"Yeah?" She asked as she sat up. She folded her legs and rubbed her eyes with her hands.

"Can I come in?" Steve asked as he peeked his head through the door. Crazy thoughts began to run through El's mind.

What if he was working with Edward and was putting on some act? What if he was going to hurt me? What if he was going to hurt my siblings? What if he would hurt Peter or Tony? Or what if he killed me? Or killed my siblings? Or Tony and Peter?

She let him come in but kept these thoughts at the back of her mind. Her body tensed as he sat on the bed and looked at her. She decided not to look up and continued looking down in her lap.

"I... I just... I didn't mean to um... do... that." He apologized as he looked at her concerned.

"It's fine," She replied. Her voice was so small he could barely hear it.

She remembered all the times that Edward apologized to her before he became a monster. He always apologized if he upset her the slightest bit. Then she started remembering the first night anything happened.

He roughly grabbed her by her forearms and slammed her against the wall, still keeping his grip on her. She yelped in pain, fear, and surprise. She never expected it. He roughly slapped her across her face and busted her lip.

But she wouldn't give up that easily. Her eyes narrowed and she pushed him off of her. Once she began walking away, he grabbed onto her hair and yanked her back.

Steve could tell she looked troubled. He lightly grabbed her hand in an attempt to comfort her. She shrieked and backed away. Steve's eyes filled with guilt. He tried to move a little closer to her, wanting nothing more than to make her feel a little better.

Flames engulfed her hands and she held the flame protectively in front of her. Steve immediately took the hint and backed off a bit. The flame hovered a couple of inches above her hand. El looked down at it in terror and confusion.

Tony and Peter heard the commotion and quickly rushed into the room. They stopped in their tracks as they saw El holding fire. The two stood in the doorway, shock evident on their faces. The fire grew closer to her hand. She watched, frozen, with panic and horror in her eyes. She began to shake as the flame got even closer to her hand and she began to feel the warmth of it.

She realized, she could control the fire. She quickly outstretched her hands. The fire flew from her hands and set an expensive painting of Howard Stark on fire.

Tony became outraged and upset.

"That was a painting of my father!" Tony screamed. El knew enough to know that his father was dead. His face turned red with anger and El backed up into the wall. Her eyes were filled with panic and fear.

"I-I'm so sorry," she shrunk away. His eyes clouded with rage, his hands balled into fists as his anger took over.

Tony raised his fist. El backed into the corner and crossed her arms into an X in front of her face.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I didn't mean it! I'm so sorry!" But before he could do anything Peter bolted in front of her. Tony immediately dropped his fist, his eyes softening when he saw Peter.

El's POV

I just set a painting on fire.

"That was a painting of my father!" He screamed. I saw his hands clench into fists and he walked towards me. My first instinct was to cower in the corner, covering my face with my forearms. I braced for impact, but it never came. I open my eyes to see Peter in front of me. I watch Tony's eyes change, just by seeing him. My fear turned into bitter anger.

Tony backed away and left the room. Peter and Steve flocked me worriedly.

"Hey, it's okay, he didn't mean it, he just got mad," Steve assured. I just stood there, not knowing what to do.

Peter gently put his hand on my shoulder, somehow reassuring me.

"You need to get some rest," Steve said as he slowly stood up. He sounded like an old man. I slightly nodded.

"Goodnight, " Peter said.

"Night,"

Steve and Peter walked out of the room and I laid on my bed. They shut the door behind them, so I was left alone. I would just sleep with my siblings, we usually slept together anyways, but they were somewhere safe. Tony said they were with some friend of his named Rodney. No, that can't be it. What was it?

My mind continued to wander as I stared at the ceiling. My eyes grew heavy and I embraced sleep.

There was a man screaming at me, though I couldn't tell what he was saying. His eyes were filled with rage as he repeatedly punched and kicked me. He was familiar, he reminded me of Tony. At the same time, he looked like Edward. The man drifted in and out of personas. He pulled out a whip and I was in the cell with Edward again, being beaten to a pulp. The whip vanishes and suddenly he was Tony, slapping me and screaming at me.

Suddenly my siblings were there, but they were bloody and battered. The four of them were hung, ropes tied around their necks. Their beady, lifeless eyes bore into my skull. They seemed to be accusing me, telling me it was all my fault, that if I'd just submitted they'd still be alive.

"I'm sorry!" I was begging them, I didn't mean it, I didn't mean to be so selfish, "Please, no, you can't be dead!"

My mother, my deadbeat mother, she was there, staring at me with her empty eyes as she always did, she looked at my dead siblings, but showed no emotion, she seemed to be watching, seeing everything her boyfriend, her murder was doing to me, but just as it had always been, she didn't care.

Suddenly Peter was hanging too, right there next to my baby sister, his eyes blaming just like theirs, "No! I'm sorry!" My pleas weren't enough, I just wanted forgiveness.

Third Person POV

Tony knew full well he wouldn't be the best comfort for El if she was waking from a nightmare. He called Steve, who was staying with them for the night, though it took a lot of pride swallowing to do so.

"Get over here pronto!"

"Just wake her up!" Steve yelled over El's screaming. Tony swallowed, looking at his daughter with guilt, he'd pulled a dick move, the way he'd acted could hurt their relationship forever, he knew her experiences and still let his rage take over. He gently started to shake her awake, broken by the screams she let out.

"El! Wake up!" He yelled though it sounded more like begging. She shot up, her face covered in a sheen of sweat and tears.

"El, I'm so sorry for what I did today, I'm so, so sorry..." His apology sounded more like a plea.

"I-I..." El looked around, still not quite sure what was happening. She furrowed her eyebrows as she searched for the right words to say.

"Hey... It's okay..." El just nodded. She met Tony's eyes and went into a minor freak out. He tried to look as calm and collected as he could. She calmed down a bit.

"I wasn't thinking straight and I... I overreacted." He apologized. He felt so bad for her. She had two flashbacks in one day. And one of them was caused by him. He felt so guilty.