[1] 𝘿𝙀𝙑𝙄𝘼𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉 | 𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧𝙨

➘ 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐱𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧: 𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞

➸ 2013
📍AVENGERS TOWER
A Year After The Battle of New York
╰─────────╯

"Sloppy."

Bang.

"Worthless."

Bang.

"Nothing."

Bang.

"You have no place in this worl—"

"That floor is very expensive, if you dent it, you're paying the expenses." he pauses. "Hey, that rhymed."

Galina's head snapped up from where she sat in the middle of the training gym to find Tony standing right ahead of her with crossed arms and a teasing looking on his face.

"Sorry." she mumbles before sliding the pointe shoe onto her padded foot. "These are new, I needed to soften the box."

"You need to soften how hard you bang into my floor." he quips, taking a couple of steps towards her.

Galina gave him a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes with a shake of her head before focusing on tying the ribbons around her ankle.

It's been hard to adjust to the "free" lifestyle this past year.

The minute that she made her long drawn out confession about everything HYDRA and the Red Room, everything changed.

She's never understood the metaphor of someone "turning into a ghost" when bad news was given to them until that meeting with Fury who she made swear not to tell anyone except for the proper channels — anyone being the Avengers.

And he hasn't — I mean, his secrets have secrets, he's the ultimate spy. This is an easy one to keep...somewhat.

But once she had spilled the truth, the second it left her mouth, the horrors didn't stop.

For the first time ever she had nightmares — even flashbacks.

She isn't sure which is worse: living with the assassin organizations or having to bear the memories from said organizations....and feeling real guilt.

Tony's expression dropped into one of minor worry, almost a frown on the billionaire's face. "You doing okay, kid?" he asks wearily.

"Yeah, i'm fine." she breathed out, standing up on her feet and bouncing up and down on her toes to loosen the shank of the shoe. "Anything you needed?"

"Just came here to remind you about the press conference later." he informed, beginning to walk backwards. "Make sure you dress presentable — none of those raggedy garments, please. I don't need people thinking that I don't put clothes on your back. It'll make me look like a fake billionaire"

Galina chuckled at this, fondly shaking her head. "No promises."

This past year, despite their initial little quarrels in the beginning, Galina and Tony have gotten close, growing a father-daughter bond.

Both of the heavy ego'd Avengers believed that they knew everything, until they ended up teaching one another the things that they didn't.