Chapter Text
Tony
One thing Tony Stark loved was being locked in his grand Malibu garage. The grease stuck in his nails and the smell of gasoline became a sense of peace in his busy world. He enjoyed having control over something, especially his cars. He spent hours without speaking to anyone but Dum-E, breaking and fixing his precious things.
“Mr. Stark,” his AI, JARVIS, said through a speaker. “Someone is here for you.”
“Busy,” he replied sternly, his entire body under a car. “Leave it for tomorrow.”
“It’s Ms. Potts,” the voice responded.
Tony sighed. Pepper was his only employee that saw him more than an intimidating boss, besides Happy (but that was a different story). She knew that when Tony was in his garage, he was to be left alone. If something was really that important, he would do it for her.
“On my way up,” he said reluctantly. Tony found an old dress shirt and began buttoning it up the stairs to cover his oil-spilled tank top.
“Pepper, whatever this is better be—”
In his living room stood what appeared to be an FBI agent of sorts next to Pepper. Immediately his mind racked for everything he did illegal in the last month. Pepper’s expression of concern didn’t help either.
The agent looked Tony up and down. She was clearly examining him, judging the way he presented himself. What was the point? Everyone knew who he was.
“Mr. Stark, this is Ms. Natalie Rushman,” Pepper introduced, breaking the silence.
“Hi, nice to meet you,” Tony said, reaching her to shake her hand. She had a surprisingly tight grip as if she knew how to dislocate his shoulder from that spot.
“Pleasure's all mine,” she replied in a sultry voice. A smirk played on her lips, contagious as it formed on Tony’s.
“What can I do for you?” He said in a tone that filled Pepper’s face with annoyance.
“I work for SHIELD,” Rushman said, completely dropping her act and going through the files in her hand.
“Shield?” Tony repeated.
“SHIELD: Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division”
“Oh, excuse me, ” Tony said sarcastically.
“I’m here to brief you on an event that occurred relating to you.” Rushman ignored Tony’s bluntness and held out a file.
“Whatever happened, Rhodey did it,” he replied shortly.
Rushman didn’t move. With a stoned face, her file was still out.
Tony admired how her stubbornness matched his, but he still wouldn’t take the file.
“I’ll take that,” Pepper interceded, taking the file and giving it to Tony. One day he’ll find out why only Pepper handing him things never bothered him.
“There’s no easy way to put this,” Rushman began, taking a file of her own. “You have a niece.”
A niece . He could almost laugh. The things people will do for money. Long lost kid, one night stand, etc. Anything they can do to get into his inheritance. But the niece skit was new.
He smiled knowingly. “I don’t have a niece.”
The agent sighed. “Your mother had an extended relative. You are the child’s closest kin—the rest have all passed. I was told by Fury to bring her to you.”
“Hm, and how come I’ve never heard of this ‘said niece’.” Pepper gave a warning glance to be nice, but Tony waved her off.
“Because they’ve been trapped in a Hydra facility.”
The same facility his dad mentioned every damn dinner of how he stopped them. Though the same story grew tiring, Tony also knew how dangerous they were. “That’s impossible,” he stated, shaking his head. “Hydra went down years ago.”
“Mr. Stark,” Rushman said in a calmly manner, “I understand your confusion—”
This was getting ridiculous. “You’re telling me!” Tony snapped. “I’m being told I have this long lost niece that I’m supposed to take care of from an organization that was disbanded decades ago. How do we even know this kid is related to me? Don’t you think it’s a little suspicious how out of the blue this is? I have a little bit of money if you didn’t notice.” He gestured his hand to his elaborate home.
The woman opened her folder and took out a file. “Sir, we took a DNA test. She is a relative of yours. The father we’re quite unsure of. We suspect a certain coworker from SHIELD. They were said to have worked well together before disappearing about seven years ago. We believe they were forcefully part of Hydra’s experiments.”
Tony rubbed the bridge of his nose. “What kind of experiments?”
The woman hunched over in almost remorse. “In order to save resources, they injected couples with the super serum and had them produce offspring.”
He grimaced as he felt his heart falter. It was such a grim way to have a child. Tony slowly approached the file laid out for him. He scanned through the background information, but there wasn’t much on it. “What do you know about this kid?”
“She’s only four years old. She was taken away from her mother when she was about a year old. She hasn’t spoken much. She will respond in Russian and broken French. She can’t speak English, but she can understand it to some extent. Fury had a translator sent. So far there is no sign of special abilities, but we’re still testing her.``
“Testing her?” Tony said coldly. “She’s a child, not some lab rat.”
“We understand sir; we just need to find out.”
He sat down on his couch. Pepper took the seat next to him.
Tony’s lungs began to falter; the air around him was tightening. He noticed his hand had begun to shake. It was all too much, too soon.
What he thought was long gone, was apparently back in the world. How was it that no one properly stopped Hydra?
“What happens if I refuse?” Tony asked, quietly for the first time.
And also for the first time, Natalie Rushman dropped her special agent act.
“I’ll be honest with you, Mr. Stark. SHIELD did not want to give this girl up. They know what she can, and will be able to do. It’s not just Hydra it’s…” Rushman hesitated as if she was trying to find the right words. “… it’s also the Red Room. They’re trained to kill, hijack corporations, break countries apart, and so much more. SHIELD will use this to their own advantage. No matter where she ends up, this little girl will be turned into a weapon. I know what that’s like, and I won’t let it happen to her.”
Ms. Rushman stayed silent. She never moved her gaze from Tony, like she wanted him to know how grave the situation was. Ms.Rushman had a way of letting people feel for another, even if they didn’t know the whole story.
Tony, for all his ego was worth, had nothing to say. He may be a genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist, but he knew when to do the right thing.
He turned to Pepper who gave him a reassuring nod. That was all he needed.
“Okay, I’ll do it.”
Rushman stifled a smile. “I’ll be back with the paperwork.”
“Are you sure about this,” Pepper asked in a low voice once Rushman left the room.
“Yeah.” Tony nodded. He finally had a new purpose, and he’d protect her from any harm. He would have two things to love.
“I’m proud of you,” Pepper said, smiling. She stood up and walked in the direction of Rushman.
Tony found himself smiling too. He admired Pepper since the day she was hired. She helped him in ways no one else could, or even tolerate. Pepper was always there for him, even if Tony didn’t realize it.
Three things to love.