The Daughter of Tony Stark

A World Divided; Chapter 7

   All I could hear was me hyperventilating and the sound of men running around the building. I stood frozen in fear until I heard a voice over the intercom.

"Half of the units to sub-level 5, East Wing. Other to sub-level 1, North Wing." My eyes widened as I realized what they meant. I was on sub-level 1. I was the target. Half of my mind kept saying that i was imagining all of this, the other telling me to run. Of course, I listened to the rational one. As I sprinted down the hall, I ran straight into my father's chest.

"Isabel!" he said worriedly. "We need to leave."

"Go to hell," I said angrily, and his expression told me that what he said earlier was true. That's why he never told me of my past life. Because he snatched it out of my mind.

"Isabel?"

"Get out of the way!" I shouted, and I blasted him sideways, drenching his suit. Tears slid down my face as I ran away from my father Tony. As I approached the canteen, I saw Nat held by her throat against the wall by... the man from my first vision. Bucky Barnes. The Winter Soldier. I formed a piece of hail and threw it at him.

"Hey!" I yelled desperately, and he dropped Nat on the floor, and she laid there gasping. Shit. He stared at me intently as if waiting for me to make the first move. I summoned a snowball big enough to make Elsa proud, and he slowly pointed his gun at my face.

Suddenly, my dad Stark ran past me and the soldier redirected the gun. Before he could shoot, T'Challa jumped in and punched the Winter Soldier in the head. My dad fled to check the others and I watched in silence as the two men fought. The soldier kicked T'Challa hard in the chest, causing him to fly backwards, and Barnes retreated. I ran after him as fast as I could, following him up the stairs and on to the roof. As I approached the top, the soldier was buckling into a helicopter.

"Isabel!" I heard Steve shout, and I looked behind me to see him charge toward the chopper. As the helicopter started to rise, Steve grabbed the landing skids and started to pull it back on the ground, but the Winter Soldier fought back. Steve was jerked from the landing pad.

"Uncle Steve!" I cried, and I raced over to see him hanging to the railing with one hand, the other gripping the chopper. When Barnes saw me, he swerved the helicopter, and Steve let out of the way and grabbed me before I could get cut by the whirring blades. Dust filled the sky and I felt myself yanked from Steve's grasp by a metal arm. I screamed in terror as the chopper started to fall and I was pulled with it. As the dust cleared, I saw Steve's horrified expression as I fell into the water. As my face submerged, I saw Steve dive in after us. The Winter Soldier's grip decreased from the impact force, and I kicked his arm until it released me. As the helicopter sunk, I transformed my leg into a tail and swam to the glass windows of the cockpit. I pounded as hard as I could, but they didn't break. Steve swam beside me, cracked the glass, and hauled Barnes's unconscious body. I grabbed Steve's free hand and pulled him up to the surface, where he gasped for air. I took the soldier's body as the super-soldier and I swam to shore. Everything happened so fast that I never processed that I was now an orphan and a criminal.

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I sat in silence with Sam as we watched the unconscious man, his arm trapped in a heavy clamp machine. I rubbed my arms from the cold and sighed., and Sam pulled me over to him.

"You can't get sick now, Fish," he chuckled, and I stared at him in annoyance, shaking my head slightly.

"Really, Bird Boy?" I said exasperated. "That's your revenge? I need a better nickname than Fish." Sam rolled his eyes.

"I'm sorry I'm not creative like you. Bird Boy is so original. What you want, Lake? Dasani? Elsa? Poseidon?"

"I'll take Poseidon," I said softly as I set my head on his shoulder, and I watched the unconscious super-soldier. "I don't even know what to do anymore, Sam. I could be just like him."

"Slow down," Sam stopped me. "Like him? Don't talk like that."

"Why not?" I said sadly. "I have no memories, and the ones I think I have could be fake. I don't know what Stark did to me!" I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. "What am I even kidding. I was a monster before he took me in. All he did was give me a skin to hide in." Sam stayed silent and rubbed my shoulder as he tried to comfort me. I opened my eyes and saw Barnes start to move. I nudged him and saw his eyes narrow.

"I'll get Steve," I said, and I slowly jogged over to outside the doorway, and I saw him staring out an opening of the warehouse we were in.

"Hey, Cap," I said, and he turned around. "Your friend's awake." Steve started to run towards the room entrance. As I went to follow him, he stopped me with his arm.

"Don't go in there yet," he said. "He might not be out of the Winter Soldier." I nodded and stood by the wall.

"Steve," I heard Barnes say with a hoarse voice.

"Which Bucky am I talking to?" Steve asked suspiciously. I saw a faint glow and looked down at my fingers. Water coated the tips of my nails, as if preparing for a fight. I sucked the power back in and tried to calm myself down. Everything was... not fine. What was I even thinking. For starters, I was a criminal now, or a test subject to the government for whatever reason they wanted me! It turned out Stark erased my memories, meaning many of mine could be fake, and at the moment I was hiding in an abandoned warehouse. I guess life sucks for everyone in different ways.

"Your mother's name is Sarah," chuckled Barnes. "You used to wear newspapers in your shoes."

"You can't read that in a museum," Steve decided, and Sam snorted.

"Just like that we're supposed to be cool?" he asked.

"What did I do?" Barnes interrupted. Steve paused, and I bent my head so I could watch. Steve never replied, but Barnes covered his face with his human hand. "Oh, God," he muttered in horror. "I knew this would happen." I leaned over even more, some reason intrigued. He didn't remember... anything. Anything at all. "Everything HYDRA put inside of me is still there. All he had to say was the damn words."

"Calm down," Steve soothed. and I pulled my head back. We can talk about that later. Isabel, I can feel you staring at me. Might as well come here," he acknowledged me without even turning around.

"Super-soldier indeed," Sam muttered. I rolled my eyes.

"Come on out," Steve repeated softly.

"It's safe."

It shocked me, hearing his voice inside my head. I didn't want to believe I could read minds (I had enough to deal with), but after the incident hours earlier, it seemed like a possibility. I stepped out of the shadows, and Barnes's eyes widened, tears forming.

"Isabel? You're alive!"