I changed the dates in the first chapter from 1986 to 1990. Just letting you all know.

Shoutout to Imjustfindinghim. You are awesome and I love you.

Without further ado, here's the last part of the ridiculously long prologue.

Prologue IV – Darcy Lewis-Stark

June 11, 1991. 5:29 PM

Pepper dashed out of the cab to quickly crash through the emergency room doors. She ignored everything around her. She ignored if the people are looking at her weirdly. She ignored her unkempt suit. She ignored the blistering pain from her feet. She ignored her disheveled hair. She ignored her tear-streaked face and her runny nose.

She grabbed the nearest nurse and shook the woman vigorously, making her drop her files. "Lewis! Meredith Lewis! T-the officer called me. He said that-that Meredith…" she stuttered.

The nurse put her hands on Pepper's shoulders, attempting to contain her anxiety. Pepper didn't realize that she was jittering. The nurse flashed her a downcast expression.

"Ms. Lewis is currently in the ICU. She just finished surgery-

"SURGERY?" Pepper felt more tears coming.

"Yes, surgery. She had multiple shrapnel on her face and chest." Pepper's brain ceased to function. The nurse pulled her gently towards a tall man jotting notes on a clip board, "This is Doctor Conrad and he's Ms. Lewis' surgeon."

"Ms. Potts?" the man gave a small smile. Pepper didn't say anything. The doctor sighed and gestured her towards a room. Before opening it, Dr. Conrad faced her.

"Doctor? Will she be alright?"

The man just simply exhaled softly. Flipping through his clipboard, his voice was serious, "I have to admit, Ms. Potts, I don't know the answer to that. Just five hours ago, EMT says that Ms. Lewis was driving in the state highway when two cars collided in the intersection. She managed to brake before hitting the two cars, but one car wasn't paying attention and crashed into Ms. Lewis' side. She was placed in Trauma Bay One, and then underwent surgery. She is now in the ICU."

Everything stopped. The universe stopped moving. The earth was still. Her thoughts filled with a storm of all her emotions.

"Ms. Lewis suffered deep bruises on her eyes. We call it 'Raccoon Eyes' and it indicated a smashed skull. She has four broken ribs and left arm almost popped off. Both her legs are completely broken. Several shrapnel on her body and face… We just finished surgery but Ms. Lewis is still in critical condition" He exhaled, "As for the child…"

"Oh my god, Darcy!" Pepper felt her knees turn into jelly. The doctor pulled her up.

"The baby girl, Darcy Lewis, I can assure you, is perfectly safe. She only suffered a few glass shards in her legs and arms. One, however, one large shard was lodged into her arm, quite deeply, but no arteries were severed. I'm afraid that one's going to scar."

"W-here is she?"

"In the nursery, sleeping." Pepper sighed.

"Ms. Lewis is right behind this door. She is asleep, right now. But since you are filed as a legal guardian, I believe it would be safe for you to go inside. If anything happens, I'll be right outside." Dr. Conrad showed a gently smile. Pepper forced herself to stop hyperventilating. She closed her eyes and inhaled a deep a breath. She touched the cold metal knob and turned it slowly. As she pushed the door, her eyes slowly opened to reveal everything.

The room is dark lit, heavy with somber air. The curtains are all closed and nothing can be heard but the small beeps of the EKG machine. The monitors beeped soundly. She stepped closer towards the bed and gasped.

Meredith's beautiful curls were hidden by a white bandage around her head. Her blue eyes were covered by bluish purple skin. Her long eyebrows were limp of life. Blood stained bandages wrapped her nose and her lips were bruised, scarce of any red she used to have. Her left arm is completely enveloped with a hard cast as well as both of her legs. Pepper traced her trembling hands over face. Meredith didn't have her usual ashen glow. Her skin was colder than usual. Tears began to fall again. A slight sob emanated from her throat. She moved her hand towards her right arm, the only part that had the least damage. A long IV drip was connected on her forearm. She fought back another sob as she gently grasped Meredith's limp hand.

"What did you do to yourself, Meredith? Look at you…" she whispered to the sleeping figure, "You always get in trouble… First, you have a baby and now this? What am I going to do with you?" Pepper touched her face and arms, "You look like mummy… You know that Meredith? The doctor says you broke both of legs. It would take months to walk again. And you broke your left arm, how are you going to hold Darcy? Oh my god, Meri, Darcy. Darcy's okay, if you want to know. Just a couple of cuts that's it. Dr. Conrad says she might have a scar on the arm but it's nothing bad. A scar is not as bad as your condition right now, Meredith."

Pepper went to get a seat and pushed closer to the bed. She held Meredith's hand while she put her head lightly on the edge of the bed. She stroked her hand lightly with her thumb, "You know Tony? Yeah, can't you believe I lasted a year and 3 months with him? I can't believe it either. He's changing slowly, you know? He's becoming less of an ass each day I get to know him. Does that mean I'm doing my job well? I should tell Tony, Meredith…" Pepper closed her eyes and let the tears fall down on the bed. Her heart is too weak for this. She felt helpless, fragile. But she knew she had to be strong. She had to be strong for Meredith, for Darcy, for Tony and for herself or her world would just tumble over. All the responsibilities weighting on her shoulders must be dealt with or chaos would win.

Pepper exhaled sharply, to let out a quick sob. She mentally slapped herself. There's no good moping around. If all she was going to do is cry all day, nothing would get done.

"I'm… sorry…" A hoarse voice whispered.

Pepper felt a small force grasping her hand. Her eyes snapped open to see Meredith's hand attempting to squeeze her hand. She sat up quickly. Meredith's azure eyes graced her own grey ones. Pepper smiled but she noticed that the blue looking at her seemed dull… as if there was no life in its beholders.

"Meredith! You're awake. Oh my god I have to call the doctor." Pepper wiped the tears from her eyes and tried to stand up. But Meredith just squeezed her hand more. "Stay…"

"Oh, Meri, you must be in pain. I have to call the doc-

"Pepper… please…" she looked at Pepper with pleading eyes. Her brows furrowed as just tried to speak. Pepper gave in and just sat down again, clutching Meredith's hand with both of hers. Meredith smiled.

"My baby Darcy... I- I heard you, Pepper…"

"Oh my little speech? Hahaha" Pepper blushed lightly. Meredith let out a small grin then turned serious. Her eyes were dark and solemn.

"I'm… sorry…"

Pepper was starting to worry. "What could you possibly be sorry for? This is not your fault."

"I love you, Pep," she breathed out, eyes intently on her friend, "I love you, and Tony."

"I love you too, Meri," she replied, but she couldn't shake off the anxiety seeping into her bones.

"You live strong and long for me, okay?" she sighed. Pepper shook her head, "You're scaring me, Meredith. Stop talking, I'm going to get a doctor."

"Pepper…" she slowly exhaled, "Please stay, I don't have much time... "

Pepper started crying again. A hysterical sob broke out. She shook her vigorously. She squeezed Meredith's hand more tightly, "No, no, no you're not doing this. No, no, no Meredith, hey, stop this."

"Pepper, hey, don't cry. Your crying face is ugly… I don't want my last memory to be your ugly crying face… " she winced. Meredith felt the pain spreading throughout her body. A shot of morphine would've been nice but she wanted to deal with it. The pain was so strong, it was keeping her awake.

"Meredith, no, please, no don't say that. I'm getting Dr. Conrad, I'll get him. You stay there. He's just right outside, he said. Please, stay with me!," Pepper began rambling. She was hyperventilating. Her lungs were getting suffocated. She couldn't believe what was happening.

She was ready to leave the room when Meredith whispered, "Please… love Darcy. Like your own… She's a great girl…" Pepper stopped in her tracks and turned around in anger.

"MEREDITH LEWIS!" Pepper fell on the floor. She ignored the pain when she hit the bed frame. "No, no, no, no, stop this. Please. I beg you. Stop. Where's the doctor?! "

"Listen to me, Pepper, I will be okay, so just listen to me. I'm running out of words," Meredith croaked, "Look at me, Pepper. I'll be alright."

Pepper got on her knees and looked at Meredith's eyes. She saw a tear squeeze out of her bruised eye.

"Darcy… take care of her. Promise me…"

"I will, Meredith, I will take care of you too. You'll get better, you know that? You'll be fine. This is nothing, Meredith. You have to recover. Just hold on for a few minutes. Come on, Darcy is waiting for you. After this, we can have a nice cup of tea, right? You always loved you tea. Meri, please. Just, just don't leave. Don't leave us yet!"

"Tony, take care of him too. Don't give up on him… Remember all my dreams."

Blue-grey eyes shook. Pepper started remembering her past meetings with her, throughout those seven months. Meredith would always call her, even in the middle of the night, to talk about her dreams. She always did it, because she was afraid she'll forget all about the dreams and Pepper remembered every single one of them.

"Remember when I told you how I pictured Darcy?" she croaked, smiling weakly. Her blue eyes growing duller every second. Every sigh was poisoned with undeserved nostalgia.

"I-I remember. And y-you'll do that, you know, Meredith? You'll be able to do all of them." Pepper sobbed, as she tried to gather oxygen in her quivering lungs. She wiped the tears away with her trembling hands, but they just continued on flowing.

"Can you..." Meredith swallowed deeply, words becoming weak gasps, "... do that for me?"

"I will do everything for you. Just don't leave us yet. Please," Pepper could feel sanity fleeting from her body, like the breath from Meredith's lungs. Why was no one coming?

Meredith smiled. It was her usual smile. Her cerulean eyes twinkled as the last moisture from her body gathered a thin film on her irises. Pepper could not breathe.

"Stay with me for a couple of seconds, please Pep?" her breath raspy, "Please, don't cry. Just talk. Talk to me for a little while. I'll be fine. I'll be okay."

Pepper's lung heaved heavily as she cried. She was hating every second of it. She felt incredibly useless. No matter how hard she was crying, no one seemed to hear her. All was left was the incessant beeps of the machines and the pained breaths exhaled by her friend. Meredith held her hand gently, telling her to stay but all she wanted to was run around the hospital for help. Every fiber in her body was utterly helpless and desperate.

"Hey, remember last week? You called me at 3:23 in the morning," Pepper hiccuped, burying her left cheek onto the sheets to face Meredith. Blue eyes looked up to the ceiling with a nostalgic grin. "You called me, panicking and crying, about how Darcy kept crying because she didn't want to get separated from you. You were crying to me about how sweet she was and how nice it was to cuddle with your daughter."

Meredith started humming feebly. The lullaby was soft yet hoarse.

"Then you told me about how you woke up the next day, and she was babbling 'Mama' while playing with your hair." Pepper continued with broken sobs, closing her eyes to feel the memory. She could hear Meredith breathe more slowly. "Then you had a dream about the grown-up Darcy, waking you up to go the beach..." She chuckled. "You know, now that I think about it. Tony also called me afterwards. He was in Dubai, for a demonstration, and he was drunk you know? He was calling me, asking me to come to him because he was all alone. I think he had too much to drink that night. He kept asking for a hug, you know, Meredith. Then I just laughed at how they're so much alike. I could really see them arguing with each other, rambling about prototypes, and engines. Darcy would steal your toaster and your blow-dryer to make some kind of robotic teddy-bear or something. You would get angry and happy at the same time and Tony would just have that smirk."

"Thank you, Pepper." Meredith breathed out. More tears came out. She doesn't want to look up anymore so she kept on talking.

"A-and Darcy would be this beautiful, intelligent girl. She'll grow with your curls and Tony's wit. She'll be shy yet sarcastic. I can already see this little girl having a snarky verbal battle with other girls. Do you see what I'm getting at, Meredith? You could be a beautiful family. Maybe, if things go well, Tony could move here in New York, you know? Stark Industries is mainly based here so maybe he'll come live here. You could have a house in the Hamptons or a beautiful condominium in the Upper East Side. And then, you'd take weekly walks in Central Park, go see the museums and just... just be a family. So Meredith, if you just hang on..." Pepper trembled as she squeezed her friend's hand.

She wasn't moving.

"I-If you just hang on, Meredith. I-f you just stay with me for a couple of seconds," Pepper tugged, but she felt no reaction, "Everything will be fine, you know? Meredith? Everything will be okay."

She stopped hearing it. Her breath gone with the cold air. The hoarse, gentle lullaby could no longer be heard. Her pallid skin lost of warmth.

"Meredith?" she whispered, voice tired and raspy. Sanity has left her. She can no longer believe. "Meri?"

No answer.

"Meredith, you were just singing a second ago." She tried grasping every ounce of strength and will to crack the vice the kept her eyes closed from reality. "Come on, wake up. Please wake up." She tried to look at the beautiful pair of azure eyes that glimmered with life and joy. But she couldn't. She knew that those eyes would no longer open. "Darcy. What about Darcy? What about Tony?" She knew that if she looked up to see the face of the owner of the cold hand she's holding, she'd see nothing but death upon a porcelain doll. She closed her eyes tightly, squeezing all the tears out. "What about me, Meredith?" Everything hurt. Her lungs refused to breathe. Her heart refused to beat. All her muscles only wanted to frown into the agonizing pain, to tighten and constrict like suffocating chains. "What should I do, Meredith?" Her body was wounded, her heart broken into million pieces.

Then Pepper realized that all she has to do is to be herself. Even if all she can do was to cower into the corner and stare at Meredith's sleeping face, to just cry endlessly at how she gave her last breath with a smile, to forever drown in sorrow and agony, she has to move on. She has to stand up and continue her job.

To keep a promise.

The beep was long and deafening, as Meredith fell to her last heartbeat. The doors crashed open, doctors and nurses rushed in frantically to save a hopeless soul. Pepper watched with soaked, blank grey eyes as they set her body flat on the bed for defibrillation. Lifeless curls sprawled over the sheets, and motionless arms dropped. Everybody was shouting, and they kept telling her to get out of the room.

But she couldn't walk. She couldn't move. Tears fell, burning her skin like ember, and with a quivering hand, she reached to touch her flaccid body. She touched the skin as it started to fade into the brightest complexion of broken ashes. Her throat was dry as she croaked her last farewell to her closest friend. Lips, dry and quaking.

"I'll make them come true, Meredith," she whispered, "Everything I said."

I'll make your dreams come true.

oOo

Tony was confused. He was confused why Pepper started running towards his jet. He was confused why he just followed her to New York. He was confused why she was headed towards Mount Sinai. He was even more perplexed why he followed her in the first place. What she does is none of my business…Tony thought. He glanced at his watch, "Six-twelve… So much for that afternoon tea…."

Tony straightened his navy suit and fixed his sunglasses. Not minding the stares of the people around him, he gallantly strolled inside the emergency room.

"What a mess…" he hissed. He hated hospitals. The clean sterile feeling was a deep contrast to the motor oil odor he usually wore when he's home. The smell of anti-septic alcohol burned his nose. He also hated the bright white colors of the hospital. Good thing he wore his sunglasses.

Tony grabbed the nearest nurse. "Oh hey, you're cute." The nurse put on a shocked face, then smiled sheepishly, "Tony Stark?"

"The only one." He smiled smugly, "Hey have you seen a little red-head? Well, she's not little, just a little shorter than me. Business suit, I think it was beige, or was it red, I don't remember. She acts like robot."

The woman just looked at him with wide eyes. She clutched the medicine she was holding and bit her lip.

"Ms. Potts is in the waiting room of the second floor… with Dr. Conrad."

"That little..."

The nurse just smiled at him and gestured him towards the elevator.

The elevator chimed and Tony got inside. The doors were about to close when a hand popped in causing the elevators to open again. A short lanky man came in. He smiled shyly at Tony and apologized. Tony wanted to laugh at the guy. Big black rectangular frames circled the man's brown eyes. A green sweater vest shrouded his thin figure. He wore tacky khaki pants and cheap leather loafers. No need to be immature, Tony. You need to be serious. You are about to fire your assistant, he reminded himself.

"So…" the man squeaked.

"I don't make small-talks. Close the doors." Tony said, "Press 2, also, thank you." The man pressed the close button and gave him a wide grin when he tapped the 2 button. Tony frowned.

"Oh! Congratulations! Is it a baby boy or a girl? My wife just delivered sweet Elizabeth just thirty minutes ago. I left to get my wife's favorite mango juice." The man beamed at him as he waved a little juice bottle.

"I don't have a child. Let alone a wife." Tony gritted through his teeth. Does he look like a father?

"Oh you must be visiting then. Sorry for the assumption. Is it a friend then?"

"I'm not visiting anyone." How does going up one floor in an elevator takes so much damn time….

"Then why are you going to the second floor? It's the nursery floor."

The elevator chimed open and the man waved goodbye to him. Tony slowly hopped off. His mind was too busy computing data. He has no idea why Pepper would be in this floor. Full of crying infants… and some Dr. Conrad….

He saw the lanky man pass a series of glass walls. The corridor was tinted with soft colors and a soft piano melody echoes through the halls' speakers. He spots Pepper sitting on a chair in front of the glass panes, her elbows propped on her knees and her hands covered her face. He was about to call her when a man clad in a white coat opened the door from the nursery and approached her. He immediately swerved to a corner and concealed himself. Did I just hide?

He kept his back close to the wall and listened.

"Ms. Potts?" the man with the mellifluous voice said. Is that the Conrad guy? He sounds lame.

He heard Pepper sniffs and said, "Dr. Conrad, sorry I'm suck a wreck…"

"I completely understand, Ms. Potts. Considering the situation…" What situation?

"How is she?" he heard Pepper. Pepper's voice sounded really hoarse and… sad.

"She's fine. The nurse is attending to her right now and I checked her vitals, and they're all fine. Don't worry."

"Doctor, I don't know what to do. I- I"

"Her wounds would take less than 2 weeks to heal. After that, you can take her home."

Tony heard Pepper exhale a long sigh.

"She's awake right now. Do you want to see Darcy?" Dr. Conrad suggested.

Darcy? Who the hell is Darcy?

"Thanks, Doctor but its fine. I don't want her to see me like this. I'm all snotty and stuff." Pepper helplessly laughed.

"It's all up to you now, Ms. Potts. Ms. Lewis assigned you as her legal guardian," he heard the doctor.

Legal guardian? Meredith? What the hell happened?

"I know. Yesterday, I was just Tony Stark's secretary, but now I'm a mom too? Fate is so tricky…"

MOM? Did I just her say she was going to be a mom?

"Speaking of Mr. Stark, is he informed about Darcy? I haven't seen him anywhere? I didn't even know he had a child, until today…" Conrad said quietly.

What? What? Child? Darcy? Me? Child? Tony Stark? Father?

Tony was at first confused… very confused. He came here with the assumption that she ditched him to talk to the good-looking doctor. He came here to fire her. He didn't come to find out he has a child.

And then, he was furious. Furious that something is being kept from him… furious that Pepper knows something he didn't…. furious that the time he found out that he has a child, that child is all injured.

Tony's hands turned into a fist. He let out a small grunt. He absolutely hates not being in control. And it is slipping through his fingers.

"Meredith strongly requested me that I don't tell Tony… she felt that Tony is not yet to be a father…"

Meredith? Meredith had a baby? Meredith has my child? I have a daughter?

"When are you going to tell him, then? Now that Ms. Lewis is –

"Yeah, when are you going to tell me, Pepper?"

He saw Pepper flinched, jumping in her place and dropping a tissue she was gripping so tightly. Tony stood in his place, emanating a strong aura, lurking to overwhelm, thirsty to dominate. He casually inserted his hands on the pockets of his suit pants. He held an indifferent stare behind the honey-colored glasses. The apathetic stance was just a façade.

Tony Stark was furious. Enraged. Extremely livid.

Pepper stood to stare back with eyes ajar. Her pupils contract into small black dots, shaking. Tony tried to figure out the emotions she was showing. Fear trembled her body. Shock turned her pallid. The skin around her eyes was red as blood. Tears and sweat made her disheveled hair clung to her skin. Tony never saw this kind of Pepper before. Her small quivering lips rounded to a small "o" trying to say his name but no words came out. Dr. Conrad swallowed. Tony took the cue and started stepping towards her, still holding an aloof mask. He made a quick glance to the left, seeing a room full of sleeping babies. He stopped just in front of Pepper. She was barely breathing.

"I'm going to ask you a couple of questions. You better answer me, Potts," the way he hissed her name made Pepper cringed. It was a true indication of the rage fuming inside him. She swallowed back a sob as his voice grew louder. "You're going to answer to me because I'm your damn boss. You're going to tell me the truth because I can't take any more of this GODDAMN BULLSHIT!"

Everyone in the waiting room jumped in their seats. Dr. Conrad took a cautious step back from him. Pepper squeezed the hems of her blazer, trying to keep the tears from falling.

"Tell me, Potts," he exhaled, "What's my name?"

Pepper was taken back and just yelped, "W-what?"

"Am I speaking another language?" Tony faced Dr. Conrad. He laughed mockingly then turned back to Pepper, "WHAT'S MY NAME?"

"Tony Star-

"Yes! Tony. Stark." He enunciated with a sharp hiss. "Does Tony Stark sound like Howard Stark to you?"

"N-no, T-tony"

"YES! I'M NOT HOWARD STARK!" he proclaimed, "I thought you knew better, Potts, I thought you could actually be different than the shit I've dealt with in my life. I THOUGHT that you could actually know me. That I am not some selfish asshole who drinks all the time. That I am not some bastard with shitloads of money. That I am not some prick who only cares about his job. But I thought wrong."

"Let me tell you something Pepper, I. Am. Nothing. Like. My. Father." He reminded Pepper.

Tony turned around. He inhaled a deep breath and exhaled. Nothing was in his control today, as if entropy is pulling all the strings, tangling into never ending chaos. He heard Pepper sob behind him. His fists clenched. He didn't want to be the villain in the room. But he just felt so angry. Do people really think of him that way? Do people really think that he was heartless man who had no room for a child? He looked up to the nursery room. He saw rows and rows of small beds carrying little sleeping infants. On the far left, he saw a placard that was labeled "Darcy Lewis". Little ivory hands jutted out of the crib opening and closing, as if she was trying to reach the ceiling. That was his child. The child shares the same blood as him. Even though her birth was not planned, she was still his child. The child was Tony Stark's daughter. And he has every right to know her.

But why do people tried so hard to keep her away from him?

"When were you going to tell me, Pepper?" he hissed again, turning around.

"Meredith..." was all Pepper could choke out.

A flash of fury overwhelmed his system. It pulsed through his veins and contaminated the nerves of his brains. Like a mindless drone, he stumbled towards the nursery room. He grabbed the door handle and pulled it. He heard Dr. Conrad yell at him that he shouldn't go inside a restricted, sterile area but Tony stopped caring. Pepper mumbled a "No, Tony" through her tears and went to follow him. He maneuvered towards the crib of his daughter, dodging and shoving incoming nurses attempting to stop him. Then he stopped in front of the baby.

She was beautiful. He never thought he could actually admit it. Her little head was covered with minuscule dark brown gentle curls. The color definitely came from him but Meredith's curls dominated. He sees her left arm all bandaged up but it did not distract him seeing her fair complexion. Her skin was pallid, ashen but it had her mother's satiny porcelain glow. She was big, healthy with chubby legs and arms. Her pale cheeks was tinted a soft rosy blush. His heart almost stopped when Darcy wiggled to look at him. She revealed a set of stark blue eyes. It was a mix of hazy aquamarine and cerulean. Glittering flecks of turquoise shone in her irises. It flickered with glee. Then she smiled at him, quirking one side of her small lips. Her white nose wrinkled with innocent mischief. He knew for sure. Those mouth and nose was definitely his.

He asked himself again. Why would they keep such a beautiful child away from him?

"Tony... She's gone..." he heard. Pepper grabbed his sleeves. She was shaking madly. He took off his sunglasses and stared back at Pepper, her eyes drenched with her tears.

"Meredith... She got into a car crash this morning. I got a call t-that..." Pepper stuttered. It was becoming too painful to revisit her death. Tony just stared at her.

"Tony, she told me that I should... Take care of you. Take care of Darcy. She was sorry, Tony"

He clutched the sunglasses in his hand. He squeezed it until it broke.

"Meredith's dead. She's gone." Pepper sobbed. She hit her head onto Tony's shoulder. He felt tears drenching his suit.

There it was again. Tony never thought it would actually come to him again. He thought he was cured of his sickness.

Church bells clanged in his ear. It tolled louder and louder, bouncing endlessly in his skull. It rang and it rang over and over again until he could no longer hear Pepper's cries.

Even though he felt the shivers emanating from Pepper, the warmth of her tears gradually touching his shoulders, he felt alone. Once again, like the rainy night of last years' Ides of March, he was all alone.

His parents left him. They left him by himself, with an empire to look after. They left him by himself, with a grandiose mansion, no one to share dinner with. They left him all alone in the world. He tried to forget about them. He tried to forget about the past. So he drank and alcohol became his best remedy.

But someone came. Someone came for him. Someone from the past came back to remind him that he wasn't alone in this big world. Meredith, an age-old friend, returned to him. She made him remember all the good times. She made him forget about the sad stuff. She taught him to accept the people around him. She introduced Pepper to him.

He tried to change after she left for New York. He stopped thinking that the way to be strong was to be tough, merciless. He learned that being independent was just not about being alone on his own. He reached out for Pepper. He opened up to her. He learned that the more vulnerable he let himself to be, and the softer he tried to become, and the more he allow people into your life, and into his heart, he'll become happier. He didn't have to pretend to be someone he's not. He didn't have to cower under his father's shadow. Meredith made him feel that he was Tony Stark himself. She made him feel loved. Genuine love.

And now she's gone too. She left him too. She's dead. Meredith is dead. He lost his first love. He lost his best friend.

He was all alone.

"Da...da…"

He suddenly heard. The voice was soft, silky. Adorable. He found the source of the voice. He looked to see Darcy sitting up. Her blue eyes glowed with worry. He felt a soft touch of her little hand on his hand as he realized he was gripping the rails of the crib tightly, his sunglasses were in pieces on the floor. Tony exhaled loudly. Pepper was still crying her eyes out on his sleeve. He felt another pat on his gripping hand. Darcy was looking at him.

No.

He was not alone.

How could he be so stupid?

He was not alone.

He has Pepper.

And he has Darcy.

God gave him another chance.

He gave him another chance to make things right.

Without any hesitation, he released hold of the crib and scooped Darcy up from her bed. The doctor took a step forward him, nervous. Pepper halted her sobs with a loud sniff and looked up to see Tony cradle his daughter. Words refused to come out of her mouth. Her mouth was wide open as she simply watched with utter awe.

Tony put her fragile body on his arms, gently cradling her. Darcy wiggled a little bit and gazed innocently at the man carrying her.

"Da...da." she babbled again. Dr. Conrad smiled to himself. The baby was sure developing well. Pepper gasped and snuck a glance at Tony's reaction.

Tony was smiling. A complete foolish grin was plastered on his face. With a cautious hand, he raised a finger to stroke the little girl's cheek. Darcy revealed a diminutive smirk.

"Yes, Darcy. I'm your Da-Da." he cooed, "and you are my baby girl."

Pepper released her hold of Tony's sleeve to witness the scene. She finally smiled when she saw Tony's face. She pulled up her hand and dropped it gently on his shoulder.

Tony knows how much he hates not being in control. But at that point he let it all loose. He supported Darcy's head and pushed her close to his face, hugging her tenderly. His vision blurred as tears gathered in his eyes. With a gentle release, he closed his eyes to let his tears fall. He hugged Darcy tightly.

"Darcy, from now on, we are going to be together." He whispered yet hard with promise. "We're going to prove the world wrong. We're going to show them what we really are. We're going to show them that there's hope. We have to stick together, okay? As family."

With one last tender squeeze, he looked at Pepper with watery eyes. Tony will have Darcy. As Meredith asked him, he'll open up to her. He'll reach out to her. He'll love her as Meredith loved him. He'll be there for her as Pepper was with him. He'll be there to guide her. Together, they will look at life a different way.

"We'll never be alone anymore. Never again."

After that day, Tony never heard of church bells ever again.

This is my first time writing about someone's death... and sorrow... and someone finding out they had a child. I'm not really an emotional person. I'm mostly apathetic to situations. I'm sorry if Pepper and Tony was a little bit out of character. I didn't really know how would they react. I tried my best to put myself in their shoes, but then again, I suck.