Sparrows and Iron

Chapter 3

-Present Day, Avengers Tower-

Having the girl around was an adjustment, that's for sure. She rarely left her room, and if she did, she followed Tony around like a lost puppy. She had worn the same clothes for four days, and still hadn't spoken to anyone. Not even to Tony, who never did tell anyone about her brief words that first day. If anyone but him tried to talk to her, she would stare with wide eyes and back away.

One day, she was shadowing Tony as he worked in the lab. Bruce was there too, but he had taken to pretending not to notice her in an attempt to avoid scaring her. Eventually though, the silence started to get to him.

"Well... " he said, heading towards the door. "I could use a cup of coffee. Tony?"

The man in question shook his head, not even bothering to look up from his project. As soon as Dr. Banner was gone, Tony noticed that the girl was slowly, almost nervously, inching closer to him.

"So," he started, causing her to jump slightly. Although, by now she was mostly used to him randomly talking to her, even though he knew she wouldn't reply.

"You know, I get that you're not big on the whole 'conversing' thing, but it sure would be nice to have something to call you other than 'New Girl', so if you would maybe wanna... write your name down or something?" He shrugged. "Just a suggestion." With that, he went back to tinkering.

"Tony Stark..."

His hands fumbled momentarily, then resumed their movements as if nothing was out of the ordinary.

"Actually, I believe that would be my name," he joked, observing the accent that laced her soft whisper. He noticed that her mouth briefly quirked into a smile before growing serious again.

"I trust you."

Now he did stop. He swore his heart skipped a few beats. He'd never really had someone truly rely on him before, and coming from a person in her situation, it meant just that much more.

After a hesitating breath, she continued, "I need your help."

Tony turned to face her fully, showing her that she had his undivided attention, though trying not to make her uncomfortable. He could see her hands shaking as she reached up and pulled her coat open just slightly. Stretched tightly across her malnourished form, he could see some sort of harness that looked to be partly mechanical. Underneath that, she wore threadbare rags of plain color.

Slowly, he brought his hands up over hers; the first physical contact she'd had with anyone in the time she'd been there, and yet she didn't pull away.

Even so, he could feel her trembling in fear as he studied the contraption, then asked, "What is this?"

He looked her directly in the eyes, seeing tears threatening to fall.

"HYDRA did this to you?"

She nodded.

Tony felt a protective anger bubbling in his chest.

"What is this for?"

She didn't answer.

"Can you take off your coat?"

Her eyes grew in panic, and he hurried to reassure her.

"I just need to see the rest of the device in order to remove it."

"Please..." she whispered, shaking her head.

Something clicked in Tony's head.

"Does this have something to do with your mutation?"