"You should be fine," Yinsen said, gently helping Rhiley sit up. Tony handed her a damp cloth, and she took it with a grateful nod, wiping the dried blood and dirt from her face.
She offered a faint, crooked smile as she watched Tony return to a cluttered table full of tools and scrap metal.
"What's he building?" she asked.
"He's supposed to be building a weapon," Yinsen replied.
"Supposed to?"
Yinsen gave a half-smile, eyes drifting toward Tony. "My people have a story," he said softly. "About a prince—hated by his king and cast into the underworld. The king, cruel and fearful, sentenced him to the iron pits for eternity."
Rhiley followed his gaze. Sparks flew from Tony's workbench, the glow illuminating his face, focused and determined. Of course Tony wouldn't go down without a fight. He was a Stark—resilient by blood, even if he never wore it like armor.
She glanced at her own hands, at the scars and bruises. Her ribs still burned when she breathed too deep. She wasn't healing like she used to. It was easy to forget how much had changed since she woke up in a century that wasn't hers.
No one would be looking for her.
Rhiley Jones. The forgotten assistant. Either dead... or abducted alongside the infamous Tony Stark.
Would they even bother remembering me?
Yinsen continued, voice low, "Year after year, the prince mined heavy ore. He grew strong—so strong that when the king finally struck at him with his finest sword, it shattered. Because the prince had become strong as iron."
That's when she noticed it. The shape of something different on the table. Something intentional.
An iron mask.
She blinked, realization hitting her like a second wave of cold water. This wasn't for the enemy. This... this was escape. A weapon not to build destruction—but survival.
Tony put down a tool. The moment he turned, Rhiley slid off the table, legs trembling beneath her. Yinsen protested, but she ignored him. Her bare feet met the dusty ground and a chill ran up her spine.
"What can I do?" she asked.
Tony looked up, eyes locking with hers. There was a pause.
"You don't need to help with anything," he said quietly. "Just rest."
"I'm not the one with metal in my chest."
Tony pointed a wrench at her. "Near my chest."
"I can help."
"I work better alone."
"Yinsen is helping you."
They locked into a stare—neither of them willing to back down. Two Starks, after all. It was a silent war of glares until Yinsen sighed and broke their tension.
Tony finally relented. "Fine."
She smirked. She always won. Howard had never stood a chance either.
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Over the next week, Rhiley helped however she could. If she had thought about it longer, she would've realized just how much this mirrored working with Howard—tinkering beside a genius, trying to keep up with half-finished sentences and even less-finished plans. Nightmares plagued her sleep, her past folding in on the present, but her body slowly began to heal. Her mind, not so much.
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...
