Gangster Child

Adjusting

"Sadie? Hey, kid I know you can hear me. Please wake up." I moaned softly as my eyes slowly fluttered open to see Tony Stark sitting beside me and watching me anxiously.

'Please tell me I'm dead," I said quietly as I took in my situation.

"Sorry to disappoint," he said with a small laugh. "We fixed your wrist up, so you shouldn't be seeing the white light anytime soon."

"While I appreciate your concern," I said as I sat up and carefully moved to the edge of the bed "but my brother has a ton of friends who are going to want to kill me, so if you'll excuse me Mr. Stark, I'm just going to be on my way."

"We can help you!" Stark said earnestly as he tried to help me lay back down. "If you stay here, no one's going to touch you."

"I've heard those promises before." I whispered as I turned away from him "They always get broken." The second I finished talking, I sprinted out the door and just started running. All those years of living on the run had taught me a few survival instincts. The main one was never get comfortable. You stay in a place for a few days then you keep running and don't look back.

 I hurtled down a corner and swore when I saw Captain America and Black Widow barreling down the other end of the hall. Turning around, I found the way I just came blocked by the rest of the team. I took a shaky breath and backpedaled into the wall as I tried to think of a plan to escape.

"Sadie, you need to calm down," Captain America said patiently.

"I can't trust anyone!" I cried "I trusted my brother and look how that ended up." I sunk to the ground as I curled up into a ball and trembled fearfully before I heard the Avengers talking among themselves and then footsteps walking away.

"Hey kiddo," I heard Stark's voice and looked up to see him sitting in front of me. "Rough couple of days?"

"Try a rough couple of years." He chuckled quietly and stuck out his hand for me to shake.

"I know this doesn't look like it's going to get better," he said softly "but it will. We can protect you and give you a better life. I'll even make you a deal. You stay with us, and I'll let you call me Tony. OK?" I smiled slightly and tentatively shook his hand.

"Nice to meet you Tony."

"Likewise kiddo."

Over the next couple of days, Tony took me around the tower and showed me the ropes. I had never really had any formal education so I didn't understand 90% of what he was talking about, but I wasn't going to tell him that. Bad enough I'm from off the streets, if they figure out how dumb I am then they'll know I'm just dead weight. Obviously with my luck, it took Tony two days with me to figure out I had no clue what he was saying.

"So this is just a standard electromagnet that I designed to power the tower off of sustainable energy and- Sadie, are you still with me?" I snapped out of my reverie and nodded silently.

"Just lost in thought." I said innocently. Tony frowned and stared at me for a minute.

"It must have been pretty hard for you." he said suddenly "Moving around from school to school all the time." I bit my lip nervously and shrugged.

"I got used to it." I muttered.

"Of course." he said as he sat down on the couch and motioned for me to do the same "What school were you going to before all of this happened? I'm sure your friends miss you." I didn't say anything and just stared at the ground. "Sadie," Tony said softly "when was the last time you were in an actual school or had a real education?"

"When I was six." I whispered "Once we went on the run, my education wasn't really a top priority for Will." Tony looked at me sadly as I rested my head in my hands. "Besides basic knowledge, I don't have much in the brain department." I said with a weak laugh. Tony carefully rested his hand on my back, and I just broke. Tears were slowly trickling down my face as I reflected on how screwed up my life had actually been.

"Shh, it's OK Kiddo. I'm right here." he said gently. He carefully picked me up and held me in his lap as I rested my head on his shoulder. "We'll get this figured out." he promised.

"I'm not worth it." I said hoarsely.

"Hey," Tony said firmly "look at me." I slowly tilted my head up and looked at him nervously "You are worth it." he said as he pulled me into a fierce hug "Don't ever let anyone tell you you're not."