Silence.

That was what was enveloping them, the white sheets were crumpled by the pressure Nora was clenching them, her hair framing her face, eyes red rimmed, barely holding back tears.

Her heart thumped loudly, and the all too familiar feeling of dread settled in her, making it difficult to breathe. His silence only increased that anxiety, making her inside churns.

What if he also saw her as something who has just killed people?

Yes, she did, she knew, she also knew that she didn't deserve forgiveness, but that has never made accepting the bitterness or coldness from others easy, she knew she was selfish, so damn selfish that she killed hundreds, just in the hope of keeping lumine safe.

But...she was the only thing that mattered then, Nora didn't have the will or guts to think of saving others or herself, knowing that the consequence would bleed her.

"I...I never meant to," she whispered, her voice breaking, "really, I-I didn't wanted to, kill anyone, let alone innocents,"

Tony's mind was left reeling with the information he had got in the past few minutes, he couldn't comprehend that all, and for some moments he wished that it all would be just a lie, just a dream, a nightmare.

And that was not because he saw her with a negative perspective after listening to her past, no never, how can he see her like that, no not her, never her.

It was because he was left stunned by what she had endured, the mental trauma of having killed so many people weigh heavy already on her consciousness, that he know by the pain in her eyes, but memories being wiped away, having no idea of your existence or your life before, it was a dreading concept, and on top of that seeing your only, what could be termed as family member dead, in such a state.

He knew from the moment she had accepted his friendship that she was resilient, but after knowing all about her painful history, he knew she was strong, strong beyond anyone he had ever seen, he could only feel his heart clenching, and hands clenched into fists.

There was no denying of the protective anger that rose in him, the instinct to find those bastards–who dared to touch her, scarred her, left her broken– and killed them, was almost overwhelming.

Her broken voice snapped him out of his thoughts, as his hazel eyes met with the cowering emerald of hers that refused to look at him. The evening sunlight filtered through the windows, illuminating his eyes in molten gold.

It broke his heart seeing the same emerald pools he had seen filled with joy and adoration, now filled with a heart wrenching pain and fear, the watery gaze piercing his heart.

His warm hand a stark contrast to her ice cold trembling one, took hers in his palm, his thumb rubbing soothing circles on the skin, "Nora, Nora look at me,"

Maybe it was the softness in his tone or maybe the soothing warmth that enveloped her hands. She found the coldness surrounding her despating, his words acting like anchors pulling her out of the dark panicked abyss.

Nora thought she couldn't breath a few moments ago, but after her eyes met his she was sure that whatever oxygen was left in her body also left, she was expecting coldness, calmness maybe, but not even in her wildest imaginaries she thought of warmth or empathy in those eyes.

But now when he was looking at her with such tenderness, she couldn't help but crumble in, tears cascading down her cheeks.

He pulled her close, letting one hand rest on her waist while he rubbed soothing circles on her shoulder, "it's alright, sweetheart, it's alright, you don't need to worry I would never ever saw you as someone else than a woman who has the most kindest and strongest heart,"

He couldn't help but clench his teeth, when he felt her tears soaking his shirt, painful silent sobs racking her body, and at that moment he felt the pain he didn't knew he was able to feel, the absolute pain like someone was tying his heart with barbed wire, slowly but surely bleeding.

And at that moment, he knew he absolutely hated, despised seeing her crying, seeing tears in her eyes when all he wanted was to see pure joy and admiration in them.

Her hands clutched his shirt on a vice grip, afraid if she let go, he would disappear and she would fall into an abyss only she would be able to see and feel.

She really didn't remember the last time she cried without trying to compose herself and openly let the dark emotions flow in her veins and torment her soul, it was as if, the thorns of her own stem were pricking and bleeding the rose, her soul, the alight red mixing with the ominous shade.

She didn't because she couldn't, she knew how it felt to suffer alone, to have no one to wipe your tears away, to have no rock to hold when you felt like your entire world is slipping away, to have no one to surround you in a cocoon of warmth so you could bleed through your eyes, complaining about the coldness.

But somehow, unimaginably, impossibly, Tony Stark had taken that place in her heart.

Maybe it was the countless nights she had spent with him, with either a cup of coffee or glass of champagne in hand, talking mindlessly about anything and everything, bickering about whether it was more good to be a wizard or a demigod, making weird theories about how the ai would take over the world or sometime just seeing him while he fix some things up, the slightest furrow in his brow, how the specks of green in her eyes become more prominent when he focus, the pout of his lips when something malfunction again.

Or maybe it was just the familiarity in his eyes, with him she felt like she belonged somewhere, somewhere near him.

Her sobs gradually died down, replaced with the occasional sniffles, as she wiped her tears, all while he sat there gently holding her, like a fragile flower.

"I-I am sorry," she whispered quietly, seeing the tear stains on his shirt.

He shook his head, his hand gently tilting her chin up, so her beautiful eyes were staring in his, it made his heart clench thinking the eyes which he could stare at all day long without blinking, were the ones she despised. "There is no need for sorry, sweetheart, I should be the one saying Thank you, thank you for letting me in... letting me in the parts of your life, I am sure many people are not aware of,"

"You are the first," she confessed quietly, her eyes though wanting to stare into his, all day long, reluctantly pulled away.

He blinked, shocked and a surprise etched on his face, "I am the first...no one else knows?"

She shook her head, her hand fiddling with loose thread of the duvet that surrounded her, "No, Fury knows that I had a sister due to which I stayed there, no one else knows nothing more than that,"

Tony at that time felt an overwhelming surge of responsibility and adoration for her, knowing that he was the first one, only one, who she had let in her past, let in the deepest secrets of her life, the secrets that she had been burdened for seven years, the cuts that were slowly bleeding with no one to heal them, were now held bare in front of him.

He felt the need to protect her, to keep her safe from all the evil in the world, to give her a heaven where darkness won't even as much as look to, a safe place where she could confide in and a cocoon of warmth that would shield her from every blizzard that blow toward her.

To never let her emerald eyes fill with tears, only with happiness and love.

"Oh Nora," he muttered as he again pulled her closer, his hands resting on his waist, his heart swelled when he felt her hands timidly hugging him back too, "sweetheart, I am sorry, I am so so sorry, you didn't deserve any of that shit, I wish – I wish there was some way to turn the wheel of time back,"

"You don't have to say that to make me feel better," her voice was slightly muffled and shaky, he didn't miss the way her palm clenched into fists too, behind his back, "I...I killed so many people, of course I deserved it-"

"Nora," he interrupted her, his voice firm but soft at the same time, "you didn't , you hear me, you didn't deserve any of that, any, what you did was not your choice but your helplessness, you just wanted to protect the single lay of light that you could see in that endless tunnel of darkness, it was not your fault, none of that was,"

Nora felt tears again resurfacing in her eyes, which she gulped down with red rimmed eyes, "you...you really think so?" she asked in a quiet whisper.

"Of course I do, sweetheart, I do," he said, placing a soft kiss on her hair, "and believe me, you say I am a genius, right? Then won't you believe the words of a genius?"

"Thank you, thank you so much," she said, her arms tightening around him, eyes closing to relish in the warmth that his presence brought, "I-...just thank you, you don't know how much those words mean,"

"It's alright," he said, placing a kiss on her hair, "you don't have to worry anymore, believe me. They will understand too, no one will see you differently,"

She broke the hug, wiping away her tears, looking down, "What if...They did?" she asked quietly, she didn't even expect understanding from him, who she had spent the most time within the past months...it seemed like the wish of touching a star, to not let them see her differently. Maybe it was the words engraved in the back of her mind that were repeated for years to her, when she was back there.

"Then I will make them understand, hmm? You would gain all the happiness and support you deserve, sweetheart. Believe me, I will make sure of that," he said, his words soft, but a firm promise.

She smiled, a genuine smile, shaking her head, as some tear still linger in her eyes, "you sound so protective, make it sound like I am your girlfriend or something,"

"Well, you did say I was your knight in shining armor, isn't that what happened when he saved the princess?"

She blinked, as she looked up at him, the sunlight behind filtered through the windows. The orange hues cast his face in an otherworldly glow. In past months she had picked on his body language, like how his lips quirk a bit when he is sarcastic or lying, but in that moment... There was nothing like that, the only thing she saw in his sunset eyes was the same warmth and sincerity that the sunset behind her held, "Tony, what-I..."

"I don't mean to push you or anything, but I can't hide it anymore either. I care about you Nora, more than a friend...more than I have ever done for anyone to be honest, people tears don't easily affect me, but believe me, seeing tears in your eyes make my heart clench in the most painful ways, I want to see joy in your emerald eyes, adoration, maybe sometime annoyance, but never pain. when you smile, not the fake quirk of your lips, by the way, but the real smile, the one that make the dimple on your left pop, the one that make your eyes alight, it makes me feel like I am experiencing all the joys in the world, so yes, you have been in my heart, for a while now actually,"

Nora had let herself imagine the wildest of things, in past, like getting out of HYDRA with her sister with her, living a normal life, maybe find some people who would care about her...but seeing and hearing, Tony Stark confessing to her wasn't one of them, if it was, she didn't let herself dare to think about that more than some moments.

But here it was happening.

"Tony," her voice was a breathless whisper, as she closed her eyes in pain, "I-...you don't know, there are scars, baggage, being with me isn't worth it. You have been with supermodels and actresses, and I am just-...I will prove to be a liability, you would realize sooner or later that it isn't worth it, you would get tired and I-"

"Nora," he interrupted her, his warm hand coming to rest on her cheek, "sweetheart, if that's what you worry about than don't, I have seen your scars, and even if there are more it doesn't affect me, because believe me, with you I feel complete, with you, I feel like I am looking at the most beautiful creation in the world both from inside and outside...so please believe me when I say that I am yours, if you will have me,"

She let herself lean on his warm touch, her hand coming to rest on top of his, that rest on her cheeks, "I like you too," she confessed quietly, "care about you, just as I remember to do about lumine, you might annoy me but your sarcastic remarks also bring a joy in my life, I like... when your eyes shimmer with joy, your smirk, your smile, everything...but do you really think I am worth it?" the faint trace of insecurity tugging at her voice, near the end.

"Being with you is worth everything, Nora, it is worth bringing the stars down if someone has to, I will find a way to even do that, if you will let me. Believe me, I hadn't been this confident in my choice before, but with you... I know it will be worth it, for everything I have,"