↻ ◁ II ▷ ↺

Tony Stark had fought a lot of demons in his seemingly never ending life. Be they former friends, rivals, aliens or robots, he could handle them. He had since he was a child.

He handled them with grace. He went to therapy two to three times a week. He spent his seemingly never ending fortune on causes that mattered. Funding schools, refugee centres, building wells, making shelters in his aunt's name. You name it, he did it. Making up for his past mistakes and trying to create a future his family could grow up in. Because that's all that mattered. A world Diana could grow up in.

He found it funny how much he actually loved her. Back when he was a child, the legend of the Stark-Rogers baby made him green with jealousy. How a child that wasn't even there was more beloved and famous than he would ever be. But when he finally met her... he never knew he could love something so much.

He went from having no family left to a sassy small blonde child that repeatedly trashed talked his suits, saying they looked better in silver than gold. And he wouldn't lie saying that Diana had him wrapped around her finger. If she wanted it, it was hers.

She wanted to play baseball instead of softball like all girls? He bought the country club and made the sport unisex. Diana wanted to learn to play the guitar like her mother? She would receive lessons from only the greatest teachers with a guitar decorated in the best swarovski crystals. Oh, she became the lead in her school production of Tangled? There was a strangely massive amount of money donated to the theatre department for the set. It was all hers. It's what she deserved.

He'd do anything for her... which is why he stopped the bloody custody battle he was having with Shield the moment Diana met Steve Rogers. Her real father. He loved her so much that he let her go.

Which is probably why the nightmare Wanda Maximoff showed him was so terrifying. The same nightmare that led to the creation of their eventual downfall... Ultron.

Inside the nightmare he remembered it well. It was dark with only the faint glow of stars far off in the distance as well as a soft blue glow being his only source of light. While the ground was cold, coares, black. Allowing the pools of blood to hide within plain sight.

If it wasn't for the chitauri that flew over Tony's head, he most likely wouldn't have noticed the bloody river at all... or the scene before him.

The pile of people he considered his friends were sprawled around a set of broken stairs. Their organs painting the steps as a waterfall seemed to be created from their collective fluids flowing towards the billionaire.

Tony felt completely sick as he watched some of them twitch from the way the spears were plunged within their skin. Making a phantom effect to seem as if they were still alive. Though the cloudy and unmoving eyes he saw proved it was just their nerves still activated.

His fallen comrades, counting five, Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanoff, Clint Barton, Bruce Banner and Thor Odinson.

His boots splashed in the river as he ran to the closest member, his uncle, and began to check for any sign of a pulse, shaking him, trying anything to wake Steve Rogers up. Slightly falling back with a short scream when Steve let out a gasp.

Though his fear was uncared for when the soldier grabbed Tony by the wrist and proceeded to give the billionaire a vicious glare.

Even with his bodily fluids draining Steve Rogers still had the energy to blame the billionaire, "You could've saved us," he sneered before the light vanished from his eyes.

Tony shook his head and tried to wake the man up. Shaking and screaming at his uncle with no response possible. The only reason he didn't cry on the spot was because of the sound of a faint cry in the distance.

He turned his head slowly, seeing a different sight before him. The earth. From a far distance he saw his planet thanks to a massive blue portal the size of Manhattan. His lips parted as he helplessly watched chitauri vessel after vessel pass between the blue edges of the portal.

Only when he looked back down did he saw another living person staring at the earth as well.

"Kid?" Tony almost regretted speaking as she froze. He debated stepping forward as she started to shake, "Diana?"

Slowly the girl turned around, showing a shaking Diana Rogers-Stark covered in a rainbow of blood shades, "Tony...?" She stuttered as tears began to break away.

He ran straight up to her causing his knees to scrape against the stone. She tried to look behind him but Tony forced her to make eye contact, "Hey kid, it's okay. I'm here. I'm here now. Are you hurt? Does anything hurt?"

She didn't answer any of his questions as he started to look her over. Gently checking for any sort of damage, "I didn't mean to do it," she mumbled.

He shook his head as he tore part of his shirt off to try and help remove some of the blood from her face, "It's okay. It's okay, we can find a way to close the Pocket. We'll be fine."

His words of comfort went unnoticed as Diana looked down at her hands, staring at the sight of her family's own blood, "I didn't mean to hurt them."

Tony looked up at her, seeing the tears streaming down her face, cutting lines through the dried blood on her cheeks. Reaching up he wiped away her tears and gently asked, "What do you mean?"

Diana's breathing hitched as she shook her head and took a step back. Crying even more than she did at the expo, "I... I-I didn't mean to hurt them. I didn't mean to hurt anyone. I didn't want to do it. I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry..."

Tony tried to reach for her as the teen's face started to change from sorrow to one of rage, "I didn't want to even be here. Why did you do this to me? Why didn't you help me?" Her teeth started to clench as the blaming and crying smothered together.

Still her cousin tried to calm her down, assuming she was in shock, "Kid, you gotta breathe. It's gonna be okay," he promised her. "Just match your breaths with mine like we showed you.

"Stop telling me what to do!" She threw her hands to the ground, making the portal behind her grow larger. "All you people ever tell me is to breathe and to think happy thoughts but it doesn't work. It never works!"

Tony had to slightly move back as the teen's eyes began to glow blue and yellow, while the rage within her vocal cords went darker, "I'm sick of people trying to control me!"

The man took a few steps back as the girl's blood coated glare fixated on him, "Kid, you need to calm down-"

"My name isn't Kid. It's Diana! D-I-A-N-A. It's not hard!" The ground actually shook as the girl screamed, making Tony fall backwards.

"I never wanted this! I never wanted to fight, you knew that... but you still forced me too!" She cried.

Tony tried his best to plead with her to clam down but that only made her more upset. Screaming and blaming her cousin for all of the destruction surrounding them, "Diana. Please just breathe. We can get through this-"

"What help would you be?" She sniffled, "What help have you been? You're the reason I'm like this."

"Diana that's not true-"

"Isn't it?" She shook her head, "If you had just fought harder to get me out of Shield back then... this wouldn't have happened. If you had reached for me when I needed you this wouldn't have happened."

He shook his head, "I tried so hard to protect you."

"And what a great job you did," Diana grimaced. "This is all your fault."

"Don't say that."

"You can't protect anyone, can you? You couldn't protect Pepper from Killian."

"Diana, no. Please don't start this."

"You couldn't protect your parents."

"Stop..."

"You couldn't protect me from Ivan. Where were you when Loki stole me from that lab? Shield had locked me in a small room when Steve found out they were Hydra. Hell! Hydra is still running around and you haven't caught them all yet! Bucky Barns is still out there!" She pointed to the earth, "You have never protected me! Ever!"

"I said it's not my fault!" The portal behind the girl vanished within milliseconds of the blast. Tony looked at the empty space the Pocket was before noticing the scene before his eyes. But then again... he didn't even realise his hand was raised until the sound of his repulsors went off.

The area went still, with only the sounds of the two remaining Avenger's breathing filling the void. That and the sound of spilling blood.

The pair both looked at Diana's stomach, or rather what used to be her stomach. As now a massive hole was in its place, giving Tony a clear view of the space behind her. When she finally looked up Tony felt as if he would be sick.

Her face had suddenly changed. Becoming younger as her blonde hair now rested to her shoulders instead of her midsection. The small whimper of the now eight year-old Diana let out made him freeze.

"...Dad?" Her eyes no longer shimmered as she felt the hole in her stomach.

Iron Man's face went into panic as the girl fell to the ground, "No. No!" He ran to her side immediately as she meekly cried. He tried so hard to calm her down and find a way to fix the situation, "Oh my god. Oh my god."

She barely had the energy to say anything as she cried up at the man. Meekly mumbling, "Why would you do this to me? Why did it have to be you?"

"I..." he struggled to speak as the girl's breathing staggered, "It's all your fault..." were the last words she ever said.

So now, a week or so later, Tony sat in the Quinjet as his fellow teammates experienced their own nightmare. Wanda had done such a number on the people he cared about that it caused even more destruction. Especially on Bruce Banner. Who had to be knocked out by Veronica, otherwise known as the Hulk Buster.

'The news is loving you guys. Nobody else is. There's been no official call for Banner's arrest, but it's in the air,' Maria told her boss from the other end of the intercom.

Tony let out a sigh, "Stark Relief Foundation?"

Maria nodded, 'Already on the scene. How's the team?'

Tony Stark gave a glance behind him, staring at the shaken lot. Natasha was scrunched into herself over by the cockpit windscreen. Thor planted himself near the back of the jet. His head down and arms crossed, deep in thought. He then gave a quick sigh at the sight of Bruce cured into a ball sleeping off his rampage through a city and focused on the Rogers pair.

It took three people to remove Diana from Steve's grasp as he feared letting her go, causing Tony to give the soldier a small sedative. Something they learned from Diana's early days in the Stark household was the strange allergy to a substance known as Nyquil.

More like poison than an allergy. When Diana was no older than nine she had come down with a terrible cold, causing her to cough in the night. Not thinking much they gave her the substance, leading to a trip to the emergency room. A single sip caused her to slip into a day-long coma.

He remembered being so baffled, how the Shield doctors were astonished by the discovery. How the sleeping symptoms messed with the serum flowing through her veins, causing a blockage of sorts. At first it was mild, just making them fall asleep; but after the company updated the medication, the smell alone could make Diana or Steve start to have similar reactions to a person allergic to peanuts.

So to be on the safe side in case either soldier needed a time out, Tony created a concentrated sedative to help them relax. Something he was glad to do after the wreck Steve was.

Even if Tony didn't know what Steve's worst nightmare entailed, he wasn't stupid. Truth be told he would have been more upset if it didn't include Diana. But still, the way Steve handled the situation was very understandable.

"Everyone's...we took a hit," Tony told his employee as he watched his younger cousin sleeping next to her father. "We'll shake it off."

Maria sighed, 'Well for now I'd stay in stealth mode, and stay away from here.'

"So, run and hide?" Tony glanced back at the monitor.

She gave a defeated shrug, 'Until we can find Ultron, I don't have a lot else to offer.'

He then turned off the call, "Neither do we," the man muttered before moving towards the front of the jet. Asking one of the three not affected by Wanda that day. "Hey, you wanna switch out?"

Clint shook his head, "No, I'm good. If you wanna get some kip, now's a good time, cause we're still a few hours out."

"A few hours from where?"

"A safe house," Clint proclaimed, making Tony sigh.

Once the jet finally landed the group of worn out superheroes exited their transition. Diana had to rub her eyes as the morning light was starting to hurt her tired eyes.

Keeping a firm hand on her father, she followed the others up a dirt path of their supposed safe house. Or at least that's what she assumed the massive and secluded farm in the middle of nowhere was. With a sea of trees covering the cosy white picket fence. It was pretty, but her mental state was not allowing Diana to enjoy it.

"What is this place?" Thor suddenly asked, looking around the farm.

"A safe house?" Tony suggested.

"Let's hope," Clint let out a sigh as he opened up the front door, "Honey, I'm home!"

The avengers entered the house even more confused as the smell of pancakes and fresh bacon hit their nostrils. A few of their stomachs actually started to growl at the smell of the food. The multicoloured eyes of Diana Rogers-Stark shifted around the very messy environment. Noticing the toys and art projects scattered across the floor, as well as the many pairs of shoes by the door.

They all knew Clint Barton was a private person. Only showing up when requested and leaving the moment he was no longer needed. The only reason he was a part of the Avengers was from personal reasons. He wanted revenge on Loki and as an agent of Shield he helped the rest of the team. The friendship came after.

He of course considered all of them good friends, but he was entitled to privacy. You would never hear anything about his personal life. So when the group of coworkers watched as a heavily pregnant woman stepped into view, it was no wonder the avengers were baffled.

"Hi. Company. Sorry I didn't call ahead," he quickly went to the woman and pulled her into a deep kiss.

She gave a small hum as he pulled away, "Hey?" The brown haired woman mumbled as she started to flush, most likely embarrassed by the sight of her messy home.

"This is an agent of some kind," Tony whispered to Thor.

Clint gave a small chuckle and placed his arm around the woman, rubbing his free hand on the pale lady's stomach, "Everyone, this is Laura."

She gave a quick and awkward wave, "I know all your names..."

Steve, Diana, Bruce, Tony and Thor all stood there in a similar awkward position. None of them could find the words to speak as the revelation was revealed. Diana completely went red as she remembered all those times she had made fun of Clint for being chronically single. Now realising she was in fact the one being teased.

Thankfully their awkward silence was broken the second a rumbling could be heard upstairs. Steve quickly grabbed his daughter's arm, protectively, as the others went defensive. Though that was only met by a chuckle from Clint Barton, "Ooh, incoming!"

A clatter of feet brought two children, a boy and a girl, looking to be the ages of fourteen and ten. The younger girl quickly laughed and jumped into Clint's arms, shouting, "Dad!"

"Hi, sweetheart!" He squeezed the child tightly and proceeded to wrap his free arm around the boy, "Hey, buddy! How you guys doing?"

Tony's jaw fell even further as he watched his friend proceed to pepper the children in kisses, "These are... smaller agents."

"Did you bring Auntie Nat?" The younger one asked as her father

Natasha gave a sly smirk as she removed her hand from the wooden support beam. Limping towards the small girl as she pretended her injury didn't bother her, "Why don't you hug her and find out?"

The little girl with braids gasped in excitement as she rushed towards the spy, quickly allowing Natasha to scoop her up. Diana's eyes then widened at the realisation two of her friends had kept such a massive secret from her.

After a moment to let the two properly greet what seemed to be their little family Steve stepped forward, "Sorry for barging in on you."

Tony quickly crossed his arms, "Yeah, we would have called ahead, but we were busy having no idea that you existed."

"Yeah, well Fury helped me set this up when I joined. He kept it off Shield's files, I'd like to keep it that way. Keeps them out of the limelight," Clint smiled. "I figure it's a good place to lay low."

As the pregnant woman, Laura, started to kiss her husband once more

↻ ◁ II ▷ ↺

After only a few hours of being inside the Barton Farm the Avengers finally had a chance to breathe. Thankfully as Clint had kept his family such a private matter Ultron wouldn't be able to track them, allowing the Avengers to sit and process all that had been inflicted upon them.

Diana was able to breath for a moment before Clint's daughter Lila had latched onto the teen. Dragging the blonde up to her parents room to find her something better to wear.

At first Clint tried to scold his youngest for not giving the teenager some space, but to the shock of the lot Diana said it was alright and allowed Lila to take her away.

Steve on the other hand was not taking his nightmare well. Not long after a quick meal he found himself standing outside with an axe in hand, helping to chop wood for the all offgrid farm. He tried to forget. Though it was surprisingly hard as unlike the others around him his nightmare was one that already happened. It was just this time the characters had been switched.

"Thor didn't say where he was going for answers?" He heard his nephew's voice, glancing over to see Tony walking towards him.

To be honest... Steve wasn't that shocked when he learned his brother-in-law Howard had a family. What shocked him was how small it was. Morgan used to say she wouldn't be surprised if her elder brother had an army of children from how much he partied. So when Steve saw there was only one he originally thought it was witchcraft. Though the director of Shield, Nick Fury, had to properly explain the modern birth control created.

When he met Tony it sadly wasn't under the best circumstances. Originally he was rather excited. Grateful that his daughter had some family to grow up with while he was sleeping. Though that was until he was served.

It was at that moment Steve could tell Tony was a proper Stark from the second those papers challenging him for custody of his own daughter reached his hands. Male members of the Starks always seemed to be very protective over the female ones. He couldn't help but remember the countless times Howard had tried to separate him from Morgan. So Tony being very protective of Diana wasn't really a surprise.

He didn't hate Tony, not anymore at least. After all, Tony was his nephew. Just... this was a nephew he didn't start to properly like until after Diana was rescued from Loki. Once Tony dropped the custody case the pair became on good terms. Friends even.

"Sometimes my teammates don't tell me things. I was kind of hoping Thor would be the exception," Steve sighed as he continued to chop wood.

Tony let out a small noise as he grabbed an axe as well, "Yeah, give him time. We don't know what the Maximoff kid showed him."

"What did you see?" Steve didn't properly respond to his nephew. Instead the father gave a glance towards the farm house, getting a glance of Diana from the window. Tony followed the Captain's eye line and noticed who he was looking at, making him sigh, "Me too."

"It wasn't real," Steve muttered.

"But it felt like it."

Steve sighed, "Earth's Mightiest Heroes... Pulled us apart like cotton candy."

Tony huffed, "You know Ultron is trying to tear us apart, right?"

"Well I guess you'd know," Steve gave the man a look. "Whether you tell us is a bit of a question."

"Banner and I were doing research," he defended himself.

"That would affect the team."

"That would end the team," Tony took a step forward. "Isn't that the mission? Isn't that the 'why' we fight, so we can end the fight, so we get to go home? So that your kid can actually go to school?"

The final straw of Captain America quickly broke apart as the topic of Diana's education came into play. Taking a block of wood he separated it in two as he glared at the shocked billionaire, "As far as I'm concerned, the only reason she's not at her performance is because of the actions of the person in front of me. Because you can't leave things alone. Every time someone tries to win a war before it starts, innocent people die. Every time."

"But I'm not the real reason she isn't in school. Isn't that right?" Tony shot back as Steve glared back at him.

The two seemingly in a never ending glare that had only not become physical because of a certain pregnant woman walking towards them, "I'm sorry. Mr. Stark?" The pair faced Laura Barton, "Uh, Clint said you wouldn't mind, but, our tractor, it doesn't seem to want to start at all. I thought maybe you might..."

"Yeah, I'll give her a kick," Tony started to walk away but gave a glance at Steve on his way down. "Don't take from my pile."

↻ ◁ II ▷ ↺

After a while of entertaining the young Barton, Diana was finally given a moment alone. The powerful teenager took the opportunity to fall backwards onto Lila's twin bed. Allowing her wet hair to slap against her face, though she didn't move.

After all the running, moving and fighting Diana had partaken in she could feel her battery heading into the red zone. Though she didn't really care. Not bothering to think much of the battle from the night prior, there wasn't really anything to talk about. They tried to ambush a robot and lost. It was over and done with. Having most of her team suffer from the mental warfare in the process.

But Diana knew it would be over soon. They could figure it out. They always did.

Sighing she put her hand up in the air and made it sway back and forth. Watching small blue sparks sky around her fingertips. A small feeling of comfort washed over her as she felt the warmth created from the action, allowing a small smile to form on her face.

"We need to do something with all that hair," Steve's voice entered the room.

Looking away from her hand Diana could see her father standing by the door, his arms crossed as he was leaning against the frame, "Well we could continue the talk of dying my hair-"

"Out of the question," he immediately shut it down.

The girl let out a huff as she sat up, "And why not?"

"We've been over this many times, Diana," he frowned. "Because pink hair is unnatural."

Diana slowly blinked, holding up her hand and creating a small circular pocket, "And I am?"

He let out a small chuckle, "I thought you wanted to be on Broadway? You need to be professional," he sauntered over and sat next to his daughter. "Your mother would've never been caught dead with any modifications towards her hair."

"That's because mom was perfect," she sat up. "They have proper wigs for a reason now."

He let out a small chuckle, "The answer is still no."

She rolled her eyes, "Fine."

Steve came closer, placing his left arm around her shoulder and pulled the girl onto his side. Holding onto Diana as if his life depended on it.

Having a sense he was still rather upset over whatever his nightmare was, Diana wrapped both of her arm around his waist and quietly asked, "Do you wanna talk about it?"

He let out another sigh, shaking his head back and forth before allowing his cheek to rest on Diana's bland blonde wet hair, "No."

"Okay," she didn't press him any further.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He then asked.

Diana shook her head, "I didn't get affected. Her powers didn't work on me for some reason."

"I'm not talking about Wanda, my Songbird," he huffed. "I'm talking about yesterday morning..."

The teen's breath poured out her nose as he hit a nerve. She slowly slipped her arms away from the father and created a small bit of distance between the pair, "There's nothing to talk about."

"Diana," Steve moved back slightly, but kept his arm planted on her shoulder. "It wasn't my choice-"

"I get that," she cut him off. "I understand why you did it and I don't blame you. I'm just..." her eyes closed as she tried to steady her breathing. A bubble formed inside her throat as she prevented herself from screaming out in frustration.

"Just...?"

Her hands clenched as for only a split second her eyes glowed their respected colours, though Steve didn't notice since he was more focused on Diana's now clenched fists, "I'm just upset because they were right." She said as she looked forward. Not having the strength to face him.

"What?" Steve was taken aback, "Who? Who was right?"

The pale girl's face went into a scrunched mess as she realized the can of worms she had just opened. Shaking her head she tried to play it off, "Nothing. It's not important."

But he didn't believe her, "Diana, who said something to you?" Steve made her face him.

She pushed him away and stood up, trying to escape the topic she accidentally brought into conversation, "Why is it always me? Why is it that every single time I try to do something normal it blows up in my face? I should've known," Diana scoffed. "I should have known that I wouldn't be able to do my musical. I should've known something bad would've happened."

Even if she wasn't looking at her father, Diana knew him well, mentally seeing him frown up at her, "I'm sorry, my girl."

Diana groaned, "That's the thing. That's the thing. You shouldn't have to be sorry," she crossed her arms and started to pace around the room to get some of her frustrations out. "It's not your fault. This... robot is trying to kill us and who knows what it's planning and... grawww!" She couldn't find the words. "How do you do it?"

Steve blinked, "Do what?"

"This. Fight? Everyone has this reason to fight. A drive," she continued to pace around. "All of you seem to have one. Tony does it for his ego, but we all know it's actually for Pepper, Thor does it for Jane, Natsaha does it to clear her ledger, Bruce to prove himself and now I can see Clint is only fighting for his family. And you. You obviously fight for me."

"Obviously."

"Obviously," she repeated. "So why should I have to do this? I have no one to fight for."

Steve gave a small shrug as he stared up at his reason. His drive. His purpose to exist still, "Sweetheart that's the thing. You just haven't found yours yet."

"What do you mean?"

"You don't really get to pick your reason, My Songbird. They just happen. Just one day you're going to find your reason to fight. Your person to fight for. I fight for you. We all do," he added. "We all fight for you. The main reason we assembled back in 2012 was for you. To save you and I would burn down the world if you were ever taken from me again."

"It's happened more than once-"

"And won't again," he promised her. "I won't lose you again and that's why I fight. I fight for you."

"Exactly," Diana huffed. "You all already fight for me. Why do I need to join in?"

Steve exhaled, "It seems insane, I get that, but one day you are gonna meet a person and you are going to want to do anything to protect them. You will find your drive one day." They just didn't know at the time, but her drive would come in the most unexpected way, with the most unexpected people.

Steve watched her have her very understandable fit as he tried to find the good out of the situation. Something that Morgan always had done with him. When they were together during their tour Morgan would always try to find something bright to say.

So that's why he said, "Well why not think of something happy out of the situation?"

He couldn't help but remember the girl he fell in love with at those meet and greets. Going to her knees as she talked to the children whose fathers were enlisted. Telling them, "Think happy thoughts. Happy thoughts bring joyful ideas into the world."

Diana glanced back, "Seriously?"

He shrugged, "Come on, you know what your mother always said."

She huffed, "How can I forget? It's engraved on her memorial."

Steve nodded, "So let's do that. Think of something good."

Diana took a moment. Thinking of what had happened and sighed, "I guess... I guess I'm kind of glad that the play itself wasn't cancelled," she mumbled. "They all worked hard." Not to mention Colette would most definitely be ecstatic to be playing the role everyone believed she deserved.

"There you go," Steve smiled. "And even if things go south for a little longer, your time at the academy wasn't a complete waste. You still got to make friends."

She stilled for a moment. Keeping herself from both laughing and crying, "Yeah... sure. Friends."

That made him stop smiling, "You... you have friends, right?"

"Depends on what you classify as friends," she mumbled. "It's... it's harder for me."

"What do you mean it's hard? Are people mean to you?" Steve moved closer, slightly agitated at the sudden revelation.

Diana shook her head, "No. Not necessarily mean. It's just," she struggled to find the words. Not sure how to explain to a man from a different time how hard it was, "It's just I don't really know people's intentions anymore."

Steve stayed silent as Diana sat back down, continuing, "They just want to talk about you or my powers or mom or the others. They..."

"They want to know Lady Liberty, not Diana."

"Yeah. Yeah that sounds about right," she frowned. "But I'm not that. I'm not just your kid. I have thoughts too."

"I know."

She frowned, "It doesn't help that it's sorta scary."

Now that made Steve look at her strangely, "You are scared of something?"

Diana slightly blushed as she nodded, "Yeah. Yeah, I know it's hard to believe. But the last time I had a real friend, this happened," she held up her heavily scarred hand she received thanks to Harry's father employing a violent criminal. "And not to mention what happened to Sawyer-" Diana suddenly slapped her hand over her mouth.

Silently cursing once she realised what she had just done. What she had done. Saying the name of a person she swore to never speak of again.

Steve raised a brow as he didn't remember a girl with that name before, "Whose Sawyer?"

The girl didn't answer for a few moments. Instead she stared forward as she acted like the others when they had woken up from Wanda's trance. It wasn't that the friend Diana accidentally revealed was bad, it was just hard. Both mentally and physically.

Closing her eyes Diana sucked in a breath as she knew Steve had the right to know, "I wasn't completely alone in the lab," she admitted.

Steve briefly paused, "Really?"

She shook her head, "Um... for a small moment, I'm not sure how long, I had a friend inside the lab. I don't like talking about it, but her name was Sawyer."

Her father didn't say anything as a few tears started to fall. Instead he gripped her left hand as she wiped away the tears, "She was older than me. Ten or so? I don't know but she had this... fiery red hair like Natasha's. She was so pretty and so so cool," she smiled slightly. "We shared a room for a good six months. We did everything together. It wasn't exactly by choice but I enjoyed it. Sometimes if we were extra stealthy we'd hide under our sheets and she'd tell me stories. About how we'd get out and would live by the sea, like sisters."

Diana's face dropped even more, "She was a sister."

Steve gripped her hand tighter, "Did they kill her?"

"I don't know," her voice sounded so defeated. "One day I came back from a doctor's appointment and she was just... gone. I didn't even get to say goodbye."

Her father tried to sooth her as Diana tried to find something happy to bring joyful thoughts, but what happiness could there be?

"They probably killed her," she said flatly. "She mustn't have been good enough to keep alive. That or they probably sold her to the Red Room, which thanks to Natasha means she's definitely dead. I just... I miss her."

Steve pulled her closer. Hugging his daughter tightly as she cried it out. That's one of the reasons having a friend was so difficult. The fear. The fear of them getting hurt. That they would leave or worse. If they died. For if they did it would forever be on Diana's hands.

And as she laid in her father's arms she couldn't help finding one good thing to come from the bad. That even if she was miserable at least the nonexistent friends she had wouldn't be hurt.

Too bad this nightmare came true when she finally met those people she'd fight for.

•••