Castle | Tony Starks Daughter x OC

Chapter 10

I watch with hopeful eyes as the plane lands. I could feel tears building up as I waited for the back hatch to open and see my father for the first time in three months. I looked to my right to see Pepper has tears building up in her eyes as well and reached over to grab her hand in comfort. She gave me a thankful smile before the two of us looked back at Happy and Alex who are standing behind us. I made eye contact with Alex, who gave me a reassuring smile. I smiled back at him before I looked over at Happy and he gave me a nod. I looked back ahead of me and watched the ramp slowly lower, revealing Uncle Rhodey helping my dad stand from a wheelchair and walk down the ramp. Rhodey was dressed in his dress blues and dad was dressed in one of his usual suits. He had his arm in a sling, causing his suit to just be draped over his shoulder on one side. I sniffled and felt a few tears drop from my eyes as I watched dad complain about the gurney that was being wheeled in his direction. Rhodey waved them off as dad continued walking forward. I watched him walk forward a few more feet before I let go of Pepper's hand and ran towards him.

As soon as I reached him, I jumped into his awaiting arm because he couldn't hug me with his other one. I hugged him tightly and let my tears fall onto his shoulder as my dad hugged me tighter to himself as well. I could feel myself start to sob as he rubbed his hand up and down my back. I pulled away after a few minutes and looked up at him with tears running down my face.

"I-I was so worried. I-I thought that you were actually d-dead and that they were never going to-to find you. I thought I had lost the only family I really had left," I stuttered out through my sobs.

My dad took my face in his hand and started wiping the tears away as best he could. He frowned at me and I could see tears forming in his eyes as well. "Now, you should have known better than to think that. What do I always tell you, huh?"

I sniffled before I smiled through my tears. "We're Starks."

"And what do we Starks do," He questioned me with a proud smile.

"We persevere," I sniffled.

"Yeah, we do. Come here," He whispered to me, pulling me into a hug. He moved his head and placed a kiss on the side of my head before whispering in my ear. "I promise you that I will never, ever, leave you alone again. I will do everything in my power to make sure you're not alone in this world." After this, Dad pulled out of the hug and smiled down at me again. "I hope you've taken good care of my company since I've been gone?"

I chuckled a bit before looking up at him. "I tried my best. Pepper was a lot of help."

"Speaking of Pepper," Dad said, looking behind me.

"Oh, yeah, come on," I sniffled, grabbing his hand and walking over to everybody else.

We continued walking until we were standing right in front of Pepper. My dad let go of my hand and threw his arm around my shoulders. He looked at Pepper wth a blank look but I could tell that he was really wanting to smile.