Chapter One: Her Backstory
Dr Bruce Banner or as you all may know him as The Hulk member of The Avengers and leading scientist in his field with seven PHDs and genius- level intelligence. To me however he is just a kind, loving and carefree dad. He didn't know about me until I was two years old. You see he met my mother in the summer of 1993 they fell in love and had what my father thought was a fairy tale love until one day he returned home from working to find my mother gone. Leaving behind nothing but a note saying she was sorry but she was only looking for a fling before finding her Mr Right and settling down. What neither of them knew however was that she took something that belonged to Bruce when she left. Something that would become his whole world and he would do everything in his power to keep it safe.
A month after she left my mother found out she was pregnant with me. Nine months later on July 21,1994 at 3:41 pm she gave birth to a little girl who weighed 6lbs 9oz and was 21inchs long. She named her Chalsea Marie Banner. She raised Chalsea for two years before deciding she couldn't do it anymore. So she tracked down Bruce and left little two year old Chalsea out on his doorstep in the pouring rain in the middle of the night with only a note pinned to her diaper bag. Bruce, not wanting the little girl to get sick, brought her inside where he gave her a warm bath and put her in a dry clean pair of pajamas.
He put her on his couch wrapped up in one of his throw blankets and soothed her to sleep so he could think of what to do. He brought her to the hospital the following morning for a check up and a DNA test. When the test came back positive that she was his he was thrilled but also nervous because he didn't know how to raise a child. But one thing was for sure he would raise that little girl and protect her with his life. In just two short months Chalsea became his entire world the light of his life. By the time she was four she showed signs of a high IQ like her father.
By age six she was dancing and doing gymnastics and reading above her age level and by age ten she was doing school work only middle schoolers could do. At age eleven her father got in an accident and became The Hulk. General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross tried to take her away from him but Bruce took her and ran. They ran for four years until one day in 2008 when she was fourteen they returned back to the States. Her father was talking to a man that they thought could help him get rid of The Hulk but General Ross caught up to them.
Betty Ross took Chalsea to a safe place to hide until her father could come back and get her. Her father finally returned but he told her she couldn't go with him this time. She understood that he was leaving to keep her safe and away from Ross. She hugged her father one last time before he left her promising he would return to her one day when everything calmed down that he would find someone to take care of her and keep her away from Ross.
The following day a knock came to the door Betty told her to go and hide under the bed before opening the door to see none other than Tony Stark himself. He told Betty that Bruce sent him to take care of Chalsea. Knowing that he could be trusted, Betty called out to Chalsea and she crawled out from under the bed and she went up and hid behind Betty just barely visible to Tony. Betty turned to kneel down on the floor in front of Chalsea and took her face in her hands gently. "Listen Mimi, This is Tony Stark, he is going to take care of you for your dad. You can trust him he will keep you safe. You remember that Iron Man blanket I got you right? Well that's Tony, your dad wouldn't have sent him if he didn't trust him. If you ever need me Tony has my number so you can call me anytime day or night and I will answer. You go with Tony now sweet girl, I will miss you." Betty explains while wiping away Chalsea's tears.
She stands tall and strong before looking up at Tony and walking towards him "Are you really Iron Man?" She asks him. "I am kiddo." He smiles down at her. "So you can keep me safe from General Ross? You won't let him take me to use me against my dad?" She questions. "That's right. You will be the most guarded and protected little girl in the world." He confirms. She gives one swift nod before turning back to Betty and saying a final goodbye. Tony leads her out of the cabin and to his car where a man is waiting with the backdoor open. She hesitates for a few moments before getting into the back and buckling up her seat belt. Tony gets in next to her before the man closes the door and walks around to the driver's seat. "Who's that man?" Chalsea whispers to Tony.
"That's Happy, he works for me and is also one of my closest friends. He is supposed to be my driver but I like to drive myself so he just sits in the passenger seat. But when you are with me he will be the one driving so I can be back here with you." Tony explains. "He doesn't look Happy." Chalsea states. Tony laughs at that "Don't let that frowny face fool you. He is really just a big teddy bear." He smirks at Happy. Chalsea watches Happy the whole time "To the mansion Happy." Tony calls causing Chalsea to look away from him and to Tony. "You live in a mansion?" She exclaims in shock. "You will live there too. You will have full access to everything on your own except for my workshop. You can only go in there when I am." He smirks at her shocked face.
"I'm going to be staying in a mansion." She whispers to herself. Tony laughs as she talks to herself quietly and gently pats the top of her head. She glares up at him "Don't touch the hair." She mumbles as she smooths it back into place. "Not a fan of that huh?" He asks while holding his hands up in surrender. "Only my dad is allowed to touch my hair, unless I give someone permission." She sighed as she looked up at Tony. "I get that." He replied. They relax back in their seats and let the car become silent the rest of the journey.
The ride is long so Chalsea lays her head against the door and slowly falls asleep as she looks out the window. She's asleep as Happy drives up the long winding driveway and stops in front of the mansion door. He parks the car and climbs out and walks around to the back to grab Chalsea's bags from the trunk. "Hey kiddo, we're here." Tony calls while shaking her shoulder gently.
She slowly sits up unbuckling her seat belt and climbing out after Tony while wiping the sleep from her eyes before looking up at the mansion. She stands there in shock and awe at the big white house with glass walls. Tony laughs before placing his hand on her back and lightly pushing her to walk forward. "You're probably still tired so we can save the tour for tomorrow. So I'll take you to your room now. My assistant slash best friend set up your room so if there is anything you don't like or need let me know and I'll tell her." He explains while leading her upstairs and down the hall and stopping at the last door on the right.
"Your dad mentioned you like to look at the stars at night so I gave you a room with a perfect view of the ocean and the sky." He says while opening the door slowly. She steps inside and looks around the room before turning to look back at him. "Thanks for letting me stay here." She whispers. "Don't mention it. I'll leave you be now and let you get some more sleep. We can talk more in the morning and you can meet Pepper. Night Kiddo." He says while walking to the door. "Night Tony." She calls as he closes the door behind him.
She walks around the room slowly taking everything in before going to her new bed and crawling into the middle and under the covers. She looks out the window on her left and she can't help but to agree the view of the ocean is perfect. As she lays in her new comfy bed under the big fluffy blanket her thoughts go to her father. She hopes he found someplace safe and is thinking of her like she is him. She sends a quiet goodnight and I love you up to the stars hoping her father is looking at them as well. She settles down further into her bed pulling the covers up to her chin.
To help her sleep she quietly sings the song her father would always sing to her before bed. She slowly drifts off into a deep dreamless sleep. After three hours Tony opened her door to check on her. Once he can see her sleeping somewhat peacefully he shuts her door quietly and heads back down to the lab for a few more hours. Chalsea only wakes up once throughout the night to use the bathroom and to get a glass of water before going back to bed.