A/N: Hello wonderful readers, me again. As usual I want to say a massive thank you to everyone who has read, favourited and followed. It means the world to me. I also want to say an especially big thank you to FaithfulReader92 and candycrum who are both so brilliant at reviewing and provide me with so much drive to write more.
I'm going to try and get the last two chapters posted before Christmas, although that's a bit earlier than my normal weekly updating rate, think of it as a gift to you all for reading!
This chapter is slightly shorter than normal, although very important! It finally explains why this story is titled what it is, so I'm excited for you guys to get to read it!
Disclaimer: I do not own the Avengers, or make any money from this story. Only my OCs and their plotline are my own.

So without any further ado, please enjoy!
Lucksby xx

CHAPTER 13

Previously…
Realisation dawned over Coulson's face at her words, and then concern as his brain made the logical leap that Ren's did a second before, "Coulson he's going to want to finish the job…"

She sat nervously on board the helicarrier waiting. Waiting. Waiting to see if she had figured it out in time; if she had been quick enough to stop Hermann Bedford from finishing the job he had started high in the skies over Canada. It made her itch to know that all she could do now was wait as Coulson did his job; saving Tony's life. My father's life…

This is no game Ren, his life was at stake the whole time, and you wasted valuable time, you wasted days trying to figure it out! What if it is already too late? It's a short hop from a coma to…
No. Don't you dare even think that. He can't be… The SHIELD agents he has as protection would prevent that.
Oh so we're putting our faith in a shady government agency now are we… These aren't people to trust Ren, that has been clear from the offset. They-

"Seren", she jumped to her feet.
"Coulson, did we make it in time, is he ok?" The look of bottled up nerves on the girl's face made him laugh internally; she cared so much it was only a matter of time. At least in his opinion.
"Relax Seren, we got there. In fact the timing was so impeccable that we even managed to snag our hacker in the process. You did really good."

Ren let out a huge breath that she was fully aware she had been holding; it was alright, Tony was safe, or at least as safe as you could be in a coma… But what was important was that there was tangible hope. She was a firm believer in hope; it was all that sustained her through some of the most difficult moments she had ever faced.

"So you actually have him then?" Coulson nodded in response.
"In custody and will remain so indeterminately. You're safe from him Ren, it's over."

Yes, she thought. Yes it is. She was done at SHIELD, she could go back to London and live happily as Seren Ashmore away from the spies and criminal masterminds and crazy billionaire fathers and be happy. That was all she wanted in her future, to be happy.

"You're going back to London." It was a statement not a question, after all Coulson already knew the answer. The girl nodded, "Well I wish you the best of luck." The smile on his face was sincere, and though Ren was surprised she reciprocated. Maybe she could learn to trust them at the end of the day.

"Just one last thing before you go Ren" She turned back to him.
"Yes?"
"Have you ever heard of the Black Swan Theory?" He didn't wait for her to answer. "It's sometimes called the Theory of Black Swan Events, and it's a metaphor for occurrences that are incredibly hard to predict and have a huge, often devastating effect but, when looked back upon with the benefit of hindsight, are often wrongly rationalised. We feel like we could have seen it coming even if in reality that is untrue." He paused, his eye contact with Ren never faltering.
"There are only very few events classed as 'Black Swan' events, the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, 9/11, the invention of electricity, and the Battle of New York, believe it or not, is up there with them. An event that changed everything."

Ren nodded slowly not knowing where Coulson was taking this, she had heard of the theory to which he referred, she had once studied the maths behind it; its basis in probability was fascinating to her.

"I've always thought that these so called 'Black Swans' can be found on a personal level as well. Things that happen to us that change the way our lives will be lived." He continued. "You are a Black Swan, Carenza. Your disappearance changed everything for your father; the same goes for his stay in Afghanistan. He never could have predicted your loss before it happened, and yet in hindsight he blames himself because he believes that he should have seen it coming and prevented it. But you can't prevent Black Swan events Ren, you can only cope with them, and that is what he has to do every day."

Coulson's tone had become almost sad, and it was certainly the greatest display of emotion that Ren had seen from him; she didn't fail to miss its significance.

"I'm not asking you to go back to your father Carenza. Not now, at least. All I'm asking is that you consider the cost, to both of you, consider whether it's worth that. Then maybe you'll understand the responsibility that comes with being the only one who can change the future, for both of you."

Ren was left standing, rooted to the spot long after Coulson had left her. Never before in her life had she felt so conflicted; the agent's words had managed to push through the many walls she had built around her feelings for Tony and it left her drowning in a sea of what ifs. There were so many paths she could take from here, but in reality only two made sense. Stay in New York and wait for Tony to wake from the coma, before revealing herself as his long lost daughter, or running back to England before anyone was any the wiser and staying there living her own life.

Why couldn't life be simple?

She was the only one stopping her going back to being Carenza Stark now. With the downfall of Hermann Bedford, all of her enemies would know to leave her be, leave her to do as she pleased.

This was the proverbial fork in the road; the decision she made here would influence her for the rest of her life. It would tell whether she lived in freedom, or weighted down by regrets, whether she pursued her dreams, or put them aside because she felt she had no other option.

She strode over to the huge window that dominated the helicarrier's bridge and placing her fingers on the cool glass, gazed out at the sun setting over the sea. Her whispered words formed a slight mist partially obscuring the view for a moment.

"I've made my choice, and I choose happiness."