I sit on the couch in Dad's private apartment in Brooklyn. The TV is on and it continues to blast the morning news headlines. I keep hoping that something interesting would appear on the screen, but it continues to show footage of various crimes around the city.

"Rainy, do you want waffles or pancakes?" Dad's voice calls from the kitchen.

"Waffles please." I call back. 

It's been three days since the incident occurred. Dad an I try our best not to talk about it. It's a very sensitive subject. I'm not quite sure who is more stunned after the event. Dad looks uncomfortable. He's so shaken up by it. 

I think his guilt is eating him alive. He was the one who threw a complete curve ball at me and caused me to get so upset that I stormed out. If he hadn't done that, maybe I wouldn't have gotten into this mess. Maybe I would be okay.

The news is beginning to put me to sleep, so I flip through the channels. The more and more that I continue to flip through, the more and more tired I become. I set the remote aside. I decide to plug in my headphones and watch Netflix on my phone. I scroll through the endless series that I started watching, but have yet to finish. I click on 'Supernatural' and allow myself to be carried off into the crazy world of the Winchester brothers. 

-

A tap on my shoulder pulls me away from the screen. I pull out one of my headphones and look up to find Dad hovering behind the couch with a plate full of freshly cooked waffles. He scrunches his brow and looks down at my phone.

"That's that show you've been watching so much lately. What's it called again? Unnatural or something like that?"

I groan and roll my eyes. "Supernatural, Dad."

He sighs and hands me the plats. "Sorry, Cloud. I don't really understand the whole internet video thing yet. I'm trying."

"Thanks for breakfast, Dad." I grin lightly and take the plate from his hands.

"Extra maple syrup, as always." He returns a grin and pulls a napkin from his pocket. "Please don't make a mess on the couch."

I take a bite and chuckle lightly. "No promises."

Dad crosses to the end of the couch and sits down. I hand him the remote for the tv and then put my other headphone back in. I resume the episode and continue eating. Dad begins to scroll through the channels when we hear a knock at the door. Dad stands and tosses the remote on the couch before heading to the door.

I continue to watch my show until I hear Tony's voice through my headphones. I pause the show and pull out my headphones. I toss my phone to the side and glance back towards the door. Tony comes walking in with a newspaper in his hand.

"Well kid, things just got interesting." Tony holds up the paper in front of me. I set my plate of waffles off to the side and take the paper from Tony.

Daughter of Captain America Involved in Murder Scandal With Tony Stark

"What the hell!" I exclaim.

"Maggie. Language." Dad interrupts me and crosses his arms. "Tony, she didn't need to see that. She's been under enough stress since the attack happened. She doesn't need this to add to the fire." Dad tries to rip the paper away from me, but I jerk away.

"Why shouldn't she see it? She's a big girl, Steve, she deserves to know about this. After all, she's on the front page of every newspaper in the state of New York."

"I can't imagine that it's only here in New York either." I mutter. The picture on the front of the paper showed Tony carrying me to the ambulance stretcher. I glance down at the article and begin to skim through it. It rambles on and on about how the body of a dead man was discovered in the alleyway. They found traces of my blood scattered near the crime scene. 

Tony shakes his head. "If this isn't bad enough, it's beginning to appear on the radio as well. I heard the story on the way here." He takes a few steps toward Steve. "It's only a matter of time before this becomes the top story on the news channels. Look, I didn't want this to go public, but I had a gut feeling this would make the headlines."

I continued to skim through the article.

The bother of the murdered man spoke out yesterday saying: "I will press charges. I don't care who her father is or what kind of connections she has in the world, but she will pay for what she did to my brother."

"Oh God." I exhaled a shaky breath. "Dad, they are going to press charges."

"What?" Dad suddenly rips the paper out of my hands and skims through the article. His eyes widen and then he's violently shaking his head and shoving the paper into Tony's hands. "Son of a bitch."

"Langauge!" I throw my hands up and shoot an evil glare towards him.

"Quiet, Maggie." He snaps. I sink down into the couch and pull my knees up to my chest. "Tony, they can't press charges. There's no way that they would ever pass! They attacked her and she defended herself. She had the right to defend herself in that situation."

"You're right. She did. If you ask me, there's no way the court will allow the charges to pass. You should be perfectly fine, kiddo." Tony looks down at me.

I bury my face in my hands. "They have every right to press charges."

"Maggie-" Dad tries to interrupt me, but I cut him off once again.

"No, Dad. Listen to me. I killed a man. I didn't mean to do it! It was a life or death situation and it just so happened that I'm the one who came out alive. The guy's brother is angry! He has every right to be. I watched the life drain from his brother's eyes. I heard the sound of his windpipe shattering as I crushed it with my elbow-"

"Dammit, Maggie! Knock it off! You're not going to talk about this like you're going to jail, because nothing is going to happen to you. Period. Do you understand me?"

I stand from the couch and cross my arms. "Hate to burst your bubble, Dad, but something did happen to me! Stop pretending like I'm always going to be fine, because I'm not! I'm so sorry that this 'something happening' had to involve murder, but what else can I do?"

"Margaret Sarah Rogers, don't talk to me like this!"

"Like what? I can't speak the truth? At least I'm owning up to this! This is my mess, okay? This is my mess, and so I need to be the one to clean it up. If they want to press charges, let them! I was acting in self defense. If they want to go to court, I will see them there. If you want me to start acting like an adult, then let me handle this situation. Please."

Dad's face is red and full of anger. His clenched jaw looks like it wants to fly open and scold me continuously for all that I have said, but he doesn't speak. He just stands there.

Tony stands awkwardly off to the side. "I don't mean to cut in here, but I'm going to anyway." He crosses over to me and looks straight into my eyes. "It's very mature of you to own up to this, Maggie. It really is. If you want to see this through, I will back you up. I will stand up for you, provide the best lawyer I can find, or whatever else you may need. I'm on your side, kiddo. Just try to understand me here. You do realize that this is going to be a huge controversy, don't you? There's no turning back now. Newspapers, News stations, and just about any other media source you can think of is going to be chasing you down for information. They will crowd you and tear you apart for information, but you can't let it get to you, okay? You're strong, smart, brave, and just as stubborn as your mother. There's nothing you can't do. You can win this, kiddo. My money's on you."

I try to soak in every word that Tony rambled off. I slowly nod my head and try to hold back my nervous tears. I can feel them brimming my eyes.

"Come here." Tony mumbles and pulls me in for a long, protective hug. I bury my face into his suit jacket and try not to cry. "You'll be okay. You'll make it through." He says softly.

I pull away and look over at Dad who was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.

"I can't do this without you." I speak with a shaking voice. "Please, Dad."

Dad pushes himself away form the wall and pulls me in for a longer hug than Tony's. "I'm always going to be here to support you, Rainy. It's my job. I'm your father. I'm supposed to worry myself sick over you and make sure that nothing happens to you. I'm not going anywhere, don't you worry."

I can feel tears slipping down my cheeks. "I love you, Dad."

"I love you too, Rainy."

I pull away and smile up at him. He turns back to Tony who is once again standing awkwardly off to the side.

"Are we all good now? Great." Tony takes the paper and tucks it into his suit pocket and he begins to walk back to the door. "I'm heading back to headquarters to start working on finding you a good lawyer. I'm assuming that I will see you soon?"

"We'll head back tomorrow." Dad answers. "Maggie has a doctor's appointment. As long as she's healing properly, she can hopefully start school soon."

I freeze. 

School. 

After everything that's happened, I still have to go to school. Can I even walk through those doors for the first time without even being noticed or recognized as the girl who killed a man? The world knows my name now. Someone will notice. Someone will be scared of me. 

Someone will see me as the guilty one.

"Maybe you should postpone the whole school thing until after this moment dies down a little? Give the kid some time to breathe here, Steve. After everything that's happened, maybe you guys should lay low for a while."

I shrug and look to Dad. "Not a bad idea."

"You haven't even started classes yet, and you're already making excuses to not go to school." Dad chuckles and shakes his head. "I'm just kidding, Rainy."

"I know, Still, it's a good reason." I shrug once again.

"Alright, I'm outta here. Take care of yourself, Maggie." Tony calls out as I hear the door open and then shut behind him.  

-

A/N: Okay guys, time for a quick life update. I'm over halfway done with my very first semester of college, and I am stressed out beyond compare. After a couple of really difficult weeks and a few rough days in particular, I decided to go undeclared on my major. It was a hard decision to make, but I just wasn't finding the happiness I wanted with my current major. I'm hoping that after I give myself some time to explore my options, things will level back out. My classes are insane and very demanding, so I hardly have free time. It sucks. I'm trying to write whenever I can. Please be patient if there are large gaps in between chapter uploads :) I'm trying to get them up if I have free time, but I don't have a lot of that right now. Thank you to those who are commenting and voting! I always appreciate it :) You guys are the best! Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I hope to have another published soon!