01 // painted red

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EDITED: 12 June, 2021.

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April 26, 2001. 9:00 A.M.

The large plane rumbled beneath her; the sound occasionally interrupted by the conversation of the passengers around them. The little dark brunette girl was kicking her feet, though she made sure not to kick the seat in front of her. She leaned back into the seat bored, not even the children's colouring book occupied her.

After another couple of minutes passed, she squinted up at the weird man beside her. He wore a black suit, and apparently, he was taking her somewhere safe. "Are you bored, mister?"

He glanced down at her, "nope." Before looking forward again, eyes scanning the plane.

Altaira frowned, watching him closely as his eyes scanned the other passengers. She was wearing the same blue sundress she had on the day before, with little flowers on it. She poked him, "is something wrong?"

"No."

"Then what are you doing?"

He seemed to sigh, looking down at her. It must have been a long day for him. They were in the economy seats, but they had the three seats to themselves. Altaira had chosen the window seat as she'd never been on a plane before and had wanted to watch the clouds. The old agent man sat on the aisle seat, leaving one free seat in between them. "Nothing, kid. Just not used to leisure trips like this."

She frowned, mouthing the word leisure with her lips and not liking how it sounded. Altaira stared at him, "so, you're stressed?"

"Sure."

"Is that why you're a little bit bald, Mr. Coulson?"

He choked on thin air, looking down at the little girl who was staring at him innocently. The flight attendant who was conveniently passing by just at that moment, couldn't disguise her giggle as a cough. Phil Coulson hid a small smile, turning his body to face Altaira. "No, that's... never mind. I'm just not used to transporting kids across the country. It's not that... dangerous."

"What do you do then, mister?"

He reached over the seat in between them, and bopped her nose, causing her to giggle. "I make bad people go away?"

"Do you really, mister?" She asked, looking up at him with a wide bright smile. Her eyes shone, almost with a glint of admiration. "Do you really? Is that why mommy and Tommy are gone now?"

The man noted that she was more intelligent then he'd first given her credit for. But to be fair, most six-year old's he knew were an absolute pain. "That's right, kiddo."

"Forever?" She inched forward in her seat, almost excited.

"Uh, yes."

"Well, thank you very much, mister!" She smiled at him, blowing a lock of dark brown hair out of her face. Her skin was a warm tan, a mixture of her mother and father. The enthusiasm and delight about the fact that her mother and mother's boyfriend were gone forever was, admittedly, worrying. But, in most aspects, completely understandable.

Just as quickly as she'd started poking him, Altaira was distracted by the movie that was watching on the back of the seat in front of her. This entire adventure was a completely different experience for the small kid, she'd never even left her city before, much less travelled by plane.

Altaira didn't blame her Mommy for that, she knew Mommy was busy working or with Tom. But that didn't mean she liked either of them. All Tommy did was stay at home on the couch and watch television. He never did anything important. And she may have only recently turned six, but she was a big girl! She knew it wasn't okay that Tom hit her when he was mad, or tired, or anything. And that's why she didn't like Mommy either. Mom never did anything! Mommy just told her to be quiet and listen to Tommy. They were both very mean. She was worried she'd be stuck with them forever!

ABIENCE  \\ tony stark's daughterWhere stories live. Discover now