Chapter 8- Shrink

  I woke up in the lab. I suppose it was closest to the main room, but I guess its okay. I would've preferred to wake up in my new bed, but things don't usually work out the way I want them to. 

  I look around and see Tony right next to me, asleep. I suppose I'll let him have his beauty sleep. The guy needs it after all. 

But my plans to let him have his beauty sleep are ruined by Pepper.

"Oh!" She exclaimed as she walked in, "You're awake!"

Tony looks at me, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," I assure him, "I'm fine."

He stares into my soul, "You sure?"

"Now?" I look at Pepper and then to him, "Yeah. I mean, besides the fact I feel like crap, I'm fine. But that's probably because of what happened."

"Look," He sighs, "I've been thinking..."

"'Bout what?" I interrupt.

"I think," He looks away, "That it would be best if you went to see someone."

I scoff, "A shrink, really?"

He looks at me, seriousness filling his facial features, "Yes."

"But-"

"No buts, Abs, you need it." Tony interjects.

"Fine. But on one condition."

"What is it?" He asks.

"I know who I want my therapist to be." I look at him.

  It didn't take long for Tony to find him, but I wouldn't talk to anyone else, so that made me happier. He'd be a familiar face. Turns out, I was just in time. He had just got back from the Army. 

  I wasn't 100% sure if he'd be out of the army yet. I mean, Captain America: Winter Soldier is where we meet him. And it didn't exactly specify how long it had been since he left the Army.

  Sam Wilson. I mean, its completely rational. I may not be too great at picking up on details, but I've read a lot of fanfiction. Apparently others are better at determining that he's a therapist or something like that for war veterans.

  And it seemed like he'd be the best fit. He may not know me, but I know him. I won't tell him that I come from another world, not until next year when they fight against the Winter Soldier. Turns out, the first Avengers was released months before it actually happened.

  Now, honestly, I don't like the idea of revealing my problems to anyone. Dude, if I had a diary, I wouldn't even write it in there. I have been used to the only privacy I have to be in my head.

  But, doing this gave me a reason to meet the one and only Sam Wilson. Because since I've messed up the timeline, Steve may never meet Sam on a run. This is the best and only way.

  It took Tony about an hour to locate Sam. I don't know why it took Tony that small amount of time, but I guess we'll never know. I can hear Steve saying "I understood that reference." 

  Tony just looked at me crazy. See, we're in the car on the way to meet him. And I just burst out laughing. I don't know if I mentioned that or not.

I smile, "I just thought of something."

"What is it?" Tony asks. 

  I swear, Tony asks is going to become the title of this book if the author doesn't figure out how to fucking phrase these kinds of things. Yeah, she put vibranium on the fourth wall. Didn't work. Author is erasing my memory of this paragraph in 3... 2... 1...

"I thought of a famous TikTok thing and then heard Steve saying, 'I understood that reference.'" I laugh again, and this time Tony laughs with me.

"Good one, Kid." He ruffles my hair.

Oh, Shit. Flashback time again.

-Flashback-

  My "father" ruffled my hair in front of the school principal, smiling at me. Of course I knew it was a charade, but I was safe in front of her. For now.

"She always wants to invent new things. Creative little girl." He looks back to the principal.

She lets out a sigh, "This is the second time, Mr. Windham. If this happens again, she's going to have to be expelled."

I defended myself, "How was I supposed to know it was going to explode? Maybe if Kevin hadn't messed with the wiring, it wouldn't have blew!"

She gave me a scolding glance, "You can't blame everything on Kevin. It was still partially your fault."

My "father" defended me for the sake of his reputation, "She wasn't building a bomb, that wasn't the point! I would completely understand if she had did this on purpose. It is Kevin's fault, after all. This school says it encourages creativity."

She scolds him, "Not if it means other students get hurt."

He begins bargaining, "How about detention for a week? Please, don't suspend her! She's 11, she doesn't understand!"

She raises an eyebrow, "No. And since your eager to defend her for her so called creativity, you can find a new school for her. Ms. Windham is expelled."

  He leads me out of the room and into the big black truck. He was lucky it was one-way glass.

He slaps me, "I told you not to do it again!"

I had learned to call him dad by then, "I'm sorry daddy! I didn't mean to!"

"No. You know what the punishment is. I told you last time what would happen if it happened again."

  The ride home was silent but I could tell my father was pissed. He didn't like me, and the fact that I could be ruining his reputation made things worse. I had honestly tried. But this is why I wasn't friends with Kevin. He did it on purpose and I new that.

  As soon as we went home, he grabbed me and pulled me out of the car and brought me to the bathroom and turned on the tub. He smiled as he saw the dread and fear in my eyes. He and I both knew what was about to happen.

  The water filled up to a decent amount, one that could hold me in it. He didn't care about ruining my clothes, just punishment. He picked me up and put me in the water.

  He sat there and stared just for a second before he pushed my head underneath. What had felt like hours later, my lungs started to burn. I felt as if they were about to burst. And, when I couldn't hold it in anymore, I accidentally breathed in. Panic set in as my lungs burned anymore. I struggled for what felt like forever. And eventually, everything went black.

-End Flashback-

"Is she okay?" I looked up to see Sam Wilson there, asking about me.

I nod, "I- I'm fine."

Tony looks at me with concern, "That's the second time in 24 hours!"

"Fine, fine." I admit, " I'm slightly okay."

Tony's expression changed from concern to 'are you serious', "Slightly? You are far from okay!"

I look at him offended, "Rude."

He corrects himself, "Your mental health is far from okay. Not you as a total."

Not good enough but okay, "Thanks."

  Sam tells Tony that he can't follow me, and I'm glad for that. I don't need Tony to be there for this. Because I live with Tony. I can't deal with that pity look 24/7. 

Sam sits down in his office, "So, you're Stark's kid?"

"Yep." I pop the 'p'.

"So what did you see?" He asks.

"What?"

"In the car. With Tony." He clarifies.

"A memory."

"We'll get back to that later," He looks at me, confused, "Why did you choose me specifically?"

"Oh!" I exclaim, "I just know things. I know how you are, you are one of the few people I trust."

He gets even more confused, "How can you trust someone you've never met?"

"In a way, I've met you. Not personally, but I've seen you around." I try my hardest to keep my composure.

"Ah," He says sarcastically, "Because that clarifies things."

I give in, "Fine, fine. I'll tell you. I'm 7% or something Asgardian. I'm the Goddess of Time and the Multiverse."

"Still doesn't clear everything up." He points out.

"I come from another universe. Or dimension whatever you pick." His eyes bulge out of their sockets, "In that universe, I'm from Earth. On that Earth, this world is a fictional place. A TV series. Comic books."

He scoffs, "So I'm just supposed to believe- Actually, no. That explains half the crap that happens."

I laugh, "My mother was born on this earth. She and Tony... then me. I assume that for me to keep my powers I had to be born in another universe. Sadly, she died and I was left with my Stepfather. He believed I was his child, and I thought I was too."

"So how'd you discover them?" He asks.

I let out a sigh, "Said stepfather stabbed me with a knife. I woke up in a place I consider safe. I would be dead now if it wasn't for these powers."

He looks at me with pity, "Why'd he stab you?"

I scoff, "My stepfather was my stepfather. What I'd need to do is write a list of why he wouldn't stab me."

"And that is?..." He asks while waiting.

I look down, "Because my death would cause him trouble."

"That's it?"

I shrug, "What can I say, the guy hated me."

When I look back at him, his eyes are still filled with pity, "Don't look at me like that."

"Like what?" He asks.

"With pity. The only reason I agreed to this is because I live with Tony. If he were to know, I wouldn't be able to look at him. All because he'd look at me all the time the way you're looking at me now." I explain.

He sits up even straighter, "Back to the question beforehand. What did you see?"

I try and keep it together as I explain, "When I was eleven, I was building a robot. Everything was supposed to be fine, until my school bully, Kevin, messed with the wiring. It blew up and I got in trouble at school. My father was brought in. He defended me so he could look like a good parent. Then, when I got into the car, he slapped me. And when I got home, I got my punishment."

"And what was the punishment?"

Tears start falling down my face, "When I got home, he put me in the tub full of water and drowned me. When I woke up, he had successfully resuscitated me. I don't know why he brought me back. But he said my heart stopped for 3 minutes."

  At that point, I lose it. A bunch of tears had fallen down my face and I could barely breathe. It was at that point when I realized I was in the middle of a panic attack. Just talking about it did this to me. I count backwards in my head. 10... 9... 8... 7... 6... 5... 4... 3... 2... 1.. My breathing calmed down, and I was back to my normal state. This only worked sometimes, though.

Sam stood up, "I'm going to talk to your father, I'll be back real quick."

Tony's POV

  I sat there waiting for Abigail and then Sam came in the waiting room. He looked a bit concerned, but he had learned to control himself. 

"Can I talk to you privately?" Sam asked.

"Of course." 

Sam ushers me into another room, "I was only in there with her for 10 minutes, but that was more than enough for me to tell you that she most definitely has PTSD."

  Hate. That was all that I could possibly feel towards her stepfather. How could a father do that to his own daughter? He didn't even know that she wasn't his! Yet he was capable of this all the same.

  In the little time that I have gotten to know her, Abigail is the sweetest girl I know. She has a little bit of my sarcasm, and some cussing problems, but, like me, I believe that's how she copes. And I completely understand. 

  I felt bad. I couldn't put him in jail for what he'd done. The him in this world doesn't even know of this. He doesn't even know who my daughter is. 

  And lastly, what could he have done that hurt her so bad? I know he stabbed her, but there was more to her life than that. That wasn't all he did. And it made me want to hurt him so bad. I wanted to kill him for doing this. 

"What did he do to her?" I asked.

"Doctor/Patient confidentiality. If you want to know, ask her. But be careful. Just talking about it put her in a panic attack. Her past comes up just by a single action. A single tap on the nose could trigger it. I will be prescribing her medicine to help with her anxiety and some antidepressants to help with the PTSD. But, other than that and having a meeting with her once a week, that is all I can do."

"Thank you." I say.

Abigail's POV

  Sam comes back in with Tony after I had waited for him, and we talk for a bit more. We get to know each other a bit better. I would've asked who his favorite Avenger is, but they haven't been out in public yet. As a group. I meet up with Tony after the session.

"Wanna get ice cream?" He asked.