Scars of Steel

04~March of 1970

March 20, 1970
Manhattan Banquet Hall

The banquet was now in full swing and everywhere people were enjoying the music that was being played and making important deals for their respective companies.

Howard Stark was currently walking around the large room, introducing himself and his family to anyone that he didn't recognize. He always found that having Maria and Adalyn around him helped to give himself a good image, and Howard wasn't about to waste that opportunity.

Maria played her part as a respectful housewife, leaving Howard when he needed to negotiate and keeping Adalyn calm. She had her own opinion on everyone there, but she kept those remarks to herself, remaining a polite composure.

Adalyn, however, preferred to remain invisible. She often hid behind her mother's satin dress while her father was in conversation, only emerging from her hiding place when Maria pulled her out of it .

While her family exchanged pleasantries, Adalyn often took that time to take in the sights of the room. She hadn't been to many of her fathers banquets and it was quite a bit to take in.

She admired all the women in lavish gowns and made shy eye contact with those who were similar to her age. Adalyn found herself quite fascinated by the large light fixtures hanging from the ceiling, often stopping to look up and stare in awe at the glowing jewels that reflected their light across the room.

After some time of engaging in conversation, an announcement was made that the food was done being prepared and everyone should soon find their way to their respective tables.

"Howard, I'm going to leave Adalyn with you for a minute while I use the restroom, alright?" Maria said with a smile once the family had found their seats. She was hoping that this would be a chance for Howard to spend some time with his daughter before he embarked on his trip.

"Yes, yes of course," Howard replied half heartedly, his mind elsewhere. Adalyn was confused as her mother got up to leave and wondered where she was going. She wasn't used to being without her mother and it was not a feeling Adalyn enjoyed.

"Howard, where have you been? I feel like it's been ages," a woman exclaimed while walking up to Howard with her partner. They quickly became engaged in conversation, leaving Adalyn with her thoughts of where her mom had gone.

She lightly tugged on her dad's sleeve in order to gain his attention. He would know where she was, Adalyn thought to herself. Her dad knew everything, and this was no exception to that.

However, Howard was not bothered by this and simply continued his conversation. Frustrated, Adalyn decided it was time for her to take matters into her own hands.

She quickly got out of her chair and, sparing a glance back at her father, began to wander through the crowd in search of her mother.

"Honey, do you know where you're going?" One woman stopped to ask. Adalyn only nodded and continued on to a different part of the room.

After a bit of searching, she found herself in a small secluded hallway with no one around. Adalyn liked it in here, where there was far less noise and much more space for her to breathe.

Something soon grabbed her attention. A small beeping noise was coming from the end of the hall, close to an open window that was letting in the crisp spring breeze. This intrigued Adalyn quite a bit.

She was determined to find the source of this sound, and began to walk towards it.

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Maria returned from the restroom and found her way back to the table where Howard sat. She gave a quick smile to the family he was engaging with and sat down at her seat with a flourish.

Maria turned to where Adalyn sat to check on her. However, she was met with an empty seat.

"Howard, where's Adalyn?" Maria asked, her voice quickly picking up an anxious tone.

Howard, having no idea that Adalyn had ever left, turned in confusion to his daughter's seat. When he found it vacant his eyes widened and he immediately stood up.

"Oh my god."

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Adalyn quickly walked to the place where this small noise was coming from. Next to the window, she found a small black sphere attached to the wall. On it, a bright red light flashed.

Adalyn became fascinated by this and stepped up to take a closer look, forgetting about why she set out from her table in the first place.

Upon further inspection, Adalyn noticed there was a small sea animal engraved onto the ball. She couldn't tell what it was, but knew that she had seen something similar in a picture book her mom had once read to her.

She reached up in attempt to remove it from it's place on the wall.

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"Adalyn!" Howard yelled as he made his way through the crowd, searching for his daughter. Maria was not far behind, asking others if they had seen Adalyn pass by. Few said that they did, but with guilt remarked that they didn't bring her back to Howard.

Maria didn't have time to question if they were out of their minds, instead focusing on piecing together where her daughter could have gone.

There were now more people helping the search, moving around to different parts of the banquet hall.

Maria was extremely angry at Howard and a good majority of everyone there. It seemed that they all had their heads too far up their own asses to pay attention to a helpless young girl.

They continued their search and called out their daughter's name, running around the room and the worst thing that could have happened.

It was then that the bombs went off.

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