Chapter 11

Weeks passed by and Lessa became comfortable with her life in Avengers Tower. Steve and Natasha had left much to her dismay, but she continued on her routine of waking up, bugging Tony, sitting up on the large balcony for endless hours playing Sudoku, and missing the girls.

At night was the worst of her stay. Her dreams would start off peaceful. but they always turned into gunfire and ending with a gun pointed at her, frozen, not being able to move. Her eyes would pop open, filled with tears. Her body ached as she rolled over into a fetal position, looking out of the window. Some nights she would catch a shadow in the corner of her room that would move. She believed in ghosts and on the computer back at her foster home, Lessa would scroll through a website full of scary stories that dealt with the paranormal.

But Lessa didn't think it was a ghost. She didn't feel the hair rise on her arms nor did she feel a sudden shift in temperature. She felt the presence of a live human being watching.

By morning, Lessa would have shaken it off and continue on with her day. She would spend days with Tony and Bruce in the lab or workshop, learning about whatever they were working on. Tony would explain how J.A.R.V.I.S. was created and how the Iron Man suits operated (he didn't go into full detail however).

Tony didn't go into full detail in case she did have any ability that allowed her to retain information or learn things fairly quickly. In fact, he kept a close eye on her as she sat in the lab with him and Bruce when she wasn't on the terrace playing sudoku or playing some video game that Clint brought up to the tower for her.

Maybe Fury was right. Maybe she did have some sort of an ability. In all of deep honesty, Tony didn't want the kid to have powers because powers meant that she would be a target or she would do something reckless to help save people. Not that saving people is a bad thing. It's only when it's reckless is when it becomes a bad thing.

His fingers itched to contact Fury to see how he was handling her mother and whether or not they caught her yet, but he would shake his head and carry on with his latest project.

That day, Lessa sat on a stood with her legs crossed as Tony went through blueprints on the holograhm above the table. "So when do I get to go to school?"

Tony looked up from the hologram. "Huh? What about school? I thought it was summer."

"It was summer. It's near the end of September meaning school has already started. I only went to the first few days before my mom took me." She rested her chin in her hands. "I kind of would like to go back."

After moving some pieces on the blueprint, Tony closed the program and the table went dark. He took note of how casually she mentioned her mother. Shouldn't she be...scared of talking about her mom or something? "Well you're the first kid I met that actually wanted to go to school," he mumbled to himself before saying, "Yeah, you should probably go back. You're in elementary school, right?"

"Middle school. I just started sixth grade this year," Lessa corrected.

"Right, sorry. I will call them and get you back in. All right?" He forced a smile, uneasy about letting her go out of the tower. It's not that he didn't want her to, but he couldn't protect her just in case Jennifer decided to show up.

Lessa's smile was large and real. "Thank you! Thank you! I can't wait to see all of my friends again!" And at least she now knew what to say when the questions would hit. It was only then that she caught the fake smile. Her smile faltered. "You don't want me to go."

"No, no it's not that," Tony said, waiving his hand to dismiss the assumption.

"Then what is it?" She narrowed her eyes at him, trying to pinpoint the reason.

Tony hesitated on the answer. He watched her eyes narrow as she spoke, her face turning a shade lighter than the dark red shirt she wore. "It's because of Jennifer. I said I would keep an eye on you and I can't if you're in school. What if she comes to your school?"

"Oh." The anger building up in her detieriated. He wanted her to be safe. She never thought about Jennifer when thinking about going back to school. "Yeah, you're right. She might find me..."

"Lessa," Tony sighed.

"No, it's a stupid idea to think about going back to school. I'm sorry." Lessa shuffled down the the stairs and to the terrace. The sky was dull and gray, reflecting her mood at the moment. She sat down on her usual chair. The door opened up behind her.

"Go away, Tony," She snapped, not turning around.

"Lessa, you need to talk about this, you know," Tony replied. He pulled up a chair next to her.

She rolled her eyes. "Talk about what?"

"Your mom."

Lessa didn't meet his eyes. "There is nothing to talk about regarding Jennifer."

Tony leaned back in his chair and followed her gaze up into the sky. "I had a dad who didn't care about me at all. He would ignore me, yell at me, and not spend time with me. He was a pretty lousy excuse for a father, considering he ran a huge company that I took over when he died."

"Where are you going with this?" Lessa asked.

"Parents affect us in ways we don't realize half the time. Jennifer took you and forced you to do tasks you never even dreamed of attempting. Even if you are not with her anymore, she is still affecting you."

Lessa felt tears prickle her eyes. "Yeah and it sucks. I can't even risk going to school because of her."

"Not until she is caught. And when S.H.I.E.L.D. gets her, you will be safe to go to school, to see your friends, and to go home. You won't have to ever see her again."

"Do you promise?" A tear escaped her eye and it rolled down her cheek. Lessa wiped it away as she looked at Tony.

Tony couldn't believe he was going to make a promise he didn't know he could keep. "I promise."