Chapter 4: Meeting Mr Stark
(Alexis P.O.V)
White is the first thing I see as I regain consciousness. White ceiling, white walls, white sheets, white door. Just white. And then I feel the pain. It felt like I had been run over. The right side of my body seemed to be pulsing with pain. I grimace as I turn my head and see a few machines next to me. I follow the wires out of the machines and find that they end at me. I look at them puzzled and sit up just as the door to my room opened. A man walked in muttering under his breath. I squeak in surprise and try hide in the corner of my bed as my fight or flight instincts kick in. He looks up and sees me. He stops in his tracks and smiles softly. I gulp in fear and start shaking slightly.
"It's alright, Shortcake. I ain't gonna hurt you," he coos softly. His voice soothing me but I try not to fall for it. That's what my dad said and he beat me. I look at him as he looks at me and I realize that it was the man from before. The one that saved me.
"I'm just wanna talk," He says as he takes a careful step forward toward my bed. I nod my head slightly.
"Can we please talk?" he asks with another step forward. I nod shakily and watch as he slowly strides to the seat next to my bed that I hadn't noticed until now.
"Wh...wh...where a...am I?" I whispered shakily, stuttering.
"The Avenger's Tower" he answers smiling looking a bit proud. The Avengers I think, I've heard of them. I nod and whisper "Wh...Who are...y...you?"
He looks at me in shock and exclaims "You don't know who I am!"
I shrink back from him in fear as tears pool in my eyes. He looks at me and his expression immediately softens.
"Hey, it's alright. Not everyone can know who I am. I'm Tony Stark," he smiles reaching out to touch my hand. I flinch and try move away further. I feel my breath start to escape me. I panic and look around desperately looking for a place to hide. I close my eyes and focus on pushing the attack away but it only seems to get worse. I hear him trying to talk to me so I focus on his voice and try to keep myself grounded.
"Whats your name?" I hear him ask.
"Alexis," I gasp.
"Alexis, I'm going to help you alright." As he speaks I hear his chair scrape across the floor so I open my eyes. He was walking slowly around the bed to my side where I was all curled up. He stopped next to me and said quietly "Just focus on me Alexis, alright? Just on me. I'm not gonna touch you or do anything to you that you don't want..."
As he spoke I focused on his voice. His voice washed over me, soothing me. I could feel my chest loosening up. I stared at him and when he realized I was alright he smiled. It was a nice smile I found. I looked at him properly and saw that he wasn't mean looking, however, neither was my father. Looks, I've learnt, can be so deceiving.
"Are you hungry?" The question brings me out of my observing. I shake my head despite my stomach trying to eat itself.
"Well I am and I am not leaving you behind so you are coming with me," He announces while beginning to unhook the various machines. I stare at him with wide eyes wondering what is going on. As he pulls the last wire off and pulls out the I.V drip, he holds out his hand and smiles.
"Come on. I'm hungry," He says pleadingly. I smile softly but don't take his hand. I climb down off the bed carefully. I turn around and gesture for him to take the lead. He nods and grins. We walk beside each other in silence. I limp to keep up. I take this as a chance to look at my surroundings in awe. I had never seen so much technology.
(Tony's P.O.V)
I watch her out of the corner of my eye as her eyes light up. They couldn't seem to stop flickering from one place to the next. I chuckle softly. I see a corner of her mouth tug up in a smile.
"You don't talk much, do you?" I ask Alexis as she keeps looking around in wonder.
"I ha...haven't had m...mu...much r...reason to t..talk," she whispers softly, glancing up at me.
I stop by a door and say "Well here we are and I'm sure we'll have you talking in no time," as I open the door and walk into the lounge where The Avengers were sitting.
(Alexis's P.O.V)
I freeze as I see the people sitting on the couch.
"Hey guys, this is Alexis," he announces as I slowly walk into the room behind him. Everyone's eyes are on me.