Tony stood in the kitchen, sipping what had started as scotch and ended up as a smoothie. He hadn't slept. Again. Upstairs, Rhiley was finally quiet after another night of thrashing and murmuring things he still couldn't understand.
He was just about to head down to the lab when JARVIS's voice pierced the silence.
"Sir, you have a visitor."
Tony turned mid-step. "What kind of visitor?"
"He's at the front gate. Says his name is Dylan. He insists it's personal—regarding Miss Rhiley."
Tony frowned, setting the glass down a little too hard. "Tell him to make an appointment like everyone else."
"Unfortunately, sir... he's already inside."
Tony froze.
"...Inside what?"
"Your house."
That got him moving.
Barefoot and tense, he walked into the foyer—and there he was. Dylan. Calm. Composed. Standing like he'd lived there once, hands in the pockets of his coat and eyes sweeping the room like it was already his.
"Your AI's a little too polite," Dylan remarked. "But I like the voice."
"Yeah, well, he doesn't like home invaders," Tony replied coolly. "You've got thirty seconds before this turns into a mess."
"I'm not here to cause trouble," Dylan said, his tone irritatingly casual. "I came to give you something. Truth."
Tony folded his arms. "Midnight confessions from strangers in my foyer. Yep, totally normal."
"She's lying to you," Dylan said. "Or... not telling you the whole story. There's a difference."
Tony's eyes narrowed. "You break into my house to gossip about a SHIELD agent? Get in line."
"She's not just an agent," Dylan said, voice dropping a note. "She's your family."
Tony blinked, lips parting slightly.
"She's your aunt. Howard's twin sister. The world thought she died. So did he." Dylan's gaze didn't waver. "But she didn't."
The words hit Tony like a blow to the chest.
"She's a Stark. Just like you," Dylan added, voice smooth and deliberate. "Only a lot more... damaged."
Tony clenched his jaw. "And I'm just supposed to believe you?"
"Ask your AI. I'm guessing he already knows. Just check the DNA."
The front door opened on its own with a soft hiss—JARVIS, responding to the unspoken tension.
Dylan turned to leave, pausing at the threshold. "You think you're haunted by ghosts, Tony. But you're living with one."
And then he was gone.
Tony didn't move. The silence felt like it weighed a thousand pounds.
"Sir?" JARVIS prompted gently.
"I need those DNA results," Tony said. His voice was low. Rough.
"Sir, if I may—"
"Now."
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The door closed softly behind her.
Rhiley stepped inside, dusted with road and night, the silence of the house settling on her shoulders like a weight. Her jacket smelled faintly of smoke and wind. She barely had time to pull it off when she saw him — Tony, waiting in the center of the room like a storm about to break.
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...
