The Daughter's Legacy (Marvel Fanfic)

Chapter 1: Familia

"Bri!"

I looked up from where I had spread out the change from the tip jar on the counter. "I'm in here Vanessa!" Blast it. What number was I at? I muttered to myself, having lost count because of the distraction.

I dumped the metal bucket out again. Tucking a strand of my blond curtain bangs behind my ear I began recounting again. Ten...fifty....seventy-five....eighty one...

"Hey!" Vanessa appeared in the doorway. "Are you able to come in tomorrow for the closing shift?"

"Ninety-eight...one-hundred...one hundred ten." I finished counting. Looking up at the blond haired young woman I nodded. "Yeah, I can."

"Great, I'll let Chris know," she slipped back into the kitchen.

Pocketing my share of the change I called out to my friend, "I left your tips on the counter-we each made six, seventy-five." Not too bad for a five hour shift on a quiet monday.

"Okay, thanks!" Vanessa walked back into the main storefront. She fetched her change and put it in her purse. "That's pretty good with how slow things were."

Flipping the switch to shut off the lights for over the ice cream coolers, I nodded. "It is," I gazed around the darkened store with a satisfied smile. We had closed early today as Chris decided Mondays were quiet enough to shut down at five in the afternoon. "Well I think that's everything," I glanced at my friend. "Did you put the mop back?"

"Yes," she nodded. "I think we're good to go."

"Okay, I'll see you Thursday!" Picking up my purse from the back room I made my way out to my car.

A few minutes later I was driving down the road heading to my house. I switched on the radio, glad another work day at the Ice Cream shop was over. A news channel was playing and I continued flipping through the different stations.

"Crash on exit 3b due to traffic conditions, drivers are urged to-"

"Here are the greatest pop hits of the nineties..."

"Life is a highway, I wanna drive it all night long..."

"Genius billionaire Tony Stark has revealed his plans to sponsor a technology event at...."

Rolling my eyes, I changed my mind and shut the stereo off. It was not worth it, having to scroll through a thousand channels just to find something interesting to listen to. I would be home in a few minutes anyway.

As I turned at an intersection a sleek black car ran the light almost t-boeing me and barely missing ramming into my car.

Heart-pounding, I blared my horn and jerked to the side. The car sped up and continued on its way.

Crazy drivers. I sighed. Even here in the county they are always in a rush. I had only just gotten my license a few weeks ago and already I was over the whole "lunatic driver" thing.

I turned onto a dead end street and slowed down. Kids were playing outside as twilight began to seep into the sky. I pulled the car up a driveway to a two story red farmhouse.

Grabbing my purse and the white bag from my passenger seat, I shut the car off. I opened the door and was all at once overwhelmed by the shrieks of tiny voices.

"She's back!"

"Auntie Bri!"

I was helpless as I was smothered in hugs by three younger children. After a long day of grueling stressful work, being greeted by my nieces and nephews made everything all better-it was good to be home.

"How's the tooth going Nate?" I asked the blond-haired boy. An old man at eight years-Nate was often a serious boy who took great pride in being the man of the family. As the oldest he loved nothing more than to take charge of his five year old sister Lucia.

"Good," the boy grinned, revealing a gap in his top set of front teeth. "It fell out."

"Oh! That's wonderful!" I exclaimed, patting him on the shoulder. Picking up baby Jamie, I took Lucia's hand and began leading the group up the driveway of the house. "It looks like the tooth fairy will be visiting tonight."

"Did you bring any treats for us?''Lucia jumped into the conversation, her blue eyes bright with an eager glow. She reached for the white bag in my hand, her auburn ponytail bouncing as she leaped up.

I held the package up out of her reach, a smile crossing my face. "It's for later tonight, after dinner," I explained.

"Have you been a good buy for your mom today Jamie?" I looked at the curly-blond haired boy in my arms.

"Gwood," the two year old cooed, sucking on his thumb.

I planted a kiss on his forehead, "I'm glad to hear that."

Opening the front door, I was greeted by my smiling middle aged aunt. "Welcome home," she brushed a strand of my straight brown hair out of my eyes and kissed my forehead. "We missed you."

Even being gone for a few hours took its toll. Hugging Jamie tighter and squeezing Lucia's hands, I smiled. "I missed you all too."

**********
Meanwhile somewhere else in a classified location...

"We have acquired the location of the target," a woman in a dark room spoke into her cell phone, her eyes glued to a glowing computer screen. "They are not alone though-I think her family is there; there are children crawling all over her." she added in disgust.

"You'll have to wait until the target is clear, then move in '' a male voice spoke over the speaker. "We can't risk any casualties."

"Got it," the woman watched the live camera feed unfold before her. Now the target was entering the red house and quickly disappeared inside along with all the young children.

"Good," the man added gravely, "Oh and keep it out of the public eye as much as possible."

"I will. Don't worry" the woman's eyes narrowed. "We'll be ready."