To Jason Hunter: I just added cover art to this story of Talia in her flight suit! As for her armor, I imagine it looking somewhat similar to Pepper Pott's Rescue armor (the red and gold one). Hopefully, if I ever get better at art, I'll be able to draw it.

To Guest: Hm, interesting! I actually haven't considered actually shipping Talia and Red Arrow together, but maybe I will...I'm willing to keep my options open. As for Dick and Talia, probably not - at least not this season. I can see their characters having a relationship in season 2 or 3, but not in season 1. Thanks so much your input though, I'll definitely continue to think about it!

To Natalie: Thanks! And yes, I plan to write season 2 and probably 3 for this as well. :)

As some of you may have noticed, I added cover art to this story! Thank you to everyone who gave me advice.

Disclaimer(s): I did draw this picture, so it is my work. That is, except for the base I used (the outline of the character) - that I found on google images. I assumed it was public domain, but if anyone knows that it isn't, please let me know and I'll take the art down and do something else. Also, I do NOT claim to be the best artist in the world in anyway - I suck at art. So I really do hope to improve this drawing, and if anyone has any tips, I would love to hear them!

Also, as per usual, I don't own anything except for Talia.

Tony stared at Talia, his mouth slightly open and his eyes wide as he replayed her words in his mind. She stared at him anxiously.

"Dad?" she asked hesitantly. Tony dropped his hands from his daughter's shoulders, slowly moving away. He sat down in one of the lab chairs and nodded his head slowly, acknowledging her words. He took a deep breath.

"What makes you say that?" he asked finally, after getting his thoughts in order. Talia bit her lip, her heart pounding. She reached for one of her discarded baseball caps, winding her fingers through the hole in the back of it and rubbing her finger over the stitches in the bill of the cap.

She began to tell her father of all the odd experiences she'd had recently, cryptic words from enemies, such as Ivo and the scientists in Bailya, and finally ended with Luthor's near confirmation of her belief.

"Maybe he was just messing with my head," she said weakly, not really believing it. Tony didn't either. He shook his head. Talia sat down in the chair across from him, still tugging at the stitches in her baseball cap. She rubbed her fingernail over the ridges as she thought.

Stane was dangerous, Talia knew that much for sure. Despite only being four at the time, Obadiah's attack was still clear in her mind.

*FLASHBACK*

"Uncle Obie?" Talia sat up in bed, scrubbing her tiny fists over her eyes. She blinked at the older man sleepily. "Wha's going on?" she mumbled. Obadiah leaned over and picked Talia up, untangling her from the sheets. She wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her face in the man's chest. Confused though she was, she trusted Obie. Why wouldn't she?

"Don't worry, sweetheart," he told her. Talia took no notice to the low, menacing tone of his voice. "We're just going on a little adventure." Talia blinked her eyes closed, turning her cheek so it was pressed against Obie's shoulder. She sighed, drifting back off.

She was awoken only seconds later by a bright light from the hallway downstairs. She scrunched her eyes shut tighter.

"Ow," she mumbled. Obie mumbled a slight apology, and Talia cracked her eyes open. She could make out a figure on the couch, and she squinted slightly, her eyes not adjusted to the bright light. "Daddy?" she asked, half-curious and half-concerned. Obie made a noise, carefully turning Talia so she couldn't see.

"He's okay," he lied, quickening his pace towards the door. The arc reactor that he'd taken from Tony's chest was heavy in his pocket, and his heart quickened with anticipation. Across the room, Tony's eyes were locked on his daughter in Obadiah's arms, his dark eyes horrified against his pale face. He struggled to breathe, to call out to Talia, but between the temporary paralysis and the absence of the arc reactor, he couldn't speak.

"Where are we going?" Talia mumbled sleepily as the two of them walked towards the door. Obadiah stepped out of the mansion and into the dark night, heading back towards his car.

"Don't worry about it."

"Tony!" Colonel Rhodes ran through the mansion. It was dark, and there was no sign of his best friend. He'd received a call from Pepper, who had convinced him that Obadiah was plotting to kill Tony. Given that ominous threat, as well as the absence of Tony in his house, Rhodey's heart was racing.

"Tony!" He checked the main floor hastily, and then headed down to the lab. His feet thudded against the stairs as he reached the bottom level of the mansion.

His heart rose to his throat when he saw the broken glass at the bottom of the stairs. That wasn't a good sign. He glanced through the broken window, and his stomach jolted when he saw Tony laying on his side across the lab.

"Tony!" Rhodey stepped through the broken glass of the lab door hastily, rushing to his best friend's side. His heart thudded hard as he approached Tony's prone figure. Please don't be dead, he thought fearfully, please don't let me too late.

As the colonel reached for Tony, the younger man sat up, his eyes widening. Tony looked awful. His face was pale and completely drained of color, and his veins were bulging out of his forehead. His face and chest were covered with sweat, and dried blood trickled from his ear. Still, relief crashed down on Rhodes. But his absence of fear was only a brief reprieve, as it surged back with Tony's next words.

"Talia," Tony whispered, his eyes horrified. Rhodes frowned, but before he could ask for clarification Tony was speaking again. "He took Talia." Rhodes swallowed hard, fear coursing through him once more as he realized what Tony was saying. Stane had Talia.

"Okay," he heard himself say as he fought to remain calm. "It's okay, Pepper's with five agents and they're about to arrest Obadiah." Tony shook his head slowly.

"That's not going to be enough." Rhodes shook his head, not understanding what Tony meant. Before he could ask, Tony was holding out his hand. "Help me up," he demanded, already trying to get to his feet. Rhodes quickly supported him, pulling the other man up into a standing position.

Color was slowly returning to Tony's face, but he was still a little unsteady as he lurched across the lab. He reached the suit, grimacing in pain as he fought to remain standing. JARVIS helped open the suit up, and Tony stepped into it. The robots began to adjust the screws, tightening it around Tony. Colonel Rhodes slowly circled Tony, his eyes wide.

"That's the coolest thing I've ever seen," he said, shaking his head in disbelief. Tony managed a weak smirk.

"Not bad, huh?" He replied as the last of the adjustments were completed. He turned, blasting one of his destroyed race cars out of the way to clear a space for him to fly. Tony turned back to face his friend, his face plate still exposing his face.

"You need me to do anything else?" Rhodey asked his friend. The face plate slid down over Tony's face, the eye slits of the mask glowing.

"Keep the skies clear," Iron Man responded, his voice slightly distorted by the modulator. With that, he bent his knees slightly as the thrusters powered online, and he flew upwards, blasting through the ceiling and into the night.

Rhodey watched his friend go in awe, shaking his head slightly.

"Damn," he muttered, impressed. He glanced to the side, where a second suit of armor was standing. It was unpainted, so that the raw silver metal still showed. A smirk spread over his face. "Next time, baby," he muttered to himself.

When Talia woke up again, Obie was carrying her into a darkened lab. She recognized it as one of Stark Industries' labs, but she wasn't sure what she was doing there. Obie set her down on one of the empty lab tables. Talia crossed her legs, wiping her eyes again as she watched Obie.

"Stay put," he told her. Talia was too tired to argue or ask questions. Obadiah disappeared for a few moments, and when he returned he had changed out of his suit and into a blue flight suit. He was carrying something in his hands.

"Is that the arc reactor?" Talia asked, looking at the familiar circle of glowing metal in Obie's hands. She frowned. "What are you doing with that?"

"Hush, Talia," Obadiah said.

His voice had a sharp edge to it. He currently had no intention to hurt Talia, but she was testing his patience. Truly, he thought that Talia would grow up to be brilliant. She would be younger than Tony had been when his parents died, if Obadiah orchestrated this right he believed that she would play right into his hands as she grew up.

Talia watched, her dark eyes wary as Obadiah stepped up to the giant suit of armor, pressing the arc reactor in. There was an audible whir as the suit came to life, and a gleeful smile spread across Obadiah's face.

"Uncle Obie, where's Daddy?" Talia asked plaintively. She was tired and she wanted to go home.

"Enough, Talia!" Obadiah snapped, rounding on the little girl. The four-year-old flinched back, her eyes filling with tears as she nodded her head hastily and fell silent.

Obadiah didn't bother to comfort the little girl. Instead, he walked over to one of the computers, starting to run diagnostics on the suit as it powered online. The room was silent except for Talia's quiet sniffles.

Talia wiped her tears away from her eyes, curling her legs into her chest and resting her head against her knees. She was so tired. Her eyes were drifting closed again, when there was the sudden loud sound of a small explosion, effectively jolting Talia back awake. She looked up in alarm.

"What was that?" she asked, scared. Obadiah didn't answer. He was standing up from his seat and moving towards the giant suit of armor standing behind him. Talia watched, her heart beating uneasily as Obadiah began to prep the suit.

Swallowing hard, Talia clambered down from the table she'd been set on and tore away deeper into the dark lab. She found a tiny corner where two tables met each other and tucked herself away, hiding. She would just wait there until Obie came to get her. Everything would be fine.

The sound of clicking heels made Talia raise her head. She could hear someone moving towards her.

Huddling deeper into her corner, Talia pressed her back against the wall. She stayed there, trembling, as the footsteps approached her, growing louder by the second. She closed her eyes tightly, pretending she was back at home.

Maybe she was at home. Maybe this was a nightmare, and whoever was trying to break into the lab was just pretend. Either way, she hoped that Obie was the one walking towards her, coming to save her from whoever had come into the lab.

The person stopped in front of her, and Talia squeezed her eyes shut even tighter. She could tell it wasn't Obadiah, because the person was wearing high heels. There was a soft sigh, and then a familiar voice spoke.

"Talia." Pepper's voice was shaking, but relief crashed down on Talia when she heard it. "Come here, right now." Bewildered and frightened, Talia uncurled and ran towards Pepper. Her dad's assistant bent down, wrapping Talia up in her arms and picking her up. Pepper enveloped the four-year-old in a fierce hug, a little bit of her own fear melting away.

"Pepper, what's going on?" Talia asked plaintively, hoping she would get an answer this time. "Is Obie okay? Are those people going to hurt him?" Pepper was briefly confused, and then realized that Talia was seeing the situation as any four-year-old would. She didn't understand that Obadiah was the bad one here.

"Don't worry about it," she said quietly, stroking Talia's tangled hair. "Just stay with me, okay?" Talia mumbled affirmatively, wrapping her arms around Pepper's neck and her legs around the woman's waist.

Glad that Talia was safely in her arms, Pepper turned around, returning to her search of Obadiah. She and the agents had found an empty suit of armor at the front of the lab, but there was no sign of Obadiah himself. But, there were no exits from the lab except the one they'd come through, so they knew he had to be in there somewhere.

A creaking noise made Pepper turn around. She frowned, peering into the darkness behind the chains hanging from the ceiling. It was hard to see anything, but her eyes were adjusting slowly. She could just make out a slight shape…

Suddenly, two eye slits began to glow in the dark. Pepper's eyes flew open wide as a giant suit of armor stepped out of the shadows, its helmet focused on her and Talia. Screaming, the woman gripped the child in her arms tighter, turning around and fleeing across the laboratory. Talia screwed her eyes shut, burying her face into Pepper's shoulder in sheer terror.

The agents who had come with Pepper heard the noise, and saw the woman running towards him pursued by an enormous machine. The giant suit of armor crashed into one of the machines in the lab as it turned clumsily, sending a shower of sparks into the air.

"Take it down!" Agent Coulson ordered, and all five of the agents began to open fire on the machine. Coulson shouted for Pepper to go, and the woman left the lab and headed outside, her heart pounding.

As she reached the parking lot, her Bluetooth headset began to ring. She pressed down on it, sighing in relief when she heard Tony's voice on the other end.

"Pepper," her boss began.

"Tony!" she cried back before he could continue, her voice panicked. "Tony, are you okay?"

"Daddy?" Talia asked, perking up at the sound of her father's voice through the phone. She hoisted herself higher on Pepper's hip, turning her mouth towards the headset in Pepper's ear. "Daddy, where are you?"

"Talia," Tony sighed in relief. "Thank god you're okay. Stay with Pepper, okay Widget? I'm coming, I promise."

"Obadiah," Pepper gasped out, trying to relay important information to Tony. "He's gone insane, he – he built a suit."

"I know," Tony responded, his voice urgent. "Listen to me, you two need to get out of there, okay? Get out of there right now!" Talia was still draped over Pepper's shoulder, and her eyes widened with horror when she saw cracks appearing in the concrete behind them.

"Pepper…" she said quietly but urgently, tapping the woman's shoulder insistently. Pepper turned around, her own eyes going wide as she cracks grew into a hole. Obadiah, still dressed in the suit of armor, burst through the concrete behind them.

The Iron Monger loomed over Talia and Pepper, straightening up to its full height.

"Where do you think you're going?" he asked Pepper. Even through the modulator, Talia recognized Obadiah's voice. Her eyes filled with tears as she finally understood what was happening. Obadiah was trying to hurt them.

"Your services are no longer required," the Iron Monger said, holding one of his gauntlets up to Pepper's face. The giant gun began to warm up, and Talia closed her eyes again, whimpering.

Suddenly, a familiar voice split the air. Talia cracked her eyes open, surprised to realize that she wasn't dead, and saw a red and gold streak flying towards them, a trail of smoke and fire coming from its thrusters. The Iron Monger pivoted, changing the direction of his attack to target Iron Man instead.

Iron Man hit his foe head-on, and the two men crashed through the floor back into the laboratory below. The fight that ensued spilled out of the lab and onto the nearby highway, and only moments later did Talia and Pepper see the two suits of armor climbing into the sky.

Talia watched, starry-eyed with wonder as the two suits flew high above her head. That was her dad. He had saved her.

Tony had always been Talia's hero, but now he was once more, in quite the literal sense. A small smile spread over her face.

"Okay," Pepper muttered, closing her eyes for a moment. Talia glanced at the redhead and Pepper shifted Talia as she thought. She and Talia were out of immediate danger, but she wished Talia was even more removed from the situation.

She glanced around the parking lot wildly, spotting one of the cars she'd arrived in. Running over, she tested the door. She sighed in relief when she realized it was unlocked, and she opened the door and set Talia down in the backseat. She knelt down, looking Talia in the eye.

"Stay here, Talia, okay? I mean it. Do not move until I come to get you." Talia nodded, hunkering down in the car obediently, and wrapping her arms around her. Pepper stroked her hair again. "Everything's going to be fine. I promise."

*END FLASHBACK*

Talia had stayed in the car for only about a half an hour, but it had felt like forever to her. Despite Pepper's instructions to keep her head down, she had watched through the window of the car, and she had seen the explosion from the arc reactor that had supposedly killed Stane. The explosion had looked extremely bad, and no one had thought there was any way that Obadiah had survived it.

"How do you think he survived?" Talia asked her dad, snapping out of her memory and turning to face Tony. The man thought for a moment.

"I don't know," he replied. "The suit must have offered him enough protection that he was able to get out of there before SHIELD came to look for the body. They just assumed it had burned." Tony rubbed the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. Sighing, he turned towards Talia.

"Thank you for telling me, Widget," he said with a weary smile. He stood up again, giving his daughter a hug. Then, he unknowingly echoed Pepper's words to her in Stane's first attack, all those years ago. "Everything's going to be fine. I promise."

AVENGERS COMPOUND
September 18, 16:41 EDT

"Oof!"

Talia's chest hit the mat for the fifth time that afternoon. She lay there for a moment, her forehead resting against the ground as she sighed, her face contorted in a pained wince. Above her, Natasha chuckled.

"Again," she ordered. Talia sighed, sitting back on her haunches and tucking strands of her sweaty hair that had fallen loose from her ponytail behind her ears.

"Do I have to?" she asked, even as she got to her feet. Natasha gave Talia an amused look. Without responding, the spy launched a kick at Talia's head. The girl ducked the blow with a loud yelp, scrambling backwards clumsily. Pressing her lips together, she fell into a defensive stance, her wary eyes tracking the redhead's movements.

"Good," Natasha said. Talia didn't acknowledge the praise except for a dip of her head. She knew better than to let her guard down. Swiftly, Talia darted forwards, launching a right hook towards Natasha's face. Natasha caught the blow, wrapping her arm around Talia's and pulling the girl towards her. Natasha twisted Talia, attempting to get her in a headlock.

Gritting her teeth, Talia kept her arm pressed between her throat and Natasha's arms, trying to push outwards. The older woman was significantly stronger than Talia, but her position was awkward, and her grip kept slipping.

Grunting, Talia pushed outwards as hard as she could, breaking free of Natasha's grasp and scrambling a few feet away. Breathing hard, Talia turned back around to face her sparring partner. Natasha nodded once, a glimmer of pride visible across her face.

"Good," she said again. Talia had to fight the pleased smile that curved over her face. She jutted her chin downwards and narrowed her eyes, trying to anticipate Natasha's next move. Natasha smirked, recognizing Talia's unspoken challenge.

Before Talia knew what had happened, she was on her back again. Her ears were ringing. Natasha's amused face swam into her sight, and Talia stared at the older woman unseeingly.

"Ouch…" she muttered, sitting up slowly and rubbing her head. Her chest was aching too - all of the wind had been knocked out of her. Natasha laughed, holding her hand out.

"You're fine," she replied, not unsympathetically. Talia rolled her eyes, grabbing the other woman's hand and letting Natasha haul Talia back to her feet. Sighing, Talia pushed her hair back out of her eyes again.

"Now are we done?" Talia asked with a sigh. Between mandatory training with the Team and "mandatory" training with Natasha – really, Talia was just too intimidated to refuse – she was ridiculously sore and tired all the time. But even she could tell that she was improving.

"You're done with me," Natasha said with a smile. She jerked her chin across the room towards where a row of punching bags hung. "I think you should try hitting something that can't hit you back," the redhead finished with a laugh.

"Haha," Talia replied, sticking her tongue out at Natasha childishly. But she couldn't help the chuckle that escaped her. Natasha laughed again, and Talia crossed the room and headed towards the bags.

She had already wrapped her hands and wrists before sparring with Natasha, so Talia simply unwound the end of the wrap to tighten it around her wrist. Sighing, Talia shifted her feet back into a fighting stance, raising her hands in front of her face and waiting for Natasha's instruction.

"First combination," Natasha began. "Jab, cross, right hook, front leg roundhouse. No switch." Talia nodded, mouthing the punches and kick to herself again to made sure she remembered them. Then she hit the bag squarely with her left hand.

Jab, cross, Talia twisted to the right, keeping her left hand in front of her face as if to block a punch as she landed a solid right hook on the side of the bag. Then she raised both hands in front of her face, twisting her back foot out and kicking the punching bag with her left shin in a powerful roundhouse.

Talia kept this combination up, building a steady rhythm. After several minutes, Natasha spoke again, giving Talia a new combination. The teenager's movements stuttered slightly before she regained her rhythm with the new hits.

Natasha circled Talia, giving her reminders and pointers on her form every now and then, watching as the girl hit the bag. Sweat dripped down Talia's face as she punched, her breath coming out in short, hard gasps as she exerted herself.

"Alright, that's enough," Natasha said about an hour and a half later. She had given Talia a few breaks to catch her breath and rehydrate, but Talia still let out a sigh of relief as she dropped her hands. She was exhausted.

Talia leaned forward to catch her breath, blinking stinging sweat out of her eyes. When she straightened up, Natasha was offering her a towel and a water bottle. Talia smiled, taking both.

"Thanks," she said breathlessly, swiping the towel over her face. She patted down, mopping off the sweat on her forehead before uncapping the water bottle and draining it in several desperate gulps.

"Good work, Lia," Natasha said approvingly, using one of Talia's more common nicknames. Talia smiled at the praise, tossing the towel over her shoulder. "Make sure you get something to eat soon," Natasha instructed the younger woman as they left the gym together.

"Definitely," Talia agreed, her stomach growling accordingly. She grimaced. "Just as soon as I shower, though. I feel disgusting." Natasha laughed, patting Talia on the shoulder and heading back towards the common area. Talia climbed the stairs towards her quarters, entering her room.

She grabbed a pair of comfy workout shorts and a t-shirt to change into. After she showered, Talia toweled her hair dry and let it hang down over her shoulders, un-styled beneath her baseball cap, before heading down to the kitchen.

In the old Avengers Tower, each person had had their own floor, with one designated as a common area and another for training. The Avengers Compound didn't have the height for that luxury, but the sprawling facility gave each Avenger their own room and en-suite bathroom, with several common areas and a huge kitchen.

When Talia reached the kitchen, Clint, Natasha, and Steve were all crowded around the counter talking. Natasha nodded at her as she walked in but didn't break from the conversation. Talia waved back over her shoulder and opened the fridge.

She glanced at the clock over her shoulder. It was almost seven, and her dad was forcing her to a gala with him at eight. Usually he didn't drag her along, trying his best to keep her somewhat out of the spotlight, but given that Stark Industries was throwing the event, he and by extension his daughter, were expected to make an appearance.

The galas were long and boring, but they always had good food, and Talia didn't want to fill up too much now when she was promised sushi just a few hours in her future.

She grabbed a vanilla Icelandic yogurt – she liked it better than Greek – and the poured some of her favorite granola straight into the carton. There was simple sugar and protein in the snack, so it was a good post-workout food. She snagged a spoon from the cutlery drawer and started to leave the room with the intention of heading back to her room.

"Oh, Talia," Steve said suddenly. The girl paused, turning towards Steve as the man continued to speak. "Pepper was trying to find you earlier. She wanted to make sure you remembered –"

"That there's a gala tonight," Talia finished Steve's sentence, not impolitely. She rolled her eyes slightly, faintly amused and annoyed. "She's been texting me reminders since Tuesday," Talia said with a sigh. She pursed her lips. "Why do all the adults in my life doubt my responsibility?"

Steve raised an eyebrow at her pointedly, and Clint stifled a laugh. Natasha was smiling as well. Talia sighed.

"Fine, I know why," she muttered, rolling her eyes. She smiled at Steve. "Thanks for the reminder." Steve smiled.

"No problem, kid." Talia left the kitchen, still grumbling under her breath in between bites of yogurt. She had already finished her snack by the time she'd reached her room, and she paused in another (smaller) kitchen on the same floor as her quarters to dispose of the carton and wash her spoon rather than go back downstairs.

Maybe that was lazy, but sue her. Anyone who had spent their afternoon getting their ass kicked by Natasha would want to minimize the number of stairs in their life.

Heading back to her room, Talia opened her closet. She pulled her baseball cap off her head, tossing it aimlessly onto her desk and running a hand through her damp hair. Pepper had picked out Talia's dress for her two weeks ago, which saved Talia a lot of time.

Talia pulled out the silk dress, which had been already been carefully pressed. It was a black strappy dress that hit just above her knees, simple enough that Talia wouldn't be making a statement but classy enough that she wouldn't look out of place. Also, the black fabric hid the glow of the arc reactor well.

A quick glance at the time told Talia that she should start getting ready. After changing into the dress, Talia brushed her hair. She did her makeup while she let her hair finish drying, and then pinned the sides of it back so it was out of her face.

Just as she was finishing up, someone knocked at the door.

"Come in," Talia called, searching for some earrings to accessorize with. Pepper opened the door, smiling in relief when she saw that Talia was dressed and nearly ready to go.

"Oh, thank goodness," Pepper said with sigh of relief.

"That's what you get for doubting me," Talia replied, smiling cheekily. She frowned. "Although, I can't find my earrings or my shoes." Pepper laughed, walking over to Talia's closet and searching for a pair of heels for Talia to wear. She came back out with a pair of black suede block heels, not unlike the ones she'd ruined in the river in Taipei.

She was still mad about that. That outfit had been killer.

"Thank you!" Talia said to Pepper, slipping her feet into the heels as she slid the backing onto a pearl earring. Talia's left ear had two lobe piercings, and her right ear had two lobe and two cartilage, but for "official" events like this, she only wore one pair of earrings in her lobes and her usual stud-hoop combination in her cartilage holes. After she was finished, she gave Pepper a warm hug. "I missed you. You look nice."

"I missed you too," Pepper responded fondly. She kissed Talia's cheek quickly. "You look beautiful. Now, let's go, Widget. We can't be late."

Talia had only been at the gala for twenty minutes and she was already bored. Her hand was honestly starting to hurt from shaking people's hands, and her cheeks hurt from the stupid smile she had plastered on.

And they hadn't even set out the food yet, so her only motivation for coming was currently inaccessible.

"Bruce!" Tony said amicably, breaking Talia from her inner pouting. She looked up in surprise, a more relaxed and much more genuine smile creeping onto her face as Bruce Wayne approached the Starks. The taller man and Tony shook hands, and Bruce pressed a hand against Tony's shoulder in friendly manner. The two men had been friends since they were children.

"Good to see you, Tony," Bruce replied with a smile. He kissed Pepper's cheek in a friendly manner before turning to Talia with a smile. "Hello, Talia. How are you?" Talia smiled back with real enthusiasm as opposed to the lukewarm politeness she gave to many of Tony's other associates. She actually liked Bruce.

"Good, thank you," she responded. "How are you?"

"I'm fine myself, thanks," Bruce replied amicably. He glanced around. "I think Dick was looking for you earlier." Talia perked up at the mention of her friend's name. Dick Grayson was a boy a couple of years younger than Talia. The two of them had been friends for five years now, ever since Bruce had taken in Dick as his ward.

"Oh, is he here?" she said brightly. "Awesome!" Before Bruce would respond, Dick came up to the group.

"Lia!" He glanced at Bruce and Tony, smiling at the two men. "Hi, Tony. Nice to see you." Tony murmured a greeting back, and then the four split ways. Bruce and Tony continued their conversation as Talia and Dick walked away. Talia grinned, nudging the boy with her shoulder as he stopped beside.

"Thank god you're here," Talia said with a sigh of relief, nudging Dick with her shoulder. Dick laughed.

"Feeling's mutual," he replied. The two teenagers walked across the gala floor, smiling politely at other partygoers every now and then while they caught up with one another. It had been almost two months since they'd last seen each other. The two ended up on a balcony to the side of the party, admiring the view.

"Heard your dad gave you a suit," Dick said, glancing at Talia eagerly. The older girl nodded, a wide grin on her face.

"It's freaking awesome," she told him reverently. Dick laughed. Then he paused, considering his next question, before saying in a concerned tone:

"I also heard that the Compound was attacked. Are you okay?" Talia blinked, surprised but touched at the question. It just seemed so long ago. So much had happened since then, and it was only like three weeks ago.

"Oh, yeah," Talia said nonchalantly. "Fine." She hesitated, wondering whether or not to tell Dick. He was pretty open-minded, so she didn't think he would judge her for being a mutant, but she could never really be too sure. "I have something to show you," she said conspiratorially. Dick raised his eyebrows, and Talia held out her hand.

Concentrating, Talia looked down at her hand and watched as the nanites broke through the surface of her skin, the red and gold armor appearing over her hand and wrist. She glanced up at Dick, whose blue eyes were stretched wide with amazement.

"Woah," he said. "That's – coming from you, isn't it?" Talia nodded, letting the armor disappear. She smiled sheepishly.

"I'm a mutant," she responded, talking quietly enough that no one passing by would overhear their conversation. She had decided that she wanted to keep her newly discovered status somewhat private – if not from her friends, at least from the press. She didn't want to give anyone another reason to criticize her family.

"Cool," Dick muttered in an awed manner. He glanced up at her, his blue eyes shining with a mirth that Talia didn't quite understand. It was like he knew something that she didn't.

Even as their conversation quickly moved onto other topics, Talia couldn't help but notice the fact that while Dick's reaction had been amazed and accepting, he hadn't seemed particularly surprised.

It was almost as though he'd already known.

AVENGERS COMPOUND
September 19, 01:17 EDT

Talia kicked her shoes off, rolling her back and forth ankles gently. She flexed her aching feet as she yawned. She tugged the pins out of her hair, and it brushed the sides of her face as the simple twist she'd down fell out. After five hours at the gala, all Talia had wanted to do was get home. But now that she was here, she was too tired to move ten feet to her bathroom.

Training with Natasha plus gala equaled pain.

"You alright there?" Talia turned her head. Wanda was standing at the open door to Talia's room, her eyes bright with amusement. Talia groaned in response.

"Next time Natasha wants to train me, remind me to run in the other direction," Talia responded dryly, sitting up all the way and rubbing the back of her neck. Seriously, muscles that she didn't even know she had were sore.

Well, that was a bit of an exaggeration. Talia actually did know all the muscles in the human body. She'd had to take bio class after bio class in order to get to a point where she could write her dissertation on genetics. Wanda laughed at Talia's statement.

"She'd catch you," Wanda said with a smile. Talia shrugged, knowing this was true. She amended her statement.

"Fine, then next time I decide it's a good idea to wear heels for five hours after training with Natasha, beat me over the head." Wanda laughed again.

"That I can do." The older girl walked over to Talia, sitting down on the side of her bed. Her eyes were worried as she changed the subject. "Your father told us what you told him," Wanda said gently. "How are you?"

Talia looked down at the comforter as she considered the question.

Wanda and Talia had an interesting relationship. When they'd first met, Talia had been ten, and Wanda wasn't yet eighteen. When Wanda had joined the Avengers, the two of them hadn't not gotten along, but things were slightly awkward at first. After all, Wanda had only recently gotten over blaming Tony for the death of her parents.

But as the two girls spent more time together, Wanda had sort of become the older sister Talia had never had and never known she wanted. The older girl swore up and down that Tony hadn't paid her to babysit Talia, but given all the time they'd spent together, Talia wasn't quite convinced.

Now, five years later, the twenty-two-year-old was sitting on Talia's bed with a concerned look in her eyes. If any of the other Avengers had asked the question, Talia wouldn't have thought about it – she would have said "fine," and moved on. She liked them all, she was close enough to them - she had to be, living with them - but she wasn't exactly comfortable sharing her every thought with them.

But with Wanda things were different.

"I'm alright," Talia said truthfully, after a long moment. She picked at a loose thread on the comforter. "It's just weird," Talia said after another moment of thinking. "I mean, he was like my grandfather. And then he was evil and then he was just gone." She glanced up. "But I guess he's not gone...but he's still evil." Talia pursed her lips. "That was very ineloquent. But...you know what I mean." Wanda nodded sympathetically.

"I do," Wanda replied, her accent soft and soothing. Natasha had mentioned a couple times that Wanda should adopt an American accent to blend in better - the spy had long since lost her own Russian accent - but Talia secretly hoped that Wanda wouldn't listen. "I'm sorry," Wanda said quietly, giving Talia a one-armed squeeze. "If you ever want to talk…" Wanda trailed off, the end of the sentence obvious to the other girl.

"S'okay," Talia mumbled, shrugging her shoulders. She smiled at Wanda. "Thanks." Wanda stood up, ruffing Talia's hair gently. She smiled at the younger girl.

"Anytime, Lia. Now get some rest. You look dead on your feet."

THE X-MANSION
September 20, 15:02 EDT

Talia groaned, her concentration snapping as the machinery in front of her clattered to the ground once more. She had been trying to fix a simple circuit board using her powers for the past twenty minutes. She'd come into the exercise overly cocky, not believing it would be difficult. After all, she could reassemble a circuit board such as this without her powers in under two minutes.

Reassembling it with her powers turned out to be much, much harder than she had anticipated.

"Try with your nanites, this time," Professor Xavier suggested, wheeling over to the teenager. His instructions were gentle but firm as he coached Talia through the exercise. "Remember to relax."

Talia nodded, taking a deep breath. She stretched her arms out, focusing. The image of the nanites swam before her mind's eye, and she began to manipulate them outwards.

"Eyes open, Rescue," Hank reminded her from across the lab as he glanced up to watch her progress. Talia grit her teeth, opening her eyes. As she did so, her concentration broke and the nanites disappeared under her skin. She groaned, throwing her hands up.

"I can't do it," she snapped in frustration, her eyes flashing in anger. She was trying to learn how to manipulate technology – both the ones from the suit housed in her body, as well as technology outside of her – without closing her eyes. Scott, not only a master tactician but also extremely used to being forced to be blind, had pointed out how vulnerable it made her.

"Yes, you can," Professor Xavier said calmly. "Try again." Talia took a deep breathing. She squeezed her eyes shut purposefully, holding them closed until they burned, and then opened her eyes again. This time, she very pointedly focused her gaze on the door.

Keeping her eyes stretched wide enough that they watered, Talia focused. This time, when she saw the nanites in front of her eyes, she could still see the door behind them. She pressed her lips together in a grimace, struggling to remain focused as the nanites moved forward.

But the door was still there, blocking her view of the nanites. With an irritated huff, the nanites disappeared, rescinding back into Talia's blood and bones against her will. She slumped forward, panting.

Training her powers was, in some ways, even harder than training her body. It left her exhausted as she learned to use them.

"It's just so distracting," she said with a sigh, standing up straight again.

"It took your mother a long time too," Hank said sympathetically, walking closer to the other two mutants. He stood behind Professor Xavier's wheelchair. "You'll get there."

"I'd be there faster if I'd had access to my powers." The words slipped out of Talia's mouth almost before she was conscious of thinking them. Her cheeks burned when she realized what she had just said. It sounded so bitter.

There was a pregnant pause, Talia's words hanging in the air like a challenge.

"Talia," Professor Xavier said. His voice was gentle, but slightly reproving. "Don't be angry with your mother."

"I'm not," Talia muttered defensively, her cheeks flushed. "I just – it's a fact. It's an objective fact." There was another silence and Talia sighed, and straightened her shoulders. "I'll try again," she said, before either of the men could chastise her again.

Talia blinked a couple times, and then closed her eyes briefly before opening them again. This time, she relaxed her gaze so that she was looking rather than staring and breathed in and out slowly, the way Professor Xavier had instructed her at the beginning. He had told that a mutant's powers were as natural to them as breathing, and it was their brain that stopped them from accessing them.

That's why they come out in a fight or flight situation, Talia had said. She had smiled cheekily then, her realization making her laugh. Our lizard brain turns on.

Keeping her arms by her sides, Talia focused solely on her breathing instead of the nanites flowing through her blood. They were a part of her. She didn't need to focus on them. They were just...there. As they began to move faster, responding to her mental commands, she ignored the image of the technology breaking through her skin.

She kept her gaze steady in front of her as the stream of nanites moved outwards. Now, she very carefully raised a hand, manipulating the nanites to string around the broken circuit board.

As soon as they connected with the broken circuits, the inner workings of that machine became clear to Talia as well. Still, she ignored the image in front of her, going off of her instinctual knowledge of the machine. Breath in...breath out.

As she kept her gaze forward and steady, the nanites buzzed around the broken machine, gluing themselves to circuits and wires. There was a low whir, and the circuit board clicked online, the buzz of electricity proving its functionality.

A smile spread across Talia's face, and she let her hand drop to her side, exhaling heavily. The nanites returned to her arm, sliding back under her skin and into her bloodstream once more. Shoulders slumping, Talia looked up at Professor Xavier and Hank, exhaustion and a glimmer of pride evident on her face.

"How was that?" she asked, panting ever-so-slightly. Professor Xavier smiled encouragingly, dipping his head.

"Very good, Talia."

yeah, so i decided to do an original chapter instead of going straight to homefront. why? i dunno. it was hard and idk how happy i am with this chapter lol.

i guess i feel the need to do original chapters like this when there are particularly long gaps between episodes - there was like two weeks between targets and homefront (i guess because terrors took place in the middle, but talia wouldn't have been involved with that.)

so i'm going to try to keep doing original chapters, which will probably be shorter, in between the chapters that follow the main plot. mainly because i'm kind of building my own universe here, combining the mcu, the x-men movies, and young justice, and i think that needs a lot of development, otherwise i feel like it might be confusing to you guys, who may not be able to picture the world as clearly as i do.

anyways, please tell me what you think about this chapter, or original chapters like this in general! let me know if you like them or hate them, think they're a bad or good idea, etc!

also, i'm taking suggestions for talia's ship (once again lol) BUT this time it's going to be a choice between zatanna and roy. also, just so you guys know about talia's ship...it's not the be all, end all. i like my characters to date a lot of other characters (my other main oc, karla, has like five different romances...hehe) just because it's fun for me to write, and also i think it's hard for people to date the same person from age fifteen to age twenty one. people grow a LOT during that time.

so yeah. please let me know what you think about any/all that (talia's ship, original chapters, and this story in general!), or anything else! i always love to hear from you guys~

thanks!