Hello dearies! Welcome back to my cozy little corner of the internet. Apologies for the delay, my mother had some serious health issues that has needed me to be constantly on call for the past month or so, which totally ate up the head start I gave myself on this chapter and then some. She'll be fine now, but she needed a lot of looking after for a bit there.

I did manage to make a new cover for this story when I was trying to get the creative juices flowing again, so that's something. For any of you who are on mobile and can't see and would like to, I have a deviantart with the username SteampunkFairyCovers where I post all of the covers that were made for my stories.

This story, along with some of my others, is also available on Archive of Our Own under the same username as here, and there the cover is right in there with the rest of the story.

Please bear with me if you notice any grammar mistakes, I stayed up late a couple of times to get this done, so my proofreading may not have been the best. Let me know if you spot anything, and I'll get it fixed up :)

Fun fact: I have lived in the NYC area a couple of times in my life, so it was kinda fun to recall that when writing for this.

Anyways, enjoy the update, and please let me know what you think!

A New Heaven From Hell's Despair

Chapter 2: A Bittersweet Symphony

Avengers Tower was quiet. Too quiet. There was the normal buzz of activity throughout the tower, but there was still something missing. It poked at the back of Steve's mind, needling at him from the moment he woke up and all throughout his morning jog throughout the city. In the very early mornings you could find his favorite version of the island of Manhattan. It was the city that never slept, but this early there was a certain slowness that reminded him of how it was back in the forties. Too early for the first shift to be on their way to their jobs, but too late for the night owls to be crawling back to their beds for the day. It was at this time, in the pale light just before dawn that Steve found New York to be its most beautiful. Still, something was off about today.

It continued to irk him even as he wove his way back to the Tower. It still wasn't quite home for him. Then again, nothing was anymore. The last place he had truly called home was the shabby apartment he had shared with Bucky back in 1941. A vendor setting up a table of knockoff sunglasses nearly stumbled into him, but Steve neatly dodged and shot out an arm to steady the other man. Instead of being grateful for being saved from the tumble, the man shook him off irritably and continued going about his business. Steve shrugged it off and continued making his way back to the Tower. Even with the minor delay, he would make it back just when the rest of the Avengers were making their way into the kitchen for breakfast. That was the norm since The Avengers had moved in with Tony, and there was a comfortable sort of numbness to the routine he had slipped into.

The private elevator that went up to the Avengers' levels at the top of the Tower was smooth, and mostly silent. With his enhanced hearing he was always painfully aware of the constant hums and whines of electricity, and while he had mostly gotten used to it, it still often grated at his nerves until he almost felt like screaming and covering his ears. Sensory overload was something he had struggled with when he had first gotten the serum, but it hadn't been an issue after a couple of days. That was until he had come out of the ice. Nowadays there always seemed to be something tugging at the edge of his senses, and he was still trying to adjust to it all.

Clint was sitting at the table when Steve walked into the kitchen. He was guzzling coffee like his life depended on it, and Thor was rummaging through the fridge as he happily munched on a poptart. There was no sign of Natasha or Bruce yet, but that was typically pretty normal. Natasha had her own morning workout routine, and Bruce tried to meditate for at least an hour every morning. Stark of course sauntered in and out as he pleased, mostly coming in and drinking an entire coffee pot himself before diving back into whatever project he was currently on.

"Mornin Cap." Clint greeted, setting down his coffee in favor of tucking into a plate of eggs. "Good run?"

"Not bad." Steve shrugged, heading over to the coffee pot. With a small sigh, he poured himself a cup and drank it black. "Dr. Banner and Romanoff not in yet?"

"Indeed not." Thor replied. His mouth was still full of poptart though, so the words came out more like "Indee noff". Clint nodded, shoving eggs into his mouth and washing it back with another large gulp of coffee.

"Yeah, 'Tasha's probably still out on her run. She starts a bit later than you."

"Right." Steve responded, a little awkwardly. That was usually the full extent of casual conversations between all of them. It was little better than remarking on the weather, but personally Steve was a little lost as to how to proceed with his teammates. It was so different from his time with the Commandos. Things had been so easy there, with an easy camaraderie and the more social Bucky to help draw people into conversations. He buried his awkwardness by busying himself with the coffee pot, pouring himself another cup and setting another pot to brew. He also set a small pot of decaf to go. The others would be in soon, and Banner had mentioned the day before that he was considering cutting back on his caffeine intake in an attempt to help his nerves.

"Barton, chew with your mouth closed." Rang out a reprimand, heralding the arrival of the redheaded spy. Natasha stepped into the room as if she owned it, pristinely put together despite her own run. She gave her partner a mild glare as she immediately beelined for the coffee bar. A soft beep signaled the readiness of the new pot, and Romanoff gave Steve a small quirk of a smile. "Perfect timing as usual Captain Rogers." She commented in lieu of a thanks as she grabbed a mug and filled it.

"You wrapped up early." Barton eyed Natasha speculatively, as if his sharp gaze could see right through his partner. Natasha shrugged, visibly uncaring at his searching look.

"I had some stuff that I wanted to check on." She dismissed with a wave of her hand. "Is Banner in yet?"

"I'm here." Bruce slipped quietly into the room. He joined Steve and Natasha at the coffee bar and let out an appreciative hum as he noticed the small pot of decaf. "Has anyone seen Tony? He hasn't come out in a couple of days." There was a small chorus of noes from the other Avengers, and Bruce frowned.

"Is something wrong, Dr. Banner?" Steve inquired, a flicker of concern blossoming as he realized the reason for the unnatural calm about the Tower. If Stark had been quiet for a few days, who knew what the genius was working on. Whatever it was likely wasn't good news. Bruce pursed his lips, eyebrows furrowed slightly.

"We were working in the lab a couple of days ago when he got a call. I didn't see who it was or hear anything, but he seemed pretty shaken. I haven't seen him since."

"Maybe Thor's poptart addiction finally bankrupted him." Clint snickered. Natasha glared at him again, and Barton stared unrepentantly back as he continued to shove food in his mouth.

"Whatever it was, it seemed to be important." Bruce offered, taking a sip of his coffee. "He's been locked in the workshop for days now."

"I'll check in on him later." Steve promised as Natasha took a seat at the table and smirked knowingly.

"He's not in the workshop though." She commented easily. "Not even in the Tower. He left late last night." Her earlier comment about having something to check up on made more sense, Steve reflected as everyone turned to her in surprise. Clint was the only one who seemed unperturbed.

"Where is he then?" The archer asked as he got up and refilled his own coffee.

"If I may." Came a disembodied voice from somewhere in the room. JARVIS, the artificial intelligence that was built into almost all of Stark's personal technology and helped run the tower. He had been incredibly helpful to Steve as he attempted to adjust to modern life.

"Go ahead JARVIS." Steve crossed his arms, mind whirling at the possibilities.

"Sir indeed left at precisely 7:30pm last night to deal with a personal matter. He instructed me to inform you all that he shall be returning this morning with a new addition to the household. By my calculations, they should be arriving within the hour."Silence reigned as they all took in this new information in shock. Even Romanoff seemed surprised, which was saying something. As quickly as the silence overtook them though, it was broken by a cacophony of complaints and other mixed comments.

"What the hell? He can't just do that!" Barton exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air in shock, spilling his coffee in the process. "Ah, shit."

"This is his tower, technically." Bruce observed, handing Clint some paper towels to clean himself off with. "Technically he can, but I'm not so sure it's a good idea to bring a normal person in to live with us. It seems dangerous."

"Perhaps Stark has found a new comrade to fight by our side?" Thor mused.

"Even worse." Clint groused, wiping at himself and the spilt coffee on the table. "The last thing we need is a new person around. We're barely keeping our shit together as is."

"Not everyone is as big of a mess as you are, Barton." Natasha sighed. "But Fury will certainly want to know about a potential breach of security here."

"What do you think Cap?" Barton demanded, crossing his arms.

"I don't like it." Steve admitted, setting his coffee down. This may be his tower, but it's also Avengers Headquarters. That needs to be considered when the idea of bringing someone else in comes up. At the very least we need more information and warning than what we've gotten here."

"So we all agree that this shit's not gonna fly, then?" Barton asked, looking around at everyone. They all looked at Steve, who restrained a grimace.

"I'll talk to Stark about giving us more of a head's up in the future, but I think we should hold off on judgment until we meet this person before making any other decisions." He offered after a moment's thought. This answer seemed to pacify everyone for the time being, and they all turned their attention back to breakfast. As Steve finished his coffee and grabbed a specially made protein bar for himself, he wondered at the type of person that would get Tony Stark as shaken up as Bruce had described.

Either way, things were certainly about to change around the Tower.

Natasha lounged comfortably on one of Stark's overly expensive chairs as everyone waited. They had all congregated in the large sitting area just off of the elevator, curious to meet the new arrival. JARVIS had given them the word that Stark and their mysterious new houseguest would be arriving shortly, and happy or not about the new circumstances, The Avengers were definitely intrigued. The air was thick with anticipation, and they were all handling it with varying levels of competence. Banner was acting like someone had put itching powder in his lab coat. Thor was perfectly content looking out of the large window at the New York City skyline. Her idiotic partner was sprawled on the couch across from her, twirling something in his right hand. He usually did this with his arrows when he was in deep thought, but if his arrows weren't handy he would grab the closest stick-like object to fiddle with, from pencils to drumsticks. Today it seemed like he had grabbed an unused chopstick from the Chinese food they had ordered the night before. Rogers was pacing again, back straight as one of Barton's arrows and his hands clasped behind his back. The elevator gave a soft ping to indicate that someone was on the way up, and they all prepared themselves.

"Here we go." Banner muttered under his breath, fidgeting with his glasses and trying to make himself less frumpy and more presentable.

"This oughta be good." Barton crossed his arms with a scowl.

"Make sure you're still polite." Steve advised. He appeared to restrain the urge to fidget himself as he glanced at the elevator. "It's not their fault."

"As far as we know." Her partner objected as the elevator pinged again. He had a point, really.

"Can it, they're here." Natasha cut in. Everyone's eyes immediately shifted back to the elevator just as the doors slid open. Stark stepped out with his trademark walk as if he owned the place. Which of course, in this case he did. He walked like that everywhere though.

"Ah, perfect. The welcome wagon is already here. Please, please, one at a time everyone." Everyone let out a simultaneous groan at Stark's antics, but their eyes were still on the open elevator door. Stark glanced over his shoulder, and Natasha was actually surprised by the sudden softness on his face as he beckoned for whoever was in there to come out to join them. Natasha wasn't often surprised, and she wasn't a fan of it. Surprise comes from lack of foreknowledge, and a lack of knowledge can get you killed in her line of work. Everything about this was new, and it set her more than a little on edge. She refused to show it though, even as her mind raced with possibilities as a rather gaunt looking young woman stepped out from the elevator and quietly slid next to Stark. Surely it would have been on SHIELD's radar if Stark had a kid hidden somewhere, right?

"As you can see, I've brought you kids a present from my little trip away from home. Bella, this is everyone. Everyone, meet Bella."

"Lady Bella, it is good to meet you." Thor said warmly, stepping forward and taking her hand. The girl had clearly intended it to be a handshake, but instead Thor gave a little bow and kissed it, causing her to blush a little from embarrassment.

"Hi." Bella murmured softly, giving everyone else a timid little wave. Natasha got a better look at her then, and she felt her jaw clench. The girl was lovely, in a kind of sad, tragic way. She looked like life had played with her rough and put her away wet one too many times, and in her eyes the bitterness of it all seemed ready to consume her at any moment. This girl may be new, but those eyes were something Natasha knew all too well.

"Holy shit, did you actually knock someone up back in the nineties, Stark?" Barton blurted out, legs dropping from the couch to the floor in shock. The girl flushed even darker into a soft shade of fuchsia, and as Tony whirled on Barton, Natasha beat him to it by smacking her partner upside the head.

"As if I would make that mistake." Tony retorted easily, quickly recovering himself. "Bella is my goddaughter." Goddaughter. That made a bit more sense. Natasha wondered at what could have made the girl come to live with them. If the way she looked was any indicator, it was nothing good. She needed more information.

"Natasha." She introduced herself, stepping forward slowly to shake the girl's hand. Hesitating, Bella gave her hand to Natasha. There was a new level of wariness about her as she shook her hand. So Stark had the presence of mind to warn his goddaughter about who she was coming to live with. That was surprisingly careful of him. Natasha gave her a small, comforting smile in an attempt to put her more at ease as they shook hands. I seemed to work a bit, as Bella seemed to relax a little as they parted

"Nice to meet you." She stuttered nervously, though it seemed to be more from shyness than nerves.

"And you." Natasha replied, taking a small step back as Bruce made his way forward to introduce himself. Clint made no move to shake her hand himself, merely nodding in her direction as he introduced himself. He was probably worried he would say something else that would induce Natasha's ire. Finally, Rogers stepped up to introduce himself.

"It's nice to meet you, miss. I'm Steve." He took Bella's hand gently, as if he was afraid he would crush it in his hand. Steve was like that with almost everyone as far as Natasha knew. His forties sensibilities probably would never quite stop bleeding into his actions, ingrained into him as they were. It was something like an instinctive hyper-respectful response to others that normally had him lightening his touch, but he seemed to be especially so with Bella. Perhaps it was how fragile her small hand looked, like a breath could wither it. Natasha had felt the urge to gentle her own grip when she had shook the girl's hand herself. Bella looked up at Steve as he carefully shook her hand, and Natasha thought she caught the faintest hint of a blush as their eyes met. Interesting.

"So, Bella, what brings you to New York?" She asked to redirect the conversation. It wasn't often she used such a direct method, but she was sure Clint's keen eyes had caught the blush as well, and she didn't trust he wouldn't put his foot right into his overly blunt mouth and muck things up before she could get the information she wanted.

"O-oh." Bella floundered, looking a bit wildly around her. Natasha's instincts snapped to attention as Bella's nerves increased. So there was some meat on that bone. Bella's eyes met Stark's, and he gave her a little nod as he stood a little bit closer to her, putting a supporting arm around his goddaughter's shoulders.

"Maybe we should all sit down. We've had a long trip and the story is a bit of a doozy."

"Of course. Steve agreed in a tone that didn't leave any room for disagreement. Not that they were going to anyways, all of them could see how frail the girl looked. Tony carefully guided his goddaughter to a loveseat and sat her down, settling in beside her. Everyone gathered and sat around them, facing the duo and looking at them expectantly.

Slowly, carefully, Stark and his goddaughter explained Bella's sad story. Every time Bella had said something, Natasha found herself thinking "Oh, this must be it", but every single time there had been more to say. The young woman had found herself drawn in by Vampires, The Cullens no less. Natasha had been in the detail focused on the coven while the doctor of the clan had worked with SHIELD, and had not been overly fond of the auburn haired boy that had entranced Bella Swan.

A couple of times Bella seemed to get lost in her own past, eyes glazing over with the memory of pain. In those moments Tony took over, carefully explaining everything he knew of the situation. Bella had laughed self deprecatingly as she touched on how the vampires had left her, and all of them tensed as she did. Natasha could almost hear everyone's minds turn to the thought that they had left her tactically vulnerable while this Victoria was still at large, though she hadn't been spotted since the death of her mate. If nothing else, that certainly showed just how much those Vampires had simply not cared for the human girl they left behind. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Rogers, Thor, and Clint tense and glance around as if someone would jump out from behind a potted plant. She even thought the good captain seemed to inch a little bit closer to the girl. Banner kept his eyes trained on Bella, studying her like he did his equations while the trained fighters went into a more alert mindset.

As Bella reached the crescendo of her tale, she choked and cast a pleading glance at her godfather. Tony rubbed a comforting arm up and down her shoulder as he finished her account, telling them of her mother's heinous act and how he had spirited her away in the dead of night mere hours before. Everyone was silent as they took in the bleak story. They all looked at each other in shock and horror at everything Bella Swan had gone through, and an unspoken agreement seemed to pass through all of them. They wouldn't say a word against her coming here, earlier misgivings aside. Rogers stood, walking carefully over to where Bella and Stark sat together. Tony tensed, as if expecting a reprimand from the good captain and readying himself for a fight. The captain didn't even so much as glance at Tony though as he crouched down to be closer to Bella's level, taking her hand softly.

"I'm so sorry you had to go through that Bella, but I guarantee that you're safe now. We'll protect you if your mother or this Victoria comes looking for you, I promise."

"Indeed!" Thor exclaimed, standing as well. Bruce nodded reassuringly, and all three seemed to congregate around her, offering words of comfort and encouragement. Natasha watched them all from the sidelines, eyes fixed on Bella as she seemed to shy away from everyone and Stark attempted to guide her back towards the door, citing that she needed to get herself settled.

"Adopting a baby bird, then?" Clint asked lightly, sidling up to her as she watched the small group disperse.

"It seems like they are." Natasha agreed, crossing her arms.

"I meant you." Natasha's attention snapped to him then. Clint was giving her that knowing look that he always gave her. That look that he had on his face right before he had offered her a different path than the one the KGB and the Red Room had set before her.

"I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about." She dismissed. Clint cocked an eyebrow at her, and not for the first time, she cursed how terribly seen she was when it came to her partner. Seen wasn't exactly the best thing for a spy to be. "I just…"

"You relate to her." It wasn't a question.

"She's drowning." She replied in lieu of a confirmation. "You can see it in her eyes. She's drowning in grief and rage and bitterness."

"That sounds like an emotional time bomb to me."

"Not in the way you're thinking. Look at her, I'm pretty sure she wouldn't be able to take a flea in a fight right now. You can't possibly think that she's a threat."

"Nah, I don't. I just wanted to see what you thought of her." He neatly dodged as Natasha went to smack him upside the head again. "Seriously though Tasha, you should've seen yourself staring at her. It's a miracle Stark didn't notice. What's going on in your head?"

"I was thinking." Natasha glowered at her partner, who was altogether unimpressed by her glare. Bastard.

"Thinking?" He prompted.

"Thinking about how much more that girl can take. One more piece of bad news could be the straw that breaks the camel's back for Bella Swan."

Meeting the Avengers hadn't been as bad as Bella had expected, she reflected as Tony guided her towards her room in the Tower. They had been relatively kind to her. More than kind, she reflected with a small swoop of her stomach as she remembered Captain Rogers kneeling in front of her and promising that they would protect her. Tony was grumbling about how the "Capsicle was stealing his thunder" as they headed towards the hallway that led to her room. She hadn't stayed in New York with Tony since she was ten, so the room was horribly childlike she was sure. Tony promised that he would get the room renovated by the end of the week, but she wasn't really listening. The moment they had rounded the corner though, Bella caught sight of a familiar strawberry blonde and all other thoughts had fled her mind.

"Pepper!" She exclaimed, throwing herself into the expectant arms of Tony's personal assistant turned significant other.

"Heya kiddo." Pepper greeted, wrapping her arms around Bella. "I missed you."

"I missed you too." Pepper had been around pretty much all of Bella's life, and had always been the person Bella had turned to when she had needed more womanly advice. "Did…did you hear?"

"I did." Pepper confirmed, rubbing her back in a soothing motion before letting go. "I'm so sorry hun." Bella nodded, relieved that she wouldn't have to tell her story again. She had already told it twice today, the first time being earlier on the plane to Tony and Happy after she had woken up, and then again just now. Pepper's phone rang, and she cursed, glancing at it.

"It's the board, I'll have to take this so Tony can get you settled. I want you to know that you can come to me anytime though Bella. If you need anything, even just to talk, just let me know." Pepper promised, giving Bella a second squeeze.

"Thanks, Pepper." Bella gave a small halfhearted smile, waving her off. As expected, her room was far too childish for Bella now. It would do for now though. Tony stood around awkwardly, not quite sure what to do.

"Do you need anything else kiddo? You hungry or anything?" Bella gave Tony the same small smile she had given Pepper, and shook her head.

"I think I might get some more sleep, actually. I promised I would call and let the wolves know that I got to New York alright, but after that I think I'm just going to try to sleep for a bit longer."

"If you're sure…" Tony hesitated, unwilling to leave her alone so quickly. It took Bella a full ten minutes to convince him that she was fine, but eventually he relented and let her be. Sighing, Bella took out her phone and dialed the Uley house, figuring the pack was probably all still there. It rang exactly three times, before Emily picked up the phone breathlessly.

"Bella! Are you alright?" She asked, and Bella frowned. There was definitely something amiss in her voice.

"What happened?" She demanded at once, mind racing with all the terrible possibilities. Could Renee have actually managed to hurt one of them when she realized that they had helped her escape?"

"Oh sweetie, I'm sorry, I don't want to burden you any more. You just got to New York and everything."

"What. Happened." Bella ground out, visions of all the worst possibilities dancing across her vision. What if Renee had attacked Emily? She was pregnant! What if something happened to the baby?

"No one's hurt, I promise." She started, as if she had just read Bella's mind where Edward had continually failed.

"Then what happened Emily? You sound really freaked out."

"Well, when we didn't hear anything from Renee, we thought it might be a good idea to send someone to check everything out, so Jacob went over to take a look, and…"

"Just spit it out, Emily. You're killing me here." Bella felt like her stomach was going to implode from all the knots it was twisting itself into. For a moment she wondered if she would vomit all over her princess pink walls.

"I'm so sorry Bella, but it looks like your house was burned down. By the time Jacob got there, it was nothing but ash and embers." Bella felt like the floor had been demolished right out from under her. She collapsed onto her bed as what Emily had just said hit her in waves. Her house, Charlie's house. It was gone. Nothing but ash and embers. Distantly, she heard Emily telling her that a good chunk of the pack was searching through the ruins for anything intact that they could send her, but it didn't really click. Charlie's house was gone. Gone, just like Charlie, just like her dad. Renee couldn't just stop at taking away her father, no. She had to rub salt in the wound, had to make Bella suffer more for daring to defy her, for escaping.

Bella didn't remember finishing up her conversation with Emily, didn't remember hanging up the phone. She blinked, and she was in front of the dresser, looking down at picture frames and little child's drawing. She blinked again, and there was a picture frame in her hand. It was one of her baby pictures. The only family portrait they had taken back when Charlie had still been married to Renee. She felt empty as she glared blankly at it, numb and distant.

And then, as quickly as the numbness came on, it faded. With an awful scream, Bella hurled the picture frame away from her, shattering just like the frame did as it hit the opposite side of the room.