The morning arrived, and Jayden woke groaning, her body a litter of aches and pains. Her wrist was the worst of it as it throbbed horribly within its prison of her cast. She forced herself to sit up and cradled her limb close to her chest.
It was hard to comprehend how close she had been to being forced back into her old life. To be seen not as a person but a weapon, a tool. She shook her head, and not wanting to ponder on it further, she glanced to her right; she expected to see Pepper, but there was nothing more than an empty space. Her breathing hitched before she reminded herself that it was the norm for the woman to rise in the early hours of the morning.
She moved to her left, where Tony was snoozing with his mouth parted open. His arm was sprawled across her lap, having fallen from its protective hold. She noticed that the dark marks that plagued his eyes had lessened, and his expression was equally relaxed.
Theo was snug on his chest, watching her. When they caught gazes, his head tilted in a silent question. Nodding, she wriggled her way out of the warm depths and onto her bare feet. He followed her lead , shifting into his split-tailed dog form mid-air, and running to the door, awaiting her to open it. She trudged forward, but then glanced back at Tony. Biting her lip, she decided to let him sleep.
When she opened the door with a quiet creak, Theo didn't waste a second to zoom down the corridor as if he were in some sort of hurry. She snorted when he slipped on the smooth tiles of the floor, forced to stop from the strain of their bond. She went to follow, but the sight of the Iron Man suit guarding the room made her pause. What would've happened without him there? She shuddered to think.
"Come on, J!"
With that impatient growl, her feet dragged after him, but she kept her eyes on the metal saviour until she turned the bend to the kitchen.
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It was nearly an hour later, and well after Pepper had left for a work meeting, when Tony emerged from the confines of his room wearing an unusually extravagant suit and tie. With a yawn on his face, he slugged by to the kitchen, muttering a morning to her as he went by the open living room door.
He plopped down beside her a minute later with a granola bar in his hand. "You good, Smalls?"
She nodded, engrossed with the cartoon on the television, her brows slightly furrowing at its ridiculousness.
"What is this you're watching?" he questioned, staring at the talking goldfish.
"I don't know. Pepper put it on."
They silently watched for a few minutes before Tony groaned through a mouthful of food. "Right, I've had about enough of that." He snatched the remote from the nearby table and changed the channel.
"I was watching that!" Jayden protested half-heartedly.
"Well, now, you'll be watching something better than the wannabe Finding Nemo."
"What's Finding Nemo?"
He blinked owlishly. "Do I have to teach you everything?"
"Hey! I know stuff, like-like the powerhouse of a cell!"
"Not nerdy stuff," he waved off. "Pop culture, trivial things, stuff that give life a little more pizzazz."
She shrugged. "It's not like Terries ever allowed me a lot of free time. There wasn't any point."
"You're a blank slate, I get it. As your temporary caregiver, it's my solemn and honorable duty to educate you and keep you away from any media below a certain standard."
YOU ARE READING
Unforeseen¹
FanfictionJYD2641 had enough. In her seven years, she's only ever known the cruel hands of her doctors, who were determined to make her the next Winter Soldier. All she'd ever known was death, pain, and fear. Instead of a parent's loving embrace, she had the...
