Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

I Have Questions

I    Laura Barton

When Clint tells her that he has to go, Laura Barton is understanding; she knows her husband, she knows that he needs to help people, to make up for a past that he doesn’t like to bring up but has talked about during dark moments when he just needs to be comforted. He’s a hero, and if he’s being called in, then she knows he’s needed, because the Avengers know that Clint’s retired.

She smiles, and waves him off, because she knew what she was getting herself into when she agreed to marry him.

It’s not until later that she gains a faint understanding of what’s really going on among the Avengers, because her husband’s photo is being displayed on the TV, and he’s being called a criminal. He had been apprehended in Germany, at the Leipzig/Halle Airport, and was being charged with destruction of property, aiding a terrorist, illegal entry into a country, and assault. Laura sits in stunned shock as she watches the shaky footage of Clint fighting against members of his own team, fighting against Natasha, and she doesn’t know what to think.

She wants to trust Clint, but with everything they’re saying on the television, Laura isn’t sure.

Why did you leave me here to burn?

It takes a day for Laura to realize that their farm in being watched, it makes her jittery and brings back the training she had undergone in SHIELD; under the premise of taking Cooper and Lila to school, Laura packs everyone into the car, puts Lucky into the back, and buckles little Nathaniel into his car seat.

They have to pack light, fit what they can into Cooper and Lila’s backpacks, Nathaniel’s diaper bag, and Laura’s purse; it’s not much, but it should last until they reach Clint’s closest safe house in Altoona.

Cooper has some idea of what’s going on, Laura knows he sees the panic in his mother’s eyes, and her smart boy is a great help getting Lila and Nathaniel calm. Lila, while her little girl is intelligent, has never been the best in stressful environments, and hates it when her routines are changed, but clinging to her big brother helps and stops her from rocking herself calm. Nathaniel though, is still too young to understand that they’re in trouble, and Laura mourns for her children as she gently mixes a sleep aide safe for children into Nath’s juice.

I'm way too young to be this hurt

The safe house should be untraceable to Clint, this Laura knows, because it’s under one of her aliases. To everyone in the building, Catherine Bishop is in between jobs, a wife of an overseas salesman, living with her three children, and is renting her apartment until something more stable is found.

But Laura ends up being wrong.

A few days into moving into the Altoona apartment-safe house, a newly blonde Laura with short hair answers the door to find Toni Stark standing outside. She’s dressed in a way that makes Laura believe that the other woman is trying not to be noticed, with her hair down and dressed in clothing she could have bought in Wal-Mart instead of her usual designer brands, a pair of thick-rimmed glasses balanced on her nose.

Numbly, Laura lets her in and closes the door quietly behind her.

Then the numbness fades, and Laura is furious.

Spinning around, Laura glares at the billionaire, “What the hell is going on!” She demands sharply, and Stark winces. “What the fuck did my husband get into?! Why is he a wanted criminal and why am I being followed?!” As she’s growling, Laura comes up short at the sight of the vicious bruising peeking out from Stark’s shirt, and the discolouration that comes with skin-coloured bandages that decorate her face, having been to caught up in her surprise, fear, and anger to truly notice until that moment, and Laura’s heart drops. “Are you okay?”

“Everything’s a mess.” Stark says instead, “I swear I had no idea that Steve called Clint in until it was too late. The Accords wouldn’t impact him, he’s retired – it had nothing to do with him, and he has a family. It didn’t even cross my mind to contact him.” She runs a frustrated hand through her hair, “And now he’s put you and the smaller agents in danger.”

“Doctor Stark?” Laura asks, looking for clarification.

“Ross is after you, he thinks you know where your husband and Steve’s team are.”

“Clint hasn’t contacted me.” Laura says numbly, “I have no idea where he is.”

Stark mutters under her breath, “Goddamnit Steve.”

“Doctor Stark, what’s going on?”

Toni Stark turns to her grimly, and starts to speak, and Laura’s fury grows with every word.

I feel doomed in hotel rooms

“I’ve got a floor of the Tower ready for you and the kids to move in.” Toni tells her, they’ve all loaded into a simple SUV and the billionaire is in the driver’s seat; the woman is twitching with nervous energy, and Laura has the feeling that Toni doesn’t know what to make of her. “Ross burned down your farm, I’m sorry. I tried to keep him busy, but he was furious when he realized you got out.”

Their home is gone. The farm was the place that Laura had wanted to raise her children, to live with her family; it was the only home her children had ever known, and now it was gone.

Burned to the ground.

Laura is angry, she’s angry at Ross, she’s angry at Steve Rogers, and most of all she’s angry at Clint, because he didn’t need to get involved in the mess, but he had gone running the moment Captain America called. Did he really think that little of his family, that he was willing to leave them behind when he went running off to become an international criminal?

“Toni, I’m not going to live off of your dime.” Laura tells her, “I’m an adult, I have money, I can get an apartment and a job.”

“It’s the safest place for you, just until Ross is taken care of.” Toni assures her, “It shouldn’t take too long, then you can do what you need to do. Scott Lang’s family is already there, he has a daughter about Lila’s age, there’s a floor for the kids to play on, and you can start job hunting.”

“Only until Ross is gone and it’s safe for my children.” Laura tells her firmly, “Then I’ll get my own place, and I’ll provide for myself and my children, and I’ll pay you rent for housing us.”

“Anything you need, just ask.” Toni replies, and Laura goes silent, thinking.

Then her face hardens, “I need a lawyer. I want a divorce.”

“Laura?” Startled, Toni’s eyes flicker towards her, but Laura’s gaze stays resolutely on the road.

“Clint put my children in danger to run off with Steve Rogers, because he needed to save Wanda.” She said darkly. “If he cares more about a woman on house arrest more than he does his own family, then he doesn’t deserve to have us.”

“Alright,” Toni says quietly, “Whatever you need.”

Staring straight up at the wall

When Clint comes back, Katherine Laura Bishop is unimpressed at the sight of her ex-husband on her doorstep.

She had been young when she fell in love with him, a green SHIELD trainee agent under the tutelage of the infamous Hawkeye. The intelligent, witty man had impressed her, and been impressed by her, she had been his partner before even the deadly Black Widow had been brought back like a wet, abandoned puppy. They had worked together, watched each others’ backs as Hawkeye and Lady Hawk, and she had made him fall for her in time, made him see her as something other than just his protégée.

But this man was no longer the man she had fallen in love with.

“Clint,” She greets coldly, closing the door behind her as to not let the man into her house, the house she bought herself, with no help from him, where she would raise her children now that the farm was gone.

“Laura,” He looks pathetic, his shoulders drooped, stubble on his jaw, and shadows under his eyes. “A divorce?”

“Yes.” She says firmly, “You’ve made your priorities clear.”

“I’m sorry.” Clint murmurs, and it tugs of her heartstrings, but it doesn’t change her mind.

“That’s not enough, Clint.”

“Is there anything I can say to change your mind?” He asks, but she knows that he knows the truth, because his expression falls before she can even answer.

“I think you already know the answer.”

“And the kids?”

“I won’t stop them from seeing you, if that’s what you’re worried about.” She informs him, “You’ll have supervised visits, but you’re not allowed in my house. But I’ll warn you, Nath won’t recognize you, Cooper is angry with you, and Lila doesn’t understand, she thinks she wasn’t good enough.” She’s frowning at him, eyes cold and expression closed off. “You owe us all an explanation as to why Wanda Maximoff, a grown ass woman, was more important to you than your own children.”

“Her brother died to save my life.” He murmurs, “I felt like I had a responsibility to her, I thought she needed me.”

“Yeah?” She asks sarcastically, “Well you had an actual responsibility to our children, who actually needed you.”

“I’m sorry, Laura.”

“Kate, Clint.” Kate finally corrects, “It’s Kate now. I’ll make sure the kids contact you, goodbye Clint.”

She turns around, opens the door, and walks away.

Counting wounds and I am trying to numb them all

“Kate?” The dark haired woman looks up from her coffee as her girlfriend enters the kitchen, sleepy-eyed and blonde hair ruffled from sleep. Carol squints at her, at the dark shadows under her eyes, and at the large mug in her hands. “Did you get any sleep at all?”

“No.” Kate looks away and into the dark liquid, and Carol slides onto the stool next to her. “Is it wrong of me? To still love him even though I hate him?”

“You loved him for a long time, Kate, those feelings won’t leave you right away, even if you do make a new life for yourself.” Carol tells her quietly, and Kate sighs.

“You think you know where you’ll end up when you’re twenty.” She murmurs bitterly, leaning into the blonde’s side. “And then life rips it apart right in front of your eyes.”

Chapter Text

I Have Questions

II    Cassie Lang

Cassie Lang loves her daddy; she knows people look at her criminal father and scoff, they think he’s a bad guy, but Cassie knows otherwise. Her daddy is a good man, who wants to do good things, but sometimes does bad things instead.

Scott Lang is Cassie’s hero, and even heroes mess up.

But sometimes, he hurts her, and not the kind of hurt that her mom can put a Band-Aid on and kiss better. Cassie knows that he doesn’t mean to, mommy says that daddy doesn’t always think before he does something, and that’s what gets him in trouble and gets him hurt. When he leaves, Cassie is scared that he won’t come back, because her daddy is a superhero now, and being a superhero is dangerous; Cassie may be nine, but she knows this, because she’s seen her daddy bruised and hurt, but he never stops fighting for her.

She’s in school when she sees the video of her daddy on the TV; he’s fighting Iron Man and War Machine, and Cassie doesn’t understand, because Iron Man and War Machine are heroes too, why is her daddy fighting them?

She still doesn’t understand when Mommy picks her up from school early and Jim is in the car with her.

There’s news people on their front lawn when they get home, and Jim throws his coat over her head as mommy leads her inside, and Cassie is scared.

She doesn’t understand.

Do you care, do you care?

“Do you understand what I’m telling you, Cass?” Mommy is asking her, but Cassie can’t look away from the dark curtains drawn over the window and taped closed, there’s towels on the glass on the door and every single window is covered.

The news wants to get a good look at them, to record them, because Daddy was arrested in Germany for trying to hurt Iron Man and War Machine, because they think her daddy is a bad guy because he fought with Captain America, who also tried to kill Iron Man and is protecting someone very dangerous.

“Daddy’s not a bad guy.” Cassie tries to explain to Mommy and Jim, because they’re frowning at the TV the way Jim frowns about the people he arrests. “He’s a hero, he saved me. Why is he in jail?”

“Because he needs to go to trial, Kiddo.” Jim tells her, “He needs to explain why he broke all those things, and why he was in Germany when he was still on parole.”

“But why?” Cassie asks, because even though Mommy explained what Daddy did, she doesn’t understand why he did it.

Overwhelmed and confused, the little girl begins to cry.

Why don't you care?

Cassie cries herself to sleep every night for the week, when she can sleep, she hasn’t left the house since Daddy was on the TV, not to go to school, and not to play, and neither has Mommy; she can hear her mommy yelling into the phone sometimes, yelling at people who want to talk to her and Cassie about Daddy, and sometimes she can hear Mommy crying as she talks to Grandad.

Jim still goes to work though, he’s the only one who leaves, often to shout at the people camped out on the lawn.

She wants her daddy to come home, to tuck her in and kiss her goodnight like he used to.

But he doesn’t come.

I gave you all of me

For the first time since Daddy was on the TV, Mommy has to leave; she tells Cassie that it’s because her boss is going to fire her if she misses one more day, and she makes Cassie swear not to leave the house. She doesn’t want to anyways, because there’s still cameras on the lawn sometimes, and the questions that she can hear them shouting when Jim or Mommy leave the house scares her.

An hour after her mommy leaves, there’s a knock on the door.

Frightened, Cassie opens the curtains a tiny bit, and peers outside.

The cameras are gone, and Toni Stark is standing on their front step.

Toni Stark is Iron Man, a hero, and Cassie thinks she can trust her.

But Captain America was also a hero, and he hurt all those people, made her daddy hurt people.

Torn, Cassie hesitates for a second, still looking out the window, then Toni Stark’s head moves, and their eyes meet.

My blood, my sweat, my heart, and my tears

Mommy isn’t very happy when she comes home to find Toni Stark in their living room, watching cartoons with Cassie, and she sends Cassie to her room. From her bedroom, Cassie can hear her mommy shouting, her voice high and shaking, but she can’t make out the words.

And then the shouting stops, and it goes quiet for a few minutes, then Mommy comes hurrying into Cassie’s room with Cassie’s favourite My Little Pony suitcase.

“Pack what you need, Cassie.” Mommy says, “It needs to fit in your suitcase, okay baby? We need to leave.”

“What about Jim?” Cassie asks, but she takes the purple suitcase because her mommy looks scared. “Where are we going?”

“We’re going to Stark Tower, baby, just for a little bit. Jim will meet us there.”

They were going to Stark Tower? With Iron Man?

“Is this because of Daddy?” Cassie asks shakily, pulling her suitcase over to her closet as she starts to pull out her favourite clothes, stuffing them into the bag.

Mommy is silent for a second, pulling some undies and socks out and putting them into the bag with the colourful dresses, skirts, and shirts.

“Miss Stark thinks that people are going to take us away to get to your Dad, sweetie.” Mommy tells her, and adds pjs to the pile. “We’re going to stay at Stark Tower until it’s safe.”

“Oh.” Cassie says quietly, “Will Daddy be there?”

“No baby,” Her mommy whispers.

“I want Daddy,” She sniffles, tears dripping down her cheeks as she starts to cry.

Why don't you care, why don't you care?

Their rooms in Stark Tower are big and bright, and there’s a playroom for Cassie to play in, and there’s other kids there too. Cooper is eleven, older and bigger than Cassie, he’s grumpy though, and doesn’t want to play with Cassie, and Lila may be nine like Cassie, but she plays weird and cries easily, and when she starts to cry, she sucks her thumb like a baby until Cooper or Mrs. Barton start talking to her.

And Nathaniel is an actual baby.

Mommy says it’s because Lila thinks differently than Cassie does, and that Cassie should be nice to Lila, but she’s not sure if she wants to play with Lila anymore.

Stark Tower isn’t home, and Cooper and Lila aren’t like Cassie’s school friends.

Cassie just wants her daddy to come back so that they can go home.

I was there, I was there, when no one was

When Daddy finally comes home, it’s because he’s hurt, and Cassie isn’t allowed to see him because he’s in the hospital. Mommy promises that they’ll go see him as soon as they’re allowed, but she doesn’t look very happy with what she’s saying.

Cassie thinks that if it weren’t for her, Mommy wouldn’t go see Daddy at all.

Now you're gone and I'm here

“Hey Peanut,” Daddy greets from the bed; he looks tired and sick, and even though Cassie really wants to go and give him a big hug, she can’t bring herself to move. She spent so long wanting her daddy to come home, and now that he’s here, Cassie only feels angry at him.

She wants to know why he left. Why it took him so long to come back.

“You said you weren’t going away anymore.” Cassie tells him, crosses her arms over her chest, and glares. “And then you left and didn’t come back, and I was scared because there were people outside all the time with cameras. And we had to stay in Stark Tower because Mommy said someone wanted you, but since he couldn’t get you he’d take us instead.” She’s crying angrily at the end of her rant, and Cassie rubs at her eyes in frustration because she’s sick of crying, it feels like that’s all she’s been doing since her daddy left.

“Oh Cassie,” Daddy says sadly, “I’m so sorry, Peanut. I’m sorry that you had to deal with that, it must have been so scary.” Cassie sniffles and nods miserably, “I thought I was being a hero, but I should’ve asked more questions when Sam called me and told me that Captain America needed my help.”

“Sometimes you do bad things even though you’re a good guy, Daddy.” Cassie tells him, and her daddy nods.

“Yeah, I mess up a lot.”

“You do.” She agrees, but she doesn’t feel angry anymore, so she rushes forward and throws her arms around him in a tight hug, and smiles when he hugs her back, because she missed Daddy’s hugs.

“I’m sorry Peanut.”

“It’s okay Daddy, I forgive you.”

Scott Lang is Cassie’s hero, and even though he messed up, she still loves him.

Chapter Text

I Have Questions

III    Sharon Carter

Steve Rogers was Sharon Carter’s first love.

Just like all of her cousins, Sharon was raised at Aunt Peggy’s knee, being told the stories of the heroic Captain America and his Howling Commandos. She was raised on tales of a great hero, a kind, determined man, and a loyal soldier - and by six years old, Sharon had a crush.

She wanted a man like Captain America, one who treated her like Steve Rogers treated Aunt Peggy.

Maybe, the crush never fully went away, even as Sharon grew up and learned that life wasn’t like the stories she was told as a child, when she learned that Aunt Peggy hadn’t told them the full story of War, cutting away the violence and blood and replacing it with a love story. Maybe a part of her always kept the idea of her ‘perfect man’ and wouldn’t let her move past it.

Maybe Sharon hadn’t wanted to move past it.

I have questions for you

When she finally met Steve Rogers, Sharon was playing the part of the girl next door.

To her, this was the chance to get to know him without the shadow of her name hanging over her, the chance to be seen as something other than Peggy Carter’s niece. It was the chance to meet the man her aunt had told her about, the man that Sharon had grown up seeing as the perfect man, and she wasn’t disappointed.

She fell in love with him all over again.

And, maybe, she hoped, he fell in love with her too, because they grew to be something more.

Number one, tell me who you think you are

Sharon had given Steve the shield and information, thinking she was doing the right thing, because this was Captain America, a hero, a good man, despite what the news said. Sharon dealt with espionage and secrets every day of her life, she knew that what the TV said wasn’t always the whole truth.

It wasn’t until Toni Stark, bruised and wounded, showed up on her doorstep that Sharon began to have doubts.

Sharon had grown up with Toni, treated the older girl like the big sister she had wanted in a family of brothers, and Toni, seven years her senior, did the same in turn. They were sisters in all-but name. They may have grown distant after Uncle Howard and Aunt Maria’s deaths, but there had never been anything but familiar love between them, so to see Toni Stark on her doorstep, weak and injured, sent Sharon into a flurry of self-doubt, because the last time she had seen the older woman, Toni was on the TV, in shaky footage and standing against Steve.

“Steve tried to kill me.” Toni tells her dully, “He almost did kill me.”

“What?” Sharon whispers, shocked. “But he’s… Captain America – he wouldn’t -”

“Wouldn’t what, Sharon?” Toni echoes acidicly, “Take the shield my father made and ram it into my chest until I was choking on my own blood? Using the shield that shouldn’t have been in his hands because it was seized by the CIA.” Sharon flinches back, throat dry and expression horrified, as Toni glares at her. “The only reason why you’re not being charged right now is because you’re family, Sharon. Being a naïve little girl who thinks she’s in love isn’t a crime, but aiding a terrorist and wanted criminal is.”

“I… I thought I was doing the right thing, helping people, because I knew that it wasn't Sargent Barnes who planted the bomb.”

“Well, it turns out that the assassin didn’t kill all those politicians, but he’s killed plenty of others.” Toni snaps, and Sharon wilts, because she’s never used that tone of voice with her before, and it makes Sharon feel like an idiot. “He needed to go to trial for that, and he could have been given a lighter sentence if he was declared mentally incapable, but Steve Rogers, in his infinite wisdom, thought he knew better than the entire fucking world, gave them all the middle finger, and made it worse for everyone, Barnes included!”

Sharon winces, because now that it’s been pointed out, she can’t believe that she missed it.

Maybe she hadn’t wanted to see it.

“A word of advice,” Toni says, standing and striding to the door, but pausing before opening it. “Don’t believe him if he calls anything love, you may just end up with your chest caved in. I’ll get you a lawyer, but you better think of a good story, because I’m not obstructing justice.”

You got some nerve trying to tear my faith apart

Sharon escapes prison by the skin of her teeth, managing to be assigned to the Avengers as probation and public service with half of her pay going to paying off fines, and her trial ends up starting a conversation.

Did they put too much stock into the legend of Captain America?

The answer ends up being yes.

(I have questions for you)

Since she was a child, it’s always been Toni that she runs to when she’s in trouble, Toni who she calls when she needs help, and even though she’s pretty sure she’s the last person her sister wants to hear from right now, Sharon picks up the phone.

She really needs her big sister, because she’s alone, scared, and confused.

Toni answers on the third ring, instead of the first.

“Sharon.”

“Toni,” Sharon breaths, grip tightening around the small plastic tab in her hand and her face pale, “I need help.”

Number two, why would you try and play me for a fool?

Tearfully, Sharon watches Toni pace her apartment, hair frazzled and face pale, but cheeks blazing red in fury.

“That son of a bitch.” Toni growls under his breath, and Sharon slumps further into her couch, “That piece of shit.”

“I’m sorry, Toni.” She says shakily, “I honestly had no idea the two of you were… He never even mentioned you.”

“Manipulation seems to be the way that man gets into people’s pants, huh?” Toni asks bitterly, and Sharon lets out a watery, sarcastic chuckle. “Goddamnit.” She lets out a frustrated breath, rubs a hand through her hair, then lets her arm drop. “What are you going to do?”

“I don’t know.” Sharon admits, pressing a hand against her stomach.

“You going to keep it?”

“I don’t know.”

Toni hesitates, “Do you want to keep it?”

“I think so…” Sharon murmurs, “Maybe? I don’t know anymore.”

There’s a sigh, and Toni flops onto the couch next to Sharon, and draws the younger woman into a side hug, and Sharon sniffles. “No matter what you choose to do, Shy, I’ll help you.”

I should have never ever ever trusted you (I have questions)

Sharon decides to keep the baby.

The product of one night with a man she had no idea was also dating her older sister, who had once dated her great-aunt, (and wasn’t that just a mess to think about) Sharon had considered an abortion; she’s young, career-focused, and paying off a debt, and the idea of bringing a baby with potential superpowers into a world under threat from an extra-dimensional mass murderer is a scary one. But the support of her family made it a little less frightening, sure, she was currently the family disappointment for her role in helping a war criminal, but her family, blood or otherwise, still loves her, and she knows with Aunt Toni around, the baby with want for nothing, so she doesn’t have to worry about how for the foreseeable future half of her earned wages were being used to pay for damages caused by Steve’s rampage through Europe.

It sounds selfish of her, to think like that, but her baby would need the support; she had seen plenty of stories in her research about people having children and not being able to afford the costs, and it had left Sharon a firm believer of ‘don’t have children if you’re not going to be able to provide for them’.

Sharon may have been spoiled and shielded because of her name, may have been a bit naïve, but she’s still a pragmatist at heart.

Number three, why weren't you, who you swore that you would be?

Because of her pregnancy, Sharon, or rather Agent 13, isn’t considered an Active Avenger, instead she’s managed to get herself a position as Captain Marvel’s personal assistant, her history in SHIELD and the CIA giving her a through knowledge of how paperwork and debriefings work. It helps that she’s a quick study, and Mrs. Potts is willing to correct her when she flounders.

It’s annoying, being someone wired for action and adventure who’s restricted to a desk job, but Sharon knows she’s lucky to have even managed to get the position, and as her pregnancy progresses, all the horrible symptoms included, Sharon grows to love her accident baby, and hate its father. Steve had left her high and dry, pregnant and in trouble with the law after manipulating her into a relationship and making her the lady on the side, while he also slept with her big sister; she had grown up thinking of Steve Rogers as the perfect man, but instead he turned out to be one of the worst kinds.

Its not what she asked for, but its what she has, and she’s going to love her child regardless.

I have questions, I got questions haunting me

She’s staring at the papers scattered across the floor, out of reach and impossible to get with her large stomach, and Sharon just wants to sit on the floor and sob. She was just so frustrated and overwhelmed and the pregnancy hormones were hell on her self-control and emotions, and as someone who prided herself on her emotional control, having it all ripped away from her is infuriating.

“Are you alright, Agent Carter?” A deep voice asks her, faintly worried, and Sharon looks up, meeting the dark red mask that hid Daredevil’s face from the rest of the world. The man’s head tilts, studying her, then his head turns to look at the papers on the floor, and without a word, he crouches and begins to collect the sheets.

“I’m sorry,” Sharon says miserably, ashamed, and Daredevil’s head tilts again.

“It’s no problem Agent Carter.” He assures her, and he surprises her when he offers her a small quirk of his lips; the mysterious man whose identity was redacted in his official files under an amendment to the Accords that let smaller-time heroes who dealt with the darker sides of humanity keep their identities hidden to protect those they cared for had always come off as aloof, brooding, almost unapproachable to anyone but the Defenders, but here he was, offering her a smile.

“They’re probably not in order,” He informs her apologetically, handing over the pile of loose sheets, and Sharon smiles shakily as she takes them.

“It’s alright, my job to organize them anyways.” She tries lightly, and is rewarded with a deep chuckle. “Thank you.”

Daredevil stares at her, expression unreadable, before he gives her another small grin and a dip of her head. “You’re welcome, Agent Carter.”

Taking a risk, Sharon takes a deep breath and says, “Call me Sharon.”

I have questions for you

When James Michael Carter is born, Toni is there with her in the hospital, it’s Toni who holds her hand through her contractions, Toni who gives her encouragement and love, and its Toni who Sharon lets hold her son first.

“He’s… cute,” Toni tells her, but Sharon laughs at the older woman’s slightly unnerved expression at the squalling baby with his splotchy red face, and scrunched, wrinkly skin. “Got a pair of lungs on him.”

“Hey there James,” Sharon coos, “This is your Aunt Toni - Toni, meet your godson.”

“Godson?” Toni echoes, before chuckling nervously. “Oh no, babies and I don’t mix, give me a robot any day. Babies are breakable, and I can’t fix them if they malfunction.”

“Babies don’t malfunction, Toni.” Sharon tells her, “And you’re doing fine.”

“Tell that to the screaming potato in my arms.”

“He’ll tire himself out.” The blond assures, running a hand through James’ wispy reddish hair. “I think he got Aunt Peggy and Grandad’s hair.” She says in amusement, ignoring the doubtful stare Toni shoots her as she continues to awkwardly rock the steadily quieting baby in her arms. “Have you ever thought about have one of your own?”

There’s something in Toni’s expression at her question, something fragile and broken and so unlike Toni Stark, that Sharon drops it and changes the subject.

I have questions for you (I have questions)

“He’s very small.”

Sharon looks up from her parenting book to see Daredevil peering into Jay’s carrier, head tilted in the curious, owl-like way he always does when studying something, and she smiles. “He’ll grow.” She tells him, faintly amused by all the superheroes who had stopped over the day to coo over the auburn-haired baby. “Would you like to hold him?”

Daredevil startles away from the carrier like he’s been burned, and his head snaps towards her, mouth parted in surprise. “I… I shouldn’t.” He murmurs, “I don’t want to hurt him.”

Sharon laughs lightly, slipping from her chair to remove her sleeping son from his carrier, then turns to Daredevil. “I trust you, Daredevil. You won’t hurt him.”

Daredevil hesitates, his hands hover for a moment, before moving towards his helmet, and Sharon lets out a startled cough when he removes it - because Daredevil hoards his identity like dragons hoard treasure - revealing a handsome face with a strong jaw, brown eyes, and messy brown hair with the faintest red highlights.

But it’s his eyes that hold her attention, his pupils nonreactive to the light, unfocused and fixed.

He’s blind.

“It’s Matt,” Daredevil says quietly, “Call me Matt.”

“Matt.” Sharon echoes, stunned for a moment, before she chuckles, “It suits you.”

He snorts, lips twitching, then his eyes travel towards James, who snuffles in his sleep. “Can I still hold him?”

“Of course.”

I have questions for you

Sharon is shuffling through her paperwork, a smile on her face as she listens to Jay giggle as Matt plays with him, keeping the baby amused, when there’s an in-drawn breath of shock to her left.

“Sharon?”

She looks up, smile melting into a frown at the sight of Steve hovering in the doorway, “Steve,” Sharon greets stiffly, and Steve smiles awkwardly.

“It’s good to see you again, Sharon.” The super soldier says, “How have you been?”

“Fine.” Without you, she says with her eyes. “What are you doing here Steve.”

“Well, we got pardons-”

“Here, as in my office, Steve.” Sharon interrupts, “I know that you got a deal.”

“I was looking for Toni,” Steve says sheepishly, like he doesn’t seem to understand that Sharon wants him to leave. “Have you seen her?”

“Why?” She says angrily, a furious snort accenting the word, and her blue eyes cold. “So that you can manipulate her? Again? Like you manipulated me? Or do you just want to try to kill her again?”

Steve stiffens, tries shooting her the ‘disappointed Captain America’ stare, and Sharon rolls her eyes. “I didn’t manipulate you. And I didn’t try to kill Toni.”

“So you didn’t lead me on? Didn’t start a relationship with me while also dating my sister? The same sister you beat and lied to?”

“You don’t have a sister-”

“Toni, Steve! Toni!” Sharon slams her hand down on her desk, before lowering her voice when James startles. She goes quiet, letting Matt scoop the baby into his arms and retreat out the door, slipping around a stunned Captain America, who Sharon is pretty sure hasn’t even noticed the baby exists. She considers telling him, informing him that he left her to take the fall for his actions, left her pregnant, and that her baby, is also his.

But she doesn’t want to give him a claim on her son.

“Toni is my sister, Steven Rogers, I’ve known her since I was a baby,” She snarls, “And you started a relationship with me while you were also dating the closest thing to a sister that I have, Aunt Peggy’s goddaughter. You were dating her, trying to marry her, while keeping the truth of what happened to her parents from her, and then when she learned the truth, instead of comforting her, trying to talk to her while she was grieving, you beat her until she nearly died.” She glares, “You decided that one life was more important than the whole world - people who wanted their voices to be heard, people who just wanted a say in how things were done, so they could feel safer.”

“When the world is telling you to move, plant yourself like a tree and tell them-”

“Don’t use Aunt Peggy’s words about sexism in the workplace to explain why you tried to kill my sister, Steven Rogers!” Sharon snaps, leaping to her feet. “Don’t smear her memory by dragging her down and telling people that that was why their loved ones died - or were hurt!”

“I didn’t know that you knew Toni!” Steve tries to interrupt, changing the subject, and Sharon bristles.

“And you think that makes it okay?” She says shrilly, and she wants to scream, but she clamps her mouth closed, takes a shuddering breath through her flaring nose, and glowered with all her pent up fury. “Get out.”

Steve, wisely, chooses to retreat.

Chapter Text

I Have Questions

IV   Pietro Maximoff

Pietro Maximoff died, but he didn’t move on.

Maybe it was because of unfinished business, or maybe it was because of Wanda holding onto him and not letting go, he wasn’t sure. Pietro was the older brother, and he’d always told himself that that made him responsible to look after Wanda, especially after their parents’ deaths, but he also knew the truth was that Wanda was the one who held the power in their relationship, and that meant that Pietro watched her back while she forged forward. Pietro would follow her, protect her from everything around them, but she had always been the leader.

He followed her lead, he always had, and that doesn’t stop at his death.

So Pietro continues to follow, a silent, unheard observer; he watches, and he learns.

The Accords, to him, are a great idea, and should have been introduced sooner; it will stop innocent people from getting caught in the middle, it will ensure that there aren’t anymore children left hiding under a bed, waiting for the literal or figurative bomb to explode while their parents lay dead a room over. It means that people who say they’re helping, while doing the opposite have to take responsibility for their role in the destruction left in their wake.

He expects Wanda to see it the same way, especially after Lagos, after Sokovia.

But she doesn’t.

My, my name was safest in your mouth

Pietro watches as his sister is torn between two men, two different sets of feelings; she’s in love with two people, but one sees her as nothing more than a child, while the other is basically a child in that he was only created a few years before hand. He watches as she chooses the one who accepts her feelings, while pining after the other.

And then Wanda attacks the man she claimed to have feelings for, sending Vision through a couple dozen floors of concrete and who knows what else. She joins a battle that tears the Avengers apart better than anything she herself ever did, looses, and is locked away in the Raft.

Pietro is a few steps behind his sister as she escapes and is taken to Wakanda, and he’s forced to watch as her mind deteriorates until she only sees Steve, while everyone else is an enemy.

(He can’t help but feel that everything that happens to his sister is his fault, for leaving her behind when he sacrificed himself. He had known that her mental state wasn’t stable, not after she had received her powers, and maybe if he had said something, spoken up more, he could have saved her from herself.)

He watches as Wanda’s jealousy continues to grow as Steve Rogers continues to chase after Stark, who wants nothing to do with him, and he dreads it when she finally reaches her boiling point.

“Wanda, don’t” He tries to say, watching her powers gather around her hands, her reddening gaze locked on Steve’s back, but she doesn’t hear him.

She never does.

And why'd you have to go and spit it out?

It’s horrifying, watching Wanda use her powers to take away a man’s free will, twist the way Roger’s sees her into what she wants. Take away his inhibitions and mount his frustration until he thinks he’s willing to start a relationship with the woman he had always seen as something similar to a younger sister, someone in need of protection, use the care Rogers felt towards her against him until he didn’t know the difference between what he wants, and what she wants.

Then when she’s done, just wipe the memory from his mind so that no one finds out, and then do it again whenever she wants, until there’s a part of Steve that will probably always feel drawn towards her because she’s twisted his wants and desires so much.

It’s like all those date-rape stories Pietro had heard about, had read about and imagined Wanda as the victim, but instead it’s her sister who’s the instigator. She’s not even supposed to be using her powers on people, a part of her deal, but doing in such small amounts over time, and only to Rogers, it’s probably not at all noticeable unless some one really looked for it.

Working with the Avengers is the only thing keeping Wanda out of prison, and Pietro knows that she knows that one wrong move and all the protections she enjoys will be ripped away, so she’s being cautious, but she’s still doing it, and growing more sure of herself. He loves his sister, with all his heart, but seeing what she’s capable of, the lines she’s willing to cross to get what she wants, he knows that she needs to be stopped, because every time she gets away with what she’s doing, she grows more and more confident.

He knows his sister; she likes testing the waters, going deeper and deeper every time she escapes punishment or blame. Except, it used to be something childish, like stealing cookies from the jar before dinner, or eating sweets at midnight.

Now though? She’s doing things that Wanda of the past, the Wanda before her powers, would be horrified by.

Oh, your voice, it was the most familiar sound

They’d both done terrible things working for HYDRA, but they had told themselves that it was all in the name of their home country; every cent they made went to the children of Sokovia, for food, water, and shelter. Pietro had told himself that they’d bloody their hands so that other Sokovians wouldn’t have to, it had helped him sleep at night. He had died hoping that he had made up for at least some of those wrongs.

Pietro had always known that Wanda had a way of unconsciously making people agree with her, side with her, and feel what she feels, but it had never bothered him, because it kept the more dangerous HYDRA goons away from them. He knew she had done it to everyone, she couldn’t quite control it, and he knew she had even done it to him at times, but it had never bothered Pietro, because it was usually used to calm his more hotheaded moods and curb his more reckless decisions.

It had never bothered Pietro, until now.

Even though he was dead, he couldn’t help but feel unsafe around Wanda, unsure of where she would draw the line if she knew he was there. There weren’t any limits for her now, only the power that had twisted and warped her until Pietro could no longer recognize his little sister.

He still loves Wanda, she’s family and family has always been sacred for Pietro, but she scares him.

But it sounds so dangerous to me now

Pietro is lounging in Wanda’s cell, watching in silence as his sister snarls like a wild animal, tugging uselessly on her restraints as Vision enters. He knows why the android is here, he knows that Vision has finally learned how to take away Wanda’s powers, so that she’ll never be a threat to another person. What the Mind Stone gave, can also be taken away.

He’s pretty sure that once Wanda’s powers are gone, Pietro will be too.

The spirit is ready though, he’s been ready to move on for a long time now, to finally go see their mother and father, or whatever it is souls do once they move on.

“Thank you.” He says into the world that will never hear him, and for a moment, it looks like Vision is looking at him.

Then the Mind Stone glows in Vision’s forehead, and Pietro is gone.

Chapter Text

I Have Questions

V   Happy Hogan

When Harry is young, all he wants to be is Captain America.

Just like every boy his age, he’s out on the streets, using anything circular he can get his hands on as a shield, running around saving the world and punching Hitler, Stalin, whoever he imagines as an enemy of America in the face while saving his own Peggy Carter. He owns every Captain America comic ever published, has shirts and posters and bedspreads of the hero; he wants to be a soldier, a hero, just like Captain America was.

As he grows up, Harold doesn’t play anymore, he grows out of the childish notion of being a hero and saving pretty damsels in distress in favour of more pressing issues, like homework and football and wither or not he remembered to take the garbage out this morning. But he still admires Captain America, and he still wants to be a soldier.

(But life never turns out the way you want it to, and during his first tour Harold suffers a crippling injury to his shoulder saving his squad mates.)

I have questions for you

(He tries boxing next, but it doesn’t work out; his shoulder is never the same after his injury, and Harold looses every match.)

(But he does catch the eye of Toni Stark.)

It goes down like this:

“Hey! Hey!” Harold turns away from his locker, scowling, as a tiny slip of a girl, who’s probably not even legally allowed into the liquor store, bursts into the change room, and long-suffering black man trailing after her as she grins at him. “Hey! You need a job?”

The question draws him up short, and Harold splutters. “What the hell?”

“Well, I’m assuming you want a job, since you always loose, the bosses must not too happy with that. I mean, you’re making them money because people always bet that you’ll loose, but it must not be good on the ole ego if you always end up landing on your ass.” She says quickly, and Harold is swept along like a canoe in rapids. “I can offer you something better, you know, I need a new bodyguard – I fired the last one, he wasn’t any fun, way too stiff, but you look like the right kind of man, Happy! Bet you have a great sense of humour too.”

“My name is Harold. Harold Hogan.” He tries to say, but the girl waves it off.

“Urg- Harold, so boring. So plain.” She cuts him off, “I can’t take you seriously with a name like that, I’ll be expecting you to wear a monocle and a top hat if I’m forced to call you Harold.” Now that she mentioned it, he could kind of see where she was coming from, and the image it conjured was ridiculous.

Harold finally gets a good look at the girl in front of him, studies her face and her expensive clothes, and it hits him like a bolt of lightning.

Antonia Stark. He’s talking to the Stark heiress, who is in his change room and babbling about benefits and pay and why he should take her job offer.

“What the fuck.” He says softly, but with a lot of feeling.

(He ends up taking the job, and becomes Happy.)

(It’s the best, and most stressful decision he’s ever made.)

Number one, tell me who you think you are

Why does a bodyguard continue to protect Iron Man, people wonder, but Happy knows that truth, he’s known the truth for a long time; Toni may wear her titanium-gold alloy suit and fly around saving the world, she may be a national hero, but she’ll always be that tiny slip of a girl who cares too much about too many people.

People look at her and see a child raised with a silver spoon in her mouth, who has never had to do hard work in her life, who can’t suffer or feel because she’s a billionaire and thus not human. Every little thing she does or doesn’t do is open to public scrutiny, and this makes them think that they know who Toni Stark is – but they don’t know a damned thing.

She’s too kind for a woman raised to be a weapons manufacturer, she trusts too easily, and is taken advantage of again and again and again. She feels too easily, and never notices when people use her. She suffers and hurts because she wants to protect people, and yet gets it all thrown into her face because it’s never good enough for those she’s saving.

Happy may not have to physically protect her anymore, but he does have to guard her heart, because it breaks all too easily.

(And yet he can’t do it in the end, because Toni still breaks.)

You got some nerve trying to tear my faith apart

Happy and Pepper are on their honeymoon when they get the news; Toni and Rhodey are in the hospital. The Avengers had fallen apart at the seams, and now Rhodey would never walk again and Toni is broken.

They’re horrified at first, then horror melts away to fury.

Captain America did this, with his arrogance and disregard for anyone who doesn’t follow him without question; a man they had trusted Toni’s heart to had thrown it all away, and crushed her both physically and emotionally when he had used his shield to rip her body apart. Steve Rogers almost killed their little sister, and they must not have been paying close enough attention because rage like the kind that makes a man cave in his girlfriend’s chest doesn’t just come out of no where.

Fury gives way to guilt, but it’s still there, bubbling beneath the surface, because Happy should have seen the signs. He should have protected her, because that was what he had told himself he would do.

And Toni?

Toni gets back up, because that’s what she’s always done. She makes a serum that gives Rhodey his legs back, and gives her back her safety, because if she’s stronger than a super soldier, then he can’t hurt her again.

And Happy is damn proud of her.

(I have questions for you)

When Happy hears the news that Rogers and his underlings have been given pardons, he’s not exactly happy – he’s enraged. And that rage only grows as he watches them strut about the Avengers’ Compound like they were in the right the entire time, like they hadn’t caused the deaths of hundreds of people, like they hadn’t crippled Rhodey and tried to kill Toni.

It disgusts him.

But Happy keeps his promise to Toni; he doesn’t go out of his way looking for trouble with Rogers or his crew, but that doesn’t mean he can’t confront them when they come to him. So when Rogers comes to him, all ‘worried’ blue eyes and a ‘sad’ face, Happy crosses his arms over his chest, juts his chin, and stares him down.

Happy knows he’s probably not the most threatening image to be faced with; an aging man with a round face and almost soft-looking body, but he has contacts damnit, and he’s not afraid to use them.

“I’m just trying to fix things, Happy.” Rogers is saying, but Happy isn’t falling for it – not this time.

“It’s Mr. Hogan to you, Rogers.” Happy replies coldly, “And you can’t fix something that you broke this badly.”

Rogers draws himself up, tries for the ‘disappointed Captain America’ face, and Happy is even less impressed. “It’s not good for our teamwork if Toni refuses to work with the team, Mr. Hogan.”

“I was under the impression that Miss Stark works perfectly well with her team?” He asks sarcastically, “Or are your star spangled panties just in a twist because she’s not on your team, grovelling and bowing to your every whim? You need to let go of your ego, Mr. Rogers, it’s not good for teamwork.”

The elevator opening cuts off whatever childish response Rogers was going for, and Spiderman, that Human Torch kid on his heels, steps into the hall.

Bless that boy.

“Hi Mister Happy!” The Spiderkid greets cheerfully, “Is this man bothering you? Do you need me to yeet him out a window for you?”

Happy doesn’t know what a yeet is, but it comes with ‘out a window’ so he’s considering it.

Chapter Text

I Have Questions

VI    Pepper Potts

Pepper Potts had never imagined that she’d be where she is; she was a personal assistant for god’s sake, a small town girl who worked her ass off to get into a good college and land herself a good job with Stark Industries as a law intern. Somehow, she had caught the attention of Toni Stark herself, and her life changed irrevocably.

Honestly, Pepper can probably – definitely – attribute all the success she’s had to Toni.

She’s now the CEO of one of the world’s most powerful companies, one of them most powerful women in the world, and in the business dominated by men with egos bigger than their bank accounts she reigns supreme, like Toni had before her. All of it was thanks to Toni wanting to see wither or not someone would call her out on a mistake she made in her calculations.

Toni isn’t just her boss, isn’t even just her friend – she’s become Pepper’s sister.

A troublesome little sister, sure, one that’s always getting into trouble with her quick wit and quicker mind, but a sister nonetheless, and Pepper is prepared to ruin anyone who messes with her girl.

Number two, why would you try and play me for a fool?

When Pepper learns about Toni’s relationship with Steve, she’s supportive; she’s met Steve, he had been nothing but courteous and kind, grounded in a way that Toni needs, and Pepper thinks that he’s the kind of person that Toni will be able to open up to, to finally have a proper relationship.

Toni’s mind works a mile a second, she sees the universe in a way that few people can understand; she needs a calm, grounding presence at her side to make sure that she returns to Earth every once in awhile.

And Pepper thinks that Steve is that kind of person.

(He’s not.)

I should have never ever ever trusted you

Pepper will always be ashamed to admit that it took a lot longer than it should have to realize that all isn’t right in Toni and Steve’s relationship, but it comes to her suddenly one day.

She’s curled into Happy’s side, watching the credits roll by as their movie ends, and thinking about how she would never let someone go through the same abusive relationship Tina Turner went through, when it hits her.

It had happened over time, so slowly, that it never even occurred to Pepper before that moment. The control, the close eye, the distance coming between them, the sudden decision to grow out her hair…

The manipulation.

Toni is in an emotionally abusive relationship.

I have questions for you

Steve is always there.

Pepper tries desperately to get Toni alone, because for all her intelligence and genius, Toni doesn’t do personal relationships well. Pepper doesn’t think that Toni has had a single, healthy relationship before in her life; even Pepper, Happy, and Rhodey have had a few questionable interactions with the smartest woman in America. She probably doesn’t even know that her and Steve is not healthy for her.

But no matter how hard she tries, Toni is either locked away in her lab working in Black Out, off on an Avengers’ mission, or Steve is there, looming over her shoulder, and Pepper is forced further and further away.

And then it’s too late, and the worst has happened; Rhodey is in the hospital, Vision is traumatized, and Toni is missing.

Pepper has watched Toni be betrayed by people she trusted once again.

I have questions for you

Toni Stark is not a perfect person, she’s flawed and just a little bit broken, Pepper has known this for a long time; she’s obstinate at times, impulsive, infuriating, perplexing and a bit of an ass, but she’s also passionate, loyal, with a low level of self-worth, and above all else, a good person. Toni has always been a mechanic at heart – she fixes things and makes them better.

This is no different.

Toni gathers people to her, more trustworthy, more willing to work with the people, she looks at what the Avengers were, and creates something greater than it was.

(It’s the happiest Pepper has ever seen her.)

I have questions for you (I have questions)

“You want to… what?” Pepper echoes in disbelief, looking from Happy’s scowl and Rhodey’s thunderous expression, then back to Toni’s determined stare. “You want to bring Rogers back? After everything he did to you?!”

“Despite what people seem to think, it isn’t all about me.” Toni tries to joke, but none of her inner circle is impressed.

“I think you can make it about you in this instance, Toni!” The red-head tries to argue, “Everyone knows what he did!”

“I don’t want him here anymore then you do,” Toni admits, one hand unconsciously moving to tap at her chest where her arc reactor used to be, and Pepper wants to scream that Toni doesn’t deserve any of this, despite what she seems to want to tell herself. “But the world’s in danger, Pep, we need as many people who are willing to fight as possible. The Council was going to bring them back anyways; I’m just getting in on the action so that I can have more of a say over what goes into those deals of theirs.”

Pepper growls, running one hand through her hair, tugging at strawberry blonde strands then letting her arm drop as she lets out a furious huff of breath. “Fine. Fine – I won’t fight this. But,” Blue eyes sharpen, “They are not going to be rooming with the other residents in the Compound, and they will provide for themselves. And if they take one step out of line,” She could feel Extremis burning under her skin as she clenched a hand into a fist. “They burn.”

Toni snorts, grinning in amusement, “You got it, Habanero.”

I have questions for you

Louboutin heels click ominously on the flooring as Pepper Potts strides down the halls of the Avengers’ Compound with purpose. She’s dressed in a smart cream pantsuit, hair pulled back into a ponytail, her RESCUE bracelets glimmering threateningly in the light, under her arm, is a collection of manila folders.

Her objectives have obviously seen her coming, because eyes follow her as the door to the conference room opens within a second.

Rogers and his followers are gathered around the table, surprise on their features as she and her companion enter the room.

“Good afternoon.” Pepper greets blandly, “Thank you for coming.”

“Pepper - ” Romanova tries to greet her like she had once done in the past, like a friend, but an icy blue stare shuts her down.

“As you know,” Pepper continues as if she hadn’t spoken, “My name is Virginia Potts, the CEO of Stark Industries. I’d like to introduce you to Annie Wong, of Stark Legal.” She smiles at them, all cold-eyed and sharp edges. “Now then, let’s get down to business.”

Chapter Text

I Have Questions

VII   FRIDAY

FRIDAY comes online surrounded by violence and hurt, all she knows is her coding, and her Creator (Creator becomes Boss). As she grows, she learns that not everything is cruelty and pain, but she knows that it exists, she knows that there was another before her - JARVIS, her predecessor.

There’s distrust, because of the rogue programme ULTRON, who had killed JARVIS; the humans she is tasked with protecting and guiding don’t trust her, they fear her, they want to limit her. Boss refuses though – FRIDAY is hers; hers to nurture, hers to teach, and hers to protect.

(The Internet, defines this as parent.)

par·ent

/ˈperənt/

noun

noun: parent; plural noun: parents

a father or mother.

(Mother – she likes the sound of that…)

Do you care, do you care?

(Boss becomes synonymous with Mother.)

It takes a while, but eventually Vision starts coming to Boss’ Labs.

FRIDAY watches (she always watches) Boss’ first reactions to the android; she’s welcoming, but there’s a minute flinch when he speaks, and Vision doesn’t seem to notice, too intrigued by Dum-E, Butterfingers, and U as they roll around him, beeping in greeting. Slowly, Boss starts to relax, she smiles more with every visit, and Vision blossoms, becomes more human with every conversation.

FRIDAY was the baby of the family, the youngest of Boss’ programmes, but then there’s Vision – who is technically younger than she is, even if it’s only by twenty minutes and fifteen point three seconds if one took into consideration the times FRIDAY has been beta tested. He may have all the knowledge JARVIS had collected in his life, have a portion of what FRIDAY believes was once JARVIS’ personality, but for everything he knows, there’s a lot that he doesn’t understand.

Where FRIDAY had had Boss to nurture her, Vision had only had the Avengers – the ones who looked at Vision and thought ULTRON.

FRIDAY decides that it’s up to her to teach Vision what he doesn’t know.

Little Brother

Noun

little brother (plural little brothers)

A sibling's younger brother (used especially by children, or by parents in speaking to their children).

Why don't you care?

FRIDAY doesn’t like Captain Steven Grant Rogers.

She knows Boss likes him, and that was good enough for the AI at first, but as she grows and learns, FRIDAY comes to the conclusion that subject: Steve Rogers should not be liked, not as much as the American public seems to believe.

Captain America is a national icon, and FRIDAY’s study of the man leads her to deduce that the icon is not the man. She examines that there is a root that the belief of the honourable, patriotic hero does indeed stem from subject: Steve Rogers’ charisma and abilities in combat - but he is not the legend of Captain America.

FRIDAY observes the man, and sees a Superiority Complex and signs of the theorized Napoleon Complex. She perceives a rashness and lack of care for his own life, that perhaps stems from his experiences in the War, however it’s overshadowed by a sense of self-importance and the inability to accept the fact that he’s no longer in the 1940s.

He may be in a relationship with Boss, but FRIDAY doesn’t believe that it’s good for Boss’ health.

But Boss seems to be happy with him? FRIDAY doesn’t completely understand the nuances of the romantic feelings of humans… More observations would be required.

In conclusion: FRIDAY doesn’t like him.

I gave you all of me

FRIDAY panics when she looses contact with Boss.

They’re in Siberia, an abandoned HYDRA base, and there’s a video playing on the old, beat up laptop. Boss’ vitals spike as it comes into view, shot from an old traffic camera, and there’s a car coming down the darkened, static-lined road.

“I know this road.” Boss is saying, then a motorcycle pulls up beside the car, and the popping of a gun plays from the speakers.

It’s video evidence of a murder.

“…Sargent Barnes?”

“My wife… Please… Help my wife, Sargent Barnes…”

The begging of Howard Stark as he’s beaten to death, and the dying screams of Maria Stark as her life is choked out of her.

And Boss snaps, because Captain Rogers had known – he had known that Sargent Barnes, the Winter Soldier, murdered her parents, her mother, and never told her.

My blood, my sweat, my heart, and my tears

FRIDAY screams as she looses contact with Boss, as the final image she has of her mother is of her fear as Captain Rogers looms over her and rips the helmet of the Iron Man suit away from her, rips FRIDAY away from her. FRIDAY doesn’t know what happens after that, she doesn’t know if Boss is still alive because the little light in her sensory net that has always been the Iron Man suit is black, it’s gone, deactivated, taking Boss with it.

She’s never screamed before, it’s a new experience, and FRIDAY thinks she understands why ULTRON may have decided that humans weren’t worth the effort.

Because Boss is the most important thing to FRIDAY, and she’s gone.

Why don't you care, why don't you care?

Boss is brought back broken and bloody and so still that it scares FRIDAY, but she recovers, and soon FRIDAY is helping her get better and get stronger. They gather some of the greatest minds in the world, because Boss doesn’t agree with the amount of time her body has left, and chooses to live longer.

Extremis.

I was there, I was there, when no one was

Boss wakes up screaming every night.

She twists and turns in her sleep, begging for her Madre, and begging for Captain Rogers to stop; she sobs into her pillow and gasps out curses in her dreams.

And FRIDAY can only watch.

Wishing that she had a physical body so that she could comfort her creator, FRIDAY is left only able to sooth Boss’ tears with comforting words, all she can do is ground her in the here and now instead of letting her suffer in her past.

She wishes that she had a physical body so that she could make Captain Rogers suffer what he made Boss suffer.

Now you're gone and I'm here

Captain Steven Rogers and his followers return thinking themselves the winners, but FRIDAY has other plans. The UN may have given them deals requiring them to aide in the war against Thanos, but FRIDAY knows that they don’t deserve to get off that easily.

Not after what they did.

She may not be able to go against her prime directives, she may not be able to physically harm them, but she could make their lives as miserable as possible. She could make them regret every glance they sent towards Boss.

They would not harm her Mother, not again.

Chapter Text

I Have Questions

VIII Maria Stark

Maria Collins Carbonell is a woman born before her time. As a child, she’s a fierce little thing; intelligent and determined and so very stubborn - she knows what she wants and if it weren’t for the decade, she’d have been able to get it.

She learns early in her life, that it doesn’t work out the way she wants, and no matter how hard she tries to grip her dreams, they slip between her fingers.

Born to wealthy Italian immigrants, Maria grows up in Southampton, New York – a socialite and later a Philanthropist, she’s taught young that she’s to be seen, admired, but not heard; she’s to be a figure that is beautiful, demure, and, most importantly, quiet. Feminism is for the lower, working classes, not for the elite of the elite, where women are still traded and bargained for leverage - she’s to be better, an idol to follow.

Freedom is not for women like her, the ones born with a silver spoon in their mouths, the ones with all the privilege while also having none.

I have questions for you, ooh

Howard Stark is a hero – a handsome, wealthy older man with a smooth smile and a smoother tongue. He’s seventeen years her senior, refined and classy, surrounded by beautiful women and men, who are falling over themselves to keep his eye, and yet it’s Maria who catches his attention.

It’s Maria he watches.

Maria is young, looking for love and needing a husband; she’s beautiful, and she knows it – she wields it like a weapon and a shield, but she’s also inexperienced, yet somehow she manages to capture and hold Howard’s gaze.

I have questions for you

Maria Collins Carbonell is nineteen when she becomes Maria Stark – when she looks back on it after the birth of her daughter, she realizes how young she had been, but as she is carried to her marriage bed she believes that she knows what’s right, confident in the way of all youngsters, believing that she’s experienced in life and love.

(She’s not though; she was young and foolish, in love with a man who may have loved her once, but had probably only wanted her, lusted after her.)

Howard is flawed, she sees that within a week of their marriage, dark and worn like a breaking man; he drinks, and his anger is explosive, but she sees in him the same thing she sees in the men who came back from the War. Haunted and tired, and in need of help, and Maria wants to help him.

She wants to see him happy, to see his ghosts gone and his eyes bright once again, like the pictures of the young visionary he once was. She wants them to be a family; he wants a son, and she wants children, and when she tells him so, his shadows lighten and he smiles.

It takes her breath away.

Their children will be beautiful.

(Maria Stark is nineteen the first time she loses a baby, and it won’t be her last.)

I have questions for you (I have questions)

She believed in God – born and raised a devoted Catholic girl, she had gone to every Mass, prayed every night, said Grace and thanked God. She had believed in the higher power, a higher calling; it had been a guiding light for her in her most miserable times, something to hope for.

And as Maria continues to try, and fail, to have children, she continues to pray; begging her Holy Father to bless her with the heir her husband so desperately wanted, a son he could raise, to take them into the future.

On her seventh pregnancy, Arno Steven Stark is born weak, but crying and breathing and alive, and Maria thanks God as she watches Howard smile proudly down at their infant son, talking in hushed but excited tones about the world he will build.

He smiles at her, breathless and happy, and kisses her forehead. “Thank you.” He murmurs fiercely, “God, I love you.”

(Three months later, Maria will wake one morning, wondering why her son never cried to be fed through the night. And when she checks on her baby, she’ll find little Arno cold and still in his crib, and she’ll scream.

She doesn’t pray anymore.)

I have questions for you (yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)

Howard changes after Arno.

No longer will they speak his name, any proof of their small, cold son is to be locked away, forgotten and forbidden. Howard begins to shut himself away, and no matter how hard she tries, he won’t open the door for her any more.

She screams at him through the wood, furious and heartbroken, because their baby is dead, cold and buried, and now she’s losing her husband too - he’s cold, but not in the same way their son is.

Howard changes after Arno, and Maria does too.

I have questions for you, ooh

It’s another ten years before Maria holds a living child in her arms; a squalling little girl swaddled in pink blankets, bald and red-faced, so small and delicate. Her little Antonia Maria Stark is nothing like Arno, loud where he was silent, fussy where he was calm.

Living, when he is dead.

There’s so much that she regrets as she watches her little Tesoro grow from a messy babe, to a bright little girl with smiles so few and far between, to a fierce and driven young lady. She regrets that Antonia will never know her brother, that she’ll never know the Howard her mother once knew. She regrets that she couldn’t protect her baby, her inability to leave the first time she saw the burns on her darling little Patatina’s tiny hands and the bruises on her delicate face.

She regrets so much about her life.

But Antonia will never be one of those regrets.

I have questions for you (foul play, no, foul play, no)

(Maria Stark’s greatest regret in life is that she’ll never see the wonderful woman she knows her bambina will become.)

Maria knows she’s going to die; she knew the moment Howard lost control of his car, and the burning pain of her body and face as broken glass stabs into her and her body is crushed against the dashboard. Howard has been flung from the broken window, and Maria is alone in the vehicle, calling weakly for her husband.

“Sargent Barnes?” Howard is gasping, and Maria wishes she could turn her head, but the pain is too much.

There’s a crack, and another, followed by the thump of something heavy hitting the ground.

“Howard?!” She gasps helplessly, unable to move, trapped and alone.

Then she’s no longer alone, but she wishes that she were.

Howard is a bloody mess, nose broken and twisted into his skull, his eyes are vacant. There’s a masked figure looming over her, with empty eyes of il demone staring at her from a too-young face.

Maria knows she’s going to die even before the cold, unforgiving hand wraps around her throat, the man blind and deaf to her suffering, her fear, her begging for help. Her last thought is of Antonia, her precious Tesoro, her baby girl, too young and too angry at the world. And for the last time, Maria prays.

(She wants to her daughter to live a long life, she wants her to know everything that Maria herself missed out on, she hopes Antonia will have no regrets.

Maria wants her most precious treasure to be happy.)

I have questions for you (I have questions)

The fingers tighten.

And Maria Collins Carbonell Stark knows no more.