A/N - Antonia Stark was born 3/25/1980 (10 years later than canon)


"Take These Broken Wings And Learn To Fly"

Howard Anthony Walker Stark was not an innately kind man. Nor was he a particularly gentle man. Nor was he a man who would state patience as one of his virtues. In short Howard Stark was not the kind of man that the masses would expect to be a good father. And to the benefit of the masses he wasn't. In fact moments after holding up the infant for the world to see in the press room of his Los Angeles offices he handed her off to a waiting Ana Jarvis who was then quickly ushered with the child out of the building and into a waiting car. The pair were taken to the Upstate Mansion.

Ana Jarvis was the baby's primary caregiver for two years. Sure there were nurses and other staff but it was Ana Jarvis who the young baby Stark clung too.

Ana Jarvis who would fall asleep in the nursery chair as she rocked the babes bassinet, crooning old tunes or reciting old stories to the infant whose eyes seemed too sharp for her age. It was Ana Jarvis who would load the young girl in her pram for walks around the yard explaining to the girl the flowers that bloomed around them. It was Ana Jarvis who placed the fussy child draped in a different gowns in the arms of strangers so that photos could be staged of events such as her christening.

As the babe grew it was Ana Jarvis who would spend hours pacing the kitchen bouncing the young Stark on her shoulder as the child fought through Colic. It was Ana Jarvis who the girl's brown eyes would track as she laid on the floor surrounded by sad beige toys. It was Ana who would be present for every doctor's appointment, every first. She was the one who taught the young Stark her first math lessons on concepts of measurement. Standing at the island in the small kitchenette of the Jarvis LA home with the infant seated in a high chair as An instructed her on how to make all different types of foods. It was Ana who always knew how to interpret the girl's cries and how to find whatever vital item the child lost. In short, Ana Jarvis was Antonia Marie Stark's entire world.

Like all spoiled children the babe was slow to move independently. Counting instead on the many workers who would happily tote her from room to room and ignoring the limbs she had and the freedom they provided her. The only one who allowed the babe the frustration to even attempt movement was Ana and generally when she did so another minder was quick to step in, believing that Ana's lack of responses to Antonia's cries were due to various afflictions and not the touch love it was. Though the babe was always brought back to Ana after a short reprieve as the other workers would prove to be unable to calm the child.

The day Antonia Marie Stark took her first steps was consequently also the first time she spoke. The girl, a full thirteen months old and filled with big jelly rolls that were covered by a designer romper that fit well but seemed out of place. The babe had been playing with a toy on the floor of her room. Ana had taken ill for nearly a week and a half; and that rainy day was her first day back at the Malibu house proper. When Antonia Marie heard her door open and saw her favorite person in the doorway. She managed to clumsily get to her feet from where she was lying and toddled forward at an alarming spread with a smile.

"Na, Na, Na," the girl said, large hands reaching up to be held. Ana for her part just smiled and bent down to pluck the girl off the ground and place her into her arms. By the look of the staff who had been tasked with watching the girl, Ana could tell that the toddling was not a development that happened during her bout with the flu.

"Why good morning chamuda," Ana smiled as she used her long fingers to brush against the girl's stomach in a tickle.

"Mrs. Jarvis," the other worker said with a curtsy.

"Good Morning, is there anything on the child's schedule for today?" Ana asked, tucking the girl into her hip as she leveled the other woman with a hollow grin.

"No Ma'am,"

"Very well. Have Mr. Hatten prepared the car, I believe that a day on the town may be just what the doctor ordered." Ana said with a smile. It was rare that Ana took Antonia on excursions outside of the mansion. But as the babe aged she became harder and harder to keep engaged throughout the day. Boring of the toys, books, and activities available to her at the mansion. So Ana had taken to bringing the girl on slight adventures. To public libraries and parks, to small indoor activities such as aquariums and museums. Or to longer day trips like boat rides and beach days. Today Ana would not be up for a long excursion. In fact she probably was not up to an excursion at all. But the look of exhaustion on the current caregivers face and the look of triumph on Antonia's told her that something needed to be done.

So she loads a bag then the babe, bag, and the pram into the car. She tells the driver to surprise them with their final location.

They never arrive.

Ana Jarvis would never truly remember what happened; just that when she opens her eyes next she sees an analog clock attached to a white wall that reads 1:54 which immediately sets her on edge. She sees a pale blue curtain divider, feels the itchy feel of hospital clothes, hears the beeping of monitors, and smells a familiar calone. Turning her head to the side she sees Edwin seated at her side. Tears in his as he holds her hand. Ana's first thought is that she has somehow been transported back to late July of 47. After her run in with the wrong end of a bullet.

Unlike then, there were no promises to be made.

"Antonia," Ana asked as soon as she had enough wits about her.

"Missing. Agent Carter and Sousa have already mobilized a team; as have the local law enforcement. I am told they believe the child will be recovered by nightfall."

"Mr. Jarvis."

"Mrs. Jarvis."

"I am sorry."

"As am I."