The Truth
Ben was going next door to offer you some dinner. Usually you'd join their family every other evening but tonight you hadn't shown up at all which was a little concerning. He had a warm plate in his hand as he knocked on the door and waited a bit.
"Ellen?" He asked after he got no reply. "Ellen, it's Ben."
There was still no reply so he knocked again. Just like the first time, he got nothing back. Maybe you were out?
He was about to turn away when he heard a loud thud from inside the apartment.
"Ellen?" He called a little louder, knocking more feverishly.
He held the door handle and tried to force it open, now more worried. It took him only three attempts before the door swung open and he saw you on the floor, unmoving and seemingly passed out.
"Ellen!" He put down the plate of dinner as quickly as he could and closed the door before running to your side. "(Y/n)? (Y/n), can you hear me?"
He gently shook your shoulders but you didn't respond to that either. He then noticed the news report on the TV and realized what might have happened. He patted down his jacket until he found his cell phone and then he called the only number that made sense in the situation.
"Fury?" He asked when the line picked up. "(Y/n) needs help."
-
You couldn't remember much when you woke up. You felt confused, dizzy, and ill all at the same time. It was like a hangover.
You just about recognized the walls of your bedroom and the feel of the blanket beneath your body, but the bright light above blocked most of that out. Two figures sat at the end of the bed in a hushed discussion that you couldn't make out. You tried to sit up, still somewhat disoriented, and groaned a little as you felt a small pang of pain in your head.
"(Y/n)!" One of the figures was Ben and he was at your side in an instant, holding your hand. "Hey, how are you?"
You almost didn't respond because you hadn't heard your real name in so long. But you managed a tiny nod.
"Alive." You mumbled. "I think?"
"Good." He smiled. "We think you fainted or collapsed. I found you an hour ago."
"'We'?" You looked at the other figure who you now determined to be Fury and managed a weak smile of your own. "Evening, Director."
"Campbell." He nodded. "You gave Ben quite the scare."
"Yeah... Sorry about that, Ben." Then you remembered why everything went black. "Shit. My dad, the house! There was an explosion!"
"We're searching for Stark." Fury told you. "We believe he survived."
You were still panicked. "And Pepper? Is she okay? What about Happy?"
"I have a team determining Ms. Potts' location as we speak. As for Mr. Hogan, he was hospitalized a few days ago."
"What?" You slumped down. "What happened?"
"An explosion at the TCL Chinese Theater. He was injured and declared comatose. Fortunately, that's no longer the case."
"Where?"
"Los Angeles Mercy Hospital."
"Can I see him?"
There was a hesitance.
"Are you sure that's wise?" He questioned.
"Not at all." You replied. "I'll visit when he's asleep. No one has to know I was there. But I need to do something else first." You took a moment to consider what you were about to ask. "Can you take me to Malibu?"
"Ellen..." Ben shook his head. "Are you sure you want to do that?"
"Nope, but I have to." You sighed, looking down. "It's just... It was still my home."
"I can take you." Fury offered, his tone as serious as ever. "But if you're seen-"
"I'll be careful." You promised.
-
The wreckage of your childhood home was perhaps one of the worst things you'd ever seen, even after the aliens were let loose in New York. The cleanup crew were out and much of the debris was still left lying around.
Dust floated in the air, creating odd shapes in the light of the setting sun, and the cracks in the ground below your feet stretched longer than you could see. You could make out some rooms that were left, most notably the large foyer and half of the living room, but most of the mansion was crumbling over the edge of the cliff it was built on.
It was everything you ever knew. And now it was just... Gone.
As you cautiously stepped through what remained of home, you found yourself reliving some of the better memories. You remembered making cupcakes with Happy in the kitchen and almost burning the whole place down. You remembered doing your homework with Pepper's help and sharing a tub of ice cream afterwards. You remembered running around, feeling like nothing could ever ruin what you had.
How wrong you were.
You came to a stop at the very edge of the cliff. It was supposed to be roped off to the public but you didn't pay attention to that. As you watched the waves below beat against the cliffside, a glint in the corner of your eye caught your attention. You slowly turned, not sure what it was, and felt a brutal stab of pain in your heart upon realizing it was an Iron Man helmet.
Every step closer to it brought you closer and closer to tears. It felt like the weight of the world was crushing you. You barely made it over there before falling to your knees in the dirt. Slowly you reached out, picking up the helmet and then simply just staring at it.
"I'm sorry." You whispered, lifting it up and putting your forehead against the cool material. "I'm so sorry, Dad."
A single tear fell, rolling down your cheek and then splashing on the dirty ground.
-
While you were in LA, you stopped at the hospital Happy was admitted to. You had a large jacket, the hood covering most of your face, and a grim expression. You knew this was risky but you had to know he was okay.
Your dad was missing and presumed dead, Pepper's whereabouts were still unknown, and Happy was almost killed. You didn't know what was going on in your dad's life, but it was serious. The least you could do was check in on a close friend.
One of the staff led you to his room, explaining Happy's condition and how responsive he was.
"I hope you've been wearing your security badges." You said. "He likes that kind of stuff."
The man nodded. "One of his earlier visitors said that."
Knowing who he meant, you simply nodded along too. "Yeah."
When you finally saw Happy, your heart cracked a little. He didn't look too good. His face was bruised and covered in little cuts and he was indeed asleep. The staff member left you alone then and you took a slow breath before approaching the hospital bed. You pulled up a chair to sit down.
"Hey, Happy." You said quietly, looking at the floor for a minute before continuing. "It's been too long since I've seen you. Years, actually. I miss you a lot. And Pepper and JARVIS. And... Dad. He's okay, right? He's got to be. I hope you're gonna be okay too. You know, I actually made my own AI. I called it FRIDAY. She's a great help around my lab. Yep, I've got a lab now. You always said I'd be a crazy scientist when I got older."
You stopped talking, not sure of what else to say despite having so much going on in your life. Downton Abbey was playing on the TV in the corner of the room as you sat in silence, too distracted to notice Happy waking up.
"(Y/n)?" He questioned, struggling to recognize you at first.
You startled, eyes wide, and your throat turned to sandpaper. He wasn't supposed to see you. No one was.
"It's you." Happy whispered, stunned into silence.
He tried to sit up and winced, and you quickly helped. "Take it easy."
"Where have you been?" He asked, a concerned look in his eyes. You didn't say anything. "(Y/n), we looked everywhere."
You closed your eyes. "I'm sorry."
"What happened?" Again, you didn't reply to him. "I haven't seen you since you were sixteen."
You opened your eyes again but looked down to avoid meeting his gaze. "Yeah. I'm ancient now, huh?"
"You're beautiful." He gave you a soft smile. "You look just like Tony."
You sighed, not sure if that was a good or bad thing anymore. When you were younger, you would have hated it. In fact you probably would've hit whoever said it. But now? Now you appreciated it a little more.
"Why did you leave?" Happy then asked.
You went to reply but shook your head. "Don't ask."
"We looked everywhere for you. Tony, he never stopped searching. He's still trying to get PIs, he's got JARVIS constantly searching for signals. (Y/n), please... Tell me why."
He looked genuinely heartbroken and the guilt you'd been carrying since that day came crashing down. Your bottom lip trembled and you decided that just maybe you could risk it for Happy. After all, he drove you to school every single day without fail and was always there to pick you up, he celebrated every birthday with you, and he always managed to make you laugh on the bad days. The least you could do was repay him with a slither of truth.
"I ran because of Obadiah." You explained before you could find a reason to back out.
Happy didn't respond to that at first, trying to understand what you could possibly mean. "Obadiah Stane? But he's gone."
"I know." You paused, glancing at the door. "When my dad went missing I was worried. I don't know why since we never got along but I just... I don't know, I guess I was bothered because there were no scandals or pictures in the news."
You debated stopping again but the look in Happy's eyes made you continue. You played with your nails, attempting to distract yourself from the memories.
"I went to Obadiah because I thought he could help but I heard him talking to someone else. He talked about my dad, about having him kidnapped and killed, and then he heard me outside. He..." You teared up, struggling to explain further. "He threatened me, Happy. He said if I told anyone he'd have me killed. Please don't tell my dad. He can't know. Obadiah said that if I told anyone he'd kill them too and even now it's a risk. I don't want to lose any of you."
"It's okay, kid." Happy said. "Obadiah's gone, alright? He died a few days after you left."
"I know but what if he told someone else to take up the job before that? What if even now people are after me?"
"I'll look out for you like I always have. No one's gonna be after you with me around."
You tried to say something else, to argue further or to thank him, but it became hard to simply breathe. You ended up just gritting your teeth in an attempt to force even a single word out.
"I'm sorry." You mumbled, finally meeting his eyes. "Shit, I'm so sorry."
He looked genuinely sad, an exceedingly rare sight, and opened his arms. "Come here."
You didn't hesitate, hugging him tightly. It felt so good to hold onto someone from your old life. It brought back even more memories and it moved you to tears. A sob escaped your lips as you clung to your best friend.
"I could've called a thousand times to say sorry but I was terrified." You confessed. "I was so scared."
"It's okay." Happy told you, just as relieved to have you back. "You're okay. Obadiah can't hurt you anymore."
"Well, that's the thing." You didn't want to let go and stayed there for a moment longer. "I don't think it's over. There's something... There's something else out there. There always is. I just have a feeling."
"(Y/n)... You'll be safe."
"No." You closed your eyes, wishing you could just agree instead of deny the reassurance. "It's been too long. I'm better now. I don't want anyone at risk because of me."
"(Y/n)-"
Happy told you that after your childhood home was destroyed, Tony ended up in Rose Hill, Tennessee and met one Harley Keener, a brilliant kid who helped him while he hid and recovered.
You didn't know if it was curiosity or gratefulness that drove you or something else entirely but you couldn't stop yourself from checking out the location. It was still covered in snow but you didn't mind the biting cold so much because as long as you kept your head down you'd be okay.
You relied on your own technology to trace your dad's footsteps and with a lot of help from FRIDAY it led you to the edge of a small town. In front of you was an old but seemingly spacious garage. You made yourself a way in and ended up awestruck by what you saw.
Technology of the highest quality, tools for all kinds of work, what looked like an old Ford Mustang, and even a sitting area with a fridge and TV. You knew immediately it was your dad's work since no kid could ever afford all the equipment in front of you. It was even fancier than your lab and you worked for a sub-government division.
"Who are you?" A pointed but young voice suddenly said, causing you to spin around.
A boy was standing there with a schoolbag on his shoulders and a very confused and scared look on his face.
Assuming it could only be one person, you smiled and stuck out a hand to shake. "Harley, right?"