JUST A LITTLE BROKEN|| t. s.

Chapter 34: Eternity and the Solace of Space

Natasha listened carefully to Selvig as I secured a strong connection with the Avengers' comms. Three minutes. That's how long it'll take for the missile to arrive in New York.

"Missile has been deployed," JARVIS ststes, as he quickly enables safety protocols for my dad's suit.

"Right at the crown!" Selvig instructs against the strong wind. Natasha grips onto the scepter tight, lips bloody with a determined look on her face. Slowly, she started to penetrate the protective barrier, and it twitches and spits out blue electricity. I ease a bit of my power into the thrust, helping Natasha push the scepter into the the barrier, half-way through.

"I can close it!" Natasha informs, hopeful. My comms crackled to life. "Can anybody copy? Elise found a way to close it! I can shut the portal down!"

"Do it!" Rogers exclaims through the comm, almost desperate.

"No wait," dad intervened calmly. I close my eyes, heave a sigh, and open it again, watching my dad through my visor's HUD.

"Stark these things are still coming!" Rogers argues.

"There's a nuke," I pipe in calmly. Natasha whips her head to me, surprised at the information, a small bit of recognition processes through her face as she slowly puts together the pieces. She knows why I made her promise.

"You made a promise," I say to Natasha, devoid of emotion. Now's not the time.

"Keep it."

With that said, I turned back towards the sky

"Yeah," dad agrees. "It's gonna blow in less than a minute," dad adds.

For a while he was quiet, and suddenly I feel him tapping into my mind.

"You knew didn't you?" was his question. I sigh again.

"How couldn't I? You taught me to be ten steps ahead."

"And what do you plan to do with this information?"

"Make sure you don't do anything stupid. Keep you safe. Make sure you return breathing because Alicia, Aunt Peggy and mom will have my head when she finds out that we got ourselves in a sticky situation."

"You're not coming."

"I am, like it or not."

"No!" dad's thought was enraged, as I try to pulsate calming waves in his system.

"Elizabeth Anthony Stark! Don't you dare follow me into that portal, or I swear to God!"

"I promised. I promised, dad. I promised you that I'd follow you to the very depths of Earth, and Heaven and Hell and whatever universe and space there is and back! And you... You promised you'd pull me out. You always pulled me out of whatever shit I was in and God dad. I love you. If you go in that portal, I go with you. You save me, I save you. You fight, I fight. You lose, then I lose too. Dad, just this time... Please, I beg you. Let me do this for you," I say quietly in my comm, tears running down my cheeks as I leave my visor up, watching my dad catch the nuke in his arms.

"Okay," dad says softly in my comm. Gut wrenching fear and sadness, and love caressed my body all at once, as I power my thrusters, ready to meet my dad in the sky.

"You come home, do you understand me?" I tell him sternly. He chuckles quietly, and gives me a soft smile through the call on my HUD, and nods.

"I know just where to put it," dad says, answering Rogers' earlier remark.