Hush

EPILOGUE

Mrs Radcliffe was starstruck upon meeting Tony Stark for the first time. She was stunned into silence as he shook her hand politely and smooth-talked his way into her good books. Her blushing could have fooled anyone who didn't know she was newly widowed.

Of course, it was kept between her and her daughter that, after Tony had left and arranged for his sister to collect Ruby the next day, Mrs Radcliffe was the first to break down and retire to bed. It was kept between the two that Ruby spent the night wrapped in her mother's arms and dreading the morning. Truthfully, she didn't want to leave but it was her idea and she knew it was for the best.

The next day, they woke late to the doorbell ringing through the flat and Mrs Radcliffe answered the door while Ruby shoved as much as she could into the suitcase her father used for business trips.

An hour passed and Auburn joined them for a quiet lunch of pizza before packing Ruby into the back of the car, driven by the Stark's head of security, Happy Hogan. The teen hugged her mother goodbye, promising regular updates and weekend visits.

In the car, Ruby watched the world pass by through her window as Auburn and Happy's conversation passed by and intermingled with the noise of the world.

At some point she must've dozed off again because the next thing she knew was her head lolling onto her chest as the door opened beside her. Nodding awake, Auburn reached out a gentle hand to rest on her shoulder while Happy collected her case.

"Okay?" Auburn asked gently as she unbuckled Ruby's belt for her.

"Yeah," Ruby looked from the woman in front of her to the building above them. "I'm ready to have my music back." Auburn offered a thin-lipped smile.

"Of course," they began to enter the building when Auburn tucked her hands into her pockets and nudged Ruby gently, "hey, if you're lucky, maybe I'll let you use my electric guitar."

"Really?" The teen asked, wide-eyed. Auburn chuckled, nodding and nudging her playfully once again.

"Only if you behave, Radcliffe."

The promise of a guitar was enough incentive for Ruby as she spent her days training under Auburn, attending therapy through the resident therapist Brook Henderson, and homeschooling through whomever was fit enough for the role.

But it was the moments she had to herself that befit Ruby. The middle of the night where she wrote letters by lamplight, telling her father about her progress. Or spending a day in solitude once a month, humming the song she and Reggie had called their's disjointedly until nearly a year had passed by and the melody carried perfectly.

Sad, bittersweet, the music had returned to her.

Fin