TSOF: Revelation

Godfather, God Father, and Father

Shit, shit, shit. Anselma thought as she faced her superhero family. Tony just raised an eyebrow at her. She grimaced and looked down.

"What the hell is going on?" Loki asked softly. Anselma stiffened and suppressed a flinch. The Norse God must have been really pissed to actually curse, something he constantly tried to get her and Tony to stop doing. Jim stood smoothly and held out a hand.

"Hello," he said charmingly. "My name is Jim Moriarty. I'm Anselma's friend." Anselma mentally face-palmed at the emphasis on the word 'friend' as Tony accepted the offered hand. Now the Avengers were going to read more into his simple statement. As if she would actually date him or someone near his age... She suddenly became very aware of what she was sitting on. Or more specifically who. Sherlock gave no indication of moving; he wouldn't toss off his goddaughter just to introduce himself. He prided himself on ignoring all social norms and he wasn't going to stop now. Unless Anselma asked him to, of course. Anselma sort of wished he would stand to make the situation less awkward.

John stood and nudged Sebastian, who reluctantly mimicked him. "Hello," John greeted with a polite smile. "I'm John, this is Sebastian. And this is Mycroft." Mycroft and Sebastian gave a quick nod. Tony gave a small nod in return before boring holes into Anselma's head.

"Who is the person my daughter is sitting on?" He asked with faux calmness. Anselma heard the anger simmering beneath the casual question. She opened her mouth to respond only to groan as Sherlock answered instead. "I am Sherlock Holmes. Anselma's chosen godfather by her mother." Tony froze for a split second. Loki's breath caught, memories of the beautiful Astryr flooding his mind. He shook his head lightly to clear his thoughts. He focused on his daughter and noticed something odd.

Anselma was tensed but no matter how angry Tony was at her she was never that wary of him. She was afraid, Loki realized as she leaned closer to Sherlock who instantly wrapped his arms around her waist. What had happened to his daughter? He wasn't aware that he had spoken out loud until Anselma's head snapped up to look at him along with everyone else.

Anselma looked away at the sharp look directed her way. Loki was slowly losing his patience. Something had happened to his daughter and he was going to find out what. "She was kidnapped." Tony explained while striding towards his daughter. He surprised her when he crouched down next to Sherlock and her instead of yanking her into his arms like she expected. Tony gently cupped her face between his rough hands. Anselma leaned into his touch.

"What happened to you Baby Girl?" He whispered quietly. Anselma swallowed thickly and met his concerned eyes. "Papa." She breathed and slid off Sherlock's lap into Tony's. He wrapped her up in his arms and murmured soft nothings into her ear. Anselma buried her face into her Papa's chest and just breathed. She fought back her sobs but a lone tear escaped.

Jim was suddenly sitting next to them and ran a comforting hand down her back. Tony gave him a small nod of thanks as Anselma relaxed even further. Jim gave a small smile in return. Anselma, feeling safe for the first time in two weeks, started to slip into an exhausted slumber. John, surprisingly, noticed before anyone save Tony and laid a gentle hand on Tony's shoulder.

"You can set her down in Sherlock's room for now." He said quietly. Tony nodded in thanks and followed him down the hall. They were both back minutes later.

Tony's face was hard and his eyes demanded answers. "What happened to my daughter?" Not even Jim wanted to face the worried father's wrath by not answering.

"She was taken by a man named Charles Augustus Magnussen." He began. All eyes flew to the Consulting Criminal. "He held her for two weeks-" Tony's growl of anger caused Jim to abruptly stop talking. "My daughter was missing for two weeks," he said slowly. Everyone winced at the pure fury coating his words. "And not one of you thought to call me?" No one answered. "Her father?"

Sherlock shrugged. "Anselma would not have wished for you to know, otherwise she would have told you the real reason she is here." He said logically. "Moriarty only alerted you because he felt Anselma would benefit from having her family around her. Otherwise she would have been returned home at the original designated time without you ever knowing unless Anselma told you herself. Be grateful you were alerted at all." With that, Sherlock stood elegantly and disappeared into his bedroom.

John knew he was worried about Anselma and was checking on her. He had a feeling Sherlock wouldn't be returning. He sighed and looked at Tony. "Sorry." He apologized for his flatmate. Tony just shrugged it off. "It's fine." He said. "He's right."

John exchanged a look with Sebastian. "There's something else," John began hesitantly. He took a step back at the intense stares suddenly directed his way. Taking a deep breath and went on. "Anselma was almost raped." No one expected the reaction those words caused...