I'll Be There

"Hydra?" Steve asked in confusion. "You mean—"

"The evil organization led by Voldemort 's twin that's obsessed with making an army of Captain Americas minus the goody two-shoes act?" Alex replied.

"How is that even possible?" Steve questioned. "Red Skull is dead. I saw him burn."

"Well, apparently he didn't die," Alex pointed out as she opened a bottle of coke and began to chug it.

"But that doesn't make any sense. The woman that Steve interrogated said that the reason why you were taken was because someone wanted your child. What would Red Skull want with an infant? He's not exactly father material and babies and armies don't go well together," Tony stated.

"Well I don't know what his entire plan was, but he said that a child with the genetic make-up of a super human could be used to create more super humans so maybe gene splicing or something."

"Alex, you were there for two months, how could you not know this?" Tony asked.

"Because, dad, I was their prisoner—their freaking guinea pig. They did a bunch of tests on me and squishy for reasons I don't know. I wasn't there to get answers; I was just their thing to probe and poke at!" Alex ranted in frustration.

As Steve listened to Alex ramble, a surge of guilt panged him. He could only imagine the sort of things Hydra members did to Alex and, even worse, knowing her sarcastic and sometimes stubborn nature, the sorts of consequences she faced when she did not cooperate with them.

His overwhelming guilt compelled him to say, "Alex, I'm sorry for everything: for whatever Hydra did and for not finding you earlier. And I understand that you're mad at us; you have every right to be, but all that matters to me right now is that you and the baby are safe and that no one harmed either of you two."

Just as Alex's words caused guilt to fill Steve, Steve's words had the same affect on Alex as she recalled a few nights ago when she felt so hopeless about her situation that she attempted to kill her and Steve's child. Alex, who up to this point had always had a witty and sarcastic remark, remained silent.

"Alex," Steve began as he noted her silence. "Are you okay? What did they do to you?"

"Nothing," Alex responded immediately trying to shake off that memory. "I'm fine. It was nothing I couldn't handle."

"And the baby?"

"The baby is fine. We're both safe and sounds—no thanks to you two," Alex remarked. "No if you'll excuse me," Alex began as she grabbed a box of pizza and made her way towards the stairs.

"Alex, what are you doing?" Tony asked.

"Well before you two decided to break the living room window, I was play video games and now I have pizza so—"

"Oh, no you're not; you're coming back to New York with us," Tony interrupted. "If Hydra's going to come after you like you said they might, then you need to be safe and right now; the safest place is at home where we can keep an eye on you."

"I already told you, I'm not going to New York. Besides, I already escaped on my own I'm pretty sure I can protect myself. I don't need you two. I have everything I need here, "Alex spat as she continued to make her way upstairs.

"What about your mom? And Pepper?" Steve questioned.

Stopping in her tracks at the mention of the two, Alex asked, "What about them?"

"You said that you wanted them to be there when the baby was born and I'm sure that they would love to see you after being missing for so long."

Alex recalled her desire to see her mother and Pepper right after stealing the jet with Annabelle, but decided against it for not wanting to see her father or Steve. Now that the two were here , there was no avoiding them and the thought of being able to see and spend time with Christina and Pepper made her want to go.

"Fine," Alex agreed. "I'll go with you two. Just let me change," Alex said before she silently made her way to her room.

"I can't believe that worked. How did you know that bringing up Pepper and Christina would convince her to come?" Tony questioned.

"I noticed, after you tried reasoning with her, that Alex seemed to be responding on an emotional level rather than on a logical one. So I thought that bringing up her mom or Pepper would help our cause," Steve explained.

"Well that was good call."

"Did Alex seem different to you?" Steve asked. "She seemed really mad, which I understand, but it felt like she was attacking us when she talked about how we let her down. I mean, I know she can be sarcastic and blunt at times, but I've never seen her act that way."

"It's probably just her pregnancy hormones," Tony pointed out. "She's mad at you now, but to give her time, she'll warm up to you soon; and then she'll be able to be mad at you for some other reason."

"I hope you're right," Steve sighed.

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"I'm so glad you're safe!" Christina exclaimed over Skype.

"I know, mom," Alex replied as she lowered the volume on her laptop. "You've said that a million times," Alex giggled as she watched her mother wipe away tears that had begun to form.

"Well, I am. I was worried about you, sweetie."

"Mom, you're always worried about me," Alex joked.

"Well, I'm a mom; it's my job to worry about you even when you're all grown up and having a kid of your own. Speaking of which, how is the baby? Have you seen a doctor since you've gotten back?" Christina asked concerned.

"No I haven't visited a doctor yet, but the baby is fine. He's kicking and keeping me up at night," Alex replied.

"He?" Christina questioned.

"Yes, I said 'he'. I'm having a boy," Alex grinned.

"Oh my God, I'm having a grandson!" Christina squealed in excitement. "Who else knows?"

"Well, I told Pepper when I first got here—after all the tears and hug. She's the only other person that knows," Alex answered.

"Wait— you didn't tell Steve? Why not?"

"It didn't come up in the three barely conversations we've had in the last two days," defended Alex.

"Alex," Christina scorned. "I know you're mad at him, but he deserves to know these things."

"I know, but—" Alex stopped mid sentence when she heard a beeping sound coming from her mother's end of the call

"Shit," Christina mumbled. "I have to get back to work. Sorry, honey."

"It's okay, mom. I'll talk to you later. I love you."

"Okay. I love you too, Alex and promise me that you'll tell Steve."

"I will," Alex responded as the call ended and she closed her laptop, placing it on top of the coffee table, grabbing her game controller in the process. "Eventually," she sighed as she resumed the game she was playing earlier.

"What is that you have to tell me?" asked a familiar voice.

Alex paused her game and turned her head to see Steve standing in the entrance on the common lounge with a bag of McDonalds. Steve approached her and handed her the bag as he took a seat next to her on the coach. Alex hesitatively opened the bag to reveal two orders of large French fries that she had been craving earlier.

"How did you—"

"I heard you muttering something about fries while you were taking a nap earlier," Steve replied nonchalantly. "So I thought that I should get you some."

"Well, thank you," Alex said before she took a fry and put it in her mouth and swallowing it. "But if this is a bribe, it's not going to work."

"Would pizza have worked better?" Steve joked, earning him a glare from Alex. "So what is it that you have to tell me?" Steve asked once again.

Alex let out a long sigh as she debated whether or not to tell him now. 'I guess I might as well,' Alex thought. Just as she was about to tell Steve, another person, loudly entering the room, interrupted her.

"Alex! I knew I'd find you here," boomed Clint as he sauntered into the room carrying a white bag with him.

"What do you want, Clint?" Alex sighed.

"Well, after that less than friendly greeting yesterday, I figured that you were mad for some reason or another, so I came bearing gifts," Clint explained.

"Nice try. Steve already tried to bribe me and it didn't work," Alex said bitterly.

"Well, then I guess I'll have to keep all these new games I just bought that may or may not be the games you've been waiting for to be released," said Clint as he began to slowly walk away.

"Wait!" Alex called out causing Clint to pause.

He grinned knowing that his plan had worked.

"What games did you buy?" Alex asked curiously.

"Why don't take a look for yourself," Clint replied as he handed her the bag.

When Alex opened the bag, her eyes widened in amazement as she saw the new Assassin's Creed, Super Smash Bros 5, and a couple of Infinity figurines that she hadn't had yet. "Forget what I said earlier, I'll take a bribe."

"I knew you would," Clint stated cockily. "So what do you want to play first?"

"Well right now, the baby's pushing on my bladder, so I have to go pee, but you set up Super Smash Bros and get ready to have your ass handed to you," Alex remarked as she got off the couch and left the room.

"I should probably go," Steve announced as she got up from the couch.

"Why? Stay here. Play some games with us. Have fun," Clint said as he inserted the disk into the game consul.

"I don't think Alex really wants me here. Things haven't been going so well between us ever since she got back," Steve sighed.

"All the more reason to stay and play with us," Clint replied.

"How?"

"Well, Alex is mad at you, so you have to give her time to warm up to you and playing video games with her is one of the fastest ways she'll warm up to you—it worked for me," Clint explained.

"Yes, but you weren't the one that let her down like I did. It's going to take a lot more than bringing her food and playing video games to make it up to her."

"Well, it's not like you have this grand gesture that will make Alex forgive you, so for now do all the little things that you know she likes."

"I'm back!" Alex announced as she entered the room and resumed her position in the middle of couch.

"Took you long enough, Steve and I were about to start without you."

"Oh, Steve's playing too?"

"Yeah, you don't mind do you? I mean we all usually play together anyway," Clint pointed out.

"No," Alex sighed. "It's fine. Now I have two people whose ass I'm going to kick."

Steve mouthed a 'thank you' to Clint as Alex decided on her character to which Clint responded with a 'don't worry'. As the three played the game, Steve noticed that Alex always attacked his character first; Steve frowned and decided make a mental list of the things he could do for Alex.