Chapter 3: Meeting

***Alexis POV***

Every passing footstep caused terror to build within my chest. 'Please don't follow me. Please don't.' A vice had gripped my heart as blood started to pound in my ears. 'Please no. Please, please no,' I pleaded as air seemed harder and harder to pull into my lungs. Tears silently rolled down my cheeks. Slumping against the concrete wall of the building behind me, I grasp at my chest, trying to remember how to breathe. 'It's okay. I'm fine,' I tried to soothe myself, but the terror just seemed to keep building in my chest. My haggard breathing and fear were the only things I was now aware of.

Time passed as I struggled to ride through the panic attack. Eventually, I must have passed out briefly because I was lying on the disgusting concrete of the alley when I came to. I lay there for a few moments more before pushing myself up. Groaning, I shake my head and rub my hands over my face. My chest still felt tight, but it was a feeling that I had grown used to over the past few years.

"I'm okay. I'm safe," I whisper, covering my eyes with my hands. "There is no one here. No people. No men. No one. Just me." Taking a deep breath, I let it out slowly before dropping my hands. Looking around, I could see that the alleyway wasn't the best for staying in. There wasn't really anything to sleep behind, and a tall wooden fence was in the middle. Looking up, I saw that it was around midday, so I couldn't have been out of it for that long. As I go to stand up, I groan. My entire being seemed to be aching, as well as a continuous pounding in my head. "I need to get moving. I need to see I can find some food or something," I mutter as I slowly push myself up.

Swinging my bag off my back, I open it and pull out a cap that I had found. Putting it on my head and placing my backpack back on, I start walking slowly back out to the street. Keeping my head down, I weave around all the people. There were so many people pushing past and surrounding me, causing the remains of my previous panic attack to come to the forefront of my mind. 'No! I can't freak out here. I have to keep moving,' I tell myself. 'Come on. Get your mind off it.' Shrinking in on myself more, I start counting backwards in 3's from 1000 to try to keep my mind occupied. '997…994…991…988…985…'.

I continue to walk until I make it to an alleyway a few streets over. Quickly looking around, I could see no one else down it, so I snuck over to one of the dumpsters and peered inside. I knew that this was used by several of the different takeaway shops that back on to this alley. Reaching in, I push stuff around, wholly absorbed in my hunting. As I dug, I spied a shut container. 'Please have something left,' I plead as I struggle to reach it. Just as I touch the corner, I am suddenly thrown back. I bit my lip as I struggled not to cry out as I landed on my side, jarring my cracked ribs. Pushing my hair out of my face, I look up and see a bearded man looming over me. Scrambling backwards, I struggle to my feet.

"Well, what do we have here?" The man slurred as he took a staggering step towards me. My eyes fearfully locked onto him. 'Don't underestimate him. Don't turn your back,' I remind myself as I slowly talk backwards. Every step he took, I took. He was tall with unruly hair and a drunken smirk that sent chills down my spine.

"S-S-Stay a-a-awa-away,' I say, my voice shaking as I stuttered. I put my hands up as if to try to ward him away from me. He took another step towards me, making me take two more away from him.

"Hey, now Missy, what's the rush?" His voice was deep and coarse. I glanced behind me quickly, trying to see how far away the next open street was. Quickly turning my eyes back to the man, I saw that he was now a lot closer. He had taken advantage of my distracted attention and was now reaching for me.

"No!" I scream and stumble back in my haste to get away. I trip over my own feet and land harshly on the ground, scraping my hands open on the broken glass that seemed to be littering the alley. I turned to look at him, only to be trapped as he loomed over me. My breath states wheezing as panic starts to over-take my mind for the second time this day. He bent over me and reached out his hand.

"Where are you going, sweetheart?" He whispered, brushing a dirty hand across my cheek.

I flinch at his words and hand. He trails his hand down my neck making me whimper in terror. 'Come on. Get a grip,' I scold myself. I take a stuttering breath, quickly bring my knees up and kick him directly in the groin. He hollered out in pain and started to slump over. I roll out from under him and get to my feet. I could still feel his disgusting touch on me as I looked down at him.

"You b*tch. I'll get you for that," he slurred as he lay there slumped on the ground. The words echoed through my head as memories of my father came to the front of my mind.

"No. No. No," I whimpered, placing my hands on my ears. Shaking my head, I try to dislodge the image of him. My breath was coming in short gasps now. 'I need to get away. I need to,' I remind myself. Opening my eyes, I saw the creepy man starting to get to his feet. Suddenly my feet started moving. I sprinted out of the alley, startling a few people and across the road. I didn't look if anything was coming; I just knew that I had to get away from the man and the memories. 'No more memories, please,' I begged as I ran. I was too focused on getting away from everything that I didn't see the car heading towards me. A frantically honking horn broke through my chaotic thoughts, making me look over towards the noise. A car was heading right for me. 'This day sucks,' I thought as I tried to get out of the way, but all I heard was the sound of squealing tires and then nothing.

*** Tony's POV***

"I need to clear my head," I tell Pepper as we walk back inside. "I think I'll go for a drive or something. I just need to get out of here for a bit," I sigh, running a hand through my hair.

"Alright. Just please be safe, Tony," she smiles softly as we step into the elevator and head down to the garage.

I chuckle. "Me? Not careful? When am I not careful?" I grin at her as I kiss her cheek.

She stares at me, not amused, as the doors open. I laugh and wrap my arms around her before pressing a kiss to the side of her head.

"I'll be fine, Pep," I say, pulling back from her. "I'll be back within an hour or two, alright? I just really need to get out of here for a moment."

"I know," She smiles," But two hours. You do have a meeting later this afternoon after all," She reminds me, making me groan.

"Oh, come on. I just had like three yesterday, didn't I?" I complain, making her roll her eyes.

"Oh, you had three yesterday. However, you missed the first one and only came halfway through the second, so that's why you have another one today," Pepper grinned, pushing me out of the elevator. I laugh and blow her a kiss before walking off to the garage. Grabbing the keys to the Audi, I walk over to the car.

"I'll be back later, Jar," I say as I hop into the car and start it up before speeding out of the garage and onto the streets of New York. I turn up my radio as AC/DC comes on and put on my glasses. 'This is what I needed.'

Time slips by as I drive around New York streets, trying to clear my head. 'She would be 13 now,' I think to myself as I go. 'I wonder if she would look more like Elena or me. Would she have my brain? I bet she would have had Elena's heart. She was the kindest woman out there but always knew how to defend herself from some jerk.' I smirk a little at the memories of Elena when a loud horn pulls me back to the present. Turning down my music, I could hear shouting, and I looked in front of me. There was a young girl frantically sprinting across the street. She was heading right into the path of the car in front of me. Slamming on my brakes, I watch as the girl disappears in front of the vehicle. Throwing mine into Park, I open my door and race out of my car. I pushed past the people who were crowding around and finally saw the girl. She had been thrown a bit from getting clipped by the car. I jogged over as she lay there, not moving, making my heart tighten in my chest. 'I've seen too much death recently. Come on, Shortcake up and at 'em' I pleaded. Crouching down, I gently turn her over. Her face had some scratch marks on it from the road.

'She's so young,' I thought as I reached out a hand to try to find her pulse. 'That bruise on her face doesn't look like any accident either.' Suddenly, she groans, and her eyes flutter open. 'Those eyes. I've seen them before….' That's when it hit me. 'This is the girl who was sleeping outside the Tower this morning,' I sat there shocked for a moment before I saw people start racing over.

"Stay back," I shout, waving an arm for them to keep away. "Is this someone's kid?" I called, hoping for an answer, but none came. Looking back down at her, I saw her eyes widen as she looked at the people standing over her. "Hey hey hey, it's okay, sweetheart," I say, making her look over at me. "I'm here to help. Can you tell me where it hurts?"

Tears start to lip down her cheeks as she gestures to her side and leg. 'Well, if she can feel her leg, then I am going to take that as her back is fine.' Her breath started getting erratic as she saw the people coming closer. She tries to sit up for a brief second before falling back to the ground. Fear and pain were evident in her eyes as she stared at me, pleading. "I'll help you, don't you worry," I soothed as I gently brushed her hair back from her face. Looking up at the crowd that had gathered, I made a split-second decision. "This might hurt, sweetheart, but it's the quickest way to move you." Carefully, I work my arms under her shoulders and knees before scooping her up in my arms. "Get out of the way," I say as I start making my way back to my car. The people part out of my way to make it clear that I wasn't stopping. When I make it to the passenger door, I nod in thanks to the woman who had opened it and gently place the girl in the seat. Carefully, I worked her arms out of the straps of her tattered backpack and put it at her feet.

"It's going to be alright," I tell her in a soft voice as I place a seat belt on her.

She just stares at me, whimpering softly. I smiled in what I hoped was reassuring before shutting her door. As I raced around to the driver's side, I heard questions being fired at me, but I ignored them. 'Can't people see that there is a young girl who is in desperate need of help,' I grumble to myself. Opening my door, I slipped into the driver's seat. I started the engine and revved it, making it clear that I wanted people out of my way. 'Seriously, are people blind!? Get out of my way!' After a moment, the car in front of me moves, allowing me to do a quick U-turn and race back the way I came. 'If anyone has a problem, then they can take it up with my PR department. I don't have time to waste on slow drivers,' I rage, gritting my teeth as I swerve in between traffic. The whole time I drive, the girl is just curled up in her seat, whimpering softly.

"Hey, Shortcake," I said softly as I reached a hand across and placed it gently on her shoulder. She startles and whips around to face me, making her cry out. "Hey hey, Shhh. It's okay. I'm taking you back to the Avengers Tower. We have a Medical centre there with the best doctors. You'll be good as new soon, alright?" She looks at me for a moment before her eyes roll up into her head, and she slumps unconscious against the door. "Sh*t," I mutter as I pull onto the road that leads me to the tower. A few minutes later, I pulled up in the garage. Quickly I cut the engine and jumped out.

"Jarvis. You there?" I call out as I rush around the front of the car.

"Always, Sir," came the steady voice of my A.I.

"Perfect, tell Bruce to get the medical bay ready," I say as I open the door carefully, making sure to hold the girl up. Pushing her back into the seat, I unbuckle the belt and gently take her into my arms. Kicking the door shut behind me, I make my way over to the elevator.

"Sir, Dr Banner would like to know what exactly he is preparing for," Jarvis replied as I reached the elevator and pressed the button for the 16th floor for the medical bay.

"Tell him that I have a young girl who has been hit by a car and could have internal injuries," I huff as the elevator goes up. 'This girl is light, but damn, I need to work out more.' I watch as the lights slowly move up the floor. "Come on, Come on," I whispered, willing the elevator to go faster.

As soon as the doors opened, I saw Bruce running down the hall towards me. "I've put in a call to Dr Cho as well," he says as soon as he meets up with me. "Come on. In here," he pushed open a door, and I walked into the room. Carefully, I place the girl onto the bed and step back. Bruce immediately started checking her over. I watched as he carefully noted the marks on her face, including the bruise. He took a deep calming breath as he stared at her before looking at me. "Did you talk to her when she was awake? Did she give an indication on where she was hurt?" he asked.

"Yeah. The girl pointed to her right side and leg," I said. 'I wonder if she is the same age as Ayden would have been,' I wondered as I stared at her, taking in her features. 'She is so small. I can't tell if her hair is brown or black or what.' I sigh quietly as I watch Bruce work. 'I wonder how long she has been living on the streets. God, she looks so pale against those sheets. What happened to her?'

"Tony, what exactly happened?" Bruce asked as he carefully pulled up the side of her ratty shirt. There was a dark bruise already forming, making me wince."Don't tell me it's you that hit her."

"What? No. I saw her get hit by the car in front of me. I went over to help and she started to freak out, so I brought her back," I say, shrugging my shoulders. He nods absentmindedly as he starts getting an IV ready. I take a step towards her when she suddenly starts coughing. Bruce dropped what he was doing and quickly turned on her side. She made a hacking sound, and as I rushed over, I arrived at the girl's side to see her cough up blood. It splatters on her pillow and dribbles out the side of her mouth.

Bruce and I stare in horror before Bruce quickly jumps into action.

"Jarvis, how long until Dr Cho gets here?" I call out as I hold the girl on her side.

"She has just arrived on the medical floor, Sir. I have informed her of the urgency."

'Oh, thank goodness,' I internally sighed with relief. 'Someone who knows what they are doing.'

*** Alexis's POV***

Pain. That's the first thing that I felt. I couldn't help as I moaned at the discomfort. I tried to shuffle away from it as it seemed to radiate up my entire being. As I moved, I realised that that only made everything hurt more. 'Someone help,' I pleaded silently.

"Hey shhhhh, it's alright." A voice breaks through the never-ending agony. It seemed to soothe away some of the pain. Slowly, I become more away and feel a strange sensation of something stroking my hair. "You're alright now, sweetheart. It's all okay," the soft voice soothed again. 'It's a man,' I think absentmindedly. 'It's a man, and yet, his voice is so comforting. It's like the voice from my dreams. So soft, and warm, and gentle.'

I try to open my eyes to see the owner of the voice, but my eyelids feel like weights. "Go back to sleep, darling. You're safe here," the voice soothed. 'Who are you?' I wonder. Finally, I manage to crack my eyes open a tiny bit, but a bright light erupts into my vision, causing me to shut them tight again. Something comes to shade my eyes. I tried to open them again and saw that a hand had blocked my vision. I tried to move my arm to move the hand out of my face, but I couldn't seem to make my arm respond. "Go back to sleep," the voice soothes again. "Rest, so you can heal more."

I stubbornly try to remain awake, but slowly my eyes start to flutter shut again. The hand is suddenly moved out of my vision, and I see a face above me. It was a man's face. It was the man from before. His brown eyes held a warmth to them as his lips parted in a gentle smile. I realised that I felt no fear as I looked at him. I opened my mouth to ask where I was, but he gently shushed me.

"Go back to sleep," he whispers. I tried to nod, but my eyes drifted shut, and I fell into the comforting embrace of sleep.