Chapter 12

BPOV

We arrive back at the cabin and Thor and I are in the clearing wanting to practice with my newfound ability. Natasha stays outside with us while Tony and Steve both go back inside. I knew it was Edward's scent that set it off before, and wanting to protect Steve, how was I supposed to bring it to the surface again without some sort of threat? I knew that, given time, I would be able to control it so I could use it at will, but time wasn't something we had. We were no closer to figuring out when Edward was going to arrive and even if he was going to be on his own. We could have hours, days, or it could still be weeks.

Because I knew it was there now, it was almost like I could see the haze of it around me all the time, but I still didn't know how I was meant to make it work. I didn't even know what it could do—it could protect me, but could I get it to protect others as well? The unknown of this was going to drive me insane. Luckily, I didn't sleep anymore because if I did, I don't think I'd be getting any.

"How are we going to practice this? I don't even know how to make it work." I roll my shoulders in preparation and try to push the haze so that it's surrounding me, but all I manage to do is push it out insignificantly before it snaps back into place. The feeling of it makes me shake my head.

"Hey, that was good, Bella!" Thor praises.

I tilt my head. "Can you … see it?"

Thor nods in affirmation. "I've known it was there the whole time, but I knew you would not be aware of it until you had the motivation."

"I need to be able to control it."

"Which will come over time. For now, you need to be motivated." He begins to swing Mjolnir around and lightning starts to gather in the sky.

Natasha chuckles from behind me. "Throw the poor girl in at the deep end, Thor."

The lightning continues to gather in the sky, and I try to force the haze out again before I'm knocked over by a bolt of lightning. Thor brings the hammer down, and I'm not able to stretch the shield far enough to protect myself, and the lightning knocks me back to the ground.

I lay on the ground in a slight daze before leaping back up again. "You know I'm flammable, right?" I say with a grin.

Thor doesn't reply and swings the hammer again.

"Let's hope you protect yourself before you get set on fire then, Bella," Nat taunts from behind me.

I try once more to push the shield outside of myself, but once again, the lightning comes from Mjolnir and knocks me down to the ground before I'm able to push the shield out far enough.

I pant as I leap back up from the ground and crouch ever so slightly. "Again."

SPOV

Back at the cabin with Bella and Thor practicing the use of her newfound gift, I sit on the porch with Tony and watch the show. I cringe every time Thor hits Bella with a bolt of lightning.

"Buck up, Cap," Tony says as he claps a hand to my shoulder and takes a seat next to me. "Thor knows better than to hurt my goddaughter."

I pull my eyes away from the scene in front of me to look at the man next to me. "How did that come to be, by the way? You don't seem like a family man." I let the words trail off as Tony looks out into the distance, past Bella, Thor, and Natasha.

"It's kind of a weird story, but Bella's father Charlie? He's my oldest friend," Tony tells me with a wistful smile. "There isn't anything I wouldn't do for Charlie or Bella."

I smile at this different side of Iron Man. "How'd you meet?"

"Summer camp," he says as he turns to me and smiles. "My parents thought I needed to socialize with kids my own age, so my dad sent me away for two months during the summer. Charlie Swan was a kid who loved the outdoors and everything that came with it.

"He's two years older than me, and we got paired up because he'd been to the camp before. He showed me around and generally looked after me. I was shrimpy—skinny and shorter than everyone else my age. Charlie protected me."

I smile knowingly. "That certainly encourages loyalty. I had that once."

"Not just loyalty but trust and camaraderie," Tony explains as Bella picks herself up once again.

"Of course it does, but that doesn't explain how Bella became your goddaughter."

Tony laughs and looks out at Bella as she spars with Natasha and tries to use her shield to block the Widow.

"Has Bella told you much about her mother?" Tony asked carefully and quietly. Bella pauses and turns to look over her shoulder at us on the porch.

Natasha takes her moment of distraction to sweep her legs out from under her.

"No, she hasn't mentioned her much at all," I tell him. I watch as Bella stalks toward us.

"What exactly are you two talking about?" she demands in a whisper.

"I'm telling Steve about how I became your godfather, kiddo," Tony says as he reaches out for her hand. "Is that okay?"

"Oh, yeah. That's fine. Sorry, Uncle Tony." She hugs him quickly and presses a chaste kiss to my lips and skips back out to the practice field.

"Did something happen with her mother?" I ask seriously.

"Well, after Renee left Charlie when Bella was barely a year old, Charlie almost lost it. He was inconsolable. Renee had full custody, and he felt as if he'd never see his daughter again," Tony tells me, and while I myself am not a parent, I can feel empathy for Charlie Swan.

My love for Bella is so different than that of a parent, but if I could never see her again, I feel like I'd lose my mind.

"So, maybe I helped him with an attorney," he tells me with a casual shrug of his shoulders. "When he couldn't keep tabs on Renee because she moved around so much, maybe I hired a private investigator to keep track of her."

"You took care of Charlie like he used to take care of you." It's a statement of fact not a question.

"I wasn't always a heartless monster, even before this." He taps the arc reactor in his chest. "This isn't the only thing that gave me life. That young woman out there, the same one who used to make me mud pies whenever I'd visit or send me art projects from school to my office.

"The girl who sent me every school picture, even though she usually had a bandage somewhere or a scar, she called me the first time she made honor roll and the first time she failed a test," he sighs and leans back in his chair. "We may not be blood, but the Swans are definitely my family."

BPOV

We've been practicing for hours, and I still don't feel like I'm getting anywhere with making this shield work. Thor has probably sent a hundred lightning bolts at me in that time. Even Nat had to go and have a break from helping. Steve and Uncle Tony have been sitting on the porch gossiping like old women the entire time.

I'm knocked to the ground again by another lightning bolt and lie there panting. "This clearly isn't working!" I bark.

"Captain, will you come over for a second?"

I jump up and snarl at Thor. "Absolutely not!"

Thor folds his arms and raises an eyebrow. "It is evident that you have an immense ability … you are just lacking incentive at the moment."

I narrow my eyes at him. "This is out of the question!"

"Captain," Thor calls again. "Natasha, you can come as well."

I let out a long growl.

Steve joins us on the clearing with Natasha close behind, and I look pleadingly at Tony, but he just smirks at me from the porch.

"Am I about to be a guinea pig?" Steve asks, but Thor doesn't reply.

"Natasha, do you have your gauntlets?"

Nat looks concerned but nods at Thor.

"Captain, stand in front of Bella."

I growl again, my anger rising with every second. Steve comes to stand in front of me. "Stay away, Nat," I warn.

"No can do, Bella."

I continue to snarl and anger is coursing through my body. The strength I try to keep at bay so as not to hurt Steve flows through my muscles, and I know that if I need too, I could end her. Nat puts her arms out in front of her, and the gauntlets startup and begin to shine blue. I curl my lips back from my teeth, and the snarl becomes vicious. Steve looks back at me with concern on his face, but I'm too focused on protecting him.

"Be careful." Tony's voice comes from closer to us than before.

The shield comes more into focus, and the haze that it was before has now become a film covering my entire body. I push it out from myself so it covers Steve as well.

Nat takes a careful step forward, and two electrodes shoot out from the gauntlets. I make sure I hold the shield tight around us both, and instead of ending up on the ground as I have done before and with Steve hurt, the electricity bounces off the shield and shoots back toward Natasha, who ducks, and we all watch as the beam hits a dry patch of grass and lights it on fire. Thor stamps it out with his boot and smiles.

The shield comes down, and Steve turns around to look at me with a wide grin.

I frown and look him up and down, surveying for injuries. "Are you okay?"

He cups my face and kisses my forehead. "You did it, Bella," he whispers.

I lean back and look toward Thor, needing the confirmation from him, and he winks at me. "See, Bella, all you needed was the right motivation."

"It could have gone really wrong!"

"No, it wouldn't have. You wouldn't have let Steve get hurt."

I huff and fold my arms.

"Bella?"

I turn back to Steve and smile. Relief floods through me at knowing that I managed to make it work after all the hours of practicing.

"I'm so proud of you." He kisses me. "I love you."

I grin. "I love you, too. Let's get out of here."

EPOV

From up above on top of the mountain where I've tracked Bella's scent, I can see her clearly, messing about with a group of four people I knew were some of the Avengers.

They didn't worry me. I was more concerned about Bella's newborn strength and whatever abilities she may possess.

I watch closely as Bella was continuously attacked by lightning but wasn't affected.

Was it possible? Could Aro be right about her?

Was Bella a shield?

As if my resolve hadn't already been cemented, I knew I needed to bring her in and have her as my mate within the walls and protection of the Volturi.

I begin to step away from the edge when a breeze whistles past me and down into the clearing. I see Bella turn and look up toward me.

Tomorrow. This all ends tomorrow.