One

"Miss Evelyn! Do you have any word on what your father is so busy with? Can I just-"

"Miss, over here please, I-"

"For Fox News Miss St-"

"J, can you bring the car around?" I asked quietly, carefully pushing through the crowd of news reporters and paparazzi.

"Of course, Miss Evelyn. Would you like me to arrange the usual?" came the soft voice, with a faint British lilt.

"Much appreciated..." I murmured, finally breaking through the sea of bodies. I hefted my leather jacket more securely onto my shoulders, shoving my hands into the pockets of my Levi's. As I walked further down the road, my glossy cyan Lamborghini Huracan slid up beside me, still in cruise mode as the door opened. I swung my combat boot clad leg into the car, and sat down, the door closing closely behind me.

"How was your day, Miss Evelyn?" The soft vaguely mechanical voice filled the car, soothing my abused eardrums.

"Just peachy, J. Aside from the 'papz', no-one bothered me. I even took a few selfies with my adoring fans," I smiled, as I remembered the girls that had recognised me in the mall.

"That's lovely, Miss. Your father is calling. Shall I connect him?"

"Yep." My dad's dancing eyes, and immaculate facial hair greeted me, the video feed sliding into view on my blacked out windscreen. He grinned at me, and I smiled back.

"Evie, how was your day?"

"You and Jarvis are scarily similar," I teased, sticking my tongue out at him. He replicated the gesture, and was back to being serious again.

"I got the news from Jarvis about the sharks. You didn't get hurt did you?"

"Jarvis would have gotten me out of danger if there was any. The cameras and mics being shoved into your face just get tedious after a while. Then again, daughter of 'billionaire philanthropist' Tony Stark: danger's in the job description!"

"I may have to rewrite the contract then, sweetie. Jarvis is bringing you home, right?"

"Yes, Dad! Honestly, I went shopping, not... doing whatever you do! Seriously, I'll talk to you when I get back. I'm just about to stop off for my mocha."

"Right, girly things. I'll see you at the tower, Evie. Love you."

"Yeah yeah, Dad. Mushy old man..." I muttered, as the call cut off. "J, how far are we away from Starbucks?"

"Approximately six feet, Miss Evie. Shall I mount the sidewalk?"

"Oh J, you're brilliant. I'll be right back." I hopped out, pushing my shades on top of my wavy brown hair. I walked quickly into Starbucks, shooting smirks at some of my favourite members of staff. I stepped up to the short queue, and people hurried out of my way as they recognised me. I heard the whispers, and the clicking of cell cameras.

"It's Evelyn Stark..!" hissed one of the women behind me. I just smiled, and waved people back in front of me.

"Honestly, get back in the line. My dear papa may throw his weight around, but I'm slightly more civilised," I smirked, and cocked a brow as no-one moved. "Really people, I don't bite!" They chuckled awkwardly, and shuffled in front of me. I just hummed to myself, looking around the room, smiling at the phone lenses pointed my way. It was my turn at last, and my best friend, and barista Naadia smiled at me.

"Let me guess, Stark: White chocolate mocha, with semi-skimmed milk, a triple chocolate shot, and no sugar?" She smirked when she was finished, crossing her arms over her apron. I pretended to be shocked, putting my dainty hands, with long, meticulously manicured nails, on my chest, mouth falling open.

"Naad, how could you tell?!" I gasped, blinking at her while I grinned. She just rolled her eyes, and reached behind her, bringing a customised flowery coffee cup into sight. She placed a little bag of caramel wafers next to the cup, and I put $10 into her outstretched hand. "Keep the change. Call me sometime, babe, or I'll get my butler to hunt you down!" I threatened over my shoulder, gliding out of the shop with my sustenance.

"Back to Stark Tower?" was all Jarvis offered when I was finally in the car.

"Please, J. I need to try and get some sleep before I head over to the bunker. Fury'll keep me up at all hours trying to monitor that dumb cube," I grumbled, nibbling on a wafer.

"I wish you all the best, Miss Evie," said Jarvis, pulling the car away from the sidewalk. I kicked back, drinking coffee, and eating the little sugary snacks. Call me a spoiled brat, but... No, wait, that's just what I am.

"Stupid, motherfucking, cocksucking, son of a-"

"Biscuit?" I supplied, waltzing into the room. My dad cursed to himself, and pushed away from his computer bay.

"Hi, Evie," he said tiredly, running a hand roughly over his face. "The programming for the suit is giving me problems and-" A soft musical voice said 'Operation Complete' and a green light pulsed softly on the screens behind him. He looked to me astonished, and I was closing down a display of what he had been working on. "How-?"

"There were a couple lines of code refusing to override the base protocol, which was causing a ripple effect throughout the whole system. I just fiddled with them, and... Boom! Functioning program!" I beamed at him, and danced forwards, snagging his coffee cup from his desk. I downed it, then placed the mug back onto the stack of paper it had been resting on.

"Evie, how in the-?"

"I'm your daughter," I said slowly, as if he were stupid. He was far from it, but it bugged him nonetheless. "You really need to wind down, Pops. My old man usually would have picked that up within seconds. Let me see..." My dad stood, and cracked his back while I pulled up a mid-air display. I crowed with victory, and put my finger to one of the titles on the holographic screen.

AC/DC's 'Back in Black' blared through the lab, and I grabbed my dad's hands, and pulled him away from his chair and workbench. I slid my shades back onto my eyes, and started to rock out. My dad's eyes lit up, and he joined me, and we just messed around for a few minutes, pulling off crazy rocker poses, and even knee slides in an attempt to out-do the other.

A cough came from the elevator, and we whirled around, still holding onto air-guitars. A grim looking S.H.I.E.L.D. agent stood in front of us, with a painful looking half-smile on his face.

"Coulson," muttered my dad, at the same time I crowed,

"Agent!" I flew forwards, and hugged the man, deliberately making him uncomfortable. He patted my back, even though he remained stiff, and I chuckled evilly. "Nice to see you again, Agent. What's the occasion?"

"Director Fury requested that you travel to base as soon as is humanly possible. The Tesseract's power levels have started to fluctuate, and Selvig is getting jumpy."

"Oh, and there I was, foolishly thinking that you wanted to talk to me, Agent..." I pouted, and Phil sighed. He held out a packet of gum, and I immediately brightened, and stuck a piece in my mouth, chewing at a rapid rate.

"Only way to shut her up," Phil said, looking at my dad. "Good to see you again, Stark."

"Sure thing, 'My first name is Agent'," grumbled dad, moving back over to his workstation.

"Jarvis, can you pack my bag?" I called, looking at the ceiling.

"Already done, Miss."

"And the... ahem... Project... bag, as well?" I asked mysteriously, ignoring the glares my papa was shooting me.

"That too. Anything else, Miss?"

"Yes, Jarv. Agent, do you have a problem travelling in one of my... toys?" I asked, blowing a huge pink bubble as I turned to look at my two favourite men in the world.

"No, Ms Stark. As long as the truck can drive behind it." The bubble popped, and I snared the sticky strands easily.

"Well, we won't exactly be driving..." I grinned evilly. "Jarvis, bring out... Tiny..."

"I see why you call it 'Tiny'..." mused my dad, running his fingers absently over his goatee.

"That's what she said," I quipped, still pulverising the piece of gum in my mouth. Coulson just stood there impassively, looking at the remote control jet fighter.

"So how exactly is this thing going to carry you two possibly across the country to some mysterious location?" grouched my dad, glaring at me. Coulson cocked a brow, and looked at me too.

"Watch well, ye of little faith!" I announced, pulling a little glass device out of my pocket. I powered it up, and swiped a few things, and the jet whirred to life, lifting into the air of miniscule air thrusters. I grinned, and tapped a few more commands onto the little rectangle. The jet spun, and shot off, pulling off a few loop-to-loops, and barrel rolls. I turned it to face the Stark Tower Helipad on which we stood, and then I said, "Engorgio."

The plane glowed a blinding white, and there was a whirring sound, as the aircraft started to expand. Metal pieces spun and moved, grating back over each other, as the plane re-built itself. It only took about twenty seconds, but it seemed longer, as I watched the nanobots rearrange themselves. A full sized fighter hovered in front of us at last, and I grinned, slipping the remote back into my pocket. I turned to the men behind me, and bowed, still beaming. My dad's mouth was hanging open, and Coulson looked vaguely impressed.

"Harry Potter?" he asked, and I nodded.

"Yup," I said, popping the 'p'.

"That was all you got from that whole thing?!" spluttered Dad, gesturing wildly at the plane. I just rolled my eyes, and waved him off, scoffing.

"S.H.I.E.L.D. probably has cooler toys. Project Pegasus will have some, and I'll get to see!" I squealed, and jumped around.

"Fine, just make me jealous..." He pouted, and looked down. I flew into his arms, nuzzling my face into the warm, humming metal power core in the centre of his chest. I closed my arms around his neck, and squeezed him.

"Sorry Dad. I'll be home soon. Keep out of trouble, please! If you don't Pepper will crucify the both of us. Love you."

"Love you too Evelyn. I'll see you in... a week? Jarvis will look after me. If you end up hurt, Fury will lose his other eye... Cappiche?"

"Cappiche," I said, pulling away. "Come on then Agent! Time to get this show on the road!" I waved once more to my dad, who was standing there, hands deep in his jean's pockets, wearing an adorkable Black Sabbath t-shirt over a long sleeved gray tee, and pulled Coulson after me into the plane.

"Don't assault Director Fury again, please Ms Stark..." Coulson muttered, leading me down a hallway, offering me more bubblegum as a bribe.

"No promises Agent!" I trilled jumping around behind him, with too much energy because of all the sugar I had consumed. He sighed heavily, and kept walking. Roughly ten minutes later, after multiple elevator rides and long echoing corridors, we arrived in the Tessaract storage bay/lab. I saw Nick Fury standing with a smart looking Maria Hill at his side, talking quietly about some classified 'Phase 2', or something like that. I took the opportunity and launched myself at his back, clinging onto him, arms going around his neck.

"Ms Stark," he said without missing a beat. Agent Hill stared at me aghast, and I winked at her.

"'Sup Hill Valley?" I asked, smirking at her. She looked extremely confused, and so I elaborated. "I give everyone from S.H.I.E.L.D. nicknames. How're things by the way, Patches?" I nudged Fury, and he sighed tiredly.

"I will be happy to explain if you come down, and talk like a normal person..." I thought about it. That seemed fair... "And you will have unlimited access to all the gum you want, and-"

"Deal!" I said, jumping down. He turned to face me, and I pointed at his face. "But don't you ever assume that I'm normal, or capable of being so: We Starks are far from ordinary!"

"Understood. Now, Ms Stark-"

"Oh, call me Evelyn, Patches, we're besties!"

"Okay then... Evelyn. We have a top-notch astrophysicist working with us to monitor the Tesseract's power levels, but they have recently started to fluctuate for no apparent reason. We assume something is affecting it, and whether it's something on this planet or something from another ream entirely, we aren't sure. Would you like to come and take a look?"

"Love to Patches. Agent, can you sort out my bags?" I asked, turning to Phil.

"They're being unloaded as we speak. You have a room to yourself, Ms Stark."

"Cheers, Agent. Lead the way Patches!" I called, pointing towards the door he had indicated. They all sighed and led me forwards. We walked for a minute or so, and emerged into a little room full of monitors, with a gangly man sitting in front of them.

"Dr Selvig, this is Ms Stark, our tech expert," introduced Fury, extending a hand to me. I nodded absently at the man who had spun around. My eyes were glued to the glowing blue cube, mesmerised by how it pulsed and roiled. I walked closer to the glass, pressing my hands and face to the viewing window, dazed as I watched the pulsing glow pick up in tempo.

A calm sort of coolness was spreading through my chest, and drawing me to it. I ignored the raised voices of the people behind me: I unlocked the heavy door leading to the Tesseract, stepping into the docking bay. I walked slowly, reaching my right hand out, reaching for the shield of energy. The pulsing sped up the closer I got, and I could just make out small fizzles of blue energy arcing towards my outstretched hand.

I was aware of heavy metal doors sliding down around me, and Fury yelling at me over a speaker. I blocked it all out, and stepped to within a foot of the cube. I saw Coulson approaching, and getting stuck outside the nimbus of energy. I took a breath, which was visible in the air, it was so cold. A tiny part of my brain started to worry, but I didn't have a chance to act upon that hesitation.

I reached out and touched the Tesseract.

Everything went black.