And then we were two (Tony stark's daughter fic)

Birth of a shadow

"What's ya name, Doll?" Steve asked as gently as he could.

For a moment Tony could only stare at the other man. It was always a shock when his inner Brooklyn accent made an appearance, particularly when combined with 40's slang. He didn't know wether to mock him or leave it alone.

Apparently neither did the little girl as she stared at the pair in obvious confusion. She took in the size of the blond, the way he nudged at the cell angrily, and frowned. "You're that guy...the one with the big metal frisbee with the star on it? I saw you...in the tower, right?"

Tony snickered as he bent to look for a seem or screw around the cell door, finding nothing. "Lose your frisbee, Cap?"

"No, I believe it was taken when I...appeared, here?"

"You rode the shadows," the little girl stated as she struggled to lift her head. "Darkness is everywhere, it's, like a door between realms I think? I Dunno, I never stayed in it. But I can go through it, long as I know where I'm going. But they caught me..." she shuddered at the memory. It'd been a mistake, a terrible mistake. All she wanted was a little food, sadly she'd tried to get it from the wrong people. "They caught me. I can't get away, they never turn out the lights. It hurts."

"What do you think, Stark?"

Tony was just relieved that, at least this time, it wasn't his fault, he couldn't be blamed. "I don't like when people use the gifts of others for their own ends," he managed to snarl as he walked around the cell. "How'd he get you? You hit him, didn't you?"

"What'd you say your name was kiddo?" Steve asked the girl again, ignoring Tony completely.

For the first time since she'd been capture she smiled, "I'm Shiloh. You Shoulda let them keep on shining their lights. I don't wanna be here anymore."

Tony swallowed hard and reached over to squeeze his wrist tightly, struggling to calm his breathing. She was so young, too young to have given up. "We're gonna fix this. We're gonna correct this."

"Stark, get behind me," Steve ordered worriedly at the sound of approaching footsteps. No great surprise, however, Tony made no move to follow orders.

"I know what you think of me out of the suit but I'm not cowering behind your, Spangles," he snarled and continued about his task.

"Trouble in paradise, gentlemen?" The scientist tony had previously met chuckled as he dropped two water bottles into the transfer slot. "You and your little friends have caused me a great deal of trouble. I can't have that."
___

"What sorcery is this!?" Thor roared, his hammer crashing through the wall where the beast had been only moments before. "Face me, fowl villain!"

"Thor! Thor, it's gone," Natasha tried to soothe him as she glanced around. "Please tell me you got something, Banner?"

"Believe so, yeah," he mumbled as he sat curled around his laptop, the sleeve of his sweater tugged down to cover his palm. "Jarvis assures me Tony's signal reappeared seconds after he'd vanished."

"Mr Stark wished for me to insure that I could locate him at all times after the events in Afghanistan. I am deploying the iron man suite to his location as we speak," Jarvis confirmed through the coms.

"We better not be far behind when it gets there," Nat sighed. "Keep tracking the energy, Banner, I'll have Jarvis plot a course in the quinjet. Everyone, out night isn't over yet. Let's put a stop to this creature."

Thor made a pleased sound and charged for the Jet.

___

"Blah blah blah, us darn meddling kids, we know," Tony cut off his droning rant as he fiddling with the bottle cap and took a small sip of the water.

Neither of them noticed the way Shiloh sighed and closed her eyes at the action.

"When are you people going to accept?! Even if you pick us off, it won't end! You won't win! I always thought the statement that good always prevails was naive but the truth is, it does. Not because of some cosmic purpose, not because it has to, but because the good people outnumber the bad! Someone like me will always wonder how someone like you can be stopped! Someone like Cap will always say yes when offered the chance to make a difference. You won't win, not because you're the bad guys and we're the good guys, but because you can't. Because until there's nothing but you left, good people, won't give up. Good people won't stand by and let you use a little girl for, for what?"

"Well she makes infiltrating so called secure places far easier," he laughed, completely unbothered by Tony's rant.

"So does this," Stark pointed as his suit came crashing through the walls, throwing Steve's 'frisbee' at the scientist in the process. It blasted through the cell, enclosing him quickly within itself.

Tony grabbed hold of Steve without explanation, dragging him along behind himself as he stormed across the hall toward the child.

Bullets pinged across the armor with every step he took and Steve lifted his shield defensively.

"Not gonna have a lot of time Cap, hang onto the kid," Stark cautioned as he stepped into her cell and began tearing aside the restraints.

Shiloh immediately tried to stand, her limbs shaking like a newborn foal, and collapsed into Steve's waiting arms.

"Hold on," Tony repeated as they were swarmed and he pulled the pair to himself, blasting through the roof and out into the night sky.

Night, darkness, it was the first Shiloh had seen in four years and she let out a little sob as the shadows touched her skin, enclosing around her like a protective hug. "Thank you," she whispered before wrenching herself backwards. The shock was enough to break Steve's grasp on her and she vanished, much as they had earlier, except this time, she was in control. There was no monster any longer, no physical manifestation of her abilities. There'd never been meant to be. Shiloh wasn't made up of shadows, she was protected by them, she moved through them, and now, at last, she was free.

________author's note____

I really feel like I've lost my mojo here. I considered just scrapping the whole thing but I can't bring myself to do that and I don't wanna disappoint you guys. I hope this is alright. I'm trying my best to get this story written 🤦🏽‍♀️ ugh!

Ok that's all I got. Hope you enjoyed and I'll find something else to ramble at you about in the next chapter I'm sure 😂