Tony's POV

"So.. I'm guessing that went well." I stifle a laugh as I sit beside Alex.

"Not at all." She sighs. There's a moment of silence before she looks up at me. "I'm so sorry."

"For what? I'm the one who should be sorry." I brush her hair out of her face. "I've never been there for you, I've been a complete douche about this whole situation, blamed you for being so hard-headed when it's really my own fault."

"Yeah I guess you are the one who should be sorry." She teases, making me laugh.

"How're you feeling?" I ask.

"I don't know.. Alive I guess." She sighs. "Although part of me thinks that everything would be a whole lot easier if I had just died."

"Hey now, don't say that." I furrow my eyebrows. "I just started getting to know you, I don't want to lose the only good thing in my life."

I see tears forming in her eyes and lightly wrap my arms around her. "I love you sweetie. I promise I'll be a better father, the best father to ever exist."

She chuckles through her cries. I pull away and wipe any stray tears away.

"I still can't believe that my little girl out-smarted me." I shake my head. "And saved my life! You're gonna have to show me more of that nanotech stuff."

She smiles and nods, putting a smile on my face. My smile quickly fades as realization dawns on me.

"Hold on a second." I furrow my eyebrows. "If you're Shadow..." I think. "Does Fury know?"

"He knew the whole time." She admits. That means he played all of us? What a jerk.

"So.. You were a part of Hydra?" I ask again, she looks down and nods. I stand up and pace around the room. "It's all my fault. They.. They.." I pause, not even knowing what to say. "What did they do to you?"

Her face turns red and she looks down.

"They turned you into the Shadow? Or the Night Crawler?" I ask, she nods slightly. "What exactly does that mean? Because you've only been a hero of sorts since we've known you.."

I see her hands trembling and her heartbeat quickens on the monitor.

"Alex?" I ask, concern filling me. The monitors begin beeping like crazy, causing Bruce to run in followed by Steve.

"She's having an anxiety attack." Bruce says, tapping away at a few screens.

Steve rushes to her side but she weakly pushes him away.

"James." She says, her body trembling as she starts to cry. "Where's James?"

"Barnes!" I shout. "Get your ass in here!"

Bucky comes flying into the room, almost knocking Steve over.

"What? What happened?" He asks, looking around at us for an answer.

"Ally asked for you." Steve mumbles.

Bucky rushes to her side and holds her hand, her heart rate immediately calming down.

"Let's give her some space to calm down." Bruce says, forcing Steve and I out of the room.

"I don't get it." Steve whines. "Why didn't she let me comfort her?"

"Well.. Didn't you kiss her and then run after Sharon?" I cross my arms.

Steve's eyes widen. "No, that wasn't what it looked like!"

"She doesn't know that." I raise my eyebrows.

Steve holds his head in his hands and takes a seat, waiting to go talk to Alex.

Alexandra's POV

"Hey doll, calm down." James speaks softly. "It's okay, I'm right here."

My death grip on his hand loosens with each passing second as the tightness in my chest slowly goes away.

"What happened?" He asks once I'm able to breathe again.

I take a deep breath. "Tony asked about my past with Hydra and I just.. I started freaking out." My heartbeat quickens again but James comforts me. "What if he doesn't want an assassin-daughter? What if he stops trying to be there and just.. Just leaves me in the dust again?"

"Shh, it's okay just breathe." James lightly rubs circles on my back. "If Fury knows everything and sees that you've changed, I'm sure Tony will too."

"I don't know.. Has he forgiven you?" I ask, glancing up at him.

"That's different, Al. I killed his parents... Your grandparents." He sighs.

My head hangs low and I feel his hand under my chin. He lifts my head and I find myself staring into his eyes.

"Everything will be okay. Now that all of the secrets are out, you can finally live a normal life." He smiles softly.

I sigh. "What if I don't want a normal life?"

James furrows his eyebrows. "What do you mean? You're building a relationship with your father, starting a romance with Steve, making friends on the team. What about that doesn't seem normal?"

"I'm not starting a romance with Steve." I mumble, looking down again.

"What? He told me that you kissed him." He states, confused.

"He kissed me. I just went along with it."

"There's obviously something between you two." James points.

"We just got caught up in the moment." I shake my head. "Plus, you're right about the two of us wanting different things, it just wouldn't work out.. Maybe I'm meant to fight crime and die alone."

He presses his lips together and sighs.

"Thank you." I say, grabbing his hand. "For calming me down, talking some sense into me."

"Of course." He smiles. "I was surprised that you asked for me, but I'm always here if you need me."

He gently kisses my forehead before standing up and exiting the room. Surprised? Why was he surprised. We've only known eachother for twenty years.

I hear a soft knock on the doorframe and snap out of my thoughts to find Steve standing there. I stop myself from rolling my eyes and raise an eyebrow at him.

"I just wanted to explain that I wasn't choosing Sharon before." He starts off strong as he sits beside me. "I can't help caring for others, I had to make sure she was okay and that-"

"It's fine." I cut him off. "You and I just got caught up in the moment, I'm glad you worked things out with her."

"Ally.." He looks into my eyes.

I look up at him, thinking about our past dates/rendezvous and imagining our future: sneaking kisses here and there, going on little dates, fighting crime together.

"I can't, Steve. We've talked about this already." I look away from him.

"What's the harm in trying?" He almost begs.

"I don't want to hurt you." I hold his hand. "You deserve a family, and that's something I can't give you."

Steve opens his mouth to argue but he sighs and looks down. I wish he'd just forget about me already. Can't he see that I'm no good for him?