Whole of Arc 1

BOOK CAST:
MACKENZIE FOY
Renesmee Imani-Antonia Aku-Stark / Winter Dragon

SEBASTIAN STAN
James Buchanan 'Bucky' Barnes / Winter Soldier

TOM HOLLAND
Peter Parker / Spider-Man / Winter Spider

TY SIMPKINS
Harley Keener / Iron Lad / Winter Wolf

ELLE FANNING
Rosalice Maria-Harmony Orion / Winter Hurricane

LEXI RABE
Morgan Peter-Harley Stark / Winter Fox

JOEL DAWSON
Georgie Rene Stark / Winter Storm

ZENDAYA
Michelle 'MJ' Jones

JACOB BATALON
Ned Leeds

TONY REVOLORI
Eugene 'Flash' Thompson

ROBERT DOWNEY JR.
Tony Stark / Iron Man

CHRIS EVANS
Steve Rodgers / Captain America

ANTHONY MACKIE
Sam Wilson / Falcon

SCARLETT JOHANSSON
Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow

ELIZABETH OLSEN
Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch

AARON TAYLOR-JOHNSON
Pietro Maximoff / Quicksilver

PAUL BETTANY
Vision

JEREMY RENNER
Clint Barton / Hawkeye

DON CHEADLE
James 'Rhodey' Rhodes / War Machine

KERRY CONDON
Friday

SAMUEL L. JACKSON
Nicholas J. Fury / Director Fury

CLARK GREGG
Phil Coulson / Agent Coulson

COBIE SMULDERS
Maria Hill / Agent Hill

JON FAVREAU
Happy Hogan

~

I LOVE YOU 3000
FOREVER AND ALWAYS

PROLOGUE

He was mad. No, he was enraged. How could three of his teammates betray the rest of them? he had trusted them, he had honoured them! They betrayed the person who had helped them, who had given them a reason to live! And what did they do to repay that person? They just chucked it in his face, not a care in the world. They had betrayed them, all of them. They were going to pay.

~

Scrapes could be heard as the shadowy figure advanced towards her. She kept running, and running, and running, and running but it was like an endless corridor. She was going nowhere, yet everywhere at the same time. She couldn't quite get that but she accepted it none the less.

"Please! Leave me alone!" The girl, a mere child, begged as she collapsed to her knees like she had so many times in front of this shadow. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Tears started to choke her, a lump forming in her throat as the words became slurred and lost in the girl's vast tears. "Please!"

"All you have to do," the shadow spoke. It was the first time the girl ever heard it spoke. It sounded so much like someone she once knew, but she just couldn't place it. Who did the shadow figure sound like? And why did it give her comfort? "All you have to do, is wake up. Take a deep breath, and open your eyes." She tried. Gods did she try, but it simply didn't work. She couldn't awaken herself, she needed help. That's when the panic set in.

What if she never woke up? What if she was forever trapped in this endless corridor of darkness that seemed to surround her and cling to her very body? What if she never saw her Dad again? Or her aunts? Her uncles? Her Mom? Her siblings? Her cousins? Her dog? Her horse? What if she never woke up? Luckily, someone in the waking realm either noticed the girl was shaking, or they heard her screams that pierced the tranquil silence of the night.

~

A man heard the shrill screams of his oldest human daughter, sending panic to course through his bones. What was going on? Were they being attacked? Had someone died? He quickly leaped out of the bed and raced down the corridor to his daughter's bedroom. Opening the door, sadness washed over him. His daughter was having another one of her nightmares, the one where she was chased by a 'shadowy figure'.

Kneeling down, the man ran a hand through the child's chocolate brown hair. "Renesmee, wake up. Nessie sweetie, you're safe. I've got you you're safe." The girl's father, Anthony Edward Stark, whispered gently as he pulled the girl, Renesmee Imani-Antonia Aku-Stark, closer to his chest so she could hear the slight hum of his Arc Reactor. Renesmee always said that the Arc Reactor made her feel safe and protected, Tony never knew why though.

"D-Daddy?" The girl cried, looking up with her fearful hazel brown eyes. At her father's soft smile, she launched herself at him in a hug, trying to forget her nightmare. Ever since she and her younger brother and sister had been rescued from a place called HYDRA, she had nightmares whenever she slept. It got to the point where the petrified child thought she had seen the figure in the waking world, not just the dreaming realm.

"I'm here, I'm here," Tony comforted as he held her closer and tighter, not wanting to let go of her in case she slipped into the nightmare again. He couldn't deal with another one, the fear it sent through him at the thought of his daughter being in danger somewhere he couldn't reach her frightened him more so than the threat of death in his line of service. "Would you like to sleep with your Mother and I tonight, munchkin?" At his child's nod, he picked her light body up and headed towards his and his wife, Pepper Potts' bedroom, picking up Nessa's IronMan build-a-bear teddy on the way.

Sitting down on the double bed, Tony gently lay his child down between him and his wife, who woke up when Tony practically jumped out of the bed. Renesmee smiled as her father gave her her teddy bear and, with a small, cute yawn, snuggled closer to her mother. Tony then got into bed and rest his arms around both his wife and child, subconsciously keeping them safe. They had all the time in the world to watch their beautiful girl grow up, along with their other two children. For now, though, they could rest.

They had three out of six, which ain't bad. The Lost Children of Stark had returned home, and that was all they could ask for. Hopefully, their other three children would follow suit soon.

CHAPTER 01

"Are you sure about this, Steve?" A gentle voice asked from its host's position in a chair situated by the large window, looking out onto the beautiful scenery that surrounded the Avengers Compound in Upstate New York. Steve, the man who was now known, was leaning against the desk in one corner of the room with his arms folded, eyebrows furrowed in concentration as his stunning blue eyes stayed trained on the soft carpeted floor in front of him.

He didn't know if he was sure, let alone ready, to do this. Was he? Was he ready to do this? This is a big leap into the second phase of being a parent, but was he prepared to do so? Maybe he should... No. He was ready. He was ready and he was sure that he was. He knew that it was the right time. In the years to come, Steve would realise just how right that decision was, along with another member of their rather large team known as the Avengers, 'Earth's Mightiest Heroes', if you will.

Turning his softened gaze towards the beautiful lady beside the abnormally large window, he smiled softly. "I am," he replied confidently. He truly was ready for this next leap into the wide world of parenting. "I am ready, Bella, I am." The two smiled at each other before looking out towards the lake that Tony Stark, also known as Iron Man to many, planed to build a building in the middle of the lake.

This building would be for anyone who was deemed 'dangerous' by the Counsel or by the Director of SHIELD, Nicholas J. Fury who just so happened to be their boss. Instead of going to the Raft, which was in the middle of nowhere, they would go to the building in the middle of the lake and stay there until they were deemed safe. This way they are able to be surrounded by others that are similar to, if not just like, them and are able to get a grasp of what it would be like to live at the Compound and on the 'Main Land', as it had been named.

"Stark has good plans, doesn't he?" The kind woman, Bella, asked gently as she caressed her slightly swollen stomach. Steve, noticing this act of kindness towards the woman's growing womb, gently rested one of his hands over hers and the other went around her back and held her to his side.

"He does. He just needs to execute them properly, that's Stark's only downfall really." The captain replied. The two stayed like that for hours, or so it felt like, when in actuality it was only five minutes at most. Five minutes of peaceful silence before it was interrupted by a gentle knock on the door. Bella immediately knew who it was since she had heard the knock and the footsteps so many times since she fell pregnant with her and Steve's baby girl. "Come in, sweetheart!"

Slowly, the door opened to reveal a girl, around the age of eleven or twelve, with long curly chocolate brown hair and beautiful hazel brown eyes. She was pale, but it didn't make her look unhealthy in any way. Actually, it made her features stand out just that little bit more. The child's unnatural paleness made her beautiful hazel brown eyes stand out that little bit more, her rosy cheeks were more defined making her look beautiful without any need to add makeup. Luckily, the child's mother, Pepper Potts, banned her from using makeup unless it was absolutely necessary. An example would be if they had to go to a Press Conference or the natural beauty of the Compound's, as she was nicknamed by everyone who met her at this compound, father, Anthony Edward 'Tony' Stark, had decided to throw a party or if they were invited to a ball or the Avengers had something important that was going to be shown in the press, then Pepper would allow her to use a little bit of makeup. Not much, since the woman didn't want her child to be coated with makeup like most girl's her age and older. She did the exact same with her other daughter, Morgan.

"Aunt Bella? Uncle Steve?" The timid girl asked shyly, voice quite and scared. Why was she scared? She had known these people practically her whole life! I guess HYDRA can stick with you after living there since you were born up until you were around the age of nine or ten, being forced to stop growing and spending an extra seven years with them. If the child had been allowed to continue with her natural growth, she would currently be the age of seventeen and be in her last year of high school.

"Yes, Munchkin?" Steve asked. 'Munchkin' had become the nickname reserved for the enhanced man who was frozen for seventy-odd years. Everyone around the tower had reserved nicknames for the child, which made a few of the other Avenger children jealous when they heard about it and hadn't met the self-conscious, apprehensive child. When they did meet her, however, they realised exactly why everyone had taken a liking to her. Immediately, all of the children, mainly the older ones like Cooper Barton, Pietro Maximoff and Wanda Maximoff, had made a silent promise to protect her as if their life depended on it. Which it kind of did to some of them, since they saw how depressed their parents were when she wasn't there or how sad they got when another adult wanted to have some time with her. The children also had reserved nicknames for her, but they had the second most. The first being her legal family, Pepper, Tony, Rhodey, Morgan, Happy etc.

"Um, D-Daddy wants to see you. I-In the C-Common Room." She didn't dare make eye contact. She had learnt not to, it meant challenge and challenge was never a good idea. At least, in the world HYDRA had painted for her it wasn't.

Steve, noticing how the child acted around him and his girlfriend and soon-to-be-mother of his child, walked forward and knelt down so that he was eye level with the child. "Renesmee," Steve murmured gently, resting two fingers on the child's, Renesmee, chin and making her look into his eyes. "You don't need to be afraid that we're going to hurt you, Munchkin. We would never. You know that, right, Munch'?"

"I-I'm sorry." Renesmee, who many called Esme since 'Renesmee' was such a mouthful for some like Maria Hill, apologised with her eyes downcast. Steve felt a pang go through his chest when he saw yet another scar, this one just behind the petrified girl's ear, on her small, fragile body. Pulling her towards him, he stood up and swung her onto his back.

"How 'bout we go to that meeting, eh, Munch'?" Steve asked with his usual goofy smile on his face which caused Esme to giggle, her eyes shinning with happiness that she hadn't felt in so long. Steve and Bella made eye contact and, as they made their way to the Common Room on the ground floor of the Main Building, similar smiles made their way onto the soon-to-be-parents faces as Renesmee talked about what she and one of her many uncles, T'Challa, did that morning. Finally, after all this time, she was starting to open up more to those she hadn't known much and to those she knew before she was taken a year after being rescued from the people who took her in the first place. The world was finally at peace with itself. When all was said and all was done, the Avengers could relax with the knowledge that their 'Itty-Bitty-Minor' was finally opening up to them and allowing herself to indulge into what a family really was; at long last they could relax and be a family.

Well, not yet. They still had to find Peter, Harley, Rosalice and Bucky and then they could be a proper family. All of them. Only time will tell if that's what they will be able to achieve. Only time will tell if the Avengers can be the family they always want and set out to be. Only time will tell.

CHAPTER 02

Childish giggles filled the soundless void, ricocheting off the walls and bouncing around the room. Who was giggling? Who had that childlike innocence still? Who was it, that could giggle and give people a feeling of hope and wonder? Who-

"Daddy! Watch!" A childlike voice called out into the void, the source nowhere to be seen.

"Renesmee?" Another voice echoed into the void, the void so dark that the person couldn't even see their hands if they put them right in front of their face. "Nessie, Monster, where are you?" The voice called yet again but to no avail.

"Daddy! Watch me!" The voice, one of a child's, called again, this time in a different position. Where was she? What did she want me to watch?

"Renesmee? Renesmee, where are you?" The voice called out again.

"Tony, watch our daughter! Don't be rude!" Another voice, this time sounding more like an adult's, scolded lightly. That voice, the person, Tony, knew who it was immediately. It was his wife, Pepper, and the mother of his child-.... Children. So..

It wasn't Renesmee, was it? It was Morgan, wasn't it? Was Renesmee still missing? Was all of that just a simple dream? Was adopting Renesmee, Peter and Harley simply that; a dream? What was true and what was fabricated lies? Why did everything seem so.... fake? Fabricated? Surreal? What was this place?

"Tony," Pepper's voice scolded again, snapping him out of his thoughts. His eyes travelled around, trying to find the figure of his wife and small figure of his youngest daughter but, to no avail, he couldn't find them.

"I'm watching, I'm watching," Tony replied, training his eyes to where he saw a flash of green. Green? Who had green eyes, or green clothing? Was Pepper wearing green? Was Morgan? Was Georgie? Was one of the Avengers wearing green today? Or was it a mirror? Was he the one who was wearing the enchanting colour green?

"Daddy! Watch me!" The voice, now identified as Morgan's, called again. Tony trained his eyes that way and finally, he saw them. They were at the lake that would surround a building Tony had planned, something better than the Raft. "Daddy, I can swim like the White Dragon!" White Dragon? What was the 'White Dragon'? Who was the 'White Dragon'?

Tony wracked his brain for what the 'White Dragon' meant but came up blank. What was the 'White Dragon'? Who was the 'White Dragon'? That's when it clicked. White Dragon, Renesmee. Renesmee was here, but where? Head swivelling, eyes scanning, Tony couldn't see his daughter's beautiful dragon form. Where was she? Morgan had basically said she was here, but where?

"Tony?" A quiet voice asked from behind him. He swivelled around only to see his daughter, fully grown, standing in front of him with her mouth slightly agape. The shocked man studied what this girl, this woman that was his child, looked like. The hazel eyes were there, the brown hair was there but it was much longer than it used to be, her paleness had lessened and she had become slightly more tanned now; she looked beautiful. No, she looked stunning.

"Nessa?" Tony whispered, mouth agape in shock. Was he dead? Was his wife dead? Was his children dead? What was going on? Wait... Why did she call him Tony? Did he do something to her that hurt her? What is he going to do? Or... what did he do to her and his family?

"W-What are you doing here? You shouldn't be here, Tony." Renesmee told him, looking at him with a look Tony couldn't seem to identify. Was that... disgust? Hatred? Loathing? Hurt? What was that look?

"Why are you looking at me like that, Mon'? And why aren't you calling me 'dad' anymore? You used to all the time when you were a kid!" Tony asked, weirded out by the look his precious Monster was giving him and the fact that she was calling him by his name instead of 'Dad'. Why would his daughter be giving him a look of hatred, of disgust? Why would she not be calling her dad just that, 'Dad'? Why would she be looking at him like that?

"You'll understand when I reach the age of fifteen. I can't tell you more, but I do need you to turn around and walk forwards. Walk towards Mom and Morgan. You'll wake up then, Tony." Renesmee replied, keeping things vague. Tony turned around and took three steps forward before turning around and pulling his child into a hug.

"I'm sorry. For whatever I did to you, your mother, your sister, your brothers... Whatever I did, I'm sorry. I hope you can forgive me, My Little Monster." Tony whispered before pulling away, kissing the top of her head, turning around and walking towards his wife and daughter. Before he reached the edge of the void, he quickly turned around and called into the darkness "Renesmee!"

Renesmee, from where she had her back facing the happy scene that she would never be able to see again, turned towards him so that she now stood sideways with her face pointed towards her father. "Yes, Tony?"

"Will you?" He asked. At the confused look he got, he knew he had to be more specific than that. Thinking back to it, Tony could now see that it was quite vague. "Will you forgive me for whatever I did to our family?" He watched as Renesmee looked down, looking at something he couldn't see unless she was looking at the void simply thinking.

After what felt like eternity when it was merely a couple minutes, she looked up at her father with a soft smile. "There's nothing to forgive you for just yet, Tony. But the you from where I'm from? I don't know. I don't know if I'll be able to forgive him just yet. It will take time." She replied before walking away from the happy family that the Stark family would never be able to achieve again. "Make all the right choices now, and I might forgive you."

Tony, confused and bewildered, slowly backed up into the happy scene that he knew would last forever. Or... he hoped it would last forever. Would it? Would the Stark family be happy forever? He didn't know anymore. He'd just have to make the right choices, and maybe then they would be able to be happy. He'd just have to make the right choices, whatever that meant.

~

Once Tony had stepped out of the void, his eyes snapped open to reveal his bedroom. When did he get to his room? Looking around, Tony noticed Pepper was sleeping next to him, her strawberry blonde hair sprayed around her head like a golden halo, making her look like an angel sent down from the heavens above. Tony smiled, it was just a dream. But what Older Renesmee had said still bugged him.

'Make all the right choices now, and I might forgive you.'

What did she mean? What did he do? What was he going to do? Why would he do anything to destroy the happiness that he and his extended family would finally achieve after seven hard, long years? Why would he do that? Shaking the thought from his head, the bewildered man looked at his alarm clock.

3.45am it read in big, bold red numbers that seemed to try and intimidate him whenever he looked at the clock on his bedside table. It was only quarter to four in the morning? Jeez, Tony was not cut out for this.

Running a hand down his face tiredly, the father of six decided to go and check on his three children that were currently here and not somewhere with their number one enemy; HYDRA. Hopefully, that would calm his jumbled nerves. Hopefully. If not, Tony didn't know what he was supposed to do. He didn't drink anymore so that was out of the question, he didn't want to go down to his lab since he had promised Renesmee after she had returned that she wouldn't spend days in the lab like he used to anymore. So the last thing he could do? Make sure three of his children were alright whilst fretting about the other threes safety.

Looking out of the window, Tony could have sworn he saw three silhouettes - two boys and a girl - stood on the rooftop level with his and his wife's window. Rubbing his eye quickly and looking back, the silhouettes were no more. Must have been my mind playing a trick on me, Tony thought to himself as he headed towards his son's and two daughters' shared bedroom. This has to calm his nerves, right? It has to. Hopefully, it would do the trick. Hopefully.

CHAPTER 03

Steve watched from the corner of the room as the man of the hour started to pace. What was wrong with this man? Where was the cocky man Steve was so used to seeing? Deciding to confront the man about his abnormal behaviour, Steve was the one to break the sullen silence. "Tony? Everything alright?" The Captain asked.

Tony's attention snapped towards the man, pausing in his pacing for a couple of heartbeats. "I'm not, Cap, I'm not," the man replied as he continued his pacing, hands running through his hair chocolate brown, turning gray, hair anxiously. "I had a strange dream last night. Renesmee was there, so was Pep and Morguna."

"Tones, sit down. You're gonna ware a hole in the floor if you continue to pace like that!" Rhodey, Tony's best friend and one of the many uncles the Children of the Compound - as many decided to call the children that lived in the compound - had, ordered. Tony, sighing, sat down in one of the adjacent arm chairs and started to nervously tap his foot before he got up and started to pace by the fireplace again. Rhodey was about to snap at his best friend again when the door opened to reveal Tony's oldest daughter, Renesmee, with his wife, Pepper, behind him.

"Daddy!" The young girl called, hazel brown eyes shining. Tony's anxious expression seemed to evaporate as he smiled cheerfully towards his oldest daughter, who wasn't quite old. Pepper smiled, leaning on the doorframe, as Tony picked their child up and held her tightly to him. e glanced back to her and smiled at his attention back to his daughter.

"What have you and mommy been doing this morning, gorgeous?" Tony asked, smiling as he sat in the arm chair, holding Esme on his lap so that her back was to his chest. Esme giggled as she shifted slightly so that her back was against the arm of the chair. "Well?"

"Aunty Tashie taught me how to fire Uncle Clinty's bow! Uncle Clinty said I'm a natural, even though the arrow went nowhere near the target." Esme replied, smiling as her father rested his chin on her head, humming as if to say 'really?'. Esme nodded, yawning slightly and curling up on her father's lap.

"She's getting more and more tired recently," Pepper spoke up after she made sure the brown haired girl was asleep. "I'm worried, Tony. Why is she getting so tired all of a sudden? What are we not doing?"

Tony sighed, bouncing Renesmee on his lap so that she felt a little more comfortable as she slept. He was silent for a minute, hesitant of responding. What were they not doing right? Surely it wasn't because of them, right? Tony sighed again, bringing up yet another blank. "I don't know, hun, I don't know. I guess we can simply play this out in the hope that we can figure it out. If not, I'll have to take her to a friend of mine."

"And who is this friend, Stark?" Steve asked after being silent for so long. Tony shared a glance with both Pepper and Rhodey, who both looked at him as if to say 'it's your call to make, not mine', before looking back at Steve.

"Meet me here tomorrow at ten-fifteen and I'll show you." Steve's teammate replied before standing up, lifting a sleeping Renesmee Imani-Antonia Aku-Stark on his hip. As he walked towards where Pepper was waiting for him and their child, with their youngest son and daughter, Morgan and Georgie, stood at her sides, he turned back towards his Captain. "Just be warned, Cap, it's in Forks, Phoenix." With that, the five Starks left to go put their children to bed.

The last thing Steve heard of the man was what he said to his wife. "We need to contact the Cullens."

Questions started to invade Steve's mind at the given last name. "Who were the Cullens?" The patriotic ex-World War 2 soldier questioned aloud before shaking the thought out of his head and heading towards his own quarters, where his girlfriend was waiting for him.

CHAPTER 04

After putting the three Stark children down for a nap, both Tony and Pepper made their way to their own bedroom. Upon entering, Tony immediately headed over to the desk where a hologram popped up when the greying man rested his hand on the desk.

"Gooday sir," a female voice greeted. Tony gave a soft hum as he scanned through the contacts in search of the contact dubbed 'Carlisle'. "What would you like to do today, sir?"

"Fri, where's Carlisle's contact? I didn't delete it by accident, did I?" Tony asked as Pepper took the seat next to him, worry evident on her features.

"You haven't, sir. It's right here," Carlisle's contact popped up on the screen, causing Tony to smile. "I recommend sorting the contacts into alphabetical order so that this doesn't happen again. It has happened forty times this past month, Sir."

Tony gave a soft chuckle, shaking his head before clicking the 'FaceTime' button on the top left-hand corner of the screen. "Be quiet, Fri, and connect me to whatever electronic device Carlisle is on currently. Face time, if you will, Fri."

"Of course, Sir." Three seconds later, the blonde's face appeared n their screen, along with the family members that they knew of. "Connected."

"No duh, Friday." Tony muttered before Pepper nudged him slightly, causing him to turn his head to her. He tilted his head to the side in question to which she simply shook her head.

"Hello Dad," the mother of six greeted. Carlisle smiled in reply. "Hello Mom, Bella, Edward, Jasper, Alice, Emmett, Rose, Jacob, Seth, Leah. It's nice to see you all again."

"As it is to you, my dear," Esme replied before looking towards one of her son-in-laws. "What's the matter, Anthony? Why did you call?"

"It's nice to see you all as well, but I have news regarding Nessa." You could practically see how Edward and Bella became even more eager at the sound of their daughter's name. "She's been rescued from HYDRA, as has Morgan and Georgie, but Peter, Harley and Rosalice are still out there."

"And what of Bucky? Is he still out there with the trio?" Jasper asked, worried for his old friend.

"Unfortunately, yes. Bucky is still out there. However, I called for another matter as well." Tony looked directly towards Carlisle when he spoke. "Nessa's becoming more and more tired as the days go on. We're worried, and we don't have a clue as to what we can do. We can't necessarily take her to a doctor, what with her being half Vampire-half Human like Pep, and I don't think Helen is really a doctor in that domain."

"What about Bruce?" Jasper asked.

"Bruce... We've asked him before. He doesn't know what to do. We've tried to give her some tablets to give her more iron but nothing is working. We've tried to increase her blood intake, try to make it a bit more reoccurring, but to no avail. We've tried to make her energy shakes in the mornings but nothing is working. We don't have any idea what else we can do." Pepper replied and, not for the first time, the family of vampires could see the man they trusted with their lives trying to fight a breakdown. Esme felt awful having been one of the people who had agreed to give Renesmee to Tony and Pepper.

"Hmm.... We might have to push your visit earlier than expected. Could you guys make it day after tomorrow?" The grandfather asked, resting his elbows on his knees. Tony and Pepper shared a glance before looking back at the family.

They were about to answer when their bedroom door slammed open. "Mommy!" Morgan's panicked voice could be heard through the TV the Cullen and Stark families were conversing through. "Mommy, it's Rene!"

"What's wrong with Rene, Morgs?" Tony asked, worry evident in his eyes as he glanced towards the door.

"She was fine ten minutes ago but now she's not. Georgie's trying to wake her up but we can't; we've both tried." Morgan said on the verge of tears.

"Pep, could you continue this conversation? I need to check on Ness." Tony asked, looking towards his wife after he had picked his now sobbing daughter up. Pepper simply nodded and watched as her husband and the father to their six children quickly walked out of the door and to their children's bedroom.

"Georgie, go with Morgan and stay with your mom for a bit, okay? I'll come get you two when Ness is up, alright?" Tony asked gently, setting Morgan down. Morgan and Georgie nodded before they both ran off towards their parents bedroom. Sighing, Tony turned towards where his daughter was tossing and turning in the tepee, her Iron Man teddy on the floor next to her. Kneeling next to the opening to the tepee, Tony gently ran a hand through his daughter's long, brown locks.

"Ness, you need to wake up. Nessa, kiddo, you need to wake up," Tony murmured gently before sighing again. Glancing across the room towards his daughter's bed and seeing her blue blanket, he picked it up before going back to his terrified child. Gently picking her up, Tony sighed when she immediately clutched onto him as if she were going to leave him.

"Please don't leave me, Daddy." The girl begged quietly. Tony felt a pang go through his chest as he realised what was happening; minor separation anxiety. Of course, how could Tony overlook something so simple? She was taken from him at the age of eleven, kept from him for seven years, before being rescued by him and their family again.

"Never, My Little Monster, I'll never leave you," the child's father whispered gently as he held her in his arms, making her feel safe and protected. "I'll always be here. Whenever you need me, I'll be there." Renesmee nodded, hugging her father tighter. She didn't want to lose him again like she had all those years ago. Just going through that was torture for her, pure torture. Hopefully, she would never have to go through that again. Hopefully.

CHAPTER 05

At ten-fifteen the next morning, the Stark family and Steve Rogers were ready for the long road trip to the children's adopted grandparents house in Forks, Phoenix. The family came from Pepper, who had a lot of secrets from the Avengers, SHIELD and the Counsel of SHIELD.

One, she was half Vampire, half human. Luckily, her adopted family, the Cullens, were all vegetarian vampires so she didn't drink human blood. Then again, she didn't really need as much blood as her family did. Two, she, for some odd reason, could still have children unlike some of her adopted siblings. Three, she did have a 'gift', as the Vampire World called it. Pepper's gift? Pepper's gift was Lie Detection. The mother of six can sense if she is being lied to. She can also tell if someone is lying by movement or facial expression. Being half vampire-half human meant that her two biological children, Morgan and Georgie were quarter vampire and three quarters human. That's why they both have the beauty they inherited that from their Aunt Rosalie.

"Mommy? Are we going to see Aunt Bella and Uncle Eddy? As well as Grandma and Grandpa?" Renesmee asked, snapping the strawberry blonde out of her thoughts. It still broke the young-looking woman's heart to hear her daughter call them 'Uncle Eddy' and 'Aunt Bella'. It just never seemed right to her, it felt wrong.

Smiling despite the discomfort the woman was feeling, she gently took the girl's outstretched hand. "We are, Sweetie, we are." Her mother told her, causing a smile to form on Esme's face. Deciding to take the mini van, Steve and Tony sat upfront whilst Pepper, Esme and Morgan sat in the middle whilst Rhodey and Georgie sat in the back. "You excited? You haven't seen them for a few years, have you, Sweetie?"

"I'm really excited! I haven't seen them in..." Renesmee trailed off, trying to think how long it had been. "I haven't seen them in... eight years!"

"Very good, Munchkin!" Steve praised to which he received a giggle from the excited girl and a raised eyebrow from her father. "Praise her and she's happy, it works," the blonde man explained in a soft whisper. Tony nodded before returning his attention to the road before them.

"How long is this road trip again, Tones?" Rhodey called from the back of the car where he and Georgie were playing a game of snap.

"Uh, last I checked, forty-six hours by car. So you might want to catch some Zs, Platypus, me and you are switching in eleven and a half hours, meaning you're driving the second leg of the journey. Then we'll switch again and I'll drive the third leg of the journey and then you'll drive the final leg of the journey. Got it?" Tony replied, glancing in the rear-view mirror to look at what the Platypus was doing.

"Got it. I keep forgetting how long it is from NYC to Forks, Washington." Rhodey complained.

"Don't we all," Pepper voiced before looking out of her window again. Renesmee and Morgan were playing a game together on the StarkPad Pepper had brought with her so the two were entertained for the forty-six hours they would spend in the car. "When are we stopping, hun?"

"We're stopping in," Tony glanced at the clock on the dashboard, "uh, we're stopping in six hours for some dinner and toilet breaks and to get some coffee, and sweets and stuff. We always forget to get the sweets, don't we?"

"Correction, you do, Tones," Rhodey retorted as he pulled six bags of sweets out of his travel on bag. He passed the chocolate raisins to Renesmee, the chocolate eclairs to Morgan, the mints to Pepper, the fruit pastels to Georgie, the mixed giant chocolate buttons to Tony and the wine gums to Steve.

"Thanks, Platypus!" Tony called to the man in the back once he was passed his bag of mixed giant chocolate buttons. "When'd you get these?"

"Don't you remember? I'm always prepared when it comes to food. You should know this by now, Tones."

"Quick question," Steve interrupted, "why aren't we taking the Quinjet? It would only take about six and a half hours. That's forty hours shorter." Tony thought for a moment and nodded.

"You're right, Capsicle. Hey Friday, pull up five free seats on a plane from NYC to Forks, please." The Satnav then showed directions to the John F. Kennedy International Airport. "Thanks, Fri."

"Okay, so this trips going to be a lot shorter, then?" Rhodey asked with a smirk. Tony sighed and simply shook his head before everyone lapsed into peaceful silence. Finally, silence! No Tony talking, no Georgie complaining, no Morgan and Renesmee arguing, no Pepper fretting, no Rhodey being Rhodey and no Steve being a grumpy old man. It was actually peaceful in the car for once. For once.

CHAPTER 06

They had finally arrived in Forks, Washington, after a six hour and 25 minute flight. Everyone was quite jetlagged and just wanted to sleep, the three kids doing so. Pepper had decided to, this time, sit in the very back with Rhodey whilst Georgie, Renesmee and Morgan sat in the middle and Steve and Tony sat up front again.

"Almost there now." Tony called out after they had been on the road for a good half hour, the trio of kids having woken up by now. Renesmee looked out the window and smiled at the familiar forest they passed by, the forest that surrounded the small town of Forks in the state of Washington. Looking through the dense outer trees, the half human-half vampire child could have sworn she saw the glistening silver pelt of her shifter aunt, Leah. "You excited, kids?"

"Yeah!" The three children cheered, excited to see their family that they hardly got to see for the first time in what felt like an eternity. To think they barely got to see them and yet they were all so close, it showed a new level of family, really.

Pulling up to the beautiful house, Renesmee's eyes widened when she saw her Uncle Eddy stood on the steps with her uncles Jasper and Emmett and her grandpa, Carlisle. Pepper got out first and quickly unbuckled her three children. Three out of the four adults took a child each. Rhodey took Georgie, Pepper took Renesmee and Tony took Morgan. Steve just tagged along behind the family.

Squirming in her mother's arms, Renesmee's face lit up when she saw her uncle Eddy. "Uncle Eddy!" She called as her mother set her own the ground so she could run over and give her uncle a hug. He smiled, hugging her back immediately. "I've missed you, Uncle Eddy."

"I've missed you too, Small Child," Edward replied, chuckling when the child's slightly pink tinted cheeks went a couple shades darker. "Your mo- Your aunt Bella is inside with Grandma, Aunt Rosie and Aunt Alice. Wanna come in and see them, sweetheart?" Renesmee immediately nodded, taking his outstretched hand and leading her inside of the house to where her three aunts and grandmother were. "Girls, I got a surprise for you~!" Edward called out in a sing song voice before picking Rene up and placing her down at the top of the stairs.

"Aunty Bella! Aunty Alice! Aunty Rosie! Grandma Esme!" The excited child called before she ran over to the girls in the Cullen Coven. Bella's face lit up when she saw the child and was the first to hug her. Smiling softly, Edward leaned against the door as the two hugged.

"Edward, join them. I want to get a picture of the three of you together." Esme, the male vampire's adopted mother, spoke gently in her melodic voice to which Edward nodded and walked over to his wife and daug-niece. He had to keep reminding himself that Renesmee wasn't his and Bella's anymore, she was Tony's and Pepper's. She wasn't their daughter, she was their niece. Shaking the thought from his head, he picked Rene up and held her so that she had one arm around Bella's shoulders and one around his own.

After Esme had taken the picture the others finally entered the room, Carlisle going over to his mate and putting his arms around her waist loosely. "How are you feeling, Nessa?" The oldest vampire in the Coven questioned as he watched her sit down at the piano stool with her biological father, Edward. Renesmee simply smiled gently at him before refocusing on the notes Edward was showing her.

"Try it this way, sweetheart," Edward encouraged as he gently placed his cold hands on top of his child's lukewarm ones and guiding them across the keyboard. Rene giggled slightly, feeling safe with her uncle.

"Great job!" Bella congratulated as she rested on her elbows on the piano, Pepper and Tony watching on with guilt evident in their hearts. This family couldn't spend much time together and it was their fault. But, didn't Bella and Edward want them to take Renesmee? Or were they expecting the couple to refuse so that they could keep their child? Glancing at each other, the two continued to watch the little family in guilt. They had stolen the one thing that the couple needed in their lives. They would never forgive themselves for this. In truth, they never had.

~

"Mommy! Daddy!" Rene called as she made eye contact with Tony and Pepper. You could practically see Bella and Edward deflate at the names being used on their sister and brother-in-law.

"What is it, Munchkin?" Tony asked from where he was talking to Carlisle on the sofa. "What did Uncle Eddy give you today, hm?" Placing the child on his lap, he chuckled softly when he saw the remains of sugar around her lips.

"He gave me sugar!"

"I can see that. How much?" The father asked, gently wiping the sugar off his daughter's mouth with the pad of his thumb. Renesmee looked down slightly with feigned guilt causing Tony to chuckle again. "How much did he give you, Ness?"

"A bit..."

"And how much is a bit, in your own words?" He had an inkling that it was a bit more than they normally gave her, but he wasn't complaining. Edward should really think before he gives his nieces and nephew sugar. It's not him he has to worry about, it's his adopted sister, Pepper.

"Umm.... He gave me.... Three bars of chocolate! Ooh, and some Jolly Ranchers! And two packets of Fruit Pastels and three packets of Jelly Tots!" The girl rambled, just as her mother walked in. Her face, since Edward was at the piano, even made Carlisle gulp with worry for his adopted son. When you give a child sugar, you better hope that it's not Pepper Potts-Stark's kids you gave that sugar to otherwise you are a dead man and/or woman.

"Edward....." Pepper trailed off, turning to her brother who gulped. She walked over to him, leant down so she could easily speak into his ear and said one thing that everyone, vampire or not, could hear because of the dead silence. "Run." And boy did that man run.

Never mess with the Potts-Stark children, ever! That is, unless, you have a death wish and are willing to die at the hands of the CEO of Stark Industries then sure! Go right ahead! Be my guest! If not? Then run for the high hills and hope she never finds you. And man, do I wish you the best of luck. She is ruthless.

CHAPTER 07

After the whole Edward and sugar fiasco, the family and guest decided to spend some time outside. It was a cloudy day so the vampires didn't have to worry about shining like diamonds in the sun which was good. Everyone was watching the three kids play around with Emmett and Jasper. "She's grown up into a fine little lady," Esme commented after a while. "Both Morgan and Nessa have."

"And Georgie's grown into a fine young lad, as well." Carlisle added, smiling at his adopted daughter and son-in-law. Pepper and Tony smiled at each other before looking back out at their three children, messing around with two of their many uncles.

"Are you gonna go through with you and Bella's idea, Capsicle?" Tony asked, looking towards his teammate. Steve gave a breathless chuckle at the nickname before looking at the treetops, soft smile on his face.

"Bella and I are going to the orphanage next month." Steve looked back towards the man he now considered a brother, realising in that moment how young the man looked next to his wife. "So yeah, we are."

"Oooh~ We'll have more grandchildren, honey!" Esme squealed, causing everyone to laugh. Tony, Pepper, Steve and Rhodey all smiled at each other, before a scream cut off the happiness the family shared.

"Leave my sister alone!" The unmistakeable voice of Renesmee Imani-Antonia Aku-Potts-Stark shouted, holding her little brother close to her side. In that moment Steve took notice how much older Renesmee looked, as if she had aged a couple years. "We did nothing to you, Winter!"

"I'm not letting her go," a gruff voice spoke from behind a mask as three other people came out of the forest. "And you'll pay for abandoning us, all three of you will."

"I left to keep my siblings safe."

"Really? You kept them, what? Safe? Protected? Who did you leave behind, though? You left behind your uncle, your two brothers, your twin sister. You picked your younger siblings over your older siblings." A female voice retorted.

"I did it to protect them, as my brothers and sister would have done for the three of us! I stepped up to the plate, to the responsibilities, they left!"

"Really? They left you responsibilities? Like what?" The gruff voice from before, identified as Winter, questioned.

"Easy." The child looked towards the figure with the spider symbol on his chest. "You left me with the responsibility of being Queens new vigilante since their old vigilante had left the scene so suddenly, as if he were ungrateful!" She then turned towards the figure with the wolf head symbol on his chest. "You left me with the responsibility of being the smart child, being the perfect child and setting the example for our brother and sister." She turned once more towards the female figure with the hurricane symbol on her chest. "And you left me with the responsibility of teaching our sister what you taught me. Never to give up but that's all I ever wanted to do since I got back, since Wanda and Pietro saved the three of us from Lucifer."

"So what? We don't care. We left the three of you, good. But it's the other way around! You left us! We never left you, you left us to Lucifer's wrath! How could you?" The two boys screamed, tears evident in their trembling voices.

"I never meant to! You think I wanted to leave you? You think I wanted to leave my best friends, my brothers, my sister, my family?" Renesmee screamed back. By now Winter had let go of Morgan and she had run over to where her twin and older sister were, tear streaks evident on her face. In a much quitter voice, Renesmee spoke again. "You really think I wanted to leave my family?"

"We don't know what to think anymore," the girl replied, taking off her mask to reveal a girl, about Renesmee's age, with light blonde hair. "We want to believe you didn't want to leave us, Ness, we do. But..."

"You don't know what's fabricated and what's not." Esme replied, tears in her eyes. Hazel met blue and the older one pulled the younger into a tight hug, allowing the brown haired girl to just sob into her chest. The two boys, after sharing a glance, also took off their masks to reveal a boy with doe eyes and a boy with blue eyes. These three children were Rosalice Stark, Peter Stark and Harley Stark. Which only meant... Taking off the mask covering his face, the owner of the gruff voice was revealed. The sight only made Renesmee sob harder. Right in front of her was her beloved uncle who she thought to be dead; Bucky Barnes.

Peter and Harley quickly pulled their two sisters into a hug, comforting each other. Glancing over to his younger brother and sister, Peter smiled softly and held out his hand for the two to take. They did and the boy pulled the two in for a hug, keeping the youngest in the middle with their Renesmee. After noticing his nieces and nephews reactions and tears, Bucky knelt on the ground next to them before hugging the six children close to him.

"We're here now. We're here and we're safe, I promise." The man promised before they were cut off by four voices calling out to them.

"Bucky? Peter? Harley? Rosalice?"

Peter, Harley, Rosalice and Bucky all sighed. They had a lot of explaining to do.

CHAPTER 08

Once the seven individuals had trudged up to where the adults were stood, Pepper wrapped her three missing children in a hug before pulling her other three children into the hug as well. "Never," Pepper started as she pulled away so that she could see Peter, Harley and Rosalice's faces, "scare me like that again. Understood?"

"Yes ma'am." They replied instantly, not wanting to face their mother's wrath. The woman's eyes started to water again as she pulled the six in for another hug, this time Tony and Rhodey joining them, creating a nice family group hug.

~

Later that night, Bella was tucking Renesmee into bed when she decided to lay with her. "Aunty Bella?" The young child asked, causing Bella to turn her attention to her. "Could you sing that lullaby to me? The one you call Tili Tili Bom?" Bella smiled softly, starting to hum the tune softly.

"Тили-тили-бом
Закрой глаза скорее,
Кто-то ходит за окном,
И стучится в двери.

Тили-тили-бом.
Кричит ночная птица.
Он уже пробрался в дом.
К тем, кому не спится.

Он идет
Он уже
близко

Тили-тили-бом.
Ты слышишь, кто-то рядом?
Притаился за углом,
И пронзает взглядом.

Тили-тили-бом.
Все скроет ночь немая.
За тобой крадется он,
И вот-вот поймает.

Он идет
Он уже
близко...

Тили-тили-бом.
Ты слышишь, кто-то рядом?
Притаился за углом,
И пронзает взглядом."

Smiling softly, Bella gently placed a kiss on her daughter's forehead before leaving the room and going to where the rest of the family were waiting for her return. "Right, Peter, Harley, Rosalice, what happened to you guys?" Carlisle asked. Peter was about to reply when Bella heard something that all the vampires, including Pepper, could hear. Immediately, they looked towards the room Bella had just come out of to see the door slightly ajar and something going on inside.

"Whoa!" An excited voice exclaimed, joy evident in their voice. "How do you do it?" There was a response but the vampires couldn't hear it. "Do you think I would be able to do it?"

"I think you already can, Little One," was the reply the child got. Tony's gauntlet appeared on his fist as he made his way to the room, worry for his child and anger towards whoever this person was blossoming like a flower in spring in his chest. "Here, let me help you." This enraged Tony.

Tony slammed the door fully open and pointed the gauntlet towards the man sat next to his daughter on the bed. "Move. Away. From. My. Daughter." The father growled, moving closer to his child as Pepper entered with Steve and Rhodey behind her. The man didn't move. "I said, get. Away. From. My. Child." Nothing. "Now."

Pepper quickly pulled her daughter away from the man, much to the protests of them both. "Stay away from my daughter, you creep." The woman growled, eyes glaring holes into the man's back. Renesmee started to kick as she wanted to get away from her mother and run to her father's arms, where she felt more protected.

"Get away from me!" The girl screamed, kicking and punching at the woman holding her. "I want my daddy! GET AWAY FROM ME!" Pepper dropped Renesmee to cover her ears from the child's scream, giving the child the chance to run back to her father.

Edward ran in and quickly grabbed the child, holding her against his chest tightly. "You're not leaving, young one." Edward spoke sternly before glaring at the man in front of him. "Turn around, let us see you."

The man proceeded to do so. Who it was surprised them all, none more so than Steve. "Albus?!"

CHAPTER 09

"Albus? What are you doing here? Is everything alright?" Steve asked once he saw who it was. Albus sighed tiredly, shaking his head.

"It's not. Everyone's getting rather impatient back at the school, awaiting the six of them." Albus responded, watching as Edward quickly dropped one of the six children everyone was waiting for and watching as she ran towards her father, Tony.

"Daddy!" The girl cried, wrapping her arms around the man's waist. "Daddy, who's that?"

Tony rested a hand on his child's head, not taking his eyes off the man who had tried to take his child. "You are to never go near her again. Understood?" Steve asked, standing next to his teammate and one of his nieces with a pure look of anger on his face.

"You know I cannot obey that." Albus responded, attempting to take a step closer to Renesmee only to have two gauntlets and a shield in his face.

"Try it, I dare you." Rhodey bit back as he stood in front of the young child, blocking her from the old man's view. "You touch her, I'll kill you. Is that understood, you doggery old man?" Albus sighed but nodded, knowing it was time to give up. There was no point going on.

"Fine. Steve, you know what I needed to do. Minerva's not going to be happy that you stopped me." Albus spoke, looking Steve directly in the eyes.

"I'm pretty sure she wouldn't be so happy with what you attempted to do here tonight, Albus. Why don't you run on back to her? Get your ass whooped while you're at it, yeah?" Albus sighed again before disapparating.

"Daddy, can we go home? I don't want to be here anymore." Renesmee asked as she looked up at her father who nodded. They couldn't stay here for a whole month, not when their kids weren't safe.

"Our kids aren't safe here, we're taking them home." Tony said, looking directly at Carlisle.

"Now?" Edward asked, anger evident on his features.

"Yes." Steve responded.

"No! You can't! We have the right to see Renesmee, more than you do!" Bella argued, stepping forward.

"Bella," Pepper started, only to be cut off by her sister-in-law.

"No! I'm not letting you leave, not now!"

"Bella, let them go. They're doing what's best for their daughter." Jasper spoke up after being quite for so long.

"Why should I? She's not theirs anyway, she's mine and Edward's! She deserves to stay here, she is going to stay here! And that. Is. That!"

"Bella, we can't fight them on this. She's Pepper and Tony's, she's not ours. She goes where they go, not where we want her to go. We gave that up when we gave her up. We're lucky we even get to see her as much as we do."

"And this will be the last time you'll see her, Rosalice, Peter, Harley, Morgan or Georgie. Our family isn't safe with any of you. Mom, Dad, Jasper, Emmett, Rosalie, Alice, I love you all but I don't want to risk the lives of my children. I just can't, especially not when I just got three of them back."

"We understand, you want your children safe. As we want you safe, but looking at who you surround yourself with, that isn't quite possible, is it?"

"No, unfortunately not." Pepper agreed, watching as her husband and oldest daughter hugged each other tightly. They had to leave, they just had to.

CHAPTER 10

Upon arriving back at the Avengers Compound in Upstate, New York, the young girl many have nicknamed as the 'Young Princess of the Avengers Upstate Compound' immediately headed towards the room she shared with her two younger siblings, Georgie and Morgan. This worried Tony, seeing as Renesmee was always so talkative. Was it something he did? Was it something Bella and/or Edward said to her? Or was she just going through the motions after getting her three older siblings back? What was it?

"Daddy? What's wrong with Nessie?" The youngest child of the Stark family, Morgan, asked as she watched her older sister walk of dejectedly. She suddenly felt guilty, now realising how much all of this must have affected her.

Tony sighed, guiding his children towards the main room as Pepper went to make sure Renesmee was alright and not attempting to do anything that would harm her or anyone around her. "I'm not sure, Morgana, but how about we go see everyone, yeah? I'm sure some people would love to see Peter, Harley and Rosalice again, yeah?" This caused the small family to cheer, running off towards the room. Well, Morgan and Georgie were dragging Peter, Harley and Rosalice whilst the formers were running practically full speed.

Back in the Stark Kids bedroom, Pepper and Renesmee were sat on the child's bed as the latter just sobbed. "Why is it always me?" The young girl sobbed, making Pepper's heart break. "Why did they pick me?"

"I don't know, hun, I don't know," was all the mother could say to her daughter, hugging her child close to her chest while rubbing her back comfortingly. "I don't know why they had to pick you, hun, I wish I did, but I don't." There was nothing the woman could do to bring comfort to the hurting girl, this the woman knew. However, it didn't mean she had to like it (which she didn't).

The two stayed like that, the mother hugging the daughter, for an hour before Pepper broke the comfortable silence that had fallen between the two. "How about we get cleaned up and go see what everyone else is doing, yeah?" The strawberry-blonde asked the chocolate-brown.

Renesmee shook her head, she didn't want to see anyone. She only wanted her mother, who was always there for her. Peter, Harley, Rosalice, Bucky, they weren't there for her; Morgan and Georgie were far too young; Wanda and Pietro wouldn't get it, at all; her father wouldn't always be there for her like her mother would; her godfather, Bruce, would be there but he didn't really want to get to know her as much as her uncle Rhodey did; her aunts weren't all that help with these type of things and her uncles weren't really there for her. All Renesmee had now, because of her father, was her mother.

Before, Renesmee had her grandmother and grandfather, her Aunt Rosalice and Aunt Alice, her Uncle Emmett and Uncle Jasper, her mother and her cousins Lillianna and Ellianna. Now? She only had her mother since her father had banned her grandparents, her aunts, her uncles and her cousins from seeing her and her siblings ever again. That's what hurt her. Tony, the man who rescued the girl from HYDRA and herself seven years ago, knew how close Renesmee was to Lillianna and Ellianna, yet he still went ahead and banned them from seeing each other. Why? Did Tony not trust her? Did he just want to hog her all for himself? Or did he not trust his nieces with his daughter? If so, he was ridiculous.

They were all children! Why couldn't he just let her be happy? Clearly, the man didn't understand the term 'happiness' very well. The only happiness he ever got? was from seeing others fail to try and be as good as him; he finds enjoyment in ridiculing others, he finds enjoyment in seeing all his children fail at being as good as him, he finds enjoyment in belittling others, he finds enjoyment in the people around him suffering whilst he's on top like he's the king of the castle. Well, news flash, Tony, you're not the king of any castle. Everyone is equal in these buildings, but that doesn't sit right with him, does it? No, it doesn't. And so he has to make sure everyone else suffers so his position as 'king' doesn't feel/isn't threatened. It's ridiculous.

"Come on, Ness. You need to leave this room. We've been here for an hour already." Pepper coaxed in hope of Renesmee agreeing. Realising there was no point in trying to get the girl to go see anyone who was in the same room as her adoptive father, Pepper gently moved some of the hair out of her face. "Look, I get you don't want to see Tony, but you don't need to talk to him. Okay?" Sighing in defeat, the half human-half vampire child nodded her head, sitting up. "Good. Let's get changed, then, hun." Once the mother and daughter duo were changed, they set off for the Common Room where everybody was gathered.

Silence immediately fell upon the entry of the duo, everyone looking anywhere but at the child who was clutching her mother's hand tightly in pure fear and anxiety. "I-I don't want to be here, Mom." The frightened child whispered as she noticed no one would make eye contact with her, not even Morgan or Georgie which hurt her greatly.

"It's fine, hun." Pepper comforted. Renesmee shook her head, ripping her hand out of her mother's and bolted for the door that lead outside. "Renesmee!" That caused everyone's attention to snap up upon hearing the cry of the mother. Tony watched with worry as his hurting daughter ran towards the lake before calling for his suit. "Tony, don't. She doesn't want to see you."

"And why on earth would she not want to see her own father?" Tony asked, disbelief, hurt and pure anger on his face and evident in his voice.

"Tony, you banned her from seeing the people she loved more than life itself. Her aunts Alice and Rosalice, her grandparents, her uncles Jasper and Emmett and her cousins Ellianna and Lillianna. Don't you get it?" Annoyance started to seep through the woman's words, cutting Tony deep as he realised what he had done. Whatever trust Renesmee had for him was gone, just like any love the frightened child had for him was gone. It would take a few years to gain Renesmee's trust back, but he was willing to do whatever it took to try. Whatever it took, he would gain the girl's trust back. Whatever it took.

EPILOGUE

A month and Renesmee still didn't trust Tony. Everyone else had gained her trust since they had all lost it when HYDRA took her for the second time, but Tony hadn't. Not even close. It affected everyone so much, but none of them realized how much it did.

Pepper and Renesmee were the closest, especially when Peter and Harley were involved; Peter, Harley and Renesmee were the closest out of all of the kids at the Avengers Upstate Compound; Morgan, Georgie and Renesmee weren't as close as they used to be but were still pretty close; Wanda and Renesmee were close, closer than they were before; Pietro and Renesmee were extremely close; Isabelle and Renesmee were quite close, not as close as Renesmee and Pepper were, but still close; Natasha and Renesmee were very close, when you got those two with Peter and Harley then you have the ultimate family; everyone else was close with Renesmee but not as close as they used to be for some odd reason. No one could figure out why, not even Renesmee.

Speaking of the Avengers, they were currently in the main room where Peter, Harley and Renesmee were playing Mario Kart whilst talking about the things Peter and Harley had done at school that day. Pepper didn't want Renesmee to go back to school, especially since all of her kids would have to retake their high school years. Tony and Pepper were allowing Peter and Harley go to school since they had agreed to pretended to be struggling so they would be able to stay back a couple years with their siblings.

"Ha! Take that, Spidey!" Renesmee exclaimed, the glint of happiness in her eyes like it had so long ago before being taken away from her. Peter fake growled at his sister, who had hit him with a blue shell. Harley laughed, throwing an arm around his younger brother and giving his younger sister a high-five in congratulations.

"I feel utterly betrayed," Peter said after the trio had finished their fifth game of Mario Kart. The two simply shrugged with identical smirks adorning their faces. Peter sighed with his head bowed before smiling back at his siblings. The happiness only lasted a couple heartbeats, however, before their happy faces fell and guarded looks adorned their faces upon Tony's arrival. This small change threw everyone off, shocking them all. How could they still not trust Tony? Surely they trust him, right?

"Hello, kids," Tony greeted, not looking up from his tablet. When the man got no response, he immediately looked up to see the guarded looks on three of his kids faces. "What's with the looks? Didn't we teach you better than to give that look towards your elders?" Tony turned to Pepper who was braiding Morgan's hair, "Did we teach them not to do that?"

"We would, but can't say we exactly respect-" "-worship-" "-trail after" "you, Stark." The three muttered, everyone, including Tony, hearing these remarks. Tony's eyes burned with a warm fire, not a cold anger luckily. Trust me, they've gotten that response once in the past month. Every other time was warm anger.

"What was that? What do you mean worship? Trail after? Respect? I'm your elder, you should respect me as your father." Tony spoke, slow and clear. The man always did this when he was angry or annoyed.

"Well," Renesmee started, "any father is better than you, clearly. You aren't exactly Father-Of-The-Year material, now, are you?"

"Oh, and Edward was now, was he?"

"He would have been a better father than you ever were to me. So, yeah, I'd say he was." Renesmee responded, shrugging. That was all it took for Tony to snap, for him to transform, for him to change, for him to simply let loose.

SMACK

The sound of flesh-on-flesh ricocheted around the completely silent room. Quickly placing her hand on her cheek, the girl coward before the man she had once respected in her much earlier childhood, the man she always wanted to be like when she grew up. Now she wanted nothing to do with him.

The man, on the other hand, simply couldn't believe what he had just done. He couldn't get over the feeling it gave him, either. The sense of joy, of power over someone so defenceless, weak. It made the man feel superior to the girl cowering before him.

"Nessie!" Two boys exclaimed, quickly pulling the sobbing girl away from the angered man. "How could you?" One of the boy's, the one with the brown doe-like eyes that seemed to burn with an unforgiving, cold fire, shouted. "How could you do that to her? She trusted you! We trusted you!"

"Son-" The man tried, the feeling of superiority finally fading away into nothingness and being replaced by immense guilt, only to be cut off by the boy he called 'son'.

"No. You don't get that privilege anymore." The boy snapped, eyes ablaze with cold, unforgiving anger that seemed to pierce Tony through his now stone-cold heart. "What's to say you won't do that to me? To Harley? To Morgan? To Georgie? To Rosalice? To Renesmee, again? Whose to say, that you won't lash out at any of us like you just did? You don't deserve our respect, Stark, or our respect as your fellow heroes, teammates."

"Spidey-"

"Keep your filthy, lying, betraying little mouth shut, Stark." The other boy, the one with the blue eyes, hissed from where he was comforting his little sister. "You don't deserve to call us the nicknames you once had. You know something, Stark?"

Peter quickly took over, stopping Harley from getting up and punching the man before them. "You were gaining our trust back, even Renesmee's. It might not have seemed like that, but you were. And after what you just did? It's going to take you a hell of a lot longer to gain it back, even the smallest bit." The two brothers glanced at each other before looking towards one of their favourite uncles, Steve. Seeing this glance, the man nodded and walked over to the trio, placing a hand on both boy's shoulders before kneeling next to the sobbing, broken girl and pulling her into his arms.

Steve, along with Harley, stood back up and looked Anthony Edward Stark square in the eyes and said something he wished he never had to hear. "You, Anthony Edward Stark, are just like your father after Steve-""-I-""went under the ice. I hope your fucking happy, Stark."

With that, the four of them left the room and headed to the infirmary where Bruce was, as he wanted to work on something, with Pepper, Morgan, Georgie, Rosalice and Isabelle following after them. Little did the man with breath-taking anger issues know, he would need to step up into the role of 'godfather' more than ever that year, and the years following this tragic event that would lead into something far more sinister on Tony's end of this issue that tore the family apart. All this because the man banned the girl from seeing her family, the side of the family she was closest to.

What hurt her the most, however, wasn't the fact that her father hit her. In complete honesty, she was expecting him to do that at some point so it wasn't really a surprise to her that he did lash out. No, it was the fact that he broke his promise that he made her seven years ago. She had been warned never to trust a promise from the 'Great Tony Stark' as they were just lies upon lies upon lies. Now she knew why. After everything was said and done, Renesmee would never be able to see the man the same way as she had once been able to, the man she looked up to, the man she respected, the man she shared everything personal with.

The thing that hurt her the most was the fact that Tony had promised her that he would never hit her, that he would never try to hurt her in any way, shape or form, that he would always be there for her, Forever and Always. Clearly, that was a lie.

What else had the man lied about? What else factored into this horrible turn of events? What did Tony Stark have up his sleeve? What else did Tony Stark have to hide? Why did Tony Stark run? Was he even her real father? Who was Anthony Edward Stark to her? This child was about to find out.