Tony's P.O.V

"Pepper, I'm sorry."

"I don't want to hear it! What type of man has unprotected sex and then doesn't check to see if anything came out of it? She's a nice girl, and you can tell she's a spitting image of you. Someone's hurt her really bad, and I don't think it was just you."

"Pepper, it was the type of man I used to be before… before Iron Man. I'm different. You know that. I was young and I was stupid… If I find out her stepfather laid a hand on her…" he trailed off with a growl.

Tony sighed, as all of his explanations- crappy as they were- were brushed off by Pepper. It had been a bad day- or a good day, he still wasn't sure. He hadn't slept in close to two days, the nightmares of New York plaguing him. Not that he'd admit it. Jarvis informing him there was an unauthorized visitor, and then the power getting cut. Then… a daughter. He had a daughter that he didn't know of. But he remembered her mother. The first 'real' relationship he had had… until she couldn't take knowing that he was the Merchant of Death.

"Why didn't you ever tell me about Elizabeth?" Pepper asked, abruptly changing the subject.

"Because I love you. I loved Elizabeth at the time. But Pepper… I love you."

Pepper kissed him, then took a step back. "What are we going to do about Holly?"

"What do you mean? She's staying here until school starts in the fall. She should be okay in on-campus housing…" Especially if I get a plainclothes security guard, he mentally noted.

Pepper looked at him as though he was crazy, which described how he pretty much felt right now.

"She's twelve! She's a child. I don't care if you Starks have super high IQs. She shouldn't live on campus! She should stay here with us. Do online classes. Or take a jet."

"Look," Tony said, frustrated. "It's what she wants. The only reason why she's living here is because her stepfather- who probably abused her- is the only other option. She doesn't want me to be her dad, even if I wanted to be a dad to her."

Pepper was quiet for a minute. "Do you?"

"Pepper… she's my kid. Of course I do. I want the three of us to be a family. I want to take her to a baseball game, or build a robot, or teach her how to drive. I want us to go shopping and me be bored for four hours because you're going to all these clothing stores. I want to know her. This morning, it was all the Avengers, Stark Tower, worrying about Loki…" Tony broke off. "But everything's different now."

"I don't think she hates you, Tony."

Tony snorted. "She calls me 'Mr. Stark' even though I told her a million times today to call me Tony. I told her she was a mistake… now, that was a mistake." he chuckled without humor at his own joke. "Sounds like hate to me."

"She didn't go to the media. And she asked if you were okay after we left her room."

"Did you tell her the story?"

"Yes, but a black and white sketch. I didn't want to scare her. She doesn't know the full extent of Afghanistan or that you nearly died in the battle of New York. If you want to tell her, that's your decision and your story. But she knows the basics, enough for her to meet the Avengers."

Holly's P.O.V.

I hated being afraid of the dark. I knew I shouldn't be afraid right now, safe in my own room at the Malibu mansion.

After we left the lab, Tony asked me if I wanted anything to eat. I had shook my head, saying that I wasn't hungry. I was lying, of course, but I didn't want to accept anything from him. Saying I was a mistake like I wasn't even in the room.

Stark looked amused, then told his driver- who I found out, his name is Happy- to stop by McDonald's. Said he wanted a cheeseburger Happy Meal for the toy, which apparently was for someone named 'Steve' to help him get acquainted with pop culture. He asked me at the drive-thru if I was sure if I didn't want anything, then when I shrugged and said "Sure, get me whatever" I had to cave. I could smell the french fries from the parking lot!) He proceeded to order me three McDoubles, a twenty-piece Chicken Nugget, a large fry, two apple pies, and a chocolate milk.

Pepper and I stared at him. I was sitting in between the two in the backseat. He shrugged and said, "I could hear your stomach growling from across the room back at the lab. You don't have to eat all of it, but hey, in case you're really hungry…" He trailed off.

"I think we're more wondering why you ended that order with a chocolate milk… why not get a Caesar salad, too?" Pepper joked. I smiled, then tried to wipe the smile off my face.

Tony, seemingly encouraged by my small grin, tried to keep the act going. "Well, what do you think I'm going to do? Allow my kid to just eat completely unhealthy? You know, there's apples in the pie, too. Apples are healthy."

I couldn't help it- my grin grew bigger. I was glad that he was trying to be nice.

I stopped grinning about twenty minutes later, though. I had eaten too much, too fast. I was so hungry, and hadn't eaten anything in so long, that I was now nauseous from the calories and the grease. Pepper seemed to realize this first, that it had been a bad idea for me to eat this much, this soon. I hadn't even thought of it, only thinking of the fact that I had to create two new, smaller holes in my belt on my journey here, and I had better make up for it.

When we got to the mansion, I couldn't stop myself any longer. "Where's the bathroom?" I asked. As soon as Tony showed it to me, I locked the door, hit the ground, and puked. I was making such a great impression.

However, when I walked out, Tony and Pepper were both waiting for me. Tony had a water bottle, toothbrush, and toothpaste in his hands. I took it, mumbled thanks, and went back into the bathroom.

"I'm going to talk to Bruce about this," I heard Tony whispering as I brushed my teeth. "She looks almost skeletal. I don't think she's eaten enough in a long time, and she probably needs a special diet or something."

"Already emailed him," Pepper said back. I wondered briefly why his CEO was hanging out with him, until we got to the rooming situation on the tour. We had already seen everything else but his workshop, which he explained he wanted to show me tomorrow.

"This is my and Pepper's bedroom. You need an access code to get in, as well as a retina scan. I'm going to put the same security on your room as well, and I'll put in your retina scan data later. What?" he asked, because I was looking at him, jaw gaping, like an idiot.

"I didn't know that you guys were married," I muttered. "Sorry."

"We're not, yet. Only dating," Pepper answered. "And… I'm sorry, too. I know this is hard on you."

Tony looked stunned, like he was surprised that Pepper wasn't mad at him. Maybe the redhead had a temper.

Tony cleared his throat, and then gestured to a room down the hall. "Anyway," he said. "This is yours. I'm sorry that it isn't personalized; you tell Jarvis what you want, and he'll get it for you. Sorry about the size, too; this is the biggest guest room I've got. On the way over here, I got one of my assistants to get some basic clothes for you. If you don't like them, just let me know, and we'll get you ones that you like. Your bathroom is right through the door. Do you have any questions? Is there anything right now you want to change?"

I looked at him like he was crazy. He was acting nervous, like I wouldn't like it. There was a king bed, a walk in closet, my own bathroom, a flat screen TV, a bookshelf filled with classics, and a mini fridge. I could happily live the rest of my life in here!

"No, this is really nice. Thank you, Mr. Stark," I said. I saw pain in his eyes when I called him that, but I couldn't help it. I was waiting for him to do something like the monster I thought he was. I did have a question, though. "Who is Jarvis?"

Mr. Stark grinned. "He's an AI that I created. Jarvis, care to introduce yourself?"

All of the sudden, a voice appeared to sound from everywhere and said, "Hello, Ms. Stark. My name is Jarvis, and I take care of the security of the household and assist Mr. Stark in anything he needs." I detected a bitter note in Jarvis' tone.

"Does he not like me already?" I asked, miffed.

Stark chuckled. "He got shut down by a twelve year old kid with a screwdriver, that's why. Jarvis? Cut the tone."

"Yes, Mr. Stark. My apologies, Ms. Stark."

"Holly, just Holly." I turned to Stark. "You built him? How?"

"I'll get into that later, okay? Tomorrow. Promise. I'll show you my workshop and we'll talk mechanics. No need to bore Pepper right now. Besides, we've got some other stuff to get to. He took a deep breath. "Okay, Holly? You've heard of the Avengers, right? Well, um, they kind of hang out here sometimes. Actually, a lot of the time. They live here, too, but most of them are out on a mission right now. Dr. Banner is staying in his lab tonight, working on… something."

"The Avengers?" I asked, puzzled.

"She doesn't know about New York," Pepper told Tony. He froze, seeming to fight panic. "Well… I guess… I'll have to tell her the basics," he said.

"I can, Tony," Pepper said. "Holly? Why don't you go take a bath or a shower, and then get on some clean clothes? Then you can meet us in the living room. If you don't know where that is, you can ask Jarvis, and he'll help you find it." Before I knew it, the two of them had left me in my room.

My room. Wow. I shook my head. I wanted to hate Stark for abandoning my mom. The guy I used to see on the TV years ago was an egotistical jerk, but this Tony seemed much more human. I wasn't going to let my guard down, but maybe… maybe this would work out. At least for the two or so months I had to live here.

I took a shower. I didn't mean to take so long, but I figured that since Pepper and Tony needed to talk, a long shower was okay. It felt SO good to be clean. And then, to put on clean clothes… I would never take clean clothes for granted ever again. My stomach had started growling again by the time I had gotten dressed and combed out all the knots in my hair, but Pepper had told me to meet her in the living room, and I didn't want to upset her. Besides, I was used to hunger, and I was practically dying of curiosity. I wanted to know what happened in New York.

I was surprised when I walked into the living room and saw Pepper sitting on the couch, a bowl and plate in front of her. Bread and what looked like chicken noodle soup, with a bottle of something. I must have looked confused, because Pepper explained, "The bottle is a nutrition shake. Dr. Banner said that you should be on a high calorie, but bland, diet for a little while. I don't know what happened to you, but he seems to think that you haven't been getting enough to eat for a while now." Seeing me immediately shut down, she quickly added, "But you don't need to tell me now. What I do want you to do is try to follow the diet that Dr. Banner put you on, meaning that you eat what he tells you and eat enough, okay?"

After barely being allowed to eat anything? Sounded great! But what I told her was simply, "I will. Where's Mr. Stark? Is he okay?"

She tried not to look pleased that I cared, but I saw it anyway. "Your father played a huge part in the battle, Holly. He, and the other Avengers, helped save the world."

I grinned a little. "You're playing me. Come on, I'm twelve, not four. Did Mr. Stark just nuke them?"

Her face grew stern. "Holly, this is serious. What I'm telling you is the entire story, not just the story the world knows. Iron Man, Captain America, Black Widow, the Hulk, Thor, Hawkeye… they saved the world."

"Who are they?"

She gaped at me. "You don't know that Tony is Iron Man?"

"What, he works with iron? Is that another nickname like 'Merchant of Death' or something?"

She took a deep breath and told me the story. About how Tony was captured in Afghanistan and how Yinsen sacrificed his life to save Tony's. How Tony fought his way out after creating an arc reactor in a cave and using it to power the first Iron Man suit. How when he got back, he stopped making weapons and looked more into the arc reactor and made Iron Man suits. How Tony had to create a new element to save his own life, because the arc reactor that my dad used to have in his chest was killing him. About the battle of New York and the other Avengers, Natasha, Steve, Clint, Thor, and Dr. Banner. About the Extremis effect. Then Tony destroying the suits and getting the shrapnel out of his chest. It was all so surreal that part of me didn't want to believe it, but I knew that it was the truth.

"How come I didn't know this? I didn't know this…" I felt alarmed. "I didn't know Tony even stopped making weapons. We didn't have cable, and I was so focused on graduating and then applying for colleges and then mom died…" I trailed off.

"Do you see now why we were so thrown off when you showed up here earlier?" Pepper asked as I finished eating. I had stopped eating as soon as she started talking, but Pepper told me that she wouldn't keep talking unless if I ate. It gave me something to do with my hands, so I didn't mind, and besides, I was starving again. I drained the bottle of the nutrition shake and tried not to make a face. The stuff was revolting.

"I'm sorry. I know you're going through a lot. But I'll carry my weight, I can clean and sort of cook and won't be any trouble."

"We're not going to make you do anything but pick up after yourself. You're a guest here, not a maid," Pepper said, squeezing my hand. I didn't like it. It made me uncomfortable, and I took my hand away.

I couldn't help myself, and I yawned. It was a huge, jaw cracking yawn, despite that I had slept today. Eyeing the clock, I realized why. It was well past one in the morning.

"You should get to sleep," Pepper said. "It's been a long day, and I'm sure you're overwhelmed. You remember the code to get into our room, right? Wake us up if you need anything." I nodded, though it felt weird to have someone tell me what to do in a nice way. I picked up my dishes and went to wash them, but Pepper told me to put them in the sink.

This is real. I'm in my bed at Tony Stark's mansion. I'm warm, my belly is full, and I'm clean. This is amazing.