A/N: I'll apologise now for any spelling and grammar errors. Not exactly well at the moment, and proof reading is difficult with killer headaches.
The moment they were on the jet, Ruby slumped down in one of the seats. She was regretting what she had told Tony, but knew there was nothing she could do about it now. There were things she had promised herself that she wouldn't tell Tony, and yet she had already managed to break it by opening her mouth and telling him about her being bullied at school.
"You okay there, honey?" Tony asked her, sitting down on one of the seats over on the other side of the jet.
Ruby nodded at him. "Yeah, just tired, that's all." She told him, wriggling around and trying to make herself more comfortable.
"Once we're up, you can go to bed. Like I said, I'll wake you up when we're nearly there if you're still asleep. Okay?" Again she nodded at him, before taking a deep breath and closing her eyes. Tony could see that she really was tired, and was starting to think that spending all night working on the car might not have been such a great idea.
"Is she okay?" Rhodey asked quietly, sitting down opposite Tony and glance at Ruby a little.
"Yeah, she was just up all night. Now all she wants to do is sleep. She'll probably be out of it for the whole flight." Tony told him, watching as his daughter rested her head in her hand. Although she had told him she was just tired, he couldn't help but feel there was more going on than she was telling him. He couldn't explain why he felt that, he just did.
It didn't take long for the jet to finally make it up and into the air. Tony looked over at his daughter who was already falling asleep. "Hey, come on, honey. Time for you to go to bed now." He told her quietly, undoing the buckle so that she could get up.
"Go away. I'm trying to sleep." Ruby mumbled, trying to bat his hands away but not doing a very good job.
Tony just chuckled at her. "Yeah, and you can sleep. But you'd be better off using one of the bedrooms, honey. You'd be much more comfortable there, not so cramped as trying to sleep in a chair." He told her, helping her to stand up.
"Figures you'd have bedrooms on your jet." She grumbled, giving in and letting Tony half carry her. Her legs were already asleep, and she just didn't have the energy to try and wake them up. "Night, uncle Rhodey."
The man smiled at her as she passed. "Goodnight, mini Stark." Ruby tried to roll her eyes at him, but completely failed at that as well. She wasn't that impressed with the little nickname he had come up for her, but she guessed it did make sense. She was a mini Tony, and Tony was a Stark.
"You sure there's nothing else wrong?" Tony asked her, opening the door to one of the single bedrooms that he had on his private jet.
"I just want to sleep." Ruby told him, rubbing her eyes and trying to stay awake long enough to make it to the bed to collapse onto. "I'm tired."
Tony frowned at her, not sure whether to believe her or not, but he was going to take her word for it, he could see that she really was tired. "Sure, but I suggest you get changed. You're pyjamas are in the draw."
She managed to look at him, a look of confusion on her face before she let out a sigh. "Yeah, you had this all planned, didn't you?"
All he could do was smirk at her a little. "Of course I did, you really think I was going to let you sleep in your clothes?" He asked her, watching as she opened the draw and pulled out the clothes he had put in there for her. He had wanted to be prepared, so made sure that everything she could possibly need was already on the jet before they had even arrived. He had Pepper to thank for that, the moment he had told her, she had sorted it all for him.
"Well, thanks. I guess I didn't think of everything when I was packing. I guess I didn't really think at all." Ruby admitted, sitting on the edge of the bed, struggling to stay awake still.
"Hey, it's okay. Let me know if you need anything, honey." Tony told her, smiling softly at her. "Now get changed and go to bed."
Ruby actually managed to roll her eyes at him. "Yes, sir."
"Goodnight, Ruby."
"Night, Tony." She said, watching him as he left the room. She couldn't help but think that maybe he wasn't too bad a father after all. He really had done so much for her, and he really was trying his best. He was firm with her when he needed to be, but he showed that he did actually care, and she could see that her mom had meant a lot to him.
After getting changed, she was asleep in minutes, while Tony was sitting back with Rhodey. "What you reading, Platypus?" He asked, looking at the man sitting across the table from him, reading something.
"Nothing." The man replied, not taking his eyes away from his newspaper.
"Come on, sour patch. Don't be mad."
"I told you, I'm not mad. I'm indifferent, okay?" Rhodey told him, trying his hardest not to look at the man. Truth was, he was mad at him, he was mad for standing there in the blazing sun for three hours waiting for Tony to show up with Ruby. But when he had seen his favourite little Stark, it had all just melted away. But he wasn't going to let Tony know that.
"I said I was sorry." Tony said, letting out a sigh.
"Good morning Mr Stark." One of the many female flight attendants said, holding a silver tray with hot towels on it. She was wearing the same flirty smile that all the woman wore around him, but before, Tony might have taken advantage of that, but not anymore.
"Hi." He said, barely paying her any attention. "I told him I was sorry, but he…"
"I'm just indifferent right now." Rhodey pressed. The look on his face said everything, he was still annoyed and was doing his best to stay annoyed. "You don't respect yourself, so I know you don't respect me." Rhodey told him, as the pair took hot towels.
Tony knew it was going to be hard work. "I respect you."
But Rhodey wasn't going to crack yet. "I'm just your babysitter. So, when you need your diaper changed, let me know and I'll get you a bottle, okay?"
"Hey, heat up the sake, will you?" Tony said to the attendant, before looking back at his best friend and smiling. "Thanks for reminding me."
James Rhodes looked at him, a slight hint of shock on his face. But really, it was Tony Stark, he should have known better. "No, I'm not talking… we're not drinking. We're working right now."
"You can't have sashimi without sake." Tony countered.
"You are constitutional incapable of being responsible." The moment Rhodey had said it, he felt a slight twinge of guilt.
"So, what's being a father then? Are you saying I'm not being responsible for Ruby? You think I'm doing a bad job at it?" Tony asked him, leaning forward a little and trying to keep himself calm.
"Tony, that is not what I…"
"Since Ruby has been around, a lot of things have changed. How many times have you had to come bail me out for something stupid?" Tony asked him, being deadly serious. "How much of a mess has Miss Potts had to clean up after me? Even my bed has been lonely." He said, referring to the fact that he had not been bringing women home every night.
Rhodey let out a sigh. "Okay, so you're not completely irresponsible. But that is only because Ruby keeps you in line. She's got you wrapped around her little finger." He said, watching as the flight attendant came back over and poured them both some hot sake.
"Oh, really? Just me, is it, Uncle Rhodey?" Tony asked him, a smirk on his face. It wasn't just him that Ruby was able to manipulate, Rhodey and Pepper were just as much targets as he was.
"Hey, what can I say, I have a soft spot for the girl. She reminds me so much of Jasmine, how can I not? I mean, I have to if I want to avoid that glare of hers really." Tony chuckled at that comment, it was always about the glare. Jasmine had been good at it, but Ruby had it spot it, and it was definitely not something that either of the men liked to see.
"Pepper still doesn't agree with Ruby coming along." Tony told him, taking a sip of the sake that had just been poured. "She thinks the only reason that she is coming is so that she can be a part of my life."
Rhodey raised an eyebrow at the man sitting across from him. "And what do you think?"
"I think Ruby is just as stubborn as her mother and is determined to do what she wants, and not what other people want for her."
"Sound a little like someone else as well." Rhodey replied, giving him a pointed look. "I'm not going to let anything happen to Ruby, I'll be right beside her while you're doing your stuff."
"You better be." Tony warned him. "Anything thing happens to my little girl, I'm holding you personally responsible." Rhodey could only nod his head. He had never really seen Tony so concerned before, and was starting to see just how much his best friend was changing with Ruby being around. He was finally starting to pull it together, and Rhodey couldn't stop himself from smiling at that.
While Tony and Rhodey talked about the demonstration, Tony making a few more threats about what he would do if anything happened to his daughter, Ruby was tossing and turning in the bed. She was exhausted, but her mind was plagued with worry, a worry that wasn't going to go away until they were safely back home in Malibu.
Until then, she was stuck in her dreams.
A young girl stood in a tight black uniform in front of the man with one eye. She was barely 12 now, but she was all they had, the only one they could call in for it. "I'm sending you in with Barton and Romanoff." The man told her in a gruff voice.
"But… but you said that I wouldn't be going anywhere until I was at least 16." The young girl retorted, clearly not happy with the decision that had been made. "I think my mother will have something to say about all of this."
The man smirked at her. "Your mother knew the risks when she decided to get help from us. She saw your abilities and skills, she wanted you to focus on them and use them. I don't think she is going to mind you going out into the field."
She glared at him. "How long you been playing this for? Since the day I was born? I can't help being smart, okay? I didn't go and study every single book I could find, I didn't do anything. The only reason I'm able to fight so well is because I learn quickly." The girl told him. "I mean, you saw how many times Tasha kicked my backside when I first met her."
He seemed to be chuckling at the memory. "And now, you both fight on the same level." He reminded her. "The pair of you can try for hours to take the other one out, but in the end, you're both too exhausted to do anything."
"Because I know her moves, and she knows mine. What do you expect?" She said, folding her arms across her chest, really trying to give the man some attitude. Only, he had been dealing with her attitude for a long time now, and he knew what to expect from her, and how to get her onto his side.
"Look, I need you on this. There is no one else even remotely capable of doing this. Barton and Romanoff are my best agents, you know that, and I they need you and your skills." He told her, trying to work a little bit of flattery into it.
"No, Nick." The girl replied bluntly. "I am not doing it."
"You don't even know what it is yet."
She glared at him, sending a shiver down his spine, even though he done his best not to show it. Oh, that was a glare that sent many men and women running and crying. "I don't care what it is. I'm not doing it, understand? There is nothing you can do that will make me change my mind. Ever. You got that?" She said, turning away from him and heading out of the large office where they had been talking.
The man at the desk let out a sigh. He knew it was going to be hard work, but he was sure that he could get her on board in the end. He would do whatever it took, because even if she didn't believe it, she really was their only option. They needed someone young, smart, and able to take care of themselves for the mission. She was their only shot, he had to get her on side.
Three people sat in a jet, the silence thick in the air. "I can not believe you two actually convinced me to do this." The rather young, dark haired girl moaned.
"We need you on this one, neither of us would have asked you of there was another way. You are the only one who can do this." The red haired woman sitting beside her said.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. You need my brains, my skills, and the fact that I'm just a kid means I'm going to be even less suspicious. You know that is totally rubbish, right? The moment they realise I've got more brains than all of them put together, the whole mission is screwed."
The man sitting on the other side of her rolled his eyes. "Chill out, will you? You got me and Nat with you, do you really think we are going to let anything happen to you?" He asked her.
"Not intentionally." The brown haired girl told him. "But you're not going to be able to watch me every single second. You have your own tasks to deal with, I can't rely on you and Tasha. I'm going to have to look after myself."
"And you are more than capable of looking after yourself, and you know that." Natasha told her, gently placing her hand on top of the girls. "We've been working together for a while now, I know how brilliant you are. Now it's time for you to realise it as well."
"Nat's right. You are more than capable of doing this, Red Cobra." The man said, a smug grin on his face.
She rolled her eyes at him. "Seriously? Red Cobra? That was the best that you guys could come up with?"
A minute later, there was a static voice coming through the radio. "Black Widow, Hawkeye, and Red Cobra, we're approaching the drop point. Get ready." The voice called to them.
The girl shivered a little, scared of what was to come. "We have reached the point of no return." She grumbled, as the three of them got everything together. Hawkeye was checking his quiver, making sure he had a full supply of arrows. Black Widow was checking all of her weapons, guns, daggers, and everything else she had concealed in her jumpsuit. While Red Cobra just sat there, twiddling her thumbs. The gun was tucked away in her holster, and the daggers were concealed. There was nothing else for her to check.
The next thing the girl knew, she was creeping through a cave, dug into a mountain. So far everything was going fine. She hadn't been caught, and with the ragged clothes she was wearing, she blending in well with the kids that were rushing around. She had to keep herself calm, she couldn't get caught, the whole mission was resting on her getting to that damn computer and getting the information needed from it.
Only things didn't keep going the way she had planned, she had finally made it to the computer, and the room was empty bar for her. She let out a sigh of relief, before sitting down and working away at the computer, smiling to herself as she did. Their software was simple enough to crack, and in just a matter of minutes, she knew she would be out of there. That was when everything went wrong, when a man's hand wrapped tightly around her throat.
"So, you are spy?" The man said, English clearly not his first language. "We have special treat, just for you." She didn't say anything, she didn't even scream as he grabbed hold of her hair and dragged her across the floor. Lucky for her, she had managed to hit the final key and send everything she had needed.
She didn't really know what happened after that, but she knew she was in some serious trouble. She reached for her weapons, only to find that all of them were missing. Letting out a sigh, she looked around the room she was in. There was nothing there, just four dirty walls and a solid metal door. She was trapped and she knew it, her only way out now was to rely on her team mates.
A few minutes later, the door swung open and a large, balding man entered the room, flanked with armed men. His hand straight away went for her throat. "Who sent you?" He asked her, squeezing tightly, making her choke a little. "Why are you here?" Her hands started grasping at his, trying to pull them away so that she could breathe.
After that, she was dragged out of the room. The men didn't seem to care about how rough they were being, she was a spy after all, she had infiltrated their little base and stolen information. "I ask one more, who sent you?" The girl just closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She had seen what else was in the room, and she had to mentally and physically prepare herself for it.
She had been taught by the best, she could handle it, she was not going to break. That was what she kept telling herself, that she was not going to break, that she was better than that. Then her hair was grabbed again, and her face pushed into the freezing water in the container in the middle of the room.
Her whole body shivered at the sudden temperature change, but she continued to hold her breath. They would pull her head out soon enough, she would take a breath, and then they would dunk her back in again. The girl knew that they would only doing for a certain time, they wouldn't kill her until they had the information that they needed, and by then, she hoped, she would be out of there.
The help didn't come as soon as she had hoped, and after the water, they decided to beat her. At first, she fought back, but realised that was such a stupid mistake when they just went even harder on her. There was no way to escape, the door was locked, and they always came in with guns.
Every time the door opened, she wondered which torture they would put her through. When she was alone, that was all she thought about, the torture. She had kept count of the beatings, of the water, of the burns. She knew exactly how long it had been since she had last seen the sunlight, or had something to eat that wasn't stale bread.
It was the beginning of the second week, and a new man entered the room. He didn't say a word to her, he just smirked, bearing his dirty teeth. He pulled out a dagger, one of her own daggers. She knew what was coming next, he was going to use it on her.
The girl had said nothing, she hadn't even screamed, and that disappointed them more than the fact that she didn't speak. The men wanted to hear her screaming, to hear the pain and suffering that she was enduring. But it never came, and that just made them even more violent.
"You do not speak." The man said, getting closer to her with the dagger. "You do not scream. You do not beg for your life." There was disappointment in his eyes. "If you do not speak, you are of no use." He was almost right in front of her now, and although she wanted to scream and cry out, she knew it was of no use.
The girl prepared herself for what was going to happen next, only it never came. She heard a familiar whoosh, and the man dropped down to the ground. There was an arrow sticking out of his back, an arrow that she recognised instantly.
"Come on, we need to get out of here." Her archer friend said, reaching his hand out to her.
"I thought you were never going to get here, Clint." She whispered, her throat dry and her voice coming out hoarse.
"I'm here, Ruby, and so is Nat. Now come on, we need to get out of here before the place blows." He told her, grabbing her hand tightly and pulling her along.
After that, they had to fight their way out, and all the girl wanted to do was curl up in her bed and forget it had ever happened. She didn't want to admit it, but she had been absolutely petrified. She had never thought it would go so badly, that she would get caught and end up being tortured. She never thought she would be fighting for her life, and trying to outrun the timer of a bomb. But she was, and she never wanted to go through anything like that ever again.
A/N: There is a reason why I have cut it off there, and you will find out next week. Sorry if this chapter is a bit shorter than most, but it will all make sense.
So, I hope you enjoyed it, and you got to see a little bit of Ruby's past. There's more to come, a lot more. More about her past with Clint and Natasha coming up.
Anyway, thank you to everyone who has favourtied/followed, I'm so glad you like the story. And to those who have reviewed, thank you so much, they always make me smile and I love to read them.
Feel free to review, and if there is something from Ruby's past that you want to know about, then let me know and I can fit in an explanation to it somewhere soon.
Pippa.