It was only the two of us against the world. Pepper and Rhodey had always been there, just like Happy and JARVIS was. Just like Aunt Peggy was. Just like Alicia was. Just like Fury was. Just like Phil was. And we're content with our little family. Maybe deranged and a little dysfunctional, but it works. It works. It's happy. I'm happy.

Even if they always scold dad and I for staying up late. For forgetting to eat. For making things blow up. For occasionally dying Fury's eyepatch pink, or hiding Phil's trading card, or hiding Rhodey's phone, or sneaking in Alicia's workshop to doodle stupid stuff on her notebook, or even putting crazy codes and protocols in JARVIS. Sometimes, for hiding Happy's shades, or being rascals inside Aunt Peggy's house. Especially being rascals in Aunt Peggy's house.

Notice how i didn't mention Pepper Potts in the mix? Yeah, we don't mess with her. Pepper Potts as a mom and pranking her inside her own office? Dad and i have never felt more betrayed by JARVIS.

But it is family. It is home. It's where we feel safe. Protected. Happy. Comfortable. It's where home is. Wherever these people are, it's where I am home and free. It's where I can sing my heart out or dance without a care or maybe even look bad without feeling bad at all. They've been here since the day I was delivered on my dad's front doors. They've been there to witness my first step, my first word -albeit a little crude-, my first tantrums, my first time to ride a bike, my first circuit board, my first program, my first car and as the list of firsts went on and on and on, they've always been there to complete me. They've taught me good and bad and everything in between and I love them so much and owe my life and every breath of mine, to all the love and effort they've put into raising me.

And I'm content with that. I'll forever be content with what I have and in my very best power, will do everything to keeo them safe andnout of harms way.

But... Then you came along. Natasha, Clint, Steve, Bruce... These people are foreign to me. They don't know me. They don't know my dad. The struggles we've been through and the shit we've put up with. They only see what we want them to see. And they react to that, but fail to see the hidden messages we always put in sarcastic remarks and egotistical words. And yeah, I guess I want them to see us for who we truly are. But the possibility of betrayal? It's just too much.

I'd prefer to not lose what I've gained in the past years of my life rather than gaining more only for things to become a shitstorm.

-E. Stark, May 18, 2012