WARNING: There is a slight torture-ish scene in this chapter that may be triggering. Before it starts I will write (WARNING) the beginning and end of it, so you know where to stop and then continue reading.
Hey all, I just want to thank those of you who read and those of you who reviewed. It feels really awesome that people actually enjoy my work, you don't know how good it makes me feel. I feel like three days is a good amount of time between uploads. I have a confession. I already have the majority of the story pre-written, and when I went back and re-read this chapter while I was editing I realized I left a major plot hole. I went to fix it, but I hit major writer's block for about a day. Not to worry though, I feel like what I added yesterday fixed it. I feel like I'm throwing somewhat of a curveball at you guys, but this was my intention of where I wanted the story to go all along. Also, I have decided that Tony hasn't told the public about being Iron Man yet. He may never.
That being said, I'm uploading this early in the morning for two reasons. One, I was told late last night that I am going to a baseball game with my family, and two, my last day of finals is tomorrow, so I need to study.
Remember when Luna said that she could "waste the creeps" in the first chapter, and what she said about Ember's name? I think we are going to learn what she meant this chapter.
Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel Characters that may or may not appear in this story. The only things I own is the plot and my lovely OC Luna Stark
Luna's POV
To be honest, Tony's reaction to me wasn't really terrible. I mean, if it were me I would have been mad too. It's not like you find out that you are the father of some random girl every day. Actually, with the rumors I have heard about Tony, maybe he does, but it isn't every day that your PA adopts someone for you.
After sleeping and waking up in the same awesome room with the kitten, I had decided that I wasn't dreaming after all. Currently Ember was snuggled up next to me while I read a book and blasted "Shoot to Thrill" by AC/DC.
I was reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows for my second time. I got the part where Hermione was left with Bellatrix, and stopped carefully. My friend who had read the book before me had told me that there was a torture scene between Bella and Hermione. She knows how I get with that stuff, so she warned me. I was really grateful at the time. The last thing I needed was to have a panic attack in public.
But this time I stopped on the page, thinking carefully. I haven't had a panic attack in so long, and I feel like I am missing a part of the book by not reading it. After some consideration I bravely read on.
On Hermione's first scream I was dragged back into my memories.
(WARNING TORTURE SCENE STARTS HERE)
"Daddy, Daddy no! No I don't want to do it!" I screeched as I was being strapped down in the chair by his assistants.
I was kicking and struggling, but they were so much bigger and older it wasn't that hard for them to force me into the chair and strap me down so I couldn't move my arms, legs, or head."
"Come on baby, it's the last part. This will help you. It will keep your powers under control and you'll finally be like normal kids." My dad said, trailing behind coming from his lab. He held two short titanium rods in his hand.
I regarded the thing with a mix of disgust and fear. After so dealing with so many of them I knew what it did. "Daddy no! Why can't I go to sleep like last time?" I pleaded. The thing scared me. Even if it would make me normal and let me play with other kids I didn't want it. I saw what it did to the other things and I didn't want it.
"Because daddy ran out of anesthesia. The quicker we get it done the less time it's going to hurt. Let daddy do his work." He said irritably. He pulled up his chair next to the mine. Then, he angled the two titanium rods over the inside of my arm where my bones were so they were horizontal over my arm, each was the same length as my arm.
"No Daddy, please no!" I cried loudly, thrashing around in my chair in my last desperate attempt to escape the pain.
"Sam, Ned, hold her down!" My dad yelled over my pleas. I felt their hands on me and it only made me struggle more.
I opened my eyes fearfully, because somehow not watching what was about to happen seemed worse that watching.
My dad clicked a button on the rods, and a very sharp blade shot out from each of them. I screamed in terror, and watched as he forced both of the rods into my arm. I yelled in pain. It was so absolutely excruciating I saw black spots. Even so I forced to watch on, knowing what was going to happen next. The rods glowed white hot, and I screamed in agony.
There were confused yells from my father, Sam and Ned as they were thrown backwards through the air, each of them hitting a different wall.
Tears rolled down my cheeks, and I watched the rods melt into my bones.
(TORTURE SCENE ENDS HERE)
" Thriiiiiillllllll!"
I gasped and shot straight up. Ember mewed angrily and ran away, but I was too busy trying to regulate my breathing to really notice. I snapped the book shut and tossed it away from myself fearfully. That… that is usually never so vivid… I pulled back the sleeve of my shirt and traced the scar on that went lengthwise down my arm pensively. I had almost completely forgotten that night. That was the only one that scarred fully. The rest of the ones that lined my bones were small white lines that you could barely see.
"You shouldn't have moved."
I shivered. The mere memory of him gave me the creeps. I barely noticed that my hands were shaking. I pushed down my sleeve with finality. 'Don't do that to yourself. Don't let a memory of him run your life,' I told myself sternly.
I decided that the best way to calm myself was to turn the music up louder, if that is even possible, and get a book that almost always calmed me. I walked over to my bookcase and grabbed "The Fault in Our Stars." Sure it's a sad book, but sad isn't always a bad thing.
"You've got a good taste in music, Moon." A voice shouted over the guitar that was currently blaring from the speakers. I quickly hit the pause button, and the music stopped.
Tony stood, casually leaning in the doorframe, smirking. "I like what you've done with the place, though red is more my style." He said, picking up a green pillow as he sat on the black couch. I moved into a sitting position on the bed to get a better view of him. He was already reclined comfortably on the couch, with his shoes still on, I realized in disgust. I cringed as he put his feet on the pillow. "Thanks." I said, waiting for a barrage of rude comments. I was kind of disappointed that he didn't notice how shakey I was, but I was also doing my best to hide it from him.
"Look, we kind of got off on the wrong foot this morning, and I wanted to apologize, though I think it's Pepper who should apologize to me, and you considering she caused all of this, and that fiasco probably wouldn't have happened if she had just told me, but hey, what can you do? Anyway, Pepper said I should probably get to know you. So, how old are you?"
"Fourteen. I'll be fifteen soon. "I told him proudly, completely forgetting about what happened only minutes before.
"Uh, huh, 90's kid. What's the date?" He asked, holding up a book that was on the side table, regarding it with interest. I caught a look at the title, and it seems that he was holding my calculus book. "I thought you said you are fourteen. Shouldn't you be working with fractions or something?"
"The date is May fifth, and I am fourteen, I'm just smart." I said with a shrug." They've got me in twelfth grade classes."
Tony smirked and gave a little laugh, his eyes shining. I felt indignant, and I wanted to ask him 'what?' rudely, but I stopped myself.
"So, where are your parents?"
The question was asked nonchalantly, but I stiffened. So much for calming myself down... "Don't have any," I answered rigidly, clenching my teeth. Tony, however, didn't seem to buy it.
"Really, what about dad?" He pressed.
I cringed visibly, and I felt my hands start to shake a little. Why can't he drop it? I decided to give him the fake version that would at least explain the scars and my jumpiness. "Fine. Dad was an alcoholic. He used me to do what he wanted a lot. I thought it was because he loved me, he was always telling me how special I was. Then one day, I put my foot down. I said no. That was when I realized he really didn't love me. When he came home from the bar he would beat me senseless. One day he pulled a knife on me. I ran away," it felt wrong, lying about what he did to me, but if I told him what he actually did it would raise questions that I wasn't willing to give answers to.
Tony was silent before he asked indignantly, "And your mother just put up with this?"
My mouth twitched and I sadly shook my head. "Mom died during childbirth. Dad would talk about it while he was drunk. He always blamed me."
This part always brought tears to my eyes, probably because there was truth to it.
Tony looked as if he wanted to say something but decided against it. "Oh." Was all he could choke out.
"Yeah. So, is it my turn to play twenty questions?" I asked playfully.
Tony scowled. "What?"
"Well you wanted to know about my history, it's only fair that I know about yours."
He smiled again and then rubbed the back of his neck. "There isn't much to tell. I was born in 1972. I had an okay childhood, dad and I didn't get along all that well, but that pales in comparison to you. But, yeah parents sent me to boarding school; I got into college when I was fifteen. My parents got killed in a car crash when I was seventeen and I inherited Stark Industries when I was twenty one. And here I am," He told, but just by listening to his voice I could tell there was something else. It seems when someone tries really hard to sound nonchalant about something they always failed. 'Even the great Tony Stark' I thought to myself.
"So you're a genius." I said bluntly, and to my surprise, or maybe not surprise, instead of looking uncomfortable, he smiled.
"Yeah."
The lights in the room all flashed red, and an alarm blared from down the hallway. Tony and I immediately leapt to our feet. "Sir, there is a problem that you need to look at." Said JARVIS.
He immediately strode down the hallway "In the lab?" he asked, though since he was walking towards it he must have already known it was in there.
"In a manner of speaking, sir." JARVIS answered.
Now that's weird. "Can I come?" I asked hopefully.
"No, just hang tight. I'll be done soon," Tony replied over his shoulder. I heard the door to the lab slam shut and I cringed. That can't be good.
Then, there was a loud screeching sound and I groaned. Somehow they found me. I quickly ran outside and hid by the beach.
Once I was sure that I was alone I concentrated, clenching my muscles. The metal skeleton that was embedded in my bones ever since… well I can explain later I guess… anyway the skeleton raised from my bones and encased me in a metal suit, I hissed in pain, partly from the memory of how I got the skeleton that was still all to vivid, and partly because it actually does hurt. Where my hair was supposed to be, sticking out of my helmet, was a ponytail that had burst into flames. My eyes were also on fire as well, though it didn't make it hard to see.
I quickly used the my pyro ability to fly high in the air, using flames on my hands and feet to stabilize my flight. Then I set on trying to locate the area the screech was coming from. As I swiveled my head around and saw a red blur fly towards the city at breakneck pace. "Well that is new."
Tony POV
The alarm went off and I immediately leapt to my feet. There wasn't an attack being lead on the city right now? Right?
I speed off to the lab, talking with JARVIS who, thankfully, didn't mention Iron Man. That one would be hard to talk myself out of. Once the suit was assembled I sped off to the city.
"JARVIS what is attacking the city?" I asked, finally free of ignorant ears.
"It seems to be some sort of monster, sir." JARVIS offered, which only confused me more. A monster? Here? Why?
I was about to ask where it was, when something flew around the corner of a building, and promptly smacked into me. "Found it." I gasped in surprise. The monster, which was indeed a monster, wrapped it's wings around me, and brought it's snarling face to my mask. We dropped, and I was unable to move.
The monster itself was terrifying. Large, sharp, sinister looking teeth lined it's mouth, predator yellow eyes looked at me intently. Webbed ears? Amphibious maybe?
I moved my hands to the beast's stomach and let my repulsors go to work. The thing let out a colossal screech, and let me go, flying away. Unfortunately I couldn't stop my descent quite as quickly, and I slammed into the ground, creating a small crater in the concrete. I groaned, rolling over, gradually moving to my feet.
I flew after the thing, growling out "Time to start the party."
But it seemed the party started without me. Something in a flying suit was wrestling with the bird's teeth, using its feet to keep the jaw from snapping shut on it, and getting in punches whenever it could. Meanwhile the bird was trying to shake it- her- off.
This suit wasn't a stolen version of mine. It was skin tight, almost as if the person was made entirely of metal. How they managed to get all the tech necessary to fly in such a confined suit was beyond me. I am pushing the limit as it is with my suit. Anyway, the girl had a ponytail made of flames, -too flashy- and her eyes were on fire too. What the hell?
I decided to help her out, shooting off two repulsor blasts that hit the thing in the head. The girl flew away, and held out a hand to the great big bird. To my surprise, no blasts shot from her hand. Instead the animal seemed to be choking, and it was clearly visible that the thing's neck was being compressed.
'Is that the suit or is that her?' I wondered.
The bird let out one last loud squawk before falling to the ground, bouncing off of buildings before landing in the street with a crunch.
"Nice work." I said, stunned.
She turned quickly to look at me, but because of her mask I couldn't tell what she was thinking.
Luna's POV
"Nice work." I froze. I hadn't realized anyone around, not that anyone should be able to be around when I was flying above the skyscrapers. I turned, and gasped. A suit of armor that was colored red and gold hovered a few yards away from me, which presumably had a man in it. "Thanks, uh, who are you?" I asked nervously. I was exhausted from generating so much power, and I needed to get back. Tony might have fixed his lab problem already.
"You must be new around here. My name is Iron Man; I'm kind of a big deal. Saved the city from Obadiah? Stopped him from selling weapons from Stark Industries to terrorists?" The voice to 'Iron Man' was metallic and obviously altered to keep the identity of whoever was inside a secret. He did, however, seemed ticked off that this Obadiah was selling Stark Industry goods to terrorists. I made a mental note to ask Tony if he knows Iron Man.
I shrugged at him, assuming it is a him. "No clue."
He made an angry noise and said "Who are you anyway, the kid sister of Firestar and Magma?"
I frowned at this. He was actually pretty close, but I feigned ignorance. "Who?"
He scoffed. "So, what was that thing? I have never met anything like that before."
"Metue Mihi. It means 'fear me' in Latin. You probably wouldn't know it very well, but those are from their old legends, and they're extremely hard to find. The only reason I know the name is because I found a book. There's no word of them on the internet, very secretive. Last I heard is they were used by the government as spy animals, though I think they are more used to eliminate people. Imagine that thing trying to spy on people." I said with a laugh.
"How were we able to take it out so easily if it is an elimination animal used by the government? No offense, but you're tiny." He said bluntly. People on the ground were starting to take notice of the huge animal in the streets, and the police had even arrived.
It actually did offend me, but he was right. "It was weak. A healthy one would have destroyed the city. That one looked like it had been experimented on. It probably escaped. Did you notice the missing teeth?" I asked.
"It has more?" He asked.
I had had enough. I needed to get back, by now Tony would probably be done, and I would be in trouble. "Listen, I have some place to be, but we can continue the conversation another time." I said and hurried off.
I was absolutely exhausted. Using all of that energy to be able to fly around, wrestle with the Metue, and then choke it with my telekinesis practically drained me of everything I had. It had been a while since I had actually used my powers, and apparently it is possible to be out of shape if you don't use them for a few weeks. This meant I would have to start practicing in the house around Tony and Pepper so I can stay in shape. How could anything possibly go wrong?
Anyway, I stumbled up the ridges of the cliff that the mansion sat on top of. My suit depended on my energy to keep it exposed as well, so it had already retracted, in fact, the upper-body portion already started retracting mid flight. If it had gotten to my boots I would have fallen out of the air. I slid the door open and all but collapsed on my couch, deciding two things, one: I am starving, and two: I need a shower. The sweat slicked my entire body from exertion, and I just hoped Tony, or if Pepper if she was here, wouldn't be suspicious.
I slunk out of my room and moved to the fridge, hoping to be quiet. After grabbing a sandwich from the fridge, not bothering to check what it was made of, and slowly shut the fridge.
"What are you doing?"
I hadn't even noticed footsteps at all from behind me so I jumped and whipped around. Tony sat at the bar with a smirk on his face. I held up the sandwich, "Sorry, I wasn't trying to be sneaky, I got hungry and I didn't want to disturb you in your lab with the noise." I lied calmly.
He seemed to have bought it, but he gave me a once over, which irritated me. "Why are you all sweaty?"
Thankfully I had rehearsed a story for that on my way back to the house. "I went for a run while you were doing whatever you were doing." I explained.
He looked me up and down suspiciously again, "In sweatpants and a sweatshirt?" he asked.
I faltered momentarily before I quickly spoke up, "No, I'm wearing shorts and a tee shirt under this. I got cold when I came back in here, it's a bit chilly."
But what he didn't know was that I couldn't really feel the temperature differences anywhere really, unless it was extreme, and even then I couldn't really tell. This all had to do with my fire powers. Ever since I got them I was always comfortable, never too hot or cold.
Tony narrowed his eyes at the sweat dripping down my temple before shrugging. "You should probably take a shower. Pepper wants us all to go out to eat tonight. She also said to wear the blue dress." He informed me while walking away to what must be the hallway to his room. I could have sworn I heard him mutter 'girls are weird' under his breath.
I laughed loud enough for him to hear me, and went back to my room to take a shower.
Pepper arrived an hour later and helped me with my hair, which was curled softly to frame my face. Even if I am an utter tomboy I can't disagree that the look suits me. The dress is modest, though it was strapless. It was all navy blue, though the top part where my chest is has a fabric that is blue and glittery which ties in a bow on my back. It ended slightly above my knees, and Pepper had me twirl in front of the mirror for her. I saw her eyes catch the scar on my forearm, and she narrowed her eyes at it. I quickly covered it with my hands, and she looked at me apologetically. Pepper looked absolutely stunning. She wore a light pink dress that did have straps, but they were thin and showed off her stunning figure, her dress was tight to her body and ended only slightly higher than mine did, the bottom of the dress flared out in a mermaid-esque fashion. She wore matching heels, which only made her long legs look that much longer.
For me, she chose a pair of black, short wedges, and I can actually walk in them!
We walked into the living room to find that Tony was already ready, wearing a pair of black pants and a matching jacket with a brown dress shirt underneath. I particularly liked the gold tie, but what made me laugh was the nice outfit paired with the black vans. "You guys look stunning." He said when we made it into the room, though I could see he hadn't really looked at me because his eyes were studying Pepper almost hungrily. Okay, ew.
Pepper seemed to have noticed this because she ushered us into the limo, seating me in between her and Tony. Tony only looked slightly irritated by this, but he didn't say anything. There was tension between the two of them and I knew it wasn't the fighting kind. My only question was; if the two liked each other, why didn't they act on it?
And then it hit me. Tony is a billionaire playboy philanthropist, and probably every twenty-year-old's dream. Tony probably liked Pepper, and Pepper liked Tony, but Pepper was afraid of becoming one of those girls, the ones that Tony spent a little time with and then dropped them. Pepper wanted more than that, heck, she wanted a lot more than that. She likes him, a lot. That's probably the only reason she puts up with him and does all of this stuff for him. She wants him to realize that she is the one who is right for him. And she is willing to stay until he does, of course her pay as his assistant was probably very good which is another incentive to stay…
"Luna are you okay?" Pepper asked in concern.
I breathed heavily, startled from being suddenly thrust from my personal thoughts. I rubbed my face and said "Yeah, I'm fine, I was just thinking."
"Must have been hard." Tony said and laughed at his own joke.
I scowled at him but Pepper interrupted us before we could start arguing. "Anyway, I just wanted to warn you about the reporters. They're going to be there, they're going to swarm us and they're going to be pushy. When they ask you questions don't say anything, just keep on walking." Pepper explained carefully. "Don't worry, they won't do anything, I just don't want you to be overwhelmed."
I nodded in assent. I am not nervous at all. If any of them get too close I could use my telekinesis to keep them back, as long as I am careful. The car stopped and Tony got out first. Pepper gave me an encouraging look and I got out next, and was immediately blinded by flashing lights. At least five voice recorders were being shoved near my mouth, and there are so many people trying to be heard that I can't even make out one voice.
Pepper got out of the car and Tony wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me close to him. The other arm was around Pepper's waist.
"Miss Stark, how does it feel to be the adoptive daughter of Tony Stark?" One reporter asked in a frenzied type of voice.
To my surprise, Tony took the hand that was around Pepper's waist and pushed the reporter back. "Come on buddy, leave her be. She's only fourteen."
"Sorry Tony, but I asked her, not you." The reporter replied, not sounding apologetic at all.
Tony surged forward, swinging an arm, but I ran forward and grabbed him to hold him back. "Tony, don't. It's okay." I said.
Tony looked down at me, and his mouth twitched into a frown. Then he stepped back and straightened his suit. At this point the crowd was silent. I looked towards the reporter and spoke clearly, "Tony is the best father any girl could ever ask for."
With that the reporters erupted with questions but Tony put a hand between my shoulders and ushered Pepper and I into the building. The staff seated us quickly and it was silent at the table for a few minutes.
"Thank you." Tony said sincerely.
"There's no need. I know that you still don't really want me here, but I want to be here, and I'm willing to make it work. You don't need to pretend that you want me here." I said and excused myself to go to the bathroom, turning quickly so he couldn't see the tears that were forming in the corners of my eyes.
Tony's POV
"You see Tony!" Pepper exclaimed the moment that Luna was out of earshot. "I told you that you needed to make an effort to make her feel comfortable, you didn't and look at what happened. You really only care about yourself, don't you?"
This made me feel extremely guilty, but I have a valid reason this time! She acts like I always go out of my way to make people feel bad! "Pepper I had Iron Man stuff to do," I hissed at her quietly across the table. "And you knew how this would work out! I am not a people person! You're the only one that I can open up to, well, except for Rhodey."
Pepper lost the angry look on her face, but she replaced it with a serious one. "Tony, you need to try to like her. You might be surprised."
We both grew silent as Luna walked back to our table, looking at the ground. I sighed and tried to find a way to fix this, partly because I wanted Pepper off of my back and partly because, well, I actually do feel bad. I finally found the perfect thing. "Luna, I'm sorry about today. I think that I am at least twelve percent of the blame for this," I could hardly keep myself from smirking when I heard an irritated sigh come from Pepper," So, I want to make it up to you. How about I show you my car collection in my lab?" I asked while I typed out a message to JARVIS, telling him to clean up all of my Iron Man stuff and to put it where Luna wouldn't be able to find it.
Luna's eyes shone and she nodded so quickly I feared she might get whiplash.
The ride home was actually detoured because of a 'strange animal' in the city, which was busy being removed. The result ended in us being stuck in traffic, the cars were so backed up that we had been waiting for an hour and we only managed to move about four car lengths. Pepper was busy working, using her tablet. Luna, who looked exhausted all through dinner, was fast asleep.
"What got her so tired?" Pepper whispered.
"She said that she went for a run when I was… busy with the lab," I said carefully, just in case she wasn't asleep.
Pepper nodded and went back to her work. There was a loud honking from the car next to the window, and Luna stirred, and then moved. Her head ended up on my shoulder and she snuggled up against me.
Pepper, who had looked up laughed, and I couldn't help but smirk. Even if I didn't really want her around she is kind of cute. I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and continued with my work on my tablet. Currently I was still trying to figure out the best way to conceal the suit into a smaller holding container, but I didn't have any clue of what I could do without sacrificing functionality.
After about a half an hour I gave up and switched in JARVIS' database. I typed in 'Luna Strude', which was Luna's name before she took my last name.
The only things to come up were the adoption papers, and the court papers that gave Luna her previous last name. Strange...
I quickly added her hair color and eye color, but nothing else came up.
This doesn't make any sense; she's practically a ghost, no birth certificate, no school papers, nothing.
I sent my findings to Pepper, and attached to it I added 'wtf'
It took her a second before she replied 'Maybe she's in the witness protection program, judging from what you said about her dad.'
I frowned, it's possible, but it still made no sense that she wouldn't have any documents in the government's database, which I had hacked into to look Luna up. 'Even if she is in the witness protection program she would have documents, Pepper. I hacked into the government's files. There's nothing.'
'Tony! That's illegal!' Pepper replied, shooting me daggers from where she sat.
'I'll look up missing persons. There has to be something.' I typed out and sent back to Pepper. She glared at me, but continued her work.
Who knew having a kid would be so hard?
By the time we got back to the house it was one in the morning and Luna was still out cold. Rather than wake her up I carried her into her room.
Kid's a heavy sleeper, I mused. After I got Luna situated in her room I offered Pepper to stay the night in one of the many spare bedrooms, and when she said yes, I gave her a sweatshirt of mine, because it was the only thing that would fit her. After I was sure she was asleep I went down to the lab.
"JARVIS, look up missing persons in the government database. Make the date between the last seven years and the age between the ages of four and eleven."
"Sir, there are many, but twenty of them aren't closed. I am sending them to your tablet now."
Guess it's time to get reading...
Wow, things got kind of intense didn't they? Tony is so cute awww. Luna is kind of a badass isn't she?
All will be explained in later chapters, maybe even next chapter if we are lucky.
I'll answer reviews here.
To Cascia: I'm glad that you liked it! Hopefully you still like it. As for Pepper being the adoptive mother, I honestly never thought about that. I actually had her adopt Luna for Tony, I figured if she's Tony's PA she could do stuff like that. And as for their romance heating up, I want to stay true to the movies, so because Tony and Pepper aren't exactly official until the end of IM2 I think I'm going to stay true to that, but I will add scenes where the two are kind of giving each other eyes and flirting and such. I like moon as a nickname too, I think I'm going to keep it.
To NicoleKidmanFanxD: Yeah I think Tony will too, he just needs to get used to her first. YAAY PEPPERONY
Okay guys, I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I wrote it. Until next time (Which should be on Wednesday)
