Tony was slowly getting the hang of things.
Of course, the only reason he was staying at all sane, was because of Happy and Rhodey.
They both agreed to step in and help.
Between the three of them, someone was always watching, feeding or holding Dani.
Mostly holding.
She didn't like to be put down.
"I'm going to keep her existence a secret," Tony announced after a few weeks. He had been taking a leave from work and being in the making public appearances, but people were beginning to ask questions. He had to go back at some point.
Happy and Rhodey looked away from Tony, to look at Dani who had finally given into sleep. They had each taken a turn bouncing, feeding and rocking her, all while doing their best to not go insane at her constant crying.
"How's that going to work, Tony?" Rhodey asked tiredly. "You are constantly in the public eye."
"I'm a billionaire and I'm determined. If anyone can pull it off, it's me. I'm not putting her life at risk because I do. I won't have the press or my enemies ever get the chance to use her against me." He looked over at his daughter, "if keeping her safe means that I can't go to the park with her, or do whatever else with her, then that's okay. Her safety and security is more important."
. . .
2008
Dani knew that she wasn't supposed to be out yet. Her dad's 'friend' had yet to leave the mansion, but Dani got impatient. She wanted to watch her show on the comfortable couch in the living area. Her living area. It was her home, after all. So she did what she wanted to and settled into the couch.
"Tony, hey Tony."
There she was.
"Oh. Who are you?"
Dani looked over the couch at the blonde woman who was wearing one of her dad's shirts. "Dani. Who are you?"
They always thought they were special.
"Dani who? Don't tell me Tony runs a daycare."
"Is that why you're here?" Dani quipped, returning her gaze to the TV.
The woman gave a small gasp, "who do you think you are? You little-"
"I wouldn't finish that sentence if I were you." Jarvis said loudly, causing the woman to jump and look around.
"What the-"
"That's Jarvis." Pepper said, walking in with the woman's clothes. "He runs the house." The woman turned her attention to her. "I've got your clothes here. They've been dry cleaned and pressed. And there's a car waiting outside that will take you anywhere you'd like to go."
The woman walked towards Pepper. "You must be the famous Pepper Potts."
Pepper shifted her feet slightly before squaring her shoulders and smiling. "Indeed I am."
The woman took her clothes. "After all these years Tony still has you picking up the dry cleaning."
"I do anything and everything that Mr. Stark requires. Including occasionally taking out the trash."
Dani snorted, getting the woman's attention.
"Anything Mr. Stark requires?" She frowned. "Hang on a second. There's no...could it..." She scoffed, "Tony has a kid, doesn't he? A kid no one knows about."
"Ding, ding, ding." Dani said without looking away from the TV. "Would you like your gold star now?"
"If her appearance doesn't give it away her personality definitely will."
"Yeah." Pepper agreed, looking at the girl and shaking her head. "She is her father's daughter, alright."
"And proud of it."
The woman laughed, and pulled out her phone. "I'm so getting a pay raise for this. How old are you? 8? 9? There's a scandal just waiting to be dug up."
"Yeah...here's the deal." Pepper said. She stepped closer to the woman, getting her attention. "Mr. Stark has worked tirelessly to keep her existence a secret. I'm sure you understand why. Use your imagination if you don't. Now there's a car that will take you anywhere you want to go and we took the liberty of dry cleaning your clothes. You are more than welcome to go for that pay raise, but know that if Dani's existence gets out to the public we will trace it back to you and your life will be destroyed. That pay raise will amount to nothing." Pepper smiled, "now will that be all?"
Dani looked over the couch and smiled at the woman, who was now looking furious and slightly terrified. "Have a good day, now." She said brightly, and looked back at the TV.
"You're not supposed to be out here, Dani," Pepper said after the woman stormed off.
"I know. But she was taking too long to leave. Besides, it's my house, so...shouldn't I be able to do what I want...when I want?"
"Not when your dad has company over. I can't keep threatening reporters to keep their mouths shut."
"You're really good at it though."
"That's not the point."
Dani sighed and looked over at her, "I'm sorry. I'll stay in my room next time."
"I'm sure we could move this couch to your room, if you like it so much."
"It's not the couch, but more of seeing the look of horror on their face whenever you threaten them."
Pepper chuckled, "okay. You're staying in your room next time." Her phone began to ring, "it's Rhodey. I have to go chase your dad out of here."
"We're still going for ice cream later, right?"
"Of course we are," Pepper responded, as she put her phone to her ear and walked towards the stairs of the workshop.
"Cool," Dani stretched out and focused on the show again.
"Alright, kiddo," her dad came up the stairs a few minutes later. "Pepper has successfully convinced me that I have to go."
She paused her show and looked up, as he walked around the couch to stand in front of her. "How long will you be gone?"
He went down to his right knee, "No longer than 4 days." He held up his left pinkie. "I will be home to tuck you into bed by Friday night. Pinkie promise."
She wrapped her pinkie around his. "I'm holding you to that promise."
He smiled, and brought their hands down officially. "You always do, don't you?"
"Is it safe? Where you are going?"
"Absolutely. And besides I'll have Uncle Rhodey and Uncle Happy protecting me. So I'll be as safe as I can get. I won't be able to breathe, but I'll be safe."
She giggled, "good."
He smiled, "you be good for Pepper, alright? Do your lessons and homework. And mind Jarvis."
"I'm always good for Pepper."
"Don't eat too much ice cream. We don't want a repeat of what happened the last time I left the two of you."
She nodded solemnly, remembering vividly how much energy she had had for about an hour, before crashing hard and feeling sick. "I won't."
He took her head in his hands and kissed her forehead. "I love you to the moon and back."
"I love you to Pluto and back."
He grinned again, "alright. I'll see you in 4 days. Be good."
. . .
Friday night came, and her dad wasn't home.
Dani was all set in her PJ's and sitting on the couch, waiting for him to come through the door.
It was almost 10 o'clock, and he wasn't home yet.
It wasn't like him to break a promise.
"I'm sure something mild came up with the plane," Pepper tried to reassure, sitting on the couch next to Dani.
"He would have called. Why hasn't he called?"
"I don't know. But I'm sure it's not something we should worry about."
Dani hugged her legs and began to chew her lip. She didn't like it when her dad wasn't home when he said he would be.
"Why don't you go to bed? He'll probably be home by the morning. If he shows up later, I'll have him go in to see you. Does that sound good?"
"He said he'd be home to tuck me in," Dani muttered.
"I know. But sometimes life gets in the way of promises. Come on. It'll be okay."
Dani reluctantly went to her room and climbed into her bed, allowing Pepper to tuck the blankets around her.
"Try and sleep. Everything will be okay."
Dani knew something was wrong. She just knew it. Her dad rarely broke his promises to her.
. . .
Dani was up early the next morning, and running to her dad's room.
He wasn't there.
She ran down to the workshop, hoping to see him working on one of his cars.
The workshop was empty.
Where was her dad?
She was beginning to feel nervous.
She ran back up the stairs and ran to the lounge. Pepper and Happy were sitting on the couch, talking quietly, both wearing stricken expressions.
"Where's my dad?"
They looked up at her, but didn't say anything.
Dani felt a strange sinking feeling enter her gut. "Why isn't he home?"
Happy cleared his throat, "something happened on the way to the airport. Your dad...his convoy - his car was attacked and he was...we don't really know what happened to him. But he's...gone."
"What do you mean? You were supposed to protect him."
"I know, D, I know."
"Is my dad dead?"
Both Happy and Pepper looked startled at the question.
"Is he?" Dani demanded.
"We don't know," Happy answered.
Dani felt like her throat was closing in on itself. How could this have happened? Her dad was supposed to be safe. He said that he was going to be safe. He said he was going to come home.
"Dani, they're going to find him. Alright? You know your Uncle Rhodey. He's not going to stop until he finds your dad and brings him home safe."
Dani wanted to believe him. But she could hear the doubt in his voice. He was trying to convince himself as much as her, that everything was going to be okay.
. . .
Dani's birthday came 2 months later. Not that she wanted to celebrate it.
Happy and Pepper threw her a small party, but it wasn't the same without her dad.
Nothing was.
She missed her dad. She missed being in the shop with him, and having him around the mansion. She missed the nights that he would let her stay up late with him to watch movies. She missed everything about him.
Rhodey wasn't giving up.
She knew that.
He vowed to look over the entire Afghanistan desert, until he found his friend.
But months were now passing, and there hadn't been a sign of her dad.
She spent most days simply existing. She would try to focus on her homework, and she tried to cheer up whenever Pepper made an attempt to get her to smile, but she just wasn't happy.
She missed her dad.
. . .
"What about you Stark?" Yinsen asked. "Do you have family?"
Tony thought about Dani. He hadn't been able to talk about her in the cave. He didn't know who would be listening.
Gosh, he missed her. He didn't know he was capable of missing someone as much as he missed his little girl.
"I know that look," Yinsen said quietly. "You're a father, aren't you?"
Tony nodded, "yeah."
"Son or daughter."
Tony smiled wistfully, "daughter."
"How old is she?"
"Well, she was eight when I left. She's nine now."
"May I ask her name?"
He thought for a second, realizing that he had never given her name to someone outside of Happy, Pepper and Rhodey. "Danielle," he said quietly. "Her name is Danielle. I call her Dani."
Yinsen smiled, "that is beautiful. I am sorry that you have been away from her for so long. I know how hard that must be."
"Thinking about her is honestly what gets me up every day. I think about how important it is that these men not get their hands on a missile. Cause if they do, then the world she lives in is jeopardized." He thought for a second, "I guess you could say that the reason I do what I do is to keep her world safe."
"Isn't that what all parents do?"
Tony shrugged, "yeah. But not not all parents are the head of a company that makes weapons. Not all parents have the power that I have."
"You are correct. But every parent wants their child to be safe."
Tony nodded and leaned back to look at the armor that they were building. "Yeah."
.
.
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I'm so happy that so many are interested in this story.
Thank you so much for reading it. I'm so excited for you guys to follow her journey from now to Endgame...
The reviews are loved and any feedback is more than appreciated.
Thank you!