MCU ⚡
[ pre iron man 2 - black widow ]
In which a 10-year-old shows up on Tony Stark's doorstep, claiming to be his daughter.
{ the first book in the "Little Light" series }
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"Are you ready for this?"
"Was that a real question?" Nick actually scoffed a bit, sitting in the passenger seat of a brown work van, that looked like it was for construction - with Pedro just getting out of the driver's seat and heading to look around, while Javier was sitting on the bench across from her in the back.
She was nervously messing with the card he gave her on the drive there, telling her to memorize his number. She had lost the dress by now, but she was in her jeans and shirt, with the white button up shirt over it - her hair down now, and that hat long gone.
"Just remember what you're doing this to get back too." He tried to offer help, but she just shook her head with a bit of a laugh, despite a tremble in her lips. "It's kinda hard. I just thought I'd make it to at least 16."
"If you get scared, just think about memories, uh... like your homecoming or school, or- I don't know, friends? Homecoming?"
"I haven't made it there yet." She shook her head, looking to the side for a moment, but then he shrugged. "Quinceañera? Did your father do the traditional father-daughter dance, or- what was your dress? I remember my oldest sister, she wore this sunset pink colored gown, a lot of glitter, and a tiara- the whole works. You seem a bit like a pink girl, maybe white dress though- no, I got it. You're maroon, right?"
"I..." She trailed off and shook her head, eyebrows pulled together as she looked out the window, "I guess I never really thought about it. Uh, I mean, I- I didn't... have one. I remember my mom, though, she had this binder filled with magazine clippings and venues, dresses, flowers, cakes- She was already planning mine when she was pregnant."
The girl then lightly chuckled despite tears in her eyes, and looking down, then slowly shaking her head. "Uh, we made plans, you know. But then she died, and those plans faded, and when my foster mom asked me about it during my 10th birthday party... I just couldn't imagine having one without my mom. Then it just sorta never came up again, and I turned 15, and I... didn't even think about it."
He looked over to her, eyebrows pulled together, but she shook her head - looking out at the window, before scoffing and shaking her head. "I had places here, and people. But not everywhere, not everyone. But I did love it here. I mean the views?"
She let out a breath with a soft smile, tears in her eyes. "The life, the music- I used to sneak onto the roof of the Home with a few of the other kids for festivals, seeing them light fireworks. We'd sneak out for parades... And I hate I came back to where I was born like this, because I did want to come back, visit when I was legally able to come here and then go back to my home in New York. I could see the life and the beauty of it, you know? Where I was born, how I know the streets and city like the back of my hand still, the artwork, the buildings... the ocean even. The stars. You can't get the stars like this in New York, look for the constellations like this. But... But that's another thing they stole from me."
