I had paced the room at least four times, turned on (and off) the TV at least six times, inspected every part of the room twice, and had even tried to take a nap before giving up and hugging my knees to my chest while I sat against the bed. I could feel the build up of anxiety bubbling in my gut, my lungs were finding it harder and harder to take on air, I focused on my breathing, trying to clear my head with no avail.

"I have some clothes for you." Natasha's voice rang from the doorway as she stepped in, "Just for tonight. Tomorrow I'll take you shopping for new clothes."

"You don't have to do that." I muttered so softly, still trying to get my lungs to take air, that I wasn't even sure if she could have heard me.

She looked around my room, studying the details, seeing if I had done anything besides sit in the exact spot I was in the whole time I had been left in there. "You need clothes," She said so matter-of-factly that it was like she was in this type of situation on a daily basis, but she was so gentle about it, picking every word and every tone in her voice very carefully. She met my eyes again, giving me a kind smile, "and unless you want one of the boys to take you, I'm your only option."

"I don't have to stay here. Tony doesn't have to be my dad, he can opt out, and I will leave." I said, pulling my eyes from her, focusing on some non existing spot on the wall.

"Tony just needs time to adjust." She said, keeping her voice light-hearted as she sat down lightly on the edge of the bed next to me. "This is a huge thing, a huge adjustment, he'll want to be your dad, Ruby. Just give him time."

"Whatever." I muttered, still not looking up to meet her gaze, "I didn't want to come here anyway."

"Why not?" She asked, I could feel the genuine curiosity in her voice.

"Because I didn't think anyone would believe me in the first place- it sounds crazy- and when he didn't come back for my mom despite being rich and famous, I figured it out that he wouldn't want anything to do with me. It's not like it takes a rocket scientist to figure that out."

"Ruby, Tony, your father, never even knew you existed. If he had he would have come to find you." She, with such grace, slid down from the bed, kneeling in front of me, "I'm trying to be delicate because I know you are just a kid, and I know you are going through something right now, but you're just going to have to look past this."

I stared up at her, she meant what she was saying- she didn't see Tony as having any fault for any of this. "Can you just go." My voice was barely above a whisper as I turned away from her again.

She stood up, hesitated from a brief moment, as if there was something left she wanted to say to me- maybe wanting to yell at me, but she left without saying a word.

The room was silent, the only real sound was of my breathing. Tears burned my eyes, but I was determined not to cry anymore, I just couldn't handle it if I cried anymore, I wasn't prepared to snap, none of these people needed to see me that weak.

Clint brought me dinner some time later. I hadn't moved from that spot. "I brought you soup. I figured that with everything that's happened today, you probably needed something that would be gentle, easy, on your stomach." His words were full of care. I knew he must have a family, because he genuinely cared about my wellbeing.

"Thank you." I said, but for once in my life there was no hunger. I didn't even think I could take a single bite out of the soup. It felt like my stomach was full of rocks, and they were constantly grinding against one another.

"Yeah, of course. Listen, Thor will be sleeping right down the hall tonight, if you need anything just go to his room. Nobody has heard from Tony- your dad- and we can't get ahold of Pepper either, we're hoping he'll be back tomorrow." I could feel the tension in his voice, but I couldn't tell if it was a nervous tension because he was scared of my reaction, or an angry tension because he was angry with Tony's reaction. Both maybe?

The question that had been burning in the back of my head since this began burned my throat as if the words were doused in kerosene and set on fire as they spilled out, making me breathless "And if he doesn't come back?"

"We'll cross that bridge IF we get to it." He quickly said, not really an answer, more like a way to get me to shut up. I knew he could feel my hesitation with his answer, "I don't think it'll come to that, Ruby. He'll come back." He said as he gently put his hand on my shoulder.

"Yeah, well, don't blame me if I don't believe you. Not like he has the best track record." I didn't look Clint in the eyes as I let the words pass my lips. I couldn't see another person's eyes as they tried to defend him.

"Ruby… He didn't know you existed. You have to see that. You have to see that he had no idea about you, and that is why this is a shock, that is why he never went back, he had no idea about you. You can't determine their track record when they didn't know, when they couldn't do anything to change their track record."

I didn't respond, I knew it would be a pointless argument. Completely pointless. "Clint, you guys really don't need to go to all of this trouble."

"Sure we do. Tony is our friend, and this is what friends do. We take care of eachother, we pick up the slack when they can't at the moment." Sounds about right, that's all I was seen as, slack that needed to be picked up.

I nodded my head, there would be no sense in arguing. "Thanks for the soup, Clint."

"Of course. Have a good night, Ruby. We will all be back first thing in the morning, and Thor is right down the hall.

I watched him leave, then I poured the soup he gave me into the sink. I watched as every last noodle went down the drain.