A/N: This will just be a short prelogue, I have already written the first chapter and practically everything you need to know is in it.
Tony couldn't remember an instant worse than that. When his dad had died, he had stepped up to the plate, more than capable and willing to take care of his still underage sister.
It was later that year they had gotten the diagnosis.
Cancer. A fikle thing that most payed no mind until it touched their lives. They hadn't seen it coming. Sure, she didn't have the best amune system in the world, but Cancer was never thought about.
She had been sick for a while, thinking it was the flu, he figured she'd need some medication.
She had cancer and suddenly Tony felt like a little boy again, watching as she cried over a skinned knee, unable to aid her in fear of breaking her more.
Then he had been kidnapped and had abandoned her, inadvertantly so, but the pain was still present. He came back. More of a machine then a man.
Then was the Avengers initiative, taking what little time he had for her away.
She got into a routine, visiting Avengers Tower in between hospital visits to spend time with her brother and get the low-down on the mortal peral in the world. When she wasn't there, Pepper was more than happy to take her in.
It was a life. An unfair one. But a life.