(1) Lux Brumalis (R. Weasley)

Chapter Thirty-Two

Pixie rubs at her eyes as she wakes to Tony's fingers brushing through her hair, her head in his lap. She had a long trip back and it's been really stressful the last few weeks, worrying over everything at school. She just couldn't stay awake any longer.

"You okay, Princess?" Tony asks her, she hums and nods as she sits up against the hospital couch, stretching her legs out in front of her.

"Is Happy awake yet?" She whispers, he looks at her sadly and shakes his head.

"Nah, still asleep" He offers, Tatiana rests back in her chair, her eyes on something in her lap, some papers. Pixie glances over at her, tilting her head in question.

"What's she doing?" Pixie whispers to Tony who leans his head closer to her.

"Reading his medical chart" He answers. The two of them act as though the room isn't tiny and quiet enough that Tatiana can hear them anyway.

"Magical solution?" She asks, he nods.

"Magical solution" He agrees and curls his arm around her shoulders to pull her closer, kissing her head and closing his eyes. He really has missed having her around. So used to her being there that he found himself making a joke or a comment and just expecting her to have something to say or to offer a laugh. But he has had a few months of nothing. Lonely. That's how he's felt. A nurse lets herself into Happy's room, distracted. "Hi" Tony greets and the nurse jumps a little before turning to find the family all sat there.

"Oh," The nurse offers, slightly embarrassed to have jumped over family members. "Sorry, visiting hours are over, folks" Tony stands from the seat as Tatiana slides Happy's notes back into the chart at the end of the bed. The nurse goes to turn off the tv playing on the wall but Pixie makes a noise of argument as she pushes herself to her feet, adjusting her skirt.

"Can you leave it on?" Pixie asks, the nurse looks at her softly.

"Sure, Sweetie"

"Sunday night's PBS 'Downtown Abbey'" Pixie offers. "That's his favourite show, he thinks it's fancy" Tony kisses the back of her hand and smiles at her softly before looking at the nurse.

"One more thing...make sure everyone wears their badges" Tony adds, wanting security to be on point for him. "He's a stickler for that sort of thing, plus my guys won't let anyone in without them" Tatiana touches Tony's arm and he nods, leaving the room with Pixie. Tatiana makes sure he is gone before she and the nurse share a look. The nurse nods before she pulls out her wand from her sleeve and moves to the chair next to Happy's bed. Tatiana leaves the room, closing the door behind her. So she asked a MACUSA Auror friend to blend in and keep an eye on Happy, is that such a bad thing? That she is calling in long-coveted favours to protect her family. The 'nurse' sits in the chair and rests her wand over her knee as she crosses it over the other, ready for anything.

......

News reporters are all waiting for Tony outside the hospital as he leaves with Pixie and Tatiana. Tony holds onto his daughter, making sure she doesn't get swept up in the crowd. Normally, he and Tatiana manage to keep her out of the public eye, and if it happens, it is usually on their terms, when they decide, but with things that happened, they haven't been able to plan this one. It's just happened.

"Mr Stark! Mr Stark! Our sources are telling us that this is another Mandarin attack" A reporter asks of him. "Anything else you can tell us?" Tony ignores the questions and walks toward his car, keeping Pixie close to him, moving his hand from hers to her shoulder.

"Hey, Mr Stark! When is somebody gonna kill this guy?" Tony opens the car door as another reporter asks this. Tatiana moves around to climb into the passenger side. "Just sayin'" Tony turns to face the reporter and then looks down at Pixie who stares up at him, waiting to see what he is going to do here. He looks back at the reporter and pushes Pixie behind him, towards the car. She knows how to work the mechanisms of the seats to push the driver's seat forward, allowing for her to climb into the back. She is just pulling the seat back into place when Tony finally says something to the press.

"Is that what you want?" He asks. "Here's a little Holiday greeting I've been wanting to send to the Mandarin" He lets out a breath. "I just didn't know how to phrase it until now." Tatiana sends Tony a warning look, because she knows him too well. "My name is Tony Stark and I'm not afraid of you. I know you're a coward, so I've decided" Tony removes his sunglasses and stares into the phone's camera. "That you just died, pal. I'm gonna come get the body. There's no politics here; it's just good old-fashioned revenge. There's no Pentagon; it's just you and me. And on the off-chance you're a man, here's my home address: 10-8-80, Malibu Point, 9-0-2-6-5. I'll leave the door unlocked" Tatiana closes her eyes and inwardly scolds Tony. This is the stupidest thing he has ever done. Tony looks at the reporter. "That's what you wanted, right?" He takes the phone and throws it at a wall. "Bill me" Tony climbs into the car as Tatiana shoots him a look before climbing in herself. There is no way they can spend Christmas with him now. He just put a bounty on his house. She has to get Pixie away from that place.

.......

The drive back is tense mostly because Tatiana is holding in her anger so she doesn't lose it in front of Pixie, they don't argue in front of her, that's one thing they promised to never do, both of them had been put through their fair share of arguments in their own childhoods, and neither of them wanted to put that on Pixie. Tony opens his mouth to say something but Tatiana instantly snaps her head to him.

"Don't" Tatiana stops him, he lets out a breath and clutches to the steering wheel. Pixie glances between the two of them and pulls a face. This isn't going to be a fun Christmas. She might just have had less stress back at school. She lets out a breath and folds her arms over her chest, leaning back in her seat. She's never seen her mother so angry before.