Rosalind Stark
Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel or any characters or variations of Marvel/Avengers. I only own my OCs.
Chapter Six: Mommy's Awake
"Sir, Dr Ewart is awake," announced JARVIS. Tony froze practically holding his breath. This was not going to be good.
xxXXxx
Natasha and Clint had left to have a word with Director Fury. Banner, Thor, Darcy, and Jane had already gone to bed. Loki had disappeared as he often would. Steve was in the kitchen making a late night snack.
"Mr Rogers, Dr Ewart is awake," JARVIS announced.
"Is Tony heading down to see her?" asked Steve slightly confused why the AI chose to inform him.
"Mr Stark is not, but I would suggest someone head down there soon. She is quickly growing restless," answered the AI.
"Alright, I'll head down there," Steve sat down his snack and headed for the elevator.
xxXXxx
Dr Ewart was pulling the iv from her arm when Steve entered the room.
"I'm guessing you're the welcome wagon," she huffed as she worked to get out of the bed. There was a cast on her left wrist and she wore a hospital gown.
"I don't think you should be getting up so soon," Steve tried to push her back into the bed.
"Okay, that's not going to happened," she growled aggravated at this man she didn't even know.
"If you'll sit down, I'll explain where you are," Steve offered hoping she would accept.
"Will you tell me where my daughter is?" Dr Ewart kept a stern face and tone.
"Rosalind is upstairs, asleep. It's kind of late," Steve explained not wanting the mother to worry.
"Okay," she conceded sitting back on the edge of the bed.
"In the attack on the fair, you were knocked out. You've been out for three days," Steve started to recap what had happen since Doom's attack on the fair.
"So I'm at a hospital, and you're what, a nurse?" she raised an eyebrow at Steve.
"No, umm. You were at a hospital, but Doom attacked the hospital. So Tony had you moved to the tower for safety," Steve wasn't sure if it was best to bring up Tony, but the two were going to have to face each other at some point.
"Who exactly has been watching my daughter while I was out?" her tone was nearly threatening.
"Well Tony and the whole Avengers team. My name is Steve Rogers ma'am," Steve introduced himself.
Dr Ewart looked relieved. "I'm Doctor Vivian Ewart, but you can call me Vivian… You look familiar," she stared hard at Steve.
"Well I'm a member of the Avengers ma'am," he smiled. Overall Vivian seemed to be a nice person.
"Let's see there's seven of you, not Thor, Loki, or Tony, not Black Widow or Hawkeye… That leaves Hulk and Captain America, my guess is Captain?" she cocked her head to the side waiting to find out if she was right.
"Yes ma'am, but you can call me Steve," he wondered if he should call a doctor or at least go get Banner to check her over.
"Alright then Steve, by any chance are my clothes here too. I'd kind of like a shower and to check on Rozz," Vivian started to get up again.
"They're upstairs in Rosalind's room. Maybe I should get someone to check you over," Steve tried to get her to sit back down. She took one step and almost collapsed. It looked as though she was having trouble putting weight on her leg. He grabbed her arm to support her.
"The tower is Tony's house right?" Vivian asked with a slight grumble.
"Yes, why?" he wasn't sure why she was asking that.
"JARVIS, am I okay?" she asked loudly to the room.
"You have a broken wrist, bruised ribs, your hip had to be put back in place, and you have twelve stiches on your cheek and brow line," JARVIS announced.
"But can I get out of bed?" she continued to question.
"Yes, but I recommend you do not travel outside of the tower. You will also need to use crutches until you are able to put weight on your leg," JAVIS answered sounding slightly exasperated.
"See, JARVIS says I'm fine. Are there crutches around here," Vivian looked around the room.
"I said no such thing, but crutches are located in the northeast corner of the room," JARVIS replied. Steve went to get the crutches.
"Love you too JARVIS," snickered Vivian.
xxXXxx
Once they were up to the common floor, Steve showed her to Rozz's room.
"I hope she hasn't been any trouble," Vivian spoke softly to not wake Rozz. She stroked her daughter's hair.
"Not at all," Steve assured her. He grabbed the suitcase and showed her to the bathroom. "I'll show you to an empty room after you are done in the shower," explained Steve setting the suitcase just inside the door of the bathroom.
"Thanks, you wouldn't happen to have a bag I could put over this cast?" Vivian asked as she hobbled toward the bathroom. Steve brought her a plastic grocery bag apologizing that it was all he could find. She nodded and closed the door behind her. There was a noise from behind her, but when she turned no one seemed to be in the bathroom. She sighed feeling paranoid. "JARVIS, Rozz hasn't been in contact with Pepper, has she?" Vivian softly asked the AI.
"No Dr Ewart, Miss Potts has been out of the country on business," JARVIS answered quietly.
"Thank god… I was worried for nothing. I bet she and Tony aren't even that serious," she half heartedly laughed as she worked to tie the bag over her cast.
"Actually sir is quite serious about Miss Potts," corrected the AI.
"How serious?" Vivian seemed to pale.
"I don't think it wise I share," JARVIS was cut off.
"Tell me JARVIS, this affects my daughter. I have a right to know," she growled glaring at the ceiling.
"Mr Stark purchased a ring seven weeks ago," the AI answered deciding it best to tell her.
"But they're not engaged yet," she mumbled as her own observation.
"Correct," the AI confirmed.
"I'll deal with that later then, and JARVIS you know you can call me Vivian" Vivian sighed getting into the shower.
xxXXxx
Tony was still working on his suit upgrades when a flash of green caught his eye.
"Trying to make an entrance there Reindeer Games?" Tony asked turning his attention toward the god.
"Only trying to be accommodating for your bad heart," Loki smirked at the shorter man.
"Appreciated," Tony chuckled turning back to his work.
"Upstairs I heard some interesting information," the god moved to sit on the workbench beside Tony's current project.
"Jar already told me that Viv's up," Tony commented not bothering to look at the man who was trying to get his attention.
"Oh that's not what I came down here for…" Loki waited to see if he had perked the engineer's interest.
"Then what did you hear?" Tony glanced his way.
"It involves your current lover… Is she aware Rozz is here?" he asked watching Tony squirm ever so slightly when he brought up Pepper.
"No, she doesn't know," he answered now giving the god his full attention.
"Hmmm, why wouldn't you have told her… could it be that there are issues between your past and current lovers?" Loki was baiting him.
"That's not why I didn't tell her, but yeah, Pepper and Viv don't get along," he started to go back to the project on the bench.
"Interesting, care to share why?" Loki smirked at the man pulling the tool from his hand to regain his full attention.
"Well there's the whole I knocked up Viv while Pepper was trying to keep me from destroying my public image," Tony's voice was laced with sarcasm as he grabbed for the tool.
"Stark, I'm the god of lies. Now care to tell me why?" Loki reminded him keeping the tool out of his reach.
Tony glared at the god for a solid minute. "They got in a fight when they first met, not a cat fight or anything, though that would've been hot," Tony finally explained.
"Hmm, that's all. Women can be so petty," chuckled Loki.
"Yeah, cause your so deep," laughed Tony. Loki glared at the man tossing the tool at him before hopping off the workbench and moving toward the door, which Tony had fixed. "Oh come on Rudolph, don't leave angry," Tony smirked.
Suddenly Loki was in front of Tony. "Who said I was angry?" Loki purred into the other man's ear before disappearing.
xxXXxx
It was morning. Steve was making breakfast. Bruce and Clint already in the kitchen when Natasha joined them. Natasha dropped a file on the counter top.
"What's that?" asked Steve from his spot at the stove.
"Tony was clearly never going to answer our questions, so I had SHIELD gather a file," Natasha explained.
"What did you find out?" asked Bruce eyeing the folder.
"Haven't gone through it yet," she announced flipping open the folder.
"Apparently, Dr Ewart works as a professor now. As far as Rosalind they found quite a few newspaper clippings on her," Natasha observed looking through the articles.
"About her being Tony's?" asked Clint trying to read the file over her shoulder.
"No mention of Tony, expect this one that says Stark is a fitting last name since she is likely to be the next great inventor," Natasha shrugged handing Bruce the articles once she had skimmed them.
"Was SHIELD able to find anything with her father's name on it?" asked Bruce as he read.
"Not in the slightest," she pulled a copy of a birth certificate from the folder.
"No father listed," Clint observed.
"Rosalind's looking more and more like a lab experiment," Natasha commented setting the folder down.
Steve bit his lip wondering if he should tell the team, but he decided against it. It was for Tony or Vivian to share.
Speaking of Vivian, she was now entering the room on her crutches looking very angry.
"Dr Ewart, you're awake," Bruce looked a bit surprised.
"What did you call my daughter?" Vivian demanded invading the assassin's personal space.
"Vivian calm down," Steve stopped cooking to try and calm the mother. Natasha wasn't someone to answer nicely to intimidation.
"Considering your research, the fact that there is no father listed on the birth certificate, and that Tony said he wasn't her father," Natasha goaded the woman.
"Tony said what…JARVIS did Tony really say that in especially in front of Rozz?" Vivian was still mad and now losing balance on her crutches. Steve caught her and helped her to a chair.
"Three times Miss Vivian, only once in front of Miss Stark," JARVIS answered.
Vivian sat silently for a moment, before asking the room her next question. "What were you saying about a birth certificate?" she asked her voice was eerily calm.
Natasha slid the copy of the birth certificate over to Vivian. She picked up the paper and looked it over.
"It's a fake," she spat tossing the paper.
"It's what's on file with the government," Natasha watched the woman closely.
Vivian narrowed her eyes pulling the copy back to her. She pointed at one line of the lines of information. "She wasn't born in Dallas… You can ask Tony if you want. He was there," she tapped the paper.
"Mommy! You're awake!" yelled Rozz excitedly letting go of Loki's hand to run to her mother.
"Hey Rozz, were you good for Daddy and his friends?" Vivian mood changed entirely with the presence of her daughter. Rozz nodded vigorously climbing into the seat next to her mother.
"Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Dr Ewart," Loki greeted her as Thor, Jane, and Darcy joining them
"Please call me Vivian," she smiled wide at seeing the god of mischief.
"Lady Vivian, I am pleased to see you've awaken!" boomed Thor looking overjoyed.
Vivian snickered slightly under her breath at being called lady.
"I'm Darcy. This is Jane and buff and loud is Thor," grinned Darcy.
"Nice to meet you," Vivian smiled turning toward the three who were originally in the kitchen. "I'm sorry, I didn't get your names," she apologized.
"She is Natasha Romanoff or Black Widow, he is Clint Barton or Hawkeye, and he is Doctor Bruce Banner or the Hulk," Steve introduced his teammates as he served out breakfast.
"Dr Banner huh. The Hulk is far less threatening in this form," Vivian laughed.
"Yeah, I'm not really a fighter when I'm not the other guy," Bruce shrugged.
"How's it triggered?" Vivian was now eyeing him in a manner that Tony looked at new technology.
"Anger," Natasha said with a snap.
"The change is connected to your emotions, interesting. I would have thought it was caused by a physical change or distress on your body," she mumbled to her self.
"Technically, it's triggered by adrenalin," Bruce admitted. Everyone stared. "Anger is a common cause of adrenalin," he commented.
"Interesting then you can't have intercourse, can you?" asked Vivian. Steve dropped his fork.
"I think you broke Steve," laughed Clint.
"What, I used the proper word," she rolled her eyes turning toward Banner.
"Uh, no I can't," he admitted blushing.
"This is not appropriate breakfast conversation especially in front of Rosalind!" announced Steve once he came out of shock.
"Fine, but Rosalind's not a normal kid, as I'm sure you all noticed," Vivian had a large smirk as she eyed the still flushed captain. No one said anything. "Really, you expect me to believe she was perfectly well behaved… Didn't take anything apart," she was looking over all the adults in the room. Rozz ate her eggs happily not saying a word.
"She took apart the access panel to Tony's lab," admitted Bruce.
"Yeah, that sounds more like it," she snickered ruffling her daughter's curly hair. "Is Tony coming around or does he sleep late or something?" Vivian asked.
"He's usually late and only has coffee," answered Steve.
"And I'll take a wild guess he's avoiding me," sighed Vivian eyeing the ceiling.
"Sir is headed down, but yes he is being cautious of one on one encounters," answered the AI. She laughed. Everyone stared at the woman having even more questions than before.
Tony entered grabbing a cup of coffee. He was dressed in a suit today. "Daddy are you going to work today?" asked Rozz.
"I have a meeting this morning and lunch with some business thing," Tony explained making hand gestures as he spoke.
"Tony," Vivian simply said his name. He froze.
"Hi Viv," he finally answered.
"Where was Rosalind born?" asked Natasha not caring what type of mind game she was interrupting.
"Dallas," he answered. The corners of Natasha's lips turned up in a smile.
"Nope," Vivian commented popping a fork full of food in her mouth.
"Oh shit, it's was one of those towns around Dallas… Plato," Tony snapped his fingers.
"Plano," Vivian rolled her eyes.
"Close enough, I always mess that one up. Not that I've been asked it very many times," he laughed nervously to himself walking off quickly.
"Thank you all for watching Rozz for me," Vivian thanked everyone.
"Are we going home?" Rozz asked in a sad voice.
"I think so," Vivian gave her a soft smile as she started to get up.
"I don't think you should be traveling yet," Bruce commented looking over at the injured woman.
"I think Tony would prefer if we were gone before Pepper gets back," Vivian said softly before hobbling her way back towards the hallway. She fell after losing her balance. Thor and Bruce helped her too her feet.
"There's no way you could travel, let alone travel with a small child in your shape," Clint announced from across the room.
"I've taken care of Rozz injured before," she grumbled.
"Mommy took care of me back when she got her Mr Booregard," Rozz smiled.
"That's right Rozz," her mother smiled limping.
"Lady Vivian, Rosalind says you wear your green spirit?" Thor asked as he made sure she made it to a chair.
"Back just before Rozz was two, I was in a car accident. Thankfully she wasn't in the car, but I got hurt pretty bad. I got a scar on my arm, and people would always ask about it. So I got a tattoo to cover it," she pulled up her sleeve to reveal a five inch tall green ghost tattoo.
"That is the cutest ghost," Darcy grinned.
"Yeah, Rozz loved showing him to people so much that I had to make her her own Mr Booregard," Vivian explained with a smile.
"Was it after the car wreck you took care of Rosalind when you were injured?" Steve asked.
"I'm a single mom. It comes with the territory," shrugged Vivian.
"What about your sister?" asked Natasha still trying to read on Dr Ewart.
"Vicky the disaster. The one that hates single moms. The one that is bad with kids, but decided to have three of them anyway," she stared at Natasha. The two redheads seemed to not trust each other yet. After hearing Vivian's description, it made more sense why Tony had avoided Vicky. She took a deep breath, "Rozz sweetheart, why don't you go play." Rozz smiled skipping off to go play.
She winced trying to resettle her weight. "Lady Vivian, I believe Son of Barton is correct. You are not well… Please stay with us until you are well. We enjoy having Rosalind in our company!" Thor explained loudly.
"Yeah don't even worry about Tony. He let's us stay here every time we come to town," Darcy assured.
"You will be staying," Loki spoke firmly. "I will handle Stark and his lover if necessary," Loki gave Vivian an evil smirk.
She stared at him a moment. "Thank you," she replied simply.
xxXXxx
"Well this meeting was a waste of time," muttered Tony leaving the stuffy conference room.
"Tony!" someone called.
Tony turned to see the Justin Hammer. "Hammer, I'm surprised to see you out and about," Tony said in a mocking tone.
"The wonders of money… Personally I was surprised to hear about your little family," Hammer smirked at Tony.
"What did you say?" Tony got in his face.
"Your little family, the Avengers. I hear you all live together how fun," chuckled Hammer.
Tony relaxed slightly, "Jealous you don't get invited to the super hero sleepovers."
Hammer smiled before heading off to his own meeting
xxXXxx
"Since you're staying, can you answer some questions?" asked Darcy looking at the doctor on the couch.
"I suppose as long as nothing said leaves this tower," replied Vivian sitting up more to watch Rozz play hopscotch with JARVIS, Thor, and Clint.
Author's Note: I don't know a ton of detail on the Hulk, but I did some research for this chapter. Most sources say the change is triggered through adrenaline or increased heart rate. Both would make sex for Bruce nearly impossible. There will be more talk of the odd genes and mutations of the team in later chapters, that being one of the reason's I gave Vivian her certain occupation.
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