Work Text:
It was 12:34am and Florence was on the second page of ideas for Tony's new suit for Rhodey. She was helping by providing her artistic flare and making sure that it didn't look too overwhelming since Tony tended to go over the top. She was busy on her fifth sketch, adding the elements that Tony had suggested and placed it on his desk, taking a bite out the chocolate bar she had insisted on having. She needed sugar to stay awake, not everyone was a freak like Tony where sleep was optional to him if he desired it.
The cabin was rather peaceful at night, everything was still but the wildlife outside made more noise that you'd expect. The cooing of birds and odd noises here and there from the owls and deer scattering around outside were lost the further into the lab your travelled. So to Florence, it was like they were the only two people on earth right now.
And she was loving every second of it.
"What about this?" Tony asked, spinning the 3D model around. Florence skipped over, sucking on a lolly pop and tilted her head.
"You're keeping it grey and black?" she asked, zooming in with her own fingers, moving it around at her leisure. Normally, Tony would smite anyone who dared to touch his work or equipment but not Florence. Special daughter privileges.
"Think so, why?" he asked, ready to hear another design criticism.
"Well, the eyes of the suit are red, so why don't you add more red, I know he's supposed to blend in because...well...the army and all that shi- stuff" she corrected, making Tony smirk at her slip of the tongue "but some colour might be nice" she explained, pointing to the parts of the suit the red accents could go on. Tony nodded slowly, considering what she'd said, typing suddenly and changing some words within the code.
Florence hopped up on the table, pointing her lolly pop at the 3D model still floating above the desk. "You know, I think war machine could be more powerful than Iron Man..." she offered up, watching as Tony's expression changed to pissed off very quickly.
God, he was so easy.
"How!?" he scoffed. "Iron man is ten times better!" he exclaimed.
"Kidding, kidding" she laughed, about to get down from the table. She pushed her arms up, about to swing herself down and back to her note books and pens when her hand slipped. It bashed on the metal table, sending some sort of prototype flying to the floor. She slipped to the floor, gasping at the pain in her hand and eyes widening at the shattered prototype across from her.
She froze.
There were parts of wire scattered around, metal parts cracked and broken. Oh god.
In a matter of seconds she was back at home.
She was fifteen.
Making lunch in her kitchen while her parents watched tv in the living room. While yes, the only thing separating the living room and kitchen was the small breakfast bar but it still had a sofa and tv. She was making pasta, the water was boiling and she'd just tipped the pasta in. It was going to take a while to cook through so she decided to sit on the kitchen bar counter. Her parents didn't like it but it was habit and they were busy watching tv. So se hopped up, swinging her legs back and forth and watching as the bubbles frothed and rolled around.
She hopped off the counter to give it a stir after a couple of minutes when she noticed it had begun to boil over. She moved the pan off the heat, causing some of the water to slosh over the side and land on her hand. She screamed, staggering backwards, knocking over the freshly washed dishes, causing a few to clatter over and smash onto the floor.
Her mother came running in, panicked when she saw her daughter crying while looking at her hand.
"Florence!" Her mother yelled, looking at all of the smashed pieces of a couple mugs and a plate. "Look what you've done!" she cried, calling her dad over to sort it out.
"I'm so sorry" she cried, her hand under the cold water of the tap.
"An apology isn't going to fix this" her dad snapped, rolling his eyes to go get the broom.
"Good god girl, stop running your hand under the water and help!" her mother yelled, walking forward.
"It hurts mum" she whined looking at the red patches forming on her skin.
"I don't care, clean this up!" she shouted, getting more and more irritated. When Florence didn't respond, eagerly watching her hand under the water, hoping that no blisters form, she felt her mum getting closer and closer to her. Florence turned to her mum, hoping for a little sympathy but instead, she felt her mum's hand smack her across the face.
She staggered to the floor, feeling something crash into her side. She yelped out, feeling as one of the jagged pieces of a broken plate slashed her side.
"Hurry up Florence" her mother spat, leaving the room.
She couldn't tare her eyes off of the broken prototype.
She was so focused on what she'd broken she didn't see Tony crouched down next to her looking into her eyes with worry. She could see his lips moving, like he was talking but no words came out. It was completely silent.
"Flo?" he asked. She could hear him now, zoning back in as he touched her shoulder. She almost immediately jumped back up, looking at him with fear.
"Oh my god, I am so, so, so sorry" she gasped, staring at his concerned face.
"That's a lotta so's kid" he mused. "Is your hand ok?" he asked.
"I didn't mean to break it!" she yelped, jumping back as he moved closer. She was convinced she was about to be hit. She flinched, covering her face slightly.
Tony's eyes were full of horror.
No. No. No.
"Kid..." he whispered quietly. "I'm not- I would never hurt you" he said worriedly. "Never" he repeated. Florence looked up, unconvinced, like she wasn't seeing Tony. Not really. She was seeing her mum, furious at her, screaming at her for breaking something. "Flo..." he whispered cautiously.
"But, but I broke it" she muttered, looking at all the metal shards.
"It's not important" he shrugged off, helping her over to a chair. "Is your hand ok?" he asked again.
"But the prototype?" Florence whispered, looking over to the broken pile.
"It's just that Flo, a prototype, it's not important. And even if it was, it wouldn't matter." he explained quietly.
"So you're not mad?" she asked again, trying to make sure. She couldn't fathom he wouldn't be upset over her breaking something.
"No Flo, I'm not mad. I'm more concerned over your hand" he repeated again. She lifted it up, trying to move it a little. It hurt yes, but more of an ache than anything.
"FRIDAY, scan Flo's hand" he said, finally seeing that he wasn't going to get an answer out of her.
"Florence's hand is highly bruised, but there is no break or fracture" she reeled. Tony nodded in satisfaction and moved back to Florence who was still a little dazed looking.
"Flo...who hurt you?" he asked gently. Florence froze up, staring deeply into Tony's eyes.
"It's-Its not like that" she stammered. Her parents were loving, caring and thoughtful but sometimes, sometimes they got mad. "My mum- she - she just got upset sometimes" she explained.
"Your parents would hit you?" he gawked, unable to believe it. Her parents seemed so nice, so normal. Nothing like the kind that would hit.
"They didn't hate me or anything, they just thought the good old fashioned way of punishing kids was better, so sometimes...rarely...they'd slap me if I broke something. It wasn't like in the movies where the parents would beat their kids to death. Nothing like that" she rambled. Tony nodded slowly.
"Flo, it doesn't matter how much or little they hurt you, hitting a kid isn't ok" he comforted.
"But they were good people Tony, they were" she insisted.
"I know Flo, I believe you" he smiled. What a twisted relationship she must have with them. That's all Tony could think about. The awful back and forth of feeling hurt by their actions and grieving their deaths. Tony knew that feeling. Maybe a bit too well.