Prelude Five
"Do you need some assistance, Ms. Alayna?"
Lainey had been wandering around the Tower all day.
She was completely bored out of her mind.
Hall through hall she walked, without even the slightest idea of how to entertain herself.
She hadn't seen Natasha since the night they stayed up talking to one another, which was three days ago.
It was almost as if she had disappeared. That, or she didn't want to see her.
And Steve was busy watching Bob Ross while he drew in his sketchbook with some pens.
It looked like he was drawing the mountains with peaks covered in snow.
Lainey had sat down next to him for a few minutes, but quickly found that his company wasn't quite as interesting now as it had been before.
Maybe when he was finished with his drawing, he'd be more fun.
She still hadn't utter a single word to Bruce, not counting, 'Hi' and 'Bye', so she didn't think he was an option.
She wanted to like the man, she really did. But he was a doctor.
And doctors freaked Lainey out. So she tried her best to stay away from them.
Clint was nice and she liked him, but he was getting ready to leave for the week.
Steve said that none of them actually knew where he was taking off to, but he did this at least once or twice a month.
Lainey wasn't really curious about where it was that he was going, but she did kind of miss his company.
He was really nice. He wasn't even upset with her about her trying to attack him that night in her apartment.
It was no secret that that day was a complete mess. It was just easier to forget the smaller, insignificant details.
And she and Tony had never actually interacted before.
She didn't know if he was actively avoiding her, or if their paths just coincidentally never seemed to cross.
Maybe he just didn't like her.
He didn't seem to be a 'kid' person.
"No, thank you." She responded to Jarvis politely.
Now, Jarvis, she knew without a doubt, she liked.
He was artificial intelligence, but Lainey liked to think of him as a real person who just wasn't visible to the human eye.
Like an imaginary friend who actually talked back.
She talked to him whenever she was alone in her room and it seemed like they had become good pals.
She didn't really know, she had never had a friend besides Peter, and he was really a family friend.
They're parents were friends before she was even born, so her and Peter's friendship wasn't one of choice. And it wasn't a very normal friendship.
It was more of an estranged sibling type of relationship.
The kind where you'd see each other a few times over the course of several months to a year, but you knew you could count on each other and you knew they were always there.
He'd do anything for her, but their age gap and living distance really put a wedge in the relationship.
But she really and truly did love Peter.
Having said all that, Lainey really wasn't sure how friendships were supposed to work.
Her only blueprints were what she saw on television.
And she was wise enough to know that television wasn't real life.
"May I suggest going to the studio?"
The studio?
"There's a studio in here?" Just how much money did Tony Stark have?
"Step inside the elevator and I'll take you there."
It wasn't as if she had anything else to do. This could be fun.
The elevator ride wasn't too long, she had only been taken down a couple of floors.
And once the doors opened, her jaw dropped.
The studio was beautiful, the wooden floors were laminated, there were mirrors all along the walls and ballet barres in front of them.
But what surprised her, was the sight of Natasha dancing to 'Swan Lake'.
She was so effortless and graceful, it was hard not to stare.
And she looked like she was in her own little world. It was just her and the music.
But all of a sudden, she just…..stopped.
At first, Lainey couldn't actually see why, but once she moved closer to the opened door, she noticed that the woman had a troubled look on her face and was breathing quite heavily.
She hadn't bothered to stop the music, so it continued playing in the background.
Her body was tense and her pupils were dilated, ready for any danger that might befall her.
Since Natasha had helped Lainey after her nightmare, the girl thought it was only fair to pay it forward.
So, she stepped inside and slipped her shoes off, walking over to the center of the room.
And taking a deep, calming breath, she made her way over to Natasha and tapped her on the shoulder.
Her fluid movements seemed to snap Natasha out of her thoughts. She was so out of it, that she hadn't realized when Lainey had even walked into the room or approached her.
She furrowed her eyebrows at the girl, but quickly understood her intentions once Lainey reached her right leg back in the tondue position.
Lainey was helping her the only way she knew how.
Keeping her company.
And together, they worked through exactly what was troubling her.
One pas de bourre at a time.
"What do you do all day?"
"Tony."
"What?" The billionaire looked at Steve as if he hadn't just asked an unnecessarily blunt question. "It's a fair question. So, kid, how do you keep yourself occupied? Yoga? Books? Impalement?"
"Tony!"
Lainey frowned as she looked at the man, watching him carefully.
She could name at least eight ways to cause him some serious pain without actually leaving a mark, but she didn't think that Steve would approve.
And over the course of the past several weeks, Lainey had grown to care about what Steve thought of her.
Just a little.
Natasha, too.
But she didn't think that Natasha would actually care if she did it or not.
She always seemed to be mildly annoyed by Tony and maybe the same thoughts had crossed her mind.
"You can't seriously look me in the eye and tell me that you're not a little bit suspicious of this kid. She attacked Barton and managed to knock you flat on the ground. You can't blame me for being cautious."
"She's a kid."
Lainey perked up, realizing that this might just be the beginning of an argument between the two, and kneeled on the couch, facing them to have a front row seat.
She hated that the tension in the room had been caused by her, but she really wanted see where this was going.
It seemed like Tony was just as wary of her as she was of him.
"A kid that throws knives with the precision of an expertly trained adult." Tony pressed. "Do you even know who she is? Where she came from? How do we know this isn't all a part of her mother's plan? Give herself up to S.H.I.E.L.D. and have her daughter take us out one by one?"
If she had really wanted to hurt them, she would've done so by now.
Her mother always said there was no sense in waiting for your enemies to get a read on you. Strike them while they're vulnerable, when their guards are down.
But they weren't her enemies.
Lainey wasn't really all that in touch with her emotions, but she thought the look on Steve's face was devastating.
If that's what the pain in her chest was.
Some naive part of her thought that he'd defend her again, but all he did was sigh and look at Tony like he was actually taking what he said into consideration.
She didn't really have any right to be hurt by his hesitation, but some part of Lainey (though she didn't know it yet), thought that she and Steve were becoming friends.
Maybe she was wrong.
"Tony, you're paranoid." Steve finally managed to say.
But it was too late.
His hesitation was all Lainey needed to see for her to realize what he thought of her.
He agreed with Tony.
"After everything we've come across, I think I have the right to be paranoid."
Lainey decided right then and there that she didn't want to hear any more.
She hadn't meant to hurt anyone. She only attacked Clint and Steve because she didn't know them and she was scared.
After all, they did break into her house.
And sure, she lied about knowing what her mother was up to, but she hadn't done so with malicious intent and she told Natasha the truth afterwards.
She was just scared.
But Tony didn't believe that.
And that was just fine.
Lainey didn't need him to.
She didn't want him to.
"Lainey—" Steve called her, watching as she hopped off of the couch and made her way to the elevator. "Honey…."
It was the first time he had ever called her anything but her name.
But by now, it didn't really matter. The damage had been done.
The only reason Lainey turned around, was to glare at him.
And the look on her face was pretty frightening coming from someone her size.
Someone so young.
Luckily, the two men didn't have to keep her gaze for long, because the elevator doors closed just before things could get any more uncomfortable.
"You just couldn't keep a lid on it, could you?"