Chapter 32:
Dani POV-
Considering the gaping hole in the ceiling of bedroom, Tony let me sleep in his bed. Plus, I have to admit, it made me fell a lot safer, especially with Vlad still out to get me.
Pepper stayed over too, which made even Tony's extra large bed feel a little cramped (especially when Ghost decided to curl up at our feet, much to Tony's protests).
The next morning, we were all woken up by the alarm on Pepper's cellphone. She sat up, and stretched, gently nudging up about getting ready for the press conference. I yawned and sat up too. I smiled at Pepper. She was looking the most laid back I have ever seen her, wearing one of Tony's t-shirts and sweat shirts.
"Everybody survive the night?" Tony asked, siting up. Pepper opened her mouth, but then there was a knock on the bedroom door.
"Come in," Pepper called, and Sam opened the door followed by Danny and Tucker.
"What time is the press conference?" Sam asked.
"In two hours, we're getting ready now," Pepper replied, nudging us out of bed, a little more forcefully this time. Tony groaned and rolled out of the other side of bed. Sam nodded and closed the door to the bedroom.
"Come on Ghost," I called the dog, "Let's go get ready. What should I wear?" I asked.
"Just a skirt and nice shirt will be fine," Pepper told me before I left to go to my room. The living room and kitchen were empty, probably because Danny, Sam, and Tucker were busy getting ready to leave.
I decided on a black-knee length skirt, and a green and black shirt that hung a little off of my shoulders and the same black wedge shoes that I had gotten for dinner yesterday.
'Wow,' I thought to myself, 'Dinner was only last night? After everything that happened, it felt like forever ago.'
I ran a brush through my hair, shifting my part to the side, before I came back out into the living room. Now, there was a ton of activity in the main area of the house, mostly done by Pepper who seemed more nervous than the rest of us about the press conference, and was buzzing all over the place.
I poured myself a bowl of cereal, and sat on one of the barstools by the countertop, where Tucker had his laptop set up.
"I just finished editing the recording from last night," Tucker announced.
"Great," Tony exclaimed getting off of the couch, "Let's hear it."
The rest of us gathered around the laptop and Tucker pressed the play button.
"Hello Danielle," his disembodied voice came through the speakers, just as creepily as it had yesterday night.
"What do you want Vlad?" my voice came next, and Tucker had managed to emphasize the shake in my voice, or at least I hope that my voice had not actually been shaking that badly.
Vladtsked over the speakers, and I cringed a little. "I don't like your attitude Danielle. Now, you know what I want, what I've always wanted."
"To destroy me," I heard myself say, the sound of fear, once again, prominent in my voice.
"Destroy is such a…harsh word, think of it this way: with you gone, I would be able to create new life." Hearing the way he said that over the tape was almost more terrifying than when he had said it last night, I just hoped it would come off that way at the press conference.
"And if I say 'no'?" I asked, my voice a little lower than before. Then I heard Vlad's dark laugh.
"I think you and I both know that this decision is not up to you."
Then there was a yelp, my yelp, that I had not realized I had made when he blasted me to the ground.
"What was the purpose of meeting Pepper and Tony? Why not just take me?" I heard my self say, pain obvious in my voice.
"Why, as a way of getting you to cooperate of course," Vlad told me and I could still see the smug sneer on his face.
"WHAT DO YOU WANT WITH THEM!" I shrieked. In that scream, I could hear all the anger and fear I had bottled up.
"Nothing, so long as you come with me, and do as I say," Vlad's voice was low.
"What will you do to them if I don't," I whispered, in the tape.
"If…they will foolishly try to help you…you will watch them be killed, slowly and painfully, if you do not leave them," he said, I knew that right after that Tony had appeared in the Iron Man suit, but instead of including our battle, Tucker skipped ahead to when Vlad had separated me and cornered me in my bedroom.
"What good will that do? How will killing them help you to get me. Tony will get you. He knows a lot of important people. He will ruin you if you take me," I heard my weak response to Vlad.
"Tony…[couldn't]…defend your worthless life. What makes you think he would do anything to save you?" Vlad countered. Afterwards, Tucker inserted another scream, another one, I realized was mine, but I didn't remember screaming.
Overall, the recording was expertly cut, and made Vlad sound horrible. I only feared how he would retaliate against me, or us, after this was released.
"Dani do you have an marks from last night?" Sam asked, sounding doubtful, which made sense, with the rate that Danny and I heal, we usually don't show any visible marks after ten minute, much less ten hours. However, for whatever reason, I did have a few marks left over from last night.
I rolled up my sleeve, where the although-fading imprint of a hand was still there, in the spot where Vlad had grasped my arm.
"Wow," Danny said, "I'm surprised. He must have grabbed you really hard to have a mark still be there."
"So how's this going to work when the press conference starts?" I asked.
"Well, I'll start it off, then I'll introduce you. You'll tell your story, then we'll play the tape and show off your bruise. After that, we're done and Vlad's ruined," Tony said with a smirk.
"Yeah…sorry we can't support you up there, but my parents…" Danny said.
I held up a hand to indicate that I understood. "I get it, and I don't expect you too. You stuck your neck out just to come here and help me, so I won't ask for anything else from you," I told him, and he sighed in relief because he had probably been beating himself up about it all morning, "But you guys should come with us…I'm worried about what kind of stunt Vlad might pull on the press conference."
"Of course we'll be there," Sam assured me.
"Speaking of, we should be leaving now," Pepper insisted. We agreed, following Pepper out of the door and into the limo.
We were early, but, nevertheless, some reporters had already gathered outside of Stark Industries, waiting to be let in, bombarding us with questions right as we walked in. Danny, Sam, and Tucker, had stayed in the limo, and would come in the back, so not to attract attention to themselves.
I ignored the reporters and followed Tony and Pepper inside. The reporters went to the press conference room, while the three of us waited in a separate room. Pepper then left to keep an eye on the crowd. A few minutes later, the back door opened and Danny, Sam, and Tucker came in. Tony pulled a water bottle out of a mini fridge, tossing one to me.
"How are you feeling?" he asked me.
"Nervous," I replied after taking a drink from the water bottle.
"Don't be, you'll be fine," Danny assured me.
The door to the press conference opened, and Pepper poked her head in.
"It's time," she nodded to us, and Tony and I followed her out into the room. The chatter of a hundred reporters all talking at once was quieted when Tony held up his hands at the podium.
"Now, I'm sure you are all wondering why I have called you here today. But actually, it is mostly for my daughter, Danielle. Recently, I was visited by someone who made quite an impact on Danielle's past, and she would like to tell you about it," Tony motioned for me to take the podium. I swallowed, took a deep breath, and stepped up.
"Now, I know that I told all of you that my father was an alcoholic that was killed while driving drunk. This, actually, is not the case. I lied, because I feared the repercussions that would be taken, but I'm not afraid anymore. The truth is, although I really never knew my mother, but my father is actually Vlad Master," I told them. A unanimous gasp sounded through the room, and I continued, "And the part I didn't make up was the abuse. None of you knew about me because I was intended to be kept a secret. You see, my father had never wanted a daughter, he wanted a son. To him, I was a mistake. I got away and had been running and finding myself in different foster homes until Pepper and Tony adopted me. But, with all the media attention, Vlad then knew where to find me. After that, he made an appointment with Tony for some business deal, but the real reason was to find out how close I was with them so that he could use them as a bargaining chip when he decided to kidnap me.
"Tony only recently found out all of this, and when he did we made a plan to catch him in the act. The other day, he came to my house. I had been waiting for him while wearing a wire. Here's what we recorded…" I nodded to Tony who press the play button.
The reporters seemed stunned by the audio on the tape, and when it finally finished they all looked at me with rapt attention. By that time, I was a little shaken, which I guess made for good theatrics to the crowd.
"He also left this bruise on my arm," I told them rolling up my sleeve. I saw the camera zoom in on the nasty bruise. I looked to Tony, who nodded, coming, up behind me and laying a hand on my shoulders.
"After the final scream on that tape when he grabbed her arm, Pepper and I stepped in to help her because we had been listening to the whole thing. And with the threat of some of the Stark Industry weapons looming over him, Vlad fled. Unfortunately, we do not feel that this will be his last attempt at Danielle. I would also like to add that Danielle, decided to disclose all of this because she wanted to finally reveal the truth about Vlad to the world: a manipulative, blackmailing man, who was also an abusive father. However, I ask that you do not press her further, the memories are still painful to her, however, she will speak up about her father if she chooses to," we walked away from the podium, Tony's hand still protectively on my shoulder and Pepper stepped up to announce that that would conclude the press conference.
I took a deep breath. I had kept my promise, Tony did ruin Vlad, now, we just had to wait for Vlad's next attack.