[TONY]

I flew as fast as I could go to Mercy Hospital in Miami, trying not to jostle Addy's body. Her levels kept dropping and I was barely holding it together.

As soon as I landed in front of Mercy I ran in screaming, "Help me! My daughter's been shot! Help me!"

The whole place went quiet and everyone was staring at me.

"Help me!" I begged again. Finally, an orderly brought out a gurney and nurses were rushing over to us. I didn't want to hand her over, but I knew that they would help so I settled for holding onto her hand.

"Her levels are falling. We need to get her into surgery." The orderly said, starting to push the gurney. I was following, not letting go.

"Come on baby. Hold on a little longer for me." I said, tears falling again.

"Mr. Stark we need to take her. You can't go with us anymore." A nurse said, albeit in sympathy.

How could I leave my baby alone?

"Mr. Stark" she urged again. Finally I relinquished my grip on Addy's hand.

"Just save her. Please. Bring me back my daughter." I pleaded as they ran into OR.

God let her be ok.

[ADDY]

I was in the dark place again. And for awhile. The difference this time was that I couldn't hear anything. No passing words. Nothing.

Was I dead?

I didn't want to be. I wanted my Papa. Where was Papa?

"You shouldn't be here" a voice suddenly rang through the air. It was a man, but his voice was scratchy like he had a sore throat.

"Where am I?" I asked the darkness.

"Do not worry about where you are. You should worry on where you will go from here." The voice said.

Well that wasn't ominous in the slightest.

"You have fought well so far Adrian Potter." The voice said.

Potter. I haven't heard that in so long.

"My name is Adrian Stark." I corrected.

"Do you deny your birthright?" the voice said in anger. It made me afraid.

"No…but Tony Stark is my Papa now. And…and Pepper Potts is my Mama." I tried to explain. "I never got to know my original parents. And I never will. How can I deny what I will never know?" I finished.

It was silent for awhile. It felt like forever. If I could fidget I would,

"You are meant for great things." The voice finally said. Guess he decided to change the subject.

"I am?" I asked.

"Yes. For what must come to pass, you have to live. Your life is filled with trials and tribulations that you must face." He explained.

"That doesn't sound nice." I said. A deep laugh rang through the air and seemed to fill the whole space with its presence.

"Sometimes little Adrian, life is not nice." He said.

I guess…

"You will triumph. You have a power that they know not." He said.

Power?

"Cause I'm a witch?" I asked.

"More than that." He remarked.

Slowly, the darkness began to fade and light was shining through the air. Sounds started coming to my senses.

"Our time together has come to an end. You are needed in the world of the living. We shall meet again" the voice said, but it was distant.

"Who are you?" I tried to ask.

Before I could hear the answer, I woke up.

[TONY]

I was waiting for hours, but it felt like centuries. Rhodey got both the President and Pepper secured in safe locations. Then he joined me. He got me out of the suit.

Neither one of us could talk. I could barely form thoughts.

Who knows when Killian shot Addy? How much blood had she lost? Would there be any lasting damage? Would she survi-No. Don't think that.

Finally a doctor came out and walked over to us.

"Mr. Stark? I'm Doctor Jones. I performed the surgery on Ad-" "How is she?" I interrupted.

"She's stable."

I sagged in the chair and Rhodey clapped a hand on my shoulder. He was close to tears himself and I could feel the familiar tears rolling down my face. I was a mess, but I didn't care. Addy was going to be ok.

"She is a fighter. She lost a lot of blood. She also had some minor brain swelling, but that is already healing nicely. There shouldn't be any lasting damage. She's a miracle." The doctor explained.

Of course she was.

"Can I see her?" I asked.

"We are moving her into a room now. Once she's settled we will bring you to her." He said before walking away.

I rubbed my face with my hands and removed the last of the tears.

My little girl was ok. She was going to be ok.

"Hey Tony. I'm gonna make some calls. Let people know you're all ok. You cool?" Rhodey asked, standing up.

"No." I answered honestly, for the first time in awhile. "But I'll get there." I said.

He gave me a sad smile before walking away with his phone.

It took another 30 minutes before a nurse directed me to Addy's room. It was in the kid's wing so it was pink. But there she was. Hooked up to an IV and oxygen, her little head wrapped up in fresh bandages. The spell must have worn off because her hair was red again. It was also partially shaved from the surgery. She's not gonna like that when she wakes up.

"When will she-" "Wake up?" the nurse interrupted me. I nodded.

"She is doing remarkably well considering the state she was brought in. The swelling in her brain should go down in a couple of days and then we will take her off the medication putting her to sleep. She'll wake up on her own then" the nurse explained.

I nodded and sat down next to Addy's bed. I wrapped up her hand in mine.

Before the nurse could leave I had a quick thought. "Could you bring me a notebook? And like a pen or pencil?" I asked. She looked a little confused, but nodded and left.

One girl was on the mend, now I had to fix my other girl.

{time skip}

Hours later I finally set the pen down.

I figured it out. I figured out how to safely extract Extremis.

I spent the next 3 hours calling connections and people to get it done. Soon Pepper will be free of Extremis.

And maybe once all this is over I could solve my own problem.

{time skip}

It had been three days since I brought Addy to the hospital. It had also taken three days for footage and the story of us coming here to break out in the news. It was the only thing people were talking about so I kept the television in the room off.

Pepper had the procedure done yesterday and we moved the both of them into one room so we could all be together.

"She looks so tiny." Pepper murmured, staring at Addy.

"She'll be up soon. All the swelling is down so they took her off the meds. Soon she'll be up and bouncing off the walls." I said, leaning onto to Pepper's bed.

She took my hand and I finally looked her in the eye. I could feel myself start to tremble.

Figures the panic attack would happen now.

"Tony…" Pepper asked in worry. I tried calming my breath but it didn't work.

"I could have lost you. Both of you. And it would have been all my fault." I finally managed to choke out.

Instantly, Pepper sat up and took me in her arms. I let out the tears and panic I had been holding in and cried into her shoulder.

"Killian was not nor will be ever be your fault Tony. Don't you ever blame yourself for what he did to us." She said. I pulled away from her and wiped my face.

"I know I haven't been easy to live with. But that changes. I'll start getting help. I'll do anything so you and Addy can have a little peace in your lives." I said, and I swore I would keep to this promise.

Pepper gave me a soft loving smile and stroked my cheek.

Suddenly Addy's heart monitor started to pick up. In seconds I was across the room and holding onto Addy's hand. Pepper got out of her bed, despite my protests, and sat down across from me, holding onto Addy's other hand.

Her little eyelids were fluttering, trying to open.

"That's it munchkin. Come on. Wake up for Papa. Please wake up." I murmured.

And then those little green eyes opened wide.

When they focused on me a big smile swept across her face.

"Papa…" she whispered. I held back more tears as I held tightly to her hand.

"Hey munchkin" I whispered. Then her eyes focused on Pepper.

"Mama…"

Pepper and I looked at each other in shock. Now Pepper was crying.

"Yeah baby girl. I'm here." Pepper finally said, holding onto Addy's hand as tight as I was.

"See Mama…Papa saved us."

Wow! What a whirlwind! Don't forget to review and subscribe. One chapter left! Ahhhhh!