Author's Note: This chapter title comes from The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. This is the end of the first fic for the Erstwhile series! The beginning of the next fic should be up soon, so look out for that. Don't forget to subscribe to me as an author so you don't miss it.

Chapter Ten - So we beat on (ceaselessly)

"Good morning, Danielle."

Danielle stared at Natalie and then at the people next to her. "Good morning," she murmured. "Good morning, Phil. And . . . ?" She stared at the last man, flexing her grip on her water bottle. Her hands were still sticky from sweat from her workout, but that was nowhere near as uncomfortable as the way the man was seeming to study her. "Nick Fury, right?"

"That I am."

Danielle glanced towards Natalie. "And who are you really, then? The SHIELD president?"

Natalie's lips twitched up slightly. "Hardly. Natasha Romanoff. I'm just an agent."

"What the hell are you doing in my house?"

Danielle didn't look back at her father. "I don't know. I haven't asked them that yet."

A hand closed on her shoulder and dragged her back. "What do you want, Fury?"

"We have something we need to talk about, Stark. It concerns your little Russian friend from Monaco. And that crossword puzzle on your neck."

It was up to his neck now? Danielle caught herself as she almost looked up at her father. She shook her head. "Dad—"

"We need to discuss this without the kid," Fury interrupted.

Tony's squeezed Danielle shoulder. "Oh, um. Okay. Dani, why don't you . . . . Why don't you let Natalie take you to Pepper, okay?"

"But—"

"Let's go," Natasha said, stepped forward and holding a hand towards Danielle.

Danielle stared at the hand being offered to her. Then she stared up at the redhead and tried to imagine what she must look like as an agent. Did she wear a suit like Phil? She cleared her throat. "I need a shower. I'll meet you outisde."

Natasha stared at her for a long moment, considering. Then she nodded and withdrew her hand. "Fifteen minutes."

"Fifteen minutes. Dad, don't forget to take care of Bacon for me."

"He's not responding to any of my messages. JARVIS won't even answer me."

"Hmm. Well, Fury gave him a lot of things to focus on. Look up. I'm going to do your mascara."

Danielle eyed the wand Natasha was holding. "You aren't going to poke me in the eye with that, are you?" When all she got in return was an unimpressed look, she pulled a face. "Alright, alright." She kept her head straight but looked up at the ceiling. "Did . . . Fury give him something to help with his arc reactor?"

Natasha didn't respond right away, completely silent as she applied the mascara. She pulled back and stored the wand away. As she dug through the bag of makeup supplies, she said, "His arc reactor?"

"Don't play games. You know what I mean."

Natasha pulled out a spray bottle. "Close your eyes. This will set your makeup."

"Nat."

Natasha shook the bottle threateningly. Danielle just stared her down. A smile twitched Natasha's lips. "Like you, your father has a brilliant mind. But every brilliant mind needs a push in the right direction every now and again."

"Fury had that push for him? To fix himself up?"

All hint of humor had left Natasha's face as she mulled over how to answer. Then she shook the bottle again. "Possibly. Close your eyes."

Danielle sighed. Then she did as she was told. She heard the bottle spray several times and flinched as the cold mist settled over her skin. She kept her eyes closed. "What's going to happen to me?" she murmured. "If it's not the push he needs?"

"You're a smart girl. You'll survive."

"Dad's here!" Danielle whispered excitedly to Natasha where the woman was sitting beside her. "He's here! He's okay and—" She drifted off, seeing the concerned expression on the redhead's face. "He's . . . . Nat?"

"Something's not right," Natasha murmured to her. "I wasn't told he was coming."

"Is that bad? He's—" Danielle glanced back towards the stage and stared at how her father was advancing on Hammer. "He's not here for the Expo, is he? Nat?" She looked back up at the woman.

"How fast can you run, Danielle?" Natasha asked, leaning closer to her.

"Usually sub seven minutes, now. Why— Oh, god." Danielle couldn't stop staring at the gun Rhodey has pointed at her father. "Nat, what—"

"Take your shoes off."

Danielle kicked off her heels just as her father blasted off from the stage. A hand gripped the back of Danielle's neck and another one pressed on her back, dragging her down from her seat. The lurch in motion was accompanied by the ringing of guns, familiar from her time at the range with Rhodey. Only this sound was louder, angrier, and accompanied by the feeling of bile in her stomach.

"Get to safety!" Natasha yelled. The pressure on her neck and back disappeared.

Danielle was shaking. She knew distantly that people were screaming, but she couldn't quite hear it over the ringing in her ears. She was hyperventilating. Why couldn't she stop? Why weren't her lungs listening to her?

Danielle forced a long breath and then held it until her chest burned. Then she let it out in a gasp. The ringing was still there, mixed with the hail of bullets and the shrieks of people around her. She looked up and carefully peeked over the seats. Most were empty, but some people were still scrambling for the exits.

"Happy," Danielle mumbled. "Gotta find the car."

The ground was cold, but she ignored that and took off running for the exit. Just as she passed through the door, pain sliced up through her foot and she stumbled. Danielle caught herself on the wall and looked back at the blood-stained glass in the doorway. Swearing in a way that she knew would have her father lecturing her if he found out about it, she stumbled quickly away from the building.

A drone flew close overhead and she ducked down, hands over her head. It jarred her bones as it dove by and the sound was accompanied by a high pitched screech of surprise. She looked up just in time to see a little boy tumble to the ground. Danielle scrambled forward, foot screaming as her open wound scraped against the ground. "Hey, hey, hey," she called, grabbing the kid by his arms and dragging him up. "Are you okay?"

He stared up at her, Iron Man mask askew on the top of his head. But he didn't answer, eyes just wide and face pale.

Her concern grew and she waved a hand in front of his face. "Hello? Are you okay?"

"U-um, yeah." He sniffled and wiped his hand against his nose. "I lost my aunt and uncle. I don't know where they went."

"Oh, okay. Let's go find them. They've got to be—" She gasped and stumbled back a drone landed in front of them. "Shit!"

The boy threw up his hand, palm out. Danielle shook her head. "Not the time!" she shouted, grabbing him and dragging him into her arms. She took off at a limping run. "Hold on tight! I've got you! I've—" She shrieked, barely stopping in time to avoid the drone that landed in front of them. Her foot tore against the ground and she fell backwards, the boy landing on top of her. The drone lifted its arm, pointing at them. Danielle's heart jumped. She dragged the boy down and hunched over him, forcing herself between him and the drone. "I've got you," she said again, but this time her voice was shaking.

The familiar sound of a repulsor blast made her heart jump. She looked up, eyes wide. "Dad?"

"Dani!" The faceplate flipped up. "You need to get somewhere safe." He held out a hand to her. "Let's—" He glanced to the side and then swung around, blasting at another drone.

"I'll be okay!" When had her eyes started stinging? "Go!"

"Dani—"

"Go!"

He looked ready to protest, but a drone came diving at him. He scowled and his faceplate snapped down. "Get to safety!" Then he took off again.

Danielle pushed herself to her feet. "Are you okay?"

He nodded. "I lost my mask."

She stared at him. And then she smiled faintly. "Don't worry. You'll get another one. C'mon. Can you run?"

He nodded again.

"Let's go." She took his hand and took off, easily matching his slow pace due to her injury. "What's your name?"

"Peter!"

"It's nice to meet you, Peter. I'm Danielle. Danielle Stark."

He stumbled and looked up at her, wide-eyed. "Whoa. Really?"

"Don't stop!" She pulled on his hand. "Up there! There's people!" She sped up and he struggled to keep pace. "What are their names?"

"What?"

"Your aunt and uncle?"

"Um, Aunt May. And Uncle Ben."

"Okay. Let's find them." She kept her grip on him tight and started pulling him through the crowd of people. "May! Ben!"

Peter kept close to her side. "Uncle Ben!" he called, voice shaking. "Aunt May! Uncle Ben!" He pulled on her hand. "Where are there?"

"I don't know. We'll find them. Don't—"

The shockwave hit her ears before the sound did. But she heard the roar of fire and dragged Peter into her arms. He shrieked in surprise and his hands pulled anxiously at her dress. The roaring stopped and she let go of him, arms shaking. He looked up at her and his mouth moved but she couldn't hear him. All she could hear was the ringing in her ears. She shook her head and scratched at her ear. "What?" she asked loudly.

"What happened?"

His voice was quiet, but she had a feeling it wasn't because of him. She tried to focus through the ringing. Danielle glanced over her shoulder at the destroyed Expo. "I— Let's find your family."

It took a while and she could feel Peter getting more and more anxious by the minute. But finally they found a man and woman that dragged the boy into their arms and started crying over them. Danielle smiled at them shakily, her head curiously light and her vision splotchy.

"Goose!"

She turned around quickly and nearly lost her balance. A metal hand closed around her bicep, keeping her up. "Thank god you're okay. We couldn't find you anywhere."

She blinked several times. When had it gotten this hard to see? "Rhodey?"

"Yeah, it's me, kiddo. You don't look so good."

"I don't feel so good," she admitted.

He frowned and then his faceplate snapped down. "Alright, let's get you out of here."

"You aren't dying anymore?"

Tony's fingers paused in her hair and she could feel the stutter in his breath with how she was leaned up against his chest. She counted seven uncertain heartbeats before he responded with, "How long have you known?" His fingers started combing comfortingly through her hair again.

She sighed and let her eyes drift closed, the end credits of Die Hard not nearly interesting enough to watch. "Since the hearing in DC. So a month."

"You knew . . . ." He took a long, slow breath. "I'm sorry."

"You should be."

"I know."

She listened to the steady beat of his heart. "You're here to stay, now?"

He chuckled, though it was strained. "Of course I am," he murmured. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "You're stuck with me forever."

"Forever?"

"Forever. No take-backsies."

Danielle laughed. "I don't want take-backsies. I don't want you to ever leave."

"I don't want to leave either."