"Gonna write me up at 125
Post my face wanted dead or alive
Take my license, and all that jive
I can't drive 55"
- Sammy Hagar, "I Can't Drive 55"
Anna, her father, Jake, Pepper and Happy all arrived at the Historic Grand Prix. Tony, Pepper and Happy exited their black Rolls Royce town car while Anna and Jake did the same with their own. Happy followed his boss and friend carrying a red and silver metal suitcase, otherwise known as the Football. Jake did the same with Anna's own case, an egg-shaped, matte black metal suitcase, yet to be named, which now had her improved suit with the updated armor. They entered the Hotel de Paris and were greeted by photographers.
Anna, Tony, and Pepper walked ahead, holding conversation until Tony said, "You know, it's Europe. Whatever happens in the next twenty minutes, just go with it."
The comment caught Pepper off guard for a moment, "Go with it? Go with what?"
Suddenly Natalie approached the group, something Anna thought was at first unexpected until she realized that she really should of expected it. Tony had an interest in Natalie since the day he met her, it made sense for him to hire her as his personal assistant now that Pepper was CEO.
"Mr. Stark?" Natalie greeted with an inquiring tone.
"Hey," Tony answered as Pepper stood next to him looking a little taken aback. Anna watched the exchange hesitantly, wondering what Pepper was going to do when she snapped out of her shock.
"Hello, how was your flight?" Natalie asked.
"It was excellent. Boy, it's nice to see you," Tony replied, catching Pepper's astonished look as he and the older redhead grabbed a glass off the tray offered to them.
"We have one photographer from the ACM, if you don't mind. Okay?" Tony agreed and a photographer was waved over to the group. As the photographer approached the group, Pepper turned to Tony.
"When did this happen?" she asked through a smile, referring to Natalie's reassignment.
"What? You made me do it?" Tony argued back, also through a smile while the photographer readied himself. Anna shook her head, her own grin on her face despite the argument taking place.
"What did she make you do exactly?" Anna questioned, inserting herself into the tiff, smile still on her face. "Hire the next hot girl who entered the room to be your errand girl, who does things you could do yourself."
"The two of you quit. Smile. Look, right there. Stop acting constipated. Don't flare your nostrils," Tony rambled through his grin just as the photographer took the picture.
"You are so predictable," Pepper resigned as she walked away, Tony continuing forward with Natalie.
Anna took Jake off to get a drink, thankful that she could legally drink in Monaco.
"Having fun yet?" Jake asked as he leaned against the bar. Anna rolled her eyes.
"If only. We haven't even been here three minutes and my dad already threw a curve ball at me, and he and Pepper have already had an argument. I have great expectations for today."
Jake shrugged as they waited for a bartender to spot them so that he could flag them down, "Well, at least you have me."
"True. Sometimes it's like you're the only one to keep me sane," she replied with a chuckle.
The pair of friends were interrupted just as Anna recognizes not only Justin Hammer a couple feet away but also Christine Everhart, her father's former one-night stand.
"It's like Satan sent this duo just to screw with me," Anna said referring to the two who looked as if they were conducting an interview of sorts.
"Well, I see Justin Hammer, aka the bane of every Stark's existence, but who's the blonde?" Jake asked.
Anna sighed, looking over her shoulder to check if the two had noticed her, "She's a journalist for Vanity Fair magazine. Christine Everhart. She's also the one who sprung the news to my dad that Stark Industries had been double-dealing when Obadiah was trying to take over the company. And, she also slept with my dad."
Jake looked at the young Stark sitting on the bar stool in front of him, "Oh. Alright then, yeah let's just avoid them at all costs."
"Yeah, let's."
Just then Tony and Pepper rejoined them at the bar, still going back and forth about the Natalie issue. "Green is not your best color," Tony commented about the redhead's attitude. Anna rolled her eyes. Not the best thing to say, she thought.
"Oh, please," Pepper quipped back at him. Unfortunately, with her father's presence drawing more attention to the area, Anna's hopes of not encountering Justin Hammer were shot.
"Anthony. Is that you?" Hammer said, approaching the group.
"My least favorite person on Earth," Tony said to his daughter, Jake, and Pepper. Anna nodded and made a noise of agreement.
"Hey pal," Hammer greeted. The two men exchanged quips and all Anna could think was, at least Christine Everhart isn't right here, right now to add icing to the stop of this impending horrible conversation.
Wrong.
"You know Christine Everhart from Vanity Fair. You guys know each other right?" Hammer introduced as the blonde reporter came to stand next to him. Niceties were exchanged, so fake it made Anna want to be sick. Anna shot Jake a looked that screamed: "Get me the hell out of here?!"
Hammer took the opportunity to boost his own ego when Christine congratulated Pepper. "She's actually doing a big spread on me for Vanity Fair. I thought I'd throw her a bone, you know. Right?" Ass, Anna thought. She may not be Christine's biggest fan but he didn't have to act like he was doing her a favor. Despite sleeping together, after the Iron Man announcement she still wrote a decent piece on Tony. If anything, she was doing him a favor by hopefully sending him some positive PR after the Senate hearing debacle.
Thankfully, Pepper stepped in, also annoyed with Justin Hammer at this point, although she couldn't keep the bite from her tone, "Right. Well, she did quite a spread on Tony last year." Anna knew she was not referring to the article. Apparently, so did Tony.
"And she wrote a story as well," the older Stark added.
"It was very well done," Pepper added. Christine gave a polite thank you, grinning through the annoyance. "I'm gonna go wash," Pepper announced, pulling on Jake's arm and tugging him away from Anna's side effectively, leaving the young Stark and her father alone with the insufferable man and blonde journalist.
"Don't leave me," Tony tried with no success. Anna tried to make a break too, but Tony gripped her wrist and pulled her back to his side. "You get to suffer with me Prodigy," he whispered to her.
Holding back a groan, Anna continued to look for an out and Hammer continued to try to converse with them. All the while, Christine was using this as a perfect opportunity to get more quotes for her article.
"Can I ask you… Is this the first time—" she tried to ask, being interrupted by Hammer and another photographer. Anna and Tony were forced into a picture with the man they loathed, Tony with his sunglasses on and Anna stayed neutral, not even bothering to fake camaraderie out of politeness.
"Say 'Brie,'" Hammer said, while the two Starks ignored him, Tony saying nothing while Anna muttered a 'kill me' under her breath.
Christine continued her question, "…that you guys have seen each other?" Tony makes a snarky comment about the picture before he attempts to wander away, Anna leading the way. "Listen, is it the first time you've seen each other since the Senate?"
"Since he got his contract revoked," Tony started when Hammer jumped in.
"Actually, it's on hold." Anna paused in her escape and turned towards the man behind her and her father.
"Really? Only on hold. Even after you almost killed a man by trying and failing to recreate Iron Man. Hm… that doesn't sound right?" Anna sassed before continuing forward and away.
"Yeah, that's not what I heard. What's the difference between 'hold' and 'canceled'? The truth?" her father added.
Christine kept a professional front, but on the inside, she was loving the back and forth bickering. It would give her a great story. "Yes, what is it?"
The group approached a table and Anna was beginning to think that they would never get rid of the wannabe and the reporter. Her eyes scanned the room desperately searching for Jake, hoping that finding him would give her the perfect escape to leave the present company.
Hammer stuttered a second before answering, "No. The truth is," he paused to try to swat Christine's recorder away, causing Anna to shoot him a small glare, "Why don't we put that away? The truth is, I'm actually hoping to present something at your Expo."
Getting one last jab in, Tony turned to Hammer, "Well, if you invent something that works, I'll make sure I get you a slot." In Anna's mind, she hoped that was never. But, she knew her father's comment, which was a lot nicer than what she would've said, was a save face technique. The Expo was about bringing in the future by presenting the newest innovations in the world. Hammer was still world renowned, as much as she hated to admit it, and by denying him a slot completely would not look good for Tony.
At that moment, Natalie approached the table and before she even had a chance to say anything, Anna took her out and made a break for it. Wandering around the room, she found Jake and Pepper conversing by the door.
"Where's my backpack?" Anna asked, not seeing the hard shell metal bag with her best friend.
"I dropped it off at coat check," he replied nonchalantly.
Anna's eyes widened, practically sputtering at what he just said, "You left a priceless high tech suit with coat check?!"
Jake grabbed her by the shoulders in an attempt to calm her down, "Relax, it's hidden in plain sight. Everyone thinks it's just a backpack and no one even knows you have a suit." Anna took a deep breath, running her hand through her hair, trying not to mess it up too much.
"Fine. Whatever. I just never got my drink earlier and I really need a drink after that," she motioned to the table Hammer and Christine were still at, "whole situation over there. A particularly strong drink in fact." The duo walked to the bar while Pepper went to sit at the table as the race was about to begin.
Finishing her second vodka martini while Jake nursed his whiskey, Anna's attention was drawn to the TV as she heard a familiar voice. Tony was on the TV, wearing a black and blue Stark Industries racing suit, similar to the one Anna wore for her skating suit.
"Oh God," Jake muttered but Anna was barely phased. It was just her dad. Doing something he probably shouldn't do, but was going to anyway. The guy dressed up in a metal suit and fought terrorists for God's sake. She figured he could handle a car race. Of course, that could also just be the alcohol talking. Jake turned to the younger Stark, a little thrown by her non-reaction. "Should we do something?"
She turned towards him, blindly setting the empty glass back on the bar. "Like what? He's already in the car. I'm sure he'll be fine." She was a little concerned about why he decided on this so quickly but assumed he was just pent up and frustrated from the Hammer conversation earlier and wanted to show off.
The two friends watched the race intently for a few minutes, keeping track of where exactly Tony was and how he was doing. He was doing surprisingly well. Suddenly, the camera moved ahead where a man from the pit crew began to walk into the middle of the track. Anna's could feel herself becoming more alert, adrenaline beginning to pump and the effects of the alcohol wearing off as she began to sober quickly. She had a very bad feeling about this.
Turning to Jake, she tugged on his hand pulling his attention from the screen, "I need the coat check slip, now." He hurriedly fished it out of his suit jacket pocket and handed it to her.
"What's—" he tried to start but Anna cut him off and continued.
"Something's wrong, tell Happy to get the Football and be ready." Before Jake could ask any more, she was already gone, rushing towards the coat check all the while keeping an eye on the TV's. The man in the orange pit crew uniform suddenly pulled out two long, electric whips and began swinging.
Anna ran to coat check all but throwing the receipt at the attendant. He handed her bag to her and she's off again. Running into a nearby closet, not even attempting to make it to the bathroom, the younger Stark shed her dress, leaving her in just a bra and pair of black shorts she had worn underneath. She donned her suit in record time, boots clamping around her feet and skates magnetically attached to her back until she got outside. Locking the helmet on, she darted from the closet and raced to the track. Once on the road, she attached her skates and rushed to the scene.
Weaving between workers and cars, by the time she got to the scene, the Stark racecar is already destroyed and the mystery man is approaching her father. Not about to let him attack her dad when he's vulnerable and out of the suit, she knew she had to do something fast. She was really regretting not implementing some repulsors or other offense into her prototype suit. Doing the only thing she could, she built up as much speed as possible and charged at the unknown man. Running into him at full force, the man was violently knocked to the ground and Anna tumbled down too, glad for the extra protection of the gold-titanium alloy. She was quickly able to get up while the man also pulled himself back to his feet.
"Listen dude, it's time to put the whips away. A globally broadcasted TV program is no place for your BDSM fetish, okay?" Anna quipped, her voice coming through the comms in her helmet. The man ignored her, instead, he swung an electric whip at her again. Luckily, she was able to see the move coming and skated out of the way. "If you want to catch me, you're gonna have to try a lot harder than that!" She glanced behind the man and was able to see her father stir as he came to, recovering from the crash. The unknown man attempted to swing at her a few more times, but she dodged each time, throwing the occasional car part at him. He was getting frustrated with every failed attempt.
Unfortunately, Anna's luck didn't last much longer. She believed she was effectively wearing him out until Tony got the Football. But, as she moved to dodge, she tripped up. The man swung his right whip at her, however, when she moved to the side, she had not been anticipating him to swing the left whip so soon after. The whip wrapped around her, sending electric pulses through her suit causing it to short circuit. The electromagnets of her skates shut off and detached as the man yanked forward on the whip. Anna went flying forward before colliding with the ground.
Anna Stark was a mess. She couldn't move at first, her thoughts rattled as she tried to reboot her suit. Her skates were feet away and her suit was damaged from the whip. She shakily got to her feet, but it was almost too late.
Anna could only watch as her father continued to lay on the ground, the man approaching him and swinging the whips. Gasoline leaked from the wrecked racecar and the prodigy was terrified that she was about to witness her father perish in a fiery blaze. Just as the man swung the whip though, Tony leaped to his feet and away from the vehicle as it exploded. Tony patted out some fire that caught on his suit.
Suddenly, Happy, driving the Rolls Royce, barreled down the track towards the man, successfully pinning him against the fence. Tony leaped onto the fence to avoid getting hit and when the man was incapacitated he jumped off. Anna hurried to grab her skates and meet up with the others at the car, her suit having rebooted itself completely and the electromagnets were up and working again.
"Are you okay?" Tony asked, addressing everyone on the track.
"Yep. I'm just peachy," Anna replied just as Happy replied, "Yeah."
"Were you heading for me or him?" Tony asked, addressing Happy this time. He seemed to be highly irritated, but Anna rolled her eyes. Tony wasn't hit so no harm no foul, there were bigger fish to fry than arguing with each other. Again.
"I was trying to scare him," Happy explained, not appreciating Tony's tone.
"'Cause I can't tell!" Tony exclaimed, finishing his thought.
"Can we please not argue about this right now?" Anna chimed in.
Pepper finally coming to terms with what just happened turned her anger on Tony, "Are you out of your mind?!" Tony complained about needing better security. "Get in the car right now!" Anna glanced at the screaming woman, as the redhead turned to her too. "Anna get in the car!"
The group continued to yell at each other. Tony took no culpability in the situation, claiming it wasn't his fault he was attacked. Anna agreed, but if he never would have raced he would've had better security. Pepper and Happy continued to demand that the two Starks get in the car.
Tony went to open the car door, finally listening to his two friends all while complaining under his breath, "First vacation in two years." Suddenly, attention was drawn to the unknown man pinned to the fence as he sliced the door in half with a whip.
"Woah!" Anna yelled, just as Pepper screamed, "Oh my God!" Happy threw the car into reverse before putting it back in drive to ram into the man again.
"I got him!" Happy exclaimed.
"Hit him again! Hit him again!" Anna and Tony yelled.
Pepper continued to yell from the backseat as Happy rammed the man repeatedly into the fence. Tony yelled at Pepper for the Football but the motion of the car kept her from handing the heavy suitcase over. She screamed for Happy to stop banging the car. With one last bang, the airbags deployed in the car and the man was able to slice the car in half, eliciting more terrified yells from Pepper and Happy.
Tony attempted to calm Pepper down as the man cut another slice off the car.
"Give me the case!" Anna yelled at her, standing by where the car was sliced. Pepper chucked the case out onto the ground and Anna kicked it over to her father. Stepping on the case to activate it, the suit began to cover the older Stark. Once he was in the suit, he pushed the car out of the way, leaving just him and Anna to fight off the man. Before much can be done, the man wrapped the whips around Tony like he did with Anna earlier. Tossing him back and forth, Anna leaped in to grab one of the electric whips that had grabbed her earlier before it can hit her dad. The current passed into the suit, not as intense as the first time as her suit did not shutdown although it did falter a little. Glancing towards her dad, she saw him bent down, appearing to experience the same thing she did. He looked up and their eyes met despite both having helmets on.
"Follow my lead, Prodigy," he said. Standing from the crouched position, he began to walk towards the man, wrapping the electric whip around himself more and more so the man couldn't pull away. Anna did the same on the man's other side. The two Starks, once close enough, attacked. Tony punched the man in the gut while Anna threw a right hook at his face before they slammed him to the ground. As Anna pinned him, Tony reached down to grab the arc reactor from his check piece and ripped it out, disabling the electric whips.
The Stark duo detangled themselves from the whips and backed away from the man as the police came to retrieve him. The cheering of the crowd was drowned out as Anna turned to her dad. Glancing at the arc reactor in his hand, the only thing she could say was "How?"
"I don't know," he answered before crushing it to pieces. "But I'm gonna find out." As they walked back to Pepper and Happy, eager to get off the track, Tony looked back to his daughter, "Good work out there Prodigy." The younger Stark smiled at the praise, bumps and bruises aside.
"Thanks."
First responders swarmed the track after the fight along with some other personnel. Somehow, Jake was able to get down to meet them, which Anna was very thankful for. He spotted her easily since she thankfully had her helmet off.
Rushing forward, he pulled Anna into a tight hug. The metal suit made it a bit awkward and uncomfortable, not to mention her injuries, but she appreciated the hug nonetheless. They pulled away from each other and Anna smirked up at him.
"Thank the Lord for quick and efficient coat check attendants," she joked.
"No kidding. Also, nice right hook. Glad the boxing lessons are paying off," he replied with a chuckle before growing serious. "Really though, I'm glad you're okay. I don't know what I'd do without you and when you were just laying there after he got you, I thought the worst."
Anna reached forward to grab his hand, giving it a comforting squeeze. "Hey, I'm not going anywhere, okay? We have way too many things we still need to do. I mean, my bucket list has barely been touched. Besides, us Starks are like cockroaches, you can try and kill us as much as you want but we'll still survive, even through the apocalypse." Jake cracked a smile. Throwing his arm around Anna's shoulders, he led her to a waiting ambulance.
"Come on. It's time to take the suit off and get you checked out. You were just tossed around like a ragdoll." Anna stopped walking, remembering her lack of clothing beneath the suit.
"Yeah about that. I only have a bra and shorts on underneath this, and no one," she gestured to the surrounding crowd that remained from the race, "gets that show for free. They at least have to buy me dinner first."
"What happened to your dress?"
"Well, when someone was attempting to murder my dad, I ditched it in a closet somewhere. I don't really remember where."
Jake sighed, taking off his suit jacket and handing it to Anna.
Anna raised an eyebrow at him, causing him to toss it at her so she would catch it. Instead, she just let it fall to the ground. "Seriously," he scolded, exasperated as he picked it up off the ground, "Take it. We aren't leaving until the EMTs clear you, and you won't take the suit off until you have something to cover up with. So, cover up with this," he explained handing her the jacket again. Glancing around to make sure there were no eyes on her, she quickly hit the button to collapse her suit back into its backpack shape and covered herself in the jacket, buttoning it so it stayed closed.
"Thanks, friend," she stated as she approached the ambulance.
Jake followed her over, shaking his head, "Anytime."
After getting a few burns and scrapes treated by the EMTs, Anna was cleared and returned back to the hotel with Jake. They quickly packed their belongings, their departure date having been changed immediately. Anna hadn't seen her father since the attack, but Pepper had assured her he was fine and just trying to find answers. The group boarded the Stark private plane and began their flight back to LAX airport. Anna and Jake retreated to their own area of the plane to give Pepper and Tony some space.
Jake was on his tablet doing… something. Anna didn't really know what he was up to but she was too tired to pry. The exhaustion from the racetrack was finally setting in, the adrenaline having long since worn off. As she laid on the bed, eyes drooping, she could hear the voice of that political asshole, Senator Stern.
"It's just unbelievable. It proves that the genie is out of the bottle and this man has no idea what he's doing. He thinks of the Iron Man weapon as a toy. I was at a hearing where Mr. Stark, in fact, was adamant that these suits can't exist anywhere else, don't exist anywhere else, never will exist anywhere else, at least for five to ten years, and here we are in Monaco realizing, 'These suits exist now'. Not to mention that we now know his daughter had a suit of her own this whole time. It's one thing for a grown man to have control of this technology, but Miss. Stark is barely of legal age. Allowing either Stark to have these suits is a mistake."
"He's full of shit," Jake said, meeting Anna's tired, glassy eyes.
"I know," she replied through a yawn. "But now the cat's out of the bag and I can't help but think that while he may just be one asshole, there're thousands that not only agreed with him already but will soon enough."
Jake set his tablet down and laid on the bed next to her. "You saved the day. Remember that. No regrets, right?"
Jake could always make her feel better, "No regrets, always."
"Good. Now get some shut-eye kid, you deserve it." Not soon after the words left his mouth, Anna fell into a deep sleep.
Anna stood on a beach she didn't recognize. The water wasn't the deep blue that she had surfed on multiple times before, but instead, it was crystal blue water that lapped at the white sand shore. She wadded into the water until it reached the hem of the loose, white dress she was wearing. The scene was peaceful a serene as she stared out at the horizon line.
"You know, if you sail far enough, eventually you'll hit the homeland," a gentle, feminine voice said to her left, startling her.
"What?" Anna said, confused by the beautiful woman's words. She too wore a short white dress, only she had a lacey shawl draped around her shoulders as well. A long, royal blue crystal that hung from a chain around her neck caught Anna's eyes before she continued her examination of the woman. Her long chocolate-colored hair swayed with the light breeze and her whiskey-colored eyes filled Anna with a familiar warmth.
"The homeland. Cuba," the other woman, who was maybe a few years older than Anna herself, chuckled at the confusion apparent on Anna's face. "That's what your grandpa used to call it once we relocated here. Although he knew it was best for us to leave, he never wanted us to forget where we came from."
Grandpa? Anna's confusion was growing by the second. Suddenly, like a dam bursting, the memories came flooding back. She remembered the pictures that used to fill the Starks' old home until Tony had the mansion built. When they moved to the mansion, the pictures never left the boxes they had been packed into. Anna had been four at the time and didn't understand her father's grief until she got older.
She examined the woman's appearance again before her voice croaked, tears welling in her eyes, "Mom?"
"Phew, I was beginning to think you didn't know who I was. It's nice to know you got your memory from me and not your father. He could never remember anything. Although, who's to say he was ever actually trying. He always relied on me a little too much about frivolous things like exam dates, doctor's appointments, birthdays… Despite his brilliance, which don't tell him I called him brilliant, he'll get a big head about it, not that he doesn't already have one, anyway… despite that, he never would've graduated MIT when he did if it hadn't been for me," she joked with a roll of her eyes.
Anna couldn't hold back anymore. She leaped forward, giving the mother she never got a chance to know a tight hug.
"Don't worry, mija. I'm not going anywhere just yet," Sofia said, stroking her daughter's hair comfortingly.
"What happened to you?" Anna said, silent tears leaking from her eyes. "Dad always said that you got sick but no one knew exactly what was wrong with you. The doctors were clueless."
Sofia wiped the stray tears away with her thumbs, "I was sick Anna. But, it wasn't anyone's fault I didn't get better. The doctors couldn't have done anything anyway. No human could."
Human? Anna couldn't help but question her mother's choice of words. They just sounded off.
"Listen to me, Anna. You were so brave today. You protect your father so much. From his 'friends' and his enemies, but soon you may have to protect him from himself, okay? Can you do that for me?"
Although the topic was beginning to confuse Anna again, she heard what he mother was saying. Hell, she was practically hanging on every word that came out of her mouth, but she couldn't quite wrap her head around what it all meant. Regardless, she agreed, "Yeah mom, I can do it."
"I know you don't quite get where this is all coming from just yet, but you will. You are a very special girl, Annabel. Don't ever forget that." It had been so long since Anna had heard anyone call her by her full name. Everyone knew her as Anna, so everyone called her Anna. But, Annabel felt so right hearing it from her mother.
"I won't," Anna responded.
Suddenly, a loud roar, like a plane engine disrupted the serenity of the beach. The two women looked up and saw the Stark private jet flying overhead.
"Unfortunately, that's our cue, mija," Sofia informed her daughter. At the comment, anxiety immediately filled Anna. She didn't want to go, not yet. They had so much to catch up on, seventeen years of memories. "Don't worry, we see each other soon. Kick some ass for me, alright?"
Before Anna could respond, the picturesque beach faded to black and she closed her eyes. When she opened them again, she was staring at the ceiling of the Stark plane. Sitting up and stretching her arms above her head, she heard someone enter the room. Looking up she spotted Jake standing in the doorway. "Oh good your awake. You slept for like twelve hours. Your sleep schedule is screwed now."
Anna smiled. "Thank you jetlag," she replied sarcastically. "So, what's up?"
"Not much. Your dad is passed out on the couch. Pepper is doing damage control. And the plane should descend to refuel in about an hour. Then we can get some real food, all while avoiding paparazzi."
"Sounds like a good time to me," Anna smirked. Jake turned to leave the room while Anna thought back on her dream. It was so real, so lucid. She never really met her mom, yet the woman in her dreams knew things Anna didn't and spoke in such a way Anna knew it didn't just come from her memories.
Anna's stomach growled loudly, interrupting her thoughts. She couldn't dwell on her dream much more until she got some food in her stomach. Standing from her seat on the bed, she left the bedroom to try and find a bag of chips or something to hold her over until they landed. Catching sight of her dad reclined on the couch, she recalled her mother's warning. "Soon you may have to protect him from himself, okay? Can you do that?"
"I can do it, mom."
Wow. Yeah, I know. I suck.
Anyway… here's a long-awaited chapter. Thank you all for your patience. I hope to get another chapter out soon since I have a 2-week break from graduate school. Working full-time as well as going to school this summer kicked my ass more than I expected and once I start school again at the end of the month, I'm not quite sure what my schedule will be like since I'm moving to the night shift. That means I work 12 hours from 5 pm to 5 am. Pray for me.
Like I said though, I hope to have a chapter updated in about a week for this story as well as my story Kelda, which is a Bucky Barnes story and a companion piece to this. I want to have both of those stories completed before I move onto the Avengers because it will kinda mash-up the two.
Thanks again for the patience and support!
