Stark Tower

"I'm Kennedelia. Kennedelia Coulson."

Silence.

Steve shook his head to shoo away the chirping imaginary crickets that had sprung up in his mind, complete with tumbleweed rolling across the vast expanse of the floor.

It didn't help that even Tony, who was fluent in ten languages and proficient in writing another three, had ostensibly forgotten how to speak. And how to close his mouth too, by the look of things.

Steve didn't really blame him. Tony prided himself on knowing everything there was to know about SHIELD. He'd once confessed to harboring the knowledge of how many accents each female spy could emulate (an average of twenty-four), amongst other… trivia.

(Pepper had made him sleep on the couch for a week after that.)

Up till today, Tony must have thought he knew Coulson too. Apparently not.

The dark-haired archer made a choking sound, drawing Steve's attention. It was one that told of heartache, agony and stifled sobs trying to tear their way forcefully out of his throat. His expression, paralyzed with its usual blank façade, had turned pallid.

He jerked backwards and pulled himself to his feet, abruptly whirling around so the team wouldn't see his chest heaving with shuddering breaths, his face contorted with grief, and his hands clenching and unclenching at his sides emptily. He stalked away, but it was too late. They had already seen his heart breaking in two.

Steve felt something rip in his chest. Coulson had been Clint's best friend. Heck, Coulson had been Clint's brother. Clint was still mourning the loss of his loved one.

Steve had caught him staring into space more than once, his lips forming his friend's name, unuttered. Coulson. Steve had seen crystal tears form in Clint's eyes right after, a sheen of glassiness glinting in the light, before he blinked rapidly, as though trying to blink away his grief.

Having his best friend's previously unknown daughter stare him in the face couldn't have been the most pleasant feeling in the world. Even Steve himself was personally encompassed in the feeling of consternation and he didn't know Coulson the way Clint did.

If Natasha was shocked, she was hiding it really well. At the girl's— Kennedelia— response, she had simply nodded, her expression devoid of any emotion, as though she had expected this to happen all along.

Steve wouldn't put that past her. She was the Black Widow after all.

Bruce, on the other hand, was excelling in his impression of a statue. He had gone completely rigid, straightened up against the back of the couch after the delivery of the news.

His mouth, like Tony's, was rather inclined to catch flies, rats and the whole pest gang. Briefly, Steve wondered if he could fit a truck in there, then dismissed the notion as soon as it came.

It was Pepper who eventually broke the silence. Since the words had escaped Kennedelia's lips, Pepper's eyes had widened to the point where they were nearly bulging from their sockets. Her lips were parted in surprise, and she leaned forward towards the girl as though she wanted to approach the latter but didn't quite dare to.

Now, however, she started forward, gesturing for the girl, who bore so much resemblance to her father it was a wonder Steve had not guessed her identity earlier, to make herself comfortable on the couch.

"Why don't you take a seat, sweetheart. Would you like something to drink?" Pepper's ever soothing voice interrupted the lazy hum of silence.

Tony blinked, as though Pepper's voice had rebooted a part of him that had gone to sleep. His jaw worked upwards, closing the gap between his lips.

"You're Coulson's daughter?" Tony couldn't stymie an incredulous note from his tone. There was no way—

Something unreadable flashed across her face. Steve could have sworn it was a multitude of anger, grief and something else, something that tugged at his heartstrings while simultaneously making his stomach churn.

He turned to shoot Tony a reproving look— it was incredibly insensitive, to ask that question— but Pepper had already beaten him to it. Tony shrugged. There was nothing he could do about it anymore, now that it was already out.

The girl gave a sharp, brisk nod. And turned decidedly on her heel to move to the couch without giving Tony a second glance.

When she plopped onto the couch, her expression had smoothed out again and indecipherable. Whatever had made her snap just seconds ago had been quashed out of her heart and pushed to the back of her mind.

Steve couldn't help but wonder if that was going to come back and haunt her one day.

Those penetrating blue eyes roved across the room until they landed on Pepper, enveloping her in an intense blue gaze that made her stifle a gulp. Kennedelia's eyes softened.

"Just water please," she said.

"Of course." Pepper was more than glad to move across the room to the pantry and out of the teenager's gaze.

Silence ensued once more.

"So," Tony said to break the silence, then visibly regretting his choice when she turned those eyes on him. "What's your favorite sport?"

She shifted her gaze to the ground. Tony slumped against the side of the table, huffing out a sigh of relief.

"I don't have one." Was that wistfulness in her tone?

Steve didn't know what compelled him to open his mouth and speak the words he said. Perhaps it was because as a child, he was often too weak to play a sport, no matter how much he wanted to. Perhaps it was because he thought she should get to enjoy her youth, instead of wasting it all on death-defying missions.

Whatever the case, he found the words slipping out of his mouth before they registered in his mind. "I could teach you."

When she looked up at him again, her gaze wasn't that hard to bear anymore. Steve thought he might have detected just the faintest of twinkle emerging from seas of frosty blue.

"I would like that," she said.

And Steve couldn't help but grin.

Stark Tower: Clint's room

Clint thought he must be losing his mind.

Coulson was his best friend! How could he have hidden such a big part of his life from Clint? His own daughter, for crying out loud. Just yesterday, Clint had been a hundred per cent sure that Coulson had no family other than him. He wouldn't have believed anyone who told him otherwise.

And then his daughter had to come along.

There was no refuting her relationship to the late SHIELD agent. They had the same striking blue eyes, ones that reached deep into your soul and dug out all your deep and dark dirty little secrets. (He had never been able to keep a secret from his handler.)

There was that same dark brown hair, that drew resemblance to the mocha Coulson liked to share with Clint and Natasha, and that same stern expression that Coulson got when he was dealing with particularly difficult criminals. (And sometimes, a drunk Clint.)

She looked so much like her father that it physically hurt to be in the same room as her.

Why, Phil? Why didn't you tell me? I told you everything. I trusted you. The archer collapsed onto his bed, finally dropping his guard. He let shudders wrack through his body, and rip away through sporadic breaths. He let pent up tears slip over his eyelids and race down his cheeks in tiny shimmering droplets.

Why? Why wouldn't you tell me?

And he let himself grief for the first time in many, many months.

Stark Tower: Living Room

"Here you go." Pepper walked over to their newest resident, the glass of water between her hands.

She didn't see the fallen couch cushion until it was too late.

"Oh!"

Her foot caught on the cushion, stripping her of her balance and she toppled over, crashing to the ground. The glass, on the other hand, flew out of her grasp, hurtling towards the ground at gravity's command.

Natasha leapt to her feet instinctively, but for all her speed, could do nothing for she was all the way at the other end of the room. Bruce put a hand over his ears, bracing himself for the shattering of glass. Tony set down his mug of coffee, making to rush over to Pepper's side and help her up, while Steve could only stare at the glass of water plunging to its demise.

An end that was never realized.

Steve blinked as the glass of water hovered impossibly inches above the ground, frozen in space. He blinked again. Was he seeing things in slow motion now? Wasn't the cup supposed to have collided with the ground by now?

"Anyone else see that glass floating in mid-air?" Tony's voice was wary as he spoke, eyeing the glass as if it was a tool from outer space.

Steve's throat was dry. "I see it."

"Good. Thought I was the only—"

For the second time today, Tony was robbed of the ability to speak, as the cup of water gradually made its descent and landed gently on the ground.

"What just happened?" Tony asked, a faraway look in his eyes. Steve recognized that look. It was Tony's I'm-thinking-a-million-things-at-once-no-make-that-a-zillion look.

He had worn that look when he'd been analyzing Steve, trying to figure out the serum that made him Captain America instead of the scrawny teenager with a list of illnesses a mile long. He had had that look when he had first thought to make expandable pants for Hulk, his mind running through a zillion ideas for solutions. In other news, that look had also graced his feature when he had been trying to wrap a gift for Pepper's birthday.

Tony's blank gaze searched the room until it found the potential future Avenger, sitting calmly on the couch, unperturbed by what had just happened, seconds ago.

"How did you do that?" Tony demanded.

Pepper pushed herself off the ground, groaning. "Tony."

He ignored her. "Well?"

"Director Fury must have forgotten to mention." For the first time, a smile played on her lips.

Dimly, Steve thought to himself how pretty the girl was when she smiled. It was as if there was a glow coming from underneath her skin, lighting her face from inside out.

Her eyes twinkled, the frosty blue sea within them morphing into the playful waves at the beach on a sunny day. The hard angles of her empty expression softened, and the intensity Steve had associated her with, melted away.

"I'm bionic."

Review Responses

Guest (1)- Hey! Not sure if you're related to the other Guest over there but say you're not, thanks for reviewing! Hope you think the same about this chapter!

TonyStark- OMG! The Tony Stark is reading my story! LOL. Hahaha thanks for the positive comments. Hope I portrayed you correctly in this chapter too. :D

Lupinica Friggasdoiter- Hahaha I know, Bruce is sooooo cute. HAHA. Well, I'm going to try to do canon pairings for the Marvel-owned characters, but if there isn't any, I'd mix them up a little with OCs. But the new team of Avengers probably won't develop romantic relations with the current Avengers team. To be honest, I think Marvel made all of them not age. To keep the comics going etc. But, we can't have a world where the heroes are invincible, because then, there aren't any risks involved, and without risks, a story wouldn't be as intriguing to read. Thanks for your input though.

CJa-97- I think you submitted three reviews by accident! Well I guess it all depends on how you look at it. I generally want to make it so that there's risks involved in all these superhero action, so when Captain America does something, it's more self-sacrificial than a form of duty. (And the story becomes a lot more intense to read.) And I'm sorry if I misconstrue anything from canon. Well, this is fanfiction for a reason.

Thanks to all who followed, favorited, read, and reviewed my story! :)