Six Months Later
There had been plenty of moments in Rhiley's life where she questioned her choices. Right now? Topped the list.
She was dead on her feet, wearing a barista uniform two sizes too big, coffee-stained pants clinging to her legs, and the distinct ache in her shoulders that only came from lugging milk jugs and pretending not to hear customers mutter sexist crap under their breath.
And to make things worse, she was getting screamed at by her sixteen-year-old manager.
"You really need to start taking this job more seriously, okay? Jones?"
Jones.
She hated that name.
A souvenir from S.H.I.E.L.D., like a scar disguised as a last name. But it was the one she kept. Probably because burning it felt like admitting they'd won.
"Yes, ma'am," Rhiley said flatly, weaponizing her tone with all the passive-aggressive force she could muster.
The teen's face turned beet-red. "Don't mess up again," she snapped, pointing toward the café. "Go bust the tables."
Rhiley rolled her eyes and turned on her heel, trying not to imagine flipping a tray into the girl's face. She'd just keep her head down, get through the shift—
And then a voice cut through the noise. A voice she had shoved so far into the back of her mind, it took a full two seconds to register.
"Someone got chewed out."
Crash.
Every plate in her arms shattered on the floor.
And just like that, Tony - fucking - Stark got Rhiley fired from her barista job.
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A Week Later
She opened her apartment door, already annoyed. And there he was.
Tony Freaking Stark.
Her nephew and her the aunt he never knew he had.
"What the hell are you doing here?"
"Not the greeting I was expecting," he said, unbothered as ever.
"Well, lower your expectations. How did you even find me?"
"I'm Tony Stark."
"Right. Forgot modesty isn't your strong suit."
He stepped inside without being invited, casually looking around. "Cute place. Kinda sad. Anyway—I came to apologize."
"You got me fired."
"I got your job back," he corrected, "until you threw a plate at a sixteen-year-old."
"She dodged."
"And then called the cops."
"Rough day."
"I bailed you out," Tony added, dropping onto her couch like he lived there.
Rhiley narrowed her eyes. "You're enjoying this."
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Tony Stark didn't do charity work.
At least, not the kind that didn't come with a black-tie gala, a giant check, and a hundred cameras flashing as he shook hands with someone whose name he wouldn't remember.
YOU ARE READING
Radioactive | Bucky Barnes
Fanfiction"I want to go back to the time you first told me your name." Rhiley, the twin sister of Howard Stark, finds herself wrapped up with the one and only James Barnes. The next time she sees him is on her new assignment with the 107th Infantry Regiment...
