***Well. Here's the next chapter...enjoy!***
***Tony P.O.V***
"Anything?"
Silence is all I could give as a reply. I hear Steve sigh as his heavy footsteps come closer to the spot I had barely moved from since I came back. Somehow they had the technology to evade Jarvis's detection and tracking. They were out of sight when I got up into the sky to go search for them. I promised her that I would keep her safe. I let out a long breath as I rest my head in my hands. Why didn't I keep her safe!
"Tony?"
I turn to look at him out of the corner of my eye. "Nothing," I reply with barely a whisper. "There's been nothing."
Turning back to the screen, I watched as Jarvis was scanning everything for any kind of footage of Alexis or of the helicopter that took her within New York. It had been almost 2 days since Alexis had been taken, and there had been nothing. No sightings and no contact from the kidnappers.
"Why haven't they contacted us yet?" My eyes scanned the screens for an answer that I knew it wouldn't hold.
"I don't know, Tony."
We stayed there in silence for a few minutes watching the monitors. I heard Steve take another step towards me and felt him drop his hand to my shoulder. "Come on, Tony. You haven't eaten anything since you got back yesterday. Alexis wouldn't want you to waste away like this."
I shrug his hand off and push myself up from the chair. "I have to stay. Jarvis might find something."
"Everyone is worried about you, Tony-,"
"Worried about me!?" Standing up and tipping my chair, I cut Steve off. "Why the hell should anyone be worried about me?!" Gesturing out of the room, I whisper, "My...There is a scared little
girl out there that I promised to protect, and they are worried about me?!"
Steve tries to say something, but I ignore him as I continue. "They should be out there looking for her instead of worrying about me! She is the only thing that matters right now!"
My rapid breathing was the only thing that was heard for a few moments. "I should never have left Alexis here. I should never have brought her back here when I first met her. Everything that has happened is all my fault." I huff out a small laugh in disbelief as I turn back to Steve, who was just standing there. "It's all my fault. I brought her here, and since then, she has been attacked because of me twice. All because of my actions."
"It's not your fault, Tony," Steve says in that ever-present calm voice. I shake my head, refusing to believe him. "Tony. It is not your fault," he repeats. "No one saw this attack coming. No one was prepared for this."
"I should have been," I argue. "We all should have been prepared. We all live these dangerous 'superhero' lives, and yet no one was prepared for any sort of attack."
I watched as Steve tipped his head in a silent agreement. "Suppose you are right on that, but going over 'what if's in your mind isn't going to help Alexis now. We all need to be at the top of our game when we figure out where she is."
"You're that sure we are going to find her?" I ask, raising my eyebrows.
"You're not?" He countered.
I shrug and turn back to the screen. "I will always have faith in Jarvis."
"So, dinner?"
"I don't have a choice, do I?"
"No," came the reply., "And Jarvis will alert us if he finds anything," Steve says, placing his hand on my shoulder as he goes to guide me away from the screens. "Right, Jarvis?"
"Of course, Mr Rogers. You will be the first to know, Sir." Seeing my only reason to not join what I know was the team for dinner, I let Steve guide me out of my lab and over to the elevator.
We rode up in silence. Nothing needed to be said as what could one say. Exiting the elevator, we make our way over to the rest of the team. The room was still littered with bullet holes, and a few of the chairs still have holes in them. The shattered glass and bullets had all been removed, and while it wasn't the most inviting place to all get-together, it was the only floor that had the space where we all could be comfortable. That space would usually be filled with life, but this evening the atmosphere was almost dead. The whole team was there, including the still healing Loki and Bucky.
"Anything?" Nat asked, breaking the silence that filled the room. I shook my head as I walked over to the bar. God did I need a drink, I thought as I partially filled a glass of some sort of alcohol. Taking a sip, I walk over to where they were all seated and collapse on a spare armchair.
"Why would they take her?" We all turn to look at Clint, who voiced the question on everyone's mind.
"Money?" Nat questioned. "Blackmail?"
"Who knows," Steve sighed from his place next to her on the couch. "We haven't got any leads at all. Loki's trace spell hasn't worked since the necklace fell off."
Loki snarls from his place beside Thor and stands up, striding towards the door at the mention of his name.
"Brother!" Thor calls after him, standing as if to chase after him.
"NO!" Loki shouts, freezing in place. "I could have found her by now! I could have traced her location if only I had the seidr to complete the spell that would keep the necklace on her. I tried, but my magic reserves were drained by placing the tracking spell on her necklace." He whirled around, pointing at Thor, who had taken some steps towards him. "If you and Fath...If you and Odin had believed in me with the Frost Giants, or with Thanos, then I would still have my seidr, and I would be able to save Aithne." I watched as he took his gaze off Thor and stared down at his wrist where two gold shackles appeared. "Instead, I am shackled and denied the one thing that I was any good at. The one thing that might help us!" A green glow began to emit from Loki, making Thor take a step back.
"Brother, please," Thor said as he shook himself before he carefully approached Loki. The rest of us had risen from our seats to watch the two brothers. "Brother, you need to calm down." Thor pleaded.
Loki just snarled at him as the glow grew. It seemed to be focused on the shackles.
"Brother, you are only hurting yourself," Thor said, "You know that the only thing that will get rid of the binding is if Father wants it to be so." Loki ignored him and only seemed to push himself harder. It was then that I noticed how pale Loki had gotten.
"Loki, stop this!" Thor shouted, gripping him by his biceps. "You will only end up killing yourself!"
"So what?" Loki sneers, "At least you'll finally be rid of your disappointment of your adopted monster of a brother. At least then I wouldn't bother you in your perfect life."
Thor just stares at Loki before pulling him into an embrace, pinning his arms to his sides. "Brother. Please. I am sorry for what happened all that time ago, but this won't change what happened. Lady Alexis would want you to live." I had never heard Thor beg, but this is the closest I had ever heard it from him. He pulled back and gripped Loki's shoulders. "No one blames you for what happened, Brother. No one saw this coming, so stop blaming yourself."
Huh. Seems like I wasn't the only one blaming myself.
"NO!" he screams, ripping himself from Thor's grasp. "Stark told me that I was to blame, and he was right!" Memories of first arriving at the tower after Alexis was taken flood my mind. '...No! You were here. You and Barnes. You were supposed to protect her! Why didn't you stop them from..' My own voice echoing in my mind.
"It's not your fault," I mutter. My voice seemed to echo in the oppressive silence that had followed Loki's scream. Looking up at Loki, I continue, "We all didn't see it coming, and we were unprepared." Taking a breath, I force out, "I don't blame you for what happened, but I will blame you if you self-combust or whatever by continuing to do whatever it is you are doing. And, I can't believe I'm saying this, but if there is going to be a fight, then we are going to need everyone, including you, because we are not going to let whoever it is, get away with taking Alexis."
Loki just stares at me with glowing eyes before his gaze shifts back to Thor as he steps back over to Loki. "Please, Brother," is all we heard Thor say.
It felt as if everyone was holding their breath as the glow around Loki seemed to magnify before it quickly dissipated. As the immense light disappeared, as did the pressure that had built.
Letting out a breath I didn't know I was holding, I collapsed back into my chair and took a long drink from my glass. Steve's short speech helped, but this guilt might just eat me alive.
"I should have saved her," came Loki's small voice as Thor took him by the arm. I had never heard him more broken. Definitely not the only one blaming myself.
"We are going to save her," I hear myself saying, causing the brothers, and the rest of the Avengers, to turn back to me. "We are going to find her and save her."
"Is there anything we can do to narrow down where she could have been taken? Or who took her?" Clint asks as Thor brings Loki back to where we all were.
I shake my head in frustration. "Something was blocking Jarvis from recording anything inside or outside the tower from the time the helicopter landed, so we have no leads to go on from that angle," I say.
"And we know no one from her past that could possibly be involved. We barely know anything about the girl, honestly," Steve mutters, leaning back in his seat.
'From her past...' Steve's voice echoed in my head for a moment before an idea came to mind. Turning to Bruce, who was sitting on a couch with Nat and Clint, I ask, "Is there any way we could get Alexis's DNA scanned by Jarvis to see who her parents are? I know that she said that her father's name is John Andrews, but there have got to be at least 1000 of them in New York."
Bruce opens his mouth to reply, by Nat interjects.
"Why him?" She asks, leaning forward. "I know that you asked if Clint, Barnes and I could try to find out who he was, but we haven't had any luck so far, but why go there?"
"I know it seems like a long shot, but what if he had something to do with it?" I say, looking around. Scepticism was in everyone's eyes. "I know. I know. I said it was a long shot, but it's only an idea, and we don't really have anything else to go on at this point."
Steve shrugged. "It wouldn't hurt to try, but I think that we should also consider other options."
"It definitely won't hurt to try," Bruce interjects, "A few days ago, Tony asked me to see if I could take a DNA test of Alexis using the blood from an injury of hers so we could see if we could track down her father."
"Huh, I had completely forgotten about that," I admit, "When should it be done?"
"Any time now, I think," Bruce replies.
"Does anyone else have any other ideas?" Steve asks, looking around at the group. We all just look at each other for a few moments.
"What about the man in black? The guy from a few days ago that attacked Steve and me?" Bucky suggested, finally speaking up for the first time.
"That could be an idea," I say as I stand up and grab my now empty glass. "Anyone else want a drink while I'm up?" A matter of negative replies came my way.
"SHIELD still has him in a holding cell. I haven't been called in to go interrogate him yet, but it could be a lead," Nat says, standing up. "I'll give Fury a call."
"I'll go with you," Clint groans as he stands and goes to follow Nat before Jarvis's voice stops us all.
"Dr Banner, I have the results of the test you asked me to conduct."
"The DNA test?" I ask, turning around to face Bruce. Everyone leant forward, eager to know the results.
"Yes, Sir. I have the results of the DNA test." came the reply. I tilted my head in confusion. If I didn't know any better, then I would say that Jarvis sounded nervous.
"Well, what were the results?" I ask, slowly walking back to the others.
"Sir, Perhaps it might be best if I inform you elsewhere."
Okay. Now I'm confused, I think as I come to a halt. "Jarvis. I am sure that it will be fine to say the results here. Everyone will end up knowing them anyway. So come on. Tell us, and then we can get this show on the road."
Silence was all that followed my order. After a few moments, I went to order Jarvis to give me the results when he finally spoke again. "It turns out, Sir, that Alexis was not her true name."
"What?!" came the calls of disbelief from everyone.
"Wait, so she was lying to us this whole time?" Steve asks.
"No," Loki interjects, "I am the God of Mischief and Lies, and she was not lying about who she was. She believed that Alexis was her name. She has been lied to about who she is, I believe." Loki explains. "I will not allow you to think that Aithne has been deceiving you."
"I agree with Loki, Sir," Jarvis said, causing the others to calm down. "I believe that Lady Alexis was not aware of her true identity nor who her parents are."
"Not aware of who her parents are?" I repeat, confused. "Jarvis, her mother is dead. What are you saying? Just tell us the results."
It seemed like an age before he spoke again. "Alexis' father is not John Andrews, Sir. The DNA results came back with her mother being Elena Emily Hale and her father as Anthony Edward Stark.
The world froze. My brain stopped as the words echoed through my head. '...parents...Elena Emily Hale...Anthony Edward Stark.' A shattering of glass startled me out of my shocked state. Looking down, I realised that I had let my glass go and it had smashed on the floor.
"W...what?" I whisper, tearing my gaze from the floor to look at the others, but my shock was only being reflected back at me through their faces. "What's her name, Jarvis? What's her true name?! Please. I need to know! Is she...?" I couldn't let myself hope.
"Her name is Ayden Maria Angelica Stark. She is your daughter Sir."
It was at this moment that my world collapsed and shattered around me, just like the glass I had been holding.
***Ta-Da! Finally got to the part many of you were waiting for. Hope I wrote it well!***