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Emersyn had a strange feeling brewing at the pit of her stomach as she walked calmly through the stronghold towards her father.

It wasn't uneasy and it didn't make her feel sick. It just felt different. Like something had changed.

Steve...

Steve was her best friend.

Why did it feel so right to kiss her best friend? Why did it feel so wrong only moments later?

Nothing about him and her made sense. The only thing that did make sense was their friendship. So why did they kiss?

Reaching the room where Jarvis said her father was, she pushed through the steel door, earning a loud squeak. Glancing up quickly, Tony calmed as he saw his daughter walk toward him. "Oh, it's you, kid. You doing alright?" he asked, glancing at her nose.

"Mhm. Some guy snuck up on me," Emersyn replied, unable to meet his eyes as she looked around the room. "What is this place?" 

He shrugged as he glanced back at the computer screen, "Not sure yet. But it's gotta be more than computer files. Hey, J, give me an IR scan of the room, real quick."

"The wall to your left...I'm reading steel reinforcement... and an air current," the AI responded.

Emersyn chuckled softly at her father as he walked over to the wall, with an excited look in his eyes. "Please be a secret door, please be a secret door, please be a secret door..." As he pushed on the wall, it opened and his smile widened, "Yay!"

Looking back at Emersyn, he held out his hand and she slowly took it. "It's dark down there. Keep a hold on me, kiddo."

Nodding, she held his hand a little tighter. Ever since the last mission she had gone on, she didn't like the dark, or rather, what was possibly lurking in the dark. Tony was the only one who knew that.

As they reached the end of the tunnel, they walked into a room filled with tech.

"We have a second enhanced. Female. Do not engage," Steve's voice spoke through the comms, causing that same strange feeling to appear in Emersyn's stomach. After a moment, he spoke again, "I got Strucker."

Emersyn's eyes widened as they walked further inside the room and looked up. A leviathan. Specifically one from the battle of Loki.

"I thought the city took care of all those?" she asked as she looked at the large hunk of metal that was strung up from the ceiling.

"I guess they weren't very careful with who they left alone on the site."

Continuing the trek through the large room, they stopped in front of a box which held a bunch of scraps. Glancing around, a glowing blue light caught their eyes.

"Thor," Tony spoke up. "I got eyes on the prize–"

Sensing someone behind her, Emersyn went to turn around, only to hear a faint screech before her vision went black.

Her vision cleared a moment later and she glanced over to her father only to let out a frightened gasp as the leviathan's mouth opened, showing its metallic teeth before it began to fly through the room, causing destruction as it moved.

Turning around, she stopped in her tracks. A bead of sweat dripped down her forehead as her eyes cast down.

The team. Natasha, Hulk, Clint, Thor, and Bucky. Their bodies were covered in blood, unmoving, completely still as the wind blew past them.

Her hand moved up to her mouth, holding in a sob as her eyes met Steve's closed ones. His shield lay next to him, broken in half. Dirt covered his face and a deep cut was bleeding from the corner of his eyebrow.

Moving quickly, she kneeled next to him and placed her hand on his neck, checking for his pulse.

A tear fell from her eye. She couldn't find one. Her knees gave out and she slumped on the ground. "Steve?" her voice cracked.

Moving her hand to hold his cheek, her wrist was suddenly grabbed in an iron grip as the blonde man's eyes opened.

"You could have saved us," he spoke, his voice pained as his grip loosened.

His eyes slowly moved to look behind her. Glancing around, she saw her father standing there with a scared look in his eyes as Steve's body went limp beneath her hand.

"Why didn't you do more?" Steve's voice echoed through their ears as Tony knelt beside Emersyn and pulled her into a hug.

"Steve?" she choked, fighting her fathers hold as she attempted to wake up the soldier.

A loud screech sounded before others followed.

Emersyn's teary eyes moved to find the source of the noise. Looking at the starry sky, she watched as hundreds of leviathans flew through the sky towards earth.

Blinking, she opened her eyes again, only to see she was back in the Hydra stronghold. The leviathans had disappeared and so did the team. It was just her and Tony again.

Shaking her head, she wiped away the lone tear that had fallen from her eye and looked up at her father. "What the hell was that, dad?"

He looked down at her, "I don't know." His hand came up to her shoulder and he gently patted it, "We'll figure it out. Don't worry."

Holding out his free hand, metal coated his arm and he slowly left his daughters side before grabbing the glowing stone.

"Let's get the hell out of here." 

— — —

In the quinjet, on the way back to New York, Emersyn sat in the cockpit in the co-pilot's seat beside Steve. She could faintly hear the sounds of opera music which were sounding softly from Bruce's headphones that were secured around his head.

Ten minutes before, Bruce had realigned her nose, setting the bones back in place. Luckily, it had been a seamless break and with Dr. Cho's help, it would be fully healed in ten minutes. 

Glancing behind her, she saw Clint laying on the medical cot while Natasha and Bruce spoke quietly.

"Thor, report on the Hulk?" Natasha asked after a few hushed moments.

"The gates of Hell are filled with the screams of his victims," Thor answered, his voice strong as he pounded his fists together, not realizing that was the opposite of what Natasha and Bruce wanted to hear.

After a stern glare from Natasha and an embarrassed groan from Bruce, the god quickly corrected himself, "But not the screams of the dead, of course. No, no, wounded screams. Mainly whimpering, a great deal of complaining and tales of sprained deltoids and gout."

Emersyn glanced over at Steve and smiled. His lips were held firmly together as he held in a laugh for the sake of Bruce.

"Thor?"

"Yes, Lady Stark?"

"I think you should stop."

He let out a breath and sat down behind her, "Thank you."

"Hey, Banner, Dr. Cho is on her way in from Seoul. Is it okay if she sets up in your lab?" Tony asked, changing the conversation.

"Uh, yeah, she knows her way around," the scientist replied. "Thanks. Tell her to prep everything. Barton's gonna need the full treatment," Tony told the AI in a hushed tone.

"Very good, sir."

Glancing at Steve, Emersyn held her breath. That same awkward feeling was in her stomach once more. "Jarvis, take the wheel," she spoke up, before patting Steve's shoulder, silently telling him to follow her.

In the small bedroom of the quinjet, with only a twin size bed, Emersyn and Steve were cramped as they sat beside each other, knees bumping against each other.

"Do you feel weird about it too?" Steve asked after a beat of silence.

"Oh, thank god," Emersyn let out a relieved sigh. "I thought I was gonna have to let you down hard, Rogers. I think it's best if we're friends. I mean, you're hot as hell, but I feel like I want to vomit every time I think about kissing you."

"Harsh, Syn. But I feel the same way."

Their lips quirked up, smiles matching as their shoulders bumped. "So, we're okay?" she asked.

"Yeah. Yeah, we're okay. We're never telling Bucky about this though."

"Agreed. I think he might kill me for kissing you."

"He's pretty protective for a friend," Steve agreed, earning a smirk from the Stark. "Mhm. A friend. Sure."

"What do you mean by that?" he asked, eyes casting down to hers, watching as she shrugged. "Nothing. I've gotta talk to Thor."

"Okay?"

Walking over to Thor, she tapped his shoulder, causing him to look down at her. "Oh, hello, Lady Stark," he greeted with a smile.

"Hey, buddy," she greeted, a matching smile on her lips as she glanced over to the scepter which sat in front of them on a table. "Feels good, huh? You've been after this thing since Shield collapsed. Not that I haven't enjoyed having you around on missions, but..."

"No, but this... this brings it to a close second. The first being the time you came to Asgard with me."

Emersyn chuckled, "I think I was drunk for a month."

"You certainly were. You drank more than me," the god joked. "The people of Asgard still ask about you. They wish for the 'beauty of earth' to come again and grace them with your presence."

The Stark chuckled, his words only fueling her already large ego. "Oh, yeah? Well, I guess it's about time I pay them a visit. Who was that girl? The one who I spent the night with?"

"Annabeth," Thor responded, recalling the blonde woman.

"You know, I'm usually more of a 'one and done' kinda girl but she might just make me change."

"That's impossible."

"Yeah, you're right. What about that guy? You know, the one we met while in Olympus?"

"Poseidon?"

"Yeah. He was hot. He had really pretty blue eyes and really soft brown hair."

"He's Poseidon."

"So? I can pull whoever I want. A little God is not going to stop that."

Glancing through the window behind them, they noticed a large wave swarm through the middle of the calm ocean. Emersyn grinned, "See? I told you I could pull him."

An amused look fell on the god of thunder's face as he patted her shoulder, "Your ego never fails to amaze me, Lady Stark." 

Laughing softly at the gods' words, Emersyn turned her eyes back to the stone. "We've gotta figure out what else this has been used for. Not just weapons. Strucker shouldn't be capable of human enhancement."

Behind her, Tony walked over to the pair. "You, Banner and I will give it the once over before it goes back to Asgard." He turned to Thor, "Is that cool with you?"

Nodding at the male Stark, Thor confirmed Tony's question.

"Just a few days till the farewell party. You're staying, right?"

"Yes, yes, of course. A victory should be honored with revels."

"Who doesn't love revels? Kid?"

Rolling her eyes at her father, she continued to stare at the stone. "Hopefully this puts an end to the Chitauri and Hydra. So, yes, revels."

— — —

Arriving back at Stark Tower, Clint was quickly wheeled away with Natasha by his side while the rest slowly left the jet. In the driver's seat, sat Tony while both Emersyn and Steve cleaned up the ship.

Maria Hill walking in, caused their attention to turn to her. "Labs all set up, boss."

"Oh, actually, he's the boss," Tony replied, pointing to Steve. "I just pay for everything and design everything and make everyone look cooler."

Standing up, Steve held out his hand to Emersyn, helping her move to her feet before moving towards Maria, "What's the word on Strucker?"

"NATO's got him."

"The two enhanced?"

Holding out her tablet, she showed the soldier a selection of photos and videos, "Wanda and Pietro Maximoff. Twins. Orphaned at 10 when a shell collapsed their apartment building. Sokovia's had a rough history."

Maria's voice slowly faded away as her and Steve left the jet, leaving Emersyn and Tony. Turning to face her father, Emersyn adjusted her blue tinted glasses so that they were sitting on her head, holding her hair back.

"Are we going to talk about the elephant in the room?" she asked.

"What? The tension between you and Capsicle being higher than ever?" Tony asked sarcastically as he grabbed a few bags before walking out of the jet, Emersyn quickly following behind him.

"What do you mean?"

He laughed, amused by his daughter's cluelessness. "That guy has loved you for quite some time, kid. And it looks like you just stomped on his heart. I mean, he usually looks like a puppy, but now he looks like a kicked puppy. Why would you kick a puppy?"

"I- I didn't kick a fucking puppy. I- I have absolutely no idea what you are insinuating, dad, but Steve and I are fine. And for the record, we are just friends. Nothing more. Besides, he's got this thing going on with Bucky."

"Barnes has a girlfriend."

"What? No way," Emersyn's eyes were wide. "Wait, really?"

"Yeah, some chick from the humane society. He goes there almost every night when he's in the city. I told him about it because animals are supposed to help with trauma and now he goes all the time, and there happens to be a really pretty girl who works at the desk who is great with cats; ergo, exactly Barnes' type."

"How do you know all of that? It's creepy."

"I know everything, honey. If you wanna date Rogers, go for it. He's a good guy, a bit annoying and a little too goody-two-shoes, but he'd be good for you."

Flustered, Emersyn pushed through the door of the lab and held her breath. "Not gonna happen."

"And are you going to explain what happened in the stronghold then? Or are we going to ignore the elephant in the room?"

Eyes wide, she turned to face her father who held a wide smirk on his lips. "How do you know about that? How did you know we kissed?"

His grin seemingly widened more, if that were possible. "I didn't, actually. I do now though."

"You're such a dick," Emersyn groaned.

"Hey, don't call your dad a dick. I don't think your boyfriend likes that kind of talk."

A soft laugh left her lips, "He's never gonna live that down."

Tony wrapped his arm around her shoulder as he guided her further inside the room. "Not while I'm still alive."