"So you're telling me that a Russian woman completely erased herself from my memory?" Tony asked unbelieving. Grace nodded and he took another sip from his drink. Swallowing, he stared long and hard at Grace. Something was different about her, Tony thought.
"Sounds impossible, right?" Grace asked. Tony, Steve, Bruce, and Pepper nodded and she sighed. "You may not believe me but I do have proof."
"What proof? You?" Steve said.
"Well yes but I have photos of Tony and Mom together," Grace said, reaching for her bag. She pulled out a pack of ten photos and passed them to Tony. He reached for them and realized that now her eyes were violet. He took note of that and then began to look through the photos. All the photos were of a younger him and a young lady who had the same violet eyes that Grace now had.
"How is it possible for her to remove herself?" Tony murmured.
"Well it's a lot like how Wanda makes you see your worst fears. Except instead of making your brain see something, Mom made your brain not see something. She tricked your neurons into thinking that she was a traumatic event and thus, blocking her."
Grace looked around the room to see Steve and Pepper's blank faces but shock on Bruce and Tony's.
"Let me guess: you're a certifiable genius," Steve directed at Grace.
"Of course she is. She's a Stark," an entrancing voice said from the doorway. Everyone turned to look and saw none other than Natasha Romanoff standing there.
"Hey Anya," Natasha nodded at Grace, whose eyes widened, "I brought you something."
Natasha moved and revealed a white Husky, sitting behind her.
"Pooka!" Grace cried. The dog ran up to Grace and knocked her down. It began to lick Grace's face and she giggled and rubbed her nose against the Huskies.
"Wait...Anya?" Tony questioned.
"Yes. Anya Grace Lavrov. That's her full name," Natasha said. She crossed the room to stand next to Bruce.
"Anya is a beautiful name," Pepper exclaimed, "Why didn't you tell us?"
"They called me Grace back at the lab. I got used to saying it and hearing it," Anya/Grace said curling next to her dog. "Like Amazing Grace. Like I was a circus act," she added bitterly.
"Could you excuse my daughter and I?" Tony asked the others. Pepper nodded, looking thrilled that he had called the kid his daughter, and she gestured for the others to get out. Nat walked over to Anya/Grace, whispered something in her ear and the kid laughed and rewarded Nat with a rare smile. Tony crossed the room and sat next to Anya/Grace.
"How did your mother die, kid?" he asked, looking out the window. Anya/Grace sighed and began brushing the dog's fur.
"It was an accident. My powers are directly tied with my temper. And one day everyone at the lab, Mom included, were pushing me and making me mad and I couldn't deal. My power literally exploding out of me and slammed everyone against the stone walls...they were dead within seconds. I still have a scar from that day."
Anya/Grace turned and lifted her long, black hair to reveal an ugly scar that seemed to end at the back of her head.
"It's from a piece of the ceiling falling on me," she continued, "I was knocked out and when I woke up, everyone that I had ever known was dead. I didn't even like half the people there. Hell I barely liked my Mom. But they were all I had."
Anya began to cry and the dog whined and began nudging her face. Tony finished his drink, put down the glass, and looked at her.
"I know something about you," Anya murmured, looking straight at Tony.
"Yeah and what's that?"
"You suffer from PTSD," Anya calmly said. Tony looked at her for a long time and then sighed.
"And I'm guessing you do to?" Tony questioned. Anya nodded and he sighed.
"No one but you and Pooka know I do," she said.
The air that settled around them seemed heavier now. Tony found that he was actually saddened by the girl's story. This may be all the alcohol that Tony consumed talking but he found that he was worried about Anya.
"Why are your eyes violet now?" Tony asked hoping he wasn't pushing her too much.
"They are?" Anya questioned and she pulled a hand mirror out of her bag to look. When she realized that Tony was right, she laughed a little.
"My eyes are naturally violet," she laughed, "Like Mom's but she told me that having violet eyes make me look like a freak so I usually make them look brown. A normal color."
Tony put one hand under her chin and raised her tear-stained face to his. "Keep them violet Anya. Don't hide who you are from the world," he advised. She smiled at him and then yawned. Tony put his arm around her and she put her head on his shoulder.
"One more question," he said.
"What's that?"
"What's with the Husky?"
"Pooka? He wandered into where I was living a year or two ago and he's been my best friend ever since."
Tony felt himself smiling and he pulled Anya closer. How ridiculous this must look, he thought. Me, Tony Stark, holding a daughter that I didn't know I had and sitting next to her dog. Then Tony found that he really didn't care.