The Voices Of The Devil ~ Avengers **DISCONTINUED**

Chapter 7

Fun fact: I wrote most of this chapter before I even started chapter 3 cus I was inspired and I love soft Tony. 💕

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Harley lied awake in her room, unable to sleep due to thinking about her conversation with Nick earlier. Harley came to understand that her uncle was only trying to protect her, knowing that acknowledging her powers would make her a target to numerous people that wished to use them for their own selfish reasons.

The discovery of S.H.I.E.L.D being infiltrated by HYDRA had proved to Nick that there really was very little people he could trust, and so he left Harley with the Avengers as he tried his absolute best to get rid of any evidence that could link her with the "explosion" that happened a few weeks ago. 

"Hey, Ri, what time is it?"

"2:18AM, Harley." The AI responded quietly.

Harley just sighed to herself. A few more minutes passed before she seemingly gave up on the idea of sleep and decided to wonder aimlessly around the compound until she finally felt tired enough to do so.

Needless to say, she didn't get very far as she halted at the sight of a figure in the kitchen area, sat at the island with their head in their hands.

Upon moving closer Harley could see that the hunched shadow was none other than Tony Stark himself. She also noticed how distressed the man looked, as his hair stuck up at odd angles as though he had been repeatedly running his hands through it.

Harley held back for a moment, wondering whether she should bother trying to talk to the man, especially while he was in this state. It was no secret that Stark was never too fond of having the girl stay at the compound and mostly kept his distance from her apart from when he was running tests. In response, Harley never paid much attention to him, instead choosing to hang around the other Avengers such as Wanda and Natasha.

In the end, Harley decided it was better not to disturb the billionaire, however the girl stupidly tripped over her own feet as she turned around, causing her to slam into the wall.

Tony's head shot up at the loud banging noise and his face changed from shock to confusion when he realised that someone was there.

"Harleen?" He asked.

The girl in question turned back around slowly and scratched the back of her neck sheepishly.

"Jesus, kid, you scared the shit out of me." Tony said while rubbing his face with his hands.

"Sorry..." Harley replied as she stood there awkwardly, wishing the floor would open up and swollow her whole.

"What are you even doing awake at this time? I would've thought that with all this testing and training you'd be out like a light." Asked Tony.

"I wish." Harley replied as she moved closer and took a seat next to him. "What about you?"

"Just been under a lot of stress lately. Nothing you need to worry about, Harleen."

"Why do you call me that? You can just call me Harley." The teenager asked curiously.

He paused for a moment, thinking. "I knew a kid called Harley. He was a genius in the making, really. I always told myself I'd go back to see him but I never got around to it. I guess I just feel less guilty not thinking about it." The billionaire thought aloud.

"You can't avoid your problems forever, Stark. No matter how much you wish you could." Harley said with a rather blank but sympathetic expression on her face. Tony simply nodded his head slightly, taking the brunette's words into consideration.

The two sat there in a surprisingly comfortable silence, secretly thankful that they didn't have to be alone.

After a few minutes Harley suddenly stood up from her seat and walked around the island and began searching in the cupboards.

"What are you doing?" Came Tony's voice from behind her.

"While most of the foster families I've stayed with were horrible," she began to explain while pulling a saucepan out of one of the cupboards and moving towards the fridge, "In one of them, the mom was actually lovely." She took the milk from the fridge and started to heat it on the stove.

"Whenever I couldn't sleep, she would bring me downstairs and make me a hot chocolate." Harley continued as she retrieved a large bar of chocolate that had been stashed away in one of the cupboards and added it to the milk. Tony remained silent as he watched the young girl. This was the longest he'd ever heard her speak.

"It was by no means the best drink in the world, but it was by far one of the nicest things anyone's ever done for me." Harley pulled out two mugs and poored the hot chocolate into them before handing one to Tony.

He began to lift the mug to take a sip but paused halfway through the action. "Wait." He said before also standing and moving towards the cupboards.

Harley furrowed her eyebrows in confusion as she watched the man, but her face broke into a small grin as he turned back around to face her with a giant bag of marshmallows in his hand.

"Wilson always tries to hide snacks throughout the compound, but he forgets that I have cameras everywhere." The mechanic said, returning the girl's smile.

"And here I was thinking that you were incapable of not being miserable." Harley said, still grinning as she grabbed a handful of marshmallows and placed them on top of her hot chocolate.

"And here I was thinking that you were incapable of speaking more than one sentence at a time." Tony shot back with a smirk, also grabbing a handful of marshmallows.

In return he received a glare that had no trace of real anger in it. The pair broke into laughter before picking up their drinks, clinking them together, and taking a sip.

This chapter is basically just Tony adopting every kid he meets part 37103829247 and I love it

Thank you so much for reading

-Cat <3