Retrospect『 avengers au 』

Chapter IV: The Hero

"Comics are stories; they're like novels or anything else. So the first thing you have to do is become a good storyteller." - Stan Lee

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Chapter IV: The Hero

"Come to Avengers Tower as soon as you're out of school. Tell May it's an urgent meeting regarding the Stark Internship," Tony Stark informed the teenage boy over the phone as he stalked down the hallway with Natasha Romanoff by his side. "But don't rush yourself. Be careful."

"Yeah, okay, yes, sir, sure thing, Mr. Stark. So what's so important? Is it Spidey Business or Iron Man business?" Peter Parker responded over the phone in a hushed voice.

"What did I tell you about using those words when you're at school?" Tony responded, only partly joking, as he and Natasha stepped onto the elevator at the end of the hall.

"Okay, right, no using the words Spidey, Spider-Man, or Iron Man at school," Peter Parker responded.

Tony sighed through his nose, shutting his eyes briefly. "Kid..."

"Starting now," Peter corrected himself. "Okay, yeah, I have my Science class now, I'm really sorry, I gotta go."

"Straight after school, don't be late," Tony reminded Peter as the elevator opened again and he and Natasha made their way down the hall to the third door on the left.

"Got it. I won't be late. See ya, Mr. Stark," Peter spoke quickly and they both hung up.

Natasha and Tony scanned their key cards over the door's lock and they soon stepped back inside the small room that separated them from the girl who lay recovering in the hospital bed. Bruce was just entering into the room from her room and had a concerned expression crossing over his face. The door swung shut behind him and he sighed.

"What is it?" Tony asked, attempting to mask his nerves with a firm tone.

"I asked her why she hasn't spoken," the doctor began and Natasha and Tony exchanged a brief look before they returned their serious gazes back onto Bruce. "It was almost as if she didn't think much of the fact that she hadn't spoken. Like it was normal for her. She tried to force herself to speak but she just ended up going into a coughing fit."

Tony sighed, running a hand over his face. "Sounds like she has a mental block," he concluded and Bruce nodded in agreement.

"What do you think caused the mental block in her brain?" Natasha questioned, arms crossed and expression serious, much less soft than it was when she spoke to the young girl.

"There are different types of mental blocks. In this case, she has a speech block. They're typically caused by traumatic events that scar a person's mind so severely that they're unable to produce words," Tony responded as he examined the girl through the tinted glass as if observing her movements would answer all of her wonders. "Usually it's just a stutter in someone's speech. It's extremely rare that someone is unable to speak altogether," he concluded.

"So it's possible that someone abused her so badly for something such as 'talking back' that she was made to be terrified of saying anything at all," Natasha suggested.

Bruce and Tony nodded. "That's possible," the doctor agreed.

There was a long pause- one filled with silent wonder as they all allowed the gears in their minds to turn. This girl lying in the bed through the one-way glass window was a puzzle begging to be pieced together, yet Tony came up with very little. The only logical step to take next, he believed, was if the girl were to accompany him as he returned to the sands where he discovered her. But it seemed to be too soon for her to do so. Though the girl was nearly completely healed of all her physical wounds, Tony still felt as though it weren't a good idea to bring her to the place she was left until she had been given time to regain her energy and maybe find herself speaking again. The most important thing to Tony at this moment was to make her feel safe and comfortable. Wherever she was before, whatever she had gone through... it clearly was no safe haven for her. He was determined to build her one.