"She was not fragile like a flower; she was fragile like a bomb."

After hours of one-sided conversations, Tony still wasn't any closer to coaxing his sister out of her room. Only once did she admit her fear, stating that she could not leave because she was dangerous and should be confined to her room. Tony wanted to hunt down every single one of Hydra's personnel.

Allyson's head was buried in her arms atop her knees, but she'd jerk at noises Tony himself couldn't hear. It wasn't until he mentioned their parents that he got a reaction, one that resulted in a little insight as to what the hell they had done to her.

Tony, who had been in a crouching position, fell back on his hands in shock when Allyson raised her head. One blue and one orange eye met his own, as an icy frost started to climb the walls and floor around her.

"Allyson!" He shouted, snapping her out of her trance, her eyes returning to their original blue, but the frost remained.

"I told you." Was all she said, her voice barely above a whisper, as she reached out to touch the frost with her fingertips, causing it to instantly melt. "They were never able to wipe my mind, Tony, but they planted things I'm scared I'll never be rid of."

"Oh, Ally." He breathed, closing his eyes to fight off the welling tears, before a voice sounded through the speaker.

"Em, Tony?" Bruce's hesitant voice sounded. "We could take her to the lab and do some tests to find out what they did. It could help."

"Would you be up for that?" He turned back to his sister, who's eyes had widened in fear. "Als?"

"No more experiments." She shook her head, mumbling.

"No experiments, I promise." On the inside, he was struggling to maintain his outward appearance. "You won't be hurt here. Not by anyone. You're free, Ally."

"Never." She whispered, avoiding his gaze. "Not truly."

"Let me change that." He said with determination, standing up and offering his hand.

She pushed up, ignoring his hand. He frowned, noting that she didn't seem to like physical contact. Despite the multitude of questions nagging at him, he lead her to the door silently, not wanting to overwhelm her so suddenly.

Bruce, Steve and Bucky were standing down the hall, just outside of the door to the room they had been listening in. Tony furrowed his eyebrows, looking over his shoulder to find Allyson had stopped less than a metre from the door, hesitation colouring her features.

"Come on," Tony said, reassuringly. "It's okay."

She took one careful step after another until she was finally standing in the hall. Just as she glanced both ways, Steve sidestepped in front of Bucky just as she looked their way. Only once she had turned to slowly follow Tony did he turn to Bucky.

"It's maybe not the best idea that she sees you." He whispered.

Bucky nodded in understanding, he didn't need to be told twice. Despite not recovering all of his memory yet, he still knew two things for sure; he'd killed her parents right in front of her, before kidnapping her for Hydra's use to turn her into a weapon. There was no telling how she'd react to the sight of him.

So, Steve and Bucky kept a good distance behind them, not drawing attention to themselves as Bruce walked in the middle. All eyes were on Allyson the entire way, as she took in every detail around her as they went - sometimes looking alarmed, sometimes looking in awe.

It wasn't until they were on the floor of the lab that the youngest Stark sibling stopped abruptly as they passed by Tony's office that was situated beside the lab. The office was like a clear cube, the walls being made of glass so that everything was on display. Tony liked to be able to see his surroundings and to see when someone was coming; he was paranoid like that.

"Als?"Tony had turned to look back at her, as Bruce took a few steps back just in case. "What is it?"

Instead of answering, she pushed through the glass door and headed straight to his desk. They all watched as she approached the picture resting on his desk. Tony's eyes softened as her shoulders appeared to shake slightly, as she reached out to touch the photo, but stopping short as though something were wrong.

Tony was about to comfort her when Bruce held his hand out to stop him with narrowed eyes, as if expecting something to happen. And it did.

She finally reached out and picked up the frame, but within seconds a bright, orange fire covered the frame, flames liking at her hands and the picture.

"Allyson!" Tony called in a panic, rushing into the room as she dropped the frame.

When she turned to face him, tears were running down her face as she looked at the fire and then her hands. She held a hand out and Tony's eye's widened as water shot from her hand and extinguished the fire, leaving the scorched family photo behind.

"I'm so sorry." She choked out, holding her hands against her chest.

"Oh god, no, Als, don't be sorry." He said, softly, trying to approach her but for every step he took forward, she took one back. "I can get another copy."

"You shouldn't have to!" She protested, tears still spilling from her eyes. "I'm out of control."

"That's not your fault, Allyson, it never was." He tried again. "But like I promised, I'm going to help you."

"What if I'm beyond helping?" She asked, weakly.

"We're Starks." He smiled, softly. "Nothing gets in our way."