Dedicated to Kyla, who stays on the phone with me while I walk to my car after work so that if I get attacked and killed she'll know what happens and write an epic story about it.

CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN

Angel was in the Tesseract lab doing some monitoring when Tony walked in. She barely acknowledged him with a glance before going back to her paperwork. He walked over and sat on her desk next to her and stared at her, waiting for her to react.

Angel was used to this tactic, and being a Stark herself meant she could resist it easily, so she continued doing her work and ignoring her childish older brother.

"You know I still haven't forgotten what happened with the engine," Tony said, picking up a compass on the desk and fiddling with it in his hands, "Last I checked, you were an art scholar, not an engineer or electrician."

"Well we all have our little secrets and hidden talents, don't we Tony?" Angel said, not bothering to glance up from her work.

"Yes but I got my secrets out in the open a long time ago. You, on the other hand, seem to be holding back. Care to share with the rest of the class how you pulled that little trick with the engine?"

Angel sighed and put her pen down and leaned back in her chair to look at Tony, "I suppose it is high time that we had this conversation."

"How long have you been working for SHIELD?" Tony asked, Angel chuckled and shook her head.

"I don't work for SHIELD, the Tesseract assignment has been my first project with SHIELD."

"Then how did you know what to do with the engine? You don't learn that kind of stuff at boarding school Angel. Did Dad teach you or something?"

Angel snorted, "Please, Howard and I barely got along. You know that."

"Then how, because I'm trying to think of all the possibilities and none of them are adding up."

"I'm a mutant, Tony." Angel said, enjoying the look of shock plastered on her brother's face. He stared at her for a good three minutes before trying to formulate words.

"Uh… how?" Tony asked.

"My mother, the one Howard seduced and got pregnant, carried the mutant gene and passed it on to me. I have the ability to manipulate objects, both inanimate and biological."

"So you manipulated the control panel and the electronics to get the rotators working again?" Tony asked, still looking bewildered and thrown off kilter.

Angel nodded, "If it helps, Howard never knew. That school I convinced you two to send me to is a private school for other mutants, the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters."

Tony nodded, feeling stupid that he had never looked into her schooling before. He was well aware of Xavier's and the mutant population within it. He felt even more stupid as he looked back on all the times Angel never gave him details on her schoolwork and life. He'd never really been a good brother to her, always seeing her as a little girl so he kept his distance and focused on his own work.

"Have you ever manipulated me?" He asked.

"There was never a need to, we've never really interacted much," Angel said, not dwelling on that fact, "I considered doing it during your outburst at the first SHIELD meeting, thankfully Sharon talked me out of that one."

"Yes, your friend who is also a mutant," Tony said, "That should have been a good clue…"

"Hey," Angel stood up and put a hand on Tony's arm, "I made a point of keeping it a secret from you and everyone else. I didn't want to be treated any differently or to be seen as some abomination."

"Angel come on," Tony scoffed, "I have an arc reactor imbedded in my chest, I think that's as weird as being born with a mutant gene. And if anyone so much as tries to lay a finger on you because they think you're a monster, than they will have to deal with the consequences of messing with a Stark."

Angel's eyes teared up a bit; Tony had never been much of a brother before. While she never approved of his actions with women, she always wanted to make their relationship stronger. She could only hope now that they can start working on that.

She leaned forward and gave him a light hug, "Thanks big brother."

"Anytime sis," Tony said.

It was at that point that Bruce walked in and saw the siblings embracing, "Family bonding moment?" He asked as he walked over to his desk and looked over some papers.

"Something like that," Tony said, "Hey you should be the first to hear the news: my sister is a mutant!"

Bruce looked at Tony skeptically, "I know."

"What do you mean?" Tony asked, looking confused, "You can't know, it's been a secret. I only just found out."

"Well…" Angel said, biting her lip and looking away.

"He knew before I did!" Tony exclaimed, feeling hurt that he wasn't the first to know.

"If it helps, we were all a little surprised at the announcement, though it made sense since they're the heads of the project." Bruce said, trying to be helpful.

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Tony said, standing up and looking at Angel, "Who is 'we'? Are you saying that more people know?"

"Well yeah," Angel said, "We announced it about two weeks ago."

"I'm the last to know!" Tony yelled, "I'm your brother! I should have been the first to know!"

"Hey, you're the one who was throwing a hissy fit about me being in charge. If you had been cooperating you would have been at the meeting when I announced it."

"Oh don't you blame this on me Angela Stark, I'm your big brother. I should have been first to know!"

"You were being a jerk!"

"I wouldn't have been if I knew the truth!"

Bruce watched the two argue and sighed, "I'm just going to go visit Natasha."

Angel stopped yelling at Tony and looked at Bruce, "Sorry Bruce, we're done."

"Oh no we're not!" Tony said, but Angel smacked her hand over his mouth to shut him up.

"How is Natasha doing?" She asked sympathetically.

Bruce shrugged, "Still the same, the doctors say that any day now she should wake up," He looked so sad and guilty that it made Angel's heart break for him. She walked over and gave him a hug.

"It's not your fault, okay? You didn't know what you were doing."

"But it is my fault, that's the problem."

"No it wasn't, Loki purposefully attacked you so you would lose control. That is not something you can blame yourself for."

Bruce sighed and wiped a hand over his face, "I need her to be okay…"

Angel had a pretty good idea about the relationship between Bruce and Natasha, and she could see from the look on his face that he was praying to ever deity alive for her to get better. From his disheveled appearance it looked like he'd been spending every moment possible sitting by her bedside whenever he wasn't in the Tesseract lab.

"She's human, it takes a while for these things to heal," Angel said. But when he still didn't look comforted, Angel used a bit of her power to give him some peace of mind.

"Go to your room and get some rest Bruce, then take a shower when you wake up and clean yourself up," She said, he gave an absent mind nod as she let him go and he left the room.

"Wow," Tony said, walking over, "So that's what you can do?"

Angel nodded, "He really needed it."

Tony put an arm around her shoulder, "I'm proud of you sis, even if I am still pissed that I'm the last to know."

Angel smiled, "Thanks Tony."

"Now," Tony asked, "What are the odds that I can utilize this power on some CEO's of companies that I want to work with? They're being stubborn and could use a little persuasion…"

Angel gave Tony a look before going back to her desk and continuing her paper work.

"No seriously! You can come work for Stark Industries!" Tony continued, walking over to Angel, "All you have to do is touch the hand of the competitors and use a little of your powe-"

Angel reached out and touched Tony's arm, "Leave Tony."

Tony turned and left the room. He got about hallway through the corridor when he realized what just happened, "DAMN! She's good…"

*.*.*.*.*.

"You do realize breaking and entering is a felony?" Sharon spat as she glared at Clint who looked unfazed by her hostility.

"Well considering your door was wide open I didn't have to break anything. So it was all a matter of just entering, which is only fifty percent of the crime so in all reality it should just be waved cause it's only a half crime. In fact it when you really look at it, it's just a matter of poor etiquette on my part," Clint shrugged and stood up and wandered around the coffee table towards Sharon, who backed up as he got closer, "But I don't think that's nearly as poor as leaving someone after having had sex without any explanation as to why she would leave so fast with such a cold face and running to the middle of freakin no where!"

Sharon felt herself back into a wall and quickly dashed over behind her couch, feeling the need to keep an object between her and Clint for the sake of her own comfort. But the fact of the matter was that he was in her house and there was nothing she could do to achieve that peace of mind she was desperately longing for when she first arrived, "You shouldn't be here. How the hell did you find me?"

"That doesn't matter," Clint said, as he walked toward the couch and stopped when he was directly across from her, "What matters is that we really need to have that talk."

"No we don't," Sharon said, shaking her head vigorously and closing her eyes, "There is nothing to talk about. We had a one night stand-"

"It was during the day, so I don't think it can be called that."

"One day stand then. We were both in the moment and it got intense and carried away. I'm sorry that I didn't stick around to say goodbye but I had to go."

"You had to go or needed to runaway? You did this before Sharon." Clint continued to watch her. Sharon avoided the urge to scream and throw things at him, she wanted him out of her place.

"You were not invited here, I am asking you to leave." She said in a toneless voice.

Clint stayed where he was a few minutes more before raising his hands in surrender, "Whatever you say," he said before turning and walking out the front door, closing it behind him with a decisive click.

Sharon stayed where she was for a few more moments. It can't be that easy… can it? She thought. She walked over to the window and her eyes nearly bugged out of her sockets. Out on the grassy area beside her driveway, Clint had set up a tent and was in the process of unpacking more things from a black SUV now parked in her driveway.

"WHERE THE HELL DID THAT ALL COME FROM!" She yelled, wondering how he had time to set up that tent and how she hadn't heard the car pull up. She dashed to the door and swung it open, marching down her steps and over to Clint.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!" She yelled. Clint looked over at his tent.

"I think it's pretty obvious. You won't let me stay inside, which I knew was a distinct possibility. So I brought a back up plan and you're looking at it," He placed a duffel bag inside his tent and straightened up and looked at Sharon, "I told you that we need to talk, and I'm not going anywhere until that happens."

All Sharon could do was gape at the scene, Clint watched her with an amused expression, "Keep that mouth open like that and I'll find a use for it."

Sharon's mouth snapped shut and she glared at him, "You're an animal!"

"No, I'm a human being who is trying to convince the potential love of his life to have a talk. Those slippers on your feet are the animals."

Sharon looked down and for the first time realized that she was still in her pajamas and robe while wearing bunny slippers on her feet. Her face turned red and she quickly went back into the house, locking up behind her and walking over to the window to watch and Clint unloaded more items from his truck. So much for peace of mind…

So I need your guys' help: I am seriously toying with the idea of writing a Bruce/Natasha fic after I finish this story. What I want to know is if you all are interested in reading it? Because I hardcore ship them (so does Kyla) and I have an excellent idea for a story for them. What do you all say? Send in your opinions!

for those of you having trouble finding our website type in 'Free Forum: Damsels Not So In Distress' in your google search bar and it should be the first site to pop up.

Feedback is always appreciated!

Alasiel