Hello readers! I apologize for the long hiatus. Grad school took total control of me and I just lost time in writing this chapter. I hope to have the next out sooner, but we'll have to see.

Thank you for all of the views and to those who have reviewed. I always welcome the feedback as I hope to use it to make the story better. I look forward to more!

I hope you all enjoy this chapter!

"There is an intruder on the grounds."

Tony shot up at Friday's alert.

"Where?! Can you get an id?"

"I cannot identify; however they are near Aqua."

"What do you mean?!" Tony ran for an exit, activating his suit. His scanners were already working by the time he was hovering above the compound, though nothing was showing up.

"The intruder does not appear to be human. Please turn to the south woods."

As he did, two shapes appeared on his display. One was labeled with Aqua's name; the other, however, was much larger and moving closer to Aqua. Tony immediately shot in the direction of the clearing. He was nearly half-way there when the shapes disappeared from his display. He stopped abruptly, turning to scan the grounds.

They can't have just disappeared. Which way did they go?

"Friday?" Concern and fear were laced in his voice.

"I can't find them, Boss."

"Track her communicator."

"I'm trying, Boss, but it appears to be too far for me to track."

Tony hovered, confused. In conjunction with the world governments, Tony was allowed to track anyone with a communicator as a part of the Sokovia Accords, anywhere across the world. All he needed was Friday's interface. As long as the communicator was on Earth, Friday was able to track it.

As long as the communicator was on Earth.

"Keep trying, Friday. They couldn't have just disappeared."

"I will, Boss."

Tony headed to the clearing, looking for any clues as to what happened. All he found was a circle of icicles on the ground, as if they had fallen from the air.

Aqua landed in a cavernous hall, seemingly made of dark metal; her senses thrown off entirely. The air was missing some essential moisture, giving her the clue that she was no longer in Earth's atmosphere. She cautiously looked around, keeping herself low. The purple giant was no longer next to her, though she could hear voices coming from somewhere in the hall.

Trying to stand, she faltered and hastily reached for the wall, falling to the floor. She took a moment on the floor, steadying herself on her hands and knees with as deep breaths as she could manage in the thin air.

"Well, well. A little weak in the knees, are we?"

Aqua jumped up and stumbled backwards till she finally hit the wall. The being in front of her, though not as tall as the purple giant, still stood several feet taller than herself. Slim and powerful, its skin seemed to shine as a light blue or purple with horns that twisted up from its temples. The voice had a feminine ring to it and there was a slight femininity to its stance.

"Congratulations," the being turned with a motion to follow, "you are now a daughter of Thanos."

Aqua stayed where she was, both out of cautious habit to not do everything she was told, and out of breath.

"Follow."

Aqua stood her ground. She didn't even move closer to the wall; she just didn't move.

The being turned to look back, not surprised at Aqua's bravery for defying the order, but certainly not happy.

Aqua stood strong. She used every bit of courage and stubbornness she could muster to not move; not even flinch. She pulled on her training with Nat, Clint, Steve – even Tony. She would not break. She locked her eyes on the pair in front of her.

The being moved toward Aqua, fully intent on delivering a blow.

"Proxima Midnight."

The being stopped mid step, hand still in the air. Aqua flinched at the booming voice that came from in front of her and turned to see the purple giant. The giant came up to the being – who Aqua now knew to be Proxima Midnight – placed his hand on its shoulder, and slightly shook his head.

"Thanos," Proxima Midnight sighed, "Father. You've chosen a defiant one. The older the child, the more defiant of our ways they become."

"That is usually why I adopt so young. However, I came upon her in a field, all alone, and so full of strength. I could not pass up the opportunity."

Thanos let go of Proxima Midnight and turned more, fully, to Aqua. Once again, she didn't move.

"Please excuse Proxima, it has been some time since she has gained a sister." Thanos paused, possibly waiting for Aqua to say something, but she didn't. "What is your name, child?"

Aqua was silent. Proxima visibly tensed, as if to punish Aqua for her silence. Thanos simply raised his hand and continued.

"I don't think this opposition is out of fear, so why do you defy me? Do you see it as the ultimate courage? Or do you feel that if you were to speak, or move, you would reveal your fear?"

Nat had trained Aqua to never show fear, even in what would seem to be a hopeless situation, and she did so, well. Aqua kept her stance and eyes defiant, willing herself to not give up. To not let this – thing – get to her. It didn't help that her senses were still dead because of the thin air, but she held as strong as she could.

"Hmm… Whatever shall we do?" he asked as he glanced to Proxima Midnight. He began moving toward Aqua again, reaching toward her.

She broke.

She took a step backwards hitting the wall once again when she felt a sharp pinch near the back of her neck. When she reached up, the object was gone, and she began to feel her head become heavy. Her sight blurred, and her knees buckled; she couldn't even reach out to catch herself.

However, instead of hitting a hard floor, she felt a soft, strong arm and hand lift her. The last thing she saw was a wall split open for the trio to pass through.

"Dammit."

"Friday still can't find her?" Pepper stood just behind Tony, arms hugging her body as she suddenly felt colder.

Tony tilted forward and caught himself on the desk in front of him, fist slamming on the hard metal. Pepper took a couple of steps forward, unwrapping herself just enough to place a gentle hand on Tony's back, just under his neck. The tension under her fingers caused her to bring her other arm around his front, turning him and enveloping him in her arms. His chin came to her shoulder while her right hand stayed on the back of his neck and her left hand went into his hair, his ear right next to his ear.

"We'll find her," Pepper cooed. "You'll find her."

They stayed like this for several moments.

"Have you told the others?"

"Rodgers and I aren't exactly on speaking terms, let alone anyone with him. We lost contact with Bruce way too long ago for him to be on Earth." He paused and turned, his head hanging low. "And I haven't had the heart to tell Peter yet."

Pepper placed a soft hand on his cheek, pushing his head up enough to catch his eyes in hers.

"They need to know, Tony." Tony's face winced, and his head began turning down again, but Pepper wouldn't let him. "They deserve to know."

Tony took a moment to collect his thoughts and gaze at Pepper. Over the years, Aqua had become somewhat of a daughter to her, even when she and Tony hadn't been officially together. She taught Aqua about being a girl and had been in the process of teaching her about being a woman. While Tony was Aqua's father, Pepper was Aqua's mother, and they had now lost their daughter, coping as best they could. He couldn't believe Pepper's strength in the situation, but he did always know that while he may be the physical strength in their relationship, Pepper was the emotional and mental strength.

Tony finally nodded. He opened his arms and pulled Pepper into a tight, gentle embrace that she reciprocated. She could tell he was on the verge of tears, his breath as shaky as it was, but she would stay strong for him.

She released him from her arms and reached into the top draw of his work bench. Sitting right on top was a small flip phone, where it usually stayed. She quietly handed it to Tony, who took it with a small nod before turning to make the call. Pepper stayed where she was at, wanting to be there for the call in case Tony needed to hand the phone over. She heard the buttons click and Tony bring the phone to his ear.

"Rodgers?

…

Oh, Romanoff. Um, can you connect me through the speakers? There's something I have to tell all of you.

…

Look, it's an emergency. Please, just… connect me.

…

Thanks.

…

Guys, Aqua has been kidnapped.

…

No, I don't know who it is or where they took her.

…

Of course I've scanned for her. Friday can't find her. The only explanation is that she was taken off-world.

…

Her communicator has been disconnected from the satellites and Friday has scanned through all available cams to find evidence of her. So far, there's nothing.

…

It's been about a week.

…

Steve… that's not fair.

…

I will.

…

Yeah. Bye.

And the call ended. Tony kept his back to Pepper a while longer, giving himself time. The next call will probably be harder, despite the fact that he just got off the phone with most of the rest of Aqua's family. He took a deep breath and straightened himself out. Walking back to his work bench, he decided to use Friday to make his next call, not wanting to hold a phone to his ear in case he couldn't hold himself up.

"Friday, lock the door."

"Do you want me to leave?" Pepper asked, reaching up to catch a stray tear on Tony's cheek.

"No. I need you here."

Pepper simply nodded, folding herself into his side and hold his arm. Tony took another breath to center himself before finally making the call.

Being a Saturday, Peter was lounging in the living room with May. She still didn't know about the details of his "internship" and had promised he would spend most of the day with her. As much as he loved hanging with May, he hadn't heard from Aqua in a few days, and it started to worry him.

May was noticing, too. Which may have been the reason she wanted to hang out with him that day; to try to cheer him up from whatever was bothering him. So far, it didn't seem to be working.

Peter decided to lean over to May's shoulder, willing his mind to move off of Aqua. His motivations were in vain as his phone began to vibrate against both of their legs. May threw a disgruntled glance towards Peter. At first, he returned a guilty look to her, but after seeing who was calling, his face turned to pure confusion before bursting up from the couch and running to his room.

"Sorry! It's Mr. Stark! I'll be right back!" He shouted, trying to explain to May why he had to take this particular call when he wasn't even allowed to answer a call from Ned. Once his door was closed, he answered his phone.

"Hello?"

"Peter?"

"Hi, Mr. Stark. Wh-what can I do for you? Is there a mission?"

"Um… no, not exactly."

"Oh. W-what's going on…?" Tony's voice sounded strained and hesitant, and it was worrying Peter more so than not hearing from Aqua in several days.

"There's not a lot of ways for me to say this, so… Here it goes."

Tony took another pause. Peter held his breath. Something wasn't right.

"Aqua's missing. Rather, we believe she's been kidnapped."

Peter heart nearly stopped. He knew something was wrong, but he could never place the feeling. But this? Aqua was his first friend among the Avengers and they had gotten really close; texting nearly every day, hanging out in the compound when Peter could get there to train, and, when Mr. Stark had restricted her a bit, calling when either needed something more than a text but weren't able to see each other. She couldn't be gone. This had to be a joke…

"-eter? Peter! You still with me?"

"Uh – yeah. Yeah, I'm here. … Wait – how? Kidnapped? How? When?"

"I-uh, it was about a week ago. One minute, we were sitting watching a movie, then you two were texting, and then she said she wanted some air. She went out to the clearing in the middle of the forest area on the grounds. Little less than an hour later, Friday alerted me to an intruder. I used the scanners, saw an outline of a person, and then they were both gone. At the clearing, there was only ice. Looked like she was ready for a fight."

Peter was having a hard time digesting everything Mr. Stark was telling him. Finally, his brain caught up a bit, but not much.

"Wait – you're not kidding, are you? This isn't a joke?"

"No. This isn't a joke. This is real."

Peter's hand and arm went limp, causing him to drop his phone. May rushed in just in-time to see a tear roll from Peter's cheek and a confused look take over his features.