How do you heal?

Chapter 16: I Was Ready

Bringing Sam to the dinner had been exactly the distraction Annie needed. All the kids, and her brothers, were ecstatic to meet a real life superhero and her sisters spent the whole night fawning over him for other reasons. She would be eternally grateful to him for not only coming out of his way just to check on her but also for joining the celebration and learning all the family's names on the way over. As all of her four siblings were married with at least two kids each, it was no small feat. Worried about her injuries, Annie's mom fussed over her the whole night, and when she had hit her limit she slipped out the back door of her parents house onto their small patio to get a breath of the November air.

After about ten minutes Annie heard the door open and she turned to see her dad hobbling out, carrying a jacket in his arms. Ferris Easton was a short man with olive toned skin, thinning black hair, a full gray beard and bright green eyes. While Annie mostly took after her mothers genes, pale, red hair, and hardily built, after meeting the pair no one could ever deny that she was her fathers daughter to her core, a fact that she would always be proud of. She might be biased but Annie thought her dad was the kindest man in the world. "You better put this on before April sees you."

"Good call." She said, stepping into the jacket as he held it up. They were quiet for a minute as they both looked out into the yard, leaning on the rail.

"So how are you feeling, Fortunato?" Ferris asked.

Annie laughed slightly to herself at her father's nickname for her. It meant 'lucky' and she had never really thought about it much but now, standing there bruised and beaten she found it to be a little off note. "I'm okay dad. Sore, but nothing I can't handle."

He turned to look at her. "I'm not talking about physically Annie, you could break every bone in your body and still want to go back to work the next day. I'm talking about your soul, you were dying in that house without Charlie, and this is the first time you've been back."

"Wow dad, way to ease into it." She teased but saw that he was not amused. She took a deep breath and thought for a moment before saying, "I was ready to come back, although I think if I hadn't been forced I never would have had the guts, but I was ready. Being in New York... just being able to live without feeling his absence in everything I did...as messed up as that sounds I think it's the only way I could've moved on and having people depend on me definitely helps."

Ferris looked at his daughter, his middle child. The one that was always, despite the hell he hadn't been able to protect her from, caring for others. Even though she hadn't spent her formative years in his care and in his home, surrounded by love, she had grown up to be the most like him. He loved all his children equally, they were all good, kind, loving people but he always felt incredibly lucky to have Annie in his life, because he almost hadn't. She was so much like him he knew when Charlie had died what he had to do for his daughter to survive. He had to do it himself when he lost his first wife. Annie had to go. After he lost Ilene, he'd packed up his boys, Fletcher just two and Finch a newborn, and left their home, moving to Ohio to be closer to his family for help but far from the memories of his wife. Ferris put his arm around Annie and said "I was so afraid I had lost you when we buried him, and I didn't know if having Tony offer you that job would help or not but I had to try something. So hearing you say that, sweetie, it brings peace to my heart and lord knows April will be glad to hear you are coming home."

"Huh?"

"Well, you are coming home aren't you? If you feel okay at the house and like you're ready?"

Annie stared at her dad for a moment, she hadn't really thought about it. When she left she didn't have a plan but now that the idea of coming back had been mentioned she knew that while she was glad to be here now she didn't want to stay. She wanted to go back to New York. "I like being in New York, dad. I mean I will definitely visit more now that I know I can but people need me there and I feel like I need to be there."

"Oh." He whispered, clearly let down. He patted her arm softly as he looked at the door to the house. "Well, let's just keep that between us until you are across state lines okay?"

They fell into a silence again for a few more minutes. "Hey dad, can you help me take some stuff to goodwill later this week?"

Ferris smiled sadly knowing that at those words, while he did what he had to to save her, he'd lost her, at least in proximity, just a little in the process. "Sure, Fortunato."

The door swung open and his wife stepped out. "Oh, there you two are! Come on, the kids are asking to cut the cake!"

Sunday before his flight, Sam helped Annie and Alex pack up boxes and move them to the garage to wait for her dad to arrive with his truck. Before he left, Annie caught Sam and Alex exchanging numbers and she smiled giddily to herself.

On Monday Annie called Pepper to ask a favor. "Hi Pepper, I am sorry to bother you but I was hoping you could email me a contact and some insurance information. Thanks, I am feeling much better but no, this isn't for me. I know I am on leave but I promise I am just doing this one thing. Awesome, Thank you so much!"

The rest of the week was uneventful and when Happy pulled into the driveway to take Annie back to New York her heart soared. She spent twenty minutes saying goodbye to Bubba, who had gained several pounds in the last two weeks, before she hugged Alex.

"No more secrets okay? I need you to grow some balls and keep me updated on everything that happens after that." Alex said as they embraced.

They parted and Annie walked towards the car as Happy placed her bags in the trunk and she called over her shoulder "No more secrets but I promise there will be nothing to update you on."

"COWARD!" She heard Alex yell as she closed the door.

With that Happy climbed into the driver's seat and they headed to the air strip.