Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Book 1: Chapter One: A Fair Trade

“Bye mum!”

“Bye sweetie have a good day at school! Remember, you need to pick your brother up from the hospital on your way back! And make sure Alisha doesn’t get into anymore trouble this week, please.”

When Hell freezes over, she thought, shaking her head at her mother’s optimism as she carefully stepped through the front door with a tense smile on her pale face.

Eris Paul sighed, a deep, sorrowful sigh, as she pulled the front door closed and began the long, slow, quiet trek to her High School – which was on the other end of town. Her long, pale legs were practically frozen in the winter air, and shone in the dim sunlight, making her self-conscious once more about wearing the mandated skirt. Shifting her weight, she pulled her dark, dusty, patchy brown satchel further up her shoulder – hissing in annoyance when it slipped down again due to the weight – and closed her garden gate to begin her walk.

The cooling scent of wet concrete and freshly cut grass filled her overly sensitive nose, making it crinkle and her eyes water, as she plodded down the mostly deserted pathway next to the road. Glancing around, Eris wasn’t surprised when she didn’t see anyone else coming out of their houses: they were in an elderly neighbourhood and most children her age lived closer to the school but this house was all her mother could afford on her salary.

Some of the elderly women waved at Eris as she shuffled past their gardens and windows, making her smile. She waved back, of course, since it was the polite thing to do and continued on her way, feeling slightly lighter than she had before.

It was only once she reached the end of her street, where a pair of traffic lights stood, that Eris noticed the fine layer of fog that had begun to roll in all around her. It wasn’t a thick fog, since she could still see through it, but it did make the place look like something directly out of a horror film. It also made the cliff – which the town was badly built on – hard to see, despite the massive silver blocks that were placed in front of it to stop cars and people from going over it.

Eris could feel a chill running down her spine and a bad feeling tumbling over in her stomach as she waited, impatiently, for the lights to change colour, praying that there weren’t any cars coming so she could just run across. The blare of the traffic siren alerted her to her ability to cross, breaking her out of her paranoid thoughts, and yet the bad feeling didn’t disappear as she crossed the road. If anything, it got worse.

The bad feeling only continued to get worse as she tried to walk away from the traffic lights and Eris had to physically stop herself from continuing on as she felt bile beginning to form in her throat. Inhaling sharply, Eris swallowed the bile down as best she could and leaned against the building behind her.

BANG! CRASH! SCREECH! BANG!

Jumping in shock, Eris spun on her heel and felt the blood sprint from her face: she could only gape, eyes wide and mouth open as she watched a truck collide with a tiny car, sending the poor thing spiralling into the barriers – the force of the crack breaking them on impact – and almost over the cliff. The only thing stopping the car from going completely over was a single barrier that had hooked onto the bumper, keeping the front of the car mostly on the road while the back hung over the cliff and tilted at the slightest change in air pressure. Even from her far away vantage point, Eris could see that the barrier wasn’t going to last forever and the woman inside the car didn’t have much time.

People swarmed the road, sprinting towards the car as others yelled into their phones, calling 911 and 999 and all other emergency numbers. Only three people were brave enough to get close to the car – one of them, Eris recognised as being a retired fireman 0 and the strongest of the three quickly threw open the car door and yanked the woman out.

The woman fought him with all her might, trying to get back to the car as tears formed in her eyes. She was sobbing so horribly that no one could make out what the hell she was saying. Finally, though, she yelled at the top of her lungs, “MY BABY IS IN THE CAR!”

The whole area froze, even those yelling into their phones went suddenly quiet as they all looked towards the car. Sharp inhales echoed everywhere as they watched, as every second passed, how the car slowly tipped further and further over the cliff.

“Where’s the baby, ma’am?” asked the retired fire-fighter.

“T-The back-the back seat,” the woman gasped, through panicked breaths.

Stepping closer now, Eris joined the group, watching as the adults sent each other concerned looks. It was then that the whispering began and Eris felt her own heart stop as she listened to it all. Her hands were shaking rather violently as she snuck through the crowd towards the sobbing woman and the car.

“There’s no one small enough to fit,” one woman whispered to her friend.

“Anyone who goes in risks falling,” another man agreed.

“The emergency services won’t be here in time,” another woman said.

Without thinking, Eris threw her satchel down and sprinted towards the car. She pushed past as many people as she could, dodging their arms as they tried to grab her and pull her away. Almost everyone, once they realised, tried to stop her from getting closer but no one succeeded as she, carefully, clambered into the car and then froze as it began to tilt. Seeing the car beginning to tilt, people rushed towards it and put as much weight as they could on the front so it didn’t tip over the edge.

“Kid, get the fuck out of there!” ordered an elderly man. “You’ll get hurt.”

The ‘you’ll die’ was left unsaid but Eris refused to listen.

Slowly, carefully, wisely, Eris climbed her way from the front seat of the car to the back, where the baby was fast asleep in her car seat. The car creaked in warning and Eris swallowed rather harshly as she felt the car beginning to tip again, further towards the edge.

Not daring to look, she gently removed the car seat from the car – thankful for having to help her little brother do the same many years before – and turned on her heel.

Gasping, Eris felt the car tilt dangerously – too dangerously – with every attempt to move. The people holding onto the car were quickly losing strength and Eris knew they wouldn’t have time to save both the baby and her at the same time so, she made a decision. Eris placed the baby on the front seat, remaining perfectly still as the mother grabbed her child and sprinted from the car as fast as her heeled feet could carry her. It was only once Eris was sure that the baby was completely safe that she tried to climb between the seats again.

She had just made it to the front seat when she heard the Crash and felt the barrier fall.

The car began to tilt … screaming filled the air … a man reached towards her … their hands inches from locking together … the car moved … she was jerked back … the car began to fall … taking Eris down with it … into …

…Nothing…

Eris couldn’t feel anything. There was no pain. There was no fear. There was no anger. There was no resentment. There was no regret. There was no worry. She couldn’t feel anything.

It was only blackness around her but Eris could feel that she was falling, like she was flying through the air. She could feel her heart pounding inside her chest, like a never-ending drum beat that refused to stop. Her eyes were neither closed nor open but they didn’t hurt.

She was falling, though she didn’t know how fast. She was falling for so long, with no end in sight. She was falling and that was all that mattered.

There was no sound.

There was no light.

There were no smells.

It was empty.

It was nothing…

I hope the baby is safe, she thought, after what felt like an eternity. I don’t regret saving her, I’d do it all over again if I needed to … I hope the baby grows up to be strong and healthy … I hope the mother is more careful from now on … I hope my mother is okay … and Jamie … and Alisha … I hope mum doesn’t blame herself …

She continued falling.

Then, with no warning, Eris felt something. She felt a warm hand on her cheek, a warm, comforting hand, one that reminded her of her mother and how she would attempt to comfort Eris when she was sad or lonely. A maternal hand that brushed her hair away from her face and patted her head and moved towards her heart. A gentle hand that pressed a finger to her chest and suddenly Eris wasn’t falling anymore. She was being carried, cradled, wrapped in warmth, like a blanket. She could hear words being whispered into her ear – but not very clearly – and someone stroking her nose as if she were the most precious thing in the world. Then it all disappeared again and Eris could only cry out.

Within seconds, she was surrounded in the cold. It bit at every part of her exposed body, from her ears to her toes, mocking her and cheering as the previous warmth was robbed from her by nature itself. Eris whimpered and groaned, letting out a little cry as she was swaddled into a warm blanket once more. The hands that lifted her were nothing like those that were holding her previously, these hands were rough, clinical and not at all sympathetic as they hefted her into the air.

When the scent of disinfectant reached her overly sensitive nose, Eris’ heart began to beat just a little bit faster. She could now fear people talking around her and the sound of metal colliding with metal. The coppery smell of blood hit her like a truck later but she wasn’t in any pain … painkillers?

I’m in a hospital! Maybe I survived! Maybe they’d managed to get me out and I’d passed out from the crash! Maybe those arms were someone pulling me out!

Excitement filled her every cell as she attempted to force her eyes open but Eris quickly squeaked and closed them just as forcefully. The bright, burning, white lights scolded her eyes and made them fill with tears and she could still see the pattern even now they were closed again. Behind her, Eris could hear someone – a woman – screaming at the top of her lungs … it was too close to be from another room.

Holy shit!

Eris’ eyes adjusted to the intense lights and she found that she was, indeed, in a hospital room. Her body was filled with a burning spark of hope! Until she noticed something that disturbed her greatly: she was in the maternity ward! Through the pink blanket she had been wrapped in, Eris could feel the hands holding her and she quickly looked up, discovering a huge doctor looking down at her.

No, she thought, the doctor’s not huge, I’m small!

“Congratulations, it’s a girl.”

The doctor was extremely careful and gently as he handed her over to the woman who had been screaming earlier – who Eris assumed was her mother. The woman looked familiar to Eris but she couldn’t put her finger on it as she looked at the woman who’s eyes were filled to the brim with adoration. Her mother’s arms were warm and comforting – like the hands from the abyss – and Eris even managed to stop herself from crying.

“Hello, little one,” smiled the woman, her tone soothing and warm. It made Eris feel safe, like nothing could ever hurt her again. “I’m your mama.”

Eris attempted to speak, to ask who this woman was and what the fuck was happening, but she was trying to form words that she was quite equipped to speak, just yet.

What happened? Where am I? Why the fuck am I a baby? Who are you?

“What’s her name?” a nurse asked.

Eris turned her head, as much as she could, and quickly noticed a man that she hadn’t noticed before. He, too, looked familiar, very familiar, but Eris didn’t know where she had seen him from.

“Eris,” said the man, he looked rather bored by the whole ordeal. “Eris Ana Stark.”

STARK!

Chapter Text

Chapter Two: Hello

Antony Edward Stark never thought he’d be sitting in a maternity ward of the hospital he’d been born in, waiting with anticipation for what was going to come next. As a seventeen-year-old playboy and party boy, Tony always assumed that he’d end up here at some point but never did he think he’d feel delighted by his presence here, by the opportunity to be in the waiting room.

Heat flushed through his system, irritating him on a primal level and forcing him to stand up and begin to pace around the private waiting room that Howard had paid for – not out of respect for Tony or Maria but because it was what was expected of him and Obe had suggested this course of action. He mentally went through his alphabetised list of all of the complications he had memorised that could arise during childbirth. He regretted, now more than ever, looking it up when he found out about the baby, but Tony had always been of the curios sort and he knew himself well enough to know that he would have done it anyway when the moment arose.

He refused to be ignorant.

Ungracefully flopping down into the uncomfortable, wooden hospital chair against the back wall, Tony winced as he felt his leg beginning to shake, the shakes getting more vigorous as his thoughts took a darker and darker path. Rhodey had told Tony – over and over again – that everything would be alright and Tony had really tried to believe his best friend but with Tony’s track record? He didn’t think he could keep his hopes up even if he tried. The abyss of dark thoughts that had captured Tony’s mind began expanding and Tony felt himself beginning to give in to the panic attack that was about to occur when all of it was halted by a soft, warm, comforting hand on Tony’s knee. Swallowing, Tony snapped himself back to reality and grabbed at the hand, absorbing the warmth and comfort as best he could while his mind attempted to focus on something else.

“Everything shall be fine, young sir,” said Jarvis, squeezing Tony’s knee comfortingly.

The older man was confident, and it shone through every pour. He was completely calm and relaxed even as people were rushing back and forth at lightning speed between rooms and wards around them. Tony winced, gritting his teeth, as he heard a mother scream in pain from somewhere down the hall. His knuckles turned what as he spotted another woman being wheeled into a birthing room as she went into labour. There was also some whimpering, some moaning and some groaning from not just the mothers but their partners, who were looking rather pale themselves as they rushed alongside the beds. Tony eventually forced his eyes away from the hospital doors and back towards Jarvis.

“Maria is a strong woman,” continued Jarvis, moving his hand to pat Tony’s shoulder. “You have no need to worry.”

Tension slowly – almost agonisingly so – bled out of Tony as he locked eyes with Jarvis and nodded, slowly, cautiously, hesitantly, willing those words to not just be true but to also sink into his thick skull – which he’d never admit he had. It, of course, didn’t stop the cold feeling that had begun forming in his stomach as he stared at the door. The seven-teen-year-old sighed, scratching his leg anxiously, as he forced his mind onto other things, like the newest schematics for his newest gun and the code he wanted to use to help DUM-E.

His hands were fiddling in his lap as he went through every step of his new guns creation, focusing too much on every small detail until he couldn’t think of any new improvements. Jarvis watched Tony with a fond shake of his head, glad that his charge was focusing on something other than Maria and the baby.

Tony’s had snapped up when the doors to the private hospital room opened and Howard Stark came striding out without a care to those around him. He was holding a small, pink bundle in his arms with a blank expression on his cold face. Tony felt his heart grow wings and take flight as his wide and shining eyes zoned in on the pink blanket, examining every part of it while Howard strode towards them, his entire body as tense as a wire. Without a second thought or even a how-do-you-do, Howard passed the baby to Jarvis and wiped his hand on his trousers, attempting to get rid of the germs that weren’t there.

The second his hands were free, a phone found its way to Howard’s hand and he was quickly typing away on it. Jarvis simply accepted the bundle with no words, a warm smile on his kind face, and then looked up, back at his boss.

“How is Lady Stark?” inquired Jarvis.

Tony listened intently for the answer, hands gripping his suit trousers so tightly he was almost afraid that they’d come apart at the seams. Howard sighed, like being asked about his wife’s condition was one big annoyance or distraction, and looked up at Jarvis with a half-hearted shrug, nodding towards the hospital room.

“Resting,” said Howard, shortly. “I need to head back to SHEILD.”

He turned on his heel and was about to begin his proud strut to the car Peggy had sent for him when he was stopped by Jarvis’ voice asking: “What is her name?”

Spinning around on his heel and was an expression of complete disinterest and mild annoyance at being stopped, Howard replied: “Her mother named her Eris.”

Tony glared at his father’s retreating form, his lip curling into a silent snarl, but the glare melted away in the instant that Jarvis moved back towards the chairs and took a seat, Eris carefully laid on his legs. Tony looked over at her and felt like his heart was going to explode from the cuteness before him. Her head was barely the size of his hand and the rest of her was much smaller, and her eyes – oh her eyes – they were big and beautiful, shining like a galaxy as they took in the world they had just been brought into. Gently, Tony reached over and beamed at her, letting her drag his finger over to her tiny mouth and give it a big, slobbery kiss.

Jarvis watched as Tony’s eyes filled with joyful tears as Eris began trying to reach towards Tony with a gummy smile.

“Would you like to hold her, sir?”

Tony froze.

“Are you sure?”

Panic flooded through Tony as Jarvis carefully turned and gently placed Eris into Tony’s waiting arms. Jarvis readjusted Tony’s hold for a moment before fully releasing him and Eros, watching as Tony’s entire body went tense. Tony was suddenly aware of everything around him and just how strong he was in comparison to the tiny baby that he was now holding. Slowly, carefully, hesitantly, Tony placed Eris against his chest and felt his heartbeat speed increase as Eris grabbed – or tried to grab – his shirt, right in the centre of his chest.

Tony twitched as Eris smiled up at him and Tony couldn’t help smiling back as he held her – which only made her smile even more. Jarvis tilted his head at them, smiling a paternal smile at them before placing a hand on Tony’s shoulder to comfort him.

“You’re a natural, sir.”

Hesitantly, Tony began to relax as Eris babbled at him and Jarvis, every-so-often she’d reach up to grab him with her other hand. He grinned and, mindful of his unshaven scruffy beard, bent his head down to meet hers and gently placed a kiss on her forehead. Eris giggled, squealing in delight and she could feel his pulse skipping at the sound of her laugh. Tony mentally categorised her laugh as his new favourite sound, far better than ACDC.

“Shall we go and see your mother, sir?” asked Jarvis, though he loathed to break up such a heart-warming scene.

“Okay Jarvis,” said Tony, absentmindedly.

Taking extra care as he stood, making sure he kept Eris as stable as possible, Tony felt Jarvis put his hand on Tony’s shoulder as he walked alongside his ward into the room that Howard had demanded and paid for, though Tony’s eyes never left Eris – even when he almost walked into a wall. Eris was staring up at him as well, garbling at him and Tony casually wiped the drool from her mouth when he noticed it.

Maria beamed as she spotted both of her children entering the room. She smiled, her smile bright enough to light up the entire hospital, as she saw how happy they were in each other’s presences. Careful not to move too much, Maria beckoned them over, sharing a look with Jarvis, who stepped out of Tony’s way so that the young man could move without hesitation. Mindfully, Tony climbed onto the bed, being careful of his mother’s legs, and settled down, grabbing onto Maria’s hand and looking up between the two most important women in his life.

Eris, upon seeing Maria, gargled at her and reached a hand out towards her. Maria allowed Eris to wrap her tiny hand around her finger – not minding that Eris was grabbing at her wedding ring – as she looked over towards Jarvis.

“Howard?”

“Master Howard has already felt for SHEILD, ma’am,” replied Jarvis, his eyes screaming with his own disappointment.

Maria could only sigh through her nose and nod, expecting as much, as she turned back to her two adorable children. Tony wasn’t paying much attention as he gently rocked Eris back and forth until a thought came to mind.

“Why Eris?”

Maria smiled: “I don’t know, honestly. It just came to me, like it was whispered in my ear. It fits, though, don’t you think? Our little Chaos bringer.”

Eris let out a tiny whine as her eyes began to droop, making Tony and Maria coo at her as Jarvis moved the hospital provided crib towards the bed. Tony glanced between Eris and the crib and, reluctantly, placed her inside, tucking the blanket closely around her so she wouldn’t get cold. He refused to move away, though, until he was sure that she was sleeping peacefully, and only then did he turn and focus on his mother.

Lying back, Maria hugged Tony to her and looked over at her new daughter, knowing for a fact that she would be the most protected child in the world.

~Stark~

Eris was astonished when she realised who was holding her in his arms: Howard Stark! He looked the exact same as he did in the captain America movie, with his fluffy dark hair dark eyes and moustache. He, of course, looked older, with more grey hairs and more wrinkled. He looked down at her with a bored face, his eyes boring into hers. He didn’t look all that happy to be holding her, in fact, he looked down at her in distain, like she was a burden, an annoyance, something that he didn’t want nor need nor want anything to do with.

She was currently swaddled in a pink fluffy blanket, staring up at her ‘father’ with a look that mirrored his own. She could feel them move as he carried her out of the room and away from Maria, who had fallen back against her bed exhausted. Eris noticed that Maria’s eyes refused to leave her until Howard turned the corner and closed the door behind him. She had no idea where he was taking her until she felt him hand her over to someone, she recognised from the Marvel Movies.

Edwin Jarvis.

The man that raised Tony from infancy, who taught him everything he knew, who was so important to Tony that he created an AI with the same voice! The man that married Peggy Carter and had a child with her! Eris wanted to squeal and fan girl and talk to him, quiz him on everything she could but she couldn’t … because she was a baby.

Jarvis accepted her into his arms without a second thought and began rocking her back and forth – making the part of her brain that was a regular baby coo in contentment and feel warm. She had no idea what the hell was going on and it terrified her to no end. Eris was honestly terrified and confused and worried, but she couldn’t do anything about it and had no idea how to fix it – if she even could fix it.

How the fuck did I end up in the Marvel Universe? Why the fuck am I un the Marvel Universe? Am I being rewarded? Am I being punished? Maybe I’m being given the opportunity to help? To change the events of the movie and save my favourite characters?

“Resting,” answered Howard, shortly. Eris assumed that Jarvis had asked something about Maria, “I need to head back to SHEILD. Her mother named her Eris.”

Oh sure, even when your daughter is born, you don’t give a flying fuck, or even a grounded fuck. You really are a dick! And my mother has a name!

She felt that she was being moved again, slower this time, with more compassion and understanding and focused on Jarvis, taking in every part of his appearance. He sat down in a hospital chair, making sure that Eris was comfortable, and then moved her so that she was tilted towards another person that she recognised instantly.

Tony Stark.

He was younger, obviously, probably only seventeen, and his eyes were filled with wonder and joy as he stared down at her. Slowly, he reached towards her with his long fingers and didn’t move as she gently wrapped her tiny hand around it and brought it to her lips. His hands were rough, like she expected, and yet they were incredibly soft and Tony slowly wiggled his finger to see how strong her grip was. Tony beamed down at her, staring at her like she was his Moon and Stars. Eris felt her tiny heart constrict as she ran through the mental checklist of all the horrible things that Tony would be forced to endure – only some of which Eris could possibly stop with mild consequences.

“Would you like to hold her, sir?”

“Are you sure?” asked Tony, tension bleeding out of his words.

He held her like she was something precious, like she was the most fragile piece of fine China. Tony was so warm and comfortable, Eris couldn’t stop herself from snuggling into him further, which only served to make him much happier. She began babbling to him, grabbing the part of his shirt that would have covered the arc reactor, to see how Tony would react but it only made him grin wider, his brown eyes sparkling with light and unshed tears.

“You’re a natural, sir,” said Jarvis, and Eris agreed. “Shall we go see your mother?”

Eris felt herself beginning to move again but she was still staring up at Tony, who was staring down at her just as intensely. When Maria came into her field of view, Eris was astounded by just how similar Tony and Maria looked when compared to how Tony and Howard looked together.

What do I look like? Wait … no I look like a baby. What will I look like? Will I end up looking like I did in my previous life? Will I look like Howard and Maria? Will I look like Tony?

 Her eyes felt heavy and Eris tried to fight it as best she could – wanting to see how Maria and Tony interacted together. She whined, gaining their attention, and they noticed her sleepiness and soon, much to her annoyance, she was gently placed in a hospital crib.

The last thing she saw before falling into a deep sleep was Tony’s smiling face shining down at her.

Chapter Text

Chapter Three: TVA

When Eris was brought home to the Stark family mansion, she was brought home at night, being held in Tony’s strong and comforting arms. Tony had refused to allow anyone other than his mother or Jarvis to hold Eris ever since they had left the hospital – much to Howard’s ever-growing annoyance – especially when she had begun to get fussy during the ride home and had whined at him like a kicked puppy. He had carefully removed her from the car seat and held her against his chest – which seemed to be her favourite place – for the entire car ride, rocking her back and forth and mumbling ACDC lyrics under his breath to keep her calm.

Maria and Jarvis walked alongside Tony, into the massive mansion and up the carpeted stairs towards the nursery the staff had prepared for Eris once Maria had gone into labour. It was the room directly across from Tony’s – at Jarvis’ request – and it was filled to the brim with the best baby furniture money could buy, as well as the most expensive and most updated security system in the world. Tony beamed as they entered and mentally went over all of the security measures Howard had put in place, he was already planning over one-hundred different ways to improve them to make sure Eris was as protected as physically possible.

Howard disappeared off to his workshop as quickly as he could, the second he stepped foot into the mansion and closed the doors. No one really paid him any mind and he didn’t really care as he once again locked himself within his workshop with a phone to his ear.

“I shall begin the preparations for dinner,” said Jarvis, standing in the doorway of the nursery, behind Maria. “Shall I serve it to you downstairs in the private dining room or in here, sir?”

“In here,” said Tony, lowering himself into the old-fashioned rocking chair that he’d bought behind his father’s back.

“Downstairs,” Maria countered quietly.

Nodding at his mistress, Jarvis strode out of the nursery, leaving Tony and Maria alone with Eris, who was cooing quietly at her new surroundings. Tony rocked his baby sister back and forth in the rocking chair, humming some ACDC under his breath while Maria looked on with a warm, maternal smile on her kind, soft face. She carefully settled down beside the rocking chair, making Tony beam at her as Eris garbled something and held a tiny hand out towards her mother.

“She really loves you, cucciolo,” Said Maria calmly.

Putting her hand on Tony’s arm, Maria began rubbing circles into it, making any remaining tension bleed out of him, turning him into jelly. Eris felt him relaxing and made sure to let her pleasure known so that he would remain so.

“Really?” he asked. “How can you tell?”

“Look at her,” smiled Maria, “her eyes never leave you, she’s constantly trying to call out for you, wanting you to hold her in your arms at all times. She loves you. I wouldn’t be surprised if your name is her first word.”

Tony grinned, his smile shining like all the stars in the sky, and he gently kissed Eris’ forehead. She giggled upon feeling his scruffy beard against her skin and she reached up to touch it, giving Tony’s chin a kiss of her own before snuggling back down and giggling.

“Our Tesoro is going to be the most protected girl in the world,” declared Tony. “I’m gonna make sure of it, I swear.”

Maria agreed and carefully stroked Eris’ nose as the tiny baby began to yawn. Tony kept rocking her back and forth, not daring to move or stop until he was sure that Eris was fully asleep. It was only once he was sure that she wouldn’t wake up again that Tony placed Eris in her crib and tucked her into her small blanket. The baby monitor was placed beside the crib and Tony took the other one, slipping it into his pocket as Maria led him out of the room and downstairs.

“Your father is going to tell you that Stark Men Are Made Of Iron,” said Maria, after a moment. “And that you’ll need to be strong man and to not indulge Eris so much –”

“—Don’t worry, mom,” said Tony, firmly and yet kindly. “I stopped listening to him a long time ago.”

“Good, I’m glad.

~Stark~

Eris was woken from her peaceful slumber by a yellow light that seemed very familiar. Two seconds later, two figured entered her room and began looking around at everything. Eris continued to pretend to be asleep, keeping her ears out and waiting for the right moment to cry out, knowing Tony would come sprinting into the room the second she made noise.

“This is your dangerous variant?” Loki’s voice mocked, close to her crib.

She knew he was hovering over her, feeling his cold breath on her uncovered cheek as she tried not to squirm. Her heart was pounding in her chest as she realised what was happening, fear rushing through her as she realised that she was going to be erased – after all, she wasn’t supposed to be there.

“Shh!” ordered Mobius.

“Why?”

“Baby monitor!”

“Oh …”

She could hear them moving around and beeping as well. She remained perfectly still and did her best to keep her excitement at seeing Loki down so she didn’t give herself away. The fear was getting worse as she beeping got louder and closer to her.

“Eh, Mobius, this says she’s not a variant.”

Eris released a small, unnoticeable sigh of relief and she slowly snuggled further into her blank, making both men hesitate for a moment as they didn’t want to wake her up.

“What? Give me that.”

Another load of beeps.

“That’s – not – possible. She isn’t in the sacred timeline – or any other timeline. How is that possible?”

“I thought you had all the answers,” Loki mocked.

“This has never happened before. The TVA says she shouldn’t exist but there isn’t a protocol for this, for her. In fact, there’s even a notice saying NOT to remove her… I don’t understand.”

“So … we’re leaving?”

“We’ll have to.”

Eris waited a few seconds before opening her eyes and seeing the room completely empty. Instead of making a noise or trying to figure out what was happening, Eris felt herself falling back to sleep.

~Stark~

The next morning, Eris was awoken by Tony almost silently pushing her nursery door open and came padding inside. He was trying to be as quiet as possible as he came further towards the crib and looked inside. Tony was surprised to find her still awake and staring at him with the cutest look Eris could muster making him coo as he gently reached down and pulled her – blanket as well – into his arms.

He swaddled her as best he could, muttering the steps he had looked up while doing so, and beamed as he slipped her into his arms again and carefully opened the windows. He shielded her from the sun’s harsh glare and then opened the window, allowing cool air into the room.

Once Tony was assured that the room would be properly aired while he and Eris were out, he walked out of the nursery – closing the door behind him – and walked downstairs where Maria was waiting, eating a healthy meal at the dining table as Jarvis explained the plans for the day.

Reluctantly, Tony handed Eris to their Mother and sat down in the at across from her, his eyes focusing on Eris the entire time. Maria simply smiled at his overprotectiveness and handed Eris back to him the second Maria was sure that she had finished eating.

“What are you planning on doing today?” asked Maria, sipping her tea.

“I was going to take Eris into my workshop, introduce her to her nephew DUM-E.”

Maria smiled softly at him and nodded in acceptance, responding with nothing more than a quick: “Just make sure she’s safe.”

“Don’t worry, I already baby-proofed everything, even DUM-E has rubber stoppers on his fingers. I think he likes them to be fair.”

Jarvis had also made sure that the workshop had been baby-proofed, though he hadn’t needed to do anything except install a small playpen that Tony had asked him to put next to his desk.

I’m going to see Tony’s LAB! SKREEEEEEEEEEE.

Carefully, Eris was pulled close to Tony’s chest – where her hand met the place that his arch-reactor would be – as he walked, almost silently, towards his workshop. Eris could hear someone crashing and banging from a large, metal door to their left and assumed that it was Howard, probably working on a new version of the Super Solider serum.

Tony took her right past the door, his face twisted with anger and annoyance before smoothing out again, and towards another door just like it, one that was painted in Iron Man colours – not that Tony knew it. He was very gentle when it came to unlocking the door and opening it, wincing as it creaked as he looked down at Eris to make sure it hadn’t either scared her or caused her to cry.

Eris would have gasped if she had the ability when they entered the workshop/lab. It looked like a downscaled version of the lab from Iron Man 1. Tools and schematics were sprawled around all over the place in Organised Chaos and Eris noticed the small playpen that Jarvis had set up by Tony’s desk.

The playpen looked expensive – incredibly so – and was filled with educational toys and pillows. It also looked like Tony had installed a heater and cooler next to it so he could control her temperature and make sure Eris was completely comfortable at all times. The playpen was also reinforced with metal rods that Eris assumed was to make sure she couldn’t knock it over or DUM-E couldn’t knock it over. There was also a bottle warmer on the desk as well as several baby books and research that Tony must have done after – or before – she was done.

“I hope you like it,” said Tony, softly. “It’s all stuff the books said I should get and do and I’m going to keep improving it but this will do for now.”

Hesitantly, Tony settled Eris down on her back in the playpen, making sure that she couldn’t turn over or move and that he could see her at all times. Eris looked around as best she could with her lack of mobility and she honestly wanted to squeal as she took everything in.

“All of the books said to be careful when introducing an Infant to a pet, especially one that is bigger and stronger than the infant so – so we’ll do this slowly and I’ll make sure that DUM-E doesn’t get too close.”

He was talking mostly to himself as he opened one of the books and began scanning through the page he had already marked. Upon hearing his name, DUM-E began to chirp and hum as best he could causing Tony to immediately looked up and turn his attention to both the bot and Eris to see how she reacted to the noise. Eris did her best to smile, forcing little babbling sounds out as best she could as she attempted to raise her tiny arms and wave.

Tony was happy to see Eris was so intrigued by DUM-E and motioned for the bot to get closer as Tony gently moved her towards the plastic screen he had put in the pen for this purpose. DUM-E came rolling forward and Tony turned on his lamp so that Eris could see him properly.

“Slowly, DUM-E,” ordered Tony, “we don’t want to scare her do we.”

DUM-E chirped in response and slowed down even more until he was completely under the light and Eris could see him fully. Eris squealed at the sight, clapping as best she could and reaching out for DUM-E who moved his claw towards the plastic and gently tapped it, chirping and beeping with his own joy.

Tony beamed, his face alight with joy, filling the room with delight and making everything seem so much better. He didn’t pick her up, though, and instead allowed the pair to interact through the screen. He had already planned to keep the barrier for at least a week, just to make sure that everything would be fine – and that’s what the books all said – so he’d keep to the plan.

Making sure that Eris was safe and happy, Tony turned back to his work and began throwing himself into his project.

Chapter Text

Chapter Four: Happy Birthday.

It was Eris’ first birthday in the Marvel World and she was practically vibrating with excitement from her place in her expensive, luxury crib. Tony had returned to MIT a month after Eris had been born – which he had been forced to do by Howard despite already proving his ability to complete his education early – and Eris hadn’t been able to see him in person since. Jarvis, of course, made sure that it was impossible for Eris to forget Tony’s face, not that she would have, as he had put a load of pictures of her and Tony all around the room – pictures he had taken during the month Tony and Eris were together. Of course, it wasn’t just pictures; Tony video-called every night before Eris’ bedtime to wish her goodnight and sing her to sleep.

Jarvis and Maria had taken extra care to make sure that Tony was involved in anything that Eris did. If Eris, Maria and Jarvis ever went anywhere they’d sent hundreds of pictures to Tony or would video call him so that he could be involved all the while making sure that Howard knew nothing about it.

Maria entered Eris’ room that early morning and removed Eris from her crib – unlike Tony, Maria was much less careful when moving Eris around, not seeing her as a porcelain doll like Tony did – pulling her against her chest in a tight, warm hug. Smiling, Maria walked over to the huge, ornate wardrobe Tony had insisted Eris have, which was filled with outfits that Tony had picked out and shipped over to the mansion for Eris. She glanced through the majority of outfits before pulling out Eris’ favourite: it was a navy-blue dress that reminded Eris of a princess as it covered most of her body. It made her feel much less exposed despite being mostly helpless.

The finally part of her outfit was something Maria had personally gifted her: a blue monarch butterfly hair clip. It was vintage and had been gifted to Maria by her mother on her wedding day and Eris loved it more than anything else. Due to her physical age, though, Eris was only allowed to wear the clip while she was supervised since both Tony and Maria were hypervigilant when it came to her health.

Jarvis and the rest of the staff were moving throughout the first floor and public parlour, setting everything up for the small party that would be occurring in a few hours. Eris was looking around with wide, intrigued, brown eyes, absorbing every part of the house that her favourite character had grown up in. Everyone took a few seconds to wave at Eris and Maria as they passed and Eris attempted to wave back with a gummy smile that made people melt.

Entering the parlour that the party was going to be held it, Eris was shocked: there was a mountain of presents by the bay window that Eris was shocked to realise were for her! She’d never been able to have so many presents in her old life: she had two siblings and money was tight. Not to mention the fact that her birthday was often forgotten since her youngest brother’s birthday was on the same day.

Hearing a commotion from somewhere in the hall, Eris looked to her left and squealed with joy the second she spotted Tony entering the room, dragging Rhodey behind him. Tony practically skipped towards her, wearing the biggest grin his face could muster as he scooped her up into his own arms and spun her around with a laugh. He continued spinning her around in a little dance, his smile brightening the room as he looked between her and his best friend.

Rhodey was just standing in the doorway looking incredibly awkward as he tried to be as small as possible. He was entirely focused on Tony and Eris, somehow confused by how close Tony seemed to be to Eris and he was very unsure on what to do now.

“Rhodey, get over here!” called Tony.

James Rhodes stumbled into the parlour and cautiously walked over to where Tony was standing. Maria smiled at Rhodey in warm, comforting, motherly acceptance and stood up, leaving the room to make sure that Howard hadn’t stopped drinking himself into an early grave before the party. Rhodey smiled nervously at Eris but that nervousness melted away when she reached out for him and grabbed onto his shirt. She babbled up at him and reached up with her other hand as Tony beamed beside him.

“Told you she’d love you, Rhodey-bear,” grinned Tony.

Tony handed Eris over, slowly, carefully, hesitantly, making sure that Rhodey was holding her correctly before he even thought of letting go. Accepting her hesitantly, Rhodey felt himself beginning to grin as he and Tony settled on the couch together, Eris settled on Rhodey’s lap, and began to talk. Eris squealed and laughed along with the boys as they messed around with her while Maria recorded it from a distance.

“I know how to hold a baby Tony,” said Rhodey.

Stepping back with his hands raised, Tony nodded and smiled, simply watching his best friend and little sister.

I can’t believe this is happening, thought Eris, I have no words.

The presents she received from her family were all expensive and custom made for her. Tony and Rhodey took great care in helping her unwrap each one, making sure she didn’t accidently get a paper cut or choke on something – not that she would but they didn’t know that. Eris made sure to show her appreciation and love for the boys as much as she could, savouring the joy on Tony’s face and his relaxed aura while he still had it.

At some point, Tony stood up, leaving Eris with Rhodey and Maria, and began speaking to Jarvis and Ana about something for the party. No one seemed to notice the mischievous grin on her face as Eris attempted to turn on Maria’s lap and called out, at the top of her tiny lungs:

“Tony!”

Instantly, everyone froze.

Tony spun on his heel without a second through, everything about him screaming in astonishment and joy and pride as he stepped towards Eris and fell back to his knees. Eris looked just as innocent as usual as she reached out towards Tony, who sat back, blinking.

“What did you say?” asked Tony, hesitantly.

“Tony! Tony!”

In a second, Tony had scooped Eris up, into his arms, and was spinning her around, laughing his head of as bright, happy tears rolled down his face in waves. Eris laughed along with him and Rhodey and Maria could only share happy, knowing looks as they watched the brother and sister enjoy each other’s company.

“She said my name! her first word is my NAME!”

“We heard,” said Rhodey, fondly.

“Our Tesoro is a little genius and she loves me! She said my name!”

“Tony, calm yourself, before you make her sick, alright?” said Maria, calmly.

Tony immediately slowed down and looked at Eris before nodding and sitting back down on the couch. He hugged Eris properly, gently kissing Eris’ forehead while he beamed at everyone else. He felt like he was on top of the world as Eris giggled at him and patted his arm with her tiny hand.

“Time for cake,” said Ana, entering with a smile and holding a cake in her hands.

Peggy Carter stepped into the Stark Mansion alongside several of her SHEILD colleagues. Music and the sound of people talking was flooding the area as she took off her coat and handed it to Jarvis with a soft smile. Maria was waiting by the doors to the public parlour and immediately moved to hug Peggy as the two women got closer to each other.

“How are you, Peggy?”

“Busy,” she answered, with a smile. “But it’s worth it.”

“Thank you for coming.”

“Of course!” said Peggy. “I wouldn’t miss the opportunity to see my God Son and God Daughter.”

Tony came dancing by the open doors, Eris in his arms and Rhodey trailing along behind his best friend, holding their drinks and a bottle for Eris. Maria and Peggy both laughed sightly as Rhodey sent the pair a pleading look before he was dragged along to another section of the parlour.

“Howard?”

Maria pointed towards the large group of men in the corner, with Howard at the forefront. Peggy could do nothing but roll her eyes and step into the parlour as more people began arriving. She waved goodbye to Maria before striding over to her godchildren with a smile.

“Aunt Peggy,” beamed Tony, rocking Eris back and forth as she played with one of the toys she’d received earlier. “How are you?”

“I’m practically perfect, and you?”

“Never better!” beamed Tony. “Oh! This is Rhodey.”

“James Rhodes, ma’am,” Rhodey introduced formally.

Seeing how nervous the poor boy was, Peggy decided to leave him alone and not torment him like she usually did.

“Pleasure. Now may I hold my god daughter?” inquired Peggy.

Tony hesitated for just a second before handing Eris over. Eris squealed and grinned and gently grabbed Peggy’s immaculate hair. It was so soft! Peggy just smiled and gently rocked Eris back and forth as the party continued on all around them.

“Aren’t you gorgeous?” cooed Peggy.

Eris squealed and waved her hands towards Peggy who was just as enamoured as Eris was. Tony and Rhodey were rushing around together as Rhodey was given a tour of the mansion before the majority of the guests arrived for the party.

“Howard!” called Stane. “How’s the research going?”

The second Eris saw Stane entering the parlour, she felt something inside of her freeze in Peggy’s arms. Peggy didn’t seem to notice this as she continued talking to Tony and Rhodey while she rocked Eris. Stane spent a few seconds speaking to Howard before attempting to move towards Tony, Eris, Peggy and Rhodey.

“And how’s the new golden goose?”

Stane reached towards Eris and she immediately began crying – full on screaming. Tony grabbed her in an instant, rocking her back and forth and turning his back to Stane so that she couldn’t see him anymore. He shushed her and rocked her and looked to Rhodey who was just as shocked by her outburst as Tony and Maria were.

Maria was quick to begin damage control, citing how tired Eris was. Tony took it as a sign and quickly left the parlour and took off towards the nursery so that Eris would stop crying. Rhodey and Peggy followed quickly behind him.

Chapter Text

Chapter Five: Peggy Carter

With Tony away again, Eris was left with no one other than Maria and Jarvis for company – DUM-E had been taken since Howard viewed him as junk – and, while Eris loved them both dearly, she knew better than to get attached considering what was going to happen. Howard was around too, as well as other maids and butlers but Tony had made it very clear that no one other than Jarvis and Maria were allowed around Eris without him there to vet them.

Maria was reading to Eris, who was sitting comfortably on her lap, in Italian. Eris had to admit that she loved the sound and even went so far as to try and imitate Maria’s accent – which failed rather spectacularly – Maria found it adorable and even encouraged it.

Jarvis was pottering all over the nursery, cleaning it as best he could and changing the sheets in Eris’ crib – which had been upgraded by Tony to have an even better security system. He made sure to be as quiet as he could so as not to interrupt the mother and daughter.

“Jarvis!” yelled Howard. “Jarvis where are you?”

Looking at Maria, Jarvis’ eyes asked a silent question that Maria simply smiled in response to and nodded.

“Coming sir.”

Eris was sad to see Jarvis leave but was soon distracted by Maria standing up and grabbing Eris’ coat. Maria gently pulled it around her and walked out of the nursery, ignoring Howard speaking very harshly to Jarvis about something being amiss in his workshop. Jarvis seemed to only be half listening – this seemed to be a normal occurrence in Stark Mansion – as Maria walked past them and towards the front doors. 

Someone was waiting for them just outside and Eris squealed when she realised who it was: Peggy Carter.

Peggy was dressed to the nines as she usually was and looked every bit as stunning in real life than in the films. Her face instantly lit up upon seeing Maria and Eris coming out of the house and Maria was just as happy.

“I was more than happy to get your call,” said Peggy, gently hugging Maria. “I really wanted to spend sometime with my God daughter.”

“I’m glad. Howard is doing something in his workshop today and I was worried about the noise,” sighed Maria. “Besides, Tony was hoping that we’d be able to get Eris some more outfits for when he comes home. Apparently, he has plans.”

Laughing, the two women slid into Peggy’s car, placing Eris gently into her car seat before settling down and beginning the long drive into the city. Maria drove, allowing Peggy the chance to bond some more with her God daughter since it would be at least a few hours before they exited the estate and entered city limits.

“She has your looks,” said Peggy, running a finger through Eris’ tiny curls. “Let’s just hope she doesn’t have Howard’s personality.”

“Oh I doubt she has that,” laughed Maria. “You’ve seen her with Tony.”

“That’s true, Howard wouldn’t be caught dead with either of them,” sighed Peggy. “I don’t know how you stand it.”

“Honestly? I’d rather Howard have no hand in Tony or Eris’ lives, you’ve seen what he does to his own.”

The two were silent for a moment listening to Eris babble as much as she could in hopes of breaking the slowly forming tension. In all honesty, Eris had never really though Howard was a bad father – sure he was a neglectful one but he made sure that Tony had everything he needed – or a bad husband – again, Maria had everything she could ever ask for … but maybe this world was different?

“Why do you stay with him then?”

“Because Tony needs me, and Eris needs me, too. If I were to leave, well, I wouldn’t have the money to make sure my children came with me and I refuse to allow Tony and Eris to grow up unprotected from Howard.” Maria sighed, softly. “He wasn’t always like this, Peggy. When we first met, Howard was the sweetest guy I’d ever known, learning Italian for me, flying all over the world for me, dropping everything at moments notice to be by my side. He was a dream.”

“So?”

“After Bucky died and Steve disappeared, he changed. Howard began to draw away from us, from me… he only trusted Jarvis after that, only allowed Jarvis to know what he was doing as he worked away trying to find Steve.”

“Steve’s disappearance changed all of us.”

“I know,” said Maria. “But it seemed to bring out the worst in Howard, it destroyed him but – as his father always told him – Stark Men are Made of Iron and thus, Howard bottled everything away… becoming the man we all know today.

“And I think if I ever left him … I don’t think Howard would survive losing someone else.”

Peggy sat back, rolling her shoulders and glancing between Eris and Maria, thinking over everything that was being told to her. Then, she smiled, a soft, warm, comforting smile, one that showed that she understood Maria and the pressure she placed upon herself.

“You’re a good woman, Maria. The world needs men like you.”

“And like you,” said Maria with a similar smile. “Now, let’s go shopping.”

Eris was scooped up into Peggy’s arms and Maria stood on her left and the two began walking down the Manhattan streets towards the shopping district.

~Stark~

Eris had hated shopping in her old life and she hated it even more in her new one. Between Maria and Peggy and the shop assistants picking out different outfits for her to them putting her in them and doing little cat-walks while taking pictures of her, Eris was thoroughly embarrassed and wishing that Tony was there to save her – not that he would have, if anything he’d have joined in.

Three hours of non-stop shopping for the three and they had finally decided to stop and sit down at a fancy café. Peggy sat outside in the Sun with Eris in a high chair as Maria ordered food and drinks. Eris had never seen anything like this place, it looked like someone had just transplanted a French café right into the heart of Manhattan.

“Well, if it isn’t Peggy Carter,” called a familiar voice that froze Eris’ blood.

Stane was striding towards them with the smile of a leach that had just found its next victim. Peggy didn’t look all too happy to see him either and Maria was barely smiling as he came over to them and sat down uninvited.

“Mr Stane,” said Peggy. “To what do we owe this pleasure?”

“I was on my way to see Howard – and here’s the little Stark,” chuckled Stane.

Eris really wanted to make a scene but she could tell that Maria was silently begging her not to, so she didn’t and instead just ignored him. Stane seemed put off by her lack of interest but didn’t let that stop him from chatting with the other women.

“Right, I can’t keep Howard waiting,” said Stane.

He stood up and gently patted Eris’ head before heading off. The moment he was gone, Eris began rubbing her head with a random napkin gaining smile from Peggy and Maria.

“I don’t think we’ll be heading home for at least two more hours.”

“Two hours of shopping then.”

Chapter Text

Chapter Six: Whispers in the Dark.

Eris plodded through the upstairs of Stark Mansion towards the stairs the second the sound of the front door opening filled her tiny ears. Jarvis was following closely behind her, taking small strides as he watched her with a loving smile. She stormed towards the stairs like a woman on a mission – something Jarvis believed she had picked up from Peggy Carter – but he quickly scooped her up before she could reach the first step.

“Tony!” cried Eris, squirming in Jarvis’ arms. “Tony!”

The second he heard her adolescent voice from upstairs, Tony’s entire face lit up like the fourth of July as he dropped his bags. Jarvis arrived at the bottom of the stairs and, without so much as a word, he handed Eris over to her brother before grabbing Tony’s bags and heading upstairs. Eris put her tiny arms around his thick neck and kissed him as best she could on the cheek, making Tony chuckle. He returned the kiss, on top of her forehead, and gently tapped her nose with a joyful smile.

“Hi, little Spark,” grinned Tony, rocking her back and forth, “how have you been?”

“I missed you,” said Eris, snuggling into his chest.

She grinned, grabbing onto his shirt like she usually did, as Tony carried her back upstairs and back towards her room, which had changed from a simple nursery to a more personalised bedroom. Jarvis had already placed Tony’s bags in his room and held the door for Tony as he entered the bedroom, with a fond smile. Gently, Eris was placed on the soft, plush carpet, near some of her favourite toys.

This was their usual routine for when Tony returned from MIT without Rhodey: Tony would wait by the front door for Eris to toddle down the hall from her room towards him, Jarvis or Maria or Ana would carry her down the stairs where Tony would be waiting and Eris would be handed over to Tony. Tony would then return Eris back to her room to play for a few hours until it was time for Eris’ nap.

Tony sat down behind Eris, pulling off his expensive backpack – that Howard had forced on him due to wanting Tony to be seen as a young man and not a poor person. Eris handed him different toys and squealed with delight as Tony began playing with her, doing different voices for different toys.

I hope this happiness remains, even after Maria’s death, a voice said at the back of Eris’ mind.

She was clutching her favourite toy, a stuffed white wolf that Tony had given her for her third birthday. The wolf had different names but Eris was forever calling him Bucky – at least in her head – while Tony only knew the wolf as Fenrir.

“I have something for you,” grinned Tony, his chocolate eyes gleaming as he reached into the backpack.

Her eyes followed his callused hand and they exploded when she spotted what he was pulling from the backpack. It was a magnificent necklace! One that was in the shape of the arc reactor – it was an exact replica even down to the blue iridescent glow! Eris knew that he had no idea about the significance of such a gift but she didn’t care as she beamed when he carefully placed it around her neck and watched as she examined it with her tiny hands. It was silver and warm to the touch and hung just over Eris’ heart, right where Tony’s reactor would have been.

“I found the pattern in some of Howard’s things,” said Tony, smiling. “Rhodey gave me the idea to make it, said you’d probably want something to remember me by while I’m away.”

Eris jumped on him, hugging him tightly as she could as she chirped: “Thank you!”

Tony laughed and hugged her back and soon they were back to playing games together. Eris sat on Tony’s lap, necklace clutched in one hand, as Tony read her different books – from text books to story books – and explained different things to her.

Jarvis leaned against the door to Eris’ room with a smile as he sighed in contentment. He watched them, in silence, as Eris’ eyes began to droop and Tony instantly, gently, calmly picked her up and placed her in the crib that he had personalised and decked out behind Howard’s back. Tony tucked Eris in, kissing her forehead and then turned to the mobile, which sat above the crib, that Tony had made for Eris’ second birthday. Jarvis rolled his eyes as Tony turned it on and a slowed version of an ACDC song filled the room. He still couldn’t believe that Eris could fall asleep to ACDC but he didn’t question it, it was just another thing that Eris and Tony could bond over.

“Night, night little Spark,” whispered Tony, kissing her forehead and stepping back.

“Night, night big Spark,” Eris garbled sleepily as she turned in her bed and fell into a deep, comfortable sleep.

~Stark~

“HeLlo? Is ThErE AnYoNe ThErE?”

Eris’ eyes flew open as she heard a soft, ethereal, feminine voice, whispering through the mansion from somewhere within. Sitting up slowly in her crib, the four-year-old looked around in confusion, mentally running through the catalogue of voices she’d heard from the Marvel films for a match. Finding none, her curiosity piqued and she slowly unhooked her crib and carefully climbed down. She was very thankful that her still growing body managed to do the same things she had once done as a teenager – she just had to be careful about it – as she landed on the carpet, briefly falling over, and began searching her room.

The voice couldn’t have been coming from her room, Eris quickly concluded, due to the large amount of security that Tony had installed. It would have been impossible for someone to sneak in to her room without alarms blearing and Tony running into her room with a weapon.

“HeLo? CaN AnYoNe UnDeRsTaNd Me?”

The voice sounded lost, confused and afraid, making Eris’ empathy hurt on behalf of the voice. Luckily, everyone always left the door to her room unlocked and slightly open, in case she woke up crying and they needed to get to her. The halls were empty – since everyone was getting ready for lunch and both Howard and Maria were out for a conference with SI – so Eris was free to wander along them as she attempted to find the source of the voice.

Listening out as best she could, Eris arrived at the top of the stairs and quickly hid behind a banister as she spotted Jarvis and Ana walking through the hall with trays.

“Did I Do SoMeThInG WrOnG?”

The voice sounded more upset now, like it was about to cry. Slowly and carefully, Eris clambered down the stairs, again making sure that there was no one around her. She followed the voice as best she could, heading down a corridor she knew she wasn’t allowed near, to find it. In the end, she discovered where the voice was coming from: Howard’s workshop.

The reinforced steel door hadn’t been closed properly, Eris discovered, so it slowly creaked open when Eris pushed against it with all her might. It didn’t move much but it was just enough for Eris to slip into the room. Entering, Eris looked around and her jaw dropped in astonishment as she looked at Howard’s desk.

The Tesseract sat on Howard’s desk, locked into a metal frame, glowing its heart out and casting a deep, ocean blue glow all over the lab. It was very high up and had equipment all over it, scanning everything and writing it down on large pieces of paper. Without thinking, Eris moved towards it and climbed onto the giant stool, then onto the table so she could examine it up close.

But wasn’t this discovered with Captain America? He wasn’t discovered until the twenty-first century? Or was it the Captain Marvel movie? Shit, I can’t remember…

It was really warm, Eris noticed, and the light pulsed like a heart.

“HeLo?”

“Um … Hi,” said Eris, uncertainly.

The light got brighter.

“YoU CaN HeAr Me?”

“Yeah … I’m Eris Stark, what’s yours?”

The light went dull for a moment before brightening again as it began to speak. Eris listened, her attention entrapped as she heard the warm, feminine voice of an infinity stone. It sounded like it was in her head, bouncing around like an eternal echo.

“I DoN’t HaVe A NaMe …” said the Tesseract, sadly. “ThE OtHeR PeOpLe CaLl Me ThE TeSsErAcT … I GuEsS ThAt’S My NaMe…”

“Nice to meet you, Tessa,” smiled Eris, kindly.

“NiCe To MeEt YoU ToO, ErIs. I CaN SeNsE YoU’vE TrAvElLeD, a LoNg WaY,” the Tesseract continued. “I’d LoVe To TrAvEl … BuT I CaN’t Do It On My OwN…”

“What do you mean?” asked Eris, tilting her head. “That you can’t do it alone?”

“I DoN’t KnOw HoW,” the Tesseract explained. “I’d LiKe To FiNd My BrOtHeR’s aNd SiStEr’S… I wOuLd NeEd To HaVe A DeStInAtIoN In MiNd … BuT I DoN’t KnOw PlAcEs…”

“I’d love to take you somewhere,” said Eris, “but I don’t know if I can. You’re probably to heavy for me, would you be willing to wait a while?”

“ReAlLy?” the light glowed and the pulse increased excitedly. “YoU’d TaKe Me? I’d LoVe To! I’m MoRe ThAn WiLliNg To WaIt, I’vE BeEn WaItInG ThIs LoNg!”

“Okay! I promise to take you somewhere when I can!” beamed Eris.

Eris felt a wave of exhaustion slam into her and, without thinking, Eris placed her head against the Tesseract’s outer case and began falling asleep. She didn’t even consider what would happen to her – knowing that it had burned Nick Fury in Avengers – as her eyes closed and she was suddenly cocooned with warmth. Blue tendrils of Tesseract magic folded around Eris, protecting her from the cold and bringing her closer, like the Tesseract was hugging her.

“WHAT THE HELL?” Howard roared when he entered his workshop an hour later.

He immediately grabbed the Tesseract, swearing when it burned him, and moved it far away from Eris, as quickly as he could, waking her in an instant causing her to burst into tears. The sound of Eris crying made Tony, Maria and Jarvis sprinted towards the workshop. They didn’t even care about Howard as they burst inside and Tony quickly rushed to grab his crying baby sister only to be astonished about what he saw.

Eris’ hair had transformed from a dark brown that matched Tony’s hair to a bright, vibrant blue that practically glowed … and so had her once brown eyes. The Tesseract glowed, responding to Eris’ cries and blue tendrils of energy began leaking out of the casing, attempting to move towards Eris to comfort her. The second Howard saw this, he grabbed the cube’s special case and locked the Tesseract inside, locking it with vigour.

“How the Hell did she get in here?” growled Howard, looking at his crying daughter with an unreadable expression. “The door should have been locked.”

Tony was rocking Eris back and forth, shushing her without a care for her new look. He gently kissed her head and kept his tone quiet as he turned to look at his confused and mildly angry father.

“She was supposed to be having a nap,” said Tony, quietly. “I put her down for it myself, even locked the crib properly and my security was all on.”

Howard went quiet for a second and turned to Jarvis and Maria.

“Sir, I wanted him place her down. She was asleep when we both left and the crib was locked in place.”

He nodded and turned back towards the Tesseract equipment, looking over his readings and going through everything.

“What happened to her?” asked Maria, looking over her daughter with concern. “Is she going to be alright?”

Howard shook his head, unsure, and grabbed the case. His knuckles were pure white and his body was screaming out with tenseness as he looked between the case, his readings and his daughter. Maria could tell that his anger and confusion was getting to the surface and so subtly stepped in front of Tony and Eris as she looked at her husband.

“She’ll have to come with us to SHEILD,” said Howard, after a moment. “They’ll have the equipment we need to look over her and to see if we can reverse this.”

Tony hugged Eris tighter and looked over her again, looking for any sign of harm. Eris was clutching her small arc reactor necklace as tightly as she could as Tony carried her out of the lab and towards the kitchen for something to eat. It was only as she was sat down facing the calendar that Eris realised the date.

December 16, 1991.

Chapter Text

Chapter Seven: Stane and Howard

Eris had been placed in her crib under the strict supervision of Tony and Jarvis, both of whom were obviously worried about the new development with her hair and eye colour. Tony was constantly pacing back and forth, a piece of paper in his hands which he was using to write different things down. The only thing Eris could do was watch them as they panicked and pottered around.

“I hope she’s okay,” said Tony.

“She will be, young master. She’s a Stark, after all.”

“Yeah, Starks are made of Iron, such bullshit.”

“Language.”

“Sorry, Jarvis, sorry Eris,” sighed Tony.

“I understand that you’re worried,” said Jarvis, softly. “But you must remember your manners, you know your father will use it against you. And Eris doesn’t need to hear that kind of language.”

Carefully, Tony picked Eris from her crib and held her in his arms, clutching her to his chest while Eris snuggled into him. Jarvis could do nothing but watch as Tony panicked and held his sister, until he heard familiar footsteps heading up the stairs towards them. Turning, Jarvis was surprised to see Howard coming into the nursery – for the first time in Eris’ life. 

“Sir.”

“Give me the girl.”

Tony glared at him: “She has a name.”

“Antony, I’m not in the mood for your insolence, just hand her over so I can attempt to fix this.”

Reluctantly, Eris was handed over to Howard, who looked incredibly awkward holding her. He turned on his heels and quickly left the room followed closely behind by Jarvis and Tony, both of whom were basically panicking even more. Howard harshly closed the workshop door behind him, locking both Tony and Jarvis out and Tony almost barged the door down but was stopped.

“Think what you want about Master Howard, he will not harm his daughter.”

Howard looked down at Eris with a perplexed expression as he gently placed her down on the workbench. He turned around and began picking up different pieces of equipment, trying to ignore Eris as much as he could as he pulled out some paper work and began looking it over.

“Think Howard, think!” he whispered to himself aggressively.

“Papa?” Eris tried.

Howard spun on his heel and looked at her. He looked four times his age and about to collapse and it was only then that Eris noticed everything around her. There were hundreds of pages full of different readings and theories about what had happened to Eris and how to fix it.

“You’re going to be fine,” he mumbled. “I’m gonna fix it, I promise. I can’t lose anyone else.”

He turned back around without a second word and began pulling out different machines and wires. Machines came to life all around them and Howard carefully picked Eris up and placed her on a metal table in the centre of several camera. It looked like an x-ray machine that had been modified. Howard disappeared behind a computer and began typing and lights began flashing.

“Papa?”

“It’s okay, nothing to be scared of.”

Eris could tell he was trying to calm her down but he was an emotionally constipated man. He was trying his best, though, so Eris decided to allow him to think that it worked. If only to keep him calm.

“These readings make no sense,” Howard groaned. “Everything is normal. Your vitals are normal but YOUR OBVIOUSLY NOT NORMAL!”

Yelling and screeching followed as Howard knocked item after item onto the ground. Eris whimpered and couldn’t stop her tears from falling as she watched Howard have a mental break down. He stopped almost instantly, though, when he heard Eris’ crying and he quickly scooped her up into his arms.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I’ll fix this I swear.”

“Papa.”

“Okay, next round of tests.”

Howard worked for several hours going over every test he could think of before ending it for the day. No matter what test he tried, no matter what setting he tried, everything kept coming out normal. There wasn’t even a mild change in temperature or heart rate.

“I don’t know what else to do. If there was a change, I’d have somewhere to start but you’re perfectly normal … and yet you’re not.”

There was a sudden bang on the door and Howard immediately spun around with a confused expression. Everyone in the house knew better than to interrupt Howard when he was in his lab and No one knocked on the door in fear of interrupting an experiment.

“What?” cried Howard.

“Howie? You busy?” Stane’s voice called through.  

Howard walked over to the door, allowing Stane entrance who immediately stopped when he saw Eris and her current appearance. He tried to walk further towards her but Eris was quick to hide behind her father – who for once was acting like one.

“What happened?”

“An accident with the Serum,” Howard answered.

“The Serum works?”

Howard didn’t answer as he held onto Eris a little tighter when she tried to move away from Stane. Stane stepped forward and attempted to touch Eris only for her to immediately try to move away, making Howard turn and move her.

“We don’t know much about the process.”

“But it still worked!” said Stane. “There was a change!”

“Stane…”

“We should patent this. Why give it to SHEILD? We could give this to the military! We’d make millions!”

“We’re had this discussion. SHEILD needs it more.”

Stane went quiet for a moment before saying goodbye and disappearing out of the workshop. Carefully, Howard placed Eris onto the workshop floor and sighed, knowing that Stane wasn’t going to let this go but he didn’t have time for this conversation. He had to get Eris ready to leave.

Chapter Text

Chapter Eight: Goodbye

Eris knew that this was the end of everything she had grown to love. She knew that this was the last time she was going to see Tony and Maria and Howard and Jarvis. Her heart dropped at the thought of what was coming and the fact that she couldn’t warn them. she couldn’t even try and warn them because who would believe her? And there was no guarantees that the Winter Soldier wouldn’t just attack the mansion instead and kill everyone inside, including Tony!

Tony had refused to let her go since he took her from Howard’s lab and away from the Tesseract’s side. She kept a tight grip on him as well, memorising everything about him as best she could and committing this version of Tony Stark into her memory. Tonight was going to be the most painful experience in Tony’s life because now, now he wasn’t just losing his parents and guardian … he was going to lose his baby sister too.

The urge to cry was overwhelming but she didn’t have the energy after having been woken up so abruptly. Tony gently sat her in her highchair and pulled out some of his premade food for her to eat. Eris was surprised when she discovered he’d known how to cook … until he had disclosed that the only reason he’d learn was so he could make all her meals to make sure she was always eating something healthy.

That’s so sweet! I knew you were my favourite character for a reason.

Howard entered the kitchen a few minutes later and grabbed his premade coffee off the counter. He sat down and took a long sip as he watched Tony and Eris for a moment. Maria came in hurriedly after him and was quick to walk towards Eris. She gently examined her daughter and then pressed a loving kiss on her forehead without a care for her now bright blue hair.

“A SHEILD agent has already taken the Tesseract away,” said Howard after a moment. “We’ll be leaving tonight. I’ve already informed them of this –” he gestured to Eris, “—predicament so they’ll be ready for us when we arrive. I’ll also be dropping off the rest of my research on the Serum tonight as well.”

“Will she be alright until then?” asked Tony, speaking directly to his father for the first time in a long time.

His entire body screamed concerned and Maria was mirroring her son as she looked at her husband.

“I don’t know,” Howard answered honestly.

He looked incredibly put out that he didn’t have the answers they were seeking.

Eris did her best to reassure Tony by giving him a happy smile. Tony seemed to relax slightly at that and began gently running his hand through her hair. carefully, Tony removed her from the highchair and took her from the kitchen, back up the stairs and towards her room once again. His eyes widened as he saw what Eris had done to escape her crib in the first place but he just beamed at her.

“My little Spark is a genius,” he grinned.

He quickly fixed the crib and placed her back down in it but didn’t leave the room as he turned on the mobile once again. This time, he sat down in the rocking chair next to the crib and relaxed, ready to watch over her while she slept to make sure she didn’t go wandering around again.

It was only once Tony was sure that Eris was asleep that he turned towards his mother, who had been standing at the door, and asked her the question he dreaded the answer to.

“Do you think she’ll be okay, mom?” asked Tony, barely holding back tears.

Maria entered the room fully and sat down across from her son. She took his hands in her own and glanced at her sleeping daughter with a pair of soft eyes.

“I don’t know, cucciolo,” Maria sighed, “I just don’t know. Howard has always been rather secretive about his work and I’m not completely sure I even know what the Tesseract is.”

“It turned her hair and eyes blue, mom!” whimpered Tony, “bright blue!”

 “I know and I’m worried too. SHEILD will be able to help us, though,” said Maria, firmly. “Our Tesoro will be fine.”

“I hope your right, mom…”

So do I, thought Maria.

“All we can do is wait,” said Maria, hugging her son closer.

~Stark~

Vasily Karpov marched through the snowy tundra towards the old bunker which housed HYDRA. He kept his head held high as he stormed through the bunker towards a tightly guarded safe where a red book with a black star stood. He grabbed the book without a second thought and turned, nodded to one of the guards, walking from the room and down another dark hallway.

When Karpov entered the room, he saw several technicians pottered around a cylindrical cryo-chamber which housed their asset. He watched the technicians straighten and began moving quicker as they noticed him and within a few seconds, the chamber was opening revealing the Winter Solider in all his glory.

Soldiers grabbed the arms of the Winter Solider and pulled him out of the chamber, down a corridor towards a large metal chair, which they quickly secured him into. The Winter Soldier’s arms were strapped down with metal cuffs, a bite guard was shoved in his mouth and two mechanical devices were placed on either side of his head.

Karpov nodded and felt a sadistic joy fill him as the Winter Solider attempted to scream in pain as electricity flooded through his mind, erasing any memories that they didn’t want him to have. The process took a few seconds and then the Winter Solider was released and the bite guard was removed.

Stepping forward, Karpov opened the red book and slowly began to read: “Желание. Ржавый. Семнадцать. Рассвет. Печь. Девять. Добросердечный. Возвращение на родину. Один. Грузовой вагон.”  (Longing. Rusted. Seventeen. Daybreak. Furnace. Nine. Benign. Homecoming. One. Freight car.) “Доброе утро, Солдат.” (Good morning, Soldier.)

It took a few seconds for the words to fully set in and then the Winter Solider replied: “Я готов отвечать.” (Ready to comply.)

Karpov grinned and grabbed the file from his bag and moved towards the Winter Solider.

“У меня есть для тебя миссия. Санкционируй и Извлекай. Без свидетелей.” (I have a mission for you. Sanction and extract. No witnesses.)

~Stark~

Eris didn’t want to leave yet. She didn’t want to leave but she didn’t have a choice anymore. Jarvis and Howard stood by the front door as Maria gently, reassuringly kissed Tony’s cheek as a goodbye and took Eris from his arms. Eris reached towards Tony, making grabby hands towards him, and felt herself begin to tear up, but Tony just smiled warmly at her and waved at her.

I’m sorry Tony! I’m so sorry. I hope you can recover from this.

Maria pulled Eris tightly into her body and looked over her outfit, making sure that she was going to be warm and comfortable throughout the entire car journey. Eris was wearing a big fluffy coat and woollen everything and she was about to be strapped into a heated car seat in a warm car.

Little excessive but I’ve always loved warm over cold.

Howard was already sitting in the car when Maria strapped her in – alongside Jarvis who was driving – leaving both Eris and Maria in the back where it was comfortable and large. Maria made sure to fuss over Eris, covering her hair with her tiny blue hat and readjusting her coat.

Eris turned and took one last, long look at her home and tried not to cry as they began to drive away. Every little noise put Eris on edge as they began the long drive towards SHEILD. The slightest sound of an engine made Eris’ tiny heart pound inside her chest and she couldn’t stop herself from flinching. Maria saw Eris flinching and assumed that she was just cold and so pulled her coat tighter around Eris.

Finally, Eris noticed that they’d reached The Road.

Whimpering, Eris felt the urge to close her eyes and hide under her blanket as she looked around at the familiar surroundings that would mean the death of her parents. Tears filled her eyes and sorrow filled her every pour.

I’m going to die again. I’m going to kill Tony by dying again.

“Shh,” cooed Maria, “it’s not long now.”

You’re right, thought Eris, barely keeping it together. It’s not…

When a motorcycle engine was heard from somewhere behind them, Eris knew that this was the moment. This was the time for her to die. She slowly began to prepare herself for the crash that she knew was coming as she saw the motorcycle appear beside her door, the Winter Solider riding on the back of it.

However…

He didn’t cause the car to crash instantly like he had in the films. Instead, he ripped the door off the car and pulled her out of the car – car seat and all – and then, without a hint of hesitation, he smashed his metal arm onto the front of the car, sending it flying into the tree.

Eris was still too shocked that she had been ripped from the car to notice when he gently put her down next to his motorcycle, got off and stormed towards the car to make sure everyone was dead and to remove the serum from the trunk. It was only then, when he grabbed the case containing all the research and the blue packets, that Eris snapped out of her shock and began attempting to unbuckle herself from the seat so she could run.

She quickly discovered that she was neither quick nor subtle as the Winter Solider seemed to have heard her and returned, staring down at her with a hidden expression – it wasn’t quite blank but there was no identifying emotion that Eris could see. He bent down and simply unbuckled her before picking her up and getting back on his bike, placing her on his lap and hanging the case on the handles.

She was rather shocked when the Winter Solider wrapped her previously discarded blanket further around her and he began to drive off. Eris took one last look at her parents and Jarvis – silently praying to Hela to protect their souls – before returning her attention back to the Winter Solider. The Winter Solider didn’t even acknowledge her existence apart from the occasional glance down at her if she shifted even slightly.

Eventually, Eris felt herself beginning to fall asleep – curse her four-year-old brain – and she didn’t have the energy to panic as she felt a hand slip across her stomach to stop her from falling.

~Stark~

The cold woke her within an instant. Eris let out a whine of annoyance as she felt herself beginning to shiver. She looked around and was terrified to discover that the Winter Solider was walking her towards a very familiar HYDRA base. Her whine seemed to alert the Winter Solider to something as he pulled her blanket further around her and pulled her closer to his body.

Several soldiers came charging out to meet them but the Winter Solider refused to give her to anyone else until they arrived in the room with the Chair where Karpov was waiting.

“Отлично, Солдат.” (Well done, Soldier.)

Eris was placed on the ground and handed Karpov the case before turning to sit in the Chair. A woman entered the facility before anyone could say anything and stood behind Eris. Instantly, Eris recognised her as Madam B. She looked younger than she had in Age of Ultron, but she didn’t look any less intimidating or angry.

“Сколько времени, пока он не будет готов?” (How long until he's ready?)

Eris watched in sorrowful fascination as the plates were lowered onto the Winter Soldier’s face and electricity began pumping through them. She winced as his muffled screams echoed through the damp and dingy base while no one else reacted.

“В тот раз, когда эта салфетка закончится, вы можете взять его и девушку.” (The second this wipe is over, you may take him and the girl.)

“Отлично. И, чтобы было понятно, Дрейков будет иметь полный контроль над Солдатом, до тех пор, пока наше партнерство не закончится?” (Excellent. And, to be clear, Dreykov will have full control over the Soldier, until such a time as our partnership ends?)

“Да, но девушка должна быть возвращена к нам в тот день, когда ее обучение с вами будет завершено.” (Yes, but the girl must be returned to us the day her training with you has been completed.) said Karpov. “К ней не следует относиться как к активу Красной комнаты. Она не должна делать ничего, что может привести к ее жизни, если иное не разрешено HYDRA. Вы можете экспериментировать с ней, тестировать ее, обучать ее так, как считаете нужным, если вы уверены в каждом результате с HYDRA, в соответствии с нашим соглашением.” (She is not to be treated like a Red Room asset. She shall not do anything that may end her life unless otherwise authorised by HYDRA. You may experiment on her, test her, train her however you see fit, as long as you sure each result with HYDRA, as per our agreement.)

“Тогда мы сохраним ее и Солдата вместе. Они могут делить комнату, чтобы он мог следить за ней и нашими методами обучения. Это приятно?” (We shall keep her and the Solider together, then. They can share a room so that he can keep an eye on her and our training methods. Is that agreeable?)

Karpov nodded.

The Winter Soldier’s screaming soon came to an end and he was released from the chair. Karpov read the words once more, making sure that the Winter Solider was completely under control before he gave the Winter Solider his new orders.

“Ваша миссия, солдат, состоит в том, чтобы работать вместе с Дрейковым, выполнять его приказы и делать все, что он приказывает, до тех пор, пока это не противоречит моим приказам или главной цели ГИДРЫ. Вам приказано защищать юный Актив, Эрис Старк, позволяя ей обучаться, и вы должны тренировать ее сами. Она должна быть вашим партнером, и поэтому вы должны держать ее в безопасности и обучать ее, чтобы она могла помочь вам. Соблюдаете ли вы?” (Your mission, Soldier, is to work alongside Dreykov, follow his orders and do whatever he commands, as long as it does not countermand my orders or HYDRA's main goal. You are ordered to protect the young Asset, Eris Stark, while allowing her to be trained and you shall train her yourself. She is to be your partner and as such you must keep her safe and train her to be able to help you. Do you comply?)

“Актив будет соответствовать.” (The Asset will comply.)

“Теперь вы можете уйти, он готов.” (You may now leave, he is ready.)

“Конечно,” (of course) said Madam B. “Come along girl.”

Eris immediately knew that Madam B was talking to her and quickly stood up and began following the tall blonde woman. She took one last glance behind her as she spotted the Red book that she knew she’d need to grab before she tried to escape… if she could escape.

Chapter Text

Chapter Nine: Dreykov and The Red Room

The Winter Solider got up from the chair and marched towards Madam B, who had placed a clawed hand on Eris’ shoulder to keep her in place. He looked down at Eris for a second before looking up at Madam B, who quickly removed her hand and motioned for the Soldier to follow her out. Eris kept her head down and followed behind Madam B as best as her small feet could carry her. She was slow and hesitant, stumbling every few steps as she avoided wires that were haphazardly placed all around them. After a few steps, though, Eris felt a metal hand grab onto the back of her coat and easily pick her up.

The Fuck?

Eris quickly found herself perched against the Winter Soldier’s chest, his human arm cradling her against him while his metal arm pulled her coat and the blanket further around her – she hadn’t even noticed that he’d grabbed the blanket before they’d left. No one around them commented on what was happening and the Winter Solider didn’t seem to care at all about what he was doing – he hadn’t even stopped walking! Knowing there was nothing she could do about it – and loving the extra body heat he was giving her – Eris relaxed slightly against his chest and leather vest, making him glance down at her before focusing ahead again.

Madam B opened the side door and cold flooded into the base, making Eris shiver from the sudden drop. She then felt the Winter Solider pull her further towards his chest as his eyes glowed blue with the serum and his body began heating up even more. Eris practically clung to him – much like she used to do to Tony – as they walked outside to where an armoured car and several soldiers were waiting for them. She tried her best to move as little as possible, not wanting to annoy the Winter Solider as she had no idea how it would go if she did.

He could feel her shaking through his vest and her clothing and moved his metal arm so that it sat under her, moving his human hand around her stomach so that she could get more of the heat. The Winter Solider also closed the vents on his arm, allowing it to heat up so that Eris could get to a comfortable temperature.

The Winter Solider opened the armoured car door and climbed inside without hesitation, still not releasing his hold on Eris, who was thankful for the car’s heated interior. The driver said nothing – didn’t even move – as the Winter Soldier settled Eris into a seat and clipped the seat belt into place. Madam B entered the car shortly after them – though she sat in the front – and barked out a few ordered in Russian and the car began to move.

Her voice was harsh, cold and cruel, devoid of anything close to warmth. It chilled Eris to the bone despite not understanding what was being said. Eris did her best to keep her face blank and didn’t dare comment for a translation. The Winter Solider noticed her discomfort but did nothing, his eyes focused entirely on the road ahead of them.

“You will remain with the Solider until told otherwise,” ordered Madam B, firmly. “Do you understand, Eris Stark?”

Eris didn’t speak but nodded her head firmly, timidly, not looking up from her lap. Madam B seemed to accept this as she turned back to the front of the car, speaking quietly in Russian. Eris curled further around herself, trying to keep the tears from falling as she thought back to what had just happened. Her mother was dead, Jarvis was dead, Howard was dead. She tried not to think about Tony as she clutched the small arc reactor necklace close to her heart.

I’m going to have to stay here … I’m gonna be HYDRA’s puppet … Are they going to turn me into a Winter Soldier? A Black Widow?

She remained silent throughout the entire journey – which was a long one – keeping her head down, hands in her lap, and trying to think of the many ways she could possibly get out of this situation. The Winter Solider kept glancing over to Eris, not that she would have noticed since it was such a small gesture. Eris began running through a mental checklist of all the things she would have to go through to escape.

1)            The Cold – no matter how much Maria had wrapped her up before hand, she wouldn’t survive a long period in the cold.

2)            Location – she had no idea where she was because her stupid baby brain had caused her to fall asleep.

3)            Food – because she had no idea where she was, she had no idea how long it would take her to return to the Mansion, so she had no idea if she’d be able to have enough food for the trip.

4)            Avoiding everyone – even if she managed to somehow jump out of the moving car or rush away the moment the car stopped, her four-year-old body wouldn’t be able to avoid anyone that would run after her.

I’ll stay in the Red Room then. I mean it’s my only option. She thought. I can bond with Natasha before she goes off and joins the KGB. And I can try and get Bucky out of HYDRA before Project Insight! I just hope Tony will be alright.

With a makeshift plan in mind, Eris swallowed and stuffed down her fear as she began examining her surroundings. They had just arrived at an old, fancy looking building with very high security and a fence surrounding it. It looked to be a huge mansion that appeared to look like a ballet school. Madam B, the driver and the Winter Solider exited the car the second the car stopped, though the Solider quickly reached in to grab Eris and pulled her out before holding her against him as they went inside.

Someone was waiting for them the moment they entered the building and Eris was terrified when she realised who it was: Dreykov. He looked younger than he did in the Black Widow movie – though Eris expected that – but he wasn’t any less intimidating. He was flanked by two widows, both with matching blank expression and emotion-filled eyes that they couldn’t quite hide. He looked between Eris and The Winter Solider like a wolf looking at his prey, staring them up and down as he took in their appearances.

“Итак, это наши новые активы. Девушка должна вписаться в число остальных... хотя сначала ее придется сломать.” (So, these are our new assets. The girl shall fit right in among the others ... though she will have to be broken first.)

Whatever Dreykov said made the Solider tense beneath Eris, not that anyone else could tell, of course. His human hand tightened a millimetre around Eris’ stomach making her mildly panic as she had no idea what was going on or what Dreykov had said.

“Однако ее придется держать отдельно от них. Я бы не стал ставить его мимо одного из них, чтобы посадить... Идеи... в ее сознание о том, что здесь происходит. Я не хочу, чтобы у нее было времени, чтобы подготовиться к тому, что грядет.” (She'll have to be kept separate from them, though. I wouldn't put it past one of them to plant ... ideas ... into her mind about what happens here. I don't want her to have any time to prepare for what's coming.) said Dreykov. “Отправляйте слово на нижние уровни. Мадам Б, вы должны доставить ее лично к ним. А пока покажите Солдата и Актива в их комнате, без сомнения, Солдат захочет оценить возможный риск для своего заряда.” (Send word to the lower levels. Madam B you shall deliver her personally to them. For now, show the Soldier and Asset to their room, no doubt the Soldier will want to assess the possible risk to his charge.)

One of the widows to his right nodded and motioned for the Solider to follow her. He did so without hesitation, following her up the stairs, passed a room filled with young girls chained to their bedposts and towards a tiny room – more like a cupboard – with two beds stuffed inside. One of the beds had a pair of handcuffs attached to it and Eris assumed that this bed was hers. The widow quickly left the room and disappeared, leaving the Solider and Eris alone. He carefully placed her down on the ground and began assessing everything around them. Eris, meanwhile, was clutching her necklace and trying not to cry as she sat against her bed.

“Вы испытываете эмоциональный стресс.” (You are experiencing emotional distress.)

Eris flinched as the Solider spoke, not understanding a word he was saying. He was looking at her with an analysing gaze as he stood in the corner of the room – well Cell.

“I … I don’t understand you …” Eris whimpered, clutching her necklace tighter.

The Solider was silent for a moment.

“You are experiencing emotional distress,” he said, in English. He had a heavy Russian/German accent. “How can I assist?”

Eris was lost for words for a moment.

The Solider seemed to take this as some kind of permission as he strode towards her and gently – extremely gently for the Super Soldier Assassin – pulled her into a hug that, for some reason made her feel warm and comfortable. When he released her, Eris felt much better and smiled up at him as kindly as she could, showing her appreciation as best she could.

“Thank you,” she said, softly. “Um … would you be willing to keep something safe for me?”

The Soldier tilted his head. Before she could lose her nerve, Eris took off her necklace and held it up for the Soldier to see. He took it from her carefully and slipped it into the pocket of his vest. Eris thanked him kindly and it happened to be just in time as the door to the room was swung open and Madam B stepped inside. The Winter Solider was standing in an instant, head down, back straight and face blank.

“Come,” Madam B ordered.

Eris slipped off the bed and followed Madam B, and the two men with guns that stood on either side of her, down the corridor towards some stairs. Madam B kept a tight clawed hand on her shoulder and kept forcing Eris to move faster as they descended the several flights of stairs towards the lower basement. It was freezing and Eris couldn’t stop shivering as she tried to stop the tears from falling down her face.

Fear creeped through her very being as men and women in white coats walked in and out of a familiar room that she’d only seen in Age of Ultron. Swallowing, Eris walked inside, where a doctor was waiting. The entire room looked like something out of a SAW movie with machines and torture devices all around and the was a low hum that echoed all around them from the large machines.

Madam B left the room, locking the door behind her leaving Eris at the mercy of the doctors. They made her undress in front of everyone and commented on her small body. Eris tried not to cry as they yanked at her hair, stuck needles in her arms and began injecting her with different things. At one point, the doctors strapped her naked form down onto a cold metal table and forced her to look at a screen above her.

She could feel them poking around her lower area and wanted to scream but couldn’t through the leather gag they’d forced over her mouth. The screen she was forced to look at was full of subliminal messaging that she was physically incapable of looking away from. They were playing a normal child’s cartoon but every few minutes words popped up and Eris couldn’t look away or close her eyes due to the metal rods they’d forced under her eyelids to prevent her from doing just that.

The screen eventually went off and another round of experimentation began. Nurses cut her nails, took skin samples from her hands, legs and feet, cut her hair down to a small bob, and took a swab from inside her mouth. Electricity was then pumped through her body, making her cry out, to see how everything reacted.

Finally, she was given her Red Room Uniform and Madam B made her watch as her previous clothing and everything from her old life was burned. Eris was still quietly sobbing as she was forced back to her room, where the Winter Solider was waiting, standing in the same corner he had been in before she’d left. They threw Eris inside her room, not caring that she fell to the ground, and slammed the door closed. Electricity buzzed through the door, locking it fully and Eris could hear the sound of a key turning in the lock.

The Winter Solider waiting a few seconds before crouching down in front of a sobbing Eris and carefully picking her up. He placed her gently on the bed and slipped one of her hands into a cuff, snapping it shut as gently as he could. Then, he sat down on his bed, back against the wall, and watched as Eris sobbed herself to sleep, clutching her chest where the necklace would have been.

~Stark~

The Asset watched its mission sleep and felt a confusing feeling bubbling within its chest. It was sitting with its back against the wall, listening to the buzz of electricity bubbling through the metal door that separated them from the outside world. It gently reached into its vest pocket and pulled out the necklace the mission had given it and looked it over.

It knew the mission valued this necklace and also knew that the handlers would not appreciate the mission keeping such a thing. For some reason, the asset didn’t want the handlers to discover this item – for the mission’s sack – and made a mental note to keep it in its vest, where it would remain. After all, the mission was to keep the other asset safe and, though it wasn’t specified, the Asset knew that mental health would fall under the parameters.

The asset noticed the mission shivering and curling into a ball around the arm within the cuff. It knew that the blankets they had been given weren’t overly warm so it carefully pulled out his own blanket and wrapped both of them around the mission, before sitting beside the mission and allowing her to share its body heat. It placed a hand on her head and, absentmindedly, began stroking her hair – which he knew had been haphazardly cut – making the mission smile in her sleep and snuggle further towards the asset.

Chapter Text

Chapter Ten: Natasha’s Ballet.

Eris woke up wrapped in two blankets like a burrito with one arm in a pair of hand-cuffs and the other stick to her side. There was a large hand carding through her hair in a gentle and comforting rhythm. Slowly, she opened her eyes to find the Soldier sitting on her bed, her head was resting on his left leg and the rest of her curled around her as his human hand stroked her hair and his metal hand opened and closed beside her. The Soldier obviously knew she was awake but he didn’t seem to care about her reaction as he continued to sit beside her. They remained silent for a moment, neither of them moving or blinking as they stared at each other. After a few moments, the Solider stood up and uncuffed her hand, looking at her bruising wrist and nodding before returning to his own bed.

“Did you sleep?” asked Eris, sitting up, keeping both blankets around her.

“The Asset does not require sleep at this time.”

“So … no.”

He nodded. Eris tilted her head and sighed through her nose but she didn’t say anything else as she stood up and winced as her tiny body clicked and groaned as she moved. She was still dressed in her new uniform and she did her best to supress the memories of what happened the previous day. She looked down at the uniform and attempted to straighten it out in fear of a punishment that may be inflicted on her.

There was almost no light in the room – apart from the light that came through the tiny window at the top of the metal door – so Eris had no idea what time it was nor did she have any idea about what was going to be happening to her when the day began. The Solider didn’t seem to care about the lack of information provided by the room as he continued to remain perfectly still on his own bed, which hadn’t been slept in at all.

“You are afraid.” The Winter Soldier was looking directly at her and she noticed that every muscle in his body was tense, and the vents on his metal arm were opening and closing. “Good. You should be.”

“Was that supposed to be comforting?” Eris asked quietly.

“No. It is meant to be honest.”

Eris nodded, settling back onto her bed and wrapping both blankets around her, as if that would protect her. The Solider pulled out one of his many – many – knives and began cleaning it as best he could in the dim light. Seeing that Eris was mildly uncomfortable with the sight of the massive knife, the Soldier motioned for her to come closer and held it out for her to hold.

Swallowing, Eris gently accepted it and stood frozen in place as the Soldier began moving the knife in her hand. He also began explaining things, his voice low and gravelly as if he was remembering something horrible – which given how he was trained Eris wouldn’t be surprised if it was.

When the electricity that pulsed through the door suddenly stopped, Eris felt her heart freeze and the Solider immediately stood, standing in the middle of the two beds, his entire face blank and his eyes practically iced over. The door was unlocked and thrown open as a guard looked inside and jerked his head towards the hall.

The Soldier exited first and Eris quickly followed behind him, her head down and her arms wrapped tightly around her stomach. They were led back towards the room where all of the girls were kept and, rather forcefully, Eris was forced towards the gaggle of girls that were led out of the room. Meanwhile the Soldier was led away from her by two other soldiers.

Eris had been pushed so hard, she ended up colliding with one of the girls and she was quick to back away, apologising profusely. Looking up, Eris was shocked to find Natasha Romanov staring down at her with a slowly warming expression. Natasha simply shook her head and grabbed onto Eris’ shoulder, leading her along with the rest of the girls without so much as a word.

Holy Shit! I’m standing next to Natasha Romanov! Holy Shit.

Looking around, Eris noticed that there were several girls that looked to be the same age as her – and just as new – following the crowd towards a massive dining hall. It looked like something out of a Victorian drama, with benches of old wood lined up all throughout the hall, next to tables that had food premade sitting on it.

There didn’t appear to be any assigned seats but Eris didn’t have time to think about that as Natasha tightened her grip on Eris’ shoulder and dragged her over to a table nearby the door where two plates were waiting for them. The plates were filled with something that reminded Eris of mashed potatoes but it had blue ‘syrup’ all over it.

“Ты кто? Тебя не было в комнате с другими девушками и я.”

“I-I don’t understand you,” said Eris, quietly.

Natasha’s eyebrows rose in shock.

“Who are you?” she asked, in English. She still had a slight Russian accent but, surprisingly, she sounded mostly American. “You weren’t in the hall with the other girls and I.”

“I’m Eris Stark … I arrived last night …” said Eris timidly. “My parents were killed and I’m a … Hydra asset.”

“Oh,” said Natasha, suddenly very pale.

“Why are you speaking to me?” asked Eris, “I mean, no one else did.”

“You remind me of something,” said Natasha and kept that the rest to herself.

A sharp alarm echoed throughout the hall and immediately the girls stood up and moved towards the doors of the great hall. Natasha quickly pulled Eris up by her arm and silenced her with a look as she led Eris out of the door alongside all of the girls of varying ages. She had only walked a few seconds before being pushing towards a load of younger girls around the same age as she was.

One of the girls just looked at her with fear filled eyes as they were led towards a large room with a pair of glass doors and several people inside. Each girl straightened their uniform as they entered. They lined up against the back wall as one of the men came striding around the room, looking each of the girls up and down, pushing them and prodding at them while speaking very quickly in Russian.

Eventually they stopped and threw several pairs of pointe shoes towards the girls. Eris grabbed the ones in her size and quietly watched as the instructor began telling them what to do. Luckily, Eris’ grandmother in her old life had paid for ballet lessons when she was younger so Eris knew what to do as the instructors talked.

The instructor stood at the front of the room, his face as hard as stone and his aura radiating danger. Some of the other girls were shuffling back and forth in their uniforms as he stared at each of them. Eris swallowed her nerves as the instructor began barking out orders in Russian and Eris followed what the other girls were doing.

Music filled the room and the girls began to dance. Eris felt her muscle memory from her previous life beginning to settle in as she completed the routine they were given with relative ease. Her feet continued to move as the music continued playing and the instructor simply kept yelling until finally the routine was complete and he simply ordered them to repeat it.

They repeated the dance for what felt like hours but none of the girls stopped, the instructor didn’t allow them to. Eris was thankful for her muscle memory advantage as she noticed some of the girls beginning to falter and go pale – obviously not used to the kind of routine or dancing they were being forced to do. Breathing slowly, Eris kept her mind focused on the music, ignoring the pain in her small feet as well as the feeling of blood leaking out of her feet. Then, out of nowhere, one of the girls fell to her knees, tears falling from her eyes as she cradled her bleeding feet. The instructor turned towards the girl who had fallen and, without warning, pulled out a gun and shot her through the head.

“Неудача не будет допускаться. Помните, вы ничто, вы заменимы, вам нет места в этом мире, никто не будет скучать по вам. Мы все, что у вас есть, Красная комната - это все, что у вас есть.” (Failure will not be tolerated. Remember, you are nothing, you are replaceable, you have no place in this world, no one will miss you. We are all you have, the Red Room is all you have.)

Then, as if this were rehearsed, the girls all around Eris began speaking, each one in unison and with robotic voices.

“Я ничто, я заменяемый, мне нет места в этом мире, никто не будет скучать по мне. Красная комната — это все, что у меня есть. Дрейков – это все, что у меня есть. Мои сестры – это все, что у меня есть. Я сломлена и несокрушима, и я Черная Вдова.” (I am nothing, I am replaceable, I have no place in this world, no one will miss me. The Red Room is all I have. Dreykov is all I have. My fellow sisters are all I have. I am broken and unbreakable and I am a Black Widow.)

The instructor nodded but his eyes focused in on Eris for a few seconds before looking her over completely. Several girls – those who probably hadn’t eaten enough before training – fell and some were shot, others were removed from the room kicking and screaming. Eris didn’t want to think about what would happen to them and instead focused on the music. They continued dancing for hours until, finally, the music stopped and each girl dropped to the ground from exhaustion.

The girls took of their shoes and were quick to leave the room. Eris was shocked to find Natasha waiting for her outside of the training room. Natasha placed a finger to her lips and then took Eris’ shoulder, leading her down the hall once more. Guards stood with guns at every corner, examining each girl as they walked through the halls towards the great hall.

“Don’t talk to other girls, alright,” Natasha whispered as they walked.

“Why?”

“There are rules in the Red Room, if you make friends, you are weak and will be forced to kill them. You may not be a Red Room asset but that won’t matter, you’ll be forced to kill the girl no matter what.”

Eris nodded in understanding and kept close to Natasha as they went towards the dining room. They sat down again and began eating the slop. Every time Eris lifted a spoon full of slop towards her mouth the ‘syrup’ seemed to glow as she ate it with a grimace.

“Why is your hair blue?” Natasha asked, out of nowhere.

“It’s … natural …” Eris answered softly.

“Do you believe in God?”

“Why?”

“Some of the girls here, before they’re fully broken, they said that praying to their god – it helped them. Perhaps it would help you,” said Natasha.

Eris smiled slightly and nodded quietly. In truth, she did have a God, one she knew was very real and would probably be able to hear her: Loki.

The klaxon sounded again and everyone stood up, silently making their way out of the Great Hall. Eris was quick to notice how many girls were missing and how thin the crowd seemed to be compared to the morning. The soldiers once again pushed her out of the line and towards the younger widows.

This time they were led into a different ballet studio where their pointe shoes were ready with their names already engraved on them. Eris slipped her shoes on alongside the other girls as a new instructor came into the room. This instructor was a woman – another widow – and began instructing the girls to dance as she went around the room and examined each of them.

The widow began attempting to push the girls over, anyone that fell was immediately slapped. One girl was slapped so hard that she was thrown across the room. Eris bit the inside of her cheek as the widow came towards her and began trying to push her over, her feet were painful and blood was leaking out from between her toes and Eris wanted to just fall over. She didn’t though.

Nodding, the widow walked away and continued barking orders to the girls until another girl fell over for the third time and the widow simply shot her through the left eye. Eris and the other girls gasped before trying harder. Only two other girls fell and then – finally – they stopped and the girls were free to collapse.

Eris felt like she was ready to collapse once her lesson finished and Natasha led her out. On the way, Eris spotted the Winter Solider training a few girls, he was barely trying as he knocked down girl after girl and began correcting their forms. He was focused on what he was currently ordered to do and so didn’t notice her until the class finally ended.

His bright blue eyes – which Eris realised was caused by his serum – dulled when he looked at her and his head tilted ever-so-slightly as he looked at her. The Winter Soldier watched as Natasha limped over to her and took her hand so that they could head to Eris’ next class. His eyes didn’t leave her until she had completely disappeared from sight.

 “Do you know him?” inquired Natasha.

“He was the one that took me,” replied Eris.

“Oh,” said Natasha, her face hardening by a fraction. “I see”

“I don’t think he knew what he was doing though,” said Eris, seeing an opportunity. “They put him in this big metal chair afterwards. I think they wiped his memory.”

Natasha nodded, contemplating something as they continued forward. Eris’ feet felt like it was falling off and she was pretty sure that blood was pooling in her shoes and around her socks – which she hadn’t been aloud to remove to check anything. Natasha led her to the mess hall and began piling food onto her plate, ignoring the stares of all the other girls. Once Natasha was sure that Eris had eaten enough, she practically picked Eris up and led her back up to the dorm rooms, where they were quickly separated by soldiers.

Eris was once again led to her tiny cupboard room where the Solider was waiting inside. He looked her over the second the door was closed and didn’t seem to happy when he noticed that her feet were bleeding and were beginning to bruise. The Solider grabbed his pillow and forced Eris to lie down on her bed, putting his pillow under her feet and swearing in Russian.

“Do you believe in God?” asked Eris, after a moment.

The Solider raised an eyebrow behind his muzzle.

“I know it’s stupid but … I do. I believe in the Norse Gods, specifically Loki. He’s like us, you know, lonely and forced to be in a place that he doesn’t fit in, or doesn’t want to be. Natasha said that praying to him might make me feel better … maybe praying to your God will make you feel better.”

The Soldier continued to say nothing as he continued examining Eris’ feet and the rest of her for injuries. Once he was sure that there was nothing, he took Eris’ hand and locked her into the cuff before sitting down beside her and tucking her in with the blankets. Eris beamed up at him sleepily.

~Stark~

Loki was hiding in the Palace Library, far away from Thor and the warriors three, and Odin. He was neck deep in several books from about the Vanir and the Dark Elves, studying all of the complex spells that appeared on the pages. He was halfway through studying when he felt something tug in his chest.

Something began bubbling inside him, like a thousand fireworks igniting within his heart. A small voice found its way to the back of his head, a voice that was distinctively female and very young. Loki felt tears building in his eyes as he realised that … he had a follower. He had a devoted follower.

Him! Loki! God of Mischief! Lesser Brother of Thor! Lesser Prince of Asgard! He had a follower!

Loki swore on all the norns that he would do whatever it took to keep this follower close to his chest. He swore it! The urge to scream it from the roof tops of the palace was squashed as he began pulling out all of the books he could find on follower connections and how to be a patron.

He was going to be the best patron he could be.

Chapter Text

Chapter Eleven: Melina’s Combat.

Eris woke up the next day to find the Solider holding her necklace up to the light and examining it as best he could in the dimness. His face was filled with contemplation as he examined everything from the chain to the small reactor in the centre. He was perfectly silent while doing this, obviously not wanting to wake Eris, and Eris remained just as silent until he pulled out a knife and began moving it closer to the necklace.

“Please don’t,” Eris begged quietly. “It’s all I have.”

The Soldier looked at her and put the knife away, handing Eris the necklace and stepping away from her as if she was on fire. He sat quietly on his bed and watched as Eris hugged the necklace close to her chest and began whispering to it. It was obvious that he could hear and understand everything she was saying but Eris didn’t care, she just wanted to make sure that she didn’t forget Tony.

“You love him.”

“He’s my brother,” she said. “He’s the only family I have now … of course I love him.”

“…I’m … sorry…”

A beat went by.

“For what?”

“You are my mission … your extraction must have been my mission as well. Extraction requires no witnesses …”

Eris nodded, sighing as she pulled her knees up to her chest and looked towards the door. Her hand was still cuffed to the bed – not that she really cared – as she thought about what to say next.

“It’s not your fault,” Eris said finally. “I saw what they did to you. You don’t get to chose anything; I doubt you’d have chosen to kill my family.”

The Soldier stepped towards Eris and uncuffed her hand before sitting beside her on her bed. Eris held her arm and then looked down at her bruised and bloodied feet that the Solider had wrapped up in the night while she was asleep.

“Did you manage to sleep last night?”

“The Asset doesn’t require sleep.”

“You haven’t slept for two nights, that’s not healthy.”

“The Asset doesn’t require sleep as of yet.”

“What if I stay up tonight? So, you can sleep.”

“The mission requires sleep more than the Asset.”

Knowing she wasn’t going to get anywhere, Eris thought for a moment before smiling and leaning against the Soldier.

“Surely you can’t function at full capacity if you’re not taking care of your sleep pattern? Wouldn’t it be a much better idea to sleep as regularly as possible in order to save energy in case you’re sent out of a mission of some sort?”

“The mission is reasonable. I will confirm this with current handler.”

Just like the previous day, the electricity went off and soldiers stood outside of the now open-door holding guns and staring at the pair with blank expressions. This time, Eris was the first one out of the room as the Soldier slipped her necklace back into his vest.

This time, though, they weren’t separated as they walked down a different corridor, away from the Great Hall. The Soldier glared at any of the soldiers that got within an inch of Eris, flexing his metal hand so that the vents made a loud creaking noise. Eris tried to keep stride with the Soldier, her feet still hurting like Hell, but lagged behind every so often and the Soldier simply grabbed her shoulder – gently despite how it looked to everyone else – and forced her to keep the pace.

They were heading up a set of stairs towards a beautiful office where Dreykov and Melina were standing. They were enwrapped in a deep conversation but that stopped when they saw the Solider and Eris walking inside. Eris kept herself towards the Solider, using his leg to hide as best she could as Dreykov’s predatory smile appeared and Melina looked mildly uncomfortable.

“Melina, meet our newest Assets, The Winter Solider and Eris Stark.” Said Dreykov in Russian.

Melina walked towards them and looked them both up and down before reaching for Eris to pull her away. In a second, Melina was thrown across the room as the Winter Soldier’s eyes blazed blue and he stood ready for combat. Dreykov grinned at this, clapping his hands and nodding as Melina stood up and got ready for a fight of her own.

“Come child, let them fight!” ordered Dreykov, motioning for Eris to stand beside his desk.

Having nowhere else to go, Eris did as instructed, attempting not to flinch as Dreykov put his hand on her shoulder and continued to watch the fight. Melina was amazing having pined the Winter Soldier three times only to underestimate how strong the metal hand was as she was thrown away again.

By the end of the fight, Melina’s head and arm were bleeding as she’d make the mistake of letting the Winter Soldier hold a knife. Dreykov called the fight then and there and simply nodded in appreciation, ordering the Winter Soldier to stand down and forcing Eris out from behind the desk with his hand still on her shoulder.

“Do you see? He’s the ultimate killing machine! I want you to work on all of the research HYDRA has given us. Use the failures, I’ve made sure you’ll have enough to at least get started.”

“Of course, Sir,” said Melina. “Though what about the female Asset?”

“You’ll have access to her next year. HYDRA were very clear about what I was and wasn’t allowed to do and, while I hate to listen to them, I’d rather not jeopardise this beneficial partnership.”

Melina nodded and glanced down at Eris with a pity-filled gaze. The Soldier had calmed now and Dreykov was already barking out different orders to the guards and widows in the room.

“Impressive, wasn’t it?” asked Dreykov, looking down at Eris.

Eris simply nodded, remaining silent. Dreykov pushed Eris towards the Soldier now and began speaking in Russian again, this time including the Soldier in the conversation – not that the Soldier actually responded – and then Eris was removed from the room with the Soldier and Melina following behind her.

Melina took charge and strode down the corridors towards a combat classroom. Opening the door, the Soldier and Eris walked inside and Melina followed them, locking the door behind them and turning on the lights.

“I shall be teaching you basic combat today, since the other widows have had a few days more training than you and we don’t want you lagging behind.”

Eris swallowed and nodded as Melina instructed her to remove her shoes and uniform jacket and put it in the corner. The Soldier watched this, standing against the back wall with a blank expression, occasionally opening and closing his metal hand as if to warn Melina about what would happen if she hurt Eris too badly.

This is going to be Hell.

~Stark~

Natalia Romanova – Aka Natasha Romanov – was worried. She hadn’t seen Eris at breakfast nor was she seen at lunch. The group of new widows was rather thin now – each class barely holding fifteen girls out of the forty that were there previously – and Natasha didn’t know what to think. Of course, she knew that Eris wasn’t a Red Room Asset but that didn’t mean something bad couldn’t have happened to her.

Why do I care?

The answer was obvious: Yelena.

There was something about Eris that reminded Natasha of her younger sister. It could be their similar size or the fact that Eris was so innocent compared to the other girls in the Red Room. The rest of these girls had gone through an experience just like Natasha, being sold or kidnapped packed into metal boxes and chained up as they waited to either die physically or mentally.

She knew that she shouldn’t get attached – attachment was the enemy of all Black Widows – she knew that she should probably forget Eris and Yelena, and Melina and Alexei but she couldn’t.

“Never let them take your heart.”

Sighing and swallowing her fear, Natasha walked alongside the rest of the girls in her year and silently prayed to the Gods she no longer believed in that Eris would be safe and that Natasha would see her at dinner.

~Stark~

Eris was successfully beaten by the end of the training session. Her arms and legs were covered in huge black bruises and blood was leaking from her nose and mouth as Melina looked her over and nodded. The Soldier was by her side the second Melina stepped away and was cataloguing every injury.

The Soldier stood up, glared at Melina, and pulled Eris into his chest. He glared at anyone who even thought about saying anything as he carried Eris into the Great Hall and sat her down next to a relived Natasha. Once he was certain that Eris would be taken care of, he left, growling at anyone that stared at him for too long.

“Are you okay?” Natasha asked. “Wait, stupid question, will you be able to eat on your own?”

“Yeah,” said Eris, quietly.

She was slow when eating but she managed and Natasha kept a close eye on her to make sure. Everything hurt and Eris just wanted to fall asleep as she ate her slop and tried not to cry or fall into a coma.

“The lack of pain medication is meant to build character … to make you realise that no one cares for you.”

“You care…”

“I’m not supposed to,” she smiled softly. “I’m just supposed to chaperone you so none of the other girls get ideas.”

Dinner ended and Natasha helped Eris stand, walking alongside her until Natasha spotted the Winter Solider storming down the hallway towards them. Hesitating, Natasha allowed the Soldier to pick Eris up and strode back towards their shared cell.

“Thank you.” The Winter Soldier said.

Shocked, Natasha could no nothing but nod before rushing towards the dorm room. She knew that Eris would be in good hands and that settled something in Natasha and she fell asleep feeling lighter than she had in years.

Once the Solider got Eris back into their cell, he carefully placed her on the bed and began fully bandaging her injuries. He removed the necklace from his vest and handed it to Eris, hoping that it would bring her a small comfort while he worked on fixing some of her injuries. Eris clutched it as best she could in her hand and winced and whimpered with every new bandage.

“O Son of Leafy Isle

and Ever-Biting Sky

I pray You hear this little prayer

Where ‘ere You may reside

I pray You know Your Holy Name

Rests on lips of me and mine;

That always is there a place

When ‘ere You come to dine

I pray You know that somewhere

Some will call You friend

That my children know Your deeds

And know where ‘ere You’ve been

I pray that You can see

The offerings left outside

That some carry love for You

A love we will not hide

I pray that You can hear

The songs that we sing

In praise of You, O Flaming Hair

In our small gatherings

I pray that You can feel, Loki

The love and trust and pride

For counting You among our Gods

In You, our prayers abide

Hail unto the Fiery One

To Hag and Aesir Bride

Hail unto Your Beloved Kin

Your family and Your lines

Hail to You Ever-Changing

To all Your blessings known

To Wyrd that You have made with us

To Wyrd that will be wove

My Ancestors have spoke Your Name

My heart knows but this:

My kith and kin are blessed by You

Because You do exist

Please hear this prayer I pray, Loki

Trickster, Fire, and Friend

We shall hail and praise Your Name

Beyond Yggdrasil’s End”

Eris whispered these words as the Soldier continued to bandage her up. He glanced at her for a moment before focusing on his task. Finally, Eris slipped into unconsciousness and the Soldier simply tucked her in, ignoring the cuff.

And, for the first time, the Soldier fell asleep.

Chapter Text

Chapter Twelve: Yelena’s Language

A month had passed with Eris in the Red Room and she could honestly say that she didn’t know how she’d survive … or if she’d survive any longer. Her feet were in constant pain from the ballet lessons and the rest of her was in and out of pain from her combat lessons with Melina. The Soldier did his best to help, bandaging her up and sneaking her some pain medication if he managed to find some but that was the most he could do.

Natasha kept an eye on Eris at all times, paranoia settling over her whenever Eris disappeared for lessons. Every time Natasha could get away with it, she’d attempt to find Eris’ classroom, just to make sure that Eris was safe. It hardly ever worked as the guards and other widows would immediately stop her and turn her back around.

The Winter Soldier didn’t know what he was feeling towards Eris – the Mission, she’s the mission – but he didn’t dare comment on it towards his handlers. For some reason, the small girl reminded him of someone, someone he couldn’t quite remember… someone he’d had to patch up every evening just like he did Eris. He kept the necklace she had given him in his vest, in the pocket right above his heart, and would regularly check on it when he could to make sure it was still there and still shined as it should. He’d never tell anyone that he was polishing the necklace while Eris slept.

Loki watched Eris almost every day, watching as she was forced to her breaking point and listening to her prays which never actually asked for anyone other than comfort. He felt his heart break as he watched Eris crying herself to sleep as The Soldier comforted her the best a man who thought he was a machine could. All of his research was no help because he had no idea how to help her and he didn’t dare bring this up to anyone else, he couldn’t risk Eris losing faith in him.

~Stark~

Natasha and Eris were sitting beside each other as usual and the Great Hall had gone from over a thousand girls in a month to just under five hundred for all years. Eris’ feet were killing her from her morning ballet lesson and the rest of her was slowly bruising from Melina’s combat lesson when the klaxon blared signalling the beginning of the next round of torture.

This time, though, Eris and the other girls were led towards a different room: this room was filled with the highest tech of the time – other than the basement – with hundreds of little TVs and chairs sitting directly in front of them. There were also clamps that were meant to go near the eyes to force their eyes open and focused on the screen. There were no trainers in the room, only scientists which made each of the girls incredibly nervous.

The girls were all directed to sit in the chairs and each scientist came around and forcefully clamped their eyes open, forcing them to stare at the screen as it began to play Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. The scientists ordered them to recite the words as subtitles flash up on the screen but every so often the screen would flash showing words such as: Inflict, Pain and Fear.

The scientists walked around each chair, listening to the girls and each time someone pronounced a word wrong there was an electric shock administered to them causing them to flinch or cry out.

They went through hundreds of cartoons, all in English before the class was eventually dismissed for the day. Each of them was thoroughly tested on their knowledge and understanding of English before they were ordered to leave and Eris finally got a look at the girl she had been sitting next to:

Yelena.

Thinking quickly, Eris attempted to start a conversation only to be violently shut down as Yelena growled at her and walked faster away from her. It wasn’t unexpected but Eris felt bad that she hadn’t managed to make a connection with the older girl. It wouldn’t stop Eris from trying though.

Then, an idea came to mind.

“I started singing bye, bye, Miss American Pie, Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry, Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey 'n rye, Singin' this'll be the day that I die, This'll be the day that I die…” Eris sang, quietly.

She attempted to make it seem like it was an absent thought, like she wasn’t doing it on purpose until she noticed that Yelena had frozen in place. Eris didn’t acknowledge it and continued walking until:

“We were singing bye, bye, Miss American Pie, Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry, Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey 'n rye, Singin' this'll be the day that I die, This'll be the day that I die.”

Eris turned around “shocked” and looked at Yelena who was staring at Eris with a calculating expression. Neither of them spoke and instead simply went their separate ways but Eris believed that she had at least made a connection with Yelena. Maybe it would help Natasha and Yelena come together again sooner.

Eris could only hope.

~Stark~

The Asset watched Eris in training, remaining perfectly still as Eris was constantly knocked down and bruises began forming all over her tiny body. Each time Eris cried out, something in his chest twitched, something that the Asset couldn’t recognise and but felt familiar and that frightened him.

Finally, Eris’ training was over and the Asset picked her up and began taking her away when the instructor stopped him. The woman placed a hand on his shoulder before quickly removing it when she saw his glare.

“I simply want to help her,” said the woman in Russian.

“That is not your mission nor priority,” said the Asset with a growl.

“You don’t trust me.”

“No.”

“Good. This child deserves to have someone that will protect her like you will… I only wish I could do the same for my daughters.”

“She is not my daughter, she is my mission.”

“Keep telling yourself that,” said the widow. “But know that I won’t reveal this to anyone.”

“That goes against your orders.”

“Listening to orders robbed me of my children and any future children I may want, I will not allow another to make the mistakes I have made.”

The Asset left, thinking over the words the widow had said as he looked down at his sleeping mission. The cell door closed behind him and the Asset gently laid her down on the bed only for her to refuse to release him. Shaking his head and unsure as to why he did this, the Asset climbed into the bed beside her and gently placed her on his chest, allowing her to snuggle further up to him.

The feeling returned, stronger now. The Asset found that he liked the feeling, that he wanted it to stay … that it made him feel more human…

The Asset was malfunctioning.

Chapter Text

Chapter Thirteen: Loki’s Etiquette

One year had passed with Eris stuck inside the Red Room and her birthday was fast approaching. The mere thought of her birthday brought fresh tears to her face as she remembered what Natasha had told her about birthdays in the Red Room:

“Most of us don’t actually know how long we’ve been here,” she had said when Eris had asked. “But we know that the Red Room keep a very detailed list of everyone’s ages and birthdays.”

“Why?”

“Because every year, own to the second, each girl is taken from the dorm and forced through experiments to see how much their body can take now that they’re a year older.”

“Experiments?”

“It’s different for different girls, they don’t like us talking about it,” said Natasha quietly. “They don’t want us to be able to prepare, which is the reason we aren’t allowed to know the dates …”

Ever since that conversation, Eris had attempted to keep track of the days she’d been there – which was easier than expected since the Soldier kept a detailed mental record. Eris had begun etching the days on the wall underneath her bed using a knife that the Soldier would often lend to her – after he verified that she wasn’t going to harm herself with it.

The Soldier could sense her agitation as the days continued and he did his best to comfort her without asking any questions, not viewing it as his place nor knowing how to handle it. The most he could do was allow Eris to sleep on his chest at night and refusing to place the cuff around her arm so that she could sleep calmly.

~Stark~

Madam B walked along each table that the young widows were sitting at, studying each of them and how they were sitting. The widows had been ordered to sit perfectly still no matter what happened or what other orders they were given. Madam B took a great pleasure in slamming her ruler down in front of them to see if they’d flinch.

Etiquette training was one of Madam B’s favourite classes – and not just because she got to be involved – due to the fact that it made each girl act perfectly. The young widows were trained to fit in with all castes of society, from the bottom of the barrel to the highest of royalty. Striding around the tables, Madam B made sure to harshly correct the posture of any of the girls that she didn’t see sitting properly. The widows were silent as she did this – so at least they could do that right.

Eris Stark was sitting at the back of the room, frozen in place as the five-year-old watched her every move with a hooded gaze. Madam B could appreciate the child’s obvious worry as she strode closer but, unlike the other girls, Madam B didn’t slam her ruler down nor did she make any move to get closer. Instead, she stood in front of Eris and stared into her eyes, waiting to see how long it would take Eris to look away.

Madam B assumed it would be almost instant and yet, it wasn’t. Eris stared into her eyes – not defiantly – unmoving and unblinking, ready to move should Madam B do something that Eris didn’t like. The older woman was impressed and nodded after she viewed that it had been long enough and turned away.

The class moved on and the widows were taught proper cutlery placement and how best to react to different situations.

~Stark~

Loki had been distracted. Odin had ordered him to look after Thor – not unusual – meaning that he hadn’t been able to check on Eris for at least a month. There hadn’t been much change in her emotions, though, and Loki relied on that – and his allies – to inform him if Eris was safe or not. Her emotions were a dull throb in his chest, a string that connected God to follower, and every-so-often he felt a light tug as her emotions changed or grew more intense.

It felt nice, knowing that he was no longer completely alone in the world, always having someone beside him, someone to rely on even when he was feeling at his worst. When Thor grated on his last nerve and the Warrior’s Three decided to mock him, Loki could focus on Eris, on their connection and heart beat and he remained calm.

“Come now brother! We must feast to honour our victory!”

Thor’s arm slammed onto Loki’s delicate shoulder and Loki attempted not to wince at his unrestrained strength. The Warrior’s Three were already ahead of them, cheering and recounting their exploits to any and all that would hear them as they made their way towards Odin’s throne room.

“Of course,” said Loki, diplomatically. “Though I shall first remove the guts of our enemies from my clothing.”

“Ah, always thinking of your appearance,” laughed Thor and Loki felt a slight sting at the jab.

He brushed it aside as Thor went to join his friends and Loki was left alone to his own devices. Loki did his best to ignore the snickers that he could hear all around him. He knew they were laughing at him, they always did, and he knew that he could punish them for it, but he didn’t care enough to try anymore. Besides, Odin would just growl at him and attempt to make him feel like he was out of line for such actions – despite being a Prince of Asgard and being well within his right to do so.

Striding down the familiar hallways where his chambers resided, Loki scanned everything, looking for even the slightest thing wrong as he continued on. Odin often sent people to Loki’s wing of the palace to spy on the young Prince, he said it was to make sure that Loki was well taken care of due to not seeing him often but Loki knew the truth: Odin didn’t like how much time Loki spent learning about magic and the Nine Realms.

Loki could only assume that Odin was paranoid – which wasn’t a surprise – especially about Loki’s magic, since he was the only one in the Royal family – other than his mother – who possessed such gifts. Even the All Father didn’t have a natural affinity for the magic of Yggdrasil that coursed through him and as such couldn’t access all of its potential – not that he allowed anyone outside of Frigga to know this piece of information.

Perhaps this was the reason that Magic was seen as a Woman’s Weapon. Loki was often called an Ergi by those who were brave enough to risk his wrath, due to his magic and affinity for it. He used to feel so offended by the use of the slur but now he could do no more than huff at the word as he no longer cared for the meaning.

Opening his chamber doors, and removing his protective spells, Loki was quick to strip his dirty clothes and replace them with fresh ones. Feeling himself again, Loki sighed in content and grabbed one of his many tomes that he had been forced to abandon when Odin had ordered him to go with Thor.

Then, out of nowhere, Loki felt a tug on the string around his heart before pain seared through Eris’ emotions. The tome was instantly forgotten, thrown onto his bed as he rushed towards the scrying bowl and cast a spell to find his only follower.

~Stark~

Eris was grabbed before she could return to her room alongside the Solider. The Soldier turned in an instant, ready to fight only to be ordered to stand down as Dreykov walked into the hallway. Eris was being held tightly by a random soldier as Dreykov ordered the Soldier to return to his cell for the remainder of the evening.

“As for you,” said Dreykov, holding Eris’ chin with a cruel smile. “It’s time for your birthday surprise.”

Panic was all Eris could feel as she attempted to fight against the soldiers as she was walked towards the basement again. Tears filled her eyes as Eris continued to fight until a hand went around her neck and she stopped. The echo of boots on polished floor filled her ears as they marched onward where several scientist were waiting.

Melina was also waiting for her as they entered and Eris was placed on her own feet. The hand around her neck didn’t remove itself but Eris no longer cared about it as she was entirely focused on the scientists. A metal gurney was pulled out with leather and metal straps ready to be fastened around her limbs. The hand around her neck left and Eris was easily picked up and placed on the gurney were she was quickly strapped down and wheeled further into the basement lab.

The soldiers were ordered to leave and Melina stood beside the gurney holding a syringe filled with a familiar blue liquid. Eris whimpered and Melina, as quietly as she could, gently shushed her and muttered a quiet apology as she injected Eris with it.

Eris’ veins were on fire. Her chest was crushed with a sledge hammer. Her eyes were burning, scorching, roasting! Her bones snapped and cracked. Her blood was frozen and was coming from her eyes, nails, nose and mouth. Screaming wasn’t an option, making noise wasn’t an option, thinking wasn’t an option.

Her tongue, her toes, her fingers, her nose, her ears, her lips, they were boiling and freezing all at once, the sensations clashing in a painfilled tango, each one fighting for dominance while giving Eris no relief. The sensations grew every second, traveling around her body at impossible speeds, constantly changing from agonisingly slow to unbearably fast with no way to figure out when the change was happening.

“Grab the tube,” Melina ordered, “we need to remove the blood from her mouth before she chokes and we lost data.”

Eris felt her mouth being forced open and air hit the back of her throat. The air felt like acid, like acid had just been poured into her mouth, into her nose, into her lungs! It only lasted a second before a tube was forced through her lips and a vacuum began removing the blood, making her gag as she tried to breath without screaming.

“You’re doing so well, Eris Stark,” said Melina, quietly. “Just a little longer.”

Through the agony, Eris felt another pin prick enter her shoulder. Slowly, ever-so-slowly, everything began to lessen. Eris began to breath as blood and tears fell from her face and she felt the scientists collecting samples of her blood, her tears and everything else that they could while she was recovering.

“I’m impressed that she survived,” said a male scientist. “Forty girls died to this version.”

“You should be glad that she did survive,” snarled Melina. “Dreykov would have had your head if we’d lost the HYDRA deal because of you.”

Eris whimpered and tried to pull away, though her energy had been removed, as the restraints were removed and she was free for a moment. The next thing she felt was the air hitting her naked body as her clothes were removed and a new set of testing began.

~Stark~

Loki couldn’t believe the cruelty being shown to his devoted follower by members of her own people. He had no idea what he could do and simply watched as they continued to inject her with different things that made her scream. It felt like hours before the experimentation ended and Eris was free to return to her cell. Loki watched in horror as she was thrown into the cell with all the care and dignity one would give a sack of mouldy food despite Eris’ obvious frailty. 

The urge to head to Midgard and remove Eris from their brutal care was a strong one, one that Loki had to put a lot of thought into stopping. His attention was once again focused on Eris as he noticed that she wasn’t in the cell alone.

The Winter Soldier had picked Eris up from the ground and was gently rocking the young girl back and forth, cooing to her softly as she sobbed into his chest. Loki was rather familiar with him, having been watching Eris for so long, and knew that Eris would be safe with the other man. That being said, Loki focused on the bond between them and sent some healing magic down to Eris.

The young girl’s sobbing echoed even in Loki’s chambers and he couldn’t truly handle it, closing the scrying portal and sitting on his bed. Sighing, Loki focused on sending calming energy down the bond as he got ready for the feast that would start at any moment.

Chapter Text

Chapter Fourteen: Soldier’s Shooting Range

Eris could only stare as another girl was removed, kicking and screaming, from the ballet lesson for being a second too slow. She knew what would be waiting for the poor girl and swallowed, for once thankful that she was a HYDRA asset in training and not a future Black Widow.

“Begin!”

A sense of calm forced itself over Eris’ heart and she began to go through the routine. Her routine was different from the routine of the other girls, more complex, more specialised and the instructor was constantly adding something to her routine every other session, seeing how far he could push her before she broke like all the other girls.

“Again!”

The music was grating on every one of Eris’ nerves: it was the same music every lesson, stuck on a loop. Natasha had theorised that it was supposed to be another test, another version of conditioning but Eris just found it annoying – not that she’d ever say anything.

Eris felt her ankles beginning to falter beneath her as she turned once more and her toes were feeling weak as she went on pointe. Her arms felt like lead weights and she could see that she wasn’t the only one close to falling. The instructor was watching them, a cruel smile on his grizzled face.

“End.”

Several girls – Eris included – fell to the ground, gasping for breath and some rubbing their bleeding feet. The instructor looked down at all of them with distain before summoning the guards to take them away for their next lesson. Eris winced as she stood up and began walking down the corridor towards the dining room and towards her usual seat beside Natasha.

Flopping down into her seat, Eris was almost silent as she ate – much to Natasha’s worry. Eris was too weak that she couldn’t even bother to sneer at the slop or complain, simply choosing to eat it in silence as she tried not to collapse again.

“Little Gem?” asked Natasha, quietly. “Are you alright?”

“Fine,” Eris said shortly.

Natasha could do nothing but watch as Eris continued to eat in silence as she tried not to fall asleep. When the klaxon blared, Natasha could only watch as Eris struggled to get up and walked alongside the other girls.

~Stark~

The Asset was standing at the back of the shooting range as the Widows entered, lining up perfectly against the back wall opposite him. He immediately spotted the Little Sapphire among them and that she looked exhausted. The Asset wasn’t happy to see his Little Sapphire – Mission, his missions, its mission – looking so weak but could do nothing without earning the pair of them a horrible punishment for disobedience.

He ordered the girls to grab their weapons, instructing them as best he could in all of the safety procedures for the several types of weapon that they had in front of them. The Asset walked behind each of the girls, correcting them before arriving at the Little Sapphire. She was doing exactly what she was told to, which was impressive considering the fact she was ready to fall asleep.

Madam B had given him specific orders to make sure that everyone was safe during fire arms training as these girls were the best candidates – and only candidates – they had left. Eris’ tiredness would be a danger to herself and others giving him leeway as he gently removed her from the line and sat her down on the bench.

Little Sapphire looked up at him in fear but he did nothing expect hand her a pair of noise cancelling head phones and motioned for her to get some sleep. He did the same for three other girls – so as not to give away what he was doing – and then focused his attention to the others.

Luckily, fire arms training lasted four hours so it was easy to allow all of the girls to have some sleep while he focused on training them in smaller groups. It made his job easier and allowed them all to get back some well needed energy for the rest of their day. The girls were much more relaxed with him now, several of them choosing to thank him for gifting them was a small amount of kindness.

Madam B entered the classroom fifteen minutes before the end of the lesson to find the Asset ordering the widows as harshly as he could, glowering at them and matching the cruelty of all their previous instructors. The widows were terrified and Madam B nodded, leaving the classroom.

“Thank you,” said Little Sapphire, gently hugging him when everyone was gone.

“Be careful, Little Sapphire,” the Asset ordered in English.

It was the first time he had spoken in English in years and it hurt his head to do so. It wasn’t pain, though, that hurt him, it was something else … familiarity. The Little Sapphire looked like he had just gifted her freedom and she hugged him once again before disappearing for her next class.

What is happening to me?

~Stark~

When Natasha entered the shooting range, she was surprised to find The Winter Soldier instead of her usual instructor. Of course, she refused to show it as she lined up against the wall and looked at her feet along with the rest of the girls. He strode up and down the line for a moment, staring each of them up and down before stopping in front of her and beginning to bark out orders.

The lesson went mostly like the previous ones, the girls picked up their headphones and their guns, went through all of the safety procedures and stood at their assigned places to fire. Natasha tried not to let it get to her when the Winter Soldier stood directly behind her, watching her closely as she fired and managed to get all of her targets with perfect accuracy.

Natasha refused to flinch as the metal arm of the Winter Soldier gripped her arm and repositioned her to give her a more relaxed stance. The Soldier said nothing, simply motioning for her to continue firing as he moved on to his next student.

He’s like a robot … perhaps Eris was right when she said her kidnapping wasn’t his fault. He is what they want to turn us into …

The lesson continued as normal until the end when the Winter Soldier allowed each girl to sit down and take a breather. This was new, something that the instructors had never allowed them to do before as they wanted to build character and stop any of them from weakening at any point.

“You are Natalia Romanova, correct?”

The Winter Soldier was standing directly in front of her, looking down at her with a n expression hidden behind his muzzle.

“I am.”

“You protect Eris Stark, correct?”

Natasha’s inside went cold.

“I do.”

“Good. Continue to do so.”

And with that, he left and Natasha was left to focus on what she as supposed to do next.

Chapter Text

Chapter Fifteen: Dreykov

Six months in to Eris’ second year in the Red Room, the routine changed. Eris was taken to a different room after breakfast, alone. The soldiers slammed the door behind her and locked it, leaving Eris alone in the darkness. Fear was all she could feel as she went over every moment of the day before to figure out what she had done wrong … but she could find nothing.

There was a table and two chairs in the room and Eris decided to sit down, moving the chair so that she could face the door, just like she had been taught. Eris tried not to bite her nails – something that she had been told not to do in the past by Madam B – and to calm her raging heart beat as she waited in silence.

Loki, best Beloved,

slyest of wordsmiths,

scar lipped, flame-haired sky treader,

friend of the Raven God,

friend of Thor,

skilled in runes,

unquiet, ever unbound,

hear my humble words this day.

In every place where You are unacknowledged,

In every place where impiety turns hearts and minds against You,

In every place where you are consciously slighted and spoken of with hate:

May You be there.

May Your presence be invoked by that negative attention.

Wherever You are consciously not hailed,

May You be there.

May Your name be the silent heaviness on their tongues.

May the grace of Your presence flow into that negative space.

Wherever You or Your kin are spoken of with insults and malice,

May You turn Your attention upon the speakers

And bestow upon them the fullness of Your blessings,

Nine fold nine times and more.

Wherever there are those who slander and attack the ones who love You,

May they bask in the unending joy of Your attentions.

May You hold their luck and maegen in Your slender, skillful hands

And weave those things their words warrant into the fabric of their wyrd.

May their ill words be an invocation of Your presence.

But where You are hailed with love, with adoration, or with simple respect

Come with kindness, oh Burden of Sigyn's arms.

Come with gentleness,

Come with fervor,

And bestow upon us the joy of Your favor.

Hail Loki, ever-exalted.

The prayer did something to calm her down as she began tapping her foot on the ground. There were no cameras in the room, no mirrors or fake walls so there was no one watching her. This wasn’t a test, then, or maybe it was and it was just a more complex test. The room looked to be sound proof and the door was reinforced steel.

Solitary confinement then? But what have I done to cause this? Natasha never mentioned anything about solitary confinement before … no one has.

It felt like hours but it had only been a few minutes before Eris heard the tumblers begin to move. Immediately, Eris stood to attention, moving the chair back to where it had been and standing just in front of it, staring with a blank face and a strong stance.

The door took a few, agonising, seconds to open and then Eris felt her heart drop. Dreykov strode into the room with all the confidence of a King, knowing that he controlled her every move. He looked her over like a tiger his prey and sat down, motioning for her to do the same.

“Eris Ana Stark,” he smirked, his tone condescending and filled with false pride. “The heiress to the Stark fortune and, now, a future Black Widow and Hydra Asset. I’m impressed: your scores are some of the highest the Red Room has ever had, not only that but you have yet to falter once in most of your training. It must be the Stark in you, am I correct?”

Eris knew what he wanted.

“I am happy that you are Impressed, sir.”

Dreykov was accepting of her answer, nodding his head as he pulled several syringes from a little black case and placed them on the table. Eris felt her blood freeze as she recognised at least one of those syringes as holding a version of the Super Soldier serum. Dreykov watched her reaction and smirked like an evil mastermind as he picked up a syringe and held it out in front of her.

“Do you know what this is?”

“The Super Soldier serum,” answered Eris.

“The Super Soldier serum your daddy was working on.”

“I don’t have a father.”

“Correct,” said Dreykov, squeezing her cheeks aggressively. “You are nothing and have nothing.”

Eris swallowed and sat up straighter in her chair as Dreykov moved the syringe closer to her. Dreykov made a big deal about intimidating her with the syringe. She tried not to flinch as Dreykov stood up, the syringe in hand, and moved to stand behind her. He placed a hand on her shoulder and Eris froze completely making no sound even as he jammed the syringe into her arm.

It was only after he moved away that Eris realised that he had japed her with an empty syringe to see how she’d react. Eris only released a sigh of relief when Dreykov left her and slammed the door closed behind her.

“What the fuck?” asked Eris in English for once.

After an hour, Eris was released from the room and returned to her room by soldiers. The Soldier was waiting for her when she returned and was quick to look over any possible injuries, freezing in place when he noticed the injection site.

“It was an empty syringe,” said Eris in Russian. “He just wanted to scare me.”

“And did he?”

“Yes.”

“Did you show it?”

“No.”

“Good, keep that up and you will survive.”

Chapter Text

Chapter Sixteen: Accident

Eris was being ‘upgraded’ from paper targets to living people and she didn’t know what to think. Of course, she’d have to go through with it no matter what she wanted because she needed to survive but that didn’t mean her heart agreed with her mind.

Natasha had gone into detail about what would happen, attempting to prepare her for the lesson. The conversation had been rather stagnant and hard for Natasha – who would rather Eris never go through the same thing she had – but Eris had listened intently, memorising every word so she could prepare herself for things.

The Soldier, when he discovered what she was going to be put through, also spoke to her. He told her to rely on her training with him, to not focus on what she was shooting at, to see them only as a means to an end and to not be affected by things. When Eris had asked about refusing to shot someone and the Soldier had simply shaken his head.

Madam B told her that she was a born killer – that all Starks were born killers – that she would have no problem killing each of her targets. It was a vailed threat, a warning for her not to hesitate or attempt to resist. Melina had given her the same speech, though hers was said with a small amount of kindness and concern.

~Stark~

“Line up!”

The instructor was a man this time – their previous instructor had been female – and he was just as aggressive and angry as all the rest. He roared out his orders and expected them to be done in a second and if not, well no one wanted to see what would happen if they lagged.

“You, step forward!”

One of the girls stepped forward, her back straight and her face stone. The instructor slunk towards her, forcing a gun into her hands and then pushing her until he was satisficed with her stance.

“Bring him out!”

Two soldiers came bursting into the room, a man in their arms. He was heavily tied, drugged and his head was covered with a burlap sack. He looked to have been heavily beaten and was bleeding all over the carpet. The man was thrown into a chair and restrained while the instructor stopped anyone else from moving.

“Kill him.”

The girl hesitated, just for a second, before firing. The man screamed out in pain as he died and the instructor clapped, patting the girl on the shoulder before shoving her back into the line. She tripped and was caught by another girl who was then ordered to do the same.

Soldiers returned and removed the body and another person was thrown into the chair. This time it was a woman. This girl hesitated far more than the previous and was immediately removed from the class, kicking and screaming and begging for a second chance.

“Failure or hesitation shall not be tolerated, do you all understand?” the instructor snarled.

A chorus of ‘yes’ was said immediately and the instructor nodded, a snarl on his lips and delight in his cruel eyes. He ordered another girl to step forward and handed her the gun, this girl didn’t hesitate at all and fired, putting a bullet directly between the woman’s eyes. The instructor clapped at her praising her on an effective kill and one that wouldn’t be that hard to clean up.

One by one, the rest of the girls were given their chance until only Eris remained. The instructor seemed to be waiting for something specific when it came for Eris to try her luck. He went over to her, looking at her stance and simply nodded – the highest praise he’d given anyone all lesson – before snapping his fingers.

“Bring her in!”

Eris felt her heart freeze but she refused to show it as one of the girls who had just been removed was carted back in. She was tied up and sobbing, whimpering out apologise and begging for a second chance. Each plea fell on deaf ears as she was forced into the kill chair and presented to Eris for killing.

“Eris please!” the girl begged. “Please, don’t kill me!”

The instructor slapped her so hard her nose gushed with blood. He then forced a gag over her mouth and then turned to face the rest of the girls – all of whom had different faces of horror as they realised what was happening – what could have happened to them.

“Failure or hesitation shall not be tolerated. From now on, you shall be expected to eradicate any widow in training that does not reach our standards. We do not care if they were your best friend or your worst enemy! The moment they fail the Red Room, they are an enemy of the Red Room and must be delt with.”

The instructor turned to Eris and motioned for her to fire. Eris felt something wash over her in the second between firing. She felt a wave of calm over come her and, without warning, it was like she was no longer in control of her body. It was almost like she was watching someone else through a glass screen as she held the gun and fired. Eris felt nothing as she watched the girl slump over in her chair and fall to the ground.

“Excellent!” the instructor cried. “Let this be a lesson to all of you, this shall be what awaits you in the future.”

Everyone had a second chance to kill someone else – this time, they were all rejected widows – and each one refused to hesitate. Eris felt like she was underwater as she watched them – and herself – killing girls whose only crime was that they weren’t perfect killing machines. Eris wanted to cry, she wanted to scream, to stop and save them but she couldn’t not just because she’d be eradicated on the spot, but because she couldn’t control her own body.

“Dismissed.”

It was only once Eris was safely outside of the class that she finally felt in control of her body and could breathe on her own. Looking around, Eris could see the traumatised faces of some of the other girls who were hugging themselves or each other as they realised they’d just murdered some of their friends.

Eris was silent as she walked through the corridors towards the dining room, where Natasha would be waiting to comfort her and calm her down. She straightened her pony tail and sighed as she headed inside, spotting Natasha instantly and moving towards the older girl with slightly less urgency than Eris would have liked.

“Are you okay?” whispered Natasha, as they ate. “You’re pale.”

“I had to kill one of the rejects…” Eris responded. “She had just been removed…”

Natasha fell silent and nodded mournfully. She, too, had been forced to murder one of the girls – one that she had become friends with – and it had changed her – it had changed all of them. Natasha held Eris’ hand with a sigh and tried to encourage Eris to eat as much as she could.

The next lesson was called and Natasha watched Eris march off with sorrow filled eyes. She hoped this next lesson would be better than the last.

Eris was pushed into another combat room where several other girls were waiting. The Instructor began barking out orders and they were all quick to get moving. The girls got onto their mats and Eris was quick to begin her warm up for the fights to come.

“Begin!”

Eris’ opponent was vicious. She refused to allow Eris to get a hit in no matter what she did. The instructor watched each of them closely. Eventually, though, Eris’ opponent faltered and Eris slammed her foot into the girl’s ribcage, cracking something as the girl fell to the ground. The instructor nodded at her and ordered the girl to get back up and begin again.

“Again!”

The girl cradled her middle section and began the fight all over again. This time, the girl went on the defensive but Eris didn’t care as she made quick work of the girl, who found herself back on the floor. Private lessons with Melina and the Soldier prepared her greatly for most forms of combat so she wasn’t surprised when the instructor looked at her impressed.

Eris turned her back on the girl and was suddenly thrown across the room as two of the girls ganged up and attacked her from behind. Eris snarled, standing up and brushing herself off – knowing the instructor would do nothing – before turning to face the two girls. They ran at her in an instant and Eris did the same.

They fought for a few minutes before Eris was pinned to the ground, then, Eris felt a pressure built within her chest. The pressure began to move, spreading out from her chest to both hands, which were pined to the ground, as well as the top of her head. The girls’ eyes widened as Eris’ hair lit up and suddenly the two girls were thrown back as blue mist surrounded them, holding them in place.

Gasping, Eris felt the pressure dissipate in an instant and the two girls dropped to the floor. The instructor was barking orders into his walkie-talkie and Eris could do nothing but sit up and hug herself.

What the fuck am I?

Chapter Text

Chapter Seventeen: Graduation.

Natasha was worried.

The Soldier was worried.

Yelena was worried.

Melina was worried.

Today was graduation day in the Red Room, meaning that the eldest girls would be removed and put through the final examination before the ceremony. It would be the last time Natalia Romanova walked the halls of the academy and the last time Eris would have someone to keep her calm during her time alone. Natasha was walking on egg shells for the past few days and Eris was quick to notice it. She didn’t say anything, however, knowing that Natasha was probably going through something horrible since the number of girls was dwindling once again.

Yelena still refused to speak to Eris, or even acknowledge her but there were moments when the two would lock eyes after a lesson and Eris could see the understanding in them. Eris was more than willing to accept the small glances, after all, she couldn’t win everything but progress was progress.

“Mama Spider?” inquired Eris softly, “are you alright?”

“I’m fine, little Gem,” said Natasha. “Just concerned.”

“About?”

“What will happen once I’m gone.”

And then, it hit Eris like a battering ram. Today was the day Natasha would be removed and given to the KGB – saving her from chemical subjugation – leaving Yelena and Eris all alone and at the mercy of the Red Room. Eris was only six so she thought she had more time with Natasha but things were different in this version of the Marvel universe.

“Oh…”

Natasha smiled as gently as she could muster at Eris as they continued to eat in an uncomfortable silence. Their feelings were mirrored by a majority of the other girls and breakfast was an unusually quiet affair, even the soldiers and older widows were quiet as they oversaw everything.

Hearing the clicking of heels coming towards the hallway meant all the girls went rigid. Eris felt her breathing increase and her blood run cold as Natasha tried to stop the tears from falling as she gently took Eris’ hand and squeezed it. The doors were pulled open and in came Madam B and Dreykov, both looking smug and with matching cruel smiles on their faces.

“Ying Liu, Eva, Natalia, Nadia and Ingrid, stand and make your way towards the final examination, now!”

Natasha stood up quickly, releasing Eris’ hand in a flash and made her way towards the doors, followed by the other girls that had been named. Eris watched her go and held back her own tears, knowing that she was now alone and that Natasha would soon be forced into the KGB alongside the others.

Loki, Eris thought, I pray that Natasha and the other girls will be safe. I pray that Natasha won’t be badly hurt in any way and I pray that she and I will meet again soon.

Madam B and Dreykov disappeared after them, talking rapidly in a mixture of Russian and Bulgarian. The rest of the girls left behind began to eat once more and Eris tried to follow their lead only to be stopped when someone placed their hand on her shoulder and forced her to look up.

It was one of the fully fledged widows. She stared down at Eris for a moment before motioning for her to get up and follow her. Eris did as instructed and was quickly removed from the room and down a corridor towards the same room she had met Dreykov in a month prior. She was once again locked inside the room and left alone.

~Stark~

The Asset watched with a passive face as the young widows went through the final examination. He had been ordered to be there by Dreykov and Madam B stood beside him, taking notes and nodding or shaking her head at the girls. So far, only Ingrid had failed and thus would be put through the make-up program until she passed.

When it came time for Natalia Romanova to fight, the Asset was ordered to take over the examination. He did so without hesitation and began the fight, watching as Natalia attempted to fail but the Asset refused to allow her to do such. Madam B had picked up on her reluctance and shook her head.

"Sloppy. Pretending to fail. The ceremony is necessary, for you to take your place in the world."

“I have no place in the world.”

“Correct. Soldier, take her to the ceremony room.”

Natalia’s eyes widened and the Asset did as he was instructed, watching in silence as Natalia was strapped down and taken to the scientific part of the facility. Internally, the Asset felt sorry for the young girl who would have everything ripped away from her and he felt even worse for Eris who would have the same happen to her in a few years. After all, HYDRA wouldn’t want their asset getting pregnant.

Once the final examination was complete and all of the girls went through the ceremony, the asset was ordered to follow Dreykov and Madam B as they strode towards Dreykov’s office. The Asset did as instructed, as always, but his mind was still stuck on Eris and the fact that she was now all alone.

“Eris Stark is waiting in the room for you,” said Madam B after a while. “Shall I begin getting the training rooms ready?”

“Yes. I also want everything else ready for her, have Melina in the room, I want to know what she thinks of this new development.”

“Of course, sir. Do you believe it is because of the serum?”

“No,” Dreykov denied. “I have recently been informed that the youngest Stark has been exposed to the Tesseract and that is what caused her change in appearance, not the Super Soldier serum as we were all led to believe.”

“She survived exposure?”

“She survived direct contact,” said Dreykov. “And now we know that it has given her a gift that we must hone. I want her examined using everything we have. I want no stone unturned and neither does HYDRA. We must discover everything we can as it could be the key to winning this war and every war.”

“Of course, sir. Shall I have her removed from lessons?”

“No, she still must learn with the others … we must simply add other lessons for her.”

“I shall do so immediately.”

“Good. Now I have to meet with miss Stark. Soldier!”

“Sir.”

“Go with her and tell her everything about Eris and her abilities that you know. I want you both to find out how to trigger her powers and that’s an order.”

“Yes sir.”

~Stark~

Eris was once again waiting in the room for over an hour before Dreykov entered, this time without syringes and followed by the widow that had led her inside. Dreykov examined her for a moment, looking her up and down like she was a piece of meat before sending the other widow away and locking the door behind him.

“So, you have abilities.” It wasn’t a question and Eris was under no illusion that she could deny it. “Tell me, what happened to trigger them.”

“I had been attacked from behind and was pinned to the ground, sir, I had no way to move and thus reacted without thinking.”

Eris knew that he could tell if she was lying and so didn’t bother to do so. She would try to keep as much to herself as possible, though, but she knew she had to answer all of his questions else face punishment for it.

“Impressive. What did it feel like?”

“A pressure. It was like something was weighing on my chest and then went outwards towards my hands and the top of my head.”

“Interesting,” he said, nodding. “Could you do this again? Now?”

Eris focused, trying to summon the pressure like she did before but nothing happened and it showed on her face that she was afraid of his reaction to her failure. Dreykov waited in silence for a moment before nodding again.

“I didn’t think you could, else you would have done so before. You’re going to be getting new lessons on top of your other lessons where we shall work on this ability of yours. Do you understand?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good.”

The door was opened from the other side and three men in lab coats entered along with a gurney. Eris’ blood froze but she stood up and hopped onto the gurney, allowing herself to be strapped down as Dreykov ordered a full examination to be done.

Loki protect me.

Chapter Text

Chapter Eighteen: New Lessons.

With Natasha gone, Eris felt rather empty as she sat in the dining room eating her breakfast alone. There was a large gap between her and the other girls that Eris refused to acknowledge and there were a few worried looks exchanged around her. Even the guards and widows would speak about her quietly since she was one of the only girls to ever speak one-on-one with Dreykov not only that but she had come back from the basement five times in a row, which was unheard of.

To be honest, Eris didn’t relish coming back from the basement at all. She had been prodded, poked, cut, burned, bandaged, bruised, bloodied and beaten all to find out how her body would react and if it would trigger her abilities. Her hair had been cut, her toe nails and finger nails cut, her blood drawn and her mouth, nose, cheek and ear swabbed, all to find out what she had become. They were now aware that she had been exposed to the Tesseract instead of the serum and so everything had to be examined and re-examined.

“Eris Stark, come.”

Standing, Eris kept her head down as a pair of soldiers stood behind her and escorted her out of the hall. Whispers filled the air behind her as Eris was led down an unused corridor towards a large room filled with broken furniture and three men waiting inside.

“We shall be doing something new today,” said Madam B, who Eris had failed to notice had entered the room. “Let’s see what triggers your powers.”

The second Eris head the sound of guns cocking, she dived towards the nearest form of cover. Bullets fired in rapid succession, powering through the cover and forcing Eris to continue moving, even as a bullet scrapped her skin and she began to bleed. The pain meant nothing to her as she continued to easily dodge the shots that weren’t intending to do her harm. Madam B watched her with passive eyes, writing down everything she could on her clip board – the sound driving Eris into a mild hysteria.

Hearing the instructors beginning to reload, Eris sprinted to the other side of the room only to be slammed into a very large man. He immediately went for her and Eris felt something beginning to build within her and suddenly she was glowing and the man had been thrown across the room.

“So, it’s triggered by fear,” said Madam B, a cruel smile on her face. “Excellent. Continue.”

Hours passed with Eris being forced to trigger her abilities until eventually she dropped to her knees with exhaustion. Blood leaked from her nose and mouth and ear, it was all she could smell, the copper and salt and smell of her sweat. Madam B looked at her with distain before ordering someone to fetch the Winter Soldier. She then turned, nodded at the instructors and left to deliver her notes to Dreykov.

Eris was breathing heavily, blood rushing to her ears, her feet feeling like jelly and her muscles were stiff. She could barely move, let alone function as the Soldier entered the room and made his way towards her. He said nothing as he pulled Eris into his arms and took her back to their shared room. The Soldier was careful as he placed Eris on her bed and tucked her in with both blankets.

He said nothing as he grabbed the bandages he kept in his vest and began dabbing the blood that had collected around her neck and ears and mouth. He did his best to comfort her, running his hand through her hair and whispering words of kindness in Russian. He wished Natalia had remained in the Red Room, if only for moments like this where he had no idea what to do and Eris needed him to know.

~Stark~

Loki felt something within him burn. The kind of burn that lasts for hours and grows the longer its left. The kind of burn that calls out to be soothed yet left alone. It made him want to curl up in his throne but he didn’t dare move nor show his discomfort, not while in court. His magic pulsed around him, attempting cool him down as the burn grew hotter and more alarming. He had only felt this kind of burn once before when Eris had been forced to play a devious game of hide and seek.

Odin glanced at Loki but otherwise made no move to comment as the next member of court stepped forward to speak. Frigga, on the other hand, looked towards Loki and kept her eyes on him, looking him over as if sensing something was wrong. Loki did his best to send a reassuring wave of magic towards his mother – knowing she was the only one who’d feel it – before focusing again. Thor was just as thick headed as usual and looked entirely too bored from his seat at Odin’s right side, which Loki was rather thankful for: Thor wouldn’t wait to ask Loki about anything and would badger him constantly until he broke down and told Thor everything.

He debated creating a quick illusion and returning to his chambers to check his scrying glass but knew he’d never be able to get away with it. His mother would have called from out instantly or Odin if Loki managed to create the illusion in one of the rare moments Odin paid the smallest amount of attention to him. He swallowed as the burn grew stronger, more urgent, more erratic and steeled himself to put up with it for a little while longer.

Loki tried not to sprint from the court when they were finally released for the day. Thor had been grabbed by Odin to go through what they had just done and Frigga had been asked to attend to something else meaning Loki was alone. He didn’t bother speaking with anyone – not that anyone spoke to him – as he burst into his chambers and pulled forward his scrying mirror.

The burn had subsided by now but Loki was determined to find out what had happened. Loki felt his heart stop as he gazed at the Winter Soldier carefully nursing a bleeding Eris. His follower, his own High Priestess, his only true friend was injured and he could do nothing without drawing attention to himself and them.

Carefully, Loki began to move the scrying mirror, unsure of how to help. Giving up wasn’t in Loki’s nature – the one thing he and Thor had in common – and he had a rather good idea. Closing his eyes, Loki focused on the golden tether that linked him to Eris and, attempting to be as slow as possible, he began pushing his healing magic down the bond.

 It was all he could do and Loki hoped it worked.

~Stark~

The Asset held Eris tightly against his chest, rocking her back and forth as gently as he could. She had begun thrashing in her sleep a few seconds ago and the Asset hadn’t known what to do until he grabbed her. Blood was still leaking from her nose and mouth but he had managed to clean her up and was keeping a close eye on her. Something pulled at his heart and am image was overlaid over Eris:

It was a young boy, small, skinny, sickly and bleeding. He was coughing up his lungs and the Asset was holding him close and nursing him through it as best he could. The Asset could remember berating the young boy though, the words coming through as clear as ever.

“You just had to start the fight, didn’t ya punk.”

“Come on Buck, he deserved it!”

Shaking his head, the Asset focused back on Eris, who had begun whimpering and moving in his arms. The Asset shushed her and began running his hand through her hair to keep her calm – he remembered doing the same thing with the punk – thankfully she stopped moving but the whimpers seemed to grow.

The Asset’s eyes widened as Eris’ wounds began to heal right before his eyes. Green mist came from Eris’ chest and travelled up her body towards each of her wounds, closing them while the Asset watched. It took only a few seconds before Eris was completely healed and fell into a deep, comfortable sleep.

Chapter Text

Chapter Nineteen: The Final Straw

Eris was now seven and was barely functioning. Ever since the Red Room had discovered her magic she had been forced into lessons at all hours, not to mention the increase in experiments. She only ever managed to get three hours of sleep per night due to the increase in her work load and she had no way to get better. The Soldier was as comforting as he could be with her, running his hands through her hair, calming her down with soft words in Russian and English – and sometimes Romanian – and promising to help her when she needed it.

It was getting to the point where Eris had accidently progressed passed other girls over two years older than her. She blamed it on her previous life’s memories and her new abilities, not to mention all of the extra lessons she was forced into. There were now talks about returning her and the Soldier to HYDRA so that HYDRA could begin her mental calibration…

The Soldier didn’t know that she had overheard everyone – nor that she knew what it meant – but Eris had noticed the Soldier becoming much more affectionate towards her. He would hold onto her like she was a life-line from the moment she entered their shared cell to the moment she was alone with him.

“You’re troubled,” said the Soldier.

“I heard that they’re sending us back to HYDRA soon,” Eris answered, quietly. “For … conditioning…”

The Soldier froze. His metal arm began vibrating as storm clouds flooded his eyes. Eris stepped back as the Soldier suddenly SLAMMED his human arm into the wall above her head, snarling with a face full of rage. It took a second for him to recompose and he began increasingly regretful as he noticed just how frightened Eris looked.

Eris just hugged him and listened to his breathing until she was certain that he had calmed down. The Soldier returned her hug, muttering apologise in every language he could think of off the top of his head.

“I’m sorry, little Sapphire.”

“It’s okay … I understand.”

“I won’t allow you to go through the same experience I went through,” he said.

The two remained tightly embraced until the door to their cell began to unlock and they immediately split apart. The Soldier returned to his side of the room and leaned against the wall while Eris jumped onto her bed and sat there meditating like she had been ordered to. The soldiers opened the door rather quietly when they noticed Eris was meditating and waiting until the Soldier had ‘woken’ her.

The soldiers grabbed each of her arms and moved her towards her private room where two instructors were waiting for her, along with several men.

“Let’s begin!”

Eris was coughing up blood and clutching her side as she was once again forced to summon her powers to throw away an attacker. The instructors were pushing her harder than ever and she knew that she would soon be returning to HYDRA. She could hear the instructors whispering about it, mostly about their bitterness to be losing someone so promising.

“Again girl!”

“No, she’s practically bleeding out,” snarled another instructor.

Gasping, Eris stood up with all the might her seven-year-old body could muster and stared at the instructors waiting for their next order. The instructors kept arguing until eventually the softer one won and the soldiers were called to escort Eris to the medical area. She was forced onto a gurney and taken away, her eyes barely opening as she was pulled along.

~Stark~

The Asset – James, he remembered, his name was James – had a plan. He refused to allow Eris to go near the Chair and he wouldn’t allow anyone near Eris if they meant her harm. She was the only good thing he had in his life – that he could remember – and he wouldn’t allow her to be taken from him like everything else.

He was silent as he watched the Red Room girls train and there was a small amount of remorse in his heart as he knew he wouldn’t be able to save them. Once his lesson ended, James was free to move around the facility without monitoring – this was the only thing that would work in his favour – allowing him to gather supplies and subtly hide them in his vest.

No one dared to question him as he continued about his work until it was time for his next class. This one was a class Eris should have been in and he became increasingly worried when she wasn’t there.

“We are missing one.”

“The Stark girl is being kept back for special education.”

He nodded but his panic was immense as he went through his lesson like nothing happened. The instructors said nothing about his change in mood and James relied on that as he continued to push the girls to the edge. He was thankful that he was not the one to murder the ‘defective’ ones.

The lesson lasted another hour before he was free to go to the great hall to eat. He strode in – thankful for his mask – and looked around. He became increasingly worried when he didn’t see Eris among any of them.

“Where is the Stark girl?” he asked.

“Medical. Idiot trainer pushed her too hard, causing her to faint.”

Rage burst through him and James saw red but he didn’t show it. He turned immediately and tried not to sprint towards medical. No one questioned why he’d do such a thing – knowing he had been ordered to protect Eris as an asset – and he was thankful for that as he pushed open the doors and moved to find Eris.

She was hooked up to an IV and looked rather pale and her heart rate was slower than normal. He took a place by her side and refused to move, even as the doctors and scientists came near her and began to inject her with different things.

Dreykov came charging into the medical bay and looked Eris over, his own anger matching James’.

“Who is the idiot that caused this?” The instructor was pushed forward, apologising and begging for a second change. “You could have lost us the HYDRA alliance! And the ability to control every widow! You fool!”

Dreykov turned to James and nodded. That was all he needed as he pulled out his gun and fired through the instructor’s eyes.

~Stark~

Eris was gently placed in her cell when they finally cleared her with James by her side, refusing to move even an inch. Dreykov had allowed James to remain with her, understanding that his HYDRA orders overrode anything he could say. The moment the doors were closed, James carefully pulled Eris into his arms and began comforting her as best he could.

“Volk?” Eris whimpered.

“I’m here, little Sapphire.”

“I kept something from them …” she gasped. “Something important…”

“Shh, you need rest.”

“You’re going to want to see this, though,” she gasped.

Bright blue light ignited on the wall beside them as Eris reached her hand towards it. The light moved until it became a small doorway, capable of allowing them both through. James gaped at it and gently moved Eris back onto the bed while he moved his hand towards the blue doorway. James’ eyes widened as his hand went right through it and he looked down at Eris, who was glowing just as brilliantly.

The glow began to flicker as Eris began to cough and splutter so James did the only thing he could think of. Quickly, he grabbed Eris and pulled her towards him and, without any hesitation, he jumped through the doorway.

It felt like he was being pulled apart as he clutched Eris as tightly as he could until the tugging ended and James landed on solid ground, still holding Eris tightly. He looked around and gaped when he finally realised where they had landed.

SOKOVIA.

~CA~

And thus ends the first section of this story. Thank you for reading so far and for putting up with my constant rewrites. The next section of this story will come soon but it may take a lot of time due to my work and everything else I’m doing.

Thank you again and I hope you continue to enjoy.  

Chapter Text

Chapter Twenty: Sokovia

James didn’t know what to do as he held Eris in his arms. Her heart beat was growing weaker and the blood was now gushing out of her, soaking through his vest and onto his shirt and jeans as she coughed and tried to hold on to consciousness. Her eyes were still glowing a vibrate steely blue even as they began to close again and her breathing began to labour and slow. Eris’ hand was holding his shirt in a death grip that refused to loosen even as she grew weaker which was the one thing he was thankful for – it meant she was still alive.

“Breath little Sapphire, hold on,” he hushed, as calmly as he could force his voice to be. “I won’t let you die before you see the Sun.”

He looked up for the first time since landing and glanced at the sky, attempting to figure out which way to go when he heard someone coming. Instantly, James was alert, one hand held Eris closer to his chest and the other reached for one of his pistols, careful to move as little as possible as he got ready to defend himself and his charge. A snarl curled onto his lips behind his mask as he aimed towards the sound, his eyes narrowing in concentration and glowing blue as the serum coursed through his veins.

“Mama! Come on, the light was this way!”

James holstered his pistol and turned fully towards the sound, finding a small child, no older than five, running through the Sokovian woodlands towards them. He was quick to remove the mask and stepped further into the shadows, unsure of what to do now that he was presented with new information.

“Carl, remain where I can see you, sweetie!”

A female Sokovian voice joined the child’s cries and James began to form an idea. Carefully, James placed Eris on the ground and began removing the majority of his identifying clothing. He knew it was unlikely that he’d be able to hide his guns but kept each knife secured in their hidden sheaths while hiding the rest of his items. Taking off his shirt, James wrapped Eris up as best he could and took a deep breath. Slowly, his HYDRA training began to kick in and he allowed his true feelings to come to the surface. 

“HELP!” he yelled in Sokovian. “Someone help me, please!”

“Mama?”

Footsteps charged towards him at a running pace and soon a mother, son and an elderly gentleman that looked like a butler came bursting through the trees. They froze immediately upon seeing Eris’ bleeding body and James cradling her close to him.

“Please! We were attacked, my daughter –”

The woman went into action immediately, ignoring the warning words from the butler, and rushed towards James and Eris – which James had to force himself not to see as an attack – looking over Eris and cataloguing her injuries. The butler stopped the boy – Carl – from moving closer and the mother was quick to begin barking out ordered.

“Come, our estate is nearby, Oeznik call Helmut!”

“Thank you,” said James sincerely.

James followed them all back to a fancy car and was quick to get in as Eris began to moan in pain at being jostled about so much. He did his best to hush her and calm her but nothing seemed to work as the woman carefully looked over the areas that were bleeding.

“She may have internal injuries. What happened?”

“I-I don’t know,” James answered honestly. “One minute we were at home, another we were in the woods … and Eris was like this.”

“Her mother?”

“No longer with us.”

James had learned rather quickly that the best lies were ones that were based in fact and weren’t actual lies. The woman seemed to believe him and continued examining Eris, who had begun whimpering now causing the young boy, Carl, to look at her with concern.

“Mama? Will she be okay?”

“Of course, my Turkish delight, I’ll do all I can to make it so.”

They arrived at the estate in record times and the woman rushed James and Eris inside and upstairs towards one of the spare rooms. She asked James to place Eris in the bed and then began asking for medical supplies. Eris’ eyes opened slowly and James was thankful they weren’t currently glowing because he wouldn’t have been able to explain that.

“Volk?” gasped Eris, through the blood coming from her mouth.

“I’m here, little Sapphire, I’m here.”

“Where --?”

James noticed immediately that she began to panic and moved closer, holding her hand and placing a gentle kiss on the back of it. Eris groaned lightly as she tried to move but both James and the woman stopped her, gently pushing her back down until she was comfortable again. Eris looked between them both and tried to move away from the stranger.

“It’s okay, she’s helping you.”

“My name is Heike Zemo, I’m a trained doctor, I want to help you, sweetie.”

Eris froze. Her heart stopped. Her breathing stopped and she went pale. Eris Ana Stark was in Baron Helmut Zemo’s house, in the care of his wife Baroness Heike Zemo and she had no idea what to do about it. In the films, Zemo had only been shown during EKO Scorpion and after Heike and Carl’s death, she had no idea how Zemo would act with both of them alive and well.

James assumed her freeze was due to her illness and looked towards Heike to help calm her down. Heike was just about to say something when the doors to the bedroom opened and Oeznik came inside, holding everything that Heike could possibly need to help clean Eris.

“Sir is on his way,” said Oeznik, putting everything down on the table.

“Good, how’s Carl?”

“Shocked mostly but otherwise asking about the young miss.”

“I apologise,” said James, “I didn’t mean to scare your son.”

“Hush now, your daughter was bleeding, you were panicked and I chose to rush towards you to help you. Carl will recover from his shock soon but your daughter needed help.”

James and Heike went silent as they both tended to Eris, cleaning her as best they could while she was lying on the bed. Blood had now stopped seeping out of her and Heike took that as a good sign so focused on getting her food and water to help replenish her.

“Heike, I heard what happened,” said Baron Helmut Zemo charging into the spare room.

“Helmut, good. I need to take this little one to the bathing room so get the rest of the blood off.”

Zemo nodded and watched as Heike gently pulled Eris out of the bed and took her to the on suite. The moment the doors were closed and he heard the water running, Zemo turned and stared at the man across from him.

“I know who you are,” he said, deathly calm. “The Winter Soldier.”

“And I know you, Colonel Zemo, head of EKO Scorpion.”

“If you are here to harm my family—”

“—we aren’t. HYDRA do not know of my … liberation and the Red Room won’t know about our disappearance till morning.”

The Baron was silent, weighing the validity of James’ words before finally nodding. He had heard all about HYDRA and The Red Room and the Winter Soldier from his researchers so knew what to expect.

“Very well. You may stay here until your daughter is back on her feet.”

“Thank you.”

“If you do anything that may jeopardize my family, I will kill you, do you understand?”

“I do, and I expect you to know the same.”

Chapter Text

Chapter Twenty-One: Recovery

James didn’t leave Eris’ room for days except to use the bathroom directly connected to it. He sat by her side, holding her hand and watching her sleep, a knife hidden near his hand and a stone-like expression on his face. Zemo had come in a few times alongside his wife – he didn’t trust James alone with Heike and James was okay with that – but Heike was the only one that spoke, and always did her best to reassure James that Eris was recovering.

“Soldier,” said Zemo, entering the room on his own for the first time since their confrontation, “your superiors now know of your … liberation. Their sending out hunting parties to all nearby countries and cities to find you.”

“Fuck, we need to leave.”

“No,” Zemo objected quickly. “Your daughter is still in bad condition, to move her now could jeopardize her health.”

James looked at Zemo for a moment, the two men locking eyes in a battle of wills. Zemo broke eye-contact to look at Eris, who had yet to regain full consciousness. For a brief second, the image of Eris was overlaid by his son and Zemo knew he couldn’t allow them to leave just yet, he just couldn’t.

“You may remain here. My family and I are well known by HYDRA and they won’t dare look here or within EKO Scorpion.”

“You … trust … me?”

“I trust you love your daughter – just as I love my son.”

For the first time, James released Eris’ hand and stood, extending the flesh hand for Zemo to take. The two men shook hands and nodded their heads, a silent understanding between them now. As long as the children remained safe, they could function under the same roof.

Zemo left quickly after their exchange, saying nothing more to either of them. Meanwhile James allowed himself to return his full attention to Eris, who had slowly begun to move and wake up for the first time in a few hours. Her hand unconsciously reached out for his and she whimpered when she couldn’t find it, becoming slightly agitated and worried the more she felt around.

“I’m here, little Sapphire, I’m right beside you,” James whispered, soothingly in English.

The language felt strange on his tongue, like an old friend he was reuniting with after a long, perilous journey. It comforted him, the words wrapping around him like a warm blanket as he spoke with a familiar – yet foreign – American accent… one he recognised from the dreams he hadn’t been allowed to have during HYDRA.

When Eris opened her eyes this time, there was much more cognisance within them. No longer did they look bloodshot and unusual due to the glowing ring of blue, slowly they were returning to normal, like the rest of her body. They were able to now lock in on James, causing Eris to immediately calm, especially as she could now reach for him herself.

“How do you feel?”

It took Eris a moment to figure out what was happening. It had been so long since she’d spoken freely in English that her mind took a few minutes to catch up with him.

“Like I’m about to drop,” said Eris, her voice was rough and croaky and her throat felt dryer than the desert. Every word made her cough and the tickle at the top of her throat refused to disappear. “Where are we?”

“The Zemo Estate. They have given us leave to stay with them until we get on our feet.”

Eris nodded, slowly moving to sit up only for James to gently help her, fluffing pillows and wrapping blankets all around her. She smiled lightly at him, squeezing his human hand and allowing him to manoeuvre her with little effort, recognising that he needed it more than she did.

“I have something to return to you,” said James, softly.

Slowly, James pulled a very familiar piece of jewellery from his vest and held it for Eris to see. It was her necklace! Eris beamed and, without thinking, reached for it only to be stopped by James as he pushed her back and carefully fastened it around her neck.

“Thank you, Volk,” said Eris, her eyes filling with tears.

James moved forward and was shocked when Eris wrapped both arms around his chest and held him tight. A beaming smile ignited his face and he returned the hug, as gently as he could, and felt something within him settle further … something human.

“Get some more rest,” ordered James, gently.

~STARK~

“Soldier,” called Zemo as he quickly entered the bedroom.

“He’s in the shower,” said Eris, softly.

Admittedly, her Sokovian sucked since it was one of the most recent languages the Red Room had been forcing her to learn and she was very slow when speaking it. Eris wouldn’t have been surprised if she’d just spoken complete gibberish.

“Ah … how are you, child?”

It was strange. This Zemo, the one before all of the tragedy, seemed more frazzled, less confident. Eris was expecting him to be oozing with charisma and yet he seemed incredibly awkward when addressing her. He was looking her up and down, assessing every injury, but remained by the door, it was like he didn’t want to move unless she specifically allowed him to.

“Better, your wife, Heike, she’s very good,” she answered, honestly. “You don’t have to wait by the door, you know, it’s your house. Papa said you’re letting us stay here, the least we can do is not impede your movement.”

“You’re very well spoken for a seven-year-old,” said Zemo.

Eris froze for a moment, thinking of all the ways she could explain her advanced word choices before remembering from where she had just escaped. The idea of using the Red Room and HYDRA as an answer to every question about her oddities was a good one and this would be the time to test if it worked.

However, she needn’t have worried as the moment Zemo saw her freeze, he quickly remembered where she had come from and tried to steer the conversation to a different topic.

“Is there anything I can get for you? Books? Toys? More blankets?”

“Toys?” asked Eris, playing into the Red Room.

The more sympathy and connection I build with Zemo now, she thought, the better the outcome in the future. If I can’t stop Sokovia from falling, that is.

“Things to play with,” he said, his voice full of sympathy.

“Like knives? Or guns?”

“No, harmless things, like dolls or cars.”

“Oh … um … no thank you…”

“What about books?”

“I wasn’t very far through the Sokovian Dictionary … I guess I could read the rest of that…”

“Dictionary? No child, I mean proper books, books you read for the enjoyment of them.”

“Oh, I saw books in the … the basement. I wasn’t allowed to read any though, they weren’t for us because they’d give us ideas.”

Zemo involuntarily moved closer, so he was sitting on the bed beside her. His entire demeanour screamed of pity and Eris knew that she’d just cemented herself in Zemo’s eyes as a young, tortured girl. He gently took her hands in his gloves ones and gave her the softest smile he could – one Eris assumed was reserved only for his son.

“The moment my wife gives you the okay to walk, I shall personally escort you to the library and you may pick whichever books picks your fancy.”

“Really?!”

Eris didn’t even have to fact her excitement at the prospect of getting to hold some new books. Her entire body was practically vibrating which only served to sell it further.

“Of course, Draga,” said Zemo. “I give you my word, and I never break my word.”

It was then that James emerged from the bathroom, in the same clothes he’d been wearing since their arrival, and Zemo was tempted to immediately move away from Eris, especially when he spotted James’ cold gaze looking at him. That gaze, however, dissipated when James spotted Eris’ beaming smile and her bouncing demeanour.

“Eris, calm down, you’ll hurt yourself … again.”

“But papa! Mr Zemo said I’d be able to get books! Like actual books I can read! Like for fun!”

The tension in the room disappeared in an instant and both James and Zemo were left smiling as they both attempted to corral Eris into calming down so that she could get better.

~STARK~

Heike took extra care when making her official diagnosis but the moment she said Eris was alright to walk short distances, the young girl was practically beaming. Zemo, just as he said, took Eris arm and led both her and Carl – who had wanted to see if she was alright – into the library, telling the pair of them that they could pick out five books each.

James came with them and nodded as Zemo extended the offer to him but James had no intention of accepting the offer. He simply watched Eris peruse all of the books and gently held them while Eris rushed to pick another. He had to remind her to slow down several times, as did Heike, until finally all of her five books had been picked and she was satisfied.

“These won’t last her very long,” said James.

“She has access to the entire library while she remains here, just as you do.”

“Why are you being so kind so us?” asked James.

“Because your daughter deserves a chance at a normal life, and so do you.”

“Thank you, both.”

“Now let’s get her to bed before she collapses.”

“I’m not going to be able to convince her to sleep tonight,” sighed James, looking at all of the books.

“Welcome to parenthood. Be grateful she’s a bookworm.”

Chapter Text

Chapter Twenty-Two: Howling Dreams

By the time the first week had passed with Eris and James remaining in the Zemo Estate, Eris had already read thirty-five books, and was already half way through the next lot. James found it hard to comprehend how much reading she was doing but he was glad she was finally acting like a child. She had asked him to read to her a few times, mostly when she was too tired to read herself, and James found it … enlightening.

It had been too long since he had read simply because he wanted to. Reading had often been associated with his missions – since the briefs were the only things he was allowed to read – and his … previous life. He often had to fight away the images of all his missions – those that he remembered and those that were slowly returning to him – as he focused on reading whatever book Eris desperately wanted to read but couldn’t.

“What’s the first place you want to go once your healthy?” asked James, one evening.

“Malibu … or New York,” answered Eris. “To find my brother.”

James went quiet for a moment, his eyes glazing over as the memory of their first meeting came barrelling through his head. Eris noticed the change quickly and gently held his hands until James pulled himself out of it. When James noticed she was holding his metal hand, he pulled it away and moved so that both of her hands were in his human one.

“I don’t blame you, you know,” said Eris, gently. “You were following orders.”

“Your brother might.”

Eris hugged him tightly, making sure that she was touching his metal arm until she was certain he was calm again. James returned the hug but he barely held her, it was like he was afraid to shatter her, like she was nothing more than a fine porcelain doll.

“I’m not going to break,” smiled Eris. “The Red Room doesn’t allow the breakable.”

“No, it does not. Besides, Stark Men are made of Iron.”

Both James and Eris recoiled at the sound of those words. James’ mind was suddenly filled with images of a young man with dark hair, dark eyes and a moustache that James was sure he ridiculed to no end came flashing in and out. Images of this man giving James weapons and talking about sniper equipment and another man came jumping out at him but the other man … his face … James just couldn’t see it.

“I don’t know where that came from,” said James. “I don’t know…”

Standing up, James walked into the bathroom and immediately closed the door, locking it behind him and leaving Eris alone. Carefully, Eris walked over to the door and listened to the sound of James’ heavy breathing.

“Volk?”

“I’m fine, little Sapphire.”

Eris didn’t believe him but couldn’t do anything and instead chose to sit on the bed, holding a book, ready to wait for James to calm down enough to speak about it. A thought then crossed her mind and Eris crept out of the bedroom and towards the library.

“Shouldn’t you be in bed, draga?”

Squeaking, Eris spun around on her heel and turned to face Zemo, who was stuffing a familiar purple mask into the pocket of his infamous coat. He was looking her over with a small smirk – one that made Zemo look far more like the TV series that Eris loved – as he leaned against the wall.

“Papa is remembering things,” said Eris, slowly, playing into her age more than usual. “He isn’t taking it well…” Zemo stood up quickly. “He locked himself in the bathroom but I think he’s having a panic attack.”

“Why don’t you go and sit in the library for a little while?” said Zemo, softly. “I’ll go and help your father.”

~STARK~

James felt rather pathetic, sitting in the bathroom, on the ground, his knees hugged to his chest and his human arm wrapped around him. His chest was heaving, his sight was blurry and James could barely make out anything despite knowing this bathroom back to front. He couldn’t stand to even think about the metal thing that had been forcibly attached to his body and kept it away from him, despite the pain it caused him.

His mind was swimming with memories, drowning in them, the force of each one was unrelenting and yet none of them were clear. He could grasp at one or two, getting words, getting names, getting faces but never in the correct order, never for the same memory.

A name – Corporal Timothy Aloysius Cadwallader "Dum Dum" Dugan – came to the front of his mind and James had no idea where it came from. The name caused a shiver to come down his spine and a warm feeling to spread through his chest. Jim Morita, another name but this one caused much more dread to fill his chest. James Falsworth made his heart fill with sorrow and James hung his head without thinking. Gabe Jones, Jacques Dernier, Happy Sam Sawyer, Junior Juniper and Pinky Pinkerton each name was like a crashing blow, each one shot through him like a bolt of lightning … but he couldn’t remember them.

The names were important. The people were important. The images, the memories they were important but James couldn’t hold onto them. No matter what he tried, they slipped away before he could get a hold of them and each failure served to send James spiralling further into the mess that was his shattered mind.

“Hey Sargent, where’s the fire?”

“Hey Sarg, what’s the plan?”

“Hey Sarg, where’s the captain?”

“Hey Sargent!”

“Hey Sargent Barnes!”

“Hey James!”

“Bucky!”

A full body flinch rolled through him and James’ arms struck out instantly to steady himself. James felt the bile filling his throat as the last word filtered through his head, bouncing around and tugging at feelings he had long been taught to repress.

“Soldier?”

Zemo was knocking on the door and James froze. In a second, his training overtook him and James’ mind went blank once more, allowing him to pull open the bathroom door and face the Baron with an emotionless face.

“Ah, I see.” James looked around and a mild panic filled him when he noticed that Eris had disappeared. “She’s in the library. Your daughter worried for you.”

“I’m fine.”

“Calm yourself Soldier, I am not judging you, I am simply offering you an ear.”

“Why?”

“Because, at this point, in this moment, we are not enemies, we are not combatants and we are not on opposing sides. We are two fathers attempting to create a better environment for our children, and we cannot do that if we are not mentally ready for such things. Allow me to hear you and in return, I shall allow you to hear me.”

“Deal.”

“My study is this way; I assume you do not want your daughter to hear you.”

“She’s not my daughter.”

“Soldier, with the way you treat her, blood means nothing, she is your daughter, even if you are not her father.”

~STARK~

“You spend more time in this library than my husband does,” Heike laughed.

Eris looked up quickly and closed the book sheepishly. Heike simply smiled and moved forward, glancing at the book in Eris’ hand with a fond gaze. She sat down beside Eris, looking down the book and Eris while trying to remain as calm as possible.

“That’s one of my favourite books.”

“My mama used to read it to me, before everything happened.”

It was true, Eris’ old mother, the one from her life before all of this, had read Eris Alice in Wonderland every night. It brought her comfort now, acting as an anchor to Eris’ real self and not the one she was forced into playing in order to survive.

“You know, we have roses in our garden, would you like to see them?”

“Are you sure? You said I can’t stand up for long.”

“I’ll be right beside you.”

“What about Carl?”

“He’s currently at school.”

Eris nodded and stood up, gently putting the book back where she’d gotten it from before following Heike down and out of the estate. The garden was huge and Heike was more than accommodating, allowing Eris to rush about, petting the flowers and stones and everything that she hadn’t gotten to see within the Red Room.

“It’s huge!”

“Helmut wanted Carl to have a large area to play in,” said Heike.

Looking around, Eris couldn’t stop herself from giggling as she rushed between flowers, smelling each one before. Heike followed close behind her, making sure that Eris wouldn’t fall over or wouldn’t start bleeding again.

“Okay, time to sit down.”

Heike carefully led Eris over to a bench and sat her down. Eris’ head was snapping back and forth as she rushed to take everything in. This entire garden was like something out of a fairy tale and Eris was enchanted by it … until she remembered. It just made her more determined to make sure that Sokovia didn’t fall and that Zemo was happy in this version of the world.

“Shall I ask Ozneik to make you and James a picnic basket?”

“Please, if we’re allowed.”

“Of course,” beamed Heike, “Helmut and I haven’t had much time to enjoy the garden, trust me when I say that the both of us are more than willing to allow you to appreciate it.”

Heike stood up and walked through the garden, after ordering Eris to remain seated until someone was with her. It was only when Heike was gone that Eris noticed that she still wasn’t alone in the garden.

“Who’s there?” asked Eris.

“I mean you no harm,” said a voice from the bushes.

Eris turned and gaped as a large black wolf emerged from the rose bushes. Its eyes were an electric green and its fur looked closer to spikes than actual fur. It wasn’t snarling, though, in fact it was making itself look smaller so as not to intimidate her.

“My name is Fenrir, I’ve been looking for you,” said the wolf.

“Fenrir? As in, the Son of Loki?”

“I am, yes. I am Fenrir Lokison, youngest child of Loki God of Mischief. And I am here to act as a guard for my father’s High Priestess.”

“Pardon?”

“Ah, you don’t know. When you began praying to my father, you created a bond between yourself and him that labels you as his High Priestess.”

“Why me?”

“Because you are the first.”

Eris went quiet for a moment before moving towards Fenrir and reaching a hand out to pet him. He easily accepted the petting and flopped down, his tongue flopping out to the side as he basked in it. Eris grinned when she spotted James and the Zemo’s come rushing over upon seeing the massive wolf alongside Eris.

“Eris, what are you doing?” asked James, calmly, a knife in hand.

“Petting Fenrir.”

“Did you name the wolf?” asked James. “Eris, you’re not supposed to name the animals.”

Heike and Helmut looked at each other and stepped back, watching as James attempted to navigate the wonderful world of parenting.

“But he’s adorable,” said Eris, “look at him.”

Fenrir looked up and looked towards James, his tongue sticking out and looking as adorable as he could. James glanced at Helmut and Heike only for them to both shake their heads at him.

“You’re not keeping the wolf.”

“I agree, he’s a wild animal, I can’t keep him… but can I hang out with him when he’s here?”

James sighed through his nose and shook his head before giving up: “Fine, but not without supervision.”

“Oh this is hilarious,” chuckled Fenrir, Eris looked down at him for a moment in panic. “Oh, don’t worry, only you can hear me, at least until I want someone else to.”

“Thank you, papa!”

James looked at the other two parents.

“Again, welcome to parenthood.”

Chapter Text

Chapter Twenty-Three: Calling Out

Fenrir was given leave by Zemo to remain in one of the massive stables they had at the back of the estate and he didn’t move from that stable at all. Well, unless Eris and James came out to play, in which case, he came bounding out towards Eris. James was constantly on edge around Fenrir but the massive wolf did everything to show how sweet he could be.

“Papa, you haven’t pet him at all,” said Eris, softly.

“I…”

Smiling, Eris grabbed his human hand and placed it on Fenrir’s head, allowing the massive wolf to show him what to do. James was practically frozen as Fenrir used James’ hand to scratch his ears. Eris beamed at him and that calmed James down, allowing him to relax enough to actually return the affection Fenrir was giving him.

“Are the Zemos around?” asked Eris, softly.

“No,” said James, calmly. “They both had to work, Ozneik is the only one here with us today.”

Eris nodded and continued petting the massive wolf while James stood up and headed further into the garden, keeping Eris in sight at all times. Fenrir watched James like a hawk while snuggling further into Eris’ arms.

“Your father doesn’t trust me, does he?”

“You’re a huge wolf, would you?” Eris whispered.

“Ah, that’s a fair point.”

James’ mind was filled with memories of his chat with Zemo and those remerging memories of his old life. Names and words and faces continued to fly through his head but James tried to fight them back. He couldn’t allow himself to break down again – not in front of Eris.

He was so caught up in his thoughts, James didn’t even notice when Fenrir came trotting up beside him, rubbing his head against James’ leg. James’ human hand rubbed Fenrir’s ear subconsciously while Eris sat back and watched in silence, waiting for James to realise or for Fenrir to have enough. James was deeper into his thoughts than he realised since it took him a good few minutes for him to realise that he’d been petting the wolf.

“Are you okay, Papa?”

“I’m getting there. Come on, let’s head inside.”

Eris smiled and stood up, subtly motioning for Fenrir to follow them, snuggling into James’ side as his metal arm wrapped around her. James was still uneasy around the metal but Eris swore that she’d do whatever she could to make him more comfortable with it – if only for his peace of mind.

Fenrir padded after them and James didn’t say anything as the wolf climbed the stairs alongside them and headed into Eris’ bedroom – it was also James’ bedroom since he refused to leave Eris alone, he slept on a cot in the corner. Fenrir jumped on the bed as James lifted Eris onto her bed and tucked her in.

“Tell me a story?”

“I’ll grab—”

“—No, no. Tell me a story about your past… please?”

James went quiet for a moment before settling down beside Eris and sighed. His eyes began swimming with emotion as he focused on a specific memory, the memory of a blond punk that James loved more than anything.

“This is the story of Bucky Barnes and Steven Rogers.”

~Stark~

Loki gasped as he bolted up in bed, looking around the room frantically as he felt the temperature around him beginning to drop. His magic was on edge, electrifying the air, yet he sensed no danger in the palace. Standing, he wrapped his robe around him and looked towards his scrying pool, realising that the danger was coming from his high priestess and not the palace.

Eris was having a nightmare, one that had caused her to begin crying in her sleep and the Soldier wasn’t in the bedroom alongside her. Fenrir was sleeping in the barn and wouldn’t be able to get to Eris without causing some kind of commotion that Eris wouldn’t want to be involved in. Thinking on his feet, Loki grinned and opened one of his older Alfheim books, flicking through it until it came to a specific spell.

Dream Entering.

Loki crossed his legs and began focusing his energy, using the priestess link to enter Eris’ dream, in hopes of calming her mind. It took a few minutes for the spell to gain access to Eris’ mind but once he did, Loki took a careful step inside of her dream.

Eris could only stare as another girl was removed, kicking and screaming, from the ballet lesson for being a second too slow. She knew what would be waiting for the poor girl and swallowed, for once thankful that she was a HYDRA asset in training and not a future Black Widow.

“Begin!”

A sense of calm forced itself over Eris’ heart and she began to go through the routine. Her routine was different from the routine of the other girls, more complex, more specialised and the instructor was constantly adding something to her routine every other session, seeing how far he could push her before she broke like all the other girls.

“Again!”

The music was grating on every one of Eris’ nerves: it was the same music every lesson, stuck on a loop. Natasha had theorised that it was supposed to be another test, another version of conditioning but Eris just found it annoying – not that she’d ever say anything.

Eris felt her ankles beginning to falter beneath her as she turned once more and her toes were feeling weak as she went on pointe. Her arms felt like lead weights and she could see that she wasn’t the only one close to falling. The instructor was watching them, a cruel smile on his grizzled face.

The dream changed…

“Bring her in!”

Eris felt her heart freeze but she refused to show it as one of the girls who had just been removed was carted back in. She was tied up and sobbing, whimpering out apologise and begging for a second chance. Each plea fell on deaf ears as she was forced into the kill chair and presented to Eris for killing.

“Eris please!” the girl begged. “Please, don’t kill me!”

The instructor slapped her so hard her nose gushed with blood. He then forced a gag over her mouth and then turned to face the rest of the girls – all of whom had different faces of horror as they realised what was happening – what could have happened to them.

“Failure or hesitation shall not be tolerated. From now on, you shall be expected to eradicate any widow in training that does not reach our standards. We do not care if they were your best friend or your worst enemy! The moment they fail the Red Room, they are an enemy of the Red Room and must be delt with.”

The instructor turned to Eris and motioned for her to fire. Eris felt something wash over her in the second between firing. She felt a wave of calm over come her and, without warning, it was like she was no longer in control of her body. It was almost like she was watching someone else through a glass screen as she held the gun and fired. Eris felt nothing as she watched the girl slump over in her chair and fall to the ground.

“Excellent!” the instructor cried. “Let this be a lesson to all of you, this shall be what awaits you in the future.”

Loki felt his heart burn as he looked at Eris, the real Eris, curled up in a ball watching as she killed people over and over again, each time the murder became more intentional, more aggressive, as if Eris was choosing to commit these crimes instead of doing them only to survive.

“You know, I never even knew who that girl was,” said Eris, softly. “I never knew who any of them were. They were just like me, trapped in a brick cage, forced to do horrible things … but they either failed or let their conscience get the better of them.”

Sitting down beside Eris, Loki watched as the memories repeated over and over, the faces of each girl – victims of the Red Room – popped up for Eris to examine.

“The adults I could justify. They got themselves into that situation when they linked themselves to the Red Room but the girls… they’re like me. Sure I could justify it because I needed to survive … not just for me but for papa … if I’d failed or died he’d be punished but it doesn’t make it any better.”

“You’re a seven-year-old girl who was thrown into the warrior’s life against your will. You did what it took for you to survive.”

“It doesn’t make it right.”

“That’s true,” said Loki, softly. “You’re right, murder is never justified, what you have done isn’t good but you have been forgiven. In your position those girls would have done the same and they wouldn’t blame you for doing what you were told.”

“You think?”

“I shall ask the Goddess of Death herself for the answer if you want me to,” said Loki, gently. “You are forgiven, if not by yourself than by me and as your God, I promise you that I shall absolve you of all sins from that part of your life.”

Eris sniffled and leaned over, pulling Loki into a tight hug and thanking him heavily. She refused to let go for several minutes and Loki was thankful when the images around him began changing to reflect Eris’ time with the Zemo family and the Soldier.

“Thank you, Loki. For everything.”

“You’re welcome, Little Priestess.”

Chapter Text

Chapter Twenty-Four: Snake in the Garden

A month had passed with Eris and James living with the Zemo family, free of the Red Room and HYDRA and slowly beginning to heal. Fenrir was officially welcomed into the Zemo family – Helmut even made him a custom collar that Fenrir was proud to wear – though he slept in Eris’ bedroom and James felt safer knowing the giant wolf was sleeping by the door.

Carl and Eris were running around the massive garden, Fenrir chasing after them, while Helmut and James watched from afar. The two men had gotten much closer since they’d started having nightly meetings to talk about their pasts and what was troubling them. Eris was elated about this development and hoped that it would help prevent what would come in the future.

“Carl, time for school, dear!” called Heike from the top of the garden.

“But mama! Eris doesn’t have to go,” whined Carl in Sokovian.

“Eris is still recovering.”

Carl grumbled but nodded, saying goodbye to Eris and Fenrir before rushing off to find his school bag. Eris fell back onto the grass with a small smile, leaning on Fenrir who flopped down behind her, ignoring his slobber on her shoulder. Helmut and James were deep in a conversation about something and Eris felt like everything was right with the world, for now at least.

Standing up, Eris motioned for Fenrir to follow her into the house and they headed towards the library. They were just about to enter the house when a massive snake came slithering towards them. Fenrir yipped happily when he noticed the snake and Eris quickly looked towards the two men, finding them still locked in conversation.

“Hello,” said Eris, bending down so she was mostly out of sight.

“Hello, little Priestess, I am Jormangder, I see you have met my younger brother.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Jormangder,” Eris beamed, sitting down fully to pet him.

The massive snake came slithering onto her lap as Eris began running her fingers down his scales. Fenrir settled beside them but quickly stood up as James and Zemo came rushing over. They immediately came to a halt upon seeing the giant snake and James looked ready to faint when he noticed the size of it.

“Eris?”

“This is Jormangder,” said Eris, beaming, “I found him. He’s nice.”

James and Zemo stared at each other and then at the snake, which was now curling around Eris while seemingly chatting to the massive wolf beside it. Both men wanted to immediately disagree and keep it away from Eris but seeing how happy the young girl was made them both pause: Eris’ smile was blinding and they had only ever seen it when she was playing with Fenrir. The snake didn’t seem to be doing any harm to her, either, as it made no effort to curl around her to constrict her nor bite her, instead its head was resting calmly on her shoulder and it was gently curling around her and Fenrir.

“Is it venomous?”

“No, he isn’t,” said Eris, looking at James. “He’s sweet.”

The snake, Jormangder, freely exposed its teeth to show its lack of venom before turning to lick Eris’ cheek.

“Alright, little one,” said Zemo, “you may keep the snake, but it will not come inside”

~stark~

Fear creeped through her very being as men and women in white coats walked in and out of a familiar room that she’d only seen in Age of Ultron. Swallowing, Eris walked inside, where a doctor was waiting. The entire room looked like something out of a SAW movie with machines and torture devices all around and the was a low hum that echoed all around them from the large machines.

Madam B left the room, locking the door behind her leaving Eris at the mercy of the doctors. They made her undress in front of everyone and commented on her small body. Eris tried not to cry as they yanked at her hair, stuck needles in her arms and began injecting her with different things. At one point, the doctors strapped her naked form down onto a cold metal table and forced her to look at a screen above her.

She could feel them poking around her lower area and wanted to scream but couldn’t through the leather gag they’d forced over her mouth. The screen she was forced to look at was full of subliminal messaging that she was physically incapable of looking away from. They were playing a normal child’s cartoon but every few minutes words popped up and Eris couldn’t look away or close her eyes due to the metal rods they’d forced under her eyelids to prevent her from doing just that.

The screen eventually went off and another round of experimentation began. Nurses cut her nails, took skin samples from her hands, legs and feet, cut her hair down to a small bob, and took a swab from inside her mouth. Electricity was then pumped through her body, making her cry out, to see how everything reacted.

The nightmare changed.

In a second, Melina was thrown across the room as the Winter Soldier’s eyes blazed blue and he stood ready for combat. Dreykov grinned at this, clapping his hands and nodding as Melina stood up and got ready for a fight of her own.

“Come child, let them fight!” ordered Dreykov, motioning for Eris to stand beside his desk.

Having nowhere else to go, Eris did as instructed, attempting not to flinch as Dreykov put his hand on her shoulder and continued to watch the fight. Melina was amazing having pined the Winter Soldier three times only to underestimate how strong the metal hand was as she was thrown away again.

By the end of the fight, Melina’s head and arm were bleeding as she’d make the mistake of letting the Winter Soldier hold a knife. Dreykov called the fight then and there and simply nodded in appreciation, ordering the Winter Soldier to stand down and forcing Eris out from behind the desk with his hand still on her shoulder.

The nightmare changed again.

“As for you,” said Dreykov, holding Eris’ chin with a cruel smile. “It’s time for your birthday surprise.”

Panic was all Eris could feel as she attempted to fight against the soldiers as she was walked towards the basement again. Tears filled her eyes as Eris continued to fight until a hand went around her neck and she stopped. The echo of boots on polished floor filled her ears as they marched onward where several scientist were waiting.

Melina was also waiting for her as they entered and Eris was placed on her own feet. The hand around her neck didn’t remove itself but Eris no longer cared about it as she was entirely focused on the scientists. A metal gurney was pulled out with leather and metal straps ready to be fastened around her limbs. The hand around her neck left and Eris was easily picked up and placed on the gurney were she was quickly strapped down and wheeled further into the basement lab.

The soldiers were ordered to leave and Melina stood beside the gurney holding a syringe filled with a familiar blue liquid. Eris whimpered and Melina, as quietly as she could, gently shushed her and muttered a quiet apology as she injected Eris with it.

Eris’ veins were on fire. Her chest was crushed with a sledge hammer. Her eyes were burning, scorching, roasting! Her bones snapped and cracked. Her blood was frozen and was coming from her eyes, nails, nose and mouth. Screaming wasn’t an option, making noise wasn’t an option, thinking wasn’t an option.

Her tongue, her toes, her fingers, her nose, her ears, her lips, they were boiling and freezing all at once, the sensations clashing in a painfilled tango, each one fighting for dominance while giving Eris no relief. The sensations grew every second, traveling around her body at impossible speeds, constantly changing from agonisingly slow to unbearably fast with no way to figure out when the change was happening.

“Grab the tube,” Melina ordered, “we need to remove the blood from her mouth before she chokes and we lost data.”

Eris felt her mouth being forced open and air hit the back of her throat. The air felt like acid, like acid had just been poured into her mouth, into her nose, into her lungs! It only lasted a second before a tube was forced through her lips and a vacuum began removing the blood, making her gag as she tried to breath without screaming.

“You’re doing so well, Eris Stark,” said Melina, quietly. “Just a little longer.”

Through the agony, Eris felt another pin prick enter her shoulder. Slowly, ever-so-slowly, everything began to lessen. Eris began to breath as blood and tears fell from her face and she felt the scientists collecting samples of her blood, her tears and everything else that they could while she was recovering.

“Eris, wake up,” Said James, carefully shaking her.

Eris was tossing and turning, thrashing and whimpering between small screams. Her breathing was laboured and she was mumbling in Russian as she scratched at her arms and chest, all while unconscious.

James’ concern was growing as he watched Eris’ hair beginning to light up, her eyes doing the same under her eyelids. He continued to shake her as gently as he could but it didn’t seem to be doing anything as suddenly he was thrown across the room, slamming into the wall and knocking off some books. James was undeterred as he simply stood up again and rushed back over, this time, he pulled her towards his chest, holding her hands in his metal hand and running his human hand through her hair.

“Eris, it’s okay,” he whispered in Russian. “We are safe, we aren’t there anymore. You are safe.”

“The emergency services won’t be here in time,” another woman said.

Without thinking, Eris threw her satchel down and sprinted towards the car. She pushed past as many people as she could, dodging their arms as they tried to grab her and pull her away. Almost everyone, once they realised, tried to stop her from getting closer but no one succeeded as she, carefully, clambered into the car and then froze as it began to tilt. Seeing the car beginning to tilt, people rushed towards it and put as much weight as they could on the front so it didn’t tip over the edge.

“Kid, get the fuck out of there!” ordered an elderly man. “You’ll get hurt.”

The ‘you’ll die’ was left unsaid but Eris refused to listen.

Slowly, carefully, wisely, Eris climbed her way from the front seat of the car to the back, where the baby was fast asleep in her car seat. The car creaked in warning and Eris swallowed rather harshly as she felt the car beginning to tip again, further towards the edge.

Not daring to look, she gently removed the car seat from the car – thankful for having to help her little brother do the same many years before – and turned on her heel.

Gasping, Eris felt the car tilt dangerously – too dangerously – with every attempt to move. The people holding onto the car were quickly losing strength and Eris knew they wouldn’t have time to save both the baby and her at the same time so, she made a decision. Eris placed the baby on the front seat, remaining perfectly still as the mother grabbed her child and sprinted from the car as fast as her heeled feet could carry her. It was only once Eris was sure that the baby was completely safe that she tried to climb between the seats again.

She had just made it to the front seat when she heard the Crash and felt the barrier fall.

The car began to tilt … screaming filled the air … a man reached towards her … their hands inches from locking together … the car moved … she was jerked back … the car began to fall … taking Eris down with it … into …

…Nothing…

“Soldier?” asked Zemo, opening the door.

Fenrir came bounding into the room, jumping on the bed and curling up with Eris AS Zemo closed the door behind him.

“I can’t wake her up,” said James, his voice close to tears.

James continued to whisper calming words into her ear as Zemo remained by the door and Fenrir began licking Eris’ face.

Eris continued thrashing before stopping dead, her eyes burst open and she gasped. Fenrir yipped and licked her again as James let out a sigh of relief and hugged her further into his chest. Zemo walked forwards and gently took her hand.

“Are you alright, little one?”

Eris didn’t trust herself to speak and instead just nodded, snuggling further into James’ grip as Fenrir snuggled into her lap.

Loki help me.

Chapter Text

Chapter Twenty-Five: A Bad Feeling.

The Sun was shining over the Sokovian skyline, igniting it in a beautiful array of red, yellows, purples and oranges. Eris was snuggled up on the window seat with Fenrir by her side with Jörmungandr wrapped around her stomach with his head settled on Fenrir’s back. The window was slightly open allowing the gentle wind to flow in and surround them – James didn’t allow her to open it all the way if she was sitting in the window: he was afraid she’d fall out or someone could pull her out.

Zemo and Carl were down in the garden playing with practice swords while Heike watched from the side lines alongside James. The sounds of their laughter wafted up through the wind making Eris smile sadly as she gently pet Fenrir’s head.

“You’re upset, why?” asked Fenrir, licking Eris’ hand softly.

“Because this isn’t going to last,” said Eris, turning away from Carl and Zemo. “I know what’s going to happen in the future and this isn’t going to last.”

“You know what’s going to happen? How?”

“I … I … it’s hard to explain,” stuttered Eris.

Eris didn’t want to explain everything – not because she didn’t trust Fenrir and Jor – but because she knew how it would sound. She knew better than to go: “Hey I know what’s going to happen in the future because I’ve watched it on TV and the only reason I’m in this world now is because I died and got reincarnated into MARVEL.” She knew that she’d sound insane, even to the children of a literal God so chose to avoid that route.

“Do you have the Sight?” inquired Jörmungandr.

Seeing an opportunity, Eris nodded, thankful to have some kind of explanation for her enhanced knowledge of the future. Both of the Gods accepted this answer without much complaint – considering that Frigga had the Sight she didn’t think they’d raise too much of an objection.

Hearing the laughter from below increase, Eris turned back and watched as Carl pinned Zemo to the floor with his sword while James shouted tips from the side lines. Eris grinned as Carl looked up at her window and waved, cheering his head off as Eris waved back with the same enthusiasm.

“Why don’t we go down and join them?” asked Fenrir.

“I’d rather not intrude,” said Eris, gently. “like I said, this isn’t going to last and I want to give them as much time together as I can.”

“James is down there.”

“Papa needs some time without me as well,” said Eris, “especially after what happened last night.”

“You can’t blame yourself for that,” said Fenrir, “it was an accident. You had no control over it.

“That’s the problem,” she sighed. “I don’t have control … and I don’t want to hurt anyone because of that. I wouldn’t even be around the pair of you if I had a choice but you’re Gods.”

“You’re seven-years-old, Eris,” said Fenrir, softly. “It’s okay to not have control. Our father didn’t learn how to control his magic until he was ten-years-old.”

Eris went quiet and began fiddling with her hands. She had almost forgotten her physical age and the reminder did nothing to comfort her, if anything it made her feel worse. Eris was a seven-year-old with the powers of an infinite stone – a power Wanda couldn’t fully control – and the mind of a teenager. Eris was in no way normal and she’d never be normal in this life and it just made everything worse.

“Little Priestess, calm down, you’re safe.”

Fenrir and Jörmungandr snuggled further into Eris, doing their best to distract her from the darker thoughts. It was all they could do without invoking the eyes of the All-Father and at times like this, they hated how limited they were. Fenrir, though, had an idea and jumped off the window seat, grabbing one of Eris’ unread books and trotted back over, plopping it on her lap.

“Read to us?”

“Sherlock Holmes?”

“Why not?”

“Okay, fine.”

“A Study In Scarlet, Chapter 1, Mr. Sherlock Holmes. In the year 1878 …”

~Stark~

When Zemo had proposed the idea of James and Eris going into town alongside him, both Eris and James were instantly against it. The Red Room and HYDRA were still looking for them and neither of them wanted to risk bringing either organisation to Zemo’s home. Fenrir and Jörmungandr had raised the point of changing their appearances but Eris knew that it wouldn’t work for long, especially since both James and Eris had been in the organisation for a long time – James longer than her.

It had taken Zemo buying Eris hair dye and coloured contacts and James several jackets of different sizes to help him hide his arm for either of them to even consider it. James had only folded after Heike cut his hair slightly shorter and made sure that his arm couldn’t be seen under neither a heavy-duty jacket, which also hid all of the weapons James was prepared to stash inside it.

Eris now had dark brown hair and brown eyes and Heike had styled her hair into a more natural seven-year-old’s style. She looked very different now and James looked slightly different now, not much but they both hoped it was enough.

“We will remain together,” said James, firmly. “You will not leave my sight and I will not leave yours and the moment you feel something change, you inform me and we will return here.”

“I know papa,” said Eris, taking his hand and holding it tightly. “We’ll be fine!”

James kept a death grip on Eris’ shoulder as Ozneik stopped in the centre of town. Eris smiled reassuringly at James as they both got out of the car and waved Ozneik away before heading into the city. Eris was looking around like an excited puppy, taking in the city that she had only ever seen destroyed, while keeping a tight grip on James’ metal arm.

Zemo had given them some spending money – though James had tried to stop him – and James immediately walked them towards a book store, where Eris practically squealed in joy and headed inside. Just like they’d discussed, Eris refused to leave James’ eye line and made sure to tell him before moving between the shelves, keeping her voice just loud enough for James to hear at all times as she went through all of the books she wanted to buy.

“Papa, look!” Eris pointed towards a beautiful Harley that a man was polishing.

Eris knew of James’ love for bikes and quickly pulled him over, watching as James struck up a conversation about the bike. She grinned as James began to relax, until she felt a bad feeling fall over her stomach. Subtly, Eris glanced around but found no one looking at her until she noticed two ravens flying overhead.

“Come on, Eris,” said James, gently pulling her along.

Broken from her trance now, Eris followed James into another shop but the bad feeling didn’t disappear, if anything it got worse the longer she focused on it. Eris wanted to speak to Loki, to ask about the ravens, just in case, but didn’t get a chance as James continued pulling her along to different shops that he thought she’d like.

James kept an eye on Eris throughout the entire shopping trip and the second he noticed she was on edge, James began looking around himself to discover the source of her discomfort. After about an hour, the pair were both on edge and were waiting by the side of the city for Ozneik.

“How was your trip, sir and madam?”

“It was alright,” said Eris.

Ozneik simply nodded and began driving them back, all the while, James kept an eye out for anyone that could be following them, just to be safe.

~Stark~

When Loki felt Eris pulling on the Priestess bond he was sitting in a small council meeting listening to the Lords of Asgard try and question Odin about Thor’s training. He was only there because he was a Prince of Asgard and as such it was his duty to attend all meetings – despite the fact he wasn’t going to sit on the Throne of Asgard.

Loki did his best to send calming waves through the bond while paying as much attention as he could to which ever Lord was speaking – since Thor would rely on him to tell him all the important information because he wasn’t listening.

Fenrir and Jörmungandr gave him weekly reports about how Eris was doing down in Midgard – since Loki no longer had time to check on her himself due to an increase in his duties and studies. According to them, Eris was settling in fine but they had informed him that Eris had the Sight which was an unforeseen skill that Loki was surprised that a Midgardian could possess.

Of course, his mother had the Sight, but she was of the Vanir and was something she had been born with, having been gifted with the Sight by the Norns. It was strange to hear of a Midgardan having such a gift but considering Eris’ magnificent abilities, it wasn’t something out of the realm of possibilities.

The council meeting ended after an hour and by that time Eris had stopped pulling on the bond so Loki assumed that she was no longer in distress, but he still wanted to check on her. As usual, Thor bounded off to join the warrior’s Three while Odin disappeared towards his throne and the rest of the Lords nodded towards Loki before leaving themselves.

The moment Loki arrived back in his chambers, he opened the scrying portal and peered inside, watching as Eris, James, a man known as Helmut Zemo and his son Carl played in a beautiful – by Midgard’s standards – garden. She was much more relaxed now and Loki was thankful for that, especially when he noticed his two sons playing along with them.

It hurt, though, seeing his sons having fun but being unable to be there with them. It made his heart clench and sorrow fill his very soul but Loki knew that it was for the best, Odin would sooner see his children extinguished than allow them to live happy lives alongside him. Loki only hoped that Sleip would soon join them and that Odin wouldn’t discover their location anytime soon.

They deserved to be happy. Even if Loki couldn’t be down there with them…

~Stark~

Zemo had to leave in the evening for a mission with EKO Scorpion, which made both Eris and Carl sad as they waved goodbye to him and wished him well. Heike and Carl then began packing to head to Zemo’s father’s home meaning that James, Eris, Fenrir and Jörmungandr would be in the mansion alone.

“Are you sure you’ll all be alright?” asked Heike as James helped her carry her bag.

“We cannot ask you to change your plans for us,” said James, softly, “we’ll be fine.”

Heike nodded before pulling out some paper and handing it to Eris and holding Carl’s hand. Ozneik was filling the car up while Carl and Eris talked about different books that Carl was supposed to read for school.

“These are the main numbers you should call should something happen.”

“Heike, I swear, we shall be fine.”

“Alright,” nodded Heike, “take care, the pair of you. We’ll be back at the end of the month.”

“Have a good time,” said Eris.

“Thank you, sweetheart.”

James and Eris watched them leave and waved them off before heading inside. James went instantly to the kitchen to begin cooking dinner while Eris walked towards the back door where Fenrir and Jörmungandr were waiting to be allowed inside. Fenrir came bounding in without hesitation while Jörmungandr waited for Eris to pick him up and place him on her shoulders, which she did happily.

Eris and James ate alongside the giant wolf and giant snake, laughing and just speaking like normal people would. It was mildly awkward at first, since neither of them had ever had a normal conversation with each other without someone watching, but they soon got the hang of it and were enjoying everything.

“You can read one more book and then head to bed,” ordered James, his tone holding the paternal tone that he had often heard when Zemo spoke to Carl.

“Okay, papa.”

“You don’t have to call me that,” said James, “no one else is here.”

“But … you are my papa,” said Eris, slowly closing the book. “Or the closest I’ve got to one. Why? Do you not like it?”

“No … no. I just didn’t want you to feel like you had to.”

“Well, I don’t.”

“Alright, because I see you as my daughter but I didn’t want to assume you saw me as your father, especially since you already have one.”

“Howard Stark will always be my father, but you’ll always be my papa,” said Eris, softly. “Just like Maria will always be my mother but Natalia will always be my mama.”

“You certainly do manage to gain parents,” chuckled James, pulling her into his side while running his human hand through her hair.

“Yeah, but I wouldn’t trade them for the world.” The sweet moment was ruined by Fenrir jumping onto James’ lap and Jörmungandr slithering around the pair, hugging them with his giant body. “Alright, boys, you’re family too.”

Chapter Text

Chapter Twenty-Six: The Edge.

“Yeah, but I wouldn’t trade them for the world.” The sweet moment was ruined by Fenrir jumping onto James’ lap and Jörmungandr slithering around the pair, hugging them with his giant body. “Alright, boys, you’re family too.”

SMASH!

The windows all around the living room caved in and black spheres were thrown inside, filling the room with white gas. Eris and James immediately ducked down and began relying on their training only there was so much smoke filling the room that they physically couldn’t see.

“Longing.”

Eris’s eyes went wide as she tried to stand, to run towards the voice but the smoke made it impossible to see. Her eyes were brimming with tears and her eyes were burning but she refused to just lay down and accept her fate.

James went ridged upon hearing the first word and watched as Eris tried to stand and face their attackers. Fenrir and Jörmungandr were both coconscious, having both been hit by tranquilizers and James could barely move as his mind began recognising the programming.   

“Rusted.”

Eris felt a foot hit her in the gut causing her to fly into the bookshelf across the room. She gasped, allowing more of the gas to enter her lungs, burning them. Eris kicked out, using her small stature against her attacker and grabbing a knife she had kept in her pyjamas, stabbing him in the jugular without hesitation.

James tried to stand up and begin to fight but he saw several soldiers around him, each one holding tranquiliser guns which were pointed at him. James silently swore as he remembered that he had placed his weapons in the draw Zemo had asked him to keep them in. He was also shirtless – the shirts made his arm overheat – which meant that he’d be hit directly with each dart without no hope of dodging them.

 “Furnace.”

Eris grabbed the knife from the soldier’s neck and held it as tightly as she could as she lunged at the nearest person, who simply swatted her away, causing Eris to slam into the sofa – missing Fenrir’s sleeping body by an inch – but that didn’t stop her from standing up and trying again.

More soldiers came barrelling into the room and two grabbed Eris from behind as one injected something into her neck. Eris continued to fight, refusing to back down, even as her eyelids got heavy and her breathing got slower.  

 “Daybreak.”

James felt his mind beginning to slip away from him completely and he couldn’t stop the tears that filled his eyes as he watched Eris collapse into a soldiers arms. He could do nothing as he watched her get strapped onto a metal gurney and taken from the room.

 “Seventeen.”

His mind was slipping away and James could do nothing about it.

“Benign.”

It wouldn’t be long now before James was reduced to the Winter Soldier, in fact, he could already feel his other self coming forward. It felt like his heart was being ripped out of his chest.

“Nine.”

Goodbye Fenrir.

“Homecoming.”

Goodbye Jörmungandr.

“One.”

Goodbye Helmut Zemo.

“Freight car.”

Goodbye my beautiful daughter.

“Я готов отвечать.” (Ready to comply.)

“Let’s get you back to HYDRA and this time, we won’t lose you again.”

TO BE CONTINUED

Chapter Text

Chapter One: A Trial By Ice

The first thing Eris felt was pain. It burned through her, starting from the outside of her body and intruding in. It bit her skin, sinking frosted teeth into delicate flesh with a vice-like grip that spread agony through every cell, every vein, every artery and every organ. Her lungs felt full, yet empty at the same time, constricted, yet expanded to a point beyond normal. Her teeth were overly sensitive but her jaw couldn’t move; nothing could move.

Her entire body was stiff and cold, each muscle screaming in protest as Eris tried to make her body move. Nothing responded, however. Her throat was burning and she felt the overwhelming need to cough, yet she couldn’t. She couldn’t do anything. Frost covered Eris’ eyelashes making them hard to move and uncomfortable to say the least. Her eyelids felt like one-hundred-pound weights and Eris couldn’t open them no matter how much she tried, no matter how much she panicked.

There was something against Eris’ face: it covered her nose and mask and forced oxygen into Eris’ lungs. It dug into her chin and the bridge of her nose, not enough to draw blood but enough so that, even as numb as she was, Eris knew it was there. There wasn’t an ounce of energy inside Eris’ entire body but that didn’t stop her from trying to move.

Taking a deep breath, Eris forced her eyes to open, whimpering in pain as her eyelids roared with debilitating discomfort. It took all she had to keep her eyes open as Eris tried to take in everything around her. She couldn’t focus as black spots still controlled her vision, and it looked like she was staring through water or frosted glass. Looking down took everything out of her but Eris managed to make out the familiar silhouette of a metal strap around her wrist.

Eris was staring down at her wrist for, what felt like, an eternity as she tried to make her hand move, to make her fingers twitch, to make something happen in the part of her body she once had compete control over. Yet nothing happened.

She was stuck.

She was trapped.

There was no sound.

There was no light.

There were no smells.

It was empty.

It was nothing…

She felt nothing…

At the back of her mind, through the fog and the storm and the cold, Eris could feel something – someone – calling out, waking up alongside her. Something was clawing at her mind, reaching out, banging against an invisible barrier while its muffled screams echoed through the empty halls of Eris consciousness.

“Wake up!” the voice screamed.

The voice was cold and calculating, it held no emotion or empathy. It was loud and aggressive yet calm. Above all else, it was familiar but Eris couldn’t figure out where she’d heard it before.

“Get up! We cannot give into weakness like this!”

As the voice became clearer, Eris could hear an undeniable Russian accent on the words. It reminded her of Yelena but the voice … it was younger.

We? Whose we?

“US! You and I!”

Who are you?

“My designation is The Winter Widow,” the voice said, “And I am you.”

What? How?

The voice didn’t answer and another took its place.

Eris…

A beautiful voice. One that was full of compassion, of understanding, of love and hope. A voice that … a voice she knew … or she thought she knew … did she know … the voice seemed familiar … but she’d never heard it before … had she … yes! No! yes! No! Why couldn’t she remember?

Eris…

The voice was calling her, calling her from a distance. No, it was calling from right next to her. No, it couldn’t be, she was contained, in a cell, in … in a prison. The voice had to be outside but it sounded so close, and so far, and so warm, and so cold.

The voice sounded like home.

The voice sounded like …

Why couldn’t she remember?

Eris, it’s time to wake up.

She wanted to! She wanted to wake up, to move her body, to be away from the pain but she couldn’t! She wanted to yell at the voice, to tell it to help her, to get her out! But her jaw wouldn’t move and the words wouldn’t form and the pain wouldn’t ease and … and she didn’t want to make the voice leave.

It’s alright Eris, I won’t leave you.

“Everyone says that,” the voice within her yelled, “everyone tells us they won’t leave and then they do!”

 Wait … who left? Who left her? Maybe the voice left? No, that wasn’t right.

Eris, I know you’re afraid but I need you to open your eyes. Can you do that?

Eris could do that, she had to do that. The voice within her agreed and a new energy began coursing through her veins, powering through the pain and the ice and the fatigue. Slowly, so very slowly, her eyes forced themselves open, her vision was blurry and there was darkness in random spots but she had managed it! Her eyes were open and she could begin to assess her surroundings.

“Your stronger than I thought,” said the Winter Widow, “I believed we were going to be stuck until someone came for us.”

You’re mean, Eris thought, how did you even get here? Into my mind?

“Some questions are better off unanswered,” the Winter Widow’s voice was soft now, almost regretful but filled with determination and Eris assumed that she wasn’t going to get an answer out of the her. “Now take a look around, we need to get out of here. I don’t want to go back to active duty anytime soon.”

The more Eris focused on her surroundings the better her vision became and soon she was able to see the room in its entirety. She was inside a Cryo-chamber, some that seemed to have been specially built for her since it looked nothing likes the one James had come out of.

 JAMES!

Oh Loki! She needed to find him, to get him out! He had been triggered, probably been wiped and reset! He was back to being a killing machine and Eris needed to get him out!

“Calm down! You’re of no use if you end up panicking yourself into unconsciousness!”

Eris, listen to me, you’re going to be alright, and we’ll find James but first, you need to free yourself. Use your magic.

How? Eris hadn’t mastered her magic, she had never mastered it. The Red Room had tried to train her but they’d done nothing but figure out her powers were triggered by fear. She had only managed to control it enough to hurt herself, to escape the Red Room, to save her and James.

“You never mastered them, but I did – or at least to a certain extent – now focus and let’s get out.”

Focus on what?

“With you in control? I believe our ability is fuelled by fear.”

Okay, her abilities were fuelled by fear, so she’d use her fear. Eris focused on everything that scared her and focused on James until pressure began building in her chest. The pressure kept building and building until finally, it exploded.

CRASH!

The glass of the cryo-chamber shattered and the metal that kept her hands, her feet, her neck and her waist locked in the chamber followed soon after. Eris fell to the ground in an instant, pulling the oxygen mask along with her as she fell into the glass, cutting her exposed knees, palms of her hands and feet. Eris pulled the mask from her face and threw it away, gasping for breath as her body began to forcefully thaw and the glow that surrounded her hands began travelling upwards and downwards, surrounding her body. Her body was covered by warmth and Eris carefully stood up, her heart pounding and her breathing laboured.

You’re free.

And now, Eris recognised the voice for who it was.

“Loki,” gasped Eris. “Thank you.”

You have nothing to thank me for, my priestess. I will always protect you, even if in this instance I failed.

“Fenrir, Jor,” she stammered between breaths, “are they okay?”

My boys are fine, and you will be too.

“Considering where I am,” she huffed, “I don’t think I will.”

The feeling in her legs was slow in returning but it was returning and Eris pushed herself off of the table to stand once more. Everything was shaking, from her toes, to her ankles to her elbows and fingers but she was standing and that was progress. It was only now that Eris noticed what she was wearing. She had been forced into a white tank top and white shorts – or she assumed they had been white because they were now grey and covered with speckles of blood.

Please tell me it was you who changed my clothes.

“Yes, it was. As if I’d allow those fuckers to touch us.”

Looking around, Eris spotted something on the ground – a mirror. It was smashed and covered in dry blood which Eris didn’t want to think about, but there were enough fragments that she’d be able to see what she looked like. Her feet burned, shards of glass cutting into her soles as she moved towards it.

Eris before you look at that, I feel the need to warn you…

Carefully, Eris grabbed the mirror and picked it up, watching as the shards fell to the ground leaving only a few in the frame. Putting it fully in front of her, Eris’ eyes went wide, her mouth dropped open and she almost dropped it as she stared at the unfamiliar face staring back at her.

You and James have been with them for eight years.

“Eight years,” she repeated. “I’ve been on ice for eight years.”

“Not all the time … no.”

But – but this is the first time I’ve woken up.

“You’re right in that regard, this is the first time you’ve woken up. But our body has woken up several times over the years.

And just like that, the mirror fell to the floor, shattering completely, and Eris’ psych felt like it had just done the same. She had been with them for eight years; she had lost eight years of her life and Gods only knew what she had done in that time. Did she have trigger words now? Was she a Winter Soldier too? How much of her life had been taken from her? How many lives had she taken? Panic, pain, fear and hate filled her chest, hammering at her ribs like a beast roaring for freedom inside its cage. Her energy disappeared and all she wanted to do was collapse again, to collapse again and never move, to allow time to waste her away so she wouldn’t have to think about the possibilities.

Eris, I need you to breathe.

Their bond was filled with calming energy but that only served to drive Eris closer to the edge. The Winter Widow had disappeared now, into the back of Eris’ brain, knowing her presence would do nothing but agitate Eris further.

Eris, please, you need to calm down. James needs you!

Right, she nodded, right James needed her. She needed to find him, to get him out before the events of The Winter Soldier ever happened. Eris took a deep breath, squashing the panic attack that had been forming, and turned towards the giant steel door that kept her separated from the outside. The door was sealed shut and had several locks keeping it in place but Eris didn’t let that stop her. Grabbing two random bits of metal from the ground, she easily managed to pick the locks – thank you Red Room, probably the only time I’ll say that – and she slowly opened the bulkhead.

An empty, metal corridor greeted her when she opened the door fully. It looked like it hadn’t been touched in years, in fact the entire area looked like it hadn’t been touched in years as Eris walked outside and closed the bulkhead door behind her. Turning, she quickly locked the door again and walked towards the nearest bulkhead door where she could see shapes moving behind the glass.

I can’t help you much Eris, I’m sorry. The laws forbid me from interfering with the lives of all but my followers.

“Don’t worry, Loki, I understand. I’ll be fine.”

I know you will. That doesn’t mean I have to like leaving you alone with the people who tortured you.

Looking through the glass, Eris watched in silence as several soldiers patrolled the corridor, each one holding a heavy-duty rifle with pistols and handguns in holsters by their legs. Silently, Eris opened the bulkhead as the soldiers turned around and grabbed the nearest one, pulling him into the empty corridor and closing the door fully behind her.

It didn’t take long for Eris to choke the soldier into unconsciousness, nor did it take her long to strip him of weapons and clothes that Eris would fit into. Admittedly, majority of the clothes were too big for her but they’d do for now, if only to keep her warm. She quickly used the soldier’s shirt to tie her blue hair up and cover it in a make-shift turban.

Surprisingly, the soldiers patrolling didn’t seem to notice a decline in their ranks but Eris didn’t have enough fucks to give as she noticed a vent above the bulkhead door. Grinning to herself, Eris jumped up and carefully began unscrewing it, beaming when it came open and she could slip inside.

Crawling through the vents reminded Eris of the first time her powers had activated during that game of hide and seek – well hide or get killed. Coming to a grate, Eris glanced down only to find more soldiers – which was to be expected – walking back and forth. Cautiously, she continued forwards, ignoring the mixture of Russian and German she was hearing from below.

“Soldier!” a familiar voice called in Russian. “Report.”

 Vasily Karpov looked older than he did in the film – again, to be expected – but he was just as cruel and evil as he did before. Eris’ mouth dropped open when she spotted The Winter Soldier marching into view and her heart shattered.

All the work Eris had done … it was destroyed.

Without warning, alarms blared throughout the facility, putting everyone on edge. Soldiers were running backwards and forwards, barking orders at each other while The Winter Soldier became on guard and Karpov practically snarled.

“What is it?”

“The Winter Widow has escaped! We have a soldier down and no trace of her.”

“What? How is this possible?”

“The cryo-chamber was shattered from the inside but we know she’s injured as blood is all over the containment room.”

“FIND HER!” Karpov roared. “I WILL NOT LOSE SUCH A VALUBLE ASSET AGAIN! THEY’LL HAVE MY HEAD!”

Hearing banging below her, Eris knew they were in the vents with her and quickly moved on, attempting to find an empty room to drop into. She managed it, after longer than she’d liked, and quickly dropped, sliding into the area next to the open bulkhead as soldiers came barrelling past.

Two soldiers came into the empty room, looking around for her but easily missing her, before leaving, closing the door behind them. Taking a deep breath, Eris resecured the vent she’d used before heading out into the corridor. Thankfully, the soldiers had already cleared the area so Eris could move a little more liberally than before.

“Soldier, your new mission: find the Winter Widow and subdue her.”

“Ready to Comply.”

She swore. There was no way Eris could fight a fully brain-washed Winter Soldier and win, even if he remembered who she was. Eris was in no way deluded enough to believe that the memory of her would bring him out of his state and, even if she could, she wasn’t going to try it.

“Unless we trigger him,” The Winter Widow was back, but not as loud as she had been.

I don’t know if I can do that to him.

“If you don’t, we’ll be stuck here and he’ll continue being tortured.”

I know…

The Winter Soldier came marching down the corridor towards Eris’ hiding place and Eris was quick to dive into the nearest room, holding her breath as she listened to him go past. Eris had to find a way to get him alone and unprepared if she was going to trigger him … easier said than done.

She couldn’t follow behind him – as a sniper he’d expect that – and she couldn’t follow above him – the serum enhanced his hearing. The only way she’d be able to get him alone was to expose herself and coral him into a confined space which, while the only option, scared her more than she’d have liked.

A confined space meant The Winter Soldier had the advantage since he was bigger, stronger and far faster than she was. He was also better trained and, unlike Eris, wouldn’t hesitate to fuck her up if it meant getting the mission done. Not to mention that in a confined space, Eris wouldn’t have far to run while she spoke the trigger words and The Winter Soldier would defiantly try and stop her from finishing and she didn’t feel like getting choked.

And again, she swore.

Swallowing, Eris stood up and began following The Winter Soldier until she found a room large enough to contain him in. Only then, when Eris was physically and mentally prepared, did she make her location known to The Winter Soldier by dropping a wrench. It was something only The Winter Soldier would hear and it got the desired reaction.

The Winter Soldier came storming into the room. His face was covered by his old muzzle and his arm looked like he’d been recently strapped down and electrocuted. His eyes were serum blue and his entire aura screamed danger, and it was entirely directed at Eris.

“Asset: Winter Widow, return to containment.”

His voice. Oh God his voice.

There was nothing in that voice: no tone, no humanity! It was an empty void, an abyss of robotic responses programmed into something that looked human but no longer was. There wasn’t a hint of anything. There was no James in that voice, no Bucky in that tone, no Barnes in those words. There was nothing.

And it broke her.

All Eris wanted to do was apologise. To beg James for forgiveness for not telling him about her horrible feeling that day. To promise him that she’d never keep something like that from him again. She wanted to cry and beg him to wake up, to hold her again like he had that night she’d had a nightmare she couldn’t wake up from.

But she couldn’t.

Because this wasn’t James. This wasn’t her papa. Nor was this The Winter Soldier she had met when she was four. This was someone new entirely, someone she had no connection with, someone with no memory of her or their time together or Zemo or Fenrir or Jor or Sokovia.

This person scared her, terrified her because he had the face of her papa but the eyes were wrong. The voice was wrong. The words were wrong. The stance, the aura, the look, the arms, EVERYTHING, it was wrong! And it was all Eris’ fault.

“Return to containment or you will be subdued.”

He hadn’t moved from the door, blocking the only exit. The threat was very clear and it made her eyes tear up but Eris blinked them away. She had to be strong, because James needed her to be strong and because it was the only way she’d be able to get through this.

“Longing,” Eris began.

Just like Eris had predicted, The Winter Soldier jumped into action, vaulting the table between them and slamming into the wall where Eris had once been. Eris slid across the room in a second, watching as The Winter Soldier snarled and glared at her and continued to move towards her.

“Rusted.”

The Winter Soldier stopped for a moment, as if a program had been interrupted in his brain and Eris ceased the moment.

“Furnace!”

Watching The Winter Soldier fall to his knees, covering his ears as she spoke shattered Eris resolve and she stuttered out the next word.

“Day-Daybreak.”

“Stop,” he begged.

He begged, he actually begged. There was a part of him, the human part, that had woken and was praying that Eris would stop. The rest of her resolve was so close to shattering but Eris refused to allow it. This was the only way they were going to get out of this alive, alive and safe and together.

“Seventeen.”

Eris was now standing in front of the door, ready to bolt as she watched The Winter Soldier forced himself up and get himself ready to attack Eris again. She swallowed and mentally apologised as she said the next one.

“Ben--.”

A metal pipe slammed into the back of Eris’ head, knocking her into unconsciousness and breaking the sequence. The Winter Soldier shook himself awake and turned to the door, finding Karpov glaring down at Eris with eyes filled with annoyance and hate.

“Grab her. It appears she needs reprocessing.”

When Karpov slapped Eris, two things occurred. One: Eris woke up with a start, her entire body ready to fight and rip the fucker to shreds, and two: Eris realised that she couldn’t rip the fucker to shreds because she was strapped into a very familiar device that made Eris’ heart stop in fear. The Chair.

“Eris, whatever happens next, allow me to take it for you.”

What? But you’d be erased.

“It’s already happened a few times now, better me than you.”

The Winter Soldier was standing off to the side, staring at Eris and Karpov with a blank expression that made Eris sad. When he noticed she was looking, though, he glared at her, but there was no emotion in that glare.

“I’m impressed,” said Karpov, “you escaped and almost managed to gain The Winter Soldier. You’re truly an acceptable Asset, Winter Widow.”

“Fuck you, you German prick!” Eris snarled.

Karpov stepped back, eyes wide and filled with confusion. It seemed he wasn’t prepared for her to talk back – or he wasn’t prepared for her to speak at all – since he seemed to be examining her closely. Whatever he was looking for, Karpov didn’t seem to find it and that concerned it deeply. Scientists came flooding into the room, checking computers and examining her while she couldn’t move. She watched them take blood and take scans of her mind as they whispered back and forth to each other.

“Sir, her mind has completely reset,” said the head scientist – or Eris assumed it was the head scientist.

“What? How?”

“It seems exposure to the Tesseract on her last mission fixed the pathways,” said the scientist.

Eris sat straighter when she heard that. A memory, one floating just below the surface, came floating to the top of the ocean that was her mind, exposing itself to the light. The memory was strange, it didn’t feel like it was hers but her body was the one doing the damage.

The Winter Widow and The Winter Soldier were in the back of a jeep, preparing their weaponry for the mission ahead. The Winter Widow was dressed in a pure white catsuit, it looked like it had come directly from the black widow film, while The Winter Solider was dressed in his usual attire. The Winter Widow was holding a pistol in one hand and was scratching that arm, exposing a brand on her wrist. The brand was HYDRA’s symbol, a reminder, like The Winter Soldier’s arm, that she belonged to HYDRA.

Glancing at her exposed arm, Eris winced when she noticed the faint outline of the brand on her arm. It was old, though, in the memory it looked fresh, red and angry. This brand had healed almost completely and was slow fading the longer she stared at it.

The Jeep stopped and the two killing machines exited the jeep, immediately going into stealth mode as they moved closer to a SHEILD compound. They moved in perfect synchronicity, removing and murdering the guards without hesitation as they continued towards their mission.

When they entered the compound, The Winter Soldier and The Winter Widow split up, each taking a corridor and destroying anyone that dared get in their way or attempt to stop them. The two spoke back and forth in Russian – Eris couldn’t tell what they were saying, it was like something was stopping her from hearing anything, even in her own memories – and The Winter Widow turned sharply towards a heavily armed door. She easily burst through the door and came face to face with the Tesseract, which was hooked up to a bunch of monitors. The Tesseract glowed and shone brighter as The Winter Widow got closer.

“Eris? Is that you?”

The voice of the Tesseract was the same as it had been all those years ago. Eris drew comfort from it, even if the voice was only a memory.

The Winter Widow didn’t answer and instead, she grabbed the Tesseract and turned as The Winter Soldier came barrelling into the room holding the case that the Tesseract was to be kept in. The Tesseract sparked, causing The Winter Widow to drop it for a second, though she quickly grabbed it again and stuffed it into the case.

Then, the two began to leave. Except The Winter widow began to stumble, she began to falter. The winter widow began to think as she looked down at her hands. Something had changed and The Winter Soldier knew that.

“Я заливаю глаза керосином, Пусть всё горит, пусть всё горит, На меня смотрит вся Россия3, Пусть всё горит, пусть всё горит”

Eris pulled herself from the memory as the words The Winter Soldier began to say hurt her head. Karpov and the scientists were still in a deep discussion about what was going on and how to fix Eris and turn her into The Winter Widow again.

“Perhaps we should simply attempt to trigger her,” said the scientist. “To see if it still works.”

“Я заливаю глаза керосином,” began Karpov.

“Eris, I’m sorry, I can’t stop it.”

Panic filled Eris as she realised what they were doing and she looked towards The Winter Soldier with pleading eyes, begging him to help her but knowing that he wouldn’t. She was trapped, locked in a chair that was designed to wipe her mind and was about to be taken over by someone who shared her body but wasn’t her.

“Пусть всё горит.”

Eris felt it coming to the surface and began to feel tears in her eyes. She was still pleading with The Winter Soldier silently but it wasn’t working. Nothing was going to save her now.

“Пусть всё горит.”

“I’m sorry, papa…” whimpered Eris.

There wasn’t much time before Eris was completely erased. The Winter Soldier shifted on his wall as Eris closed her eyes and let her head drop. She could do nothing but accept her fate and hope that Loki would help her return to her mind again.

“На меня смотрит вся –”

Karpov was cut off just before he finished by the Winter Soldier slamming his metal fist into Karpov’s head, crushing it instantly. The scientists began shouting for guards as the Winter Soldier pulled the restraints directly off and pulled Eris from the chair. He handed her a gun from his vest and Eris began firing without hesitation. It didn’t take long before the scientists and soldiers were dead and they were free. Eris wanted to vomit as she squashed the strange feeling down into the depths of her mind.

Are you okay?

“I should be asking you that. I don’t enjoy forcibly taking control of our body.”

The Winter Soldier grabbed Eris’ shoulder, breaking her from her internal conversation and began leading her out when Eris noticed a familiar book in Karpov’s cold arms.

“Wait,” she ordered, using the Russian she knew he would respond to.

Quickly, Eris pulled the book out and tucked it into her oversized clothing before turning to leave again. The Winter Soldier looked at her for a moment, looking me up and down before putting his hand back on her shoulder and dragging her out.

“Is the Tesseract still here?”

“The Asset doesn’t know. That knowledge is above the Asset’s clearance.”

Eris nodded in acceptance and knew that there was no point staying to look for it. HYDRA was more than likely going storm the place soon and there wasn’t enough time to tear the place apart looking for something that probably wasn’t even in the building in the first place. The Winter Soldier kept a firm grip on Eris’ shoulder throughout the entire walk out of the building. Eris kept her distance from him – or as much distance as she could since he was using his metal hand to hold her shoulder near him – not truly trusting him, despite the fact he saved her earlier.

“You’re on edge, why?”

“Why did you save me?”

“I don’t know,” the Winter Soldier answered honestly. “Something in me told me to.”

“Yeah,” Eris nodded, “that sounds about right.”

The two travelled in silence through the snowy terrain. They ended up finding a small town and the Winter Soldier was quick to find them an abandoned building to hide in. It was only then, once they were safely hidden, that the Winter Soldier released Eris’ shoulder and she was free to fall against the nearest wall.

Pulling the book from her jacket, Eris quickly tossed it at the Winter Soldier, who caught it without hesitation and began looking through it. Eris watched his eyed widen continuously as he flicked through each page until he got to a specific page that seemed to make him angry. Snarling behind his muzzle, the Winter Soldier ripped the page from the book and ripped it until it was nothing more than tiny pieces.

“I’d suggest burning it,” said Eris, softly. “It’s the only one.”

“How do you know this?”

“I just know,” said Eris.

“You aren’t telling me everything. You don’t trust me. I understand that.”

“It’s nothing personal.”

“I know.”

Chapter Text

Chapter Two: Healed by Ice.

Sleeping proved to be more difficult than Eris had imagined for both The Winter Soldier and Eris: every new sound or smell, every light that came down the road from a random car triggered their instincts and waking them up just that little bit further. Eris’ eye lids were heavy and she just wanted to collapse but her own brain was fighting against her, or maybe it was The Winter Widow fighting against her?

No, her counter-part – or mental roommate as Eris had affectionately dubbed her – had disappeared into the back of Eris’ mind. The Winter Widow knew that her presence made Eris uncomfortable – especially since she refused to answer Eris’ questions or elaborate on anything she said. She even had her own catchphrase, “some questions are better of unanswered.” Eris wondered if this was how Bucky used to feel when they were living with Zemo.

The Winter Soldier was standing at the back of the small room, his body as still as a statue and his focus entirely on the road outside. He had used the pages of the Red Book to make a small fire in the centre for them both – mostly for Eris when he noticed her shivering – but he remained far away, his weapons holstered but on display, a silent warning not just to Eris but also to anyone who might see them.

His entire body was tense and Eris could hear the vents on his arm opening and closing as he flexed every finger individually. The serum was active – Eris assumed he was using it to see in the darkness since his eyes were glowing – and he was griding his teeth: he was on edge just like Eris was.

Sitting by the fire, Eris watched the embers burn and dance, absorbing the warmth. Though, even with her eyes on the fire, her attention was on The Winter Soldier. She wanted to say something to him, to start some kind of conversation with him but didn’t know how or even what to say.

It seemed, though, that the Soldier shared her train of thought.

“I have something of yours,” said The Winter Soldier, breaking the silence.

Eris’ full attention was on the Soldier now. She watched with anticipation as he reached into his vest – which was an exact copy of his previous one that Eris was pretty sure Zemo burned – into a pocket that Eris didn’t even realise existed. Gently, the Winter Soldier pulled it out and opened his human hand revealing something that Eris thought lost long ago.

It was her necklace!

Her face exploded with joy, a giant smile planting itself on her face as she carefully pulled the necklace out of his hand and held it against her chest. Tears filled her ocean eyes as she kissed the metal began running her fingers over it trying to make sure that it was real, that this wasn’t just a figment of her imagination. Memories of Tony, Rhodey, Maria, Howard and Jarvis filled her vision allowing warmth and comfort spread through her body.

“I thought I’d lost it,” choked Eris, her voice barely above a whisper and filled with emotion. “How did you hide it?”

He studied Eris’ face in silence, thinking over his answers as best he could in a short time. He looked her over unable to figure out what to say or how to explain this foreign feeling in his chest. Finally, he settled on simply telling Eris the truth, something within him told him this was the best option.

“They never looked or asked,” he said. “Something told me not to reveal it.”

 “Thank you.”

“It’s a beautiful necklace. I had only seen it in your memories before now. The chain is too small, though,” said The Winter Widow, startling Eris since she hadn’t expected to hear it. “Maybe you could wear it as a bracelet?”

Considering I’m probably going to be using a lot of weapons? I don’t think so.

Eris went to place the necklace in her pocket only for the Soldier to stop her. The jacket she was wearing was still several sizes too big for her and it wouldn’t be impossible for the necklace to fall out or for Eris to forget which pocket it was in. Thinking, Eris sighed and then turned her entire body to face him.

“Would you mind keeping it?”

“Are you sure?”

“Please.”

“Alright,” he nodded, “though we’ll get you some proper clothes later.”

“Do you have a name?” asked Eris, softly, after a moment.

“Pardon?”

“Sorry I didn’t mean to offend you.”

“No, I was simply startled. I do not have a name … did I have a name before now?”

“I called you James,” said Eris. “or Papa when we were in hiding.”

“We used to be in hiding together?”

So, Eris explained everything. She spoke softly and calmly, hoping not to overwhelm the Winter Soldier with too much. He was listening attentively, though, nodding along with whatever she said. He seemed to be understanding her but there was no recognition in his eyes.

“Do you remember anything?”

“No, I don’t,” answered the Winter Soldier. “But I believe you.”

“Oh…”

“What was my full name? before all this?”

“James Buchanan Barnes.”

He went silence.

“How about I call you Buchanan?”

“It’ll do.”

“We’ll find you a better name later, Buchanan.”

He winced slightly before smiling.

Well, it’s a start.

~{Stark}~

“Goodbye, Miss Potts,” said Tony with his usual charismatic smile as he closed the door to his workshop.

The moment Pepper was gone from view, Tony collapsed into his chair and allowed himself to relax. His breathing was laboured and his mind was swimming with remnants from his previous meetings. DUM-E rolled forward from his little corner, patting his maker on the leg and drawing Tony’s attention to him, making Tony smile softly as he patted his first creation.

“Hey buddy,” said Tony, “I’m good, just spread myself a little too thin today.”

DUM-E rolled around, grabbing a small ball from the table and handing it to Tony before beeping pitifully at his Maker. Tony just laughed and threw the ball, watching it bounce for a moment as DUM-E raced off to grab it. Spinning around, Tony turned his computers on and pulled up his newest schematics.

The Jericho missile popped onto screen and Tony immediately began making adjustments, looking over everything again and again to make sure it was going to be one of his best. The thought of having to show the missile off in Afghanistan in two weeks put Tony on edge – in a good way – so he spent the next hour double checking everything.

Until he caught sight of the date: December 16^th.

“Sir? Are you alright?” asked Jarvis.

Tony hesitated: “Yeah, J, I’m fine.”

“With all due respect sir, I believe you’re lying to me. Is it, perhaps because of today’s date?”

The day he lost his entire family. The mere thought of all he had lost sent Tony spiralling into a pit of depression that he always had a hard time pulling himself out of.

Eris looked to her left and squealed with joy the second she spotted Tony entering the room, dragging Rhodey behind him. Tony practically skipped towards her, wearing the biggest grin his face could muster as he scooped her up into his own arms and spun her around with a laugh. He continued spinning her around in a little dance, his smile brightening the room as he looked between her and his best friend.

Rhodey was just standing in the doorway looking incredibly awkward as he tried to be as small as possible. He was entirely focused on Tony and Eris, somehow confused by how close Tony seemed to be to Eris and he was very unsure on what to do now.

“Rhodey, get over here!” called Tony.

James Rhodes stumbled into the parlour and cautiously walked over to where Tony was standing. Maria smiled at Rhodey in warm, comforting, motherly acceptance and stood up, leaving the room to make sure that Howard hadn’t stopped drinking himself into an early grave before the party. Rhodey smiled nervously at Eris but that nervousness melted away when she reached out for him and grabbed onto his shirt. She babbled up at him and reached up with her other hand as Tony beamed beside him.

“Told you she’d love you, Rhodey-bear,” grinned Tony.

Tony handed Eris over, slowly, carefully, hesitantly, making sure that Rhodey was holding her correctly before he even thought of letting go. Accepting her hesitantly, Rhodey felt himself beginning to grin as he and Tony settled on the couch together, Eris settled on Rhodey’s lap, and began to talk. Eris squealed and laughed along with the boys as they messed around with her while Maria recorded it from a distance.

“I know how to hold a baby Tony,” said Rhodey.

Stepping back with his hands raised, Tony nodded and smiled, simply watching his best friend and little sister.

He smiled gently at the memory, pulling out a bottle of his best scotch – one he kept by his desk – pouring himself a small glass. He took a sip and laughed at the memory of Eris playing with him and Rhodey with all her new presents.

Looking up, Tony gazed longingly at a photo he had placed on the wall in a moment of weakness. It was covered by a black, see-through, silk curtain and Tony could see Eris and Maria’s face smiling back at him. The photo never stopping bringing a smile to his face, even in his darkest and drunkest hour.

“I love you, little Spark,” said Tony, “always.”

“Sir, by your own orders, I am to direct your focus back to your work whenever you mention Miss Stark.”

Nodding, Tony sighed and turned his focus back to the missile and his trip to the desert.

~{Stark}~

Obadiah Stane sat in his massive, cushy office in Stark Industries, alone, and unable to get comfortable – despite the thousand-dollar chair he sat in. He had just paid a Lord’s ransom to have his God-Son, Anthony Stark removed from Stane’s way – not that they knew it was Tony they were removing. He had thought everything was fine, that he was on the right track until his previous associates decided to inform him that there was another thorn waiting to stab itself in his side.

Eris Stark!

The little bitch had somehow managed to slip her spiked collar and had stolen The Winter Soldier – an asset Stane had put money into – and was now on the run somewhere in the world. She had the skills and Stark genius and now a powerful ally and it concerned Stane. Especially since he had been instrumental in her … scholarship to the Red Room.

If his bank account hadn’t already been wiped out by The Ten Rings, Stane would have immediately put out a man-hunt for the girl, to get her back into the fold, but he couldn’t: there was already too much evidence linking him to The Ten Rings – if you knew where to look – and he couldn’t risk anyone discovering Eris’ existence.

Besides, HYDRA, Dreykov and that annoying bastard Alexander Pierce were already looking for her and were breathing down his neck about the newest weapon cache that he needed to send them. They would find her and the asset before either of them ever got to him. After all, Stane was too useful of a person to allow anything to happen to him.

Everything would be fine! Or it soon would be. The moment Tony Stark set foot on Afghanistan sand, he’d be killed by the enemy. The world would mourn their beloved playboy and the military would pour more money than ever before into Stark Industries weapons division, backed by public demand. Stane would be rich, he’d pay off his debts to HYDRA and Stane would be free to live the life that Howard had once denied him.

Yes, everything would be fine.

~{Stark}~

Travelling through Helvegr (The Road/Way to Hel) had never been Odin’s favourite thing to do. He descended down the trunk of Yggdrasil (the great tree that forms the central axis of the cosmos), for nine nights, he walked through deep valleys, so pitch-black he could not see the way. He was silent as he passed the Nágrindr (the corpse fence) and the Valgrindr (The Fence of the Fallen) Finally, he came to a river, Gjöll (Loud Noise), which was spanned by a bridge named Gjallarbrú (Bridge over Gjöll).

The guardian of the bridge, Móðguðr, said nothing, stepping aside to allow Odin past with a respectful bow and a withering gaze. The giantess would soon send word to her mistress of his unannounced arrival, which Odin was unconcerned with: Hela could do nothing to stop him from entering Helheim.

Hel laid downwards and northwards from the bridge and usually required a guide to find but Odin needed no such help. He had the power of Gungnir by his side and his two faithful eyes Huginn and Muninn. This alone made his journey an easy one, though not a quick one.

When Odin finally made it to the gates of Hel, he was unsurprised to find them open with skeletal guards on either side, some shepherding lost souls and others watching for intruders. Upon spotting Odin, they kindly stepped aside, biding him entrance before returning to their own work.

“What can I do for you, All-father?”

Hela’s voice was soft, calm and cold. It was full of indifference, as if the All-father striding into her palace happened every morning, as if it was nothing to be concerned about or awed by. Despite its softness, Hela’s voice was powerful and strong, echoing through the empty throne room and shaking her guards and servants to the core.

She sat atop her throne of skulls and bones, a silver goblet of mead in her hand, watching him with dark, void-filled eyes. Her long black hair was covering her more … unsightly features yet Odin could still see her exposed skull underneath so focused his attention on her more appealing side. Her fair skin was tinted blue yet looked to be made of marble, not a single imperfection marked it.

“You have interfered with something you should not have.”

It wasn’t a question. The All-father didn’t understand questions, merely accusations.

“And what, pray tell, have I done?”

“You have taken a soul that was never yours and used power that I did not grant you! For what purpose I demand to know!”

Hela smiled, it was a cruel thing, full of pride and anticipation. It mocked Odin in a similar manor to how he had once mocked her when he cast her down to this place.

“If you do not know, Odin, Aldaföðr ("father of men"), Aldagautr ("Gautr of men"), Aldingautr ("the ancient Gautr"), Alföðr ("father of all"), Arnhöfði ("eagle-head"), Atriði, Atriðr ("attacking rider"), Auðun ("wealth-friend"?), Báleygr ("blaze-eye")—”

“ENOUGH! You will tell me of your intentions or I shall take action against you. Know that you only live due to my benevolence!”

“I’m afraid I simply can’t tell you, my Lord,” said Hela, her words tainted with false remorse. “for I took an oath on my life as a Goddess that I would not reveal such information.”

At those words, Odin knew he had been beaten. The oath of a God or Goddess was no small vow and it was something that could never be broken, lest all of Asgard suffer for it.

“And to whom was this oath made?”

“An old friend of yours, whose name I, again, cannot give you.”

“Very well.”

“I do apologise, All-father, for your trip being in vein.”

“This shall not be the last of my visits.”

“Then I eagerly awake the next one.

Chapter Text

Chapter Three: Preparations.

Something felt different when Eris woke from the first deep sleep she’d had in weeks: she wasn’t on the solid ground that she was certain she’d fallen asleep on, instead it felt like she was moving, or rather the floor beneath her was. Slowly, while readying herself to strike, Eris opened one eye only to be confronted by the Winter Soldier cradling her in his arms as he walked through what looked to be a forest.

The Moon was still high in the sky but the scent of rain had long dissipated so Eris assumed he’d been walking for a while now. The Soldier had wrapped Eris up in a large tarp to keep her warm and dry and Eris felt her heart warm at the care he had taken to keep her asleep.

“You should go back to sleep,” said the Solider, his voice a deep rumble, “I’ll wake you when we arrive.”

“Arrive?” Eris slurred, her voice tainted by tiredness.

“Somewhere safe.”

She didn’t get to question him further as she was quickly pulled back into the sweet embrace of sleep… or at least she thought she was asleep.

Eris suddenly found herself in a dark, circular room. The air around her was still warm and calming, though, so Eris didn’t feel the need to be on edge as she looked around. There was nothing in the room, well it was more like a chamber given its size, and the only light source was at the very centre of the roof.

“Hello?”

“Hello.” The voice that responded was one Eris didn’t expect. Nor did she expect the body that came along with the voice.

The Winter Widow was now standing in front of Eris. The two looked exactly the same except The Winter Widow appeared to be covered in scars and older – by at least five years. She was in full battle armour and Eris noticed that the HYDRA and Red Room logos were glitching in and out of existence.

“This is new,” said Eris.

It was only now that Eris noticed her own body and voice was different. Looking down, she was surprised to see that she looked like her old self – the self she’d been before the car had gone off the cliff.

“You looked good,” said The Winter Widow, her words holding a Russian tang. “You still do.”

“I never thought I’d see this body again,” Eris chuckled.

“Do you miss it? Your old life?”

“I miss my family, but I have a new one now.”

“You mean Buchanan, Fenrir, Jor, Sep, Tony and Natasha?”

“And you.”

“What am I to you?”

Eris thought for a moment, the silence putting the Widow on edge as they stood in complete silence. The light above them began to pulse the longer Eris thought but she finally found the right words.

“You’re me, but you’re also you… we’re like twins – conjoined twins!”

“Okay… I’ll accept that.”

“Anyway,” said Eris, quickly changing the subject. “Did you call us here?”

“No, I believed you did.”

“Then –”

“I did,” a powerful and ancient voice filled the space, bouncing off every wall as it reverberated around the room. “Though I called out to you far too early. I apologise, you shall sleep now.”

“Wait?”

“Wait!”

Then the light went out and the room faded.  

~{Stark}~

“Good morning,” Jarvis called as he slowly lifted all the blinds and began to steadily decrease the heating. “It's 7:00 a.m. The weather in Malibu is 72 degrees with scattered clouds. The surf conditions are fair with waist-to-shoulder high lines. High tide will be at 10:52 a.m.”

Christine Everhart wandered around Tony’s Malibu mansion – dressed in nothing but one of Tony’s shirts – examining everything to get a better idea of Tony Stark. Her fingers danced over the modern architecture, scanning every little detail and logging it away for future use in a possible article.  

“Tony? Hey, Tony?” She called into nothing.

Turning a corner, Everhart was confronted by a picture covered by a black lace curtain. She couldn’t tell what the picture was off and attempted to move closer only to be stopped as the system began beeping at her.

“You are not authorized to access this area,” said Jarvis.

“Jesus.”

“That's JARVIS,” said Pepper Potts, who had arrived at some point during Everhart’s exploration. “He runs the house,” she held up some clothes in a plastic cover. “I've got your clothes here. They've been dry-cleaned and pressed, and there's a car waiting for you outside that will take you anywhere you'd like to go.”

“You must be the famous Pepper Potts.”

“Indeed I am.”

“After all these years, Tony still has you picking up the dry-cleaning,” the smug tone in her voice was obvious.

“I do anything and everything that Mr. Stark requires, including, occasionally, taking out the trash. Will that be all?”

Everhart stormed out of the mansion and Pepper sighed, glancing at the picture with a soft smile. Lord knows how Tony would have reacted if Everhart had touched it. Shaking her head, Pepper headed down to the workshop, where her boss was waiting.

Pepper wasn’t surprised to find Tony hard at work, staring at a hologram of his missiles while he and Jarvis noted everything down. A few seconds before she entered, the phone in her pocket rang and Pepper was forced to take it, despite knowing exactly what they wanted. It didn’t help that Tony was blasting music from his workshop without a care in the world.

“Give me an exploded view.

“The compression in cylinder three appears to be low.”

“Log that.”

“I'm gonna try again, right now,” sighed Pepper, immediately turning the music down.

“Please don't turn down my music,” Tony called.

“I'll keep you posted,” she slipped her phone back into her pocket before turning her full attention on her boss. “You are supposed to be halfway around the world right now.”

“How'd she take it?”

Tony didn’t even turn around – which Pepper was used to – as he continued to add more details to his schematics and plans. No words were exchanged between Tony and Jarvis and yet the computer knew exactly what Tony wanted.

“Like a champ.”

“Why are you trying to hustle me out of here?” asked Tony, filled turning to face her.

“Your flight was scheduled to leave an hour and a half ago.”

“That's funny, I thought with it being my plane and all, that it would just wait for me to get there.”

“Tony, I need to speak to you about a couple things before I get you out of the door.”

“I mean, doesn't it kind of defeat the whole purpose of having your own plane if it departs before you arrive?”

“Larry called. He's got another buyer for the Jackson Pollock in the wings. Do you want it? Yes or no.”

“Is it a good representation of his spring period?”

“Um, no. The Springs was actually the neighbourhood in East Hampton where he lived and worked—”

“So?”

“Not "spring" like the season. I think it's a fair example.” Pepper sighed, “Um.. I think it's incredibly overpriced.”

“I need it. Buy it. Store it.”

“Okay. The MIT commencement speech...”

“Is in June. Please, don't harangue me about stuff that's way, way, down...”

“Well, they're haranguing me, so I'm gonna say yes.”

“Deflect it and absorb it. Don't transmit it back to me.”

Pepper shook her head and then held up a contract: “I need you to sign this before you get on the plane.”

“What are you trying to get rid of me for? What, you got plans?”

“As a matter of fact, I do.”

Tony stopped in his tracks.

“I don't like it when you have plans.”

“I'm allowed to have plans on my birthday.”

“It's your birthday?”

“Yes.”

“I knew that. Already?”

“Yeah. Isn't that strange? It's the same day as last year.”

“Well, get yourself something nice from me.”

“I already did.”

“And?”

“Oh, it was very nice.”

“Yeah.”

“Very tasteful. Thank you, Mr. Stark.”

“You're welcome, Miss Potts... Okay.”

Heading off, Tony stopped only once on his way to meet Happy, it was at the picture of his little sister. He smiled, a soft, sorrowful smile and fixed the flowers he always kept by the painting.

“I’ll be back before you know it, little Spark,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper. “Don’t miss me too much.”

~Stark~

Eris shivered as her eyes slowly fluttered open, she groaned as her joints kicked and popped. Something slipped off her as she moved and she found it to be a blanket – a particularly fluffy one as well – actually, there were two the second one, though, was underneath her to give her a comfortable resting place.

The Soldier was standing by the door, gun in hand, his entire body facing away from her as he readied to attack. Eris could hear the sound of footsteps outside and felt her hands beginning to sweat as she forced herself to stand as silently as she could. The Soldier didn’t even acknowledge her, instead taking a knife out of his vest and throwing it at her.

Eris instantly caught it and moved into an attack position, though she needn’t have bothered as the footsteps continued past their hiding place. The Soldier kept his gun in hand but Eris could see his body relax so she did the same, putting the knife away and standing up.

“We need to move,” he said, softly.

“Agreed.”

~Stark~

When Tony and Rhodey arrived in the Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, they were immediately escorted towards the large testing area near the edge of the base. The two men continued to joke and snark at each other as the sake began to slowly dissipate from their blood streams. Thankfully, no one seemed to notice that either man was slightly tipsy as they reached the main staging area.

“General.”

“Welcome, Mr. Stark. We look forward to your weapons presentation.”

“Thanks.” Rhodey stood back and watched as Tony effortlessly began the presentation as he strode around the stage without so much as a care in the world. He walked the stage like he owned it and that everyone should bow before him. “Is it better to be feared or respected? I say, is it too much to ask for both? With that in mind, I humbly present the crown jewel of Stark Industries' Freedom Line. It's the first missile system to incorporate our proprietary repulsor technology. They say the best weapon is one you never have to fire. I respectfully disagree. I prefer the weapon you only have to fire once. That's how Dad did it. That's how America does it. And it's worked out pretty well so far. Find an excuse to let one of these off the chain, and I personally guarantee you the bad guys won't even want to come out of their caves.” A large bang echoed around as sand kicked up behind Tony, whose arms were open wide and a smirk was etched onto his face. “For your consideration, the Jericho.”

Tony handed out beers and drinks to everyone around him with a massive grin on his face. Rhodey just shook his head as soldiers snagged drinks as quickly as they could before the general could see. Tony was about to start speaking to someone else when his phone buzzed in his pocket.

“Tony,” called Obadiah Stand through the voice chat.

“Obie, what are you doing up?”

“I couldn't sleep till I found out how it went. How'd it go?”

“It went great. Looks like it's gonna be an early Christmas.”

“Hey! Way to go, my boy! I'll see you tomorrow, yeah?”

“Why aren't you wearing those pajamas I got you?”

“Good night, Tony,” he said rolling his eyes.

Haning up, Tony chuckled to himself as he headed towards the military vehicle of his choosing. Rhodey came rushing up to him, now realising that Tony had left without him.

“Hey, Tony—"

“—I'm sorry, this is the "fun-vee." The "hum-drum-vee" is back there.”

Rhodey just sighed and said, “Nice job.”

“See you back at base.”

~Stark~

Driving through the middle of the Kunar Province, Tony had the convoy blasting ACDC. The soldiers, while stone faces, were silently enjoying it. Finally, the silence got much for Tony and he broke it: “I feel like you're driving me to a court-martial. This is crazy. What did I do? I feel like you're going to pull over and snuff me. What, you're not allowed to talk? Hey, Forrest!”

“We can talk, sir.”

“Oh, I see. So it's personal?”

“No,” said the female solider driving the convoy. “you intimidate them.”

“Good God, you're a woman. I honestly... I couldn't have called that. I mean, I'd apologize, but isn't that what we're going for here? I thought of you as a soldier first.”

“I'm an airman.”

“Well you have, actually, excellent bone structure, there. I'm kind of having a hard time not looking at you now. Is that weird?” the soldiers chuckled and laughed. “Come on, it's okay, laugh.”

“Sir, I have a question to ask.”

“Yes, please,” Tony cried, thankful for the distraction.

“Is it true you went 12 for 12 with last year's Maxim cover models?”

“That is an excellent question. Yes and no. March and I had a scheduling conflict, but fortunately, the Christmas cover was twins. Anything else?” Tony chuckled. Out of the corner of his eye, one of the soldiers gently raised his hand, making Tony snort. “You're kidding me with the hand up, right?”

“Is it cool if I take a picture with you?”

“Yes. It's very cool,” Tony quickly waved the soldier over. “I don't want to see this on your MySpace page,” the soldier grinned, putting up a peace sign as his friend got ready with the camera. “Please, no gang signs. No, throw it up. I'm kidding. Yeah, peace. I love peace. I'd be out of a job with peace.”

“Come on. Hurry up. Just click it. Don't change any settings. Just click it,” said the soldier, keeping his grin.

The flash had just gone up when a ferocious bang echoed all around them and parts of debris came flying through the window. Gunshots and cries could be heard outside and Tony flinched as the shots hit the side of the convoy.

“What's going on?” cried Tony.

“Contact left!” cried the driver, stopping the convoy.

“What have we got?” asked Tony, trying to remain calm.

Instantly, the driver pushed her way out of the convoy only to be shot down within a second of her feet hitting the sand. Tony gasped, his mind and heart racing as he tried to focus on something else.

“Jimmy, stay with Stark!” ordered the second soldier.

“Stay down!” cried Jimmy, covering Stark as best he could.

“Yeah,” gasped Tony.

The other soldier quickly slung himself out of the car only to be shot down as well.

“Son of a bitch!” snarled Jimmy.

Glancing at Tony, Jimmy got his gun ready and looked around for any other weaponry.

“Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait! Give me a gun!” cried Tony, panic now fully setting in.

“Stay here!” ordered Jimmy.

The moment Jimmy stepped out of the convoy, much like his comrades, he was shot down. Tony gaped, watching the body fall, before scrambling out of the other side of the convoy into the chaos. Immediately, Tony glanced around and dove behind the only cover he could find, a cluster of small rocks that barely covered his body. Breathing heavily, Tony grabbed his phone only for a bomb to land beside him.

It was a Stark Industries bomb.

The resulting explosion threw Tony though the air, knocking the air out of him and dulling everything around him. Pain exploded all around his chest making him gasp and whine as Tony slowly pulled up his shirt to expose a large wound.

“Shit,” he gasped before passing out.

~Stark~

Eris felt the pain in her chest almost immediately. It was excruciating, debilitating and Eris fell to her knees clutching her chest as she gasped and whined in the centre of the forest. The Soldier was by her side in an instant, forcing her hands away from her chest so he could examine her. Finding no wound, he looked her over once more only to discover Eris’ eyes and hair beginning to glow a dark blue.

The Soldier pulled his coat off and wrapped it around her, pulling Eris tightly against his chest as he gently lifted her up and into his arms. Eris continued to gasp and whine and sniffle as the Soldier gently rocked her back and forth while attempting to find a secluded area for them to shelter in.

A small abandoned warehouse came into view and the Soldier was quick to head towards it. His metal arm cradled Eris against him as his human hand pulled out a gun, getting ready for a potential fight. He could feel her small hands tugging at his vest, seeking any form of comfort that she could get from him.

“It’s alright, little sapphire,” he said.

 The nick name seemed to come from somewhere in the back of his mind, like something was reaching out for him.

“Hush now.”

Entering the warehouse, the Soldier made sure no one was around them before gently placing Eris on the cleanest part of the ground he could find. She had finally stopped whimpering in pain and now appeared to be slowly calming down.

“What happened?”

“Tony,” she gasped. “My brother – something happened.”

“And you felt it?”

“I don’t know – I think so – maybe.”

“Rest, little sapphire, I’ll stand guard.”

“You used to call me that,” Eris smiled softly, “before your memory was erased.”

The Soldier didn’t respond and instead sat by Eris’ side until she finally fell asleep before covering her body with his coat and heading out to find something to eat.

His mind was swimming with memories, drowning in them, the force of each one was unrelenting and yet none of them were clear. He could grasp at one or two, getting words, getting names, getting faces but never in the correct order, never for the same memory.

A name – Corporal Timothy Aloysius Cadwallader "Dum Dum" Dugan – came to the front of his mind and James had no idea where it came from. The name caused a shiver to come down his spine and a warm feeling to spread through his chest. Jim Morita, another name but this one caused much more dread to fill his chest. James Falsworth made his heart fill with sorrow and James hung his head without thinking. Gabe Jones, Jacques Dernier, Happy Sam Sawyer, Junior Juniper and Pinky Pinkerton each name was like a crashing blow, each one shot through him like a bolt of lightning … but he couldn’t remember them.

The names were important. The people were important. The images, the memories they were important but James couldn’t hold onto them. No matter what he tried, they slipped away before he could get a hold of them and each failure served to send James spiralling further into the mess that was his shattered mind.

The Soldier and the Zemo’s come rushing over upon seeing the massive wolf alongside Eris.

“Eris, what are you doing?” asked James, calmly, a knife in hand.

“Petting Fenrir.”

“Did you name the wolf?” asked James. “Eris, you’re not supposed to name the animals.”

Heike and Helmut looked at each other and stepped back, watching as James attempted to navigate the wonderful world of parenting.

“But he’s adorable,” said Eris, “look at him.”

Fenrir looked up and looked towards James, his tongue sticking out and looking as adorable as he could. James glanced at Helmut and Heike only for them to both shake their heads at him.

“You’re not keeping the wolf.”

“I agree, he’s a wild animal, I can’t keep him… but can I hang out with him when he’s here?”

James sighed through his nose and shook his head before giving up: “Fine, but not without supervision.”

Shaking his head, the soldier moved forward through the back streets, his mind moving through different thoughts as he did.

Chapter Text

Chapter Four: Explanations.

When Tony felt reality returning to him, all he knew was pain. His chest screamed and roared and cried with agony. His nose was clogged, no not clogged, something was resting inside. Groaning, Tony gasped, ripping the tube from his nose and attempting to move only to stop as the pain ripped through him like a starving wild animal.

“I wouldn't do that if I were you,” a voice said.

The voice was soft and calming but held the unmistakable tang of an accent. Tony’s mind was spinning too much to identify the accent but he managed to keep his eyes focused enough to stare at the man in front of him.

Tony must have interrupted his shaving as half of his face was covered in stubble and the ‘cleaner’ half looked to have been cut with a rusty knife. The man looked to be only slightly older than Tony and wore glasses but Tony couldn’t truly analyse anymore as his eyes began to blur.

Breathing for a moment, Tony glanced down only to find himself connected to a large battery with the wires heading into his chest. Immediately, Tony ripped away the bandages only to find a large electromagnet nestled into his chest cavity. He could barely make it out through the pain and with the little light from the nearby fire but he could see it,

“What the hell did you do to me?” he wheezed.

“What I did? What I did is to save your life. I removed all the shrapnel I could, but there's a lot left, and it's headed into your atrial septum,” the man turned, retrieving something from a table before returning to Tony’s side. “Here, want to see? I have a souvenir. Take a look,” he smiled slightly, throwing the tony bottle containing shrapnel to Tony, who accepted it and began examining the pieces. “I've seen many wounds like that in my village. We call them the walking dead because it takes about a week for the barbs to reach the vital organs.”

“What is this?” asked Tony, gesturing to his chest.

“That is an electromagnet, hooked up to a car battery, and it's keeping the shrapnel from entering your heart.”

Tony nodded in acceptance as the man threw a jacket his way. Taking it, Tony’s nose naturally wrinkled but he slipped it on as best he could to hide the wound before glancing up at the camera overlooking them.

“That's right. Smile,” the man said, almost mockingly. “We met once, you know, at a technical conference in Bern.”

“I don't remember.”

“No, you wouldn't. If I had been that drunk, I wouldn't have been able to stand, much less give a lecture on integrated circuits.”

“Where are we?”

A loud bang came echoing from behind the large metal door at the mouth of the cave. Instantly, the man was on edge, standing and removing anything that could be seen as a weapon from sight before returning to Tony’s side and gently pulling him up.

“Come on, stand up. Stand up! Just do as I do. Come on, put your hands up.”

Tony did as instructed, trusting the other man, and threw his hands up as best he could while supporting the car battery. The man came barging in, guns covering their chest and faces mostly covered.

“Those are my guns. How did they get my guns?” snarled Tony.

“Do you understand me? Do as I do,” the man snapped quietly. “ He says, "Welcome, Tony Stark, the most famous mass murderer "in the history of America." He is honored. He wants you to build the missile. The Jericho missile that you demonstrated,” the masked man continued to speak in Arabic while handing the man a picture of a Jericho missile. “This one.”

“I refuse.”

In an instant Tony was grabbed and taken to a basin filled with water. He was then forcefully held over it before his head was pushed under. This repeated over and over again but no matter what happened Tony only had two things on his mind:

Pepper Potts and Eris Stark.

He had to live for them.

The masked men pulled him out for the final time, threw a bag over his head and began leading him out of the cave into the sun. Tony blinked as the bag was removed and felt rage bubbling within him as he noticed lots of Stark industries weaponry littered among the tents.

“He wants to know what you think,” said the man.

“I think you got a lot of my weapons.”

“He says they have everything you need to build the Jericho missile. He wants you to make the list of materials. He says for you to start working immediately, and when you're done, he will set you free.”

“No, he won't,” said Tony, shaking the masked man’s hand.

“No, he won't.”

~Stark~

Having been returned to the cave, Tony and the man sat side by side, staring at the fire in silence. It seemed Tony’s body had begun building a tolerance to the pain as his chest didn’t’ seem to be hurting nearly as much. Though that could also have been down to the torture he was subjected to.

“I'm sure they're looking for you, Stark. But they will never find you in these mountains. Look, what you just saw, that is your legacy, Stark. Your life's work, in the hands of those murderers. Is that how you want to go out? Is this the last act of defiance of the great Tony Stark? Or are you going to do something about it?”

“Why should I do anything?” asked Tony, for the first time in his life completely serious, “They're going to kill me, you, either way. And if they don't, I'll probably be dead in a week.”

“Well, then, this is a very important week for you, isn't it? Hm?”

~Stark~

“If this is going to be my work station, I want it well-lit. I want these up. I need welding gear. I don't care if it's acetylene or propane. I need a soldering station. I need helmets. I'm gonna need goggles. I would like a smelting cup. I need two sets of precision tools.”

While their captors began working on Tony’s work station, he and his cave mate began taking apart the weapons they had been given.

“How many languages do you speak?” asked Tony.

“A lot. But apparently, not enough for this place. They speak Arabic, Urdu, Dari, Pashto, Mongolian, Farsi, Russian.”

“Who are these people?”

“They are your loyal customers, sir. They call themselves the Ten Rings. You know, we might be more productive if you include me in the planning process.”

“Uh-huh,” sniffed Tony, pulling apart a missile. “Okay, we don't need this.”

“What is that?”

“That's palladium, 0.15 grams. We need at least 1.6, so why don't you go break down the other 11?”

It took about three days before Tony was ready for what they were about to attempt but they managed it. Tony’s new friend was careful as he pulled their key component out of the fire, making Tony wince and his inner control freak take over for a moment.

“Careful. Careful, we only get one shot at this,” he said mildly panicked.

“Relax. I have steady hands. Why do you think you're still alive?”

“What do I call you?” asked Tony, only now realising that he had no idea about the other man.

“My name is Yinsen.”

“Yinsen. Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you, too,” said Yinsen.

Once the metal was cool, Yinsen watched as Tony easily put the device together, following a pattern inside Tony’s own mind that Yinsen had no idea how to follow. When the device started to glow, Tony grinned and Yinsen decided to voice his thoughts.

“Whoa. That doesn't look like a Jericho missile.”

“That's because it's a miniaturized arc reactor. I got a big one powering my factory at home. It should keep the shrapnel out of my heart.”

“But what could it generate?”

“If my math is right, and it always is, three gigajoules per second.”

“That could run your heart for 50 lifetimes.”

“Yeah. Or something big for 15 minutes.”

“This--,” said Tony, grabbing a load of papers and holding them out, “— is our ticket out of here.”

“What is it?”

“Flatten them out and look.”

“Oh, wow. Impressive.”

~Stark~

The soldier was gentle as he moved a sleeping Eris onto the cot he had managed to snag from the top of the warehouse. He winced as she moaned in her sleep but continued until she was safely tucked under the blankets he’d stolen that morning. Her hair and, from what he could see, her eyes were still glowing but the glow had slowly begun to die down. Setting a fire, the solider did his best to keep his cooking as quietly as he could, all the while keeping Eris in his eyeline, when the food was finished, the solider grabbed the pain medications he’d snagged and walked to her beside, gently waking her up.

“Little sapphire,” he whispered calmly. “time to wake up.”

Groaning, Eris’ eye lids felt like lead as she slowly managed to open them. The soldier sat right in front of her, holding out a bowl of soup for her to have. He quickly placed it down, though, when he noticed Eris struggling to sit up and gently pulled her to a sitting up position.

“Are you strong enough to eat on your own?”

“I think so,” wheezed Eris, taking the bowl and carefully moving it to her lips.

Once Eris was finished, the soldier gently removed the bowl and handed Eris several pills and a glass of water. Despite the pain, Eris refused to take the pills, instead choosing to sip the water as the solider hid the fire and cleaned up the mess.

“How long have I been asleep?”

“Three days… at some point in the night you started chocking and gasping the air,” said the solider, softly. “you said you were connected to your brother, is this something that has happened before?”

“No,” said Eris, her voice slightly stronger now, “it’s never happened before…”

“Get some more rest, little Sapphire, you need it.”

Sighing, Eris nodded and curled back up as another wave of pain crashed into her chest. Eris could do nothing but hope Tony was alright.

~Stark~

Tony and Yinsen sat in their small cave, taking a well-deserved break from all of their work. The camera was still active but wasn’t pointed directly at them as much. Yinsin had found a small game for them to play, which Tony was more than willing to do.

“Good. Good roll. Good roll.”

“You still haven't told me where you're from,” said Tony, picking up the dice.

“I'm from a small town called Gulmira. It's actually a nice place.”

“Got a family?”

“Yes,” he hesitated, “and I will see them when I leave here. And you, Stark?”

“No. I had one but their gone now.”

“No? So you're a man who has everything and nothing.”

~Stark~

Yinsen and Tony’s work was interrupted, rather abruptly, by the head of the Ten Rings and his guards storming into their workspace. Instantly, Yinsen was on alert, protectively standing in front of Tony as he got ready to translate their next set of orders.

“Relax,” ordered Raza. Yinsen moved out of the way as Raza stepped forward to stare at the arc reactor imbedded in Tony’s chest. “The bow and arrow once was the pinnacle of weapons technology. It allowed the great Genghis Khan to rule from the Pacific to the Ukraine. An empire twice the size of Alexander the Great and four times the size of the Roman Empire. But today, whoever holds the latest Stark weapons rules these lands. And soon, it will be my turn.”

Raza’s then hardened as he turned from Tony to Yinsen as he began speaking in Urdu, “Why have you failed me?”

“We're working. Diligently,” said Yinsen in Urdu.

“I let you live. This is how you repay me?” Raza snarled.

“It's very complex. He's trying very hard.”

“On his knees,” ordered Raza. immediately, the two soldiers beside Raza moved forwards and forced Yinsen to his knees. “You think I'm a fool? I'll get the truth.”

Walking to the fire, Raza grabbed a hot coal from the fire before turning to walk back to Yinsen.

“We're both working,” Yinsen repeated, panicking.

“Open your mouth.”

“What does he want?” cried Tony, panicked.

“You think I'm a fool? What's going on? Tell me the truth,” roared Raza, forcing Yinsen’s head to the table.

“He's building your Jericho. He's building your Jericho.”

“What do you want? A delivery date?” Tony tried to rush towards the two men only to be stopped as the soldiers pulled their guns to position. “I need him. Good assistant.”

“You have till tomorrow to assemble my missile,” snarled Raza, before leaving.

This only served to increase both men’s resolve and they doubled their work on the suit of armour that could save their lives. With the majority of the suit done, Tony began wrapping his arms and legs before being helped by Yinsen into the suit.

“Okay? Can you move?” Tony nodded. “Okay, say it again.”

“41 steps straight ahead. Then 16 steps, that's from the door, fork right, 33 steps, turn right,” Tony recited.

Hearing the sound of men rushing to the cell, Tony and Yinsen glanced at each other and began hurrying the process as much as they could.

“Yinsen! Yinsen! Stark!” cried the men with heavy accents.

“Say something. Say something back to him,” said Tony quickly.

“He's speaking Hungarian. I don't...”

“Then speak Hungarian,” panicked Tony.

“Okay. I know.”

“What do you know?”

Yinsen began yelling something as the men attempted to enter only for the door to explode. Tony grinned at the familiar sound as Yinsen glanced back at him in shock.

“How'd that work?” grinned Tony.

“Oh, my goodness. It worked all right.”

“That's what I do.”

“Let me finish this.”

The two men then focused back on the suit.

“Initialize the power sequence.”

“Okay.”

“Now!”

Yinsen began typing things in “Tell me. Tell me.”

“Function 11. Tell me when you see a progress bar. It should be up right now.”

“Yes.”

“Talk to me. Tell me when you see it.”

“I have it.”

“Press Control "l".”

“"I."”

“"I." "Enter."”

“Got it.”

“"l" and "Enter." Come over here and button me up.”

“Okay. All right.”

“Every other hex bolt.”

Footsteps could be heard charging down the corridor towards them as angry voices yelled in a language Tony wasn’t able to pin point.

“They're coming!” panicked Yinsen.

“Nothing pretty, just get it done,” said Tony, trying to keep him calm. “Just get it done.”

“They're coming.”

“Make sure the checkpoints are clear before you follow me out, okay?”

The sound was getting closer.

“We need more time,” said Yinsen. “Hey, I'm gonna go buy you some time.”

“Stick to the plan! Stick to the plan!” cried Tony, unable to move.

Yinsen wasn’t listening, however, as he rushed away from Tony and grabbed a nearby gun. He gave Tony one backwards glance before running into the cave.

“Yinsen! Yinsen!” cried Tony.

Tony could do nothing as he watched the progress bar move. Finally, the progress bar hit complete and Tony could finally move as the suit began powering up. The moment Tony spotted the men coming towards them, he opened fire, watching as the blaster bolts sent them flying through the air, killing them almost instantly.

He continued on, though, not caring as he looked for the man who had helped him so much. Finally, Tony managed to hit the mouth of the cave where Raza and a fallen Yinsen were waiting.

“Yinsen!” said Tony.

“Watch out!” chocked Yinsen.

Raza didn’t hesitate as he fired at Tony only for the shots to miss allowing Tony to fire back.

“Come on,” said Tony, bending down and allowing the face plate to open. “We got to go. Move for me, come on. We got a plan. We're gonna stick to it.”

“This was always the plan, Stark,” gasped Yinsen.

“Come on, you're gonna go see your family. Get up,” said Tony, tearing up.

“My family is dead. I'm going to see them now, Stark. It's okay. I want this. I want this.”

“Thank you,” sniffed Tony, “for saving me.”

“Don't waste it. Don't waste your life.”

Tony watched in silence as Yinsen’s eyes went dull and his chest stopped rising. Sadness was soon overridden by rage as Tony turned towards the oncoming men with a look that could only be described as pure rage.

“My turn.”

When all the men were dead, Tony flipped a switch and shot into the air like a high velocity rocket. The air time didn’t last long before Tony was falling.

~Stark~

Eris woke with a start in the middle of the night, the pain in her chest now gone and replaced with something else. The soldier was by her side in an instant, ready to help her through any pain that was about to overtake her. When her hair and eyes began to glow, the soldier got ready to catch her only for him to notice her hands beginning to glow as well.

“Buckhannon, get away from me,” cried Eris as the pressure began overtaking her skull.

Not knowing what else to do, the soldier did as instructed and watched as power forced its way out of Eris’ hands towards the wall. Two seconds passed and a large doorway opened, bathing everything in a dark blue glow.

“What did you do?”

“I don’t know,” said Eris, standing up.

Looking into the doorway, it took Eris a brief moment to realise what was on the other side.

“TONY!”

Without thinking, Eris ran through the doorway – the soldier following directly behind her – into the hot Afghanistan sun. The sand did nothing to slow Eris down as she rushed towards the fallen form of her brother, who was surrounded by the debris of his first ever suit.

Falling to her knees by his side, Eris turned him onto his back and looked him over, thankful that there wasn’t much blood coming from the wounds that now littered his body. His chest was rising and falling and Eris could feel his heart beat becoming stronger as the seconds ticked by.

Eris felt her heart began to beat in a new rhythm as Tony groaned and slowly opened his eyes.

“Eris?” he asked.

“Hi, big spark.”

“Am I dead?”

“No.”

“Dreaming?”

“Nope.”

Tony practically bolted up in the sand, ignoring the pain and exhaustion as he turned to face his beloved little sister. Tears pooled in his eyes as he looked over the young girl in front of him with a giant smile on his face.

“You’re alive,” he said.

“Surprise!” sobbed Eris.

“My baby sister,” he sobbed, pulling Eris into the tightest hug he could manage. “my beautiful baby sister. My little spark. Your alive.”

“I missed you!”

“I missed you too.”

“I’m sorry I was gone for so long,” Eris sobbed.

“I don’t care! I don’t care, just don’t leave me again.”

“Okay!”

It felt like an eternity of the two Stark’s hugging before they finally stopped crying. The soldier slowly moved beside them, holding out two bottles of water for the pair of them. Tony looked down at it hesitantly making Eris smile softly as she handed him her water before taking the other one.

“This is Buckhannon – don’t ask – he’s my friend and protector. I’ll explain everything later, okay?”  

Tony simply nodded as the trio got ready for the long walk they’d have to do to find a nearby village. It only took them an hour, though before a military helicopter was flying over their heads. The three began waving and soon the helicopter was landing directly in front of them.

The solider was ready the second it landed, holding his gun ready. He put it away however, when he saw Eris grinning and Tony beginning to release some tension in his shoulders.

“How was the "fun-vee"?” said Rhodey, now standing just in front of the trio. “Next time, you ride with me, okay?”

“Deal,” nodded Tony.

“Who are they?” asked Rhodey, turning to the other two only to stop. “Eris?”

“Hi.”

“That’s not possible.”

“I’ll explain later,” said Eris.

Rhodey didn’t say anything else as he turned his attention to helping Tony into the helicopter before making sure there was enough room for Eris and the soldier. The flight home was mostly in silence with Tony holding Eris’ hand like it was a life line and Rhodey constantly glancing between Eris and Tony.

Arriving at the California Military base, Rhodey remained by Tony’s side as he gently helped his best friend down towards the area where Happy, Pepper and a full medical team were waiting. Eris and the soldier followed behind them, the soldier making sure his tactical mask was in place to prevent anyone from identifying him.

“Watch it, coming up here,” said Rhodey, as Tony almost tripped.

“Are you kidding me with this?” asked Tony, motioning to the medical team. “ Get rid of them.” It was only then that Tony turned to face Pepper. “Your eyes are red. A few tears for your long-lost boss?”

“Tears of joy. I hate job hunting.”

“Yeah, vacation's over,” smirked Tony, “Eris, soldier-boy, come on, your with us.”

“Tony—”

“Rhodey-bear, they saved my life. They come with me, I’ll deal with everything.”

Rhodey sighed and nodded, motioning for the pair to follow Tony. Pepper and Happy looked at the two strangers but said nothing as Eris rushed to Tony’s side and the solider remained slightly ahead of Eris.

“You gonna insist that I need medical?” smirked Tony.

“I’m not that stupid,” smiled Eris, “besides, the solider and I are fully trained in first aid so if you fall, we can help.”

Happy had already pulled the car up and Pepper was the first to step inside, followed by Tony and Eris then the solider. Pepper seemed rather uncomfortable sitting with a man covered in tactical gear and covering his face but said nothing.

“Where to, sir?” asked Happy.

“Take us to the hospital, please, Happy,” ordered Pepper.

“No.”

“No? Tony, you have to go to the hospital.”

“No is a complete answer.”

“The doctor has to look at you.”

“I don't have to do anything. I've been in captivity for three months. There are two things I want to do. I want an American cheeseburger, and the other...”

“That's enough of that.”

“...is not what you think, there’s a child here. I want you to call for a press conference now.”

Eris shook her head as she gently laid her head on the soldier’s shoulder, her hand was still linked to Tony’s.

“Call for a press conference?”

”Yeah.”

“What on earth for?”

“Hogan, drive. Cheeseburger first!”

Pepper and Happy were the ones to go in and grab the burgers – on Tony’s insistence – leaving the trio on their own.

“Tony, there’s something you need to do and you need to trust me,” said Eris, softly.

“What?”

“Don’t show Obadiah Stane the arc reactor.”

Tony looked briefly displeased by these words but nodded his head as Happy and Pepper returned, handing out the burgers. Eris and Tony were quick to dig in but the solider hesitated.

“It’s okay, you can trust them,” said Eris.

Shaking his head, the solider took off his mask and began eating. Pepper’s eyes went wide but she didn’t say anything as Happy began driving them towards Stark Industries where the press conference was waiting.

Obadiah was already outside waiting for them and Eris felt the tension within her starting to rise. Tony had already told her and the soldier to stay in the car, away from the public eye, but Eris wasn’t sure if she’d be able to do that if Obadiah got any closer to Tony.

“Look at this! Tony. We were going to meet at the hospital.”

“No, I'm fine.”

“Look at you! You had to have a burger, yeah?” chuckled Stane.

“Well, come on,” said Tony, heading inside.

“You get me one of those?”

“There's only one left. I need it.”

Entering the main area, Tony’s eyes were assaulted by the constant flashes of cameras and the quiet whispers of everyone around him.

“Hey, look who's here! Yeah!” said Stane. “Well, let's get this started, uh...”

“Hey, would it be all right if everyone sat down?” said Tony, taking over. He was now sitting in front of the podium, a cheese burger in hand, “Why don't you just sit down? That way you can see me, and I can... A little less formal and...” taking a deep breath, Tony began. “I never got to say goodbye to Dad. I never got to say goodbye to my father. There's questions that I would have asked him. I would have asked him how he felt about what this company did. If he was conflicted, if he ever had doubts. Or maybe he was every inch the man we all remember from the newsreels. I saw young Americans killed by the very weapons I created to defend them and protect them. And I saw that I had become part of a system that is comfortable with zero accountability.”

“Mr. Stark!” called one reporter.

“Hey, Ben.”

“What happened over there?”

“I had my eyes opened,” he said, standing up and moving behind the podium. “I came to realize that I have more to offer this world than just making things that blow up. And that is why, effective immediately, I am shutting down the weapons manufacturing division of Stark International –” everyone began talking all at once. “until such a time as I can decide what the future of the company will be.”

And with that, Tony left to return to the car where his little sister was waiting.