2 Years Later

"Give me a call if you need anything, huh?"

"Yeah, I know. I'm not exactly a kid anymore."

"I beg to differ," Tony's voice was teasing, but Nyla-Rose knew he meant it.

"Big by the way, me and Pep are going out tonight. You'll be fine, won't you? No guys allowed especially that Dean boy of yours."

"Tony," Nyla moved the phone from her left shoulder to her right as she moved around the kitchen, "his name is Tobias. How you got Dean is beyond me."

"Maybe because I couldn't possibly care more than I'm supposed to. Which is zilch." A muffled sound of protest and an angry snap later, Pepper was on the phone. "Don't listen to him, sweetie."

"I tend not to," Nyla chuckled, "I thought you guys would be home for lunch."

"Your brother wanted to be productive this afternoon. We'll be home in half an hour and Tobi's absolutely welcome to come over."

"No he—"

Nyla giggled as Pepper quickly hung up, leaving her to her own company and blocking out the last of Tony's useless protests against her best friend.

Truthfully, without Tobias, she didn't think she would have both her feet firmly on the ground. He'd been such a huge help in making sure she didn't go nuts by the revelation of which her mother had hid from her all her life. Nyla's heart squeezed, leaving her breathless for the smallest moment.

It hurt to think about Natasha. The young woman had been so overcome with emotion that day and she'd fled Tony's office, stumbling around the Compound for what seemed like an eternity before Pietro discovered her crying in the garage.

Tony had nothing to say to Natasha and she didn't know if he ever would, but she explained more of the situation before leaving with Sam.

The Starks kept Nyla-Rose a secret from Tony, not because they wanted to, but because they felt that to have a full measure of protection for a child they hadn't been expecting, she'd have to be invisible to the world. They'd falsified a work trip when Maria began to show and soon after, left the child of which they'd named Sefina Stark to the Wilheim's. The village that Tori and Klaus Wilhelm resided in had been burned to the ground and half of it's residents slaughtered in the search for the baby girl. Natasha, assigned to keep tabs on the couple, made it only after they'd been murdered by the HYDRA soldiers that stormed the village and proceeded to kill every single one of them before being captured while on the run.

She had been dubbed the Angel of Death that night because the people of Cochem believed that the mystery woman was the source of destruction, the leader of the shadows that had slipped through the night and killed people in their sleep for the Lost Child.

Natasha managed to escape.
But, the baby had been taken from her.

It took her nine years to trace back the underground HYDRA base they kept Nyla-Rose in and when she finally got the child back, Nick Fury reassigned the woman to raising her. In the conditions of her life, she tried her best and Nyla became more than just an assignment.

She became the assassin's world.

Nat sent her with Pepper to Washington when she got the phone call from Coulson that turned into the Battle of New York and during the Ultron incident when it seemed the world would end, Nyla stayed with Tobias's family who welcomed her with open arms. She destroyed every single file having to do with her existence, reassuring the assassin that when she spilled the secrets of SHIELD and HYDRA onto the net, that not one person would know the truth about Nyla-Rose.

She taught her how to defend herself, with and without weapons, even though she knew the serum coursing through her blood would have a heightened effect on her senses and abilities thus making it easier for Nyla-Rose to catch on. The one thing she never did catch on to was the puzzling fact that she was much stronger than any normal teenager girl should have been.

Natasha put logical thoughts into her head.

The punching bag's chain rusted out. The wooden poles were weak from years of use. The cushioned dummy wasn't attached to the floor as it should have been. Things that would have made sense. What business did she have discerning truth from lies? When she took her leave, that was the last time either of them had seen the assassin.

The pair of siblings had fallen into a sort of awkward situation that neither of them knew how to work around, but they'd managed it. It was nothing different, really, except the slight adjustment of position from "uncle" to "older brother."

Just the title alone made Tony Stark quiver in fear for a responsibility he'd never thought he would have, but one he was determined to take on. When Pietro notified him that he'd found Nyla in the garage in a state of hysterical anger, Tony did everything he could to comfort her and when she fell asleep in his arms, exhausted from the amount of tears, he promised himself that he would never make her cry again. Instead, he made sure she had everything she needed.

Nyla-Rose didn't really have anything she wanted and if she did, never made it known to her brother. She wanted to get by as a normal person would, but it was hard, even when she'd acquired a job as a journalist. Tony had his own way of making sure she was taken care of then by using the connections he had to get her articles published before realizing that it didn't take much persuasion. As a freelance journalist, she was pretty much good to go on her own even when Tony kept a careful eye on her. Their relationship had been strained for a time before Nyla-Rose came to terms with the fact that although some things were different, it was all the same.

Tony was her brother and she turned out to be a super soldier of which she didn't know was more crazy, but the love and admiration she had for the older man, although splintered for a bit, grew immensely. They decided it was best she keep the name Natasha had given her. Tony just couldn't see her being anyone other than Nyla-Rose. She saw how hard he tried to make her feel comfortable. He even let Tobias into the Compound for the first time even if it was only for a good two hours before he kicked him out.

So it wasn't much of a struggle to adapt to living with Tony. Pietro was there, of course, but only briefly as he dedicated most of his time to trying to find Wanda. Peter, the Spider-Man, was around more often than not which she didn't mind, Vision had disappeared quite a while ago and Rhodey dealt with Secretary Ross's calls. So, the Compound was still the same two years later.

Empty, as always.

As Nyla sat down at the island with a ham and cheese sandwich in hand, she looked around the living room. Wisps of faded memories echoed through her head as the familiar feeling of loneliness enveloped her in its arms.

She sighed.

It was hard to leave the place. She could have found an apartment ages ago, but she liked being around Tony and Pepper. The couple's playful banter and bickering and their need to make her feel loved and wanted was more than she ever hoped for. They gave her a sense of belonging and she held onto that with everything she could. What would happen if she let go? Nyla bit into her sandwich before addressing FRIDAY.

"Hey, FRI. Did Tony say where he was going?" She mumbled around a mouthful of bread.

"He did not although I will assume he and Ms. Potts have gone on a walk around the city as they've done so for the past few months."

Nyla mimicked a face at the ceiling.

If there was a constant in the Compound, the sarcastic and witty AI was it and Nyla was grateful for FRIDAY. She'd scolded her more times than she could count for refusing to eat or sleep or even get up in the morning. FRIDAY had even gone far enough as to douse her with cold water from who-knows-where to get Nyla out of bed when it seemed the depression was too overwhelming.

"I'd advise you to keep from managing such looks as it could get stuck in the near future."

"Thanks, FRIDAY. Thanks a lot."

"Of course."

Nyla reached around the basket of fruit for the TV remote and switched it on, the first channel being an animated cartoon.

"Rabbit season!"
"Duck season!"
"Rabbit season!"
"Duck—"

Switch.

"It has been a great yet tiring journey for the wondrous mammal that is the duck-billed platypus. Watch as it—"

Switch.

"And coming down the court in full heat—"

Switch.

"Name a fruit that is...YELLOW!"
"ORANGE!"

Switch.

Nyla let go of her sandwich, her jaw dropping just as much at the video that began to play on the television screen via the news channel. It was clear as anything to see who exactly was in the front of it all.

Tony Stark, challenging the next big things to try and interrupt earthly life. Without thinking, Nyla ran to the large windows, her lunch forgotten as she pressed her face against the glass. The huge, circular alien ship that had been the glorious center of the video was hard to miss as it slowly made its way through the city and Nyla wondered how the hell she missed it in the first place.

"FRIDAY, I'll be right back! Don't let anything burn down the Compound while I'm gone!"

"I can't promise that."

By the time she ripped out of the garage in the Audi, the ship was gone and all it left behind was a path of destruction. While it was easy to follow, Nyla-Rose didn't know what to expect when she got to the center and as she parked the car and made her way down the empty streets, she found the most unexpected thing.

"Bruce?" The man that had disappeared for two whole years turned to her, dust coating most of his clothes and a few leaves sticking out of his hair. It was his expression that made the bubble of laughter in Nyla's throat die away.

"Nyla-Rose?" He looked so frightened that Nyla moved to hug him comfortingly before drawing back. She noticed a little phone in his hand and gave him a questioning gaze.

"Reinforcements."

"But," Nyla's head swiveled back and forth in search of her brother, "where's Tony?"

The silence that followed her question made her head ache as she took a step back.

"Bruce?" She urged, silently begging him to have good news, to quell the fear that was steadily rising in her as he said nothing.

"Bruce? Where's Tony?"

He slowly pointed upwards.

And Nyla-Rose's world went black.