Chapter 1
Everyone knows your father’s name.
But almost no one knows yours. You could probably count on one hand the number of people who knew who you truly were, and most of them live right here at Stark Tower.
At least they used to.
You shook your head. Now isn’t the time to be thinking about them. Steve and everyone else were fine. They had to be. And all you could really do was hope that they’d come back someday.
You jumped as your phone buzzed and Alice, your personal AI’s mechanical voice filled the room.
“Dinner is ready, Stark 2.0. Please head to the kitchen,” she requested. You furrowed your brows. Family dinners were uncommon in the Stark household. Usually Pepper and your dad were too busy running Stark Industries and saving the world to sit down and have a home-cooked meal.
“Tell my dad I’ll be there in a second.”
“Already done, Miss Stark.”
You quickly combed your fingers through your unruly hair as you headed towards the kitchen. The walls were full of the modern art that Pepper and Tony loved, but you still remember when it was filled with pictures of your family and Wanda’s art that she loved to make.
The rooms feel so much colder than they used to.
Still, the kitchen was warm enough as you reached the table. Pepper and your dad were already sitting down, discussing something quietly. You couldn’t help but notice your father’s worried frown and Pepper’s bouncing foot when they looked up at you.
“What’s wrong?” you asked as you sat down across from your parents.
“Nothing!” your dad said. “We just wanted to have a family meal together.”
You looked at him for a moment, unblinking. “You wanna try that again?”
“Is it really so impossible that we want to have dinner with you?” he asked. “I hear this is the fashion for most families.”
“I don’t think we qualify as most families, Dad.” The last time we all sat down together was the Fourth of July, as we tried to ignore the birthday that we celebrated just last year.
“Plus,” I added. “This is my favorite meal, and all my favorite desserts are sat over there. You want something.”
“Told you she would figure it out,” Pepper looked at your dad. “Father like daughter and all that.”
“I don’t know,” you teased. “Dad can be pretty oblivious sometimes.”
“Hey. That bunny was an amazing gift and I still stand by that.”
You sighed. “You tell yourself that. Now what is it that you guys want to tell me?”
“We’re moving you to a different school,” your dad announced, attempting a smile.
“Excuse me?” your jaw dropped. “What do you mean?”
“Well we thought it would be better for you to be closer to us,” Pepper explained. “We noticed that your grades dropped a bit last year and you seemed to be struggling…so being closer to family might help.”
“So you decided to rip me away from all my friends and force me to start fresh for my last two years in high school?” you exclaimed. “I’m not going to know anyone!”
“Think of it as an opportunity for a blank slate,” Dad said. “You can make new friends and no one will know anything about you.”
“Yeah, well no one knows anything about me at my old school either.”
“Starkette,” Dad said. “We’ve had this conversation before. It’s dangerous for people to know who you are, especially with your abilities.”
“Like how I can do this?” Your fingers twitched as you guided the water in your cup into the air and formed a bubble. It stretched and moved at your will, the water calling to you from all around.
You could feel every drop of liquid in this room, from the drinks to the plumbing, and all of it called out for your control, constantly. It was part of the reason you lived with your dad instead of your mom. A toddler with that kind of power?
I got kicked out of a ton of daycares.
The bubble shuddered as I continued. “I can defend myself. I don’t understand why you won’t let me-”
“This is getting us nowhere.” Pepper interrupted. “Look, one of the other reasons we want to move you closer is so we can start the process of going public.” She and Dad exchanged a look. “We promise that the world will know who you are by the time you turn eighteen.”
“Really? Do you actually mean that?”
“Yes,” Dad replied. “So you can put your actual identity on college applications or whatever.”
“Okay.” You took a deep breath, still playing with the bubble above you. “Fine. Whatever. What school am I going to?”
“Midtown High School of Science and Technology,” Dad answered. “We already sent them your test scores, you’re in.”
“I would hope so since you’re forcing me to go there.”
He ignored me. “It’s in Queens. Happy can drive you there and back.”
“Can’t I just take the subway?”
“Do you want to make friends with the rats?”
“Fair enough.”
Dinner continued like normal after that, and you tried to keep the sass to a minimum. These moments together were rare, and you wanted to cherish being able to just talk to your parents without loud machinery or a near-death experience in the way.
You’d been listening to Pepper complain about some new college interns for Stark Industries when it happened. You’d completely forgotten about the bubble above you, laughing with her as she told stories of the mistakes he’d made.
Without warning, a gush of water dropped on your head, leaving you sopping wet.
“Shit.”
“And that’s why we never have high school interns,” Pepper finished, smiling.
“I don’t think most high schoolers can do that,” you smiled ruefully.
“Same principle applies.”
You took a deep breath and concentrated, gathering all the water from yourself and the floor, and guided it to the sink. At least hydrokinesis made clean-up easy.
“Your control is getting better,” Dad said. “You really have improved.”
“Yeah, I’ve been trying to practice.”
“It’s working.”
As nice as dinner was, soon enough Pepper got an important call and both of your parents had to run off to deal with some emergency. You tried not to be angry, the both of them had important, life-saving jobs. It wasn’t like they were deliberating ignoring you, but it kinda sucked that they barely knew you anymore.
Everything changed after everyone left, and not for the better.
You headed for the old training center just to blow off some steam. These punching bags had become your constant friends this past year.
After a quick run, you strapped on your gloves and faced the bag.
It wasn’t that you’d had a ton of friends at your old school, but it was everything you’d ever known. You had to start completely fresh, and most of the kids definitely already had their own friend groups.
Punch.
Your dad had always told you that the boarding school was for your protection, so people wouldn’t see you coming in and out of Stark Tower constantly. But you knew it was because he wanted to be able to keep his playboy personality with the public.
Punch.
Having a daughter just dragged him down.
Punch.
Neither Pepper nor he had ever shown up at any family event, saying that it was “for your protection.”
Punch.
It shouldn’t have hurt so bad. You were used to it.
Punch.
That didn’t stop the tears from pricking in your eyes when you saw parents hug their kids or give them flowers after a performance.
Punch.
No friends, barely any parents…you were completely alone.
Punch.