Natasha Stark: Arrival

Chapter 31:

Tasha: I walked the parameter of my room. "Are you bored," the familiar AVIS voice said.

"AVIS!" I said, happy to hear her voice.

"Yeah," AVIS said, "Who else talks in your head?"

"I'm so glad to hear you," I said. I had to admit, there had been a small part of me that had thought she was dead.

"I only die when you do," AVIS said.

"Where have you been?" I asked.

"In your head. You seemed occupied," AVIS said. I rolled my eyes.

"The suit's okay?" I asked.

"Yes, you were the only one who had any serious damage done to them," AVIS said. I did an exaggerated shrug. "You aren't thinking that are you?" AVIS asked.

"I'm fighting in DC. And I'm fine," I said, rolling my shoulders back.

"According to my survey, the nerve endings in your abdomen are still pretty burnt," AVIS said. But the suit had already formed over my body. I smiled.

I should probably mention that you have 6 missed calls from Pepper, and one answered by an unauthorized party. You have 100 emails, 99 junk mail, but 1 from Pepper ain't 1, Also on your MIT email you have 6.."

"Did I ask for my phone's run down?" I asked. Then I recalled something AVIS said, "Who answered my phone?"

"Who do you think?" AVIS asked, "Tony."

"Let's go talk to him," I said, pulling back my suit.

I found Tony in the lab with Bruce. "What were you doing in my stuff?" I asked.

"What are you doing standing up?" Tony asked.

"I'm fine," I said, "But answer the question."

"How do you know if I was in your stuff?"

"AVIS tells me things," I said, "Stop avoiding the question."

"I'm not," Tony said, "How does AVIS know anything? You were in critical condition in the operating room."

"So you admit you were in there?" I asked.

"I never said that," Tony said.

"You know AVIS is in all of my devices right? Including my phone?" I asked.

"So I heard your phone ringing and I answered. So what?" Tony asked.

"What were you doing in my stuff?" I asked again.

"I only touched your phone. I never touched the rest of your stuff," Tony said.

I analyzed his words. "Any of your stuff". Specifying?

"The letter," I muttered under my breath, almost as acidic as if it were a curse word.

"Okay, how did you come up with that?" Tony asked.

"You specified," I said drily.

"Okay, so yeah, I found your little letter. Or should I say your mom's letter. But you never had the right to keep that from me," Tony said.

"She was my mom! I had every right to keep what I thought she wouldn't want you to hear from you," I said.

"That literally doesn't make any sense," Tony argued.

"It does because I knew mom better than you ever will," I said.

"I would beg to differ," Tony said. I felt hurt. Did he honestly believe that? He looked at me for a long moment then closed his eyes before taking a deep breath.

"I know you may never understand the feeling of losing her, but I lost my mom. I lost my friend, my supporter, and the one who left what she loved behind so she could raise me the best I could," I said.

"I know," Tony said, "I'm sorry. But don't tell me that I don't know how it feels to lose her. I lost my first best friend, my first love, my first wife, the only person I would ever have the guts to try to raise a kid with. Then I lost her a second time, along with any chance of ever getting that back. So don't you dare tell me I don't know what it is to lose her.

I stared awestruck at Tony as he finished his rant. His jaw was tight and his eyes were glazed over.

"I'm sorry," I whispered.

"I am too," Tony said, "I shouldn't expect you to understand any of it. I'm just the dead beat dad you have no choice but to live with."

"Hey, uh, sorry to interrupt, but Tasha, take that and run. That was a Tony Stark apology," Bruce said. I laughed. "Glad to see you're okay," Bruce said.

"Thanks," I said, "So what is there to do around here?" I asked.

"Nothing. I'm sure that's soon to change," Bruce said. I sat down at one of the computers and opened a CAD, to start working on my new project.