*I do not own the characters and plot you recognize. If it's familiar, it's probably someone else's creativity. Enjoy.*

Prologue

It was a dark and stormy night, much like every other night when something goes terribly, breathtakingly wrong. This time, a child was in a back seat, begging her father to stop for ice cream. A glance in the rearview mirror, and a glance to the passenger seat where the child's mother sat was all it took.

That is how one Lily Magers lost everything, how she ended up in an orphanage after five years of love and care at the hands of parents, to whom she was the world. That was the night when not a single person could be found to take her in, the night she now recalls being little more than the single moment that changed her fate forever. This is not, however, just the story of how she lost everything, it is also the story of how fate decided to screw her over so much more, giving her an ability she would much rather be without.

But we are getting ahead of ourselves, nothing note-worthy happens until June of 2011 during one of Tony Stark's legendary parties, after which, Miss Lily Magers awakes to find her neck cramped, in her dress from the previous night, and the most confusing part of all, she awoke in a bath tub. Her waist length, wavy black hair is messed about her face. She's about 5'11", so not a comfy fit in the tub. Her emerald green eyes struggle to determine where when is.

Head hurting, adding to her disorientation, she stumbles out of the bathroom that is bigger than her apartment and down a hall way into a kitchen. Standing by the table, sipping on a cup of coffee was a strawberry blonde in a black pencil skirt, and creamy blue blouse.

"Excuse me, ma'am, do you happen to know where exactly I am?" Lily asked, slightly intimidated by this professional looking woman in front of her.

"Tony Stark's Malibu home, now is there anything I can get you before I have someone take you home?" The blonde asked, making it clear the sooner Lily was gone, the happier she would be.

"Um, yeah. Aspirin, water, your name, and a phone to call mine would be excellent. Oh, and knowing whether or not I slept with anyone would be welcome information, seeing as I woke up in a bath tub." Lily replied, hardly missing a beat.

The woman walked over to a cupboard and pulled out a cup and the requested medication. "My name is Virginia Potts, but just call me Pepper. Here is your aspirin, your water, and my cellphone so you can call yours." Pepper said, then she seemed to observe Lily for a moment and her expression softened. "How old are you?" She asked after a moment.

"Nineteen." Lily told her, so quiet she wasn't sure if Pepper heard her.

"And what, may I ask, are you doing spending the night at a stranger's house, getting so drunk you can remember if you had sex with anyone when you're not even allowed to legally drink?" She asked, in full mother-mode now.

"You never did answer that question, whether or not I slept with anyone." She replied, pointedly avoiding the question.

She gave me a look that said 'Not over, by a long shot'. "I'll go get Tony, stay put and take your pills." As she walked off, Lily began to ponder the night before, trying to recall as much as she could. The last thing she remembered finding out her boyfriend was cheating on her and going to a bar to take shot after shot after shot...

Her thought process was interrupted by someone arguing loudly with Pepper down the hall.

"I don't understand why I have to talk to her, can't you just send her on her way?"

"Tony, this could be trouble if not dealt with. She is nineteen and got so drunk at one of your parties she doesn't remember why she ended up in your bath tub. Just do something, answer her question, and then you can get back to your lab."

"Fine, but I'm doing it for you, not for the irresponsible teen you're making me deal with."

"Thank you, she's in the kitchen."

Anthony Stark swaggered up to her and extended his hand toward her. "I'd introduce myself, but seeing as you spent the night in my bath tub, I'd say you know who I am." She started at his hand with a look dread, masking it quickly as indifference. It didn't matter. Tony noticed. "What, afraid I'll bite? I promise I won't unless you want me to." He said with a wink, hoping to knock her off balance.

"Sorry, I don't swing that way." Lily responded.

"What, you don't like men?"

"Not, I don't like shameless flirts who don't know how to appreciate when they find something worth appreciating." Lily shot back with a pointed look at Pepper.

Tony blinked a couple of times, clearly having had underestimated her, then he smiled saying, "I like you, kid. Peps said you had a question I would be best qualified to answer, so shoot."

Lily was suddenly all business. "Did I..." she was cut off by a voice that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere all at once.

"Sir, Agent Coulson from S.H.I.E.L.D. has arrived and is requesting entry. Would you like me to let him in?" Lily visibly paled, and Tony, damn him, noticed.

Smirking, he said, "Go ahead and let him in, JARVIS." This should be good. Coulson came into the room then and stopped in his very determined tracks when he saw Lily.

"What are you doing here?" Phil asked, voice overall cold, but laced with the warmth one reserves for close friends and people whom you haven't seen for extended periods of time.

"Oh, you know, recovering from a drunken night, trying to piece together what happened." She replied, voice laced with sarcasm.

"You and I both know you could do that in a second if you really wanted to, and that you aren't old enough to drink in the first place."

"You know why I do it." She said quietly, her head hung and facial expression pained in a way that made her look decades to her few years of life.

"Yeah," he sighed, "I do, but if you would stop this and do what we both know you're capable of, it would get so much easier." His voice was soft, as if explaining to a child why they would never see mom or dad again, like he had to her all of those years ago.

"Pepper, is my ride ready?" Lily asked, suddenly looking up her mask in place once more.

"Now hold on a sec, I'm missing something, a very important something, and I'd like to know what." Tony said, crossing his arms like a child denied a cookie before dinner.

"No. Now I'm leaving, with or without a ride, and I'm doing so now." Lily stated, leaving no room for argument. As she turned and walked toward the door, Tony grabbed her arm, expecting to stop her, but getting a different result instead.

AN- Thanks for reading this far, criticism is despised, constructive criticism is welcome. If you feel I should do something better, leave a review stating what you didn't like and how it should be fixed. I also don't mind being told if you don't like something, it's how I can make my story better, however insulting me without some sort of substance to your review that will help me improve will not be tolerated.