Hello, faithful followers... Or people that forgot the story existed... Or people that are here for the first time... Anyway, very long chapter to make up for my absence! There are some twists and turns in this chapter...

Disclaimer: I don't own any Marvel characters, I only own my OCs and the plot.

Chapter 21 - Finding the Start of the Truth

A sleek, flame-red convertible was racing along a palm tree-dotted Californian road at a carefree pace, causing the dense air to become wind that blew through the hair of the car's owner and his excited partner. The blue, cloudless sky was the only thing that was not a giddy blur to the woman as she squealed in delight at the rebellious speed that Tony Stark was driving at, all thoughts of the troubles of their New York home lost the moment their plane had landed. Tony grinned at Alexia's blissful expression as she leant back into the expensive seat the car provided.

It wasn't long before the slightly dusty, hot road led to a hill, where the withered appearance of the two's surroundings abruptly transformed into green grass and even more lazy palm trees. They sped up the slope where they were able to get a view of the array of houses and buildings before them: Malibu.

"Tony, not that I don't enjoy riding around the Californian countryside with you or anything but... Why didn't we just fly to an airport here if this was our destination in the first place?" Lexy giggled.

"I thought we'd take a bit of a detour, see the beauty of California, spend a little more time alone," he purred.

"I've been to California before, you know," the brunette laughed, "To visit Paige while she was working."

"Oh, well you could've said that before we left!" Tony huffed, "And to think I spent all that money on gas."

"Yeah because you definitely can't afford gas," she snorted.

"Anyway, I suppose we'll have to move on to the next item on our agenda."

"Which is?"

Iron Man grinned knowingly and flicked his eyes between the woman and the road, which he was now accelerating down.

"Tony, what are you planning?" Alexia narrowed her eyes.

Again, the man merely smirked, but his head jerked in the direction opposite to where she was sitting. Leaning forward to see past his strapping figure. Her eyes widened and her curious smile grew to a full-on beam, yet she was still unsure.

"Are we... Is this...?"

"You haven't been to Malibu before, though, have you?" he asked playfully, causing a quick shake of the head from his date, "Well if there's one thing that I assure you you will like, it's the beach."

Lexy's eyes brightened with anticipation and her eyes quickly returned to the clear water and white shores of the beach that stretched along beside the road that they had just joined, which was busier than the last. Tony laughed as she yet again let out a high-pitched squeak.

"Really? Oh my gosh, I haven't been to the beach in soooo long! New York's lakes are nothing compared to the ocean!"

"There's a great café around too, it sells great seafo-"

He was silenced by a sudden glare from Alexia. The furious gaze lasted less than a second before her stare retreated to the serene crashing of light blue waves, however it was enough to make Tony rethink his proposal and quickly amend the sentence that was still hanging in the slightly more tense air.

"I mean... Uh... Well, there's a restaurant that sells great pizza, yeah, that's... Slightly more appropriate."

The offended frown quickly broke and the happy upwards curve of her lips had remained, if dampened somewhat. They continues to drive for a little while before Tony parked outside a modern mansion hanging off the edge of a cliff. Alexia recognized it immediately as the famous 10880 Malibu Point where Stark had spent most of his time before, and a bit after, the great Battle of New York.

"Woah," she breathed almost inaudibly as her lips parted, creating a look of awe to mask her face.

"I suppose you'll be needing a swimsuit? Pep- my old assistant might have left some clothes upstairs. Jarvis will show you the way," Tony informed, ignoring, or possibly unaware of her wonder.

Blindly following her date through the doors of the enormous house, Alexia was knocked out of her daydream by a familiar voice.

"Welcome back, sir, and it is nice to see you again, Miss Brookes," greeted Jarvis politely.

"Hey, Jarv," Lexy grinned, "Does it really count as 'seeing' when you talk to me, though?"

"When you enter a room that Mr Stark has placed me in control of, I am able to detect that it is you through a harmless scan that matches DNA and appearance with the profile I have stored in my database. I may not have eyes, Miss Brookes, but I see just as much, if not more, than many human beings."

There was a silent moment as Tony chuckled and headed down a flight of stairs and Alexia looked a mix of surprise and amusement.

"Well, 'Mr Stark' definitely did a good job when he programmed your personality, Jarvis. I swear, sometimes people like you more than him," she joked.

"I would not recommend letting Mr Stark hear that, he is particularly annoyed at the thought of someone being more popular than himself," Jarvis continued, his voice containing traces of mirth, "Now, shall I show you to Miss Potts' old room, Miss Brookes? If you'll follow the staircase upwards, you'll find a corridor of similarly designed doors..."

Lexy followed Jarvis' clear instructions to a room that was painted in cool yet bright colors. The walls were a plain, light cream and the floor, though smothered slightly by a white fur rug, was made up of planks of dark wood. It was obvious that someone had once lived here, as the slightly opened wardrobe still hosted some forgotten clothing and a small photograph sat on the end table beside a golden colored bed, but it was also plain to see that the person had moved out as the room was minimalistic in personal possessions and the atmosphere was almost hollow, as if the warmth that had once spread throughout the room had turned slightly cold towards the end.

"Jarvis, who did you say owned this room?"

"Miss Virginia 'Pepper' Potts used this room in case there was a reason in which she needed to stay over. This happened increasingly throughout her relationship with Mr Stark but she vacated the room after they broke up," Jarvis recited.

Alexia let out a small humph and began to rummage through drawers carelessly. She couldn't help being slightly jealous of 'Pepper Potts', who had been so close to Tony in one way or another as to gain her own private room in his house. She had heard of Pepper from Paige, as they were distant friends, but they had never met in person and the woman seemed nothing but foolish in Lexy's mind. She had, of course, broken up with Tony for reasons that the brunette couldn't imagine, or maybe she was just too blind to see them. Finally grabbing a plain black bikini that would blend well with Alexia's light brown hair and creamy skin, the woman set off again, descending the stairs.

"Where's Tony, Jarvis?"

"He is currently in his workshop, assuring that nothing has been touched since his last visit."

"Am I... Am I allowed to go down there?" Lexy asked hesitantly.

"There is an electric lock on the door below, so one would know if they are welcomed by Mr Stark if he unlocks it for them."

The remaining Avengers, plus Paige, were two things: restless and guilty. Though these feelings might have been relatively harmless when owned by a normal set of people, there was no telling what they might cause when sitting in the minds of Avengers.

"We have to look for him," Natasha decided, unusually rash for a trained spy and calculating secret agent.

"Nat, he hasn't been gone a full day yet, I don't think we should jump to any conclusions," Paige said.

"I have a bad feeling about this, I don't like that he went to meet Maria and I especially don't trust that he hasn't been in contact since."

"Well, the two kinda fit together pretty well," Clint snorted, "I mean, I wouldn't be in contact with friends I had just argued with when there was a beautiful woman wanting to get to know me better."

"And that's why you can't hold down any friends apart from the team you were assigned to," Natasha snapped disapprovingly.

"Here's a plan," Bruce spoke up, finally entering the conversation instead of hiding behind his laptop's glowing screen, "Why don't you two go and see if you can talk to Steve, or at least locate his whereabouts, while Paige and I wait here in case he decides to return."

"Also because we have work to do," the woman added lightly, folding her arms in agreement.

"Fine," Natasha agreed stiffly, "If Thor comes back, he can look too."

"Noted," Bruce muttered as he returned to his laptop.

With that, Natasha and Clint left the building, Bruce retreated to his lab and Paige decided to explore the Tower a little more, seeing as there were countless floors and she seemed to have a little more time than she previously expected. It had turned out that the only work that needed doing was a business call with another company that was not scheduled until much later that night. As Romanoff and Barton stood on the front steps of the building, they turned to each other.

"Alright, where to first?" Clint queried.

"I'd say let's go to Maria's apartment first but she never told anyone except Steve where that was," the spy responded, more to herself than to her partner, "But there is one place that might know where he is, and where Maria is if we're lucky."

"SHIELD?" he grinned.

"Where else?"

The two speedily navigated their way to where the Helicarrier was landed and boarded with ease, immediately bombarded with greetings from agents who dotted the deck. They continued through the small and widespread crowd and navigated their way to Fury.

"What are you two doing here?" he grumbled, still facing the hall of computers and agents before him.

"Rogers left last night after an... Argument. We haven't heard anything from him," Natasha reported.

"And you thought that you could just waltz in here and use SHIELD's resources to find him?" Fury questioned.

"Well, when you say it like that..." Clint grinned, but the glare that the Director shot from his one eye silenced his snigger.

"If he left last night, he's not even been gone twenty four hours. Maybe he just wanted some alone time without the rest of the dream team," the man suggested.

"Sir, I have a bad feeling about this," Natasha announced.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Agent Romanoff. If you'd said that in the first place-"

"Please, Director, just do us a favour," Clint begged.

"Fine, but you owe me," he decided, "What d'you wanna know?"

"Where Steve is, what he's doing and who with."

"Why didn't you ask your pal Stark to do all of this stuff?" Fury grumbled as he tapped rapidly on the keyboard before him.

"He's in California with Alexia," smirked Natasha as Clint chuckled.

"No more problems with her, then? Man, you guys must really like her. Think about all that had to happen for you to start getting along originally," the Director muttered.

They watched as he worked, faster than anyone would have expected from the eyepatched, heavily clothed man who was known more for action than tech skills. Finally, he turned back to them.

"Yeah, Steve hasn't been seen anywhere, by anyone. The last time he was seen was when he left the Tower. He hasn't been anywhere public since. I wouldn't worry, though, he probably just wanted to be alone for a while anyway," he informed them before adding under his breath, "God knows I would if I was stuck with the rest of you for so long."

Natasha snapped her head away from Fury to hide her concern and her eyes searched helplessly as she thought. As they skimmed what seemed to be a board of clues about the Family de Superiores, they suddenly caught sight of a portrait. On it was painted a pretty young woman with wavy blonde hair and seductive blue eyes, her tanned skin formed by careful, smooth brushes that cut off as it reached a burgundy dress.

"Why is there a picture of Maria attached to that wall?" she questioned cautiously.

"Who? Oh, her. That's the only record of the Albertelli family we can find. Lady Sabella Albertelli, alive about a century ago," Fury answered absentmindedly.

"But that's..." Clint spluttered in disbelief, "That's Maria Allegra..."

"My family name is Al-Allegra, Maria Allegra."

"No way," Clint breathed, "She... Alexia was right..."

"I'm sorry, I feel like I'm meeting something crucial here," Fury said.

"I think... We found a member of the Familia de Superiores, sir."

It's strange how coincidences happen, sometimes. As Natasha spoke, there were four intruders simultaneously breaking into the Avengers Tower. Three of them were dressed similarly: dark trousers, black shirts and matching balaclavas. The other was dressed in a clean, white summer dress that had been sent by her uncle, her golden hair tied in a simple bun. As the three scaled the building and slipped silently into one of its many floors, the blonde merely sauntered through the front door and to the reception desk. As the masked intruders entered the elevator and heard Jarvis' polite voice asking who they were, the lightly dressed woman was stopped by a nervous-looking security guard.

"Oh, um, Miss Allegra. I suppose no one has had the opportunity to tell you but... Well, you have been banned from the Tower," he stammered.

"Oh no, I am well aware of your orders. However," she laughed lightly as she opened the floral purse that hung from her shoulder and retrieved a syringe filled with light green liquid, "I have chosen to ignore them."

At this, she violently stuck the needle into the man's arm, causing him to yell before whimpering. The reception was relatively empty, but more uniformed guards ran out as their comrade slid to the floor. Maria snarled and removed a pistol next. Each shot was as quick and easy as the former and, unlike Natasha, who usually shot to incapacitate instead of kill these days, she aimed for the chests and heads. Meanwhile, the three darkly dressed strangers were having some trouble with the AI.

"If you do not identify yourselves and your reasons for being here, I shall have to contact Mr Stark immediately, and he will not be pleased if I interrupt his day off," Jarvis warned.

"Dylan, quickly," the woman hissed.

At her words, one of the others pulled a small, metallic slate out of their backpack. Forcefully crashing it into the wall, the stranger slid a finger along its side and its screen rose from above.

"If you do not identify yourselves and your reasons for being here, I shall have to contact Mr Stark," Jarvis repeated, though the last word was slurred and there was a loud beep.

For a moment, there was silence. The device's screen lit up with the message 'J.A.R.V.I.S Artificial Intelligence hacked and muted'. The woman decided to take this chance to press on the elevator button and it began to slowly ascend. Eventually, it stopped and the doors opened to reveal two figures, one lazily browsing his tablet as the other furiously shouted into the other end of her phone.

Of course, the one thing that Maria really didn't need was an interruption. After wounding, maiming, killing or forcing the guards into submission, it was just her luck that the elevator wasn't working.

Elliot had raced to the Archives only to find Francis Ainsworth bored out of his mind and balancing on his mahogony chair whilst he scanned through a leather-bound book. He glanced up at the heaving boy and raised an eyebrow.

"Need something, Elliot? Something, I hope, that will pardon me of this slow and torturous punishment for more than a few minutes?"

"Monsieur, I need to find the last letters of my parents from 5 years ago. It is urgent," Elliot panted and watched with mild disdain as Francis' face lit up.

"That should be a challenge. You know, stuck in this same job for twelve years for one incident that wasn't even my fault is a dreary life, but every now and then I can use it to save the lives of my Familia. Well, maybe just this once, but I still think I should be rewarded after," he hinted, "I remember when your poor mother and traitorous father left. India was such a strange location but no-one could get it out of the Dux or any of you Javiers why they were going. Apparently it was so that your father could leave your mother to die there and get himself killed after spilling our secrets."

"Hurry, Monsieur Ainsworth, we don't have much time."

"Not to worry, Elliot, I was there when you needed to hide those letters and I remember where I stored them for you."

They turned down the twisting corridors formed by piles of books and documents, finally reaching a dusty, silver desk that seemed oddly out of place due to it's expensive if not aged appearance. Francis opened it with care and pulled out a pack of yellowed paper, held together in a stack by a withering piece of string that was tied in a neat bow above the first letter.

"Maybe, seeing as I helped you with this, you could put in a good word for me with the Dux? I only ask because I am under the impression that he doesn't forgive me for my... Mistake. I want to move onto bigger things, more important than this overgrown library."

"Merci, Monsieur, whatever you need. I must go now, but I assure you that it will be done."

With that, the eighteen year old dashed to his room and ripped the later letters from their envelopes to reveal neat handwriting, all written in French.

Dear Elliot and Elise,

We are so sorry that we have yet to return. I know that you must be worried since we extended our stay and we miss you very much, but we have to do this. You will not understand if I explain it to you now but this is for your good as well as our own. Especially you, Elise. We promise to be back soon, but it is imperative that we stay until we have retrieved what we need.

Missing you,

Papa

Rendering the letter useless by scrunching it up and throwing it across the room, Elliot read on to the next letter, desperate to save his sister.

Dear Elliot and Elise,

Your mother has suggested that maybe I should explain a little bit more, seeing as we have so far left you in the dark about our plans. There is a company named Stark Industries that has discovered a rare plant here in India. They are trying to use its properties to create a cure for many different diseases and we have been told by inside sources that it may heal your mother.

Unfortunately, they have not allowed us to take any of the plants and we are being forced to steal some of their supply. It is dangerous, but if we can acquire it, your mother and you, Elise, will never be ill again. I know that this may sound bad to you, stealing is a sin after all, but you must understand that sometimes we must do terrible things to protect our family and, though the acts should never be repeated, the bad leads to good in the end.

We hope to see you sooner than you expect. Tell Doctor Santoyo that Madame Javier misses his herbal remedies and that she does not trust Indian medicine nearly as much.

Missing you,

Papa

Elliot growled in frustration. He had learnt next to nothing. Stark Industries meant nothing to him and as far as he was concerned, some rare Indian plant wouldn't help them unless it turned out to be growing in their inside garden, which he knew it wasn't seeing as Dr Santoyo was in charge of the garden in his spare time and knew the name, origins and characteristics of every plant that grew there.

There was only one letter left. After their father's spectacular betrayal, explaining every single detail of the Familia's plan that was so close to perfection, Elliot had reread the letter more times than he could count before hiding them away forever. His father's writing had become scribbling and messy, a violent contrast from his usual elegant hand.

Dear Elliot and Elise,

I am so dreadfully sorry for what I have done. You have to understand that I didn't want to do it but I had no choice. They will not come for the base, I have kept that much sacred, but the plans have been ruined. Tell the rest of the Familia to stay inside. They should not go anywhere or try anything risky.

Your mother is dead. She died last night, not long after I told them everything. She was too weak to argue with me, or with them. They are letting me send one letter. They don't know how I will get it to you, the fools. I'm sorry, Elliot, that I could not return her home to you. I am sorry, Elise, that you might suffer the same fate. I did all I could, more than I should have. I am not a member of the Familia any longer.

You won't be seeing me again, I will make sure of that, but know that in my last moments, I think of when our family was whole.

Missing you more than ever,

Papa

Elliot had always been disgusted by his father's actions. He had betrayed the one thing that the boy had grown up to trust and, whatever his reasons, the man had cost his children their livelihoods. As much as they had basked in the love of their own parents, Elliot and Elise took an equal amount of pleasure from the affection of the rest of the Familia.

There had been a sickening second, when Elliot had shown the Dux the letter at a hastily called assembly, when a wave of doubt flooded every member's mind. They had turned to the twins with looks of accusation and fury, which only caused the fire in Elliot's mind to grow fiercer. Of course his father had taken such a course of action with no thought of his children's well-being. They could have been thrown out or killed by the Familia.

In fact, it was probably only due to the Dux's calm trust in the two that no action was taken against them. Perhaps the death of their parents had tied the twins closer to the Familia than ever before, or perhaps it was only the bond between themselves and the Dux that had grown stronger but Elliot was sure that he would not be safer than he was with his leader. However, he would not be sure of anything without his intelligent and strong-willed sister at his side.

No, the letters held no clues of how to save Elise, only broken words and false hopes. There were only two things that could possibly prolong the girl's life: an unnamed, precious, privately owned plant from India or the company it was owned by, Stark Industries.

Dun dun DUUUUUHHH! Anywho, hope you enoyed, review and tell me what you thought, follow and favourite if you liked. The next chapter might take a little while, I'm not entirely sure. I seriously doubt that it will be as long as this one. Sorry to anyone reading my Spiderman fanfic because I won't be updating for a while.

In other news, I like Harry Potter and I like writing. I am, therefore writing a Harry Potter fanfiction because why not. However, I haven't uploaded it yet because I am planning for it to be very long and I am only about a quarter of the way through it. I might upload it when it is finished, but if anyone wants it sooner, just review and ask! If you don't want it, I won't bother you about it again.

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