Amelia bolted up, eyelids flying open. "Easy!" Bruce cried, rushing over and steadying the panicked girl by holding her shoulders. She gazed around, eyes coming into focus. "Are you alright?"
"No," Amelia gasped and slumped back down, chest heaving. "Did… did you…"
"Your parents are alive and free," Bruce assured, sitting down next to her. "Aaron is also in custody."
"Were my parents hurt?"
"Just the usual cuts and bruises."
Amelia swallowed heavily and rasped, "I didn't mean to kill her."
"Who?" Bruce sounded genuinely confused.
"Victoria," Amelia whispered softly, closing her blue eyes. "I… I tried to hold onto her, but she fell…" Bruce patted her hand and she opened her eyes.
Bruce said softly, "Amelia, Victoria was gone. There was no body, she had left."
"But I saw her fall!" Amelia cried, sitting up. "I heard her bones break, Bruce! That sound… that can't be faked and no one mortal could survive that!"
"But she did," he interrupted, standing. "You survived the first battle, and that was your worst." Amelia glanced down at her hands. "Now, Amelia, you need to rest. Aaron shot you in the back of the neck with a tranquilizer dart." He chuckled. "This time, I caught you before you hit the ground. Please stop falling, will you?"
Amelia would've laughed if she wasn't so rattled, but gazed at him with a troubled expression and murmured, "Is that okay if I don't see my parents now?"
Bruce nodded. "Of course, I understand. I'll tell them you're feeling better." He headed over away from her bed and to the door, but before Bruce opened the door, he paused. "I think I'll thank Aaron for tranquilizing you," he teased. "It did us all a favor when we got on the plane." Pretending to be offended, Amelia took the pillow behind her and chucked it at him, causing Bruce to chuckle and leave as the pillow hit his back. Amelia then sat alone to ponder about what to say to her parents.
After Amelia had gotten more sleep, she went to her room to clean herself up, stomach rolling at the thought of meeting her parents for the first time. Once Amelia showered off, she put on nice, clean jeans and her white blouse. Picking up her hairbrush, she ran it through her wet reddish-brown hair, letting it dry over time and letting it fall over her shoulders, realizing how much it grew out.
She then left her room, walking out down the hallway as she headed into the conference room, seeing Tony, Agent Hill, Fury, Thor, and Bruce. Without asking, Fury pointed down the other hallway to the right and Amelia nodded, taking a deep breath and walking down it, counting the doors on the left as she remember which one they were behind.
Amelia stopped dead, staring at the door. If it was true, her parents were in there, waiting to see her for the first time since she was born. "Are you okay?"
She glanced toward Steve and nodded. "Yeah… sorry, it's just…" She trailed off and he nodded.
"I understand." He then walked on, heading toward the conference room.
Taking a deep breath, Amelia forced herself to walk forward and raised her hand, clamping it onto the door. This was something she would have to do alone; no one else could help her. Slowly, she twisted the knob and pushed open the door. Inside, she saw a woman wearing a black S.H.I.E.L.D. suit and a man wear black cargos and a black t-shirt, the two sitting next to each other.
Amelia froze, unsure what to call them. Should she call them her mother and father? By their first names or their last? Taking a deep breath, she stammered, "D-d-dad? M-m-mom?"
They looked up and grinned. Clint was the first to stand and Amelia rushed over to them, tucking herself between them as the held her close. "You've grown so much," Natasha choked out, holding her daughter.
"I'm glad you're alright," Clint murmured.
Amelia sniffled, crying silently as she felt one of her parent's gently rub her back comfortingly.