END-GAME

By the time they finally managed to get a cab, time had already passed. Now Theo, knowing her father, was quite certain the man had already been up for at least a couple hours now.

Entering the building, all Theo could think was all the lies she could possibly come up with. Telling the truth was also a choice here, but she feared it might be a rather bad one, all things considered.

They reached her door; the keys were inside her palm, her grip all too tight. She was running out of time, and she hadn't manage to come up with a good enough reason as to why Steve was not coming back again, nor why there was no gathering after all. The emptied bottles creating a line in her bedroom floor weren't a really nice adittion either.

“For fuck's sake”,Tony sighed and knocked on the door.

Theo's eyes widened. “Are you nuts?!”

But before Tony could shrug, the door opened. A rather tall man answered, most his hair completely white. He had a darker mustache above his lips,and a triangulated ,rather long beard to go along. Cyclical glasses on a pair of green eyes, and an already too bright smile on his lips.

“Dora!”,he laughed as he called her name. “You drank yourself till you lost your keys again,you goof?”,he asked as he hugged her.

His hug was tight, as per usual.

Now, it could have all been due to the fact that out of all the attendees, Theo was the only one around having a living parent to hug her, but to them all, seeing Theo getting such a tight and seemingly heartwarming hug felt extremely out of place.

“My dear girl-”,his voice then changed,as did his stance. He looked sincerely worried. “Whatever happened to your eye?”

“Tis nothing dad”,she smiled faintly.

He let his shoulders fall down,and then he hugged her again. “Don't worry. It looked ,how do you say it – edgy,doesn't it? Well, either way, it's nice to see you again,pea”.

“You too,dad. Truly..”,she whispered.

His sweet,warm smile that didn't leave his face even after hugging her, and his incredibly kind eyes were also a sign on a glitch in the system, as Tony thought.

“I'm starting to believe the Matrix might be real..”,Tony whispered.

“Please,come inside, come on then!”

He motioned his hands and took a step backwards. Theo gulped down,and slowly shut her eyelids as they all walked in. Wanda smiled at Theo's father, while Natasha and Pietro's expressions were mostly lying on the surprisingly suspicious side.

Tony on the other hand had a smile on that showed nothing more than pure enjoyment. As Theo figured, having him there was most probably a huge mistake.

“You were all over the news”,his voice echoed from the kitchen.

They were all sitting on the living room, mostly looking like children in a daycare center. Theo had began picking her nails at that point.

Her father walked in, holding a silver tray with coffee cups on top, and a few bread slices with plates and jam.

“Dad- “,Theo stood up, “It's too heavy, what are you doing?”

“Ah, the onetrip rule, Dora”,he raised a finger at her after putting the tray down.

Tony smiled an all too big of a smile as Theo and her father both sat down at the same time. Her father held on to his knees and began serving the cups,putting them on to the table.

“Now,as I was saying- thank god for those journalists”,he nodded at himself. “If not for them, I wouldn't know my daughter had actually survived the battlefield”.

His comment came out fully covered in sarcasm, his eyebrows raised at her. Theo's lips parted and her back crouched.

“I...Sorry,dad. I was about to-”

“Ah, nonsense”,he laughed. “You did the big part. You all did. To scold you for having fun after saving half the planet would be rather hypocritical, wouldn't it pea?”

Tony took a sip from his coffee. Truth was they all needed that coffee at that hour. He leaned towards Natasha, reaching her ear with his lips to whisper.

“I'll bet half my fortune she's adopted”,he coughed discretely.

“By the way”,he continued as he started spreading jam on a slice of bread to eat, “Where's Steven at? Is he still out at this hour? I really doubt that, that man is an old soul,I bet you he hates partying”,he chuckled.

But Theo didn't respond. Her gaze fell down, and as her father noticed, the atmosphere grew rather heavy all of a sudden. He pulled his lips to a straight line, then put the bread down.

“Anything you wish to share,Dora?”

Theo tightened her fists. “Steve and I broke up,dad”,she lied.

She lied, because she was hiding most part of the truth. The part were he left her, where he had abandoned her for a complete stranger. Where he had gone back in time, and was now deep in old age.

But, her father liked Steve.

She didn't have the heart to blame him on her father. Not after all- ....Didn't matter, she thought to herself. It didn't matter at all.

“Oh,well”,he said never seeming to lose his mood and picking his cup again to get a sip, “Quite the shame. Not the end of the world though, don't you think?”

Theo chuckled a little bitterly.

That was him.

“No. I guess not,dad”.

He wasn't the kind of man to speak ill of someone else just because it didn't go as planned. He'd never done so, not as long as said person had been good to him at least. Still, it didn't make her feel much better though.

“Mister Stark”,he turned to Tony, “I hope my daughter sent my thanks for the card”.

“Ah,shit..”,Theo whispered to herself.

Pietro eyed her oddly,as Tony seemed interested all of a sudden. He leaned in closer, the corner of his eye stuck on Theo's discrete gestures suggesting he goes along.

“Oh, she did sir. It was no trouble at all”,he smiled a little too warmly at him, hints of a tease to come shown vibrantly.

“Well, you know, it's not everyday that your child , that little person you raised , has the nerve to suggest you wouldn't recognize their handwriting. A rather scintillating moment, yes”,he commented.

Tony almost choked on that laughter, as Theo looked at them both with her nostrils wide opened to let out a snort. Pietro poked her with his elbow.

“I bet you didn't expect that, did you?”

“You knew?”,she asked with raised eyebrows.

“Of course I did. I expected you to at least try a little harder there, Dora. Emma was rather disappointed when she found out her aunt didn't get her that Iron Man autograph she asked. But then again, you missing her birthday didn't help either”.

Natasha leaned forward, her arms hanging from her thighs as a smirk emerged.

“Who's Emma?”

“My grandchild, miss Natasha. A rather quirky one”,he chuckled, his eyes glimmering with happiness.

Theo fell back on her chair,crossing her legs.

“I had a mission. Called her to say I'm sorry- what was I supposed to do?”

“Children tend to take it a tad personally when you've missed three birthdays in a row, Dora”,he noted a little sarcastically.

Theo opened her mouth, then closed it off again and turned her head away. She had nothing more to add really.

But Tony on the other hand, he seemed to be stuck on something.

He put on a half smile, his eyebrows motioning along with every word to come out his mouth.

“Grandchild,you say? Does Dora here have a sibling we don't know about, or is it a secret family she failed to mention?”

Her father tilted his head slightly, knitting his eyebrows together. Then, he turned his attention to Theo.

“You haven't told them you have a sister? Hm”,he curved his lips to a faint grimace.

“They never asked”.

Her father's stare made her feel rather uneasy. She changed her position out of awkwardness, and hoped someone there would be kind enough to change the subject for her. But, to be honest, she didn't truly expect something like that, knowing them.

“So”,Wanda smiled from her seat,drinking some coffee, “Theo has a sister then,mister Bennet?”.

“Oh,please call me William- and to answer your question,my dear girl, yes I do have another daughter from my second marriage, Marissa. She's only a couple years younger that Theo”.

Pietro's eyes were glued on Theo, taking in the details of her behavior. For someone who was so damned cold and distant all the time, her father seemed to be quite the decent man, he thought.

As Pietro believed, we are an extension of our parents' greatest flaws. Perhaps she took after her mother, he then figured, but it still begged some questions.

“She anything like Theo?”,Natasha asked,hoping to provoke some reaction of any sort.

But Theo didn't even flinch. If anything else, she looked like she really didn't want for this conversation to keep on going.

“Oh,let me see..”,he knitted his eyebrows, “well, I guess you could say she's a tad-”

“Feigned?”,Theo interrupted him, humming in a forced smile. “Ostentatious? Puffed up? A total wanker? Yeah, I guess you could say that much”.

All eyes turned on her, Wanda's especially, as she looked quite surprised, if not even a little embarrassed by such a word play. Pietro on his end looked impressed, for whatever reason.

His father on the other hand, didn't seem all that stunned, or even a little surprised by her words. Natasha figured that this was probably a standard behavior, although she was dying to learn the reason.

“Are you done?”,he asked her calmly.

“Well, I could say more, but there are only so many words in the English lexicon. I wouldn't want to get too monotonous”.

William sighed deeply, and began brushing his hair back. Then he tied his hands together, and tried hard to form a faint smile.

“Allow me to apologize in behalf of my oldest”,he said quietly. “I guess I am at fault,partially. I should have seen this one coming,shouldn't I?”

Natasha slammed her hands against her knees, her smile forced and big.

“How about that breakfast Tony?”

She motioned her eyebrows at him, although Tony wasn't all that interested. He had cupped his chin, looking at Theo and her father, waiting for them to continue so he could learn more. Natasha kicked his injured leg.

“Shi- “,he groaned, turning to her as he cupped his leg. “What?!”

“That breakfast?”,she spelled out.

“Oh. Ah.. yeah,sure. Ima order something, what do you all need? William- let me guess. A good old fashioned English breakfast,innit?”,he smirked.

William regained his calm,reassuring expression again.

“How thoughtful,mister Stark. But how about we all write down our order instead of ordering? I heard there's an exquisite cafe around the corner. Theo, how about you go and get something for us?”

Theo threw her head back. “Dad. They deliver”.

“Yes, so I heard”,he nodded with a calm smile.

Tony lowered his head to hide a small smile. Theo let out a huff of air to show her annoyance, but nonetheless, she stood up. She grabbed a jacket from the hanger on the hallway and turned back only to place an opened palm in front of Tony.

“Of course”,he teased her as he handed his card. “So, got a pen?”

“I'm choosing”,her voice echoed as she left, slamming the door behind her.

“She'll survive”,William joked.

Then, his smile vanished as he leaned forward. For some reason, this change of his expression seemed rather odd to Natasha, as she eyed him cautiously. She figured there was a reason he wanted Theo out, and them in. And,so there was.

“So.. any of you good people wishes to share that in the hell did Steven do?”,he asked all too serenely.

Wanda's mouth opened a little, although she wouldn't dare speak a word. As a matter of fact, none of them wished to do so. Especially Tony whom, as William thought, looked awfully silent all of a sudden.

Pietro though, he didn't share that emotion. And,despite Wanda's constant elbowing, he broke that silence.

“Bastard left her”,he stated in a bitter smile. “What's there to talk about?”

William tied his hands together. For a moment he merely eyed Pietro, making the atmosphere all the heaviest. But, then he grabbed a slice of bread with jam,and took a bite.

“I appreciate the honesty,young man. I take it it was Steven's fault, then?”,he asked,his mouth still full.

“Quite the shame,truly”,he then murmured. “I really liked him. Thanks to him I got to have Dora visit more often than just on Thanksgiving,you know. Really thought he was a rather decent young man.. To have him...”,his voice faded towards the end.

“He's a bastard”,Pietro repeated himself, nodding as his eyes opened a tad more. “You shouldn't talk so highly of someone who just broke your daughter's heart,old man”.

“Pietro!”,Wanda almost growled,as she kicked him.

William pulled his lips to a thin line. He didn't try and scold Pietro, as most of them would think he'd do.

“Yes. I guess you do have a point there,young man. Certainly more wise than your age suggests, aren't you?”

But Pietro didn't respond. His face was mostly stiff, as he didn't exactly appreciate that compliment as much as William would have thought.

“After Ian.. Theodora has never been quite the same. It cost her a lot. Now,this with Steven.. I am afraid she'll lost her faith,once again,if not for good”,he whispered.

His eyes were glued on the floor,the faint lines across his face suggesting he was sincerely worried.

“Who the hell is Ian?”,Pietro asked,his brows furrowed.

For a few moments there, William looked profoundly surprised by that question. His lips parted,as Tony could see his momentary puzzlement. But then, he simply let out a short, bitter chuckle.

“Well, she didn't even tell you people she had a sister. I doubt she'd ever speak of him”,he muttered. “Not that I blame her.. Theodora surely has her reasons. I guess it's my fault,once again. I thought, after fighting alongside you for ten years now, she'd perhaps open up a little. To one of you, at least..”

There was no doubt that if anyone was to take that personally inside that room, that would be Natasha. Although understanding that William meant no harm with this choice of words, it truly hit her that way. For, Natasha had fought side by side with Theo; she had known her for ten years alright.

But, as William had just implied, she didn't even know Theo had a sister. None of them did.

“Just..do me a favor, will you? Keep an eye out for her. She won't ask for company but..she'll surely need it”.

“We will”.

Having Tony be the one to say this, without even spending so much as a split second to think about it, was certainly a surprise to them. But,he was being sincere,in his way.

It could be thanks to what Steve had so selfishly shared to him,before departing. Before so egoistically dragging him down to his plan,and marking him as an accomplish of some sort. In a sum, it could all be thanks to that guilt that was soaring inside Tony,ever since he'd found out the truth behind Ian,and Theo's previous life.

“What did he do to her?”,Pietro asked, ignoring the certain delicacy of the matter as William presented it.

“I'm afraid it's not my place to tell,my boy. But..please,don't ask her. Ever”.

Pietro's shoulders fell down. All their eyes shared a common curiosity, among with a certain concern. William's words came out incredibly mystique, and very much so riddle-y.

Their heads all turned around as they heard the door close and the keys jingle. Theo rushed inside,her hands full by two bags. She starred them in a confused expression.

“What? What's wrong?”

For a few moments nobody knew what to say exactly. But, Pietro was the first one to find his smirk back, and try and tease her only to not allow himself show her anything more.

“Nothing. Your old man just told us a rather interesting high school story Bennet. Never quite knew this side of you”,he pursed his lips at her.

Theo's lips parted,before she turned her head to face her father.

“You told them about summer camp?!”

William took his sweet time before eventually laughing. “I couldn't really resist,Dora. It's a nice story”,he nodded.

Theo snorted and threw the bags on to the table. She then went back and sat down,crossing her arms against her chest.

“I was sixteen..”,she mumbled,her cheeks pumped. “Everybody gets stupid around that age,it was not just me”.