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Malibu, California April 2001
"Now remember Lia, you do not ever talk about our secret to anyone. Not to Happy, and definitely not to Mr. Stark." Miss Potts told the nine year-old who was getting out of the car.
"I still don't understand why. And who even is Happy?" She groaned, putting on her backpack.
Pepper walked over to her and kneeled in front of the kid. She gazed at her, putting a blonde lock behind her ear.
"You're too young to understand now, but you will, in a few years, until then, not a word. Okay?" The girl nodded.
"Ah! Miss Potts you're here!" They both turned to see a man in a suit standing by the door. "Let me help with your bags."
"Thank you Happy."
"That's Happy? Why do you call him Happy, it doesn't look like he smiles a lot." The little girl frowned and Pepper glared at her.
The man finally noticed the child's presence and raised an eyebrow at Potts who was about to explain when another man came out of the house. "Happy-- Oh Pepper, you're here, I need you to--" His eyes fell on the child. "What's that?"
"Excuse you?" The little girl put a hand on her hip with a raised eyebrow, visibly offended that she was being considered as a what and not a who.
"Mr Stark, that's my daughter, Julianne."
"You have a kid?" Tony asked, yet not really looking interested in the answer as he stared at the girl. He wasn't a fan of children but that one seemed intriguing for some reason.
"I mentioned it before, yes."
"Well we have somewhere to be, so Tiny Temper, you'll be alone for a few hours. J.A.R.V.I.S. can keep you company." He said, getting into the backseat of a car.
Pepper looked down to her daughter. "Did he just call me Tiny Temper?"
◇
"So.. Marianne." Tony started, while working on one of his robots he called buddy. The little girl was sitting on his desk a bit further, reading a book.
"Julianne." She corrected.
"I'll call you Julie."
"If you remember it." She mumbled, rolling her eyes. Tony Stark didn't seem good with names, though he did come up with funny nicknames.
"Where's your dad?" Tony asked, ignoring her comment.
"Subtlety is not in your vocabulary, is it?"
"Honestly, I've never seen a six year old talk like you do." That little girl knew way too many complicated words.
"I'm nine."
"It's the same thing."
"You don't look very smart for a worldwide known genius."
Tony turned to look at her and he smirked a bit. "I like you."
And even if Julianne tried to hide it as best as she could, she was dying of happiness. He liked her.
◇
Malibu, California May 2006
"Hey kid, wanna put that away and give me a hand?" Tony asked the teenager sitting comfortably in his car, playing Cooking Mama on her Nintendo, while Tony was fixing one of his many old cars.
"No, I'm good."
"Yeah you're just gonna waste your genius mind on cutting virtual cucumbers instead."
The thirteen year-old Julianne laughed, making Tony smile. They developed a nice relationship over the past five years. It was kind of easy, she was like him on many aspects.
◇
Malibu, California 8th July 2006
"Tony! Tony, is Julianne with you?!" Pepper rushed into the living room. It was the first time she called him Tony.
"No, why, where's Tiny Temper?"
"Oh my God." She started crying, catching the billionaire off guard.
Happy ran down the stairs. "She wasn't in her room."
"Okay, hold on, what's happening?" He put his tablet aside and stood up, a bit alarmed.
"Julie, she wasn't in school, her friends haven't seen her, and she's not at home." Happy replied, patting Pepper's back, in an attempt to calm her down.
"My baby is missing."
•
and that's it for the prologue! in case you didn't get it, the "◇" represents time skips, whether it's a few hours or a few years.
if you have trouble picturing the OC as a kid (since, well, in the cast she's an adult), I suggest picturing young Elle Fanning as the nine year-old version, and Amanda Seyfried from Mean Girls' era for the teenager version.
