***Here is the next chapter***

***Tony P.O.V***

"Her name is Ayden Maria Angelica Stark. She is your daughter Sir."

"My... She's...I…Ayden?" My voice breaks as strength seems to leave my body. Arms catch me and carefully guide me to the closest seat. Looking at the person next to me, I realise that it's Steve. "Steve," I mutter, "My little girl. She's my...Ayden."

"Tony," I heard someone say, but my mind was running too fast to care. 'My little girl. She's alive. She's alive. She came back. Ayden is back. My little Angel. She's back. She came back. My little Angel. My Ayden.'

"Tony, come on, breath." Breathe? Why would I need to breathe? Ayden is back. I looked for her for so long, and I never found her. She found me on her own. My little girl.

"Tony! Snap out of it! Breathe!" Suddenly, I was aware of the lightheadedness I was feeling. Drawing air into my lungs required a lot more effort than I usually had to use. 'Shit. I can't breathe! I can't breathe!'. Clutching at my chest, I struggle to bring air into my starved lungs.

"Tony! Look at me!" Finally, Bruce's voice cuts through my growing panic, and I see Steve and Bruce crouched in front of me. "Tony. You are having a panic attack, and you are in shock," Bruce says calmly. 'That makes sense,' I think as I continue trying to get air into my lungs. "I need you to try to take some deep breaths, Tony. Just follow me, okay?"

He took some exaggerated breaths for me to follow, and I tried my best, but I could only feel the panic building. "Just focus on me, Tony. You're going to be okay." Reaching forward, he grabs my hand and places it on his chest, allowing me to feel the rhythm of his breathing. Focusing on the steady beating of his heart, I find myself starting to breathe easier.

I don't know how long we sat there in silence as I tried to slow my breathing down. Eventually, I relaxed my grip on Bruce's shirt that I didn't know and sat back against the chair.

"You did really well, Tony. Just keep breathing," Bruce says as he stands back up.

I ignore Bruce for the moment and focus back on the revelation that was just made.

"Jarvis," I say, my voice hoarse.

"Yes, Sir."

"Repeat what you just said," I ask, keeping my eyes down, avoiding the others' gaze. 'I need to make sure I heard him right.'

"Her name is Ayden Maria Angelica Stark. She is your daughter Sir."

"She's alive," I say in disbelief. "She's alive. My little girl is alive." I start laughing, and I wasn't sure when it turned into sobs. 'She's alive.' The words just kept repeating over and over in my head. The feeling of pure relief and joy rushed through my body. 'She's alive'. "I had given up hope," I mumbled as tears just streamed down my face. I looked up at Bruce, who had crouched back in front of me and resting his hand on my knee. "I thought she was dead, but she was here. I held her in my arms, Bruce."

"I know Tony," he whispered. "I know."

"I held her. My little girl." I grinned in disbelief at the thought of her being here. "I just can't believe that she was here, and I didn't know that she was my own little girl."

A cold wave of horror washed over me as I recall the last few days. "She was taken again," I whisper, staring at Bruce in front of me. "She was taken. I lost her again. I couldn't protect her again!" Somewhere during the time of my realisation, I had gripped Bruce's arms. "I couldn't find her before. I couldn't find her!" I shouted. "I lost her again!"

Hands came to grip my arms and loosen my hands on Bruce's arms, making me let go.

"Calm down, Tony," I heard Steve say as he turned me to look at him.

"Calm down?" I question in disbelief. "How can I? I had my daughter here, and I didn't even know it. I spent years looking for her, and then when she was right in front of me, I didn't even know it was her." I shrug off Steve's hands and up and walk a few paces away from the group. "And then I lost her again. She was taken again," I whisper harshly. "How am I meant to find her this time?!"

"You have something now that you didn't last time," I hear a voice say behind me. Turning around, I look at everyone who is staring at me with mixed emotions of shock, disbelief and something that could only be called determination. "You have all of us with you, Tony," Nat says as she walks over to where I was standing.

"We all care about Alexis, I mean Ayden, too," Clint says, following Nat over. "Damn. That's going to take some time to get used to."

"We are here for you, Tony, "Steve says, "We will find Ayden," He vows.

I stare at them all and take a breath. "Thank you," I mutter as I swipe a hand roughly over my face. "I just...I should have searched harder this whole time. She was alive, and I didn't know because I gave up the search."

"I don't know you as well as others, but from what I know about you, then I know that you did the best that you could," Clint says. His words are a slight comfort to the mass of guilt swirling in my heart.

"I don't know where to start searching now, though," I say, "We are out of ideas." I see the others glance at each other and shrug.

"Maybe not," Thor says with furrowed brows as he stares at me and then looks at Loki. "I think I might know a way to help, but I need to go back to Asgard."

"What? Thor? What do you mean?" Loki asks before I can begin to start deciphering what he could possibly be intending to do.

"I will return shortly, I hope, with a way of finding young Ayden," Thor calls as he calls Mjolnir to his side from across the room and runs to the doors that lead to the elevator. "I will be back by dawn!"

Stunned silence was all that Thor left behind him. We all look at each other before staring at Loki, who shrugs as he sits back on the couch. "I have no idea what could be going through that oaf's brain at this moment. There are infinite possibilities."

Soft laughter echoed around the team for a moment as we all knew the truth in Loki's statement through the time of getting to know the living Norse 'God' of Thunder. Everyone goes and settles back down on the chairs, including myself.

Clint is the one to break the silence that settles as he says, "Okay, I can't be the only one wondering this, but where did Ayden come from?"

I smirk at him. "Do I really need to explain the birds and bees to you, Legolas?"

He shakes his head. "Screw you, Stark," he laughs as he grabs a rather destroyed cushion and throws it at me. Batting it aside with my hand, I shake my head at him.

"Ayden is my daughter, and unlike what the press prints about me in recent years, I had a steady relationship with Elena for a year." I took a deep breath as I continued to bring up memories that I had tried to repress for years. "I loved Elena. We met at a bar, and she was just this unstoppable woman. She was a force to be reckoned with, and, damn, she was intelligent."

I chuckled, thinking back to the whirlwind that was Elena. "We wanted to keep our relationship under wraps because we knew the power of the press. We wanted our relationship to be something for us. And then she fell pregnant. I was so scared because my old man wasn't the best father figure in the world, and I didn't want to be anything like what he was. We were excited and nervous for Ayden's arrival." I paused, lost in the memories of Elena.

"What happened to Elena?" Nat asked, quietly.

Leaning forward, I let out a huff as I prepared myself for the rest of the story. "The day Ayden was born was the best and worst day of my life. Ayden decided that she wanted to come in the early morning, so we rushed to the nearest hospital. Elena didn't make it. There were complications, and she lost too much blood too fast. There was nothing that the doctors could do in the end." Silence was all that followed my words. "I was so sure that I couldn't do this single parent thing on my own, but I couldn't let her go. She had me wrapped around her finger from the moment that I held her. She was so tiny, but she was mine."

"What happened when she was taken?" Steve asked.

"I had put her down for bed. Usually, I stayed up in the lounge, but Stark Industries was breathing down my neck for the next invention, so I was down in my workshop. This was over in Malibu, by the way. I didn't have the tower yet. Jarvis was nowhere near as upgraded as he is now, either. But I was down in the workshop, and the power went out. I waited for the backup to kick in, but then I heard a shatter from upstairs. That was the single most horrible moment of my entire life when I realised that something had happened to Ayden," I shake my head at the memory, running a hand through my hair as I continue. "I had all these precautions in my workshop so Ayden or anyone couldn't get in unless I allowed them to, but I regretted all those when I couldn't get out of my own workshop to get to my baby girl. When I finally got out, it was too late. She was gone. Jarvis couldn't find her. Anyone I hired couldn't find her. I looked for years, but after dead-end, after dead-end, I gave up."

"No one blames you, Tony," Bruce says, as the others murmur in agreement.

'I blame me,' I think to myself as I stand. "The reason that I didn't tell anyone about her was that I just couldn't handle the fact that my little girl was gone. She was my heart, and when she was taken, I just fell apart. That's when all the partying and drinking got really bad. I was a mess, but thankfully Pepper found me and well, you guys know the rest."

"You really were a mess back then," Bruce agrees. "But I guess your life makes a bit more

sense now. But we will find her, Tony. You'll have her back."

"Thanks, Bruce."

"Any time, pal."

Silence enveloped the team. The sounds of the never-sleeping city of New York didn't reach up this high. Sadly, I couldn't say that silence was peaceful as the reason for the lounge being a mess was still glaringly obvious. My little girl was missing; I felt confident that we

had a chance of finding her. 'I will hold my little girl again,' I vow to myself.

We were each lost in our own thoughts for a while until Steve stood up with a sigh. "I seem to remember that dinner was meant to be a thing tonight. Is it take-out or something?"

"Well, the kitchen's a bit of a bust, so it has to be take-out. What are we thinking for tonight, team?" Clint asks.

"How about pizza? We hadn't had that for a while," Nat suggests.

Murmurs of agreement came from everyone. "Alright. You heard the people, Jarvis. Order the usual, would you?" I say.

"Of course, Sir. I will inform you when it arrives."

"Thanks, J."

Quiet conversations start up around the group as Steve leaves the room. 'Wonder where he's off to.'

"Sir, it appears that you have an incoming call." Jarvis' voice halts all the conversations around the room as everyone tunes in.

'What the-, who could that be?' "Who is it, J?"

"Unknown, Sir."

'Unknown? That shouldn't be possible'. Shrugging, I say, "Let the call through, J."

"Of course, Sir."

Breathing is all that is heard around the room as the call comes through.

"Hello?" I say when no voice comes through the call.

My heart freezes as a small voice comes over the speakers. "Mr-Mr S-St-Stark?"

AYDEN!

***Hope you enjoyed the chapter!***