CHAPTER ONE:
She looked at the sea below the cliff she stood on.
Taking one last look around, she leapt off, closing her eyes as she hit the water.
It was cold enough to keep her eyes closed.
Just as she thought she was getting her wish, someone grabbed her arm and hauled her out of the water.
She spluttered as the water expelled from her lungs, her eyes blinking rapidly to clear her vision.
"Who the fuck do you think you are?!" She shrieked at the man who saved her life. "Why would you take that from me?!"
"Tony," he replied, gesturing to himself.
"What?"
"That's my name. Tony Stark. And if you want to ask why I'd save you, maybe look at what you're doing."
She sank to her knees, shaking her head as tears sprung into her eyes.
"I'm trying to get back to my family, after they were taken from me."
"You mean-"
"They were murdered, in front of my eyes, and they took me from my home to experiment on me. I'm a nothing but a freak."
She looked down at her hand, watching a fire bloomed in her palm, burning the skin the flame sat on.
Quenching it, she looked back up again. "You lost someone close to you recently. I'm sorry."
"How did you know?"
"I had to see that look on my face every time I looked in the mirror for three years after I lost my baby brother. You don't have to, but my ears are available, if you want to talk about it. I don't expect that you do, but…"
The woman shrugged.
He sat next to her, looking at his hands.
"My girlfriend. Pepper. She died at Christmas, trying to keep me safe."
"I'm not going to pretend it stops hurting, that it will all be ok. It doesn't. I know from experience; it doesn't get better. Something my therapist told me is that the key is to live for them. It doesn't get better, but if you give up, you may as well have died with them. I don't necessarily believe that, but if it helps, it helps."
"I saw your car. You've been living in it. Why?"
"After my family died, I got evicted. It was my dad's truck. I could hear him screaming at me if I tried to drive it into the water."
She shook her head in amusement.
"All right, that decides it. You're coming with me."
He stood and offered her his hand.
She looked at his hand before looking back to his face.
"How did you know?"
"Know what?"
"My words."
"Well, that depends. How did you know mine?"
"Crap. Really?"
"Really. Let's go. What's your name, by the way?"
"Felicia. Felicia Glass."