Book Three; Final Three Plus One

PROLOGUE

BOOK THREE; FINAL THREE PLUS ONE -- A MARVEL FANFICTION

PROLOGUE

He was mad. No, he was enraged. How could three of his teammates betray the rest of them? he had trusted them, he had honoured them! They betrayed the person who had helped them, who had given them a reason to live! And what did they do to repay that person? They just chucked it in his face, not a care in the world. They had betrayed them, all of them. They were going to pay.

~

Scrapes could be heard as the shadowy figure advanced towards her. She kept running, and running, and running, and running but it was like an endless corridor. She was going nowhere, yet everywhere at the same time. She couldn't quite get that but she accepted it none the less.

"Please! Leave me alone!" The girl, a mere child, begged as she collapsed to her knees like she had so many times in front of this shadow. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Tears started to choke her, a lump forming in her throat as the words became slurred and lost in the girl's vast tears. "Please!"

"All you have to do," the shadow spoke. It was the first time the girl ever heard it spoke. It sounded so much like someone she once knew, but she just couldn't place it. Who did the shadow figure sound like? And why did it give her comfort? "All you have to do, is wake up. Take a deep breath, and open your eyes." She tried. Gods did she try, but it simply didn't work. She couldn't awaken herself, she needed help. That's when the panic set in.

What if she never woke up? What if she was forever trapped in this endless corridor of darkness that seemed to surround her and cling to her very body? What if she never saw her Dad again? Or her aunts? Her uncles? Her Mom? Her siblings? Her cousins? Her dog? Her horse? What if she never woke up? Luckily, someone in the waking realm either noticed the girl was shaking, or they heard her screams that pierced the tranquil silence of the night.

~

A man heard the shrill screams of his oldest human daughter, sending panic to course through his bones. What was going on? Were they being attacked? Had someone died? He quickly leaped out of the bed and raced down the corridor to his daughter's bedroom. Opening the door, sadness washed over him. His daughter was having another one of her nightmares, the one where she was chased by a 'shadowy figure'.

Kneeling down, the man ran a hand through the child's chocolate brown hair. "Renesmee, wake up. Nessie sweetie, you're safe. I've got you you're safe." The girl's father, Anthony Edward Stark, whispered gently as he pulled the girl, Renesmee Imani-Antonia Aku-Stark, closer to his chest so she could hear the slight hum of his Arc Reactor. Renesmee always said that the Arc Reactor made her feel safe and protected, Tony never knew why though.

"D-Daddy?" The girl cried, looking up with her fearful hazel brown eyes. At her father's soft smile, she launched herself at him in a hug, trying to forget her nightmare. Ever since she and her younger brother and sister had been rescued from a place called HYDRA, she had nightmares whenever she slept. It got to the point where the petrified child thought she had seen the figure in the waking world, not just the dreaming realm.

"I'm here, I'm here," Tony comforted as he held her closer and tighter, not wanting to let go of her in case she slipped into the nightmare again. He couldn't deal with another one, the fear it sent through him at the thought of his daughter being in danger somewhere he couldn't reach her frightened him more so than the threat of death in his line of service. "Would you like to sleep with your Mother and I tonight, munchkin?" At his child's nod, he picked her light body up and headed towards his and his wife, Pepper Potts' bedroom, picking up Nessa's IronMan build-a-bear teddy on the way.

Sitting down on the double bed, Tony gently lay his child down between him and his wife, who woke up when Tony practically jumped out of the bed. Renesmee smiled as her father gave her her teddy bear and, with a small, cute yawn, snuggled closer to her mother. Tony then got into bed and rest his arms around both his wife and child, subconsciously keeping them safe. They had all the time in the world to watch their beautiful girl grow up, along with their other two children. For now, though, they could rest.

They had three out of six, which ain't bad. The Lost Children of Stark had returned home, and that was all they could ask for. Hopefully, their other three children would follow suit soon.