Chapter Text
December 16, 2014
Sophie Stark had been obsessively checking the weather. She secretly hoped that by the time she’d arrived from San Juan the rain would’ve turned to snow. No such luck, she thought to herself as she slumped back against the peeling leather of the taxi and stared out the window at the heavy sheets of rain that had followed her home. Home, she thought with a wry laugh, I’m not even sure where that is.
“We’ll be there shortly,” the cab driver intoned interrupting her thoughts, “Not much traffic tonight. Stark Tower,” the driver started, “you live there?”
“No,” she answered absently as she watched the familiar Midtown streets roll by. It had been six months since she’d been inside Stark Tower. Six long months crammed inside a base with a group of cagey distrustful SHIELD agents. Six months of lying to her family and friends. Six months and not a word from him since she left.
“They say The Hulk himself lives there,” the driver was still chatting.
Sophie looked at the driver trying to decide if he was suspicious or just making friendly conversation. She decided he was just being friendly and that the majority of people on the streets of New York were interested in what went on inside Stark Tower. She sat forward and rest her head against the window, the cold glass soothing to the jagged cut that ran from the center of her forehead to her right temple. She closed her eyes and tried to push back a wave of anxiety.
“Here we are,” the driver intoned cheerfully as the cab slid to a stop. A uniformed doorman with a large umbrella stepped forward to assist Sophie from the car, but stopped short when he noticed her right arm in a sling. He jostled the umbrella to the opposite side and offered to take her left hand.
“Thank you,” she said to the doorman. She turned to pay the taxi driver, but the doorman had already waved another forward to complete the task and to collect her luggage from the trunk. She sighed heavily.
“Good Evening, Miss Stark,” the doorman smiled, “It’s good to have you back.”
Stark Tower was often touted as the most secure building in New York. The doormen all of whom were former SHIELD agents now employed by the Avengers Initiative worked in rotating shifts of six and had strict instruction not to admit anyone on sight alone. Sophie knew that a strictly enforced policy required everyone entering to scan in with a key card or biometric scan.
During business hours the lobby of Stark Tower was teeming with people, but when Sophie stepped inside the first anteroom to the lobby she could see it was deserted with the exception of the remaining doormen on duty. The building, originally intended as self-sustained residential housing, now housed the New York offices of Stark Industries, the headquarters of the Avengers Initiative, and the Avengers Tower living space.
The security guard slid a portable biometric scanner across the desk to Sophie and with a tired sigh she placed her left palm on the machine. The machine alarmed angrily and flashed red. The guard smiled tightly and drew his eyebrow together suspiciously, “I believe it’s your right hand Miss Stark,” he told her as he reset the scanner. Sophie had to twist awkwardly to place the hand of her injured arm on the scanner, but the machine chirped happily and flashed green.
“Per request, you’re being given your original key cards and full access to all floors except the Avengers command space. Also, Director Hill has requested to meet with you tomorrow morning. We will send an agent to escort you,” the guard told her
“Thank you,” Sophie smiled tiredly. She laid the envelope flat on the counter and attempted to open it one handed. She finally fidgeted the envelope she’d been given open and dumped the key cards into her right hand. She shoved the black and blue Stark Industries card into her coat pocket and placed the white Stark Tower key against the entrance key pad.
Slipping into the brightly lit lobby, she nodded to the three night doormen behind the desk as she entered, her soft soled shoes tapping quietly on the marble floors as she made her way to the elevators on the far side of the room. The doors to the elevator slid open with a soft hiss and Sophie stepped inside. She tapped the key against the touch screen panel and grumbled when nothing happened. Unable to extend her right arm she performed the awkward twist again and pressed her palm to the panel.
“Good Evening, Miss” JARVIS’ voice sounded. “Sir, is quite please you have returned.”
“Hey J,” Sophie sighed. “Can you take me up to him?”
“Of course, Miss.”
“Anyone else home tonight?” Sophie asked.
“Captain Rogers and Doctor Banner are both in residence this evening,” Jarvis supplied.
“Great,” Sophie muttered drolly. “Natasha and Clint?”
“Are unavailable this evening, Miss. I am unable to provide you with further details. Additionally, Miss…” JARVIS stopped talking when the elevator doors slid open.
“J?” Sophie asked as she stepped out onto the main floor of the community living area. “J…Lights?” she asked taking in the darkened room. “Jarvis?”
Sophie, encumbered by her injured arm, fought her way out of her heavy rain jacket and laid it over the back of a nearby chair. What the hell is going on around here? She thought to herself as she dropped her purse into the chair as well. She briefly considered monkeying her way out of the shoulder holster on right side, but decided against it and padded softly into the communal kitchen. She knew she should head straight to the lab, but she felt tired, travel worn, and unsure of her mental ability to manage her father. Hoping a strong cup of coffee would help she rummaged through the cabinet where she remembered the beans being stored.
“Gotcha,” she smiled as she stood on her toes and seized the box she wanted. She was starting to look for a mug when she heard the soft click of a safety being disengaged and felt the cool metal of a gun barrel being pressed against the base of her skull.
“Who the hell are you?” the gravelly voice from behind her ground out.
Sophie stood frozen. It wasn’t exactly the first time someone had said the words of her soul mark, but it the first time someone had done so with a gun pressed to her head. Leaning on her SHIELD defense training, she pushed herself back into the man behind with as much strength as she could manage and caught him in the ribs with her uninjured elbow as they both slammed into the kitchen island behind them. Sophie bounced away from the mystery assailant and darted towards the stairs. Tearing the sling she’d been wearing off, she slammed her right hand down on the biometric scanner, cringing in pain at the impact, and made it halfway to the first landing when her assailant vaulted over the waist high glass barrier. His hand closed around her right arm and she felt several of the stitches there tear open as he dragged her the rest of the way up the stairs to the first landing.
“Who are you?” the man asked again his arm across her collarbone pining her to Thor and Jane’s door.
“That is a very long story,” she snarked breathlessly, “I’ll be sure to tell you all about it.”
The man dropped his arm in shock at her words. Sophie shoved passed him and darted up the stairs to the second landing, but wasn’t surprised when he caught her there. He caged her against the railing, an arm on either side but not touching her.
“Show me…” his voice was thick with shock. Sophie just stared at him mutely.
“My words…” he commanded. “They tried… Show me!”
“You know that’s incredibly rude, right?” Sophie huffed, “Demanding to see your soulmate’s words on first meeting.” The man just glared at her, but did not speak again. “Fine,” Sophie grumbled, “They’re here,” she pressed her left thumb to the bottom of her sternum and ran it in a slow curving arch under her left breast across her ribcage. “You’ll probably need to take a step back,” she advised, “Did you know your writing is incredibly small?”
Her assailant took one step away from her and Sophie was able to see him for the first time. He was tall she noted, towering over her, with longish dark brown hair that hung in his eyes. Eyes, she noted, that looked down at her with both wonder and hostility. Sophie worked the buttons of her shirt clumsily with her left hand and smiled warily at him. She felt the ICER still securely in its holster on her right side. She bit her lower lip, hoping she looked nervous about disrobing in front of a stranger and not about the fact that she was contemplating how best to shoot him, and finally decided straightforward was the best plan of action.
Sophie reached for the weapon with her injured right hand and managed to level the ICER and fire a single round. The ICER round hit him squarely in the left shoulder, which was not where she’d been aiming, but she breathed a sigh of relief anyway and waited for him to drop.
Well fuck, Sophie thought to herself when she realized the ICER had zero effect, fucking super people with fucking super powers. She winced as he slammed her onto the floor of the landing.
“JARVIS!” she gasped and clawed at the hand around her throat. She kicked wildly and tried to throw him off. Her vision swam and darkened at the edges. “Jarvis…” she rasped. “There’s a troll in the dungeon!” she finally squeaked. The man practically leapt away from her as the Assemble alarm blared to life. Every light in Avengers Tower blared to life and several alarms started screaming at once.
Sophie heard a raucous clatter above her and was pretty sure she heard glass break. She slid further away from the man across from her on the landing and tried to push herself up to sitting, but could only manage to get her shoulders propped up against a wall.
“Jarvis,” came an authoritative voice from above her, “report!” The alarm ceased as Steve Rogers stepped onto the landing. He turned to her assailant first, “What the…Sophie? Buck?” Steve crossed to the dark haired man and spoke to him briefly in low tones.
“She said my words,” was all her assailant said.
“I thought that might happen,” Steve sighed and crossed to Sophie. She felt his fingers ghost over the cut on her forehead as he crouched in front of her. “Can you stand?” he asked her quietly. Sophie didn’t reply, but held out her left hand and Steve pulled her to her feet. She over balanced slightly and collided against his chest, “Fucking hell,” she hissed and reeled back almost toppling over. Steve dropped her hand and caught her around the waist drawing her close. He lowered her back to sitting. “What are you doing here, Sophie?”
“Merry Christmas,” she suggested weakly.
“What the actual fuck?” Tony shouted from the third floor landing. There was a pounding on the stairs as both Tony and Bruce Banner clattered down the stairs. “Why does my kid look like she got hit by a Mack truck?” Tony asked leveling an accusatory glare at Steve.
“I don’t know what happened,” Steve answered calmly, “I just got down here.”
“Dad,” She reached out; trying to capture Tony’s attention, but caught Bruce’s arm instead.
“I told you to get him under control!”
“She’s not even supposed to be here, Stark,” Steve snapped.
Sophie cringed at the harsh tone and rest her head on the railing. Bruce’s face swam into Sophie’s field of vision and she tried to bat his hands away as he examine her eyes and head. “Hey, Doc, give it a rest, I’m fine,” Sophie smiled weakly at him, but she felt foggy. She tried to leverage herself to standing, but felt tired and wobbly. She sank back.
“My kid. My Tower. She can come and go as she pleases.”
Sophie tried to listen to their argument, but they sounded far away. She blinked hard and saw her father standing in front of her.
“Hey, Pipsqueak,” Tony crouched in front of her smiling grimly and taking in her battered condition.
“Hi, Dad,” she smiled at him briefly before everything faded to black.
***
White light and the steady rhythmic beeping were the first things Sophie became aware of when she woke up. Medical center, she thought, definitely a medical center. She opened her eyes slowly and pressed her backwards into the pillow behind her head.
“Oh good you’re awake,” a female voice chirped from the end of the bed.
“Where?” Sophie croaked.
“Oh,” the girl smiled and looked up, “You’re in the medical wing… still in Stark Tower. I’m Emily, one of the nurses…I’ll go get your doctor.”
Emily the nurse disappeared from the room. Sophie looked around the room, but it appeared like any other hospital room she’d ever been in and provided no additional information. She sat up tentatively, taking note that her arm didn’t hurt as much as it probably should, and took a deep breath. A slim Asian woman entered the room and Emily followed dutifully behind.
“Sophie,” the woman smiled, “I’m Dr. Cho. How’re you feeling?”
“Weirdly fine…I had a dislocated fracture….”
“Yes,” Dr. Cho nodded, “of your distal humerus. You also had a concussion, a pretty nasty laceration on your forehead, and bruising to your trachea.”
“Well that last one happened after I got here.”
“Sergeant Barnes felt terrible,” Emily piped, “The night shift said he was here almost all night.”
“They let the man who tried to kill me sit by my bedside unattended?”
“Captain Rogers said it was fine for him to visit,” Emily informed her worriedly.
“Captain Rogers would like nothing better than to see me drawn and quartered,” Sophie grumbled, “I think it’s probably best if we don’t let him make up the visitors list.”
“I don’t think you’re anywhere near the top of the list of “People Steve Rogers Would Like to See Dead”,” another voice came from the door.
“Pepper,” Sophie she breathed the other woman’s name and felt tears pricking at the edges of her eyes. She swiped them away with the back of her hand. “Sorry. I’m just…I…when did you get here? I only got here last night and it doesn’t look like it’s that late…” Sophie rambled as Pepper came in and sat on the edge of the bed. Pepper embraced her fully and Sophie rest her head on Pepper’s shoulder.
“Tony called shortly after they brought you up here,” Pepper told her, “I got here this morning. I’m sorry for interrupting Dr. Cho.”
Dr. Cho smiled and waved off Pepper’s apology. “I was just reviewing Sophie’s treatment with her.”
“Not that I’m complaining, but why do I feel so much better? I was pretty banged up before…” she stopped “…before I even got here yesterday.”
“Unfortunately, I can’t give you the full specifics…it’s proprietary Avengers Initiative technology, but we’ve been working on a new form of regenerative medicine.”
“Regener- what?” Sophie stammered. “Please tell me you didn’t turn me into some genetically juiced neo-science superhero?”
“No,” Emily laughed and waved off Sophie’s concern. “It’s just a healing process we’re able to use here. Science,” Emily said with a shrug, “Nothing super or magic about.” Dr. Cho gave the girl a harsh look and she snapped her mouth closed almost audibly.
“Anyway,” Dr. Cho said “We were able to heal that fracture and eliminate any residual effects of the concussion or the damage to your trachea. We’ve been monitoring you since the regeneration cycle completed and your blood pressure has stabilized so you’re free to go.”
“Thaaanks,” Sophie said hesitantly looking questioningly at Pepper.
“It was nice to meet you, Sophie. Pepper, it’s always a pleasure. Hopefully there will be no return trips any time soon. Emily will go over your final discharge instructions.
“No problem,” Emily chirped as Dr. Cho left. “Dr. Cho says you might feel hungrier than usual and less tired. Those are normal side effects and should pass in 3-4 days.” Emily smiled at them again. “If you experience any nausea, vomiting, or fevers exceeding one hundred degrees you should come back and get checked out,” she told Sophie and hurried from the room. Sophie watched her go and sat up to the side of the bed.
Pepper pulled a small duffel bag out from one of the drawers of the nightstand near the bed. “I brought you some things to change into.”
“Thanks, Pepper,” Sophie stood and hugged Pepper tightly. “I’ve missed you.”
“I missed you too,” Pepper told her, “I’m glad you’re home.”
Pepper slipped out of the hospital room after that and Sophie found herself alone; part of her ached to call Pepper back, to stay in the medical wing and avoid…well…everything. Avoid her father, avoid Steve, just avoid. The other part knew that she needed to get moving and that if she just got up and got dressed all the other steps would follow. Taking a deep breath, Sophie moved out of the hospital bed and dressed in the clothes Pepper supplied. Sophie couldn’t help but smile at how well Pepper knew her as she pulled the skinny jeans and oversized gray sweater on and after a few minutes of searching she located the flats she’d been wearing the night before. She wound her dark hair into a knot on the top of her head and exited the room. She looked around and spotted Pepper chatting with a middle aged man with an Avengers Initiative badge pinned to his chest.
“Agent Toshiro,” Pepper smiled at the man, “this is Tony’s daughter, Sophie.”
“Sophie, Agent Toshiro” Pepper introduced, “Agent Toshiro was the deputy station head at SHIELD’s Kyoto base.”
“Hello,” Sophie greeted with a deferential nod.
“Director Hill requested to meet with you when you were release from medical,” he told her. His tone was clipped and his voice had the unaccented quality of someone trained at SHIELD Academy.
“Of course,” Sophie agreed, “I’m sure all of this,” she gestured widely to the medical unit, “delayed our previously scheduled chat.”
Agent Toshiro did not comment only turned and headed towards the elevators. Sophie took a deep breath trying to steady her frayed nerves. You’ve met Maria Hill approximately 25 times since you started at SHIELD, she told herself, yeah but that was before she ran A.I. and you defected back to SHIELD. And before you tried to destroy Dad’s pretty pretty tower by setting off an Assemble alarm. Sophie shook herself from her thoughts and turned to Pepper.
“You’ll still be here tonight….” She let the question hang.
“Yes,” Pepper agreed, “and Happy is here as well. He’s downstairs pestering the security guards about ID badges.”
“Ms. Stark!” Agent Toshiro called.
“Bye, Pepper,” she kissed Pepper on the cheek and darted into the elevator as the doors slid closed. Leaning against the back wall, she choked back a laugh when she realized the muzak tinkling out over the speaker was Stairway to Heaven. “Tony Stark strikes again,” she mumbled to Agent Toshiro who at least had the good grace to smile.
Stepping off the elevator into the headquarters of the Avengers Initiative was a lot like walking back into the Triskelion. There were mission specialists and agents and support staff in dark suits bustling back and forth. It was busier than she remembered.
“Why do I feel like I’m going to see the principal?” she asked as Agent Toshiro led her past the front reception area. They walked passed a wall of glass fronted offices and conference rooms before entering the waiting room of an office.
“Wait here,” Agent Toshiro told her as he disappeared through a set of large double doors. Sophie sank into a chair and slumped down. She felt jumpy and frenetic and sitting here waiting was driving her crazy. She stood and paced. She was making her third pass of the small waiting area when she turned and saw Steve standing in the doorway.
“Oh,” she jumped, “Hi…”
“Sophie,” he greeted. “What are you doing…“
“I was supposed to meet with Maria…Commander…The doorman told me last night, but…” she trailed off. She chewed her lower lip anxiously.
“How did…”
“Oh, they sent an agent over to medical to collect me. I’m pretty sure he had to wait all morning until Dr. Cho decided I was free to leave,” she told him, “Which was either a nice break or a colossal waste of his time,” she rambled.
“Sophie,” he started, “We should…”
“Ms. Stark,” Agent Toshiro said as he came back, “Director Hill is ready for you,” he told her. He nodded at Steve and directed Sophie towards the doors.
Director Hill’s office at the headquarters of the Avenger’s Initiative reminded Sophie an awful lot of Director Coulson’s office at The Playground minus all the vintage Captain America memorabilia. And honestly Sophie wasn’t even mildly surprised that Hill and Coulson’s fashion sense paralleled each other as well, leaning towards dark nondescript suits.
“I like the post-SHIELD-chic look you have going,” Sophie cracked as she dropped casually into a chair. “It really shouts ‘I don’t work for a secret government agency’.”
Hill, to her credit, didn’t look up from the file she’d been reading when Sophie walked in for a full thirty seconds. She closed the file slowly and smiled at Sophie benignly. The cool calmness only causing Sophie to jerk into an erect seated position rather than the casual slouch she’d adopted. “Ms. Stark,” Hill spoke finally, “You caused quite a stir last night.”
“Yeah,” Sophie chewed the inside of her cheek and scratched behind her ear nervously, “I really am sorry about that.”
“Standard operating procedure in Avengers Tower is that all guests surrender any weapons at the armory upon entry,” Hill continued leveling a look of disappointment at Sophie.
“To be fair…” Sophie started
“To be fair, nothing,” Hill interjected heatedly. “You caused thousands of dollars worth of damage and probably set Barnes’ recovery back six-weeks.”
“He held a gun to my head! What was I supposed to do let him shoot me?”
“Sophie…” Hill sighed in a what am I going to do with you sort of way. “Look…Barnes…” Hill stopped considering her words, “It’s been a delicate balance since he showed up here. Captain Rogers is fiercely protective and your father…”
“Can be an ass when he feels like something is out of his control?”
“Something like that,” Hill smiled tiredly. “Needless to say things have been…tense.”
“I’m sure that’s putting it mildly,” Sophie scoffed and sighed, “Then I showed up and…I mean I am sorry.”
“I sense a but in there.”
“He started it,” she muttered petulantly.
“You set off an Assemble alarm, Sophie,” Hill chastised.
“I didn’t know that would happen. My dad said If you’re ever in trouble,” she mimicked her father placing air quotes around his words.
“Banner was here…there was nearly a Code Green.”
“I will admit that in hindsight that assuming I can take what my dad says at face value and not expecting it to cause things to go boom,” she flicked her fingers away from her palms in the universal gesture for explosion. “That was probably a mistake.” Hill suppressed a smile.
“I reviewed the video footage,” Hill told her, “It’s clear the Barnes provoked the situation. You don’t technically work here so I can’t officially reprimand you.”
“Unofficial reprimand duly noted,” Sophie said with a nod. “I will do my best not to cause any more trouble.”
“I’d appreciate that,” Hill said with a smile, “Now, tell me about the dendrotoxin you used on Barnes.”
Sophie’s eyebrows flew to her hairline, “It was a standard issue ICER round. The same as it was before the uprising. Fitz and Simmons haven’t made any changes recently. When it didn’t work, I honestly assumed it just didn’t work.”
“Oh it worked,” Hill told her. “It fried Barnes’ cybernetics completely.”
“Well that shouldn’t have happened,” Sophie leaned back in the chair deep in thought, “I know they’ve used it on Deathlok…I mean he wasn’t Deathlok then, but he still had a fair amount of cybernetic material and the Night-Night Gun dropped him like a rock. Does Tony have any thoughts?”
“He does,” Hill nodded, “but Barnes won’t let him close enough to look at the damage.”
“I can see why,” Sophie answered. She pulled her feet up into the chair and drummed her fingers on her knees. “I mean I doubt HYDRA was making any sort of regular upgrade to the tech… could be that… I should call Fitz,” she said finally.
“I was going to suggest that you take a look,” Hill commented, her tone mild.
“Excuse me?” Sophie questioned. “You want me to what? I’m sure there’s someone here more qualified.”
“You have a degree in mechanical engineering, don’t you?” Hill asked.
“Yes, but I’m a linguistic specialist… I don’t…”
Hill pressed her fingers to the bridge of her nose and sighed heavily, “Cybernetics aren’t really Banner’s thing and the Starklings over in R&D are too afraid of Barnes to get close.”
“I can see how he has that effect on people,” she muttered remembering Barnes’ haunted eyes and tall powerful frame as he’d loomed over her.
“You went back to SHIELD specifically to assist Fitz while he recovered and Barnes isn’t likely to view you as a threat,” Hill continued as if Sophie hadn’t interrupted. “I need his arm fixed and I would appreciate it if you would at least consider it.”
Sophie nodded distractedly, “I’ll think about it.”