Billionaire's Daughter 『𝙱𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚢 𝙱𝚊𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚜』

Chapter Twenty-Four

The plane landed at JFK airport. It looked the exact same as you walked through to baggage claim. George was asleep as you waited for a cab, you were exhausted, holding a baby and trying to carry a bag. As you got into the back of the cab you asked for Stark Tower. "Hear about that missing daughter?" said the driver, making you turn red, "Seems shady to me,"

"Um yeah," you said, "Hopefully she'll come forward," you thought of your dad, the amount of sleepless nights and endless torture he will have put himself through because he didn't know you were safe. You silently cursed yourself for stopping trying to text the team. "What happened to Stark Tower?" you asked, realising that you would obviously need to know all the facts before returning out of nowhere. 

"Did you not hear?" said the driver in a thick new york accent, living in Paris you had almost forgotten the sound of an american accent, "Missile hit it, they say one's dead up there but they never found the body, real shame," you could feel your heart pounding against your chest, what if it was Bucky who was up there and that's why no-one tried to reach you, because they couldn't bear to tell you. You tried to stop tears from falling down your face, it had been so long since you'd cried, willing yourself to be strong for George. He needed his mother.

"Must have been awful," you said as the tower began to come into sight. The cab stopped suddenly, in a blockade of traffic, you became irritated, "I'll get out here, thanks," you handed him the fare and got to the sidewalk. Putting your bag on your shoulder you walked quickly through the streets, keeping George close to you. You had forgotten how busy New York was. As you neared the tower floods of reporters, news vans and civilians were crowded round the tower.

"We have yet to hear from Tony Stark as it is almost eight days since the speech and no-one has come forward," you heard.

"Many claim he has gone in a downward spiral since the missile attack," came from behind you.

You pushed through the crowds, you could see SHIELD agents stood outside the tower. You tried to get past the reporters but everyone wanted to see this mystery girl. "Excuse me," you said, getting to the front. You spotted Agent Hill. "Maria," you shouted. She looked over to you. Your hair was a mess, you were wearing a hoodie and sweatpants and you had a baby asleep on your shoulder.

She helped you through the crowd, which slowly started to go silent as the mystery girl came forward. The agents around you had their hands close to the trigger on the guns. You ignored the cameras and walked through, the doors were still intact and you pulled it open. Dropping your bag on the floor, you made your way to the stairwell. Surely your dad's lab had been destroyed but you knew exactly where he would be.

You opened the door to the room that was usually full of party guests. It was covered in dust, glass and parts of walls. But you could see your dad sat at the bar, a drink in his hand. You suddenly became really nervous, what were you supposed to say when you hadn't seen him in six months. "You have a grandson," you said from behind him, a tear slipping down his cheek. When he turned to look at you, he looked worse than he had on tv.

"Y/n," said your dad, his hand shaking while still holding the glass. To get to the bar you would have to climb through parts of wall and glass, and you weren't really up for that. He got up from the bar and stumbled over to you, "Is that really you?" he said, stood metres away from you. He was drunk and clearly thought he was imagining you.

"It's really me," you said. You watched as he looked at you. Holding a baby, clearly a mess, which you had been for the past six months.

"Is this my grandson?" he asked.

"Yeah," you said, "This is George Barnes," as you said his name he started to stir, moving from your shoulder. "I'm so sorry dad, I couldn't stay here when that guy tried to kill me in the mansion, I promised myself that I would come back when you told me to, but I never heard from anyone," you avoided the question of Bucky, you didn't know if you wanted an answer. It would be better if you still thought he was alive somewhere, rather than you knowing he was definitely dead.

Your dad came over to you, a strong scent of alcohol with him. "Can I hold him?" he asked, he took George from you gently. You watched as he spoke to him, cradling him in his arms. It made you wonder how he had reacted when he found you at the gate of his mansion twenty-three years ago.

"Where's Bucky?" he asked, "Did you guys get married?"

"What?" you said, snapping you out of your thoughts. You thought Bucky was with the avengers or dead. He definitely was nowhere near you.

"Bucky?" he said, "Three months ago he left the hideout to find you, when he knew that you would be having the baby, I assumed you found him and he brought you up to date with the situation," you started to get confused, Bucky was alive but out searching for you. You had sent him a million texts. You sent him a picture of George everyday. He never responded and you thought he was dead, maybe he didn't want you anymore. And that's why he left.

"No he never came," you said quietly, "I thought he was with you, I hoped,"

"I'm sorry," said Tony, you let a tear escape your eyes. You had tried for so long to be strong for George but it was like everything was falling apart as you were trying to put it back together.

"I guess he didn't want to find me," you said, "I messaged him everyday, he knew where I was, I guess it's over" letting the words escape your lips broke your heart but at least you could move on. This way you could tell George about his father like you loved him, because you always would, but at least you wouldn't have to lie because you didn't know where he was or whether he was dead or alive.

"Where were you?" he asked, "I lost my phone when the tower exploded,"

"You were in here?" you asked, you forgot how reckless your dad was and how little he cared about whether he was going to make it out alive.

"I had to save this," he said, reaching into his jacket pocket, he pulled out the baby hat that you'd put in his card the day you told him, "I wanted to give it to you but I never saw you again," he placed the hat on George's head and you couldn't help the amount of tears that were streaming down your face. "Where did you go, I thought you went to Malibu?" he asked you again.

"I did, but then this guy came and tried to kill me," you said, not wanting to relive the memory, "So I left and swore I'd come back when you'd taken down HYDRA, I moved to Paris,"

"You're early then," he said, "We failed at taking down HYDRA, we failed at everything, and I failed at protecting you," it only just then hit you how much this was affecting your dad, not only had the tower been blown up and he failed at trying to take down HYDRA, he was filled with guilt because he couldn't find you and he didn't know if you were alive and safe.

"I'm sorry," you said.

"Me too," he said, "But I'm here for you now and I promise I'll keep you and George safe," your heart ached as you watched him with your son. You wished Bucky was here, with his arms wrapped around you. But he had moved on and it was time you did too. You looked at the diamond ring on your finger, you didn't want to take it off. But you slid it off your finger and into your pocket, you were no longer an engaged woman. Just a heart broken single mom.