Starks Daughter

by MsDaHedgehog

After the death of an ex-girlfriend, Tony learns that he has a daughter. With the help of Pepper he learns how to be a father to a seventeen year old, but not without difficulties - especially when his lifestyle puts her in danger. - First few chapters set in 2009 with it then jumping to 2015 (before Ultron ever happened)

16. Chapter 16

"Wha -."

Tony coughed violently, his body overcome by the deep, throaty vibrations that left him exhausted and aching. He forced himself onto his side, despite his body's protests, with the hope it would help clear his airway and alleviate some of the pressure on his chest. An intense wave of nausea (that he barely managed to clamp down on after moving) washed over him, and he had to blink rapidly in an attempt to clear his vision and rid his head of the fog clouding his mind. Over the years, since his mid-to-late-teens at least, Tony had unfortunately become well versed in the feeling of being disoriented. Whether it be from a self-indulged alcohol induced haze (though not in the last six years or so) or from his more recent work as Iron Man (more often than not, no matter how hard he tried - he was just a magnet for catastrophe), Tony was accustomed to feeling displaced... only this time felt different.

Blinking a little slower now, Tony's surroundings began to come into sharper focus bit by bit. He was... confused to say the least; he didn't know where he was. He wasn't wearing the suit - not a single part of it - so he took that to mean he hadn't been on a mission or in a battle of any kind... though he couldn't deny that the immediate area looked a hell of a lot like a battlefield. His memory, though still very much hazy, slowly began coming back to him in fractured, blurry waves. He started to remember it being late evening and... had he been in the lab? Yes, he had, but this wasn't a malfunction turned explosion - he wasn't allowed to have those after nine anymore, not after the last time he'd made the lab go boom. Tony thought he could vaguely remember coming up to the penthouse for something, or to talk to someone and sure enough, he found his left cheek pressed against his previously pristine tiled floor - it was pristine no more, what with dirt, dust, debris, and jagged cracks across the entire surface. His whole body ached; his ears, along with his head, throbbed with each blink, his cheeks felt bruised and he was sure his ribs shifted with each breath and even his toes protested at being wiggled to check for damage and to top it all off, he was sans a right shoe. He lifted his head slightly, just enough to turn it and rest his chin against the floor and saw the faint outline of something large and green thrashing around out of control over the other side of the room. That was odd, he thought with frown, he didn't remember owning a large green pet. Maybe if he closed his eyes and rested for a moment, he could get up and ask Pepper about it later.

Pepper.

Tony's eyes snapped open. It was as though a bucket of icy water had been dumped over his head. The fog clouding his mind seemed to disappear instantly at the mere thought of her name. He remembered it now. Pepper had gotten home from her meeting and wanted to discuss it with him. One minute they'd been talking with Bruce and the next... Banner. That explained the large green thing roaming around the other side of the destroyed room - Hulk had come out to play. There had been an explosion of some sort, one that, right at this moment, Tony had no idea what it had been caused by, but he was sure as hell going to find out. Something had exploded and thrown the three of them in different directions, unleashing the Hulk at the same time. Tony couldn't tell how much time has passed; his watch having smashed upon impact with the floor, but it couldn't have been all that long if Hulk hadn't branched out into the rest of the room yet

Tony, very much wary of the fact that he wasn't in a suit and that he had dangerous company, started scouring the room for Pepper. He couldn't immediately spot her, meaning that she was under some of the debris. There was also the chance that she'd fallen through one of the holes he'd found in the floor as he made his way round the room, but he'd rather ignore that possibility until he'd exhausted all others. He didn't want to think about her falling through to one of the fiery floors below. He moved debris as he went, keeping one eye for his fiancé and the other out for Big Green; it wouldn't help matters for Hulk to notice him now, it would make things a lot worse. Tony had been making his way through the destruction for a couple of minutes, lowly calling out for Pepper so not to attract attention, when he spotted her lying motionless over by the elevator, a part of the wall partially obscuring her from view. All thoughts of keeping the Hulk from realising he was there going out the window upon seeing her.

"Pepper!"

Tony dived, landing on his knees at her side, ignoring the edges of the cracked tiles ripping through his jeans and scratching against his skin. He flung the piece of wall off her, allowing himself a breath of relief when he saw no signs of major injuries, just a few superficial wounds... but that didn't mean she didn't have any internal injuries. God, he hoped she didn't have internal injuries. He pressed his two fingers against the pulse point in her neck and gave a small cry when he felt it strumming steadily. He ran his hands over her face, through her hair, letting out a low string of curses when he found a lump at the back of her head, and again when he pulled his hand away and his fingers we coated in blood, which he quickly wiped on his jeans.

"Pepper? Pep?" Tony said, trying not to panic when she didn't immediately respond. He shook her shoulder lightly; before brushing the tips of his fingers against her cheek. "Pepper open your eyes. Come on, Potts."

He kept up the desperate mantra for a full minute, the shakes to her shoulder getting a little harsher every couple of seconds. He almost couldn't see for the tears gathering in his eyes when she finally started to stir. Pained moans escaped her lips and she whimpered as she blinked into consciousness.

"Tony…"

"Come on, Pep. That's it, keep those eyes open, Ms Potts," Tony said gently, running his hand through her hair again, being careful to mind the wound on the back of her head. With his encouragement, she managed to keep her eyes open for longer than a few seconds at a time, though they failed to stay completely focused. "Are you hurt?"

"I –," she murmured, clearly having to think hard about the question. She tried to sit, but Tony kept her lying still with the gently, but firm, pressure of his hands. "I don't think so."

"You've hit your head," Tony informed her, watching as she winced when she lifted a hand to touch the back of her head, pulling it back with the tips of her fingers coated in drying blood. She gave him a soft 'oh' and a smile that he didn't return, not that she seemed to notice. He needed to get her out of there and down on the ground to get checked out. He knew that there were would be a triage area set up somewhere on the street below, as per protocol when there is an evacuation and the possibility of mass causalities, though Tony really hoped that wasn't the case. Regardless, he needed to get Pepper downstairs and seen by someone, but he had to do it safely.

It came to him like a light bulb moment, and he wasn't entirely why he hadn't checked his AI was still functional before now.

"JARVIS?" He'd been too preoccupied to communicate with the AI earlier. He'd barely been able to remember his own name, let alone remember to ask his AI what was happening. Even with all the coding and how integrated he was in the building, there was a chance JARVIS would be out of commission but still, he had to try.

"Yes, Sir?"

Tony breathed a sigh of relief. Though his voice crackled and faded a little, it seemed as though he was still working. "Scan Pepper, see if she has any injuries that mean she can't be moved."

The pause made Tony frowned. He waited a minute, giving JARVIS a chance, but when there was still nothing, he turned to what was left of the ceiling. "JARIVS?"

"I am unable to do that at the present time, Sir."

Tony groaned. He needed to know what caused this, what the damage was and how long he was looking at before he could get things fixed. "What happened, J?"

"There seems to have been an explosion, Sir."

"No shit," Tony muttered, rolling his eyes. Trust JARVIS to point out the obvious. "Where?"

"Main impact seems to have been somewhere between the floor below this one and the one above Miss Coopers."

Anna. Shit. Anna. How could he have let his daughter slip his mind? Sure, she hadn't come up with Pepper, but she had been in the tower, making her way up with Rogers. Steve. Steve would keep her safe. He wouldn't let anything happen to her if he could help it. The super-solider was more than capable of taking care of himself and Annabelle… assuming they had been together. Tony clenched his jaw. He had to believe that Anna was safe, because there was nothing he could do right now. He had to help Pepper, had to get her to safety, and then he could focus on worrying about Anna.

"Shit," he spat, looking down at Pepper and then glancing to the Hulk who had, thankfully, stayed over the other side of the room and continued to seem completely unaware of their presence and hadn't seemed to have heard JARVIS overhead. Tony scanned the room, knowing the elevator was out and knew logically the stairs were to. "We need to get out."

"The stability of this floor is uncertain."

"Yes," Tony grit out. "Thank you, JARVIS."

"You're welcome, Sir."

Tony groaned at the sass. He knew he'd never change JARVIS, but it didn't stop him wondering why he'd given the AI the ability to sass him. He considered, just for a moment, about changing his coding but he shook his head; he'd miss it too much.

"Tony," Pepper muttered, eyes flying left and right when he heard Hulk roar. Tony looked down at her. "Bruce…"

"It's fine, it's okay," he tried to assure her, but it was hard to do so when Hulks roars were getting louder, more agitated. She made to look behind him, to try and catch a glimpse, panic in her eyes but Tony wouldn't let her. He placed a hand on her check and stopped her head from moving, forcing her to keep eye contact with him. "No, look at me, okay? I need to get you out."

"How?" she asked, her confusion clear. Even though she was injured (and Tony was sure she had a concussion) she still had her bearings, and he knew she'd figured there wasn't a safe way out of the penthouse.

Never say never, he was Tony Stark after all.

"J," he called out, not taking his eyes off Pepper. "Deploy Mark P."

He didn't need verbal confirmation; he could already hear the breaking of glass from a few floors below.

"Mark P?"

Tony didn't even look guilty, just gave her a wry smile. "Your suit. You can rename it later."

"My – Tony."

"It's only for situations like this when I need to get you out fast, and safely and I can't personally do that at the moment – this is the next best thing." He didn't want to have the argument over him creating a suit for her right now. It was not the time. He would let her chew him out for keeping it from her later, there was the more pressing matter of getting her in the suit and out of the penthouse to deal with. "There's no way the stairs up here are stable, and you have a head injury." He could see her contemplating it, and he knew he was winning. Small victories. "The suits taking you downstairs to the nearest EMT to be checked over. No buts."

Another round of contemplating and Pepper finally nodded, leaning up on her elbows. "Okay, fine, but we're going to talk about you making this behind my back."

"Yes, dear." The comment earnt him a glare, but he took it in his stride, like he always did. "I need to you stand up."

He helped her stand on shaking legs. Her eyes went unfocused and her face paled when she moved but it was over as soon as it had come. She centred herself and let the suit mould around her. It was a perfect fit. "I'll see you down there."

"Tony," Pepper said before the faceplate slipped into place. "Anna…"

"She's with Steve, remember?" Tony said, trying to keep the slowly rising panic from his voice. As soon as Pepper was safe and out the penthouse he could worry about Anna. "He'll keep her safe. He won't let anything happen to her. Take her down."

Tony heard Peppers gasp of surprise as the suit faceplate dropped into place and instantly took off. He watched as she shot through the blown-out windows, past Hulk and was gone before Big Green even realised she'd flown over his shoulder. Tony took a few deep breaths to steady himself, cursing at the pull of his ribs.

"J," he called, closing his eyes. "Where are they?"

"Captain Rogers and Miss Cooper were travelling in the private elevator at the time of the explosion."

"Okay," Tony said slowly. He could have guessed as much; it was the only one that lead to any of the living spaces. It stopped on all floors but only those with their biometrics and fingerprints scanned could access it. All employees used key cards, fingerprints if they were going to restricted areas and not a single one of them had access to the private elevator. "Where are they now?"

"They are currently suspended somewhere between the seventy-ninth and eighty-fourth floor." Tony sucked in a shuddered breath. That was a long way up to be stuck suspended by cables, even if they were the strongest, sturdiest cables in the world. He'd hoped they would have been a lot further down, further away from the explosions point of impact. Although were still a good ten floors away, it was still too close for his liking; he would very much like his daughter closer to the ground. Again, at least she was with Rogers."My communications have been compromised. I cannot confirm their exact location."

"Okay, J, time to suit up." Within seconds a suit was flying his way and closing around his body, faceplate falling in place and the buildings schematics appearing before his eyes. Tony scanned them quickly. "Evacuate the building. I don't want anyone inside until we can see the extent of the damage. Clear?"

"Of course, Sir. The alarm was sounded the moment of the explosion. Evacuation is already in process." Dare he say it, JARVIS sounded almost smug, but Tony was grateful the buildings protocols were still in place, even with the damage Tony knew JARIVS had suffered."I'm scanning every floor where I am able."

"Floors you can't?" Tony asked, already knowing he wasn't going to like the answer.

"Floors forty-four upwards."

"Fuck. The explosions hit something in the mainframe." It wasn't really that big of a surprise, it was actually better than he'd hoped. He thought JARVIS would have been out on every floor, but it dramatically cut down on how many he'd have to personally check on, because of course he had to. He couldn't leave himself without checking everyone had got out. He needed to calm Hulk down and get Bruce out, find Anna and then he'd make his way down to the ground by making sure personnel on each floor had been able to follow the evacuation. He was so in his thoughts, he barely managed to dodge the flying chunk of tile being flung his way. Hulk had finally realised he wasn't alone and was coming for him. Tony flew in the air, shooting a low beam at Hulk to keep him at bay. He sighed. "I'm gonna have to run diagnostics when this little situations under control. Hey, big guy!"

---

A steady sliver of smoke trickled through the deals in both the elevator door and the ceiling hatch. Neither seemed damaged (at least from this side), but the elevator cart itself, though stable for now, was tilted ever so slightly like it was dropping form one side. The emergency lights were flashing, evacuation alarms sounding from the nearest floor. Steve and Anna lay motionless. They were positioned as if Steve had been shielding Anna before they had both been knocked unconscious, as if he'd sensed the danger and protected her however he could. It was hard to determine how much time had passed before Steve started to shift in his position on the floor. He blinked and tried to shield his eyes from the harsh light. It didn't take long for the confusion to disappear and for him to jump into action.

He rose quickly to his feet, checking the vicinity for signs of danger. He found, other than feeling a little unbalanced, that they were still completely alone with nothing to harm them. He breathed out a small sigh of relief before spinning round and giving the woman still lying unconscious on the floor his full and undivided attention. She was his sole focus right now.

"Annabelle...?"

He knelt down beside her, checking her pulse and finding it beating a steady rhythm beneath his fingertips. He breathed another heavy sigh of relief... this time even more so. Remembering basic first aid training, he next checked her for signs of injury. She had a deep gash to her forehead, running in to her hairline, though the bleeding had already started to slow. He ripped off part of the bottom of the shirt he was wearing, pressing the fabric firmly against the wound. At a quick glance, he couldn't see anything else other than a few bruises on the bare skin of her arms and legs. He'd have to ask her once she'd woken.

"Annabelle, can you hear me?" She stirred but didn't wake. He took it as a good sign though, one that showed she was becoming more alert and would come to with a little gently coaxing. He pulled his phone from his pants pocket, grateful that it seemed undamaged but groaned when he saw he had no bars. "No service, of course there isn't."

Steve tried to think of what to do. He knew he could get himself out easily, but he had Anna to worry about. He couldn't just hoist her over his shoulder and climb on out. He had to think, come up with a plan but first; he had to wake Anna and make sure she was okay. Tony would kill him if he didn't make her his priority.

"Anna, I need you to wake up now."

He lightly jostled her shoulder and smiled slightly when she started coming to. She blinked herself into consciousness, letting out little whimpers of pain as she tried to shift into a more comfortable position. Steve tried to stop her, given that he wasn't sure what hidden injuries she might have but she batted his hands away. He moved them and the fabric he'd used for her head wound fell away, leaving the gash open with sticky blood. She caught sight of the bloodied material and her eyes widened, hand coming up to inspect the wound herself. Steve could see the panic building in her eyes heard the change in her breathing. She yanked herself up into a seated position and forced herself against the wall and away from him. Steve followed her, holding his hands out in surrender.

"It's okay, you're okay, try to calm down," he said as calm as he could. He didn't try to touch her again, but he knew he needed to help calm her down. "Calm down, okay? You're fine, Anna. It's just me, just Steve, okay? I need you to breath with me. In for two, out for two. Can you do that?"

She gave him a small nod and he counted for her, exaggerating his own breathing for her to follow. It helped, and after a few minutes her breathing slowed and she slumped forward, Steve catching her just in time. He helped her lean against him, ripping off another piece of his shirt to press against her head. "You're still bleeding. Are you hurt anywhere else?"

"I don't think so. I just feel like I've been thrown against a wall. What happened?" Anna groaned out, her eyes darting around the small space and Steve could see the moment she realised they were still in the elevator. She coughed, the smoke catching in her throat. "Steve, please tell me you know."

"I don't know," he said, truthfully. He felt her sag against him, and he held her firmly against his side, still keeping pressure on her head wound. "I heard something, further up than we are now, but I don't know what it was."

"Something?" she questioned, pulling away to look at him with wide, frightened eyes. It occurred to him that this may be the first time she'd be in a situation like this, for him it was a weekly requirement. He thought he saw her wince and was sure she grunted in pain buy she was distracting him with her need to know more. "Something like what?"

"Big," Steve said, watching her carefully, ready to help her if she needed it. "Something big. An explosion maybe?"

Anna's eyes widened again, and he mentally scolded himself for not worrying her, though she'd find out at some point anyway, it was better her knowing now. "The tower was attacked."

"We don't know that," Steve said quickly, though he honestly thought it was the most likely cause. It wouldn't be the first time someone had attacked them on home turf, and it no doubt would be the last; they often had massive targets on their backs. He tried to reason. "It could be an experiment gone wrong?"

Anna seemed to consider this. She bit her lip, looking at him. "Any idea what floor we were on?"

Steve thought about it. He hadn't been keeping a track, but he had a fairly good idea based on how long they'd been in the elevator. "Eighty-one or two I think."

Her mouth moved as she counted on her fingers. She shook her head. "Labs stop on eighty-four. Could it have been just two or three floors away?"

He shook his head, regretting speaking before the words were even out of his mouth. "Higher."

"Not an experiment then…" She bit her lip again, this time to keep her from whimpering. He was concerned that she hadn't been completely truthful earlier when she said she wasn't hurt and was hiding an injury from him. He had half a mind to ask her again, but he didn't, noting that he needed to keep her calm and stop her from panicking. "It could have been Tony…"

He winced as he spoke, realising after that it probably wasn't the best thing to say, but Anna was instantly shaking her head, gripping his wrist, and looking at the time on his watch, sighing. "Not Tony."

He raised an eyebrow at her. "And you're sure about that?"

She nodded, seeming very sure. "It's after nine. He's banned from blowing things up after nine, especially when Pepper has work to do, which she does." He raised an eyebrow in question, intrigued to know why but she shook her head at him. "Don't ask. It's a long story and we really don't have the time. What are we gonna do?"

Steve wasn't sure what they were gonna do. Had it of been just him, he would have attempted to get out within minutes of regaining consciousness, but it wasn't just him; he had to take Anna into account – and Tony would have his head if he let anything happen to her. Though tilted, the cart they were in seemed relatively sturdy. Their main issue at that moment was the smoke still trickling in. It was nothing to be concerned about yet, but if they didn't move soon, or help didn't come, it would soon get too hard to breathe. He looked around, though he knew they only had two options; go the conventional way through the doors or go through the ceiling hatch. With Anna in tow, he knew which one he'd prefer.

"Let's see what we're working with first."

He waited for her to nod before slowly and carefully moving to the doors so not to jostle the cart. Too many sudden movements could cause them it to tilt further; no matter how sturdy it seemed it wasn't guaranteed to hold and given just how high up they were, their chances of survival should they fall were not good at all. Steve planted his feet in front of the opening, slotting the tips of his fingers into the miniscule gap where the doors joined in the middle together and used his strength to prise them apart. They moved slowly, the metal bending slightly under the pressure of his grip. When they'd opened completely, he moved back to stand next to Anna, hearing her breath hitch.

"Okay," she said slowly. "So, we're between floors."

Steve nodded and stared at what he'd hoped would be open space… but they had no such luck. Where it should have opened out straight onto one of the towers floors, they were instead faced with the plain, darkened interior wall of the elevator shaft. It looked like their only option now was up.

"That's… that's not good," Anna said, panic rising in her voice at the realisation of what was happening. She backed away from him, his eyes following her every step as she did, and pressed herself against the elevator wall until she was completely flush to it, going rigid. Her voice was still rising. "We're suspended eighty-odd floors in the air in a steel box by cables that could snap at any given moment and we'll plummet to our deaths – well at least I will; I don't know if you will with your super-soldier-ness. Can you even die?"

"Annabelle. Anna! Look at me," he said sharply, cutting off her rambling by moving to stand directly in front of her and placing his hands on her shoulders to ground her. He'd never seen her more like Tony. He could see it in her eyes and the way she spoke; she processed her fear the same way he did. "I will get us out of here, but I need you to trust me."

"I do trust you," she said almost instantly with a nod. Her posture relaxed slightly but she was still a little stiff when he removed his hands.

"Good," he said, trying to give her a reassuring smile. Her attempt at returning it became more of a grimace. He lifted his head and stared at the ceiling. Anna followed his gaze, gulping. "We're gonna need to get to the floor above, it the only way we're getting out of here and to safety."

"Doesn't seem like a very safe way to get to safety." Anna muttered and Steve couldn't help but agree, though it was clear they both knew they had no choice. There was no other way out unless they waited for help, and Steve didn't like that idea. Who knew how long it could take for someone to find them and get them out? Elevator rescues were not high in the priority list where there's a multi-storey building evacuation of thousands of people; even this late in the day there would still be a fair amount of staff around.

"JARIVS?" Steve snapped his head to Anna, who shrugged at him when she received no response. "Worth a try."

Steve just continued to stare at her, wondering why he didn't think about calling out to JARVIS himself before. Technology was still something he was getting used to, but he heard the AI throughout every single day; he should have realised sooner. Getting no reply did cement something for him though. If JARVIS wasn't able to communicate with them, the chances of him having been able to alert someone that they were trapped were ridiculously small. Help most definitely was not coming for them and the smoke was staring to swirl thicken in the small space. They were running out of time, they had to move.

Steve looked at Anna and she sighed. "I was never a climber as a kid."

"Funnily enough, neither was I, but here we are." She gave him a small smile. He placed a hand firmly on her shoulder, trying his best to reassure her. "I won't let you fall, Annabelle."

"I know you won't." Anna gave him a nod and squared her shoulders, shrugging his hand away, clearly attempting to appear more confident than she actually was. He couldn't help but smile and was glad when she returned it with a genuine one of her own. "So, what's the plan, Captain; how do you suggest we do this?"

"You're gonna go up first. I'll lift you." He waited for het nod of agreement. If he was being honest, he was coming up with the plan on the spot, having not given it a proper thought before – not his usual style but not only was it the logical solution, but it was the only one they had, and he didn't have time to try and think of something better. "Try not to move too much when you're up there though, okay? Too much movement could shift the cart and we don't know what will happen if it does. Just move carefully to the side to give me enough room to pull myself up beside you and we'll see what we're working with from there."

"Okay, just…" Anna trailed off, giving him a smile, he didn't quite trust; a look he'd seen countless times on Tony and it never ended well when he did. It made her look the spitting image of her father. "Don't look up my skirt."

Steve blanched, his cheeks instantly heating as he became a spluttering mess. "As if I would," he managed to get out. The mere thought of looking up a woman's skirt, especially when said woman was the daughter of his friend and colleague, was completely and utterly mortifying. His mother had raised him better than that. Anna had covered her mouth with her hand, trying unsuccessfully to hide her laughter. He was glad she'd found a way to ease the tension and lighten the mood, even if she were laughing as his expense. She wheezed out an apology, waving a hand feebly at him. He rolled his eyes and stood to his full height, stretching out an to reach the ceiling hatch with ease and with one good shove, it sprung open, flipping back against the top on the cart with a resounding clang. Anna's laughter cut off.

Steve looked to her, finding her eyes full of fear once more. He held a handout to her, which she took instantly, and he gently tugged her to his side, holding her close. Together, they looked up into the void above. "Are you ready?"

Anna nodded against him. "As I'll ever be."

Steve pushed away, crouching down, and cupping his hands together, ready to use them to hoist her up. She braced her hands against his shoulders and slotted her foot in his hands. He gave her a moment to find her balance before lifting her effortlessly up. He made a point in being extra careful not to look up her skirt, keeping his gaze steadily on the gap she was lifting herself through. He felt her foot leave his hand and he dropped his arms as she disappeared from view. He felt the vibrations of her moving round until they suddenly stopped.

"You good?" he called.

"I think so," she called back. "I'm so glad I changed in to flats before I got out the car because it's not exactly even ground up here."

Steve snorted. "So am I. I'm coming up."

Steve bent he knees before pushing up, grabbing the edges of the opening before pulling himself through. He rolled once, luckily in the opposite direction to where Anna was, looking round for her. He caught sight of her standing to his left, swaying slightly. He shot up, reaching for her.

"Whoa, look at me." He grabbed onto her elbow, steadying her. He traced his finger below the cut on her head. "We need to get this looked at."

"I'm good," she said, though she was still swaying slightly where she stood.

"You're not 'good'," Steve said. He looked round, noting that the doors for the floor above were that far up, though they'd would still have to climb. It would be just too far to be able to pull Anna up if she were to stay on top of the cart. She would have to come up with him, but she was in no condition to climb herself. He would have to carry her. He turned his back on her, bending his knees slightly to lower himself to her height. "Hop on."

"Excuse me?"

Steve stood and turned back to her. "Annabelle, it'll be quicker this way and safer for you." He turned and bent down again to how he way before. "Just jump on my back."

It took a moment, but he finally felt her hands on his shoulders and her legs wrap round his waist. He stood, taking a moment to adjust to her added weight. He moved to the wall, taking hold of anything he could. "Hold on tight, okay?" He didn't wait for her to agree before hoisting himself up and lodging his feet in any crevasse he could. It was slow going, but he carefully made his way to the doors.

"I'm living every teenage girl's wildest dream."

Steve, who was trying to prise to door apart one-handed, paused in his movements. "I'm not sure teenaged girls dream about being trapped in an elevator shaft eighty-odd floors up in a building."

"No," Anna agreed, tightening her hold on him. "But they dream about being wrapped around you."

Steve closed his eyes, huffing out a laugh to cover how embarrassed she was making him feel. "You made it awkward. Why make is awkward?"

"Sorry," she said, and she sounded like she meant it. "Coping mechanism I developed living with Tony. I'll try to dial it back."

"You better," he said, trying his luck with the doors again. "I'm trying to work here if you haven't noticed."

"Oh, I've noticed alright," Anna said, squeezing his biceps.

Steve groaned. This – this was going in no way like he expected. "Anna, please stop."

He looked around. There was the tiniest of ledges, barely a couple of centimetres but if her feet were positioned right, Anna would be able to stand and balance if she pressed right to the side. He held his position and expertly directed her to climb down from his back and stand on the ledge. Making sure she was stable, he moved into a position where he could use both hands to open the doors. These were stiffer than the ones in the cart itself but with the right amount of pressure he managed to get them open. He wedged himself between the doors, bracing himself between them. He reached a hand down.

"I need you to take my hand and I'll help you climb through while I keep this open," she looked terrified but still nodded and took the hand he reached out to her. "I'll let the doors close once you're clear."

He pulled her up, using his strength to do most of the work. It was not hard (to him at least, she weighed next to nothing), but she helped by planting her feet and pulling herself through the doors herself. The moment she was clear and crawling away, he rolled himself out from between the doors, which, annoyingly, kept themselves open. Anna was already on her feet, thankfully not swaying like she had been onto of the elevator cart, and it was her turn to hold a handout to him. He took it and pulled himself up to stand next to her. He looked around the space, which was completely void of people, having already evacuated. Though they were technically now on a floor closer to the fire, wherever that may be, the smoke wasn't as thick as it had been in the elevator, given they were now in a much larger, open space. He didn't realise until he could breathe more freely that he'd been having trouble in the first place, he even noticed Anna was breathing a little easier. The emergency lights and the evacuation alarm were also far brighter and a hell of a lot louder now they were on an actual floor. He glanced at Anna. She was looking a little pale, her hair sticking to the drying blood on her head and wincing at the loud noise. He needed to get her downstairs and then get himself back up to assess the situation. He didn't like the thought of sending her down on her own, not with a head injury so they would have to be quick.

"What the hell are you two still doing up here?"

Anna Steve spun round, Anna grabbing on to his arm to keep herself balanced, to the sound of the voice and were greeted by one of the security guards that manned the higher floors. He had a torch in one hand, his gun raised in the other and an old-school radio was crackling on his belt. The man narrowed his eyes and gave them both an exasperated look.

"You should have been down in the street ages ago; this isn't the time for a personal tour. Aren't you aware the whole buildings being evacuated?"

Steve thought it was pretty obvious that they did, given the blaring siren and flashing lights, not to mention that the doors to the elevator shaft they'd just crawled out of were still open, with no cart in sight. He shared a look with Anna, who shrugged, before turning back to the man and assured him that they'd be making their way down within the next few minutes. He wasn't happy about leaving them there alone, and he was very vocal on the matter, especially when he realised just exactly who Anna was. If the situation weren't so dire, Steve would laugh at the fact Anna had been recognised and he hadn't - he knew how much she hated being recognised and treated differently because of it. The man's attempts at forcing them to leave with him were cut short when Anna, having finally had enough, not so kindly pointed out to him that the building was being evacuated, he still had more floors to check and she had a literal hero to keep her safe, like he already had been. Steve stared at her. He'd never heard her raise her voice or snap at anyone before (other than Tony, but the man always admitted he deserved it). Steve put it down to the stress of the situation, and he could see the regret instantly in her eyes and knew she would be apologising to the man. Nevertheless, the man huffed and moved away, muttering under his breath about 'self-righteous bastards thinking they know better', but he made a point of waiting by the stairwell, refused to go further, determined to at least escort Anna down himself when she was ready to go.

"Steve..." The sound of Anna's whimper drew his attention back to the woman next to him. She now had tears in her eyes. "Pepper went upstairs. She would have gone straight to the penthouse. Dad and Bruce were home to; they were spending the evening in the lab together. They would have been... closer... to..."

Steve tried not to let his own panic seep through. He was well aware that Pepper had gone up ahead of them, giving the two of them space to talk. She would have reached the penthouse long before the elevator came back down for them, even if she'd made a stop along the way and he very much doubted that she had, knowing that she'd wanted to go straight upstairs after the evening she'd had. Steve knew Tony knew Tony would keep the two of them safe if he could, and if not, he'd try his upmost best with what he had on hand - he always did. Steve found himself hoping that Bruce had changed his plans and was nowhere near the explosion... because Hulk in any situation was never a good thing. Banner, though having the alter ego for years, had not yet managed to come to an understanding with him to make the transition between the two easier. Though changing into Hulk would save Bruce's life, having the rage monster roaming on site would not help the situation. Steve placed a hand on Anna's shoulders, trying to calm her.

"I'll find them," he promised. It was always said you should never make promises when it wasn't guaranteed you could keep them, but he honestly wanted to believe that he could keep this one. "Tony would have found a way to get Pepper out safely as soon as he could. You know he'd move heaven on Earth for her."

Anna nodded, but Steve knew she was still worried, who wouldn't be? This was her family, and their current status was unknown. She was thinking the worst, he could see it in her eyes, but he could also see pain and fatigue to. She needed to get out. He needed to get her out.

"You need to head downstairs." She started to protest but he held a hand up to her. She looked affronted and he felt bad for her cutting her off, but he couldn't dwell on it. He placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed gently. "You need to get your head checked out and your adrenaline is starting to temper out. You need to rehydrate, and you can't do that if you're running about up here looking for Tony, okay?"

Anna sighed but nodded. "You're right, and I you're right, I just…"

"I get it, I do," he said, squeezing her shoulder again. "But right this second, Anna you're my priority and I need you to worry about yourself and leave me to worry about them."

"Okay," she whispered, and he knew that was the end of the argument and she was admitting defeat.

He nodded, looking up at the security guard still waiting by the stairs. "You – you make sure she gets seen to by someone as soon as you get on the ground." He waited for the man to nod his understanding before looking back at Anna. "Please head straight down. No detours, no trying to turn round and come back up. You have to go straight down. Tony will have my head otherwise."

"I think you'd be at the bottom of Tony's shit-list to be honest." He narrowed his eyes at her but she through her hands up in surrender. "I promise I'll let the nice security guard escort me straight down and endure the lecture he's no doubt got planned for me."

Steve glanced at the man once more and, by the glint in his eye, he definitely was going to give Anna a stern talking to about building safety and emergency protocols. "I think you're in for a real treat."

Anna rolled her eye but nodded all the same. "Fair." She stepped forward and threw her arms round his waist, hugging him tight but let go before he had a chance to return it. "Thank you, Steve."

Steve watched her walk away and head for the stairs. She turned back and gave him a small wave before she let herself be lead through the door and out of sight. He could only hope she listened and did what he asked, but she was still Tony's daughter, and anything was possible. He'd find out when he gets the chance to head down himself, but there was no telling when that would be. It could take him thirty minutes to make his way to the top floors or it could take him three hours and even then, there was no telling what he would find. He had no idea what kind of damage he would be walking in to, had no idea what kind of carnage he would be facing. All he knew was that he had to try – for his friends' sake and for Anna's.

Steve headed for the stairwell himself, though unlike Anna, he would be heading up. He took the steps three at a time, but only made it a few floors before he found the staircase collapsed in on itself. It wasn't a good sign. There was no doubt now that there had been an explosion. He had been hoping he'd been wrong and there had just been one big misunderstanding or malfunction that had caused the panic, even though he'd known deep down there was never truly any chance of that.

Steve huffed and launched himself at the destroyed staircase without a second thought. He gripped onto the broken handrail and used his body weight to rock side to side and gain enough momentum to swing himself up. Some debris shifted under him but with quick, careful, and precise movements he was able to climb the next few floor without much issue. It wasn't until he hit the floor a couple below where the living areas started that Steve hit a snag – the stairs ended. This was the last of the floors that held conference rooms and was accessible by Stark Industries personnel, and everything above was restricted unless you lived in the tower or Tony had given his permission. He would have to make his way to the private stairwell on the other side of the floor. The floor itself didn't seem to have suffered much damage, just the occasional spots were the ceiling had caved in and smashed down onto the conference tables and Steve was at a loss as to why the stairwell had been destroyed almost completely. To his dismay, he found the private stairwell had suffered much of the same fate, how, he had no idea, but he bet Tony would be able to figure it out when he found him.

It took Steve longer than he would have liked to navigate the rubble and climb his way up to the penthouse, though it felt more like he was scaling a mountain than anything else. He bypassed everyone else's living quarters, heading instead straight to where he knew Tony, Bruce and Pepper would have most likely been, not wanting to unnecessarily waster time clearing every area they had no logical reason to be in. If it turned out that they weren't up there or he just couldn't find them, then he would check every single floor on his way back down. The further up he climbed and the closer he got, the thicker the air became – he was definitely closing in on the point of the explosion… which, given the damage and near complete destruction he was seeing, he identified as being some point between Anna's floor and the penthouse.

It was becoming a lot more difficult to continue climbing now he had reached the point of the explosion. Gaps between the chunks of rubble were by far larger, given that the ceiling had almost completely caved in and part of the side of the building itself was missing, leaving him exposed to the outside. A quick glance out the hole and he was able to see multiple sets of different flashing lights where all different emergency crews has descended and taken up the entire block; he could see a cordon being set up and multiple areas sectioned off. They were working fast.

Steve could feel the intense heat of fire now that he was almost up to the penthouse, and something that sounded suspiciously like the Hulk. At least that answered his question about Banner… and if Bruce had been up in the penthouse and was still there now, chances are Tony would be to. He forced himself on top of a large chunk of concrete, seeing an opening almost directly above him, and launched himself towards it.

Pulling himself up and through it, Steve was hit full in the fact by an intense wave of heat, the heavy smoke burning his eyes. Rather than one large fire like he'd been expecting, there were multiple smaller fires across the space, though that was mainly because it was broken up by large chunks of the floor being missing. If he didn't have the soldier-serum coursing through his blood, he was sure he'd be finding it a lot harder to breathe than he currently was – all he could feel was a tickle in the back of his throat and a mild tightening in his chest. He squinted, hoping it would help him see through the thick smoke and around the space better, but it was hard to see anything beyond a few feet in front of him. The Hulks roar was a hell of a lot louder now to, disturbingly so, and Steve was sure he could see Big Green thrashing around out the corner of his eye.

With banner accounted for (confirmed by Steve turning his head in time to witness Hulk toss a slab of concrete through the gap where the windows had previously been), he started his search for Tony. He figured it shouldn't be too hard; Tony Stark was not one to lay still and wait to be rescued like some damsel in distress – he'd gotten himself out of the damn cave, hadn't he? Nor was he one to leave a man behind. If he hadn't of been hurt, or at least too badly injured, then he would be trying to assess the situation and do his best to subdue Hulk and draw Banner back out (not an easy feat given what had happened). If he were fine and in a position to, he'd be in a suit and as close to Hulk as what was safely possible. If Steve had any hope of finding Tony, getting closer to Hulk would be his best bet.

Steve made quick work of wading through the partly destroyed penthouse, dodging the fire pits, and jumping over the craters in the floor. As he got closer to Hulk, he started to be able to hear the tell-tale sounds that belonged to the Iron Man suit and sure enough, a streak of red and gold shot past him in a blur.

Immense relief shot through him at the sight. That was Banner and Stark both accounted for, like he'd promised Annabelle, he just had to find Pepper… though if Tony was focusing on Hulk then surely that must mean she was fine? Steve could only hope that was the case and hope he did. For now, though, he needed to get Tony's attention.

"Stark!" Steve called, fighting to be heard over the roaring of flames. Tony seemed not to have heard him, given that he was currently busy blasting a piece of concrete the size of a small car out of Hulks hands. "Tony!"

Steve watched as Tony's head shot round, the face plate lifting to show his bruised features displaying a tirade of emotions as he absently aimed his repulse at another slab of concrete heading his way, blasting it apart, the pieces flying in all directions. "Rogers!" he shouted, the look of recognition turning to disbelief turning to anguish in a matter of seconds as his eyes darted to either side of Steve, narrowing when he couldn't see what he was looking for. "Where the hell is my daughter?"

Steve tried not to be offended by the tone of his friends' voice, given that Tony had obviously known he was supposed to have been with Annabelle – the possibility of JARIVS or Pepper having told him being high. It looked bad, Steve had to admit, with him turning up suddenly without her by his side. He needed to assure Tony that Annabelle was fine and safe, though he knew it would do no good trying to tell the father not to worry about his daughter.

"She's okay, Tony," he said as softly as he could despite still having to shout over the sound of roaring flames. "Heading down from eighty-two with a security that we ran into."

"Is she hurt?"

The worry and concern in his friends' voice were painful to hear. Steve was always astonished at the different side he saw to Tony whenever Annabelle was concerned. It was even different compared to how he showed emotion with Pepper. Taking note of Tony's question, Steve briefly thought that he could lie and say no, but he pushed that idea away as quick as it came for multiple reasons, the main one being he knew exactly how Tony would react when he eventually got downstairs and saw her for himself. Steve held his hands up.

"A few cuts and bruises. A wound on her head that needs a couple of stitches but she's otherwise okay." Steve sensed that it wasn't enough to placate Tony's worry and, not giving the other man a chance to question him further, continued. "She was completely alert and talking when I left her; only really worried about you, Pepper and Bruce. No signs of concussion or any injuries more severe than I could see but I'm not an expert – she wasn't complaining on any though."

He could see Tony mulling over his words over, one eye on him and the other on the Hulk (who was currently lobbing slabs of concrete out the window – they'd have to deal with the repercussions of that later). Tony muttered something, presumably to either him or JARVIS seeing as Steve couldn't hear him.

"She's really okay?" Steve nodded. "You kept her safe?"

Steve nodded again. "As safe as I could considering I had no idea what was happening."

Tony nodded to him, and Steve knew that was the closest he would be getting to thanks you at that particular moment in time, and he wasn't bothered by it in the slightest – he never helped anyone just for the validation. Tony would most likely pull him aside later or even tomorrow once he'd seen Annabelle and assessed her wellbeing for himself. The faceplate of the Iron Man suit snapped back into place and Steve knew that was Tony's way of ending the conversation and cutting himself off from further displays of emotion. A loud roar broke Steve's focus from Tony and he was forced to duck to avoid the concrete aimed for his head. Tony aimed a drone of some sort in attempt to redirect Hulks focus away.

"No luck with Banner then?

Steve could feel the eyeroll from behind Tony's mask. "Yeah, we're having an absolute riveting conversation right now." Sarcasm. Steve could work with that. Sarcastic was Tony's normal. This way, Steve knew he was fully focused on the task at hand. "What does it look like, Spangles?"

Steve huffed out a laugh as he glanced round the immediate area in hopes of finding a safe passage over to where Tony was suspended in mid-air, but he had no such luck; he'd have to stay where he was. The fire didn't seem to be spreading further at that moment, but it was by no means dying out and the air was still thick with smoke. They would need to move out soon.

"What about JARVIS?" he asked. "I know he was down in the elevator."

The head of the Iron Man suit jerked in his direction. It seemed as though Tony had just realised where exactly Steve and Annabelle had actually been. The brief thought that he should have told Tony that little snippet of information did cross his mind, but it was a bit late for that now, though his failure to do so would no doubt be brought up at some point in the future. He could feel Tony's eyes on him, feel them narrowing at him.

"Aside from the suit, he's down until floor forty-four. Elevator you say?"

"Focus, Stark."

Nothing more was said and it, thankfully, gave Steve a moment to think. They needed to go, to get away from the fire and the damaged penthouse (which he was sure was slowly crumbling around them – and not just because Hulk was tearing it apart). Steve knew though, that Tony would not leave without drawing Bruce back out, and he knew that he couldn't leave either. The priority right now was taming the Hulk and getting Banner safely away. They'd been working on ways of coaxing Banner back whenever Hulk took over, and so far, calming music seemed to be the most effective, but it wasn't fool-proof and had barely worked a handful of times. Still, it was worth a shot. He called for Tony's attention again.

"Your suit play music?" He didn't need to see Tony's face to know the look the man was giving him. Steve rolled his eye and muttered, "of course it does."

"You act like that surprises you."

"At this point, it really shouldn't," Steve said, shaking his head. The next few minutes could go one of two ways; either it would work and they'd have Banner back in front of them asking what the hell was going on, or (and Steve hoped it really didn't happen) it could rile the Hulk up and everything would suddenly become ten times worse. There was something Steve needed to find out though before they tried. "Was Pepper up here?"

The suit nodded but when Tony didn't immediately elaborate, Steve's heart sank. "Tony…"

"She has a mild concussion. Cuts and bruises but nothing too serious, much like you said about Anna." His tone was clipped but Steve knew that to be because he was worried. "I sent her down in her suit."

Steve raised an eyebrow. "Her suit?"

"Precautionary measure," Tony said flippantly, waving a hand vaguely in Steve's direction without looking at him. "Not unwarranted apparently. Needed to get her out of here quickly and I couldn't do it myself seeing as I had the Jolly Green Giant to deal with."

Steve thought on it for a moment, before ultimately deciding not to question Tony on when he first decided on building Pepper a suit of her own. He was beyond happy to find out that she was already out of the penthouse and most likely downstairs being seen to by a medical professional, much like he hoped Annabelle had done like she had promised. No having to worry about Pepper made attempting to draw Banner back that little bit easier. He caught Tony's attention again.

"Blast out classical," he said. "We need to get Banner back."

Tony nodded and within seconds the sound of a song Steve vaguely recognised as one they had used before drifted over the noise of the flames. It was not coming directly from the suit, but rather from a ridiculously small drone that came from somewhere near his shoulder. Tony floated over to stand next to Steve, and they stood together to watch the drone follow Hulk as he thrashed around, trying to bat it away. The longer they watched, the clearer it became that it was starting to work. Hulks movements seemed to be slowly until he was barely moving at all, just swaying slightly were he stood. Slowly, his skin started to lighten, and he started to shrink back to Bruce's size until the man himself was standing in front of where the windows had once been. Steve shared and look with Tony before the other man fired up the suit and flew carefully to where the scientist was muttering to himself.

"Bruce?"

Bruce snapped his head to Tony before darting his eyes around him, taking note of the situation they were in and the fact that he was naked save the specially designed briefs Tony had created for him. Steve watched as Tony landed gently next to him, Steve's enhanced hearing catching the conversation.

"What the hell happened, Tony?"

"Explosion not far below." Tony waved his hand at Bruce, as though scanning him (which Steve would be in no way surprised if he were actually doing it). He seemed happy with what he found because the faceplate snapped open again and he placed a hand on Bruce's shoulder. "Get to the landing pad, Bruce – JARVIS is deploying a quinjet; it'll fly you to Malibu."

Steve felt as confused as Bruce looked. "Why Malibu?" he heard Bruce ask.

"Anna's place in California. It's where I used to live before I had to move out here for the company, where she was still living before moving here permanently." Recognition crossed Bruce's face and Steve himself vaguely remembered being told that's where Annabelle had been living before choosing to reside at the tower. Steve could see why Tony wanted to send Bruce there; it was a decent distance away from New York and as far as anyone knew, Tony no longer had ties to the place, making it unlikely for people to think they'd go there, leaving them undisturbed from the press after what had happened at the tower tonight. "We'll all join you when we're done here. I need to get downstairs to find Anna and Pepper, but you need to go now before the big guy comes back uninvited. There'll be a change of clothes you on the jet."

Steve watched as Bruce nodded to Tony. "Okay."

The unmistakable sounds of an approaching Quinjet were heard over the flames and Steve watched as Tony walked Bruce to the miraculously still intact landing pad at the side of the building leading directly off the penthouse. He was back barely a minute later, flying through the non-existent wall, coming to hover directly in front of him.

"How'd you get up here, Rogers?"

"Wasn't easy," Steve said, thinking to the amount of climbing he'd had to do to get up to the penthouse. "Stairs are almost completely gone and not manageable for a normal person and naturally, the elevators out."

"Naturally," Tony muttered to himself. "I need to see the damage. If up here looks bad then…"

"It's not pretty." Steve ignored the spluttering coming from inside the Iron Man suit. "Let's go."

Steve led them back the way he'd came, Tony flying just behind him. It didn't take nearly as long to head down as it had to head up, but it was by no means easier. There was far more rubble than Steve remembered there being the first time and Tony assisted in moving it out the way for them to pass. It would have been easier for Tony to have just flown on the outside of the building, but he told Steve that he wanted to see all the internal damage for himself. They made it down one floor, to Tony and Peppers personal floor when Tony flew to a point just beyond the centre and hovered above where the floor should be.

"Here," he said, his tone void of emotion. "JARIVS says this is the point of impact."

Steve was, quite frankly, horrified. "This is your apartment, Tony."

"I know. Damage is predominantly this side of the building." He was looking around the destroyed area but was waving a hand at the right side, where the windows had been blown out. It was then that Steve notice he was right. When he looked to the left side of the building, he noticed that the walls there were basically intact. "By the looks of it, there will be minimal, if any, damage to my lab or office. "Pepper's however… God, she's gonna go mental."

Steve shook his head. That was something they could worry about later. "Let's keep heading down."

"After you, Cap."

Steve continued to lead them down. Rather than try and make his way down the barely existent stairs, Steve, instead, jumped straight down through one of the holes in the floor, Tony flying down after him. It was Annabelle's floor.

"This was only finished yesterday!"

Steve rolled his eyes. "Priorities, Stark."

Steve could somewhat understand the affronted look on Tony's face (when he'd lifted the faceplate again he wasn't sure. All the arguments and the weeks it had taken to get it finished in the first place and now it was all but completely destroyed? Yeah, he could understand.

It took Steve a good couple of minutes to coax Tony into moving on; he was letting a string of curses when they finally moved on, grumbling the whole time about it being a waste of time and effort. The journey down steadily became easier until they came to the first of the conference rooms and the air started to change, it was only then that Steve realised how hard it had been to breathe. They were able to take the stairs the rest of the way down, Tony disengaging the suit to be able to walk properly. They hit the floor he and Annabelle had escaped from the elevator from and Steve felt the need to explain what had happened to Tony. He explained that he'd had a fraction of a second to act before they were knocked unconscious, and it was only his enhanced healing that had him waking first, but that she had been alert from the moment she woke despite having a head injury. He told Tony how they'd had to exit the elevator from the top of the cart and make their way to the floor above and how Annabelle had put the security guard in his place when he'd tried to have authority over her. That had Tony smiling. They gave each of the next forty-something floors JARIVS no longer had eyes over a quick look through, just to make sure everyone had gotten out, and thankfully there was no one in sight. Little more was said between them as they descended to the lobby, exiting through the main doors to the noise of the street outside.

"Tony!"

Steve and Tony spun round to the sound of Pepper. She was standing by one of the medical tents that had been erected off to the side of the tower. She wasn't surrounded by anyone, nor was she attached to any form of medical equipment and Steve took that to be a good thing, along with the fact that she was on her own two feet and completely unaided.

"Pep!" Tony called, already moving towards her, Steve following at a slower pace. "Are you okay?"

Steve watched as they wrapped each other in a hug before Tony held her at arms-length, giving her the once over for himself. She was doing the same to him.

"I'm fine. I'm fine, Tony," she assured him, pressing a hand to his cheek. Steve averted his eyes, feeling as though he was intruding on an intimate moment. "Is everyone out?"

Steve looked up again in time to see Tony nod. "JARVIS confirmed everyone from forty-four to the street was out and we checked every floor above that on our way down. The towers clear." Pepper nodded and Steve could see her turning from Pepper, fiancé of Tony Stark to Miss Potts: CEO of Stark Industries in a split second. The slight smirk on Tony's face told him he'd noticed the same thing. "Who's running things down here?"

"Captain Burbank, he's over there." There was a underlying tone of distain in her voice as she pointed somewhere off to the left, towards a large gathering of New York's finest. It was obvious who the man was – he was the only one standing with a steaming Styrofoam cup. Pepper looked over Tony's shoulder, locking eyes with Steve. She frowned and glanced back at Tony. "Where's Anna?"

"She's not with you?"

Pepper frowned, clearly not knowing what Tony meant. She locked eyes with Steve again, and he knew exactly what was coming, and he didn't blame the woman one bit. She narrowed her eyes at him. "She's not with you?"

"I sent her down," he said, holding his hands up in surrender at Pepper as she made to advance on him, and she would have reached him if not for Tony's arm catching round her waist. "A security guard escorted her down and she promised to come straight out to get her head checked."

Steve frowned. He was so sure Annabelle would keep her word and seek medical attention the moment she was outside. Then again, a quick glance around told Steve there were multiple medical tents set up in the vicinity – Annabelle could be in any one of them. Steve doubted she would have considered the possibility of Pepper already on her ground, nor would it have occurred to her to search down there for her. They could search each tent for her or seek out the security guard Steve had sent her down with – surely he would still be around somewhere.

Steve was snapped from his thoughts by Tony striding away, calling out to Captain Burbank as he went, Pepper following a step behind, Steve trailing after them. Captain Burbank stepped away from his group and met them halfway, taking a large gulp from his cup before addressing Tony.

"You lookin' for you girl?"

"My daughter, yes."

It was clear Tony didn't like the man, and Steve had to admit, he wasn't impressed with his first impression. The man was short and stubby and acted with an air of great importance, though Steve suspected he was over-compensating for something.

"She's in the triage area. Calm it, gents – and lady – sorry." With the cup still in his hand, he raised both in the air as the three of them advanced on him. "She's helping co-ordinate."

Steve, Tony and Pepper exchanged a look before they all turned to glare at Burbank. He rolled his eyes with a muttered "I'll show you" and gestured for them to follow him to one of the larger tents off to the right of the one Pepper had been at.

"Some kid you get there, Stark." Steve saw Pepper grip Tony's arm to stop him from lunging for the man and Steve found himself disliking Captain Burbank more and more which every passing second. "She's been runnin' rings roun' my men since the moment she stepped outta tha' building, pissed a few of them out to."

They stopped and he pointed towards the tent that had been set up as a triage area and they all heard Annabelle before the saw her.

"No. No! You need to get back. What the hell is wrong with you?"

Steve couldn't help the grin that spread across his face as she came into view, finger digging into the chest of a man with a camera round his neck, forcing him to back up until he was crashing into the police cordon. He could see why Pepper had offered her a job; she'd be brilliant. He saw Tony sag slightly out the corner of his eye, Pepper moving back from his side and stepping closer to Steve.

"Anna!"

"Dad!"

Steve could see nothing but relief seeping through Tony as the man watched his daughter's head whip round at the sound of his voice, her eyes widening in realisation at the sight of the three of them. She instantly ceased her attempts at keeping the paparazzo at bay (the man in question dropping to the floor and rubbing his chest), leaving the job to the uniformed officer whose job it should have been in the first place but was just standing idly beside her and ran full pelt at Tony, all but jumping into his waiting arms. He saw Tony wince at the impact and suspected the man had injuries he was hiding and planning on telling no one about, but Steve knew better than to bring it up to him now.

"Your head…"

"I'm fine, Dad," she said, batting Tony's hand away from where he was poking at the gauze on her head. Steve was pleased to know she had gotten herself seen to. "I got it checked out as soon as I came out, like Steve told me to – all stitched up and ready to go."

She flashed Steve a smile, which he returned. He couldn't help but notice how different she seemed now that she was outside. He wondered briefly if it was because she was surrounded by people and wanted to appear completely in control and not as though her home had just exploded (much like Pepper)… that was until he noticed her too big eyes and realised she'd probably been given pain-relievers and was on a high right now. It didn't completely hide the exhaustion he could see, but she was hiding it well from everyone else. There was movement behind Annabelle, and she whipped round in Tony's hold, pointing at the man she'd been dealing with when they'd found her.

"Don't you dare step another foot towards that tent of so help me I will finish you."

Tony and Pepper both gave a synced, undignified snort at her words, which had Steve chuckling beside them. Captain Burbank laughed as well but one sharp glare from Pepper had him scrambling away muttering about extending the perimeter from vultures.

Annabelle shook her head, turning round and staring up at the top of the tower. "This is a mess.

Tony wrapped an arm round her shoulder and the four of them stared at the tower together. "The top five floors at least are completely uninhabitable but anything to do with AI are relatively untouched."

"Accept from the highest conference rooms," Steve added.

"I wouldn't trust any of the living areas. The penthouse is near enough gone, and our floors almost completely destroyed," Tony said, pulling Pepper close and kissing the side of her head before doing the same to Annabelle. "As is yours."

Annabelle sighed and sagged into Tony's side. "And they only just got finished."

"Maybe it's best to put Sam off," Pepper said quietly, reaching round Tony to squeeze Anna's hand. "Just until all this has blown over."

"We can't; he's already on the plane," Annabelle said with a shake of her head. She was about to say something else, but she stopped at the sight of a large group of medical personnel arriving. She pointed to one of the tents. "Minor injuries are on your left, is there more of you coming? Good. Its mostly injuries sustained trying to get out of the building – no one was high enough to be near the explosion. What?"

Anna turned back to find the three of them grinning at her. Steve had never before seen her take charge of a situation like she just had and by the looks on Tony and Peppers faces, neither had they. She waved them of, looking a little embarrassed, her cheeks tinged pink. She grabbed Steve's wrist to check the time on his watch, much like she had done when they were still in the elevator. "Its almost midnight; hi plane lands in seven hours. There's no way he can be turned away now."

It was Tony's to sigh and Steve felt bad for the stress his friends was under as he watched him pinch the bridge of his nose. "then I'll have him picked up in one of the jets from the airport and flown straight to Malibu."

Pepper nodded but Annabelle frowned at him. "Why Malibu?"

"We're all gonna stay at the house until this place is sorted. I know it's technically yours but it's safe and away from here and no one knows that it's still owned by me. No buts, Anna," he cut her off firmly as she opened her mouth to argue. He placed both hands on her shoulders, squeezing gently. "Bruce is already on his way there and the two of you are leaving. Now."

Steve didn't know how the man times it, but Happy chose that exact second to appear next to them, clapping Tony on the back and pulling Annabelle in a quick hug before moving to do the same to Pepper.

"but the people –," Anna said in protest.

"Will be taken care of," Pepper said, pulling her into her own arms. "Anna, sweetie, Tony's right and you're exhausted."

"Exhausted doesn't bloody cover it," she muttered, and Steve had to bit back a laugh. Annabelle sighed, looking at each of the four of them in turn. "I don't have a choice, do I?"

"Nope," they all said in unison.

"Betrayed. Utterly betrayed." She sighed again but nodded when she let out a yawn. "Fine."

"Excellent!" Tony said, clapping his hands together loud enough to make them all jump. "Happy's here to take you to the jet."

He gestured to Happy, as if they couldn't guess why the man was there themselves. Even Happy rolled his eye at the theatrics. Happy had an arm wrapped round Peppers shoulders and had the other open for Anna. She nodded before giving Tony a kiss on the cheek and a hug, before doing the same to Steve. He saw Tony's eyes narrow at him but chose to ignore it in favour of returning Annabelle's hug.

"Be safe, both of you," she said, looking between the two of them and they both nodded in acknowledgment. She turned to Steve once more. "Thank you, again."

"Its no problem." He looked to where Happy and Pepper were, both of them watching and waiting. "Pepper's waiting; you should go."

Annabelle nodded and made her way over to them, slotting herself under Happy's spare arm, relaxing instantly into his side. Steve and Tony stood side by side and watched them disappear, the crowd going wild at the sight of them.

"I need to head back upstairs," Tony said quietly from beside him and Steve nodded in agreement, even though he didn't like the idea of him going up alone but he was a grown man in a metal suit – he could take care of himself. "The fires need controlling, and I need to get in what's left of the lab; run diagnostics on JARVIS and find out who the fuck targeted me and my building."

"Go," Steve said, a hand on Tony's shoulder. He gestured round them, nodding towards a few people. "I'll handle this lot down here – do what you need to do."

Tony didn't need telling twice. He gave a quick nod to Steve and patted him lightly on the shoulder before calling for the suit once more. Within a minute, he was shooting up in the air again, heading straight towards the floor where they knew the explosion had happened. Steve didn't like to think what he would eventually discover up there, and he wasn't looking forward to what Tony would likely do when he did find out. He had every faith that Tony would unveil the cause and find the culprit, no matter how long it took, but there wasn't a lot he could do to help the man. Someone had attacked their home (more so the home of Tony, Pepper and Annabelle given where the main damage and point of impact was), but it was still home to all of them. Steve didn't want to think about what would have happened if they were all there; what would have happened if Tony, Pepper and Bruce had been just one floor below the penthouse… He shook his head, not wanting to dwell on the what ifs when nothing could be done to go back and change it. He glanced round, looking at everything and trying to decide where best to start. He noticed the same couple of reporters that had tried their luck and attempted to get past Annabelle and decided to start there. He grabbed two uniformed officers on his way over, pulling them along with him and instructing them that all reporters needed to be removed – now.

It took a couple of hours, a fair few shouting matched and on one occasion him physically picking a cameraman up and none too gently putting him over the police cordon (much to the delight to many of the gathering crowd) before there was some semblance of order amongst the chaos. Tony had reappeared some time ago, face stony and much unlike what Steve had seen before, speaking directly to a select group of high clearance employees at the tower and some of what Steve knew to be the security team. Eventually, after Steve getting into an argument (and not for the first time) with the officer in charge of the situation, the two of them decided that there was nothing more they could do there themselves. Tony had set the select group of people he trusted up with specialist equipment to sort through the debris upstairs and wanted to head out to check on his girls and Banner, Steve agreeing. Happy was waiting for them at the cordon, car and all, ready to take them to the airport. All three of them were exhausted from the last few hours and the sooner they got to Malibu, the sooner they could rest.

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Quite literally been working on this since January. Hope everyone enjoys. All mistakes are mine (because I'm the type of person that writes when she's dog tired and it's the middle of the night).