My eyes open slowly, adjusting to the light as they do so. As my vision clears, I can see most of my family. There’s Dad and Papa, and of course Aunt Nat. I can see Bucky, Sam, Wanda, even Bruce and Clint are here. But I don’t see Peter. Aunt Nat notices that I’m awake first. I don’t sit up, being in a little bit of pain and feeling some discomfort on my back. She nudges Dad, who in turn nudges Papa. Papa grabs a stool and wheels it to beside where I'm lying. I try to sit up so I can at least look at him properly, but he pushes me down before I'm too far up.

"You should really rest," He says to me.

"Where's Peter?"

"We told him to go home," Aunt Nat answers from where she stands. "He wanted to stay but we made him leave. He was really worried about you though." I frown a little but look at Papa: he seems to have something on his mind. And looking at everyone else, so do they.

Dad breaks the silence first, saying what everyone is thinking. "Blythe...what happened?" I don't even know if I want to answer the question.

"I don't know," I croak, tears starting to form. I bring my hands up to my face to cover them. A weight is suddenly on my shoulder, and I remove my hands to see that it belongs to Aunt Nat.

"Hey. It's OK. You know that we're only here to help you. We're only asking so that we can do that." I look into her eyes, and they are as loving and concerned as ever. She helps me sit up, as it's apparently clear that I want to do that.

"Well, I got a call from Mikayla around two. She wanted to know if I wanted to go visit her family since it had been a little while and they missed me, especially since Viv just turned four. I agreed, and walked through our shortcut alley. Even though that attack happened yesterday, I thought it was just a freak mugging and there wouldn't be anyone there. Well...that wasn't the case." I moved around a little, the mild discomfort on my back still there. "When I went into the alley, it was as if reality was being bent. I mean, I'd just entered it, yet the entrance and exit were both so far away. And it was eerily quiet. Like there was nothing on either end." I hear Wanda gasp a little. "Out of nowhere, a metal arm threw itself at me. I managed to duck in time, and he told me that ducking was a bad idea. The only person I could think of was Peter, so I got F.R.I.D.A.Y. to tell him I needed help. He said something and I pointed out that I go by Rogers, rather than Stark. He said that 'Daddy Dearest isn't going to come save you now'. Then he told me to call him Dylan. I did what my body did and tried to fight."

I take a few deep breaths and try to steady myself, already feeling like I'm going to panic. "I knew it was the wrong thing to do. Even though I landed a few blows on him, Dylan was strong. It didn't help that he had a fleshy arm and a metal one, and the fleshy one was strong. He threw another punch and this one threw me into a wall. I didn't have time to respond before he picked me up around the neck and pushed me against a wall. I was above his eye level and couldn't look anywhere but his eyes. I couldn't breath and there was terror in my eyes, and he seemed to relish in these facts. He smiled at me, but the smile sent shivers down my spine. My feet scrambled against the wall to keep myself up, but the fact that I was being held by his fleshy arm scared me. He said: 'Father wants your head on a platter, but he said I can have my way with you before I do. So I shall.' I realised what he wanted to do and struggled harder. 'I'm going to kill you anyway, really. This is a fun way to get back at Kai though'. The pointer finger of his metal arm turned into a claw and reached up to brush hair out of my face. Then he cut a line into my cheek."

I reach up to feel it, and find that the wound has been covered with a bandage. "It was as if he was marking me as his territory. And by that time my vision had started to go black. I couldn't focus on anything, but I didn't want the last thing I saw to be his face. Without me even realising, he'd dropped me to the ground. I gasped for breath - almost hyperventilating - as I looked up to see Peter fighting him. Dylan gave up, but before he left he said 'I'll be back, Rogers. Be sure of that.' The last thing I remember before passing out is Peter rushing over to me, and then I went unconscious."

I look up at everyone around me, and they've just been listening intently. Dad is the first to break the silence, again.

"You can't keep fighting, Blythe."

I glare at him. "So what am I supposed to do? Just sit there and let him do his thing? Try and run away only for him to catch up and rape me? What else am I supposed to do? Am I not allowed to defend myself anymore? Isn't that what you've always told me to do?! And what the fuck is this on my back?!" I take deep breaths, trying to calm down.

"It's a suit," Papa says finally.

"A suit? What kind of suit?"

"Your suit. The one I made for you."

I realise what he's talking about. "I told you I didn't want a fucking suit! Get it off me!"

"I can't. It's connected to your brain via your nerves. And you're better with it on than without."

"This is what I'm talking about! I keep telling you all that I don't want to be a superhero! I don't want to be you guys! I don't forever want to be known as the kid of the Avengers' leaders! I want to be Blythe! Just Blythe!"

"Blythe, you need to calm down," Dad starts.

"No! Don't tell me to calm down! I'm freaking out over here!" I see him nod to Wanda. "Everything's happening so fast!"

A wave of calm washes over me. I know it's Wanda, but I can't do anything to counter her. "I just...For the first time in my life, I really don't know what to do."

I feel arms around my waist, and I look down to see who they belong to. My heart races to see a metal arm, then realise that it belongs to Bucky. "It's gonna be OK," He says simply, and that soothes me.

"Can you..." I start at Papa. "Can you at least tell me how to use it?"

"Tomorrow. You're too stressed to do it. It won't react well."

Bucky's arms release from around my waist, and I notice that everyone is going into a separate room except Papa and Dad. Papa leaves, but not before he and Dad share a look. I push myself off the bed, wanting to follow. Before I get too far, Dad wraps me in a hug. I almost burst into tears but stop myself.

"You really need to get some rest, B," He says softly. I say nothing. "We'll talk about this tomorrow, OK. I promise." He then walks into the room and locks the door, leaving me by myself. I look at the clock, wanting to see the time. 10:30pm. It's been eight hours. I was unconscious for eight hours. Great.

--

My room, normally the most comforting place in the Tower, is eerily quiet. I turn the light on to find it how it was early in the day, but...empty. Venus and Saturn are already asleep, purring softly as their bellies move up and down in time with their breathing. I grab some pajamas from my closet and begin to get changed. I pull my shirt off and then my bra, catching sight of the suit in the mirror. I turn so that I can look at it properly in my reflection, and it's a small aqua-ish triangle in the center of my back. It's like a smaller, aqua version of Papa's ARC Reactor.

I snap out of whatever I was in, continuing to get changed and then climbing into bed. I turn the lights off, staring at the ceiling. I already know that I wouldn't be able to sleep, but if I read or something it will take me longer. A click sounds from one of my windows, and I sit up slightly to see a shadow make its way into my room. I turn the lights back on in a hurry, only to see that the shadow is Peter.

"Peter, you scared the crap out of me," I hiss at him. Instead of his typical Spider-Man suit, he's wearing jeans, a t-shirt, sneakers and a zippered jumper.

"Heh, sorry." I wrap him in a tight hug, and he returns it.

"I want to thank you for saving my ass back there."

"You would have done the same." He reaches up and runs his thumb over the bandage on my cheek. "I just wish I could have gotten there sooner."

"Hey, it's OK. You did what you could."

"I just wanted to come and check you were OK, but I should get back home."

"Peter...can you stay with me? I feel like I'm safer with you than by myself."

"Yeah, sure." I walk over and climb into bed, and he takes his jumper and sneakers off to be comfortable. He awkwardly molds his body to fit mine, his arm draping over my body. As he begins to fall asleep, I clasp his hand and interlock our fingers. He falls asleep quickly. His breathing becomes steadier and he seems peaceful. I, however, am unable to sleep. I lay awake for an hour, his hand slowly falling out of mine as his grip loosens. I finally sit up, giving up on sleep. This wakes Peter, who must be a light sleeper.

"Hey, are you OK?" He asks, sitting up as well.

"No," I croak. "I'm scared, Peter. I don't know what to do at all. And I know that Dylan's gonna come back after me. And now I have a suit, which is the last thing I wanted. Papa says I'm safer with it, but it's just his way of making me more like him. I don't want to be a hero, but I might have to be. I can already tell that he's going to teach me how to use it in combat, so I'm basically his new Iron Man."

"They'll love you either way. You don't have to use it."

"Do you know Papa?"

"Yeah, you might have a point. But...I'll be there for you. We all will. I know that."

"Thanks, Peter." I lie back down, now facing him. He lies down as well and holds me to his chest. A few tears roll over my nose and hit the sheets, but I feel safe now. I slowly fall asleep, knowing that everyone will help me through this.