「11」

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After the encounter with Vision, Steve ordered everyone to start making progress in finding Ultron. He, Thor, and Vision searched the net, hoping to find any clues from the past that Ultron may have accidentally left behind. Tony and Bruce once more retreated to the lab, using some of their advanced tech to try and find the robot and Clint continued searching the analog way.

The twins were unfamiliar with the tower and its technology, so they mostly kept to themselves, perched on the living room sofa as Pietro combed through Wanda's hair with his fingers.

Alyssa tried to contact Natasha in some kind of way, but soon realized that the spy had no way of replying. Frustrated that she couldn't help, Alyssa moved to the kitchen, making snacks and small meals for her teammates. None of them had eaten since the fight in Seoul, and Alyssa knew that they would function better if they had some food in their stomachs.

She was just making some sandwiches that she would hand out when someone entered the kitchen.

"Oh, I didn't think someone would be in here," said the heavily accented voice of Pietro as he tightly crossed his arms in front of his chest.

Alyssa looked up at the blonde-haired man for a moment before focusing on the sandwiches again. "Why? We live here after all," she said, biting her inner cheek as she placed some salad on the bread.

"Right. My bad then, I guess," he corrected, smiling ironically as he leaned against the kitchen island.

It was silent then. Alyssa expected him to leave but Pietro never budged. Instead, he watched her work, his eyes following her hands as she grabbed more ingredients.

Alyssa sighed, slightly annoyed, when she felt his stare and turned around. "Is there something you want?" she asked, her brows furrowed.

Pietro loosened his arms and instead rammed them into his pockets. "I was looking for some food. I don't suppose you could make me some of those sandwiches, right?" he said, ogling the sandwiches laid out on the counter.

"These are for the others. You can make some for yourself. After all, you're a big boy, right?" Alyssa teased, shooting him a sarcastic grin.

"Very funny. Really, hilarious. Never would have known you're Starks daughter." he countered, his eyes narrowing.

Alyssa closed her eyes for a split second, leaning her arms on the counter with her back turned toward Pietro.

"Look, Sonic, I don't know what happened, and I don't really care, but me and my dad are kind of-" Alyssa got cut off by him as he pushed himself off the counter and took a step toward her. She turned around, and came face to face with the speedster.

"Kind of what? The same? Monsters?" he sneered.

Alyssa looked him in the eyes.

Fine.

"You're one to talk, Maximoff. You're not exactly a prime example of greatness," she shot back.

"You don't know what you're talking about. I did the things I did because I wanted to, ever thought about that?" he replied heatedly.

Alyssa was just about to retort, but a flicker in Pietro's eyes made her hesitate.

He's lying.

Alyssa repeated her thoughts out loud. "You're lying."

Pietro scoffed, a loathsome smirk on his face. "You don't know me."

Alyssa furrowed her brows. In some way, being able to tell that he was lying freaked her out more than the situation itself.

She scoffed and turned her attention back toward her platter of food. "Somehow I liked you more when we were fighting each other."

"Aren't we now?" Pietro snapped back, watching her as she lifted the tray.

"Just stay out of my way," she said, walking around him and out of the kitchen.

Pietro just shook his head as she left.

Starks.

Alyssa decided to quickly get done with her deliveries so she could finally take a nap, no matter how restless it might be, so she picked up her pace and headed to the labs.

When she entered through the doors, struggling to balance the tray and drinks at the same time, Bruce and Tony looked up as they abandoned their post to help the girl.

"What are you doing here, Ally? What's this?" Bruce asked, eyeing the food and taking the drinks from her.

Tony reached out to take the tray from her but Alyssa put it down on a table instead. Tony bit the inside of his cheek, trying not to seem bothered.

"Well, I know that you're working hard to find Nat and I felt useless, so I took on the role of a housewife and made everyone sandwiches," Alyssa responded with a grin as she sat down on one of the white office chairs.

"Thanks, Starky. Very thoughtful," replied Bruce, mouth already full with a ham and cheese sandwich. The scientist grabbed two more before he went back to his computers, scouring the net for Natasha and Ultron again.

It warmed Alyssa's heart to see Bruce look so intensely for Natasha. She really hoped that the spy was fine.

Tony was still standing beside her and he reached out hesitantly to grab a sandwich for himself, though he didn't make a move to eat it. After a very intense staring session with the bread, he put it aside again as he collapsed on the couch next to his daughter.

After a moment Alyssa turned to him, looking her father in his tired eyes. She never seemed to notice how tired those eyes actually were.

"Did you and that sandwich have a telepathic conversation? It looked like it," she said after a moment of silence. Tony chuckled, letting out a long sigh as he stared ahead, watching Bruce work as he picked his nails.

"Yeah. It told me how it had a daughter, that's probably getting violently eaten by Bruce right now, which it loved very much. And how it did something that it wasn't supposed to. And that it hurt her, and that it'll never forgive itself for it," Tony said quietly.

Alyssa looked down, the corners of her mouth edging into a frown. "I'm sure the daughter knows how sorry he is. But maybe that's not enough for her," she replied, slowly getting up as she grabbed the tray. "I'm gonna go give these to the others."

But before she could make a move to leave, a hand gently touched her arm and she looked down at Tony. He opened his mouth but no words came out. Alyssa sighed and turned around, ready to leave, when his hand grabbed her arm tighter.

"Ally... I know I hurt you. Some- some day you're going to understand why I did it. And I know you don't wanna talk to me right now, but we need to look at the situation," said Tony, his eyebrows furrowing in slight worry. "Your powers are going to flare. And I know you won't like it, but you need to learn to control it. If you do, maybe... maybe they can actually help people."

"Are you kidding? I hurt people, and I didn't even notice," Alyssa whispered, gripping the steel tray tightly. Ripping her arm away from Tony, she turned and walked away. Tony closed his eyes for a moment, sighing as he looked at Bruce who gave him a slight nod.

Tony gave a nod back and quickly left, running after his daughter as he caught up with her, halting her in the middle of the hallway.

"Alyssa, listen to me-"

"No! I don't wanna talk to you. Leave me alone, I just came to you to give you some food," she cut him off, pushing him away with angry tears in her eyes.

"Ally, please! I already called someone who can help you. She's got powers too, she understands-"

"No! No one understands! I find out I'm some freak, and my own father knew all along! There's a huge hole in my life, don't tell me some random stranger understands! 'Cause they don't, and neither do you!" she yelled, her tears flowing freely now. Tony's heart broke at seeing her like this and he reached out a hand to lay on her shoulder. But Alyssa stepped back, shaking her head.

"Stay away from me," she whispered, hastily walking away as she disappeared behind the corner.

Tony didn't follow.