The Forgotten Child

By: Broken Elfling

Key: "talking" "Talking in Snow's head." &thoughts& "Different Language."

Warnings: This will be graphic. Will have elements from different stories but won't end up a crossover. Contains abuse. You've been warned.

Snow sighed and stared up at the dirt ceiling. It was taking to long to find a cure for Tony and he was starting to lose hope, she could tell. He got drunk last night at his party, and Snow had made sure to make herself scarce. She had ended up with Bruce, and was still in the village with him.

Jarvis made the cellphones she had asked him to make her within a few hours. Snow was getting the distinct impression that, other than Tony dying, he had never been happier. Both she and Tony were enlisting his help with their projects, pushing him to use all of and improve his coding. Even when Tony would require his help before this, it was only ever for at most few projects. Now, he had so many that he was having to prioritise them and seemed to be loving every minute of it.

Her criteria for the Mutant school was met with great success, and already had several filled positions. She was relived, mostly because she would soon have much less to do. The adults of the school were once more becoming self-sufficient and helping the children. For the most part the only thing she had to do with them was when she went around and saved the children. They were still working out the kinks in that regard, as some of the adults still thought of it as kidnapping while the children thought that they shouldn't give the parents any chance.

Steve was coping as well as he could be expected to, he still had some bad days which she expected. He had ended up contacting the construction company, and he had a job working with them. Snow had convinced him to tell the company that his mutation was super strength.

Snow had not managed to figure out if the organization was good or not. She had gone to them twice, and they tried to lock her up the second time she had appeared. She had argued with the pirate both times, and still didn't even know his name. She got the feeling that the pirate was not a good man, but he also wasn't a bad guy. She told Steve all of it, including her feelings on the matter. He had thought for a few days, before agreeing with her to conceal himself. He was now Steven Banner, mutant with super strength and recluse.

Snow sighed, and forced herself to get up. She wanted to stay in bed and ignore the world until she was no longer tired, but she had things she had to do. She dressed, and entered the small kitchen to see Bruce reading one of her medical books by the window with some tea.

Word had spread quickly throughout the small villages that there was a travelling doctor who could be trusted. The first village they had appeared in made certain that word spread that he needed to not be seen by outsiders, as that was what Snow had told them. The people of all the villages had taken her message to heart, and only those native to the villages heard of him. No outsiders were permitted to even know about him.

Bruce was baffled about how protective they were over him, until Snow told him what she had said to them. Bruce thanked her relentlessly, as between the lessening feeling for being watched and communicating with the Hulk he was able to actually relax for the first time in years.

Snow greeted him softly and sat across from him once her own cup of tea was done. Bruce looked up and smiled at the pale girl.

"Good morning." he greeted.

"Morning." She returned. She was thankful that he hadn't asked why she had appeared so suddenly and stayed with him through the night. Snow knew that she could defend herself from Tony now, but some wounds lingered as scars. They sat quietly for a few minutes before Snow spoke.

"So, you became the Hulk after trying to recreate the super soldier serum, right?" Snow asked Bruce. He paused, looking at her with serious eyes.

"Yes, I thought that the secret was Gamma radiation, but it was not. You're not thinking about trying to create it yourself, are you?" Bruce had a note of warning in his voice. Snow waved a hand to dismiss him.

"I'm not, no worries. But I was wondering if I could connect your phone to a third." she mentioned. Bruce tensed, and stared at her with cold eyes.

"Who?" was all he asked.

"Steve Rogers, Captain America." she answered. He stared.

"No, really, who do you want to make the third phone for?" he questioned.

"Oh! Did I forget to mention that Steve was found? We think he was frozen in the ocean, though we don't know for sure. I tried to ask the organization that found him, but they refused to tell me anything. They have tried to capture me twice now, and Steve told me to stop going for a few months to keep myself safe." Snow told him. Bruce gaped at her.

"Was that the Steve you have been telling me about?" he asked.

"Yes, I'm sorry I never told you his full name. You are probably the only one I could as you wouldn't turn him into the government." She apologized.

"It's fine," he waved off her concern. "But why would you want to set us up to talk? I have no problem with it, I would love to talk to him. But, why me?" he questioned.

"Because you are the only one that I could think of to help him. I know that you exiled yourself, but you have been cut off from the modern world for years now. He has been thrust into the modern day, and I can tell he is struggling. I can't relate to him, I was gone and back within a week – basically nothing changed for me. It would be a much bigger adjustment for you, just because of how long you have been gone for.

"I'm not saying that you understand what it is like to wake up seventy years in the future, but you could help in him ways I couldn't. Also, I simply don't have the time to keep popping to him all the time. If I could text him, it would be much easier. Now, I could have a two way connection between just him and I, like what I have for you and I, but I thought that the two of you might like to talk. He is very cut off from the world, as we do not know who may or may not work for that branch of the government. I know that you do not work for any government, which is why I thought to approach you." She ended her rant. Bruce was watching her, a faint smile on his face.

"I often forget how young you really are. Yes, I will agree a three way connection, and I will see if I can help him in any way." He agreed

"Thank you. I am sorry for ranting at you. I am just tired." She groaned, her head in her hands.

"Is it anything I could help with?" he asked. She looked at him through her fingers.

"Not unless you know the cure for Palladium poisoning." She told him.

"How would someone get Palladium poisoning? A scientist?" Bruce asked, shocked.

"It's actually the only thing keeping him alive at the moment." She said.

"So the thing keeping him alive is killing him?" he clarified. Snow nodded, sighing deeply.

"I don't know what to do. I'm trying everything, nothing is working. The symptoms can be slowed, but I can't cure him." Snow dug her nails into her palms. "What use am I as a doctor if I can't cure one patient?"

"People have been searching for a cure to Palladium poisoning for years now. You can't blame yourself for not being able to find a cure." Bruce comforted.

"That doesn't help when it is someone you are starting to care for. When it is their life on the line." She argued.

"I am aware. But I would like to think that whomever it is that you are trying to cure wouldn't blame you. It is not your fault that they have to rely on the very thing that is killing them." He pointed out.

"I know." She allowed. She was just feeling guilty, knowing that Tony was struggling right now due to not being able to trust Pepper.

Bruce could tell that it didn't make her feel any better, so he changed the subject and started to ask her about what she was doing and what she had tried. Snow was glad for the small subject change, and launched into her story. Bruce kept up with her churning thoughts, and even offered input from time to time. He offered her more herb based treatments. She had not thought of those, as she had access to the best tech in the world. She was used to using technology for her treatments, while Bruce had to rely on his Herbs and other natural ingredients as he had no access to anything else.

Snow had to dismiss several of his options as they were only short terms options and not long term. She needed something long term as Tony would still have to have the reactor in his chest. Bruce didn't become angry with Snow turning down his ideas, knowing that she would have already gone through a great many of them.

Eventually, they ran out of ideas and gave up. Bruce gathered up both cups and took them to his small sink. Snow watched him before speaking again.

"Are you sure that you are okay with a phone connected with Steve? You don't have to agree just because I want you too." Bruce was already shaking his head no.

"I would like to get to know him, he has been a legend for so long and I want to get to know the real person. Besides, it would be nice to have another person to talk to. Maybe we can help each other catch up with the modern day." He said.

"I will ask him if it is okay. I thought I would ask you first so I wouldn't get his hopes up. I think he would like some to talk to, he seems lonely." She admitted to Bruce. Bruce nodded, seemingly unsurprised by that fact.

"What name is he under? If you don't mind me asking."

"I don't." Snow shook her head. "I put him as Steven Banner, so that he could still answer to the name Steve, and I couldn't give him my last name because they knew who I was. Hlífa is not a popular last name in Canada." She said. They had found out that the apartment that they had found was in Vancouver, Canada. They had been surprised, not having expected to be placed so far away. Jarvis had hidden Steve well, with his apartment being rented out for three months by a woman before Steve had moved in – at least according to his paperwork and it was still in her name.

"So, what, is he my brother now?" Bruce asked, giving her a half smile.

"Or your husband." Snow got out before laughing loudly. Bruce groaned before chuckling, shaking his head at her humour.

"Anyway, I have to go. Have to try more combinations to try and fix the poisoned one." She sighed loudly. Bruce nodded in understanding.

"You can come back anytime you need to. You will always have a space with me, two can run just as easily as one person can." He offered. Snow froze.

"What?" she whispered.

"I don't know why you showed up here so suddenly, and I won't force you to tell me why. But I do know what someone running from something looks like." He said gently. Snow lowered her eyes and looked away.

"I… Ever since I got back from Asgard I can protect myself, but some things linger, you know?" she said. "I'm safe enough, but I wasn't always." She admitted. "But he truly has changed, for the most part no more drinking and partying. He's better now. He would never hurt anyone when he wasn't drunk." She justified.

"I understand. But if anything happens, you just use your power and com to me. The Other Guy won't let anything happen to you, he actually likes you." Bruce chuckled.

"Well, I like the Hulk too. He's sweet in a rough way." She smiled. "But yes, I will come here or to Steve if something goes wrong. I promise." She swore.

"Thank you." He nodded before heading for the door as she popped away.

She landed in her room in the manor, where it was locked up tightly just as she left it. Jarvis was always watching her room to make sure none of the party goers ever entered it. Since the spy had started to work for Tony, he had started to scan each centimeter of the house three or more times a day. He had already destroyed more than ten bugs, but none ever made it to her room. She changed back into her normal appearance and clothes before leaving her room.

"Jarvis, what happened?" she demanded as she left her room. Everything was destroyed. There were massive holes in the ceiling, shattered glass was everywhere, and what looked like burn marks over the walls. "Where's Tony?" she gasped, sprinting forwards and starting to look under debris.

"Sir is in his room Miss Snow. He and James Rhodes got into a fight, James Rhodes left and Sir went to his room." He said. Snow didn't let him finish as she had already turned and sprinted for Tony's room, ignoring the cuts to her feet she was getting from the broken glass.

"Tony?" she gasped, body slamming the door wide open. He was sitting with his head in his hands, and he jerked around at the noise she made barreling into his room.

"Hey Harley. How did you sleep through that? Or did Jarvis keep you locked in your room?" he asked. She made her way over to him and started looking him over for cuts. "I'm alright Harley. The Suit protected me." His voice was quiet.

"I left, I was in another place and didn't get back until like ten minutes ago. What happened?" she demanded, her hand gentle as they felt his neck for injuries and ignoring his claims of being fine.

"I'm probably not going to see my next birthday, and I had to leave you and the world with some protection. I couldn't just give Rhodey that suit after how hard I worked to keep it out of the governments hands. So, I created his suit with a different reactor in it and made to his size so he could take it. We fought over my behaviour, and then he left." Tony told her as she was finally convinced that he was relatively fine.

"That suit will just end up in the governments hands anyway, and you are not going to die." She pointed out.

"I might Harley, and I know. But if I do survive, I can make him a different suit and get the original back from the government or sue them." He assured. "Why were you not here though? Why did you leave?" he asked. Snow looked down and away from him, not sure what to say. Finally, she spoke.

"I don't like alcohol. In my experience, it never leads to anything good. At least not copious amounts of it." She finally admitted, not wanting to tell him why she didn't like him drinking and also not wanting to lie to him. He looked at her with growing horror.

"Why did you never tell me this? I never would have drank at the home you were in if you had of! I was making my own child feel unsafe in her own home and I didn't even know. I am so sorry Harley. I didn't know, I swear." He gasped.

"It's alright! I didn't tell you on purpose, I didn't want to make waves. I simply avoided you as much as I could while you were drinking, Jarvis helped in that regard." Snow assured, patting the top of his head. "I never held your drinking against you."

Tony stood, before running his hands threw his hair. "You should." He said quietly.

"Go think, I have had the time to come to terms with this, you have not." Snow told him, giving him a gentle push to the window. He turned to her.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Now go." She gave him another push. He chuckled, but did as she told him. Once he was gone, Snow sighed loudly and sat on his bed. She settled for a moment, before leaving his room.

"Jarvis, did you contact a trusted cleaning and construction crew yet?" she asked.

"Mister Stark is arranging it as we speak." Was her answer. Snow nodded, before picking her way back to her room. She picked up her laptop, and continued to work on her cure for the poisoning. Some of the information that Bruce gave her proved to be mildly interesting, and might get some answers when combined with others might give us some leads. She was interrupted when Jarvis alerted her that Tony had come back. Curious, she left her room and made her way down to him.

"Two things. One, an agency that calls themselves Shield thinks that you and the woman Snow are the same person. I am already getting every single dirty little secret they have so you can warn her what they are like. The second is this recording that they had of my dad, your grand father. Would you like to watch it with me?" he asked.

"Are you sure?" she asked. She was still coming around to the fact that he was getting her the information she needed without knowing she needed it. Also, that he may be close to figuring out who she really was.

"Yes." Was all he said. She gave him a small smile and went over to him, where he wrapped his arm around her. They watched the video, and Snow wrapped her arm around her father as she could feel the emotions in him.

"He was giving you information for a new element. How are we going to do this?" she questioned, skipping over any emotion.

"I have never created a new element." Tony mused.

"Neither have I. It will be our bonding element." She chuckled. Tony returned her grin before sobering. They quietly spoke for a while, discussing where to start. They finally decided, and went to work.

Jarvis had the third phone made for Steve in no time, it barely took him any effort. Snow, under the impression of taking a nap, had popped to Steve to explain to him what the phone would do. He was impressed, and agreed to texting her and Bruce after she explained it. She left him some instructions in a notebook for him, before heading over to Bruce.

Bruce was shocked at her new undertaking, knowing that new elements were not so easily found. She spoke with him for a while long, before leaving once more. She did end up having a small nap, and then spent a long while speaking to Heimdall, who was always there to talk to her.

They missed each other, though both acknowledged that they didn't have it as bad as most long-distance friends. They always had each other right there to talk to, no matter what time it was. Snow went back to work happier, feeling his presence in her head.

Tony went to bed next, leaving Snow to work by herself. She was making progress, having Tony's notes to work off of. She worked for several hours without pause. It wasn't as much as she would like, but as they were starting from the bottom and working their way up. Tony joined her, and they started to make more head way.

They slowly ended up falling into a routine, their days falling out of cinque with the rest of society. Snow would sleep for eight hours, then Tony would sleep for eight hours, and then they would work together for the last eight hours. They always had one person working on it, and they were making traction finally. They had better have been making headway, they were working 24/7. The only extra breaks she had was when someone called to her, and she popped away. Tony never asked why she would leave the room so abruptly, and she never offered any explanation.

Snow yawned as she made her way down the lab, finally able to walk without tripping as all the mess had been cleared and fixed. She made it down to the lab to see Tony surrounded by holograms.

"What is all this?" she asked. Tony beamed at her.

"It turns out that there was a hidden message in the recording he left us." Tony told her. She went over what was being displayed.

"Well, it is good to know that we were on the right track." She mused, while she was inwardly crowing to Heimdall that her Father would live. Snow could tell that he had reservations about it, but she ignored his feelings. She knew her Father was a good man, he just had a drinking problem. Snow ignored his hesitation and focused back to the matter at hand.

"But will I survive until we finish this?" he mused, expression falling.

"Of course you will. I'm not about to let you die." She snorted. "Go to bed, I will keep working on this." Tony walked by, ruffling her hair. Snow rolled her eyes, before going to work. She was working on the written half, and having to leave the forging for Tony. Watching the video again, and loading up the hidden message, Snow worked on her portions of the project and finally started to see some real progress.

When Tony came back, she helped him with the forging that he had to do. She mainly wrote out templates for him, as he was still capable of lifting his heavy equipment.

Snow woke suddenly, sensing something was wrong. Fearing for Tony, she jumped up and ran for the lab. She got there, only to see that Tony was gone. She saw that one of his suits had disappeared, and so was the beginnings of the new reactor. It had only a few parts when she had gone to bed, and she knew it hadn't been eight hours since then.

"Where did he go?" Snow demanded, stalking into the room.

"Sir finished the reactor, and had to leave immediately on an emergency. He and Colonel James Rhodes are fighting other robots." Jarvis reported. Snow stopped, before taking a deep breath.

"Should I go?" she asked.

"I would advise you to stay here Miss Snow. Sir already suspects that you have not been entirely honest with him." Jarvis finally spoke. Snow frowned, but nodded.

"Then you tell him, he and my Uncle better both get here for medical attention before I get mad." She stalked away, heading towards her medical room.

She had prepped two beds, and each one had what she would need for her dumb family. Jarvis was keeping her up to date with all the injuries that they were receiving, so she was well prepared. Tapping her foot, she stood in the landing station that Tony had built. They landed, and Snow arched an eyebrow and tapped faster at their slow pace. Sheepishly, they took off their armour before following her into her room.

They were trying to explain themselves, but Snow just ignored them. She sat back once she had decided that they were as good as they were going to get.

"You have been dying for months, and this is how you spend your first hours after finding a cure?" she spoke in a deceptively calm voice, staring at Tony. "And you decide that Tony suddenly went off the deep end and didn't look into it?" she switched to her Uncle. Both were paling slightly, and shooting each other glances.

"Harley, there was an emergency –" Tony started. She held up a hand.

"I don't care. I just spent months keeping you alive, and you go and pull a stunt like that?" she growled out, no longer calm and collected.

"You were dying?" James then cut her off.

"How else did you think you would have been able to take a suit? It connects to his reactor, and you don't have one in your chest. He made it for you." She snapped. "Why didn't you look into why he started acting out? Didn't you even wonder?"

"I'm sorry Harley." He told her. She waved a hand.

"I don't care for you're apologies, as I know you would and will do it again. All I ask is that you think before you fly. Now, I am going to leave, and you both need to sleep. Jarvis will alert me if you need anything. Goodnight." With that, Snow turned on her heel and left. She stopped in the kitchen and sighed, leaning against the counter.

"Why? Does he not know how to take care of himself?" Snow complained to her Heimdall.

"I do not know Snowdrop." He responded. Snow continued to grumble to him, entering her room and collapsing on her bed. She took out her phone and messaged Bruce that she had completed her project, and then she told Steve the same thing.

Steve answered her first, congratulating her on her accomplishment. He may not have understood as much as Bruce did, but it didn't stop him from being happy for her. Snow chatted with him for a little while, before he went back to work.

Snow didn't hear from Bruce until dinner, and his congratulations was accompanied by a medical question. She was sitting with her father; her uncle having left to go back to the military. Tony was silent when he wasn't apologizing, and eventually Snow stopped him.

"You are sorry now, but we both know that you will do it again. All I ask is that you try to be careful, I don't want you to die." Snow told him. 'I am just starting to get to know you."

"I will try to be more careful; I promise Harley." He swore.

"Good." She smiled. "What would we do without you?"

"I hope you don't have to find out for a long, long time."

They finished the dinner that Snow had ordered, not feeling like cooking tonight after all of the excitement. She went to bed early, and Tony followed her example.

Snow ended up going over to Steve, talking to him about his day and what had been going on. He understood why she had been away, and was surprised by all the information she had to give him about the organization that had held him. He told her that he would think about what it would mean if he went back to them, or if he decided to stay here. Snow warned him not to tell the people how he came by the information as she had taken it from someone else.

Steve had frowned but agreed, having figured out that this world was more broken than the one he had left behind. He had been spending time in the library, catching himself up on the facts of the world as best he could. Snow bid him good luck, before taking her leave.

Bruce greeted her warmly, congratulating her in person. She laughed and relaxed, sitting with her wings fitting through the backless chair. Snow was the most comfortable with him, able to relate to him. She spent longer with him, decompressing after all of the hard work she had been doing.

Bruce didn't seem to mind, using her presences to pick her brain. She, in turn, promised to give him the information on Shield once Steve had finished with it. Bruce was thankful, being of the opinion that the more he knew about them the less they could surprise him with.

Snow eventually left, and curled up in her bed once she was back. Tony had left for another press conference, which was covering both Mutants once more. She spent a while speaking with Heimdall, who told her that Thor and her other friends missed her. With Tony safe from dying at the moment, Steve having Bruce to help him, and Bruce having Jarvis (not that he knew that) Snow promised to consider returning to her home.

She said goodbye to him, before pulling out her drawing. She filled in more of it, with the redhaired one now looking like an older Natalie – or whatever her name was. She didn't know who the rest were yet, or hadn't seen them enough to be able to draw them in yet. The spy she had seen for many days.

Snow finally put away her drawing, before pulling out her violin. She moved to a window, before beginning to play. Something was coming, Snow could tell, and she could only hope that she was ready for whatever it was.

A/N: This chapter did not want to get written, which is why it took so long. I feel like my character is not herself, which is weird because she is my imagined character…