Rosemary was woken up early a few days later by her alarm. The second it rang, she was sitting up and looking around dazedly, a habit she picked up at the Dursley household to avoid a "lesson". When she realized where she was she jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom. Despite how much she longed to stand in the warm shower for more than 5 minutes, a luxury she hadn't experienced, she got out quickly and got ready for the day. After making her bed she slipped her shoes on, grabbed her key card and ran for the stairs. Poking her head out when she reached the lobby, she looked around and was relieved to see that the Dursleys were nowhere to be found. So far, the past few days they had been there she'd been able to get a full breakfast and take it to her room before Aunt Petunia stopped by to give her the small list of chores she could do on holiday, but she was still terrified that they would catch her. This was the last day they would be staying at the hotel, and Rosemary wanted to make sure she could smuggle a few granola bars into her small bag. She had no idea if the next hotel would have a free breakfast like this one and seeing as the Durselys conveniently "forgot" to feed her these past few pays, she wanted to be safe.

Later that day, they would be driving about 3 hours south and start staying at a hotel there so that they could go to the zoo for Dudely's birthday tomorrow. Rosemary knew that the Dursleys would just leave her at the hotel while they went out, but a part of her couldn't help but hope that they'd bring her along, even if only to carry their things. This is why she was overjoyed about what happened on the drive down. They were about halfway into the drive when they started to hit some major traffic.

"Do these people not know how to drive? What's the hold up!" yelled Vernon.

"Honestly, how are good, hard working people like us expected to get around when freaks in motorcycles and skimpy clothes keep cutting us and crossing the street!" said a frustrated and mildly disgusted Petunia.

Suddenly, to the left of Rosemary was a gasp. "Mummy! Look! What is all that!" exclaimed Dudley. Rosemary turned to look out his window and sucked in a breath at what she could see. They seemed to be passing some sort of fair, full of lights and demonstrations of what seemed to be different tools and toys.

"That, Dudley must be a freak convention. It seems to be what is causing the traffic," replied his mother.

"Can we go mum? I want to go!" said Dudley.

"Now, now Dudders. Why would you want to go there?"

The crocodile tears started to flow. "I wanna go! I wanna go! It's not fair! We're here for my birthday and I wanna go!"

The response was close to immediate. Suddenly Petunia was nudging Vernon and they were turning into the parking lot. After the tickets were bought Petunia asked, "What are we doing with the girl? Can we leave her in the car?"

"We're not leaving her in this car! She'll ruin it!" shouted Vernon.

"So then we have to bring her? Dudley will not be happy," Petunia sighed.

"Girl! Come here!"

Rosemary winced slightly and walked over to her Aunt and Uncle. "Yes sir?"

"You listen to me, and you listen to me well. The rules apply here as well. Silent and invisible. You better stay close or we'll leave you here on the streets, do you understand?"

"Yes sir, I understand," she said.

With a glare and a nod to her Aunt, her Uncle started to enter the fair. Rosemary was in awe of everything around her, she had never seen anything like it! For the first two hours there she was very careful to stay close to her relatives until a booth a few feet away caught her attention. It was filled with different robotic toys of many different sizes and shapes, and some could even talk! It wasn't until another fifteen minutes passed that she realized she was lost, and her relatives were nowhere to be seen. Instead of panicking like a normal child most likely would, Rosemary got a rush of adrenaline. She had never truly done something against the rules, and she had never been allowed to wander on her own, especially in a place like this. Seeing her chance, Rosemary started to walk around on her own, taking in the sights and smells of what she had identified as the Stark Expo.

However, her Potter luck was bound to strike and she found herself in what seemed to be a closed off area. The panic of getting caught setting in, she looked around for an exit when suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder. Jumping, Rosemary spun around and saw a tall, blonde woman with pretty blue eyes looking down at her. She was wearing a business suit and holding a clipboard and immediately Rosemary felt dread. She wasn't supposed to talk to adults and this one seemed like she could get her in trouble.

"P-please! I'm so so sorry! I swear I didn't mean to come back here! I just got separated from my relatives and got lost!" she stuttered out.

"Oh you poor thing! Come with me, I can help you find them," the woman said with a small smile, placing her hand on Rosemary's back.

"So I'm not in trouble?" she asked quietly.

"No! Of course not! Come back here, I'll get you some water and a snack while we find your relatives." The woman led her into a building that was a few meters away and to a sitting area. "So, I'm Miss. Potts, or Pepper, whatever you feel more comfortable with. Can you tell me your name and who you're here with?

"My name is Rosemary Sage Potter, I'm here with my Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, and Cousin Dudley for his birthday. If you could just tell me where they are without bothering them, that would be nice, they don't like it when I draw attention or ruin their time."

Miss Potts' smile seemed to get stiffer. "I'll see what I can do. Do you want water or soda?"

"Oh no, it's alright. I don't want to be a bigger bother than I've already been, really. Thank you for your help," she replied.

"No thanks necessary sweetie, just let me kno-" she was interrupted by a man coming into the room.

"Pepper! There you are! How do you feel about going to Venice this weekend? They're having a wonderful little party there," he said. The man stopped and finally looked up from the device he was fiddling with and saw Rosemary and Pepper on the couch. "Who's the squirt?"

Pepper sighed, looking much more tired than she had a few moments earlier. "Tony, this is Rosemary Potter, she was here with her family and somehow found herself lost and I found her. I was about to call security to have them looking for her Aunt and Uncle. And no, we are not going to Venice this weekend, or anywhere for that matter. There are things you need to do, and you need to be in town for the Expo that you decided was a great idea to put on at the last second." Turning to Rosemary she said, "Rosemary, this many is Mr. Stark, my boss. Whatever you don't do listen to him and just stay here while I find your family okay?"

As soon as Rosemary gave a small nod Pepper left with a warning glare to Tony to behave. He took what looked to be a bag of candies and popped one into his mouth. "Well kid, I'm not calling you Rosemary, it's too long."

Quietly she said, "My middle name is Sage? You could call me that?"

Suddenly his eyes sparkled. "Ah! A Mary Poppins! I don't like Sage, doesn't fit you as a nickname. Might just call you Mary. My mothers name was Maria, you know." He popped another candy into his mouth. "Want one?" She took one and looked at it for a moment before putting it into her mouth. He didn't start talking again until she gave a silent nod of approval. "I've got it. Rosie. I'll call you Rosie. What do you think?"

She tilted her head in contemplation and thought about it. "Rosie. I think I quite like it. I've never had a true nickname before."

"You haven't? Now that's a crime! What do you parents call you then?"

"My parents are dead," she muttered.

The silence was deafening. After a few moments, Tony sighed and sat down where Pepper was before. "I'm sorry squirt. Mine too."

"It's alright I suppose. I never really knew them. According to my Aunt, they were a bunch of good for nothing drunks that died in a car accident when I was fifteen months old," she said, a little bitter.

Tony couldn't help but feel anger flare towards Rosie's aunt. How could that woman tell a young girl such horrible things about their parents? Scanning her over, he realized that she seemed to be about four or five years old, and yet she carried herself like a much older child. Her clothes were also rather ratty and used, though they were well taken care of. Maybe her family didn't have money? "Hey Rosie?" he asked. "How old are you?"

"I turn 7 in a few weeks." This seemed to shock Tony, which she didn't fully understand. Tony's mind was racing. How was this small thing seven? Clearing his head, but not letting it go, he said, "Well happy early birthday then! How long will you and your family be staying here, since from your accent I'm going to assume you're not from around here."

"I think we're staying for about another week. We've been here for a week already, my relatives were visiting some family, and now they're going to be celebrating my cousin's birthday that's coming up. They're going to the San Diego Zoo tomorrow."

"They? Are you not going too?"

Rosemary froze and quickly said, "Oh no. I don't like the zoo. Too many smelly animals."

Tony, being the genius that he is, immediately saw through the lie. "And what will you be doing for your birthday?"

"Oh! Uh- you see, well-" she was saved from answering the question by Pepper coming back into the room.

"I have good news! We found your Aunt and Uncle and they will be coming to pick you up in a few!" she said.

"What! No! You said you wouldn't tell them it was me!" Rosemary said.

"Sorry sweetie, but when we found them they asked why we were looking for them and we told them."

Internally, Rosemary was freaking out. She was terrified of the "lesson" that was sure to come for getting lost and drawing attention to herself. While she was having an internal meltdown, Tony had pulled Pepper to the side.

"Pepper, have you noticed anything off about Rosie?"

"Well she's a very quiet and anxious child. She seems very worried about interrupting her relatives," she replied.

"Yeah and do you see the size of her? She looks four or five max but she told me she's turning seven in a few weeks. She also said her relatives are going to the zoo without her tomorrow and she started to panic when I asked what they're doing for her birthday. She was also very careful to never call them her family. It's always "relatives" or "Aunt and Uncle". Not to mention how used her clothes look. When you saw her family did they look strapped for money?"

"Well, no, actually they were all dressed rather nicely and the uncle and the cousin are both extremely overweight."

"That's what I was afraid of," Tony sighed, running a hand over his face.

"Tony, do you think something is wrong?" she asked worriedly.

"I don't know Pepper, I don't know. Something definitely isn't right."

They suddenly heard loud voices coming from outside the lobby and Tony noticed Rosie's back go ramrod straight.

"Mummy! How come the freak got to come here and I didn't! It's my birthday!" a whiny voice said.

"Well you're here now Dudders! And don't worry, your father will be having a long, nice talk with the girl later at the hotel," replied and high nasally voice. With that the door opened and in walked a giraffe, a whale and a pig. Tony had to hold back the anger rising in his chest when he saw them. Not only were they very well dressed, and saying the males were overweight was an understatement, but the amount of things that the parents had clearly bought for their son, was insane. Tony wasn't above spoiling those he cared for, but when one of the children under your care is wearing almost threadbare clothing, the other shouldn't be so spoiled. The more he learned about these people, the more his gut was telling him something was wrong.

The large whale walked over to Rosie and grabbed her arm while the giraffe walked over to Pepper and Tony with a fake smile on her face. "We are so sorry about our niece. She's always been such a troubled child, getting into trouble all the time. We'll be taking her now."

"Oh, well, okay then! Have a fabulous trip!" said Pepper. Before Tony could protest, they had dragged Rosie outside with the pouting pig in a wig.

"Pepper! Why did you let them go!"

"What was I supposed to say Tony? 'Wait, stay! We think you're abusing your niece based on a few assumptions so you have to stay until we can prove otherwise'? Do you think that would have gone over well?" she exclaimed.

"Well of course not, but you could have tried something," he sighed. "It's fine. Whatever. I'll give it a few days then maybe check in."

"Tony you can't just insert yourself into their lives!"

"I'm not going to Peps! I'm just gonna check on the squirt that's all!"

"Okay, Tony, whatever, do what you want," she left in a huff.

Rosemary was miserable. The car ride back was hellish, filled with grumbling and glares thrown her way. When they arrived at the hotel, her Uncle dragged her to her room by the arm. It was two hours later when their lesson was over and Rosemary was glad she wasn't expected to go anywhere. She was bloody and bruised all over, her hair matted from the blood and knots. She was thankful that she had her own bathroom for once as she was able to clean her wounds, a luxury she isn't normally afforded. When she finished she sat on the shower floor and wept, wishing that her misery would end.