The Avengers [ 1 ]

17

Maya hissed as Tony cleaned out the small cut on her arm. In the heat of all of the fighting and excitement going on, Maya hadn't even noticed the fact that she had cut her arm while trying to save her father from falling out of the sky. It wasn't that bad of a cut, but it was still big enough to cause some problems and bleed.

So now that everyone was in their own little corners and Loki and the Tesseract were dealt with, Tony had dragged Maya into one of the many bathrooms in the tower and had begun to clean the cut using one of the first aid kits nearby.

Tony glanced up at the girl and gave her a concerned look. "Sorry, you okay?" He asked. "I'm fine," Maya lied behind gritted teeth. Tony knew she was lying, but at the moment, it was better for both of them if they just believed her lie.

Tony finished cleaning up the blood and disinfecting the cut before wrapping it up with some of the bandages in the kit. Once he was done, Maya held her arm close to her body and squeezed it slightly. Something about the small amount of pressure on it got rid of some of the pain.

The two sat in a comfortable silence before Tony finally spoke up. "You know, I'm really proud of you, kid. I know I asked you to do something that was probably impossible to even think about, but you still did it; you closed the portal. Hell, you could say you saved the world," Tony told her with a small wink.

He reached out and placed a hand on the back of her head before stroking her hair. "But in all honesty, I'm really proud of you, Maya," he said causing the girl to smile softly. Her father was proud of her.

He was proud of her.

"Thanks. Just don't go making me do something like that again, okay? A girl can only do that once in her lifetime," Maya told him. Tony let out a laugh before going and sitting next to his daughter who was sitting on the edge of the bathtub. He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close. "Never again," he assured her.

"Dad?" Maya asked. Tony hummed in response. "I love you," she whispered. Tony looked down at his girl before pressing a small kiss to the top of her head. "I love you too, kid. I've said it before and I'll say it again. You, Maya Stark, are the best thing that has ever happened to me and don't you ever forget it," he told her.

And with that, the two sat in a comfortable silence in the bathroom as they both enjoyed the rare moment of calm they had together.

- - -

Maya walked through the halls with her arm close to her body. After sitting and talking in the bathroom for a little longer, Tony had gotten a call from Pepper who was freaking out before Tony could even get a word through the phone. Knowing that it would take a while for him to calm Pepper down, Maya had left Tony back in the bathroom and was now walking down the hall and towards the lobby on the first floor.

As soon as she entered the lobby, she caught sight of a familiar super soldier who had already showered and changed out of his uniform and into some more comfortable clothes. As if sensing her gaze, Steve looked up from the small notebook he had been writing in.

He smiled at the sight of her and Maya smiled back before making her way over to him. "Whatcha doin'?" Maya asked. "I took up your advice and decided to make a list. As of right now there are only like two things on it, but it's a start," Steve told her.

Maya smiled softly. Steve glanced at her arm which she was still holding and gave her a concerned look. "How's your arm?" He asked. "It's better. Dad cleaned it and helped bandage it for me, so it's a start," she joked. Steve chuckled and was about to say something else when a voice called out to him.

"Captain."

Steve turned around and stood up at the sight of Fury. Although still a little angry at the director from hiding things from all of them, Steve decided to not let that show and greeted the director with a firm handshake.

"Fury," Steve greeted. Fury noticed the confused look from Steve and Maya so he reached into his jacket and pulled out a folder. "I've got something for you that I think you might want to see," Fury told him. "I wasn't quite sure how to tell you, but seeing how you handled today, I think you can handle this."

Steve furrowed his eyebrows in confusion before taking the folder from the man. Maya quickly got up and stood up on the couch behind Steve so she could read over his shoulder. Steve didn't seem to mind and in fact turned slightly so Maya could get a better angle.

The blonde then opened the folder and he felt the air leave his chest at the sight before him.

There was a few pieces of paper and a photograph. The photo was what really got Steve seeing as it was a picture of Anne, his Anne, strapped down to a table. She had a pained look in her eyes and compared to the dark colors of the room, the red symbol in the corner was a stark contrast. His eyes flickered over the familiar Hydra symbol before landing on the words underneath.

You get him, we get her.

Maya glanced up at her friend who had turned a pale white. Steve opened and closed his mouth a few times before looking up at Fury. "She's alive?" He asked in a small voice. It reminded Maya of a voice of a kid which made her think of the kid he had been before the whole super soldier experience. Just a kid in Brooklyn who had only had Anne and Bucky to help him get by.

Fury nodded his head. Steve looked back down at the folder which was now shaking in his grasp. He looked back up and glared at the man before him. "And you knew about it and didn't tell me?" Steve asked. "It's like I said, Captain. I didn't know if you were ready or not. After finding out about being in the ice for seventy years, I wasn't quite sure how you would handle the news of your girlfriend being stuck with Hydra," Fury told him.

Steve glared at the man for a moment longer before looking back down at the folder. He was just about to say something to Fury, but when he looked up, the man was gone. Steve let out a frustrated sigh as he turned and sat back down on one of the couches in the room.

Maya stared at her friend as she watched him stare blankly at the photo in front of him. There was a long moment of silence before Maya spoke up. "You're going after her," she whispered.

Steve looked up at the girl and frowned slightly at the sad look on her face. He quickly got up and set the folder on a table before walking over and bending down in front of her. Maya glanced up at him and he gave her a small smile. "I have to. You know I have to," he said.

"Because you love her?"

Steve didn't even hesitate before nodding. Maya let a small smile slip before she asked, "Can I come?" Steve chuckled. "Tony wouldn't let you," He reminded her. Maya thought about it for a minute, but knew there was no way to convince her father to let her go.

The Stark girl sighed and looked at Steve hopefully. "I can at least meet her, right?" She asked. Steve smiled, "Of course. I think Anne will like you." "Who doesn't?" Maya joked. The two laughed before Maya threw herself into the super soldier's arms. Steve instantly hugged her back.

She may still be a kid, but she was probably the closest thing he had to a friend. She surprisingly understood him very well. In fact, Maya kind of reminded him of a mixture of Bucky and Howard much to Steve's amusement. He was going to miss her while he was gone.

"I'm going to miss you," Maya whispered and Steve almost chuckled at how she could read him so well. "I'm going to miss you too, Maya," he said before letting her go. He stood up and Maya stood up as well.

"When we see each other again, you are going to watch Star Wars movies with me, understand? We'll have 2012 pizza and everything. You can bring Anne too!" Maya exclaimed as she gave the blonde a childish smile.

Steve smiled down at the girl before ruffling her hair slightly. Maya giggled at that and looked up at the super soldier.

"Sounds like a plan."