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Malibu, California 17th December 2011 // 5:46 AM
The first thing Virginia Potts did when she woke up that morning, was to quietly rush to her daughter's old room. Just making sure it wasn't the most pleasant dream she has had in a while. Needless to say that her heart dropped when she found the room empty, yet it did look like someone was there. So, panicking a bit, she ran out to check the other rooms.
Arriving in the kitchen, she saw the young blonde decorating a plate of pancakes with blueberries. Julianne heard the footsteps and turned to face her mother.
"Good morning." She smiled.
"You're here." Pepper stated, finally being able to breathe.
"Was I supposed to go somewhere?" Julianne raised an eyebrow, confused.
"No! No, no, you just weren't in your room.." She paused. "Why are you awake?"
Her daughter shrugged. "I couldn't sleep much, so I decided to make breakfast." She pushed the plate towards her mother.
Pepper was worried for her daughter health but decided to shrug it off, thinking that it was because she wasn't used to her old room anymore. She couldn't have known it was way beyond that.
Later that day, Pepper and Happy were still at work, leaving Tony and Julianne alone at home. Julianne joined her father downstairs holding two coffee cups and handed him one. He was working on his IronMan suit, planning on adding a new trait to it.
"How's it going?" She leaned on the table, glancing at the plans.
"Good." He replied simply, when he was clearly struggling with the piece he had in hand. "Shit." He cursed when it took fire.
Julianne held her hand out like a finger gun and "shot", the ice coming out stopping the fire immediately.
"That's useful." Tony snorted and leaned back in his chair, staring at his laughing daughter. "How are you feeling?"
"I don't know yet." She sighs. "It's like, I should be able to feel free and happy now that I'm not their prisoner anymore, but I can't close an eye without seeing them. Seeing what they did to me. Seeing what I've done because of them."
"Your mom told me you didn't sleep." He paused and waited for her to look at him. "Nightmares?" She nodded.
The room fell silent for a minute before Tony stood up from his chair and walked to another table, taking a small box in his hands then walking back to the blonde.
He sat back, opened it, and took out a ring, before handing it to Julianne.
"What's this?" She put her cup down and took it, stating down at it. It was like a smaller arc reactor.
"You feel in danger, you push it, and rescue mission is activated."
The nineteen year old stared at her father confused. "What?"
"I know you're still scared. And I know you don't feel safe. But I made you a promise that I plan on keeping. I will help you and protect you. Nothing, no one will harm you anymore. Do you understand?" She nodded slowly. "Good, put that on."
"You said rescue mission, what does that mean?"
"It means that it'll activate the suits, and they'll be sent your way, and won't leave without you."
She looked down at the ring glowing brightly and put it on, the ghost of a smile making its way on her lips. He cared. And that was enough for her.
"Thanks, dad."
"You're welcome, Tiny Temper." He replied, going back to work.
Truthfully, she did want to leave when she woke up from her nightmare but she couldn't. Happy and James were right, she couldn't keep on hurting her parents just because she was scared. She wasn't the only one who suffered in the story. Her mother waited every night for nearly six years for her to come back home, and when she had the chance, she didn't, because she was scared that she would make things worse.
She didn't want professional help, she just wanted to remain a ghost for some time. The blonde was indeed presumed dead after two years. Though the procedures to restore her old life had already started. Everyone will know that Julianne Mary Potts, the billionaire's long lost daughter was still alive. However her name was soon going to change for Julianne Mary Potts-Stark, as she wished.
Tony insisted for her to get back to studying, so she was going to pass two exams, one for her middle school diploma and the other for high school. She was smart enough, she didn't doubt that it would turn out okay. But she needed time to adjust to a normal life that wouldn't necessitate her to torture people in order to get information out of them.
So she was not going anywhere. And where else would she go anyway? She was home, and safe.
Well, not for long.
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okayyy, so this was the last background-infromation chapter. I'mpretty sure we went through every important shit.
