Author's Note:

The first 3 chapters have been rewritten – in a manner of speaking – so it may be beneficial for some to go back and skim/reread those chapters. Not much was changed just a few tweaks to Emily's personality (mainly the things she says). Also thank you so much to all those who have reviewed so far! You guys are the best encouragement I could ever ask for (shoutout to all of you at the end of this chapter!).

Regarding the longer-than-I-intended hiatus while rewriting I wanted to mention, again, that all updates/plans/hiatuses will be posted on my tumblr! (link on profile) For anyone crazy enough to want to know exactly what's going on in terms of the writing (and potentially get sneak-peeks) that's the best place to go! I'll still be on a mini-break while I try to edit/revise the rough drafts of later chapters I've already written. It's very time-consuming when you're sans a beta.

Chapter 4

Three Scientists and a Hulk

"Uh, Tony?" Emily tentatively asked.

When the man standing in the middle of the kitchen turned around Emily blinked in surprise and had to fight the urge to gawk.

"Not… Tony."

"No. Sorry," the stranger awkwardly smiled. "You're Emily right?"

She nodded.

"My name's-"

"Bruce. Err- Banner. I mean, Bruce Banner." The more Emily tripped over her words the more her face turned red and the more awkward she felt. Without meaning to she blurted, "You're the Hulk."

She couldn't recognize the emotion that flitted across his face but his forced laugh and soft 'yea' had her mentally kicking herself.

"Sorry. I just… wasn't really expecting to see you, or anyone, in Tony's kitchen. Speaking of, where's my cousin?"

"Hey, glad to see you two've met," Tony laughed, as if on cue. "Banner's going to be staying to help me with a few projects."

She blinked then physically relaxed. Smiling she held out her hand, "Awesome. Nice to meet you."

He shook her hand and nodded in reply.

"By the way, kind of wicked cool the way you turn into a raging green behemoth."

Emily laughed at the look he gave her before turning to look at Tony, her arms crossed and foot tapping the floor. "Next time, care to inform the rest of Stark Tower's tenants that we have a guest? Would have appreciated the chance to make a decent first impression."

Banner's laugh surprised her. "It's fine," he said, referring to her concerns.

Stumped on what else to say to Banner, Emily offered a quick 'awesome' before punching her cousin in the arm, grabbing a pop tart, and leaving the kitchen. She desperately wanted to stick around and ask Banner about Tony but she'd be late if she didn't get the lead out of her pants. As kind as her professors had been so far she knew they wouldn't tolerate lateness.

In her dash for the garage she bumped into Pepper but after a quick apology she raced to the mercedes and threw herself into the driver's seat.

'Shit, shit, shit… going to be late,' she moaned as she sped towards her campus.

Emily considered herself a talented driver, but when she pulled into the parking lot she didn't care that the silver car was at an angle as she squeezed it between a Honda Civic and Toyota Camry; running to her first class as soon as she heard the car doors lock.

She barely made it in time. Out of breath she slumped into her seat, ignoring the humored looks on classmates' faces, and got ready for the incoming lecture; regaining a normal breathing speed twenty minutes in.

Intro to Business ended and she filed out of the classroom along with the rest of her class. Once in the hallway most students parted for various reasons and it allowed her to breathe a tad easier. She flinched slightly when she realized she was the only one who wasn't walking with friends but as she dug around in her backpack it slipped her mind.

Struggling to keep a decent walking pace while reading Emily forgot all about the stairs leading to the courtyard. The second her foot slipped off the step she yelped but before she could take a nose dive into a mandatory hospital stay someone caught her by the waist.

"Whoa, careful."

She stared at the blonde holding onto her: completely speechless. Her mind was too preoccupied trying to figure out what had almost happened to convey her gratitude. Or appreciate that nature had spent an abnormally long amount of time sculpting his features.

"Hey, don't we have a class together?'

Emily blinked a few times before a deep red spread across her cheeks and she nodded. "Marketing, I think?"

She tried to play it cool, like Tony would, but the reality was that she'd noticed him on day one. Content being single, too busy keeping her cousin breathing, and having only attended classes one day so far meant she hadn't bothered to talk to him or even humor the idea of a relationship. Until now.

"Right."

"Th-thank you for catching me," she stuttered and pulled herself to her feet. "Wasn't my best idea I suppose."

He made sure she wasn't going to topple over again before laughing and extending his hand. "Clark Masters."

"Emily Stark," she replied, shaking his hand.

"Wait, are you-"

She sighed but nodded. "Tony Stark's cousin? Yep."

"Funny, you don't seem anything like him."

She wasn't sure if that was an insult or not but she'd expected those sorts of statements before moving so she decided to just take it as a compliment. That off-kilter grin was too enticing to get offended over a stupid remark. Besides, it anything, it just meant she didn't seem erratic or self-centered.

"Thanks," she sheepishly grinned; tucking a strand of her dark brown hair back into place. Her mind tried to come up with something to say, anything, to keep him from walking away but he beat her to it.

"White Fang, huh?" He asked as he picked up the book she'd dropped and held it out. "My mother used to read that to me as a kid."

Emily smiled, brushing off her jeans. "Oh? It was my dad's favorite."

"Did he read it in-"

"different voices? Yes," she finished with a laugh. That had always been her favorite part, considering he had continued to read it to her even when she got old enough to read to herself. The voices he did had been the reason she'd never complained.

"Taking a leap of faith here, but would you care to grab lunch?"

Emily took a moment to think about it. When he rubbed the back of his head and looked away, as if losing hope she'd respond positively, she nodded.

"On me. Since you did keep me from an unwanted hospital visit. And irritating lecture from Tony."

He shot her a crooked grin. "So, what other sort of books do you enjoy?"

"Is 'everything' an acceptable answer?"

Lunch went by too fast. Clark was funny and much more grounded than she would have ever thought. He shared her love for books of all genres and, even though they disagreed on the morals discussed in The Secret Garden, they got along exceptionally well. They even had a similar taste in coffee.

At first she had thought he only asked her out due to her relation to Tony but the longer they talked the more she realized that wasn't the case at all. By the time she had to leave to get to her next class they'd exchanged numbers and made plans to meet for lunch on Friday.

The excitement had barely worn off by the time she made it home.

She strode into the Tower only to remember that Banner was there. He intrigued her. Partly because of how close he was to Tony yet so different personality wise, and partly because he was the first of the Avengers she'd met. That she wasn't related to anyhow. Millions of questions swirled in her head by the time she made it to the elevator; she wanted to ask him about what he remembered about the invasion and how he thought it had changed her cousin. But she barely made it past the third floor before she heard a weapon go off followed by muffled screaming.

'What the- What did you do now, Tony?'

Quickly she hit the button for the floor Tony's workshop was on and impatiently waited for the frustratingly slow contraption to work its way there.

She wasn't ready for what she saw when the elevator doors opened.

The scene splayed out in front of her eyes was oddly reminiscent of Christmas day back home. Just, with fewer walls. Tools of all kinds were thrown about the room, joined by shards of glass from the windows, miscellaneous sections of Tony's suit, and fragments of cement from the ceiling. In the dead center of the chaos, lying flat on their backs, were Tony and Banner. Pepper stood less than a foot from where Emily was - her head in her hand. Obviously she was trying to remember what it was about Tony she loved.

'Scattered tools? Check. Broken glass? Check. Suit and ceiling fragments? Check. Hope for Tony? Never to be seen again,' she groaned.

Looking at Pepper she cringed. it wasn't unheard of for Tony to wreck his things but that didn't stop Emily's desire to clobber him.

"You couldn't have waited another ten minutes to do," she paused unsure what to call the display before motioning to all of it, "whatever this is?"

Tony grunted as he tried to clamber to his feet. Banner following suit. Both looked as though they were assaulted by a weed-whacker-wheeling-welder. If it wasn't for the way Pepper was looking at Tony, Emily's homicidal urge would've passed quickly and she'd have found it down-right hilarious. But the look on Pepper's face was worrisome.

"For as ridiculous as he can be, and stubborn, Tony's heart is in the right place. And, he adores you." Emily tacked the last part on in desperation.

Pepper smiled slightly; uncertainty still apparent on her face.

"Besides, you wouldn't be mean enough to leave me alone with him, right?" she whined.

That earned Emily a laugh.

Feeling confident that Tony hadn't fucked things up too badly, Emily sauntered into the room and tried to pinpoint the source of the damage. The glove on the floor made her weep for her cousin's sanity. What little was left.

"You didn't," she moaned, scrunching her eyebrows together. "Dammit Tony, you know it wasn't ready to be tested yet! Let alone tested in your lab!"

He ignored her lecture; choosing to smile at Banner instead. "That went better than expected."

Banner didn't say anything, he just sighed and checked his watch. A grin tugged at the corner of her lips. It looked like a watch but she was well aware that it was meant to monitor his blood-pressure. Something she had discovered during her late nights of digging around. Part of her really wanted to scream 'ah ha!' but she wasn't about to get caught. Jail didn't seem like an easy place to keep an eye on Tony from.

Not caring that he didn't receive an answer, Tony looked around to locate the glove before picking it up, dusting it off, and sitting down to tinker with the contraption. She just rolled her eyes. While she wasn't nearly as eager to die as he seemed to be, she knew the joy he found in what he did.

As much as she wanted to give him the lecture of the century - about how stupid he'd been to test the glove and put his relationship in jeopardy - she felt dizzy and sick.

The hole in the wall showed the entire city in all its glory; reminding her, unfortunately, that she wasn't on solid ground.

She swayed and had to fight the urge to scream or throw up. Thankfully Tony was lost to the world so she didn't have to say anything before heading back to the elevator and strait to her room; stumbling slightly as she fought off a growing panic attack. When she made it through the door she didn't bother to keep things organized. Instead, she threw her backpack on the floor and sprinted to hold onto the couch.

There was a light tingling sensation growing in her legs so she knelt down behind the couch. Each time she took a breath it didn't feel as though she was getting enough oxygen which made her worries worse. Jaw clenched she shut her eyes and started counting backwards from one hundred; trying to regain control over her body in the process.

It took over ten minutes but she finally managed to slow her heart rate back down and her breathing returned to normal. But she still didn't feel capable of standing up. Head resting against the back of the couch she stayed where she knelt for another ten minutes in an effort to be entirely positive the attack was past.

Finally she stood up and hesitantly made her way to her windows; closing the drapes as soon as she wrapped her fingers around the fabric. Completely exhausted and drained of energy she trudged to her bed and flopped down; not bothering to remove her shoes.

Gripping her pillow she fell asleep; waking only long enough to do the homework she had left, grab dinner, and check to make sure Pepper hadn't decided to up and quit.

Thursday and Friday went by in a blur of homework, classes, the occasional explosion, and lunch plans with Clark. She found it incredibly easy to keep up with the work load being assigned and always seemed to get her homework done in record time. Not that it really said much about the classes since she hadn't finished her first week yet but it gave her hope. And when all was said and done, and she had no other responsibilities to see to, she'd sprint to Tony's lab where she would find Tony messing with part of his suit and Banner standing a foot or so away. After she let them know she was there she'd dive right into assisting Tony or badger Banner about the most random things: from where he was born to his favorite flavor of coffee to the type of shorts he favored. But her questions were always benign and non-intrusive; at least, when Tony was around.

Pepper finally dragged Tony away on Friday evening and Emily's entire demeanor changed just as it always did when she was alone with Banner. It was the only time she had to inquire about her cousin.

The first time she'd cornered Banner he'd seemed unsure what to say and often chose to keep things short but when Emily finally explained how incredibly worried her family was - how worried she was - for Tony's safety he opened up more. It was through Banner that she learned about the Chitauri's motives, what Tony had been prepared to sacrifice, and how Tony seemed to be acting different even around Banner.

During their talk on Friday they found themselves sitting at the kitchen table, happy for the reprieve from the lab Pepper had supplied them with by dragging Tony to a particularly lengthy meeting. The last one he had that week.

"He saved the planet," she muttered; after Banner explained the way Tony seemed to struggle between continuing his usual erratic behavior and keeping a constant guard up. The mere idea that the event had affected her cousin so badly that he actually took a step back to think before acting made her heart ache. She wasn't a psychologist, the way the mind worked wasn't interesting to her, but she couldn't fathom that he wasn't proud of himself for what he did.

"He's," Banner searched for the right words but found nothing to accurately explain the way Tony had changed.

All Emily could do was nod: trying to imagine what went through her cousin's mind these days.

"How are classes going?"

"Huh?" Emily blinked, not expecting the topic change. "Oh, right. College."

That got a small chuckle out of Banner.

"Admittedly, not as bad as I had imagined." She offered a small smile. "The work doesn't take too long to finish, the professors seem to know what they're talking about, and I've actually been making friends." She didn't include details on that last point. On the off-chance Banner let it slip to Tony she was conversing with a guy. Clark was a good person but Tony really did have a hard time remembering she was a grown-ass woman who could look after herself. That, and the fact that she had older brothers that were already bad enough at being overly-protective made her reluctant to talk about guys in general.

Taking a quick sip of her coffee she exhaled. "I'm… sort of glad I chose to attend NYU."

"What made you apply?"

"Tony," she muttered unsure how lame that sounded.

Banner just nodded in understanding.

"But as much as I love it it's always nice to come home after school on Friday - today - and relax."

They both laughed - knowing that Stark Towers was much more hectic than her University - before letting the conversation give way to a comfortable silence. After her initial screw up with Banner it hadn't taken more than a few interactions for him to visibly relax around her. He seemed fine around Tony and she was incredibly similar to her cousin; minus the ego. She didn't fear him - she never really had - and often times poked light fun at his predicament. Plus it fascinated her: knowing how different he was to the 'other guy'. She could see why Tony enjoyed his company.

"So you don't remember much about it at all?"

Banner let out a small sigh before shaking his head.

"Interesting," she mused. After noticing his expression she placed a gentle hand on his arm and offered a small smile. "I was just curious."

He returned the smile and they both focused on the drink in their hands. As the silence returned - as it so often did during their conversations - they relaxed, happy to have the break from Tony's constant talking.

Soon enough, Tony returned and Banner accompanied him back to the lab.

Emily shook her head when he asked if she was going to join them.

"Some of us have work to do," she lied.

Her mind was still reeling from what Banner had told her; she didn't trust herself not to blurt out something in the midst of Tony's babbling.

When Emily returned home that following Monday it was just like any other day in her mind. She headed for her room to deposit her backpack before making her way to the kitchen to grab a quick snack and question Jarvis about Tony's behavior while she was away. Satisfied that Tony wasn't getting worse, and hadn't gotten into any more trouble in her absence, she choked down the last of her snack and trotted to Tony's lab in the hopes that he'd be too preoccupied talking to Banner to care about her tweaking his suit.

The elevator opened and she froze.

'Are you- dammit Tony…' she mentally chided her cousin.

Once again he had neglected to inform her that company was coming.

Banner was stationed in Tony's chair, which was unusual enough, while Tony was frantically trailing after a brunette clutching one of his many pieces of equipment. Emily couldn't make out what he was saying but she was sure he was trying to remind the woman that she was touching Tony Stark's property and that if she broke it she'd be paying big time. Hilarious considering he could buy another and not make a dent in his fortune. But the brunette wasn't the only one in Tony's lab that wasn't supposed to be there. Another brunette stood awkwardly next to a table cluttered with papers speaking to an older gentleman - who seemed to be missing his pants.

As quietly as she could be, Emily headed into the lab; the doors opening automatically since Jarvis had long since given up with keeping her out; it hadn't taken long for her to discover he'd been lying about not being able to let her in the lab. Immediately she was greeted by Banner who just sighed and held his head in his hand. It was reassuring to know she wasn't the only one concerned about what was going on; though she was sure Banner had a better clue about it than she did. Her only advantage was that she already knew who the strangers were without the need for introductions.

"Hey!" Tony barked. "You're going to break it."

"I know what I'm doing, Stark," Jane replied, fiddling with the contraption she held in her hand.

"I don't appreciate people taking my stuff." His voice was a mixture of amusement, irritation, and immense concern for his things.

She just ignored him and struck up a conversation with the man Emily recognized as Erik Selvig.

"Hey Jane, your thingy's being a butt again," Darcy chimed in.

Tony frowned, obviously annoyed he was being ignored. But that wasn't going to stop him.

Concerned, Emily turned to Banner and pointed at the scene playing out before her.

"SHIELD requested that Tony assist Ms. Foster and Mr. Selvig with their research," he answered before she even had time to ask the question.

"Sure, 'requested'," she mumbled. Banner just shot her a confused look and she realized she'd give her late night research away if she didn't change the subject. So she did. "He's not wearing any pants…"

Banner sighed.

"Tony!" Emily shouted.

He turned to look at her but just nodded in acknowledgment before returning to the lecture he was giving Jane over the reckless use of his equipment. Amusing considering he'd broken more than one machine - including the one she was holding - in the last week alone along with multiple windows.

Not appreciating the lack of reply, Emily walked over to the table they were all crowded around. Without thinking she picked up a few of the papers and skimmed over the information. Anomalies didn't usually attract her attention but the readings seemed off. Typically they were about changes in weather or spikes in atmospheric pressure but these didn't match either criteria. Jane snatched the paper from her just as Emily realized the readings were about a drastic shift in pollution levels. Confusing considering Jane was an astrophysicist.

"Who are you?"

It took Emily a moment to realize what Jane had just asked her. "Huh?"

"That's my cousin," Tony cut in, waving his hand as if she wasn't important. "Now why are you moving my equipment-"

"What's she doing here?"

Emily could tell Jane wasn't trying to be rude but that didn't stop her blood from boiling. She took a deep breath before gesturing to the paper Jane had taken. "Why are you studying pollution levels?"

Jane blinked at her.

"Pollution levels- that's what the readings are, right?"

She just stared.

Emily rolled her eyes before extending her hand, waiting for Jane to hand her the papers back. It took a moment before Jane cautiously gave them to her. Immediately Emily placed the paper on the table, shuffled a few of the other papers littered about, and pointed to the first - muttering a small 'there'. Jane just stared at the data Emily's finger hovered over.

"Jarvis, can you pull up the pollution levels of the United States for the past ten years? Excluding this year?"

"Yes ma'am." In moments a hologram of the data hung in the air.

Swiping it so it was stationed on her right, Emily picked up the paper and compared it to the hologram. "There's been an, overall, average of a 5% spike in pollution levels all across the United States," she motioned for Jane to stand beside her before she continued. "But there's been one hell of a drastic jump in the levels of the least polluted cities. Like Santa Fe-Espanola, New Mexico and Cheyenne, Wyoming."

Emily handed Jane the paper before asking Jarvis to pull up the data from the current year alone.

"It doesn't make sense though. Pollution is caused by burning fossil fuels, industry or manufacturing emissions, household and farming chemicals- you get the idea." She pulled up another hologram and scrunched her eyebrows. "But this doesn't make much sense. There hasn't been any added manufacturing plants, an increase in car sales that would explain it, or even illegal dumping in those areas."

She laughed when Tony raised an eyebrow at the last part.

"Just because it's illegal doesn't mean no one knows about it, Tony."

"Than what could be the cause?" Erik asked.

Everyone looked at Emily expectantly and she felt her cheeks grow red. As much as she enjoyed being able to help she didn't appreciate the assumption that she would have all the answers.

"That's the million dollar question," she shrugged.

Jane sighed and Darcy clapped. Apparently it wasn't everyday that someone could one-up Jane. Not that Emily intended to show off - she was just incredibly protective of the state the planet was in. It was something that she had always kept tabs on back home due to the risk it posed to potential crops and livestock. Ever since her arrival at Stark Towers, however, she'd been a tad busy with other research.

With the new information, Jane and Erik suddenly threw themselves into their work - Tony returning to hovering over their shoulders - leaving Darcy, Emily, and Banner clueless about what to do.

Stretching, Emily figured it would be best not to get in the way again. Jane seemed nice enough - the small altercation didn't lessen Emily's respect for the woman - but it was obvious that she had a tendency to get defensive about her work. So Emily headed for the door, deciding that a food break would be a welcome relief. She didn't have to say a word to Banner or Darcy - they merely followed her lead.

Once in the kitchen, Emily pulled out the ingredients and pans she needed before she set about making lasagna and apple pie. Earning confused but intrigued looks from Banner and Darcy. To which Emily just laughed. She'd already had a snack before everything happened in the lab but between Pepper being extremely busy with Tony's company and needing something to do outside of the lab - well, Emily figured she could kill two birds with one stone.

As soon as the preparations were done and both pans in the oven, Emily sat down next to Darcy.

"Who are you anyhow?"

Darcy's question broke the silence and stunned Emily. But she quickly recovered.

Running a hand through her hair Emily replied, "Emily Stark, Tony's cousin."

"Never heard of you," Darcy shrugged.

"Tony… doesn't talk about his family - us - much. But it's to be expected, considering we're farmers," Emily giggled. She didn't mind the way Darcy put her question since the girl was just blunt - not rude.

"So, what're you doing here?"

"I'm staying with Tony while I go to NYU," Emily immediately replied. She caught Banner's gaze and sent him a 'go with it' look. Not everyone needed to know that she was supposed to be keeping a careful eye on her cousin.

Banner opted to just stay quiet and let the two girls talk.

Three hours later Pepper returned and gave Emily a surprised 'thank you' when she realized dinner was already made and on the table. Emily just smiled and motioned for Pepper to sit down. She hesitated, obviously wondering about Tony but Emily insisted.

"He'll be here momentarily."

Pepper didn't say anything. She just sat down and gave Emily a curious look - to which Emily returned a mischievous grin.

"Jarvis," she cooed. "Do you remember that song I was playing this morning?"

"Billy Currington's I Wanna be a Hillbilly, correct?"

"That's the one."

"What about it, ma'am?"

"Be a dear and throw that sucker on repeat in Tony's lab."

"Are you… sure, ma'am?"

"Yes. And stop calling me ma'am. It makes me sound old," she snorted.

Moments later she heard Tony's angry voice and footsteps approaching. With the most innocent smile she could muster she turned to greet her cousin. "So glad you decided to join us for dinner!"

He opened his mouth to snap at her but his stomach growled, giving him away. Reluctantly he sat down.

Emily knew him better than he seemed to remember. Food he didn't have to cook or pay for was his favorite, well, it used to be; back before he discovered Shwarma. After Jane and Erik joined them everyone dug in and Emily felt content. While she didn't particularly like cooking she was decent at it and always appreciated satisfied 'customers'. Being the one in charge of her younger siblings when her parents were busy with the farm meant she had had to cook more than her fair share of meals. And for kids raised on a farm her siblings were awfully picky.

Dinner was warm, inviting, and Emily suddenly felt a startling - overwhelming - home-sickness. She'd almost forgotten how it felt to be surrounded by people and conversation. Hell, she'd forgotten what it was like to just have dinner with more than one person. Tony and Pepper seemed to be perpetually busy and they didn't have dinner together very often. Emily mentally kicked herself for hating family dinner as a kid. The amount of people had been frustrating but the relaxed atmosphere coupled with having family close was nice. She missed it.

'Definitely need to call mom tomorrow.'

"Damn, this is good," Darcy mumbled through a mouthful of food. "You'd make a good spouse."

Emily burst out laughing when Tony nearly choked. Disregarding that fact that she wasn't all that interested in marriage and the like, it was a sweet notion. Clark was a great guy but they had a long ways to go before she'd be comfortable calling him a friend let alone dating.

"Thanks. I think."

Tony just glared at Darcy. The thought of Emily having a boyfriend wasn't that big of a deal it was the corresponding thoughts that bothered him. With a twenty-three year gap between them he'd always considered her too young to date. Her first boyfriend had been one hell of a shock for him.

Emily was sure that, if she told him she'd already had sex, he'd croak.

Luckily Pepper had changed the subject and any tension in the air disappeared.

After everyone was done eating they went their separate ways. Jane, Darcy, and Erik left to go collect their things - once again Tony forgot to mention that they'd be staying in the Tower - while Tony dragged Banner back to the now vacant lab to hide the equipment he didn't want Jane touching. Leaving Pepper and Emily to clean up. But the girls didn't seem to mind, it had been a few days since they'd actually been able to talk.

"I'm glad you're here, Emily."

The statement caught her off-guard and she almost dropped the plate she was holding.

"He acts more like the old Tony."

Emily's face fell. She had hoped that, of all the things that the invasion would affect, Tony's relationship with Pepper wouldn't be one of them. Alas, it - apparently - was. She didn't know how to feel about that. It was great that Pepper hadn't decided things were too much and left but the fact that Emily being there brought back enough of the old Tony that Pepper felt the need to thank her… that wasn't good.

"I'm… glad," she said, unable to keep all of the sorrow out of her voice. Pepper just offered a small look of understanding before they returned to the dishes.

"How're your classes going?"

Emily felt a mixture of irritation and elation at the question. "Phenomenal, to be honest."

Pepper smiled. "Grown used to the air, then?"

Suddenly Emily understood why Pepper could put up with Tony: she had one hell of a twisted sense of humor. "I guess I have," she mused.

"Good."

"The schoolwork's pretty easy and I get along with most of my classmates."

"What's his name?"

Emily whipped her head to stare at Pepper; nearly breaking it. "I don't- how'd you know?"

"You're fairly easy to read, Emily."

She sighed but admitted defeat. "His name's Clark."

"How'd you meet?"

"Marketing class," Emily muttered. "Well, we have Marketing together but he kept me from breaking my face by falling down the stairs one day."

"What's he like?"

Mentally Emily thanked Pepper for not dwelling on her near-hospital visit. "He likes the same sort of books I do, he's aiming for a Business major, and he hasn't once mentioned Tony. Plus he's the first guy I've met with a brain in his skull that doesn't give me funny looks when I talk about the family farm."

"Sounds like a keeper."

Emily laughed. "Yea, no."

"Oh?"

"It takes more than a few conversations to get to know someone," she explained. "Besides, we aren't at the friend level yet so dating isn't even on the radar right now."

"I see."

"Promise you won't..."

"Promise."

It was nice to know that Pepper didn't want to deal with Tony's undoubtable tangent when he found out Emily was hanging out with some guy. It meant that Pepper wasn't about to tell him anytime soon. And, Emily had someone to talk to about Clark.

The two finished the dishes and parted ways; Pepper went to track down Tony while Emily headed back to her room to study.

And check her phone for messages…

That night Emily had a hard time sleeping. Her dreams were filled with decaying planets and screaming strangers, but what caused her the most distress were the constant memories of Tony when they were younger. She'd feel helpless as Earth fell away in front of her eyes only to have the memory of the first time Tony let her actually take the lead on a project take its place; the way he'd cheered her on as she connected wires only to laugh and congratulate her when it didn't work. For someone so self-centered Tony had been the most encouraging person in her life. Even her failures were successes in his eyes and he constantly reminded her that the only way to get anywhere was to make mistakes. Of course, his reminders were fairly sarcastic but she always knew when he was being genuine. It was a lucky gift. But the memory would soon be obliterated by a melting planet filled to the brim with chaos. Which would give way to more memories.

By the time she woke she had bags under her eyes regardless of the full eight hours of sleep she managed to get.

Feeling terrible she opted to wear her most sentimental clothes, relieving part her of her homesickness but replacing it with a different sorrow as she held the plaid fabric of her shirt in her fingers. Remembering how memorizing her grandmother had been while making the shirt. Her aged hands zipping back and forth on the sewing machine while she swayed to the humming the machine made. The shirt had been made for Emily's older sister but when she'd outgrown it their mother saved it for Emily.

She pulled the fabric to her nose and inhaled.

It smelled like home: like the daisies planted on the perimeter of the barn, the fresh, dry, hay she would lug into the horses' stalls in the morning, and the sweat from her stallion as they raced around the field bareback or basked in the sun on the grass. It smelled like the pumpkin pie her mother would make on random days and leave on the window's edge to cool and the dust that would jump from her father's shirt after he got home from town only to drown her in a bear hug.

"I thought you only smelled books."

Tony's taunting broke her train of thought and Emily rolled her eyes. He wouldn't understand the feeling or reassurance it gave her.

"I thought you knew to knock," she retorted with a grin.

He snorted before leaving; obviously satisfied that she was awake and not in a state of panic. After grabbing her backpack she trotted to the kitchen only to find Darcy and Jane there already. With a smile she wished them a happy morning before digging through the cupboards to find her poptart box. She hadn't even opened the silver wrapping when Darcy laughed.

"Thor ate an entire box of those once," Jane explained.

"And was still hungry," Darcy snorted. "But he seemed to like them."

Emily smiled but in the back of her mind wondered if there was a chance that the Asgardian would visit. Realizing that, if he did, Tony was probably not inclined to tell her until after she'd already run into Thor.

'Couldn't hurt to write my name on the box. All the boxes.'

Asiamazing: Your review had me smiling like a bloody fool when I first read it! I've never been all that confident in my writing style and I cannot express to you just how much your review meant to me both in regards to the story and my confidence as a writer in general. Thank you so much (I'm glad you were able to locate the story again - otherwise I would have missed your review something terrible)!

LexxHiddleston: Truth be told I was lightly paranoid at your review but I'm hoping that some of the work I did to try and discover Emily as a character will help both myself when writing but also readers who haven't quite decided how to feel about her.

Sunflower13, theladyofthelost, and Jazz379705: Thank you so much for the support! I truly appreciate all the kind words and encouragement! I don't expect anyone to spend valuable time reviewing my work so I'm always so happy and excited when they do. Thank you all so, so, so much!