Natasha Stark: Arrival

Chapter 27:

Tasha: What was that awful beeping? I felt my eyes flicker open, the bright light burning my eyes. That's when I remembered everything. The fight. Flames. Burning. I sat up, fingering the skin on my back. Sure enough, there were the cold, hard circles on my back.

Tony chuckled and my head flicked to look at him. I hadn't noticed him sitting in a plastic chair next to me. I was amazed. His hair was a mess, he looked like he hadn't shaved, and well, he looked almost normal.

"What are you laughing about?" I asked.

"Your priorities. Oh, you know. I was fried chicken 24 hours ago, but let's make sure the suits okay," Tony said.

I looked down. My skin was even toned and seamless. "I'm fine," I said, a little of my amazement slipping through my voice.

"Yeah," Tony said, "You're lucky. There are some pretty cool doctors here."

"Apparently," I said, "So what'd I miss?"

"Nothing, surprisingly. He's lead us to believe he'll be on to DC. Speaking of going places, as soon as you can walk again, you'll be in Malibu," Tony said.

"What?" I asked, "Why?"

"You nearly got yourself killed," Tony said, "You disobeyed a direct order. You've proven you're too young to realize the dangers of this."

"Disobeyed a direct order directly from you," I said, "And I was saving people. Isn't that what we do?"

"Yes," Tony said, "But we don't normally try to get ourselves killed doing so."

"Danger's sort of part of the job," I said.

"But safety has to come into account," Tony said.

"Then what are fighting for?" I asked, "If we're fighting for ourselves, then why are we even here?!" Tony looked at me, no, studied me for a minute. "Last I checked, we're here to take the danger no one else has the ability to deal with. We're here to be the brave ones. Be brave, remember."

"She said that before any of this. Don't hold your mom's words against me," Tony said.

"I'm not holding her's against you. I'm holding yours!" I was shouting now, "You said those."

"Before you almost died," Tony said, pointedly.

"How does that make a difference. So I only should be brave when it's to your benefit?" I asked.

"Yes!" Tony said.

"I think we all know you can put me in Malibu but you can't keep me there," I said.

"Then why did you stay in the beginning?" Tony asked. That was low. I glared at him.

"Because I've learned if you have nowhere to be you should at least stay where the workshop is," I said, "And my mom thought it would be best." Tony looked down at his shoes.

"I'm sorry," he said, "That was low."

"Yeah, it was," I said.

"How about, if you are in perfect working condition, then you can fight in DC," Tony said.

"I'll be ready," I said, still hurt from the blow from before.

"Don't say that or you'll be in Malibu tomorrow," Tony said. I saluted dryly. Then he left.

Ten minutes later I was bored. They hadn't given me anything to do. So I imagined patterns into the ceiling tiles. Then I heard someone knock on the door. I looked to see Steve standing there. He was dressed in a blue tee shirt and jeans. It was pretty hot, actually.

"Hey," he said, "Heard you were awake."

"Word travels fast," I said.

"Actually, I saw Tony up there muttering curse words and sort of assumed," Steve said. I laughed.

"That seems like the Tony I know," I said.

"So how are you?" Steve asked.

"First, did Tony put a wire on you?" I asked. Steve looked sideways at me. "Did he bump into you, play with your phone, pick up your phone if you dropped it, pat you on the shoulder, anything?"

"Like I said, I just saw him cursing and came down here," Steve said.

"In that case, I hurt a little. But nothing I can't work through," I said, "I'll be ready for DC."

"No one would think bad of you if you weren't, you know," Steve said, "You've proven yourself already. "

"I'm not trying to prove myself!" I said, "I want to help. No one gets that."

"No one's like you," Steve said. He stopped, and I looked in his eyes measuringly. What was he trying to say? "Uh, bravery wise," Steve said finally, looking away.

"Yeah," I said. I nodded. Then I took a deep breath. "This room is extremely boring."

"Well, why don't I entertain you," Steve said.

"It's pretty entertaining to here you talk about tech," I said.

"Well, I want to hear you talk family history," Steve said. I rolled my eyes.

"Sure, pick on the child of divorced parents," I said.

"Well, you're picking on the guy who was asleep for 70 years," Steve said, cocking an eyebrow.

"Well, for your information, I've been doing a little research. Now I know who my grandpa is," I said.

"And?" Steve asked.

"Howard Stark?" I asked.

"Grandma?" Steve asked.

"You don't even know that," I said, "My grandparents on my mom's side are Stanley and Elaine Pells. They raised Cameron, Avery, and Whitney Pells. Cameron has a son named Carson, who is four years old and a daughter named Amber who is 5. Avery is married to Karl Jakes, and they have Sarah and Benny. I was my mom's only child, my mom died of Leukemia, which spread to her lungs and suffocated her."

"And on your dad's side you know Howard, Pepper, and Tony," Steve said.

"I never needed to know more than that," I said.

"But you use Tony's last name?" Steve asked.

I had to think about that one. I did though. I nodded, "I guess so."

And it hadn't even crossed my mind.