Melody sighed while looking down at the arc reactor glowing through Tony's chest. "You're sure you tried everything?"

Tony nodded as he looked up at her. They were both sitting on Tony's bed with chips and ice cream spread out around them. Surprisingly, Tony and Melody's rooms were a few of the only rooms that weren't destroyed from the fight between Tony and Rhodey. "But apparently Fury knows something we don't."

Melody chuckled a little while getting a spoonful of ice cream. "Yeah, SHIELD knows a lot of things that we don't."

Tony turned to her while letting out a sad sigh. "You ready to tell me everything that's been happening to you?"

Melody could already feel the tears poking at her eyes by just thinking about the topic. "Um, you know how Clint was sent in to spy on me?" Tony nodded. "Well, it wasn't just because of the Avengers Initiative." Tony studied her worriedly as he saw the first tear fall down her face. "It's because my mom is SHIELD's top agent and my dad was SHIELD's top scientist and they both used me as an experiment to breed agents."

Tony's mouth dropped once she was finished talking. He couldn't believe that his own brother would agree to something like that. He couldn't even believe that Emily would agree to something like that. It just didn't seem like them. It didn't seem like the people he knew. "And ever since I found that out, I've just been so angry about everything and I feel like I can't trust anyone anymore." Melody felt all the tears she had been holding back for six months come pouring out of her like a faucet and she just couldn't stop crying. "And I feel like I don't serve a purpose to anyone or anything. I feel like I don't even exist anymore and it's ripping apart everything I had ever established about myself."

Tony couldn't bear to see her cry anymore. He pulled her into his arms and held her as she cried out all she could. All the pain she was in made tears begin to collect in his eyes. He hated that she had let all of these emotions bubble up inside her and that she felt like she couldn't tell him of all people. "Melody, you are so important." He shut his eyes as his hug on her tightened and he began to pet her hair. "And I need you to know that you serve the most important purpose to me." He let out a shaky breath as he opened his eyes and kissed her head. "And I know what it's like to question who you are and who you want to be, so I want you to know that you always have me to talk to for anything."

She nodded and let out a little chuckle. "I don't know why I didn't think about going to you before." He joined in her chuckles. "I think I was just scared."

He shook his head while planting small kisses in the strands of her hair. "Never be scared to tell me anything."

"Honestly," Melody spoke as she sat up from Tony's hug and began to wipe her tears. "I hate who I've become."

"Can I be honest?" Tony asked. She squinted her eyes, trying to figure him out while shaking her head. "I kind of hated her too." Melody began to laugh as Tony joined her in it, wiping the tears from his eyes. "She was kind of a bitch."

Melody nodded. "She was."

"Does this mean the old Melody is back?" He asked hopefully.

She began to think of what to do. "Kind of." He turned his head to the side and she let out a deep breath. "I want to be a mix between the old Melody and the new Melody. I want to be the basis of the old Melody, but I want the independence of the new Melody. I don't want to be the innocent old Melody who people could walk all over, but I want the integrity of the old Melody. I want to be a newer Melody."

Tony smiled while nodding in agreement. "I think that's the best idea you've had lately."

Melody opened the door to her room and turned on the light to see Clint lying in her bed. She jumped at first when she saw him, but then quickly became annoyed with him being there. "What the hell are you doing in here?"

He shrugged and put a joint to his lips while pulling out a lighter. "I'm doing my job."

"Ex job." She corrected quickly. "Is that my weed?"

He smiled as he pulled it away from his face. "Yeah."

She climbed on top of the bed and took it from him, taking a huge hit as he stared at her. She shrugged once she was done. "It's my weed."

"Why do you even have weed?"

She turned to him with an annoyed glance. "I'm not five."

He studied her worriedly as she pulled it to her lips, taking another long hit. This was not the Melody he remembered. And this was not the Melody he fell in love with. "What exactly have you been up to?"

"Why don't you ask the one question you've been wanting to ask since you saw me?" Melody asked as she handed him the joint. He began to take a hit as she rolled her eyes at his silence. "You want to know how many guys I've slept with in the past six months."

He shook his head as he pulled the joint away from his lips. "I didn't ask that." He told her in a husky voice from the smoke.

She took the joint from him and smiled. "The answer is," She took a hit from it and moved towards him, blowing the smoke into his mouth, causing him to cough. "I can't even remember."

That was when the pot really started kicking in. She lost it and began laughing on his lap as his head went back and he howled with laughter. "Guess how many woman I've been with since we've broke up?" He asked, holding back a laugh as she picked her head back up. "None."

They continued to laugh and smoke until the joint was all gone. "You know what I want?" Melody spoke as she threw what was left of it in the trash. "Food."

"Food sounds amazing right now." Clint spoke as he stood up, bouncing a little bit with excitement.

Melody looked over at the clock and then back to Clint. "It's one in the morning so Tony should be asleep." He put a finger in front of his lips and Melody nodded with a smile.

As stealthily as they could while high, they took all the food they could and ran upstairs with an armful. The two of them ate and laughed like nothing had happened between them. As Clint laughed, Melody leaned forward, getting close to him. Both of their faces grew serious, leading up to the kiss they had longed for. Clint flipped Melody over on her back as they continued to kiss.

Melody began to move her bra straps down, removing her bra without taking off her tank top. Clint took off his shirt as Melody took off his belt and worked on getting his pants off. For the first time in a long time, Melody was back to the parts of the old her that she moved the most. The part that knew when to be open and the part that knew how to give all of herself to someone. And for Clint, it was the first time in a long time that he actually felt at home. It was the first time that each of them could feel real.

When Melody rolled over in bed and found Clint, it truly clicked to her what they had done that night. She sat up in bed with a now fully sober mind, hating that she had caved. "Clint." She spoke as she poked him. He continued with light snoring. "Clint." She spoke slightly louder, but he didn't move. She rolled her eyes and picked up her pillow, slamming it on his head. "Clint!"

His head popped up and he began to look around the room, realizing he was in Melody's. "Did we-"

"Yeah." She interrupted while crossing her arm.

He studied her with a slight smile. "My shirt looks good on you."

She picked up the pillow again, hitting him in the head as he fell back on the bed while laughing. She began to smile, but she really didn't want to smile. Their night was too magical for her to not smile. "Clint, it is not funny."

He shrugged as he looked up at her. "It is kind of funny." He sat up quickly and began to climb on top of her. "Do you want to go again?"

"No." She laughed out as she pushed him off of her. "We have to get you out of here before Tony sees you."

They both got up and Melody threw Clint his pants, trying to get him out of the house as fast as possible. Once he put them on and Melody had put on shorts, they were out of her room and down the stairs. But once they got down the stairs, they walked into Tony, Emily and Fury sitting down on what was left of their furniture and a few agents walking around. Clint and Melody were more than noticeable.

"Wow." Tony commented as Melody pushed her hair back and Clint looked around like he was uncomfortable. "What were you gonna do when you snuck him out and you were still wearing his shirt? You think I wouldn't notice?" Melody gave him an annoyed look as all the other agents walking around tried to avoid eye contact with either of them. "Please at least tell me you're back together."

"Screw yourself." Melody told him before sitting down next to him.

"What am I supposed to do?" Clint asked while looking down at his shirtless torso.

Melody smiled at him. "Stand there and be good looking. You've got points you need to earn back after telling me nothing, but lies."

Clint sighed as he put his hands on his hips. "You're never gonna let me live that one down, are you?"

Melody just smiled at him and looked back to where Fury and Emily were sitting side by side. Emily was looking at Melody uncomfortably, feeling this was a really inappropriate way for her to start to spend time with her daughter. "And you've earned yourself a few years of uncomfortable moments." Melody told Emily while giving her an annoyed stare.

Tony smiled at Melody proudly before looking back to Emily. "Welcome to the last twelve years of my life."

Emily shut her eyes, letting out a long sigh before looking back to Tony to get back on the subject. "The thing in your chest is based on unfinished technology."

"No, it was finished." Melody bit back just for the sake of arguing with her mom which Emily picked up on.

"It hasn't been particularly effective," Tony continued, baking up Melody's argument. "Until I miniaturized it and put it in my-"

"No," Fury spoke, cutting the two off before they could argue any more. "Howard said that the arc reactor was a stepping stone for something greater. He was about to kick off an energy race that was going to dwarf the arms race."

"He was on to something big." Emily continued as Melody looked over to Tony, knowing his father was a very touchy subject for him. "Something so big that it was going to make the nuclear reactor look like a triple A battery."

"Just him or was Anton Vanko in on this too?" Melody asked as she leaned forward, getting interested in the conversation.

Tony looked to her with furrowed eyebrows. "How do you know about Anton Vanko?"

She turned to him with an annoyed stare. "You don't clear your search history." He stared at her blankly, wondering just what else she knew about what he had searched. "Ever."

"Anton Vanko was the other side of that coin." Fury jumped in before they could argue some more. "Anton saw it as a way to get rich. When Howard found out, he had him deported and when the Russians found out he couldn't deliver, they shipped his ass off to Siberia and he spent the next twenty years in a vodka fueled rage."

"Not quite the environment you want to raise a kid in." Clint spoke as he moved closer to them, not wanting to just be Melody's eye candy at the moment. "The son you two had the misfortune of crossing paths with in Monaco."

"You mean me?" Melody asked him as Tony gave her a light push. Melody smiled at him and suddenly, Emily felt this seed of jealousy take root in her. She would never be able to have the relationship Tony and Melody had. That took years of bonding. Years of fights. Years of make ups. Years of heart to hearts. Years of getting to know each other inside and out. Years of the two actually being a family. Something Emily and Melody would never be able to have.

"You told me I hadn't tried everything." Tony told Fury, bringing Emily back into the conversation. "What do you mean I haven't tried everything? What haven't I tired?"

"He said that you and your brother were the only ones with the means and knowledge to finish what he started." Melody looked down at the mention of her father, knowing he wouldn't be able to help.

"But, unfortunately," Emily started. "James isn't here anymore, but Melody is." She looked up at her mother, turning her head to the side. "You and Tony are the only ones with the means and knowledge to finish what he started."

"He said that?" Tony asked, ignoring all the other talk in-between.

Fury nodded, continuing to look at Tony as Emily and Melody stared at each other. "Are you that guy? Are you and Melody our people? Because if you are, you can solve the riddle of your heart."

Melody looked to Tony as he shook his head, knowing this was probably one of the hardest things he had to fathom. "I don't know where you're getting your information, but, uh, he wasn't my biggest fan."

"What do you remember about your dad, huh?" Fury asked while looking at Tony. "Melody, anything?"

All Melody did was shrug. All she heard was stories. Her father idolized the man and Tony felt unloved by him. "He was cold. He was calculating. He never told me he loved me. He never even told me he liked me. So, it's a little tough to digest when you're telling me he said the whole future is riding on me. I don't get that." Melody put her hand on Tony's, trying to calm him down, trying to let him know that somebody loved him. All that did for Emily was let her jealousy seed grow deeper. "We're talking about a guy whose happiest day was when he shipped me off to boarding school."

"That's not true." Fury spoke as he shook his head and Emily nodded in agreement.

"Well," Tony spoke as he squeezed Melody's hand back and then let go, leaning back into his chair. "Then clearly you knew my dad better than I did."

"As a matter of fact," Fury began as he picked up a glass of water and began to drink it. "I did." Melody gave him a face like his comment was completely inappropriate. "He and your mother were a few of the founding members of SHIELD."

"My mother?!" Tony exclaimed as Melody looked to him with wide eyes.

"Yeah," Fury spoke as he looked over at Melody with a smile. "She's a spitting image of Maria Stark."

He got up from his chair to go to a case an agent had just brought in. Emily stood up in attempts to go to Melody, but Melody swerved her way to Clint, giving him a confused stare as he began to explain about the pictures up at SHIELD of the founding members and how she really did look like Maria Stark. All Emily could do was watch on. Emily wanted to jump into that moment so bad, but she also didn't. She loved the sight of it. The sight of Melody talking with Clint the way she used to talk with James. She wanted to talk to Melody about it. She wanted to be in that moment, but she also wanted to enjoy the moment of watching the sparkle in her eye every time she talked to Clint.

"You're good, right?" Fury asked as he looked back and forth from Tony to Melody.

"No." Tony protested. "I'm not good."

"You got this?"

"No." Melody protested as she threw her hands in the air, also trying to understand what was happening. "I don't got this. We don't even know what we're supposed to get."

"Natasha will remain a floater at Stark Industries with her cover intact." Fury spoke as he put his jacket on. "And you remember Agent Coulson." He spoke as he looked to the man next to him.

"It's like eighty degrees out!" Melody yelled while gesturing to Fury's jacket.

He ignored Melody's remark and continued to walk to what was left of the door. "Oh, Tony, remember, I got my eye on you."

Melody turned to Clint who was looking down with a smile. Once he saw Melody looking at him, he shrugged. "I don't know. The eye jokes just get me."

Melody raised her eyebrows at him before looking over to Coulson, leaning over to shake his hand. "Hello, Agent Coulson."

"Hello, Miss. Barnes." He spoke with a warm smile as they shook hands. He knew he barely had any time to get to know Melody, but he liked her and knew that they were going to be good friends.

"We've disabled all communications." Emily spoke professionally with her hands clasped in front of her. Melody rolled her eyes at how professional she looked, feeling like there was nothing more to her than a professional robot. "No contact with the outside world."

Tony also rolled his eyes at his sister-in-law and began to walk towards Agent Coulson. "Please, first thing I need is a little bodywork. I'll put in a little time at the lab if you can send one of your goon squad down to the Coffee Bean across the street for a Starbucks run or something like that." He put a few bills in Coulson's suit pocket and smiled up at him. "That would be nice."

"I'm not here for that." Melody, Clint and Emily watched on nervously, knowing how rude Tony was and waiting to see exactly what Coulson would say to that. "I've been authorized by Director Fury to use any means necessary to keep you on premises. If you attempt to leave,"

"Right." Melody rolled her eyes at Tony's attitude.

"Or play any games, I will tase you and watch Supernanny while you drool into the carpet."

Melody stifled a laugh as Tony just stared at him blankly and all Coulson could do was smile. "I think I've got it." Tony finally spoke.

Coulson's smile widened. "Enjoy your evening's entertainment." He spoke with a nod before walking off with Tony's money still in his pocket.

Melody continued to laugh, gaining a dirty glare from Tony. "He is awesome."

"You're on lockdown too." Clint finally spoke. She turned to him with a serious face as Clint just nodded, rubbing her back as she threw her head back.

Tony walked over to the case Fury had left with Emily following him. The case was all white reading: Property of H. Stark. Emily looked at Tony and nodded as they stood over the case. "James tried to figure it out a while ago." Tony looked up at her, still not understanding his brother's double life. "But he needed you."

"He should have asked." Tony answered blandly while looking back down to the case.

"Now you have Melody." Emily told him while looking back to see Melody and Clint having an argument. "And I think she may be smarter than James."

Tony looked over at Melody and smiled. "She's perfect, isn't she?"

Emily smiled while nodding, but then turned back to Tony. "She's never gonna love me, is she?" Tony gave her a sympathetic stare, wishing he could tell her something different. "Not the way she loves you."

"You don't know that, Em."

Emily scoffed and rolled her eyes. "The girl hates me."

"She doesn't hate you." Tony spoke as he put his arm around Emily, remembering how close James, Emily, Tony and Melody had been. "She just doesn't get why you left." He turned to her, taking his arm from around her. "And I don't understand why you left. What's the real story with that?"

Emily rolled her eyes and looked down at the case. "Get to work."

She began to walk the same way Coulson went when Tony called after her, causing her to turn back around. "You think you can get me out of here for a little bit? I really need to talk to Pepper."