When Emmy opened her eyes, the room was dim but not dark. She instantly recognized that she was curled up on a broad chest, one that rose and fell steadily in a pattern of sleep. She wanted to slip away, knowing that if whoever she fell asleep on woke up, they would be furious and put her back in the closet. She didn't like the closet. The closet was dark and scary and if she got locked in there then she wouldn't get dinner and time moved differently in the closet. She didn't want to go in there.
Sitting up slowly, Emmy looked around, not recognizing the room at first. It was bigger than the orphanage living room, had less toys and screaming children, and was filled with her new…family? That's right, she had been taken away from the home yesterday by the man who fixed her robot. Tony. And his husband Steve. They wanted her. Tony said so. He had claimed her. He told everyone that she was his and she wanted to be his. No one had wanted her for a long time.
Silently, she slipped off of Clint's chest, because it was Clint she had been sleeping on, she remembered watching the television with him. Clint was nice, he taught her sign language. Finally, she had a way to communicate without using her voice. She could talk, she used to talk a lot but Mrs. Sunset didn't like it when she talked and Emmy didn't like getting in trouble. These people seemed different, though. Clint encouraged her to communicate and Tony answered all her questions, never once minding that she didn't talk back to him.
Emmy made her way into the kitchen and looked up at the counter. She wanted juice but everyone was asleep and she didn't want to bother them. Besides, she was a big girl, she could get her own juice. After studying the layout, Emmy opened the fridge, grabbed the juice from the second shelf, and set it on the ground. Then she opened a few drawers and climbed up to the counter, where she stood up, opened a cupboard, and grabbed a blue coffee mug. Getting down was more difficult but she managed.
The juice jug was full so when Emmy tried to pour it, she ended up tipping the entire thing on the floor, making a huge mess. The sound of the jug hitting the ground effectively woke the Avengers in the living room. Emmy ran to get a towel before they could find the mess she made but in her haste she slipped in the juice, falling and catching her hand on the corner of the still open drawer, cutting it open before she hit to ground.
"Emmy, you okay?" called Tony, stumbling into the kitchen with a yawn.
She froze; there was no way she could find a hiding spot fast enough, she'd just have to take the punishment.
Tony eyed the mess on the kitchen floor and the little girl responsible for it before shrugging.
"I should probably get you a step stool so you don't have to climb the drawers anymore," said Tony, reaching down and picking up his daughter to set her on the counter next to the sink.
Emmy looked up at him in surprise. He didn't sound mad that she had made a mess. He didn't sound mad at all. In fact, he looked a little amused at the situation, as if spilling juice all over the floor was something to laugh about.
"What happened?" asked Steve, moving to sit on a bar stool across the counter.
"Clint's juice spilled," replied Tony, wetting a rag and beginning to clean the scrape on his daughters hand. "I guess Emmy was thirsty."
"Oh, okay," said Steve. "Emmy, you okay?"
Emmy nodded, not quite understanding why they weren't yelling at her but willing to go along with the way this new family did things if it meant she wasn't in trouble.
"It's just a flesh wound," said Tony with a grin over his shoulder. "You want to clean up the juice while I get a bath for her going?"
"Why does she need a bath?" yawned Bruce, walking to the coffee maker and starting a pot.
"Because I think Emmy tried to clean up the juice by rolling in it," teased Tony, tickling Emmy's sides, getting the young girl to giggle.
"You just don't want to clean up the juice," Steve said, pretending to grouch.
"You know it," replied Tony, resting Emmy on his hip and kissing Steve as he passed him.
Tony let Emmy pick out her outfit, which ended up being a purple sweater and black pants but she refused to put on shoes. Steve commented on it but Tony wasn't bothered; he didn't like shoes much either. By the time the kitchen was cleaned, Emmy washed and changed, and they arrived back in the common room, everyone else was awake and eating a breakfast made by Bruce.
"I like your dress, sweater, Emmy," said Clint when Emmy was seated in her booster seat with the rest of them.
Emmy looked down, fidgeted for a moment, then did the sign for "sorry" and "juice", pointing at Clint to make sure he knew she didn't mean to spill his drink.
"It's okay, kiddo," said Clint with his easy grin. "Believe me, worse things have happened. Next time, just ask. Juice is hard to pour when it's so full."
Emmy sent him a small smile as a reward then began to eat her pancakes off of the same plate she used last night because that was her plate, Tony had made that clear. It was purple too, which Emmy liked because it was her favorite color. Living with these people looked like it was going to be a lot of fun.
The first month passed in a blur with Emmy coming out of her shell more and more until she was a giggling mess of red hair and mischief and was absolutely adored by every Avenger. She was slowly warming up to Natasha and would now let the woman sit next to her on the couch but never at dinner. She still hadn't said a word but would communicate via sign language and that was how they discovered that she took after Tony despite not being his flesh and blood. She filed information away and knew a surprising amount about taking things apart even before Tony started teaching her. It was a good month, a quiet month.
And then there was an attack while the makeshift family was at the park.