"Come out upon my seas
Cursed missed opportunities am I
A part of the cure
Or am I part of the disease, singing"
- Coldplay
Security Log / July 4, 2009 / 22:56:29 PM
user: STARK, ANTHONY E.
_ alarm enabled _
Malibu Security limit report
Auto-Sensor Activation:
Security Camera: Night Mode
Retrieved from – J.A.R.V.I.S. oversight code 616
Data: Master (Security) 07/04/09
Server Category: Facial Recognition
user alias: You Know Who I Am
Security Log / July 5, 2009 / 01:58:30 AM
user: BARTON, A. DANIELA
_ alarm disabled _
_ front door unlocked _
Malibu Security limit report
Manual-Sensor Activation:
Security Camera: Motion Sensor
Retrieved from – J.A.R.V.I.S. oversight code 833
Data: Front Door (Security) 07/05/09
Server Category: Facial Recognition
user alias: Munchkin
Security Log / July 5, 2009 / 04:47:59 AM
BARTON, A. DANIELA
_ front door unlocked _
It was still dark out, quiet. The sun was coming up soon. There was nothing but the sound of the running shower. Water ran red with blood as it washed over Danny's skin. Danny was… She just was.
Her gaze was far, far away – staring off into space. It was not unlike disassociation, detaching herself from the present. She thought that she had her shit under control, she thought that –
The floor of the shower stall wasn't as uncomfortable as she thought it would be. Danny had her knees pulled into her chest, arms locked around them. The showerhead was pouring down scorching hot water, but she was numb to it by now.
Her heart was still fucking pounding in her chest, and she was anxious. Terrified, was more like it. The Voice echoed, He deserved it.
Images flashed in her mind – blood and claws and bullets – and they were so fresh in her headspace. Danny wasn't sure what happened. She wasn't even sure how she found the guy. Her list of kills was just getting longer and longer. Did that guy even deserve to be killed?
The Voice in her head surely thought so.
Briefly, very briefly, she thought about how Tony was just at the end of the hall. Hopefully he hadn't heard her sob her heart out.
Danny hated the news. At least, she hated it whenever it related to her (but of course, no one else knew that).
"…let's visit a very harrowing story today coming from Malibu," the WHiH news reporter began. "Police reports came in revealing the brutal death of local crime lord, Ed Coolidge. His body was found early this morning off the Pacific Coast Highway, nearly decapitated and, according to the LA County coroner's office, almost unrecognizable."
Under normal circumstances, Danny would have been ready to throw herself at the steps of the closest police station. Frankly, she probably cried all of that out in the early morning. She didn't remember ever leaving Tony's mansion, but she vaguely remembered leaving behind a nearly mutilated body for the police to find. When she had returned in the dead of night, Danny went straight to her room and washed the blood off of her, scrubbing her skin raw. Unsurprisingly, she didn't sleep a wink and just watched the sun come up.
"His death is being investigated as a targeted homicide. However, many people have already been celebrating this so-called 'vigilante killing' as Coolidge was connected to multiple open cases in the area." A photo of the sleaze ball was put on screen. "Unfortunately, Coolidge's death leaves more questions than answers. Who did this? And just how dangerous are they? There are no leads yet confirmed by the police, so we will keep you updated…"
Under normal circumstances, Danny wouldn't have believed the Voice telling her that the man whose life she took was evil. It didn't justify the kill in any way; it only made her skin crawl just thinking about the way he begged for his life after he emptied a clip in an attempt to shoot her. No matter the result, it didn't make her feel better about how morally grey her actions were. But for some reason, Danny couldn't find it in herself to turn away from the morning news broadcast talking about the ruthless death.
She kept telling herself it was the stress. Stress triggered her episodes, right? That's what SHIELD said in her assessment. Danny literally moved to another coast with nothing but the clothes on her back and the items Pepper had spotted her. It had to be the stress.
She didn't even notice Tony come down from the second floor until he said, "Hey. Earth to Danny." Her attention turned to him, who gave a half-hearted wave. He was wearing an AC/DC tee over long-sleeves, dark-wash jeans. His dark brown hair was freshly washed, curled slightly. Ironically enough, Tony seemed very well-rested for once.
"Sorry, Mr. Stark," she apologized. Cleared her throat. "I, um – Didn't realize you were up already."
He scoffed, "You're killing me, kid. Just call me 'Tony'." He took the last few steps and sat himself at the edge of the couch, half-paying attention to the report. "You live in my house; the whole formality thing is sort of a non-issue."
"Right," she muttered. "I'll try to remember that."
After a beat: "Are you managing to sleep alright?"
Danny stared at Tony blankly. "Yeah, fine… Why?"
"No reason, just curious…" His brown eyes flickered to her hazel-greys. Tony asked her, raising a suspicious brow, "Where did you go last night?"
Danny's breath froze in her chest, and her heart started racing a bit. She hoped that she didn't sound like she was hiding something – because she was most definitely hiding something: "What do you mean?" God, fucking idiot, he has surveillance. He has security cameras, fuck –
Tony leaned into the couch, throwing a casual arm over the back. "Hey, look, I'm not here to judge. I'm all for you… doing whatever kids do nowadays," he cautioned, waving a hand, "but if you keep sneaking out in the middle of the night and end up getting hurt? Pepper's going to have my head."
How apropos.
Shut up. You did this.
"It's probably not my place since we barely know each other," Tony continued. "It's not all shits and giggles, kid. You gotta work with me here."
Danny looked at him wordlessly, for a moment. Either he didn't look too hard at the security footage, or he's just super chill with people tracking blood into his mansion. She felt relief, nonetheless. The girl responded, changing the subject, "That's oddly responsible coming from… Well, you know. A genius, billionaire. You."
Tony grimaced, subconsciously tapping his chest. "Yeah, it felt just as odd coming out of my mouth." After sharing a brief moment of silence, he got to his feet and headed towards the kitchen.
Avoided that by the skin of our teeth.
No thanks to you.
Danny called after him, "Hey, Tony?" He stopped and turned back to her, expectant. "Thanks. For not telling Pepper."
"I got your back, kiddo," he said, giving her a tight-lipped smile. Tony walked to the kitchen, and then promptly shouted, "Just don't do it again!"
Tony was more than surprised to find Danny and Pepper sitting together in the kitchen, laughing. Sure, he had gotten used to their constant presence in the mansion over the last couple of months. He had only come up from working on his newest suit/armor design to stretch his legs, not expecting the two of them wide awake at nearly eleven at night. "You guys having a party without me, or what's going on here?"
"I got some very late dinner," Pepper told him, sticking chopsticks back into the Chinese takeout container in her hand.
"I was jonesing for some good Asian food, and Pepper came to the rescue!" Danny revealed, reaching across the table for an unopened takeout box. She handed it to him. "We saved you some orange chicken. Your favorite."
Tony accepted the food cautiously before giving a look to the blonde. "And how exactly do you know that?" he questioned, swiping a pair of chopsticks and using only one hand and his teeth to break them apart.
Danny stifled a chuckle, holding up a People magazine. The front cover had a headline about "Brangelina" and news about the Jon and Kate Gosselin divorce. When Tony made no indication that he understood what she was wanting to show him, Danny pointed to the top right corner. "Apparently, People has the low-down on the 'ins and outs of dating Tony Stark'," she clarified.
"And what, does my profile list my likes and dislikes, too?" Tony popped a full piece of orange chicken into his mouth.
"Among other things. Says here I'm your new 'mystery woman'." Danny and Pepper immediately fell into another fit of laughter.
"That's outrageous and inappropriate," Tony huffed out, but he walked behind Danny to look at the article anyway. "Let me see it."
She held it up for him to read. One of the photos was of him, Pepper, and Danny sitting at a booth in the back of a restaurant. He was reaching across the table to show Danny how to eat soup dumplings properly, but he could see where things could be interpreted differently, like they always were.
He read aloud, "'Tony Stark was spotted having lunch at Arcadia's Din Tai Fung last week with his assistant and a young mystery woman. She seems to have appeared out of nowhere but was cozying it up with the CEO merely three months after his return and recovery.' Oh, that's a horrible photo! They didn't even capture my good side."
Pepper shook her head in amusement, saying to Danny, "I told you he'd say that."
Tony continued eating, speaking with his mouth full. "Why'd you even buy that crap? Tabloids are the worst."
He noticed her visibly pout. "I'm sentimental, sue me" was Danny's retort.
"That's the difference between you and me," Tony began. "I've been called many things. Nostalgic is not one of them."
Danny looked up at him, and then back at the magazine. "I'm keeping it. It's my second time being published," she chuckled.
"When was the first?" Pepper asked.
"Years ago, in some county newspaper back in Jersey," she answered, picking at her chow mein. "I placed at my high school science fair. Before I got expelled."
"You got expelled?" Tony was in shock, and he wasn't afraid to hide it. He couldn't imagine someone like Danny Barton so much as hurting a fly, let alone doing something that would warrant expulsion. "I need to hear this."
She sighed, red with embarrassment. "It's a long story."
He made his way into a chair. Tony settled, grinning widely at her. "I've got time."
Danny Barton thought she was getting used to people's reactions with meeting her. The first time she met Agent Sitwell, he seemed keen on digging into her life and exposing her like a nerve. The first time Pepper had introduced her to Tony Stark, he was clearly taken back that she wasn't jumping to take advantage of his money. The first time Happy Hogan had gotten acquainted with her, he was cautious and reserved – until they started bonding over the television shows she'd been catching up on.
"Ah, is this the girl?"
The first time Danny had ever met Obadiah Stane, he had sent her skin crawling. It was the way his eyes shined mirthfully when he'd asked her name. The Voice stirred in her head, almost blaring warnings into her subconscious, when the bald man smiled after shaking her hand.
"Anna, right?" Stane inquired, sharp blue eyes meeting her hazel-greys.
She cleared her throat, accepting the hand he'd extended. "I go by Danny, actually. Danny Barton. Great to meet you."
"'Barton', was it?" he asked, raising a brow. There was a look that flashed on his face but was gone just as fast.
"Um. Yes, sir," Danny answered shortly, smiling kindly but knowing her eyes were showing her confusion. There wasn't anything significant about her last name. There wasn't anything significant about her.
Stane had blinked twice before patting her shoulder, pivoting on his heel and turning his attention to Pepper and Tony at his side. "Can't believe you've never introduced us before, Ms. Potts, considering she's all but squatting in Tony's mansion."
She got whiplash from the abruptness of the backhanded comment. Tony had just awkwardly laughed it off, shooting her a look as Stane maneuvered them toward the kitchens.
Pepper would say that she had a fairly calm demeanor, professional, and she sure as hell tried to avoid confrontation when she could. She rarely blew up on anyone, if at all. It was just one of those things that made her such a great personal assistant to the CEO of Stark Industries.
This was not one of those times.
She was having a productive day at the SI office before a call was patched through. On the other end of the line was a man from New Jersey, a man named Thomas with a wife named Lisa, who reached out and said they had been fostering Danny previously. From the get-go, Pepper disliked him. He was singing praises and thanks for taking Danny in during "such trying times." Said his half-assed apologies regarding the "inconvenience" of bringing her to California all the way from New York, asking off-handedly if Stark could pay for his and his wife's two-way airfare to pick up Danny and "take her home to us."
Pepper had absolutely grilled them then, and held nothing back: When was the last time you spoke to her? Years? Did you ever visit her in that godforsaken facility? What kind of parent just leaves a minor at a shady organization for three years, and then doesn't even see if she's been tortured? How the hell did you even become foster parents? Yes, I know what a good foster parent should be because I was hers! How dare you ask for money! Do you even know her favorite ice cream flavor?
(The couple had stopped fostering after Danny's stint, thankfully, but admitted that they were hoping for a leg up after the market crash, and who better to swindle money out of than Tony Stark, eh?)
The door crept open slightly, and the head of Obadiah Stane peeked in. A frown was set on his face, and he raised a brow. He didn't say anything (probably having heard her yelling from down the hallway), just shut the door behind him and stalked forward.
Avoiding Obie's eye, Pepper continued, "I have half a mind to file charges against you, to get your license revoked –"
"I don't appreciate your tone, Ms. Potts," Thomas said, voice hard. "We just want that poor girl back with us. Barely eighteen and she's already –"
"You're despicable."
"Now, I hardly think –"
"She's twenty. But of course, you'd know that if you even bothered."
More words were exchanged between them, but there was no love lost. The gist of their argument revolved around Danny aging out of the system and the negligence charges that Pepper held over them. Suffice to say, Pepper (or Danny, for that matter) wouldn't be hearing from Thomas and Lisa any time soon.
Obadiah leaned against the edge of her desk, amusement clearly written across his features. He stroked his chin, shaking his head slightly. "You sure had an exciting conversation," he teased. "I'd have hated to be that guy on the other line."
"The nerve of some people, honestly…" Pepper felt her face flush, but kept her shoulders squared anyway. She cleared her throat, picking up a stack of sheets in front of her and nonchalantly putting them in order. "Sorry about that, Obadiah."
"No harm no foul," Obadiah said, shifting on his heel and taking a seat in one of the guest chairs. He contemplated something before asking Pepper, "Who was that? For the girl?"
"I – yeah – just – old foster parents found out about Tony taking her in and wanted to capitalize on burned bridges."
Obadiah leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees, asking something that she's been expecting since the very beginning: "And… was it necessary to bring the girl – "
"Daniela," Pepper supplied.
"Right. Daniela." A beat. "Tony is still recovering from being held captive for months, not to mention the kind of pressure he must be in balancing the company – but I know you already know that."
Pepper figured out what he was implying. It was the same kind of question she had asked when Tony first offered to fly Danny out and house her: Is it worth it? Pepper had seen how much of a positive influence having Danny around has been on Tony so far. To this day, three months later, she could say for a fact that it was so worth it. She assured Obadiah as much.
If living in a mansion was a once in a life time experience, living with Tony Stark was itself an absolute culture shock. Danny was originally supposed to live with Pepper at her place, but Tony was adamant to make use of the guest room and "Besides, maybe she'll teach me about some responsibility, eh?"
Things were going good for the first few months. Towards the end of September, Danny would accompany Pepper on some errands she'd need to do, just to feel useful. She'd only had one incident with her… condition, which she was able to hide (somehow). Since then, she's been able to control it a lot better. But that in another way meant the presence of the Voice was no longer restrained to her transformations; the Voice was getting more and more vocal, and sometimes she had to make sure that Tony didn't think she was crazy and talking to herself.
Now, Tony was everything she expected him to be, yet also everything she didn't. He was a little cocky and reserved, sure, but the more that she got to know him, the more she saw that he actually wanted to change. Nearly everything that Tony did surprised her: restructuring his entire company's bottom line, purposely avoiding confrontations with Obadiah Stane, holing himself down in his workshop to tinker on some off-the-books project. Come to think of it, she hadn't seen Tony since he went down this afternoon.
Danny was sitting on the floor in his living room, snacking on a bowl of popcorn as she watched a rerun of some old show. Two incredibly loud crashes came from the downstairs garage and workshop, which made Danny jump out of her skin.
She muted the television, leaning to the console on the table and opening the intercom. "Tony, is everything okay down there?"
No response.
"Tony? Hellooo?"
The only thing she heard was the beeping from his robots. One of them chirped and beeped almost frantically. Slightly concerned, Danny got up from the floor and made her way to his workshop, padding down the stairs. When she reached the door, she didn't immediately see Tony through the glass windows. Danny waited for the key pad to pop up, then she touched in her code. Her photo ID appeared as the door unlocked, and she rushed through, looking for the raven-haired genius.
Dum-E beeped at her, angling towards the left of her and spraying a little of the fire extinguisher. She saw Tony laying on the ground then, slowly getting to his bearings. "Jesus," Danny breathed as she kneeled beside him. "What happened to you?"
"Too much thrust," he groaned, attempting to get up. Danny took his forearm and helped him to sit. Tony felt at his face, then checked his hands to see if there was any blood.
In order to check his coherency, she asked him, "Do you remember what day it is?"
"Not particularly."
"What did you have for breakfast?"
"I didn't," he answered. Tony looked at her then. "Is it still October 5?"
Danny nodded, relieved. She scanned him briefly to see if anything was sticking out where it wasn't supposed to. "Are you good? Can you stand?" she inquired, staring at the metal boots that he had attached to his feet.
"Give me a sec, kid," he muttered, leaning back on the pillar.
"What did you hit?"
He pointed up to the wall. Danny shifted her weight and sat cross-legged beside him, looking around the workshop. Tools and larger pieces of equipment were strewn about the workbenches. His computers had schematics pulled up of thruster boots and gauntlets. Looking back at Tony, she saw things attached to his Arc Reactor, likely the source of power. "What are you even working on?"
"That's classified," he mused, moving to get up. Danny held her hand out, which he took gratefully, and used her counter weight to pull them both to their feet. He muttered a quiet "thanks."
"C'mon, Tony," she pleaded. "I've already seen your thruster boot thingies."
"Unsee them, then." He stomped his way back to the workbench, sitting in the stool and grabbing a small screw driver. She followed him, watching as he bent over to mess with the boots. They detached themselves and he pulled his feet out of them one at a time. Tony straightened up, frowning when he saw his almost-ward still standing in front of him. "Danny –"
She said sadly, "Who have I to tell? I don't have anyone besides Pepper. And it's not like I'd go to the press, because that's just a dick move." Danny's hazel-grey eyes met his browns, then she looked away. She shrugged her shoulders, shifting her weight on her feet. "Plus, if that was my agenda in the first place, don't you think there'd be leaks by now? I have been living here for, like, four months."
Tony didn't respond, only making an effort to pick up the thrusters and place them on the workbench. He wordlessly made his way to a computer, barely giving her a glance. Dejected, she figured that his silence was his answer; she decided to leave him to his work.
Danny's hand was already on the handle of the door when he suddenly spoke: "You said you placed at your science fair."
Her hand fell to her side, and she turned around to look at Tony. "When I was fourteen, but it's been –"
"What was your project?" Tony angled himself toward her, almost as if he was studying her.
She took a second to process his question. For some reason, her palms started to sweat. "I workshopped how to build cloud storage," Danny explained, "and then I added a network security layer that used voice biometrics."
A look of contemplation washed over Tony's features. Another thing surprised Danny: the small grin that formed on his lips. "Software engineering… Would you know how to program flight stabilizers?"
"I can try," Danny admitted. "I learn fast."
Tony grinned. "C'mere. Let me show you something."
And that was the first day of the most interesting week in Danny's life. It hadn't been the time her brother Clint spent teaching her how to shoot a bow and arrow at age seven; it hadn't been the time when Pepper took her out for ice cream after getting in trouble for standing up to a bully. It was the week Tony decided to take a leap of faith and take her under his wing.