A/N - I have done quite a bit on this story and I'll keep putting them out, but I'd love to have some review of what I've done so far. I found this part hard to write...I don't like doing angst.

18 years earlier (5 years after Ultron)

A door opened and the humid mid-summer night breeze blew in.

This was too easy, he thought as he slowly and cautiously made his way through the large, dark penthouse apartment. He recognized the room that he was in, although it had changed since he was there last, when he was being threatened by a mere human.

The light from the New York City skyline flooded the marble flooring.

With the sceptor in hand, Loki made his way deeper into the house. He passed a shelf of toys, all placed lovingly in their spots, ready for a new day to begin. He merely glanced at the photographs on the wall, stopping at an image of a small loving family smiling back at him. His eyes fell on the man who was responsible for ruining his plans the last time that he came to earth.

Tony Stark.

His gaze swept over the strawberry blond woman sitting beside him and to the dark, auburned haired child in pig tails on his lap.

Loki would make him pay. He would tear out his heart.

A cry broke the silence of the night.

Pepper recognized it instantly as it roused her from her sleep.

Anna.

Since she had been born, it was a sound that she had become quite familiar with and would wake her better than any alarm clock. Although, now at three years old, Anna slept through the night, there were nights where the odd bad dream would wake her up or she'd come down with a virus, which happened far too often.

Since she had been born, Anna had been susceptible to catching any bug she came into contact with. After a few times battling serious RSV as an infant, Tony took her to see Dr. Banner. Even before she was born, their concern was her exposure to the dormant Extremis within Pepper. They hadn't been able to extract it from Pepper and now they worried that it was having an effect on Anna and her immune system. Dr. Banner hadn't found anything unusual in her dna makeup, except that she had inherited Extremis from Pepper and he couldn't predict how it would affect her as she grew up. One obvious symptom was allergies and asthma. So, when Pepper heard the cry, she halted her own breathing to listen for any signs of an attack. Hearing nothing more than sobbing, Pepper relaxed somewhat, praying that it was just momentary and Anna would simply fall back asleep.

Since Pepper had gone back to work full time at Stark Industries as the CEO, Tony was the one who would usually get up to check on Anna, telling Pepper that if she could do it every night for nearly a year and live on little to no sleep, he could manage to get up for her now. Not willing to allow his child to be raised by a nanny as he had, Tony ended up staying at home with Anna. She had no clue what they did all day, but one thing was clear - Anna loved him and Tony had become quite the father. Except Tony wasn't home that night and hadn't been home for the past three days.

She sat up, and glanced at the clock, allowing her tired eyes to focus on the time. 4:28am.

The crying continued.

Pepper moaned. She was certainly not used to waking up this early.

As she stood up, her mind wandered to Tony, wondering what he was doing and when S.H.I.E.L.D would be done with his 'assistance'. She did know that he had been busy working on a project for months at home. She had no idea what was going on now except for that it was classified and all her calls to him were intercepted by S.H.I.E.L.D.

Pepper didn't even bother grabbing her housecoat and slippers. She made the decision that she would just bring Anna back into bed with her in hopes that the girl would fall back asleep in bed with her and give her a few more hours of sleep before she had to be up for the day. Pepper was already feeling sorry for Happy who had been staying over in the guest room in order to watch Anna during the day for her while Tony was away. She would surely be grumpy and give him a hard time.

When Pepper made it into the hallway, she was about to walk to Anna's door when she realized that the hysterical crying wasn't coming from the bedroom at all. Her next thought went to Happy, thinking the poor man was woken up by the screaming and was trying to calm Anna down himself. But as she made her way down the hallway towards the crying in the living room, she became curious as to why Anna was crying so hard. She was familiar with her 'Uncle' Happy and he would easily be able get a smile out of her. Something wasn't right.

The reason came as Pepper abruptly stopped as she saw the man standing in her living room. Her heart leapt into her throat as her stomach churned.

Loki, with the sceptor in one hand and the other arm wrapped around Anna's torso. He held her like a sack of potatoes.

The child was red faced as she looked fearfully at the stranger who held her. Her cheeks were wet with tears and her hair stuck to them, as she pushed against Loki who held her firmly with no intent on letting her go. Anna continued to scream, gasping every so often.

A maternal anger rose within Pepper upon seeing her child in the arms of a man who was responsible for so much death and destruction.

"I can see the beauty in whom she takes after," Loki said, eyeing Pepper carefully as he took in her pale pink tank top and plain navy flannel pants.

"I assume that her father is not at home."

Pepper didn't bother respond to his questioning statement. Instead, she scowled at the man, her eyes dancing between her increasingly panicking child and the evil man holding her. Pepper's heart pounded in her chest. At that moment, she wished that Dr. Banner and Tony hadn't caused the Extremis within her DNA to become dormant. She wanted nothing more than to grab Anna from his arms.

"I'm her father," a voice called out from behind her. Her eyes instantly widened as she turned to see Happy standing behind her.

"Happy, no," Pepper whispered, fearful for the man's life.

He ignored Pepper as he walked up beside her.

"Give me my child!" Happy spat out angrily at Loki.

Loki let out a laugh.

"Now this is humourous," he commented, looking at Happy. "You claim that you're the father of this..." he paused, looking repusively at Anna before he continued. "..this screaming urchin, when I know undoubtedly that she has the same eyes of the man who dared defy me just a few years ago. Do you take me for a fool?"

Happy shrugged just as the glass from the windows suddenly blew in, throwing shards across the room. Happy instinctively grabbed ahold of Pepper and pulled her to the floor out of the impact of glass as the woman attempted to keep an eye on Anna. Loki turned, feeling the glass hitting him in the back.

The sound of a rushing warm wind came up and blew into the room as a bright light illuminated the room. Pepper managed to see the large jet hovering outside their balcony.

"Loki! Stand down!" a woman's voice called out over the PA from the small jet. Pepper knew that voice and instantly felt a little better.

Natasha.

Loki raised his sceptor and aimed it at the jet. A burst of light exploded from it before it hit the wing. Pepper could hear the engine fail as it dropped from sight. Loki smiled triumphantly as Happy took Pepper's hand and pulled her up to stand. As they stood, their eyes caught view of Thor walking through the window and followed then by Captain America.

"Give the child back to her mother!" Thor called out over Anna's cries. "She is innocent and has no quarrel with you."

Loki watched as the two men approached him, Captain America to one side and Thor to the other.

Steve watched carefully as Loki rolled his eyes at the two of them. He had known Anna her entire life; watched her play with his own son and he too, felt a paternal instinct to protect her. Loki wasn't too far from the open window. If Loki made any move with her towards it, he was ready to pounce.

"Whatever your plan is, it's not going to work, Loki," Steve called out. "There's no way we're letting you leave with her."

Loki shook his head and smiled. "If I don't leave with her, the Chitauri will enact their revenge and there is nothing you can do to stop them. It may take them years to get here, but they will return. There is only one thing they want - the man who caused the destruction of the army and since he is not present, I'm certain that they'll be pleased to have his child."

The sound of a roaring engine came up behind them.

"Let go of my daughter or I swear Loki, I'll give you a new airhole."

A smile appeared on Loki's face when he realized who had showed up. Loki wasn't surprised. He had been waiting for Stark to show up, knowing his brazen act would get his attention.

Loki turned, and sneered as he watched Ironman hover a few meters away before dropping onto the glass covered marble floor with a thud, effectively cracking a few tiles.

Tony quickly ordered Jarvis to open the suit, much to the reluctance of the AI knowing the danger that he was in being left so physically vulnerable. The moment Anna laid eyes on him, her sobbing continued as she reached out to him, calling his name. Her face made his heart break. Tony quickly glanced over at Pepper and nodded as he noticed Happy dutifully by her side. He turned back to Loki and smiled, but it was only for Anna who continued her desperate attempt to get out of the evil man's arms.

"You wanted me?" Tony challenged, holding his arms out dramatically as he took a step forward. "Here I am. But the deal is, you let my daughter go. Now."

Loki winced and chuckled as he took a step back, closer to the opened window. Tony took a hesitant step forward and stopped, watching how close Anna had become to the window's edge.

"Come closer and I'll drop her," Loki shouted at them.

As the man turned slightly, Steve saw an opportunity. He swung his shield out like a frisbee and hit Loki in the back, causing him to drop Anna to the ground. Thor leapt forward just as Loki turned and fired the sceptor at him. From the corner of his eye, he noticed movement and turned once more, firing the sceptor and hitting Tony in the stomach.

Tony fell backwards onto the tile and could hear Pepper's frantic scream in the midst of Anna's sobs. His eyes opened, and saw his child standing precariously near the edge of the window. She was shaking, watching as Captain America and Thor battled Loki. What concerned him just as much as her proximity to the edge was her loud, laboured breathing. He recognized it.

Asthma attack.

She had only had them twice in her life and they both scared the crap out of him. Despite the pain he was feeling, the fear for Anna's life terrified him.

The world seemed to slow down when he saw Loki give him a sneer before he turned swiftly around and pushed Anna towards the edge with the back of his leg.

"No," Tony gasped, seeing her loose her balance on the edge.

Ignoring the pain he felt, he pushed himself up to stand and ran without pause before jumping out the same window he had just seen Anna disappear through.

Pepper felt sick to her stomach as she pulled herself out of Happy's grasp and ran for the edge of the building just as one of Tony's suits flew after him and out the window. She was compeltey oblivious that Loki had given up the fight, seeing a bleeding Tony Stark dive off the building after Anna.

"Revenge certainly feels good," Loki stated happily as Thor clamped restraints onto Loki's wrists behind his back.

"I would hold off on that feeling if I were you," Steve said, looking over the edge just as a blast of air and roar of an engine shot past them and up the side of the building.

Loki's smile faded as he watched Iron Man drop onto the balcony. Pepper raced up to them just as he turned off the impulse drive and lifted the faceplate on his helmet.

"She's having an asthma attack," Tony quickly said, as Pepper turned back to Happy who simply replied with a "I'm on it" before he dashed down the hallway.

Anna turned in Tony's metal arms, a look of fear in her eyes as Pepper quickly took her. Her breathing continued to be erratic as she cried between breaths.

"It's all right," Pepper said softly, calming the child before she looked up at Tony, knowing that he was shot by Loki.

Pepper noticed the sweat on his brow and the fact that his eyes were closed.

"Tony?"

"I'm a... I'm not feeling so hot," he said as he collapsed.

"Tony!" she exclaimed as Steve ran over to them.

"We need to get him out of this!" Steve said, putting his hand on the chest plate. "Tony, you have to take this off."

Tony simply nodded, his eyes still closed. "Open it up, J."

As the suit opened up, Happy had arrived with Anna's nebulizer and handed it to Pepper who quickly put it to Anna's mouth. She watched as the suit opened and encouraged Anna to breath, putting a smile on her face as she quickly turned her body to avoid Anna having to see the blood that was pouring out of Tony's abdomen.

She looked at Steve who had a look of despair on his face. He looked up at Pepper, and shook his head sadly. Steve was surprised that Tony was still alive following an injury like that.

Tears came to Peppers eyes as she smiled at Anna, running her hand over her hair.

"Good girl," Pepper said, smiling through the tears.

"Pep?"

Pepper felt a hand on her knee and looked past Anna at Tony as he laid on the ground. She was about to pass Anna to Happy to keep her from seeing what was going on behind her with her father but then noticed that Steve had attempted to stop the flow of blood with a blanket from their couch.

Pepper reached down and took Tony's hand as she turned with Anna on her lap.

"How are you doing kiddo?" Tony asked, smiling at Anna. Anna had wrapped her arms around Pepper, hiding her face under her chin. He looked at Pepper. "How is she? She all right?"

"She's fine," Pepper replied softly. "Breathing better and she's slightly traumatized."

Tony scoffed lightly and then coughed. "Yeah, I don't blame her. Get Banner to check her over just to...uh..make sure..it's all good."

Pepper was about to speak when tears began to fall down her cheeks, her lip trembling as she held tightly onto Anna in her arms.

"Hey, hey," Tony said, bringing her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles. "I'll be fine. SHIELD is on their way. I heard they have a pretty good medical team. You know first hand."

That statement caused Pepper to chuckle despite the situation. They had been planning to give birth to Anna within a SHIELD base with Dr. Banner nearby in order to monitor any concerns that may arise. Except they never took into account that Anna was Tony's child; a Stark, and as Tony had displayed countless times, a Stark was unpredicatble and beat to their own drum. Anna had been born enroute to the base with only Tony and Phil Coulson attending.

"And if not?"

Tony's smile faded as he looked from Pepper to the little girl she held in his arms. If Loki's threat meant anything and that the Chitauri would return, then Anna would be in danger and he wouldn't be around to protect her.

"Then you leave Stark Industries," he said, weakly. "Disappear. Get out of New York City with Anna and start a life somewhere else. Away from all this crazy alien stuff. Away from SHIELD. Tell Coulson. I'm sure he can lend a hand in covering your tracks."

Tony gasped after he spoke, not realizing how difficult something like breathing was becoming. He reached up and put his hand on Anna's back. She still held tightly onto Pepper, hiding her face.

"And don't tell her about this," Tony said softly. "She needs to grow up without knowing that the Chitauri may come for her, all because of me."

Pepper took a shaky breath and nodded, before wiping the tears away from her eyes.

"I love you," she whispered.

Tony smirked. "I love you too, Pepper."

She leaned over awkwardly with Anna in her arms and kissed his lips, trying to encode the memory to mind. Anna twisted and looked down at Tony who simply smiled back at her. He raised his hand and pushed her wet with tears, dark auburn hair from her face.

"And I love you, my pretty Anna-banana," he told her, a smile coming to the three year old's face. "You were so brave."

"Love you, Daddy," she said softly.

"Can I have a hug and kiss?" he asked. "Daddy needs one of your hulk sized hugs that you're so good at."

After a moment of encouragement from Pepper, Anna bent over and wrapped her small arms around Tony's neck. She pulled back from him and leaned over, and gave him a kiss on his nose; one that she would give him each morning after she woke up.

"Are you better?" she asked. Her innocent eyes looked back at him, breaking his heart to the point where he couldn't tell her the truth.

"Much better," Tony replied, his voice cracking.

He gasped again.

"Tony?" Pepper exclaimed, leaning over him. She was completely oblivious to the fact that Happy had come up beside her and gently took Anna from her arms.

"It's...uh..." Tony began, his eyes showing more fear in them than Pepper had ever seen. "It's..uh..dark...that's not good."

"Stay with us Stark," Steve encouraged, taking the man's other hand. "Help is on the way."

In the distance, they could hear the roar of an approaching jet.

"I'm...I'm a...sorry," Tony said, weakly as his eyes shut.

"Tony?!" Pepper reached forward, putting her hands onto his face and felt the life breath expel from his lips as she put her forehead to his. Tears poured from her eyes and onto his face, knowing that he was gone.