Little One

Chapter 19

Tony didn't talk to dad for a week. I guess that dad's dream equated to 'dad did something' in Tony's mind.

Dad became all the more protective.

Peter and Jaci visited daily for training.

Dad said if they were going to work with me at any point in the foreseeable future, they needed to aid me rather than slow me down. Or make it so that I had to watch after them and myself.

I reminded them my dad was just being protective when Jaci's lip quivered.

Natasha trained the two of them into the ground some days.

They went home sweaty and aching all over. Blaming it on a fight or something.

I didn't know what cover stories they cooked up. If they weren't training physically, they were training mentally. Like tiny little assassin agents.

I think it was harder on me than them. I hated watching them go through this for my sake. I frequently reminded them that they didn't have to do this. But as they got used to it, they more than happily blew off my reminder.

Wanda began training with Jaci, who was now working on a proper hero name. Although I apologised and told her it was my way of coping with stress.

She forgot about it when she heard that Wanda went by Scarlet Witch. My reply was something along the lines of "see, it's cool". She agreed happily and went back to training with Wanda.

I think the mental exercises with Nat helped her focus on honing her powers or whatever it was Wanda said. I honestly thought that Wanda was just winging the whole thing with her, and dad agreed.

Our baloney-meters were in sync as usual.

Speaking of which, dad trained me in more of his seidr. I could teleport now. Long distances in the blink of an eye, and I didn't end up in a bay or someone's bathtub without meaning to.

He also taught me how to hold my clones which he didn't get to before we came back here. He trained me until he was more tired than I was somedays. He still didn't sleep because of the nightmares. I felt bad and wished they'd let him be so he could sleep. He seemed to do so easier if I was nearby, so I cuddled or sat in the room.

He still woke up screaming and crying over me sometimes.

When Tony finally came out of his lab, he was pale, sleep-deprived, and six pounds thinner. He informed me he 'had a plan' for armour that I could still conjure through.

I told him I was grateful and ushered him to bed. Pepper cried for an hour when he did. I tried to console her, and she kind of accepted it. I think she thought it was my fault, much like Tony blamed dad.

No one was quite right after finding out about dad's dreams. He tried his hardest to employ his liesmith title and convince them that it was just his overactive concern for me. It didn't put anyone at ease. Or if it did, they fabricated their comfort as much as he did his lie.

Finally, about 2 weeks after the whole debacle started, I force-fed Tony and helped Nat take a vacation. Wanda and Jaci started bonding instead of just training. Nat went easier on Jaci, and Peter finally met up to Nat's standards and even trained with Steve sometimes. They told me it was fun now and didn't come back hurting the next day.

Things perked up as their mindsets subtly switched from "she could die" to "cherish her now".

A/N: This one came out faster than the last one! I'm not 5 days late. This chapter was kind of a filler. Depends on how you see it. I wanted to give some insight on how Astrid has changed the Avengers.