The Spawn of FrostIron

Growing Up

Six-year-old Anselma floated in a sphere of a bright green light. Her eyes glowed an eerie blue. Everything in the room was swirling through the air around her. Tony rushed towards her and pulled her down into his arms. She slowly calmed down. She stared up at Tony with tear-filled eyes. "What's wrong with me Papa?" She cried. Tony squeezed her tighter. "Nothing is wrong with you." He whispered fiercely. "You are absolutely perfect princess." She gradually relaxed in her father's arms as Tony struggled to understand what was happening to his daughter.

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Eight-year-old Anselma sat calmly on the lab table as Tony studied her x-rays. He scowled at every result Jarvis read him. Anselma sighed as Tony began another test. She just wanted to know why she was so different. Tony just wanted to help his little girl. They were both tired of finding out nothing from the hundreds of tests they had run over the past two years. Tony refused to give up.

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Ten-year-old Anselma glared at Nick Fury as he talked to Tony. Hill and Coulson studied her. Tony accepted S.H.I.E.L.D.'s help reluctantly and Anselma was taken aboard the Helicarrier, Tony always by her side. They both loved to create havoc on board. A month later Anselma laughed as she ran from an angry Fury. Coulson and Hill laughed at his brilliant pink eye patch. Tony watched with a proud smirk. A few hours later Fury sat behind his desk and looked down at the pink eye patch. A soft smile crossed his face before he quickly hid it as Hill walked in. Life on the Helicarrier was a lot more relaxed after that day. Though the Starks were suspiciously absent whenever Barton and Romanov were on board.

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Twelve-year-old Anselma glared at the Avengers sans Tony. She sat relaxing in Fury's chair. "How do you like the Helicarrier kid?" Clint asked. Anselma scowled at him. She made a show of examining the room. "My father could do better." She shrugged. She looked to Bruce and grinned brightly at him. She held out her hand. "I'm Anselma, your work on gamma radiation is unparalleled." She said. "Also, I'm a huge fan of how you lose control and turn into a giant green rage monster." Bruce took her hand and stared at her for a moment. "Thanks." He said slowly. Anselma smiled. "I'm sorry," Natasha said as Fury walked into the room. "Who's the kid?" Anselma leaned back and glowered at Natasha. "And here I thought that, as a super spy, you would know all about your fellow Avengers." She turned to look at Fury, ignoring Natasha's dark look.

"How have you been Nickel?" She grinned at Fury. Stunning the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents Fury gave her a small smile. "Good." He said. "And you Selma?" Anselma shrugged. "Okay. Papa grounded me again." Fury snorted. "He grounded you or your godmother made him ground you?" Anselma chuckled. "The latter."She answered. Fury sighed. "What did you do this time?" Anselma pulled a look of complete innocence. "Me?" She asked in mock horror. "I didn't do a thing." Fury scoffed. Anselma adopted a look of false hurt. Steve glared lightly at Fury and gave Anselma a kind smile. She returned the gesture. Sighing she gave up.

"I blew up a lab, released the school snakes, broke the principle's jaw, set a room on fire, and dyed a teacher's hair purple." She said looking up at the ceiling; the picture of boredom. Fury heaved a deep sigh as everyone else stared at her in shock. Tony walked in at that moment. "She forgot to mention that she did all that in the span of fifteen minutes." He stated casually. Anselma smiled innocently.

Tony spotted Bruce and strode quickly towards his side. He held out his hand which Bruce took cautiously. "Hey, I'm Tony. I loved your work on gamma radiation. It was pure genius. I also love how you go crazy and turn into a huge angry green monster." Bruce looked at Anselma before turning back to Tony, who was grinning. "He's my Papa." Anselma explained with a proud smile. Tony gave her a soft smile and moved to stand behind her. "You have a kid?" Clint asked stunned. "Not bio-" Tony cut Anselma off. "Blood doesn't matter to me." He told her. "Yes, I have a daughter." He said to Clint.

"I'm surprised you didn't know," Maria said walking in. "Stark adopted her eight years ago." Tony clutched his heart. "Stark, huh? You wound me Maria. I thought I was Tony to you." Maria shot him an amused look. "That's only when you behave." Tony scoffed. Anselma ran to give her a hug, Maria smiling down at her. "Where's Agent?" Anselma asked. Maria chuckled quietly. "Right behind me." Coulson strode in with his usual poker face on, until he saw Anselma. His face broke into a brilliant smile as he picked her up and spun her around. Her laugh echoed through the room. Phil set her down gently. "You know," He said conversationally, ignoring the looks of shock on Clint and Natasha's faces. "My name is-" Anselma cut him off smoothly. "Agent. Your name is Agent." Phil sighed. "You are just like your father." Anselma laughed.

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Six Months Later

Anselma watched in horror as Tony flew a nuke into the portal. She completely ignored how Steve and Bruce, as the Hulk, took down Thanos. Or how Natasha and Clint placed the Terrasact into a safe container. Or how her phone was vibrating on the table next to her. Anselma didn't care about any of that. All she saw was the portal closing before her father come back. Just as the portal shut completely Tony fell through. Anselma cursed as she saw he wasn't slowing down. She gave a laugh of relief as the Hulk caught him.

A quinjet landed to pick her up and Anselma rushed to board it. She paced the entire way to the tower. Glancing at her phone she saw she had a new voice mail. She froze when she saw it was from Tony. With a deep breath Anselma put the phone to her ear. It took her another moment before she hit play. "Anselma," Tony said with a strained voice. "I just wanted to tell you I love you my little angel." Anselma's eyes filled with tears. "You're my whole world. I want you to know that all of this is for yo-" The call cut off. Anselma stood frozen, staring at nothing as tears fell down her face, replaying the message in her head.

She started as the quinjet landed. She dashed out of the quinjet and into the nearly ruined living room. Tony had already taken off the suit and was talking to the rest of the Avengers as some S.H.I.E.L.D. agents dragged Thanos away in chains. Anselma ran straight to Tony. He turned when he heard her footsteps. She launched herself at him. He instinctively caught her. "Papa!" She cried. The force of her jump brought Tony to his knees. They clung to each other tightly. "Baby Girl." Tony gasped, running a hand through Anselma's curls. Tony pulled back slightly and put his forehead to hers. "You okay?" She asked quietly. Tony gave her a soft smile. "I'm okay darling. I'm okay."

"I heard your message." She whispered. "Oh, baby." Tony sighed sadly, pulling Anselma to sit in his lap. He wrapped her completely in his arms and laid his head on top of hers. She snuggled into his chest. "You said you did it for me." She sniffled slightly. "Everything I do is for you." Tony said while standing up. He shifted so Anselma's head lay on his shoulder while her legs were wrapped around his waist. One arm was around his neck while the other rested over the reactor. The Avengers moved out of Tony's way as he strode to the elevator.

"You guys coming?" He called back. They all saw Anselma's watery eyes and without hesitation followed.

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Fury let them rest and refused to tell the council where they were. They all retreated to Tony's Malibu summer home. They spent almost everyday together and Anselma grew close to the rest of the Avengers. Clint, Steve, and Bruce became like her overprotective big brothers. Natasha like a bad-ass big sister. Anselma became the most protected person in the world. They all loved the crazy family they made up. Everything seemed to be perfect...