Disclaimer: I do not own the Avengers or any other Marvel characters. I only own my OC.

A/N: OMG you guys thanks for those who have favorite/follow this story. It means a lot! Also a special thanks for all those who left reviews. You guys inspire me to write more. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this new update. This chapter definitely has fluff in it. More so towards the middle and end. For those who are wondering, Grace's face-claim is still the actress Victoria Moroles. I know right now she's young, but when she reaches her teen years that's who I imagine her to be. Also, even though her Uncle Miguel isn't in the story yet (he will be later on) he is mentioned throughout. I imagine Gael García Bernal as his face-claim. He's a very complex character (as you guys will come to know) and his actual arrival later on in the story is going to affect Grace a lot.


"A truly rich man is one whose children run into his arms when his hands are empty."― Ziad K. Abdelnour


Chapter 2: An emotional reunion

Six year old Grace Stark was currently lying on her bed, crying her eyes out for what felt like the tenth time that day. Her heart kept breaking into smaller pieces as two words kept replaying over in her head.

Missing.

Dead.

Those two words hurt her emotionally whenever she overheard people talk about her dad.

Her dad who had been missing for three months now. Ever since he left for that work thing in Afghanistan. His absence deeply saddened Grace. The dark brown eyed little girl was absolutely heartbroken.

For three months now, Grace kept thinking back to the last time she had seen him. Tony, her dad. When she had given him that ocean painting she made just for him. A painting she made with all her heart. Why didn't she hug him? Or least told him she loved him because she did. Despite Grace telling not her dad she loved him, she did with all her heart. So why did she let her shyness get the better of her? Her dad had been so nice to her and she'd done nothing but be closed off with him.

Grace regretted everything. She regretted not accepting her dad sooner. She regretted not being nicer to him. She regretted rejecting the many opportunities she had to spend time with him. And she deeply regretted not saying, "I love you, dad." That's what she regretted the most out of everything.

If her mom Louisa was still alive, Grace knew she would have been disappointed with her behavior towards her dad. Her mom had said nothing but kind things about her dad before she passed away.

Grace felt tears fall down her cheeks. She sniffled as she pulled her blankets closer to her. Her bed had never felt so good and bad before.

Thinking about her mom made Grace feel even more sad. Not only was her mom gone, but now so was her dad. Grace felt like she was all alone in the world.

But she wasn't. Despite her parents being gone (her dad technically still considered missing...although many people believed he was dead), Grace wasn't completely alone. The dark haired and dark eyed little girl still had Pepper Potts.

Pepper...who Grace was loving more and more as the days passed. Her dad's assistant had been taking care of her since his departure. Which was something Grace was thankful for because if it weren't for Pepper, Grace would have been stuck with Obadiah Stane. Her dad's partner who had spoken to Grace a few days later when her dad hadn't returned home.

Obadiah had expressed his sorrow (much like everyone else had been doing), telling Grace that he felt awful for what was happening. He told her he wouldn't mind being the one to watch over her...just until things settled down. Grace did not like that at all. Her dad's partner really made her uncomfortable.

Grace did not like being near him, and even though he expressed sorrow for her dad's disappearance, she couldn't help but feel as if he wasn't being one hundred percent sincere. An instinct (one her mom always told her to follow) told Grace not to trust him. So she didn't. Not since the moment she met him.

Luckily for Grace, Pepper had informed her of some fancy-schmancy paperwork her dad had left behind...in case anything bad were to happen to him. Grace being just six years of age did not completely understand the whole purpose of those so called paper works, but she wasn't complaining because it got her to stay with Pepper instead of with Obadiah.

Even though being with Pepper was a good thing (and the better option), Grace kept thinking about her Uncle Miguel. Her mom's younger brother who was supposed to be there for her. With her dad gone now, rightfully it was supposed to be her Uncle Miguel who was the next one in line to take care of her...but he wasn't and Grace, just being a little kid didn't understand why that was. She asked Pepper this question but the redhead's response had always been brief or totally ignored. Grace didn't know why her Uncle Miguel didn't take responsibility for her.

From what Grace was able to remember her Uncle Miguel was a nice and funny guy. She had liked him a lot when growing up with her mom. Her memories of him were foggy but there was one that really stood out the most. It was a memory of him and her at a park. With her on the swings and him pushing her, higher and higher. Both of them were smiling and laughing. It was a nice memory...a happy one. At least that's what was going around in her head.

Despite not being totally clear, everything Grace was able to remember about her Uncle Miguel were good memories. Sadly, it wouldn't be until Grace was older that she'd know the real reason why her mom, dad, and even Pepper had been wary of her Uncle Miguel being near her. It was a heart-wrenching realization that would be devastating for her.

Thinking about her now distant uncle, as she thought about her mom and dad made Grace even more sad. Her crying intensified as the heart-wrenching noise filled her bedroom. The crying didn't stop. Not even when Pepper came into the room to comfort her, just as she had been doing for the past three months. Being in Pepper's arms just reminded her of her mom...and thinking about her mom made Grace think about her dad.

And that just made her distressed state increase.

Finally after what felt like hours, Grace fell asleep. The little girl cried herself to sleep in Pepper's arms. Pepper looked down at the now calm and sleeping child and her heart broke all over again. It pained Pepper to see Grace in such a downhearted state. At the beginning she thought that maybe she would have been able to calm her down like she had done in the past when she cried about her mom, but no matter what Pepper did she knew there wouldn't be a cure to her unhappiness this time. There was only one way for Grace to rise from her sadness.

And that would be for Tony to return.

Pepper had to hold in her own tears this time because she knew that was now an impossible wish to come true. Tony, her eccentric over the top but pleasant boss, had been missing now for three months and the hope for him to return kept decreasing as each day passed.

Still...Pepper held onto that hope. No matter how foolish it was to others. She had to remain hopeful... for Grace.


Painting.

Reading.

Practicing her writing and cursive skills.

Learning how to ride a bike.

Learning Spanish.

Grace Stark had come to learn that when a person is sad the best way to distract them from that sadness they were feeling was by doing activities. Activities that were considered fun and made them temporarily forget about the bad things in life. At least that's what Grace understood from Pepper and Rhodey.

And despite her moments of crying and heartache, there were tiny moments when Grace had managed to engage in those listed activities in the past three months. Painting and reading were already something Grace had been doing. And because she put more time into painting and reading, her skills improved. However, Pepper had been the one who suggested she'd practice her writing, including her cursive. Even though Grace found that to be boring at first, she eventually found some type of peacefulness when it came to writing things in cursive.

From her young perspective it made things look more grown up. As for learning how to ride a bike, that was all Rhodey. He had encouraged her to learn how to ride a bike and he told her that he'd be willing to teach her...and he did. Throughout the whole process, Grace had been unsure because weren't dad's supposed to teach their kids to ride their bikes?

Despite this unsure feeling, Grace went along with it and within a few days she knew how to ride a bike.

Now as for learning Spanish that was all on Grace. Learning Spanish was something she always wanted to do because of her mom. Growing up with her mom the first five years of her life, Grace was able to remember some Spanish words but she didn't fully understand the language. And even though Grace was just six years old, she wanted to learn...and so she did. Even if learning Spanish made her think of her mom, and in return uncle, and dad...she'd be willing to go through the sadness in order to learn her mom's native language.

Before settling on learning Spanish, Grace had tried reading a book about building miniature cars. They weren't real cars but toy ones. Still, as she had come to learn, it was nevertheless difficult. She knew her dad had a passion for building and fixing stuff...like cars. So she tried doing something like that but no matter how much she tried, Grace couldn't get into it. She got the reading part down (as she always did) but the actual building part had been difficult and Grace failed miserably. Failing just made her feel stupid...her dad was smart in these things, and from what she was able to understand her Grandfather Howard had been smart as well. They were both smart, so why wasn't she? Why couldn't she be an expert in math and science like she was with reading and writing? She felt like she was failing her whole dad's side of the family, but most importantly she felt like she was failing herself.

It wasn't until a few days passed from her recent break down with Pepper, that things took a turn...for the better. Grace was inside her bedroom, once again reading another book about building miniature cars. And despite processing the words quickly, Grace knew that when the time came she would fail the building part. Just like always. Grace huffed, feeling her frustration grow. Her eyes were beginning to get watery from feeling like such a dummy when she heard her bedroom door open.

Grace knew who it was because there was only one person at the Malibu house. So she wasn't surprised to see Pepper in her bedroom. What had her confused (besides the sudden entrance with no knock) was the way she looked. Pepper's eyes were slightly red, and Grace could tell she had been crying. It had been a face that reflected her own. However, it was the small smile that was on Pepper's face that made Grace realize those tears weren't sad ones.

"Grace." Pepper said, her voice sounding the most relieved in three months. "Rhodey just called me. They found him." Her light green eyes softened even more as she looked into Grace's dark brown eyes. "Your dad's been found. He's alive."

It didn't even feel like a second passed before Grace reacted. Never in her life had Grace acted so fast. She jumped out of her seat, dropping the book she had been reading and forgetting it as she hurriedly made her way towards Pepper. She came to a halt once she was in front of her.

"He's alive?" Grace asked, her voice trembling from emotion.

Pepper nodded her head as tears went down her cheeks. "Yes, he's alive."

Tony was alive...her dad was alive. Grace's breathing was going out of control, half from excitement, and the other from shock. Fighting through the urge to pinch herself to see if this was a dream or not, Grace decided to grab onto one of Pepper's hands. "I want to see him. Please. I need to see him."

Pepper gave her hand a soft squeeze. "We are. He's on his way with Rhodey. Happy is going to drive us to the air base and we're going to meet him there. Don't worry. Everything's okay now. Your dad's back."

Those last three words Pepper said repaired her broken heart. And Grace for the first time in three months smiled...and she genuinely meant it.

Her dad was back.


Grace was nervous. Her stomach was doing weird flips and she kept shifting her feet. Clear signs of nervousness and no matter how much Pepper tried reassuring her not to be, Grace just couldn't stop feeling nervous.

Ever since she left the house, her excitement and shock wore down and nervousness soon invaded her. Outside and inside, especially now that she was with Pepper and Happy at the airbase. Waiting for her dad...and it wouldn't be until five minutes later (after getting there) that the huge air base plane that had dad and Rhodey landed. And when it did, Grace's heart rate rate didn't increase...not until she actually saw him.

Slowly walking out of the plane, with Rhodey helping, was her dad. From where Grace was standing next to Pepper, she could see her dad was wearing one of his usual suits. However, she could also see the arm sling he had for one of his arms, along with a few cuts on his face.

It hurt to see her dad look so broken in a way. Except Grace refused to focus on that negative aspect and instead she thought of the positive result. Her dad was alive...and he was here. Any well behavior one would consider lady-like left her. Grace let out a small cry before she ran towards her dad.

With an emotionally star-struck expression, Pepper watched as the dark brown haired girl ran towards Tony. Even Happy, who had been lingering back, watched heavily interested as the heart warming scene between father and daughter played out.

"Dad!"

Seeing Grace running towards them had Rhodey come to a gentle stop. Tony had been beyond ecstatic to see his daughter again. The same daughter who had showed up in his life unexpectedly, but such a surprise was now not of importance. After being captive for three months all he really thought about was seeing his daughter again. Now here he was in her presence again. And to hear her say that word, dad, that one word he had been hoping to hear since he first got custody of her had him thinking he was in some sort of dream. But he wasn't...this was real life. This was actually happening.

Now that she was closer, Tony wanted to desperately hug Grace. And you know what? He was going to. Damn the pain. He wanted to hug his daughter. Once she was close enough, Tony (with the help of Rhodey) got down on one of his knees and using his good arm he brought Grace into a hug.

Of course she accepted the hug. She carefully wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face there. She felt something on her dad's chest when she hugged him and it felt warm...sort of like a light bulb when touched but she was too emotionally invested in the reunion to raise any questions yet.

Grace felt tears run down her cheeks. "Dad, I'm sorry for not saying I love you." She cried out. "I do love you. I love you so much." Her voice wavered as she said this. "Please, don't ever leave again. Please don't."

Tony slowly and carefully returned the hug. Hearing those words she said...those heart-warming words had Tony's eyes glistening. "Ssh, it's alright, sweetheart." He softly answered her. "I'm here now. Everything's fine. I promise never to leave you again." He earnestly told her, once again ignoring the pain he was feeling as he continued to hug his daughter.

As this was happening, Yinsen's words rang in Tony's head.

"Don't waste your life."

And now that he was back home reunited with his daughter again, Tony wasn't about to let Yinsen's sacrifice go without action. Tony was given a second chance, and he wasn't going to let that go to waste. Not with his work and certainly not with his daughter.