from her spot on the floor.

"Just, don't" She whispered before leaving her family member's alone in a room of silence.

Steve had known that something wasn't right the moment he saw her. Maria wore her heart on her sleeve, so he always knew what she was feeling. He knew her well enough to not ask her right away what was going on.

He stuck by her for the entire night, keeping a close eye on her. She elegantly signed to everyone who walked up to them, and managed to keep Steve in the conversation. The children were the most difficult for him to understand, because a lot of them got so excited that simple words (that he understood) got jumbled up.

By the end of the night he could feel the dull ache of a long day settle in his muscles. He couldn't wait to go home and sleep, but before he could do that he wanted to make sure Maria was alright. Pulling their car off the road he pulled up to a small diner he liked to go to frequently.

Oddly the diner had been there for a long time, and some of the things scattered about on the walls reminded him of his life before everything had happened. He wouldn't dare wish another life, because he felt as if he and Maria were meant to be.

Sliding into a booth Steve ordered fries and two pops his eyes barely leaving Maria who tiredly pulled the shoes from her feet. He smiled when she placed them into his lap in attempts to keep them raised, and warm at the same time. It reminded him of how tiny her feet were, and how some times she would she would leave stores cursing because they had a small selection in her size.

"Nothing gets passed you Steve Rogers." Maria chimed, she had figured out what he was doing the moment he pulled the car off the road. Steve gave her a soft smile. In the movies he had seen men rub their girlfriend's feet, but the idea of touching Maria like that was too intimate for him.

He knew Maria had been with another, but she told him it was only once. She hadn't enjoyed the experience, and the man she was with was a childhood friend, who stopped talking to her years before he knew her. It didn't bother him. Sure sex made him a bit nervous, but they had both chosen to wait until marriage because they both believed that a relationship that could thrive without sex was more important than a relationship that was depended on it.

"What's bothering you?" Steve asked nodding to their waitress as she placed their drinks and fries in front of them. It was funny how quickly she would unravel around him, whereas others she would put up a strong front. It was very obvious to Steve that she completely trusted him.

"Am I really that easy to read?" She asked, Steve nodded his head yes and her soft laughter filled the room. She hated that he always knew, sometimes she wished that she could hide away all of her feelings and never have to deal with them.

"Did I ever tell you about my biological mother?" Maria's expression darkened, it was clear that this was what was bothering her. Maria never talked of her biological mother; the only thing Steve knew was that she wasn't in Maria's life. He was under the impression for a very long time that they were not on good terms.

Steve didn't speak, not because he didn't want to but because he knew that Maria needed him to listen. He leaned forward giving her hand a gentle squeeze in assurance.

"I don't really know her, I only lived with her for a short time, but any of the memories I do have of living with her were horrible." A feeling of sickness rolled over Steve, he had a pretty good idea of where this story was going, and he was praying that he was wrong.

"I was uh…heavily abused. When they found me they thought I was dead and even in the hospital they didn't think I would make it. When my father took me home, I wouldn't let him touch me because I was so terrified of men." A soft chuckle came from her chest, she couldn't imagine being terrified of her father, the idea was so foreign to her.

"Maria?" Steve asked when he realised that her mind was starting to wander in thought. His voice scared her, and for a brief moment she had forgotten where she was.

"She got out of prison, and made a request to see me." Silence hung over the diner and Steve tried to wrap his mind around what she was telling him. He didn't expect Maria to have such a horrible past, and he was sure there was more to the story she wasn't telling him.

Steve didn't have a chance to say anything before a few tears quickly slipped down her face. He could of sworn he heard her mutter that she was terrified, before covering her face in embarrassment. Steve couldn't understand her pain, but he did want to take it away for her. Maria meant the world to him, and seeing her suffer was hard.

Sliding her feet from his lap, he moved from his side of the table and slipped into hers then with gentle hands he pulled her into himself. If Maria had any hope of stopping herself from crying she had none now.

"It will be okay, I promise." Steve told her, he would protect Maria with his life. Steve spent so long with her trying to get her calm again that their fries were cold and soggy.

"Our food is cold." Maria laughed, trying to lighten the mood. Neither of them would put the fries in their mouth. Steve figured they could order another plate, but he doubted they would eat them. Pulling out his wallet he flipped a few bills on the table. Then grabbing for Maria's hand, he pulled her from the booth and toward the car.

Maria didn't go home that night, instead she went home with Steve to his little apartment. There they watched old movies, with horrible sound and ate as much junk food as their stomachs could handle before falling asleep in each others arms.

Did a very lazy editing, might come back and fix it later. Feel free to point out mistakes!

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