THE LITTLEST AVENGER ▹ Avengers Fanfiction

The Unexpected Arrival

Steve

The rest of the Avengers were sitting on plush sofas around a drinks table in the lounge, chatting and laughing and joking around, oblivious to how their lives were about to change.
It seemed as if they had all completely forgotten about the mission Steve was sent on — or they simply didn't believe that he would actually be able to find and bring home this child.

Well weren't they wrong.

After his walk in the dark Steve arrived at the tower and walked through the reception area, earning a suspicious glance from the lady working there, who peered over her glasses to look at him, probably wondering what on earth he was doing bringing a small child into a tower filled with a bunch of powerful lunatics.
He didn't blame her.

He strode into the lounge, the little girl still sound asleep on his back.

When he first entered, they took no notice of him, too busy drinking and messing around to pay attention. Frustrated by their lack of attention, Steve cleared his throat obnoxiously, hoping for silence.
That did the trick.
Suddenly, six hero heads whipped around to face him, their eyes widening as they stared in surprise at the small child latched onto their friend's back, her head resting on his shoulder. They knew that Steve had volunteered to complete the mission, but they had never expected for him to actually be able to find this child, let alone convince her to come back to the Avengers Tower with him.
What had he said to convince her?
'Oh hey! I know you've never met me before, but I'm a super hero and I've been given a mission to bring you back to this tower where loads of others people like me live so we can study why you came up on our radar. So if you don't mind coming with me that would be a big help!'

No one said a word as Steve walked towards an empty space on the sofa next to Natasha and settled down, everyone else's mouths still practically gaping open.

Carefully, he moved the still sleeping child from his back and onto his lap, her head safely nestled between his neck and shoulder. Everyone stared at the little girl, trying to determine what made this child so special.

Finally, the silence was broken when the questions came flooding in, in whispers to not wake the little girl.
After many
"What's her name?"s
And
"How old is she?"s
And
"Where are her parents?"s
Steve raised his hands for silence.

"Look, guys, I don't actually know anything about her, I don't even know her name." He whisper-exclaimed in defence, getting slightly annoyed by the bombard of question after question. "Just because I took up the mission doesn't mean Fury gave me any extra info." He huffed.

"But-" Natasha started before Steve shot her a look that she decoded as basically saying, 'Are you seriously going to just ignore everything I've just said and ask more questions anyway?', but her, being Natasha Romanoff, decided to ignore his look and asked anyway. "You must know where her parents are in all of this. I mean, weren't they with her when you found her?"
Her face was full of concern now as she looked at the little girl on her friend's lap.

Steve's expression softened as he shook his head sadly at this.
"I'm not sure that she has parents right now..."

He was interrupted by Tony butting in as usual,
"What do you mean she doesn't have any parents? You do know that every kid has parents, right?" He said as he casually took another sip of his whiskey, oblivious to the fact that Steve might have been implying something slightly less literal.

Steve rolled his eyes, groaning at his friend's idiocy.
"Well of course I know that." He sighed, shaking his head in exasperation. "I'm saying that they weren't with her at all. She was alone in the park when I found her, no home, no parents, nothing." Steve said, scowling in thought as he adjusted the little girl's small figure on his lap, her fist now clenching tightly onto his shirt.