JUST A LITTLE BROKEN|| t. s.

Chapter 27: Hero

"That's the guy my dad never shut up about?" Dad asked, a bit pissed. I was too. For an American patriot, he was far too judgmental.

"I'm wondering if they should have kept him on ice," Dad added. I sigh and walk up to Dad and studied his screen, while taking down notes on my own clipboard.

Bruce huffed. "Guy's not wrong about Loki, he does have the jump on us. Dad held me by the waist, and led me to follow him. Following wordlessly, I kept on encoding data on my high-tech clipboard.

"What he's got is an ACME dynamite, it's gonna blow up in his face. And, I'm gonna be there when it does." Dad let go of me, as I stand next to Bruce and take down data from his own screen.

"I'll read all about it," he said, as he swiped a piece of data to Dad's screen. I peered at them, as they looked at each other pointedly.

"Uh huh," I commented on Bruce's answer.

"Or you'll be suiting up like the rest of us," Dad said, tapping on his screen. Bruce scoffed beside me.

"Ah, you see, I don't get a suit of armor. I'm exposed. Like a nerve, it's a nightmare."

"You know, I've got a cluster of shrapnel trying every second to crawl its way into my heart." Dad walked up to us. "This," he tapped on the arc "-stops it. This little circle of light? It's part of me now. Not just armor." Dad was now standing face to face with Bruce, with only the screen standing between them. "It's a terrible privelege."

"But you can control it." I laugh, and stand next to Dad.

"Hm," I hum, a smile on my lips. "And I'm a teenage girl with horrible anxiety and panic attacks, night terrors and powers I can barely control. But I learned how to."

"Because we learned how," Dad repeated.

"It's different," Bruce said, going back to his work, clearly not understanding that me and Dad perfectly understand. Dad swiped all of Bruce's work to the side.

"Hey, we read all about your accident, that much gamma exposure should've killed you." Dad's eyes were soft and understanding, like when he looks at me when I was a kid and I made a mistake. It was comforting.

"So you're saying... That the Hulk, the other guy, saved my life?" He asked us.

"Basically," I smile at him, softly, as I leaned into Dad.

"That's nice," he nodded. "It's a nice sentiment. Saved it for what?"

"I guess we'll have to find out," Dad just answered, with a small smile on  his lips. He walked back up to his station, while I walked back up to mine.

"You may not enjoy that."

I smile.

"And you just might."
**********************
"Loki means to unleash the Hulk. Keep Banner in the lab, I'm on my way. Send Thor as well."

I look up from me and dad's work, as I hear Natasha's voice in the com. I sigh quietly. It's approaching. The inevitable.

Then Fury walked into the room. "What're you doing, Mr. Stark?"

"Uhh, I was kinda wondering the same about you," Dad replied while messing with the screen. The sky behind us shone brightly, with nothing but the sky blue skyline.