Chapter 5
Chapter 5 Brooklyn woke up with a gasp. Her heart pounding, a nightmare, god she hated those. But to her misery she had one almost every night. Looking around it took her a second to realize where she was.Right, dear Stark thought I should live with him, she thought.
On her phone she saw it was around 9am, perfect time for breakfast. After changing in her clothes from yesterday and making herself ready she decided to go look for the kitchen, since she skipped dinner last night she thought finding something to eat would be a good idea. The awkward confrontation would be inevitable so hiding would not help in anyway and the last thing Brook was, was a coward. With that in mind she stepped out of her room and went back to the living room she was in yesterday. It was the only way she knew and with the tower being so big she was afraid to get lost and that would be embarrassing. Coming nearer to the living room she started to hear voices. So they were up, great. Without stopping she simply walked into the living room walked through it and looked around the corner, where the voices were coming from. There sitting around a big table were the Avengers. Steve was standing behind the stove making breakfast. The conversations stopped immediately when they saw Brook and all looked at her. On the inside Brook squirmed under the attention and started to question her decision to simply walk in on them. But of course she would never show that. The Avengers saw a girl that looked pretty disinterested and not faced by the tension in the room. Stepping into the room Pepper immediately assessed the situation and decided to break the tension. Putting her hand on Brooks shoulder she felt the girl tense. Feeling uneased by that she said : “Come on dear sit down, you must be hungry since you hadn’t had dinner yesterday, I hope you like pancakes” The girl just shrugged and sat down. She sat between Nat and Bucky, in front of Stark. Getting Peppers point the others returned to their conversations but still kept shooting glances at her. Brook didn’t put anything on her plate, because if she did that back at home without permission she always got into trouble. Nat noticed and simply put a pancake on her plate. Throwing her a weird glance Brooklyn started eating since the spy looked as if nothing happened. Stark cleared his throat getting the girls attention. “So Brooklyn how did you sleep ?” Shrugging again the girl answered
“Fine, and it’s Brook.”
“I’m sorry?”
“You always call me Brooklyn.”
“Well that’s your name isn’t it?” Tony couldn’t help but be a smart ass.
“It’s Brook.” she stated firmly looking him in the face, being completely serious about it. “Is it like a teenager thing to change their name to something shorter to be cool or …?” Sam asked. Brook just looked at him. “No, but I’m really not a fan of being reminded every time somebody calls me of how Stark screwed my mother.”
“What ?!”
“They fucked on a party in Brooklyn. That’s why she named me Brooklyn. As a reminder of where her whole life changed.” At that everybody looked kinda uncomfortable. Tony looked at her with a look she couldn’t quite recognize. It was a little bit pity but there was also something else. If she wouldn’t know better Brook would think it was fondness. But she knew better. “Alright Brook it is.” Pepper smiled gently at her. “So Brook I was thinking we could go to your mothers house to pick up your things. I called her yesterday and she said you can live with me if you want.” Tony explained to her. Even if he was slightly confused after the call the day before. Brooks mother seemed really confused when she heard that her daughter wasn’t home and didn’t sound surprised when Tony told her about Brooks plan of emancipation. He wanted to meet up with her to talk about it, but she just sounded irritated. She told him she didn’t care what their daughter did as long as she has her peace. If he wants to take her in and deal with the brat he was free to do so. Her words not his. But he didn’t want to tell Brook that. At that Brooklyn looked at him surprised. “She picked up ?” she asked him, her voice full of doubt. “Yeah why shouldn’t she ?” Brook just shrugged. “Doesn’t matter” Confused he let it go for now.He could worry about that later. “So when do you want to go ?” She seemed to think about it for a second. “We can go in the afternoon. Around 3. Normally nobody is around at that time.”
“Oh so your mother is at work then?”
“Yeah something like that.” Brook muttered. After the breakfast Brook went to her room again. Lying on her bed she was thinking about the conversation. After they made a plan when to pick up her things, Stark told her that he called her sick in school for the whole week so she has time to get accustomed a little. He was nice. She thought. But she wouldn’t be fooled. He left her. Alone. In that hell hole. Ain’t no fucking way is she going to trust him again, despite what the little girl inside her wants. She doesn’t need him or anybody. She managed her whole life on her own. Around 3 o’clock Brook got out of her room and went to the living room. Stark was already waiting for her, smiling. “Alright let’s go. I don’t want to get into the afternoon traffic on the way back.” he told her. “You’re going with me ?” she asked him with a raised eyebrow. At that Tony got a little bit nervous. He hoped to have a little one on one time with her. Will she refuse to go with him ? “Well yes. Or who did you think would go ?” he asked back. She simply shrugged. “I don’t know, I kinda thought you would send one of your employees or something like that.” This response hurt Tony, though he didn’t show it. Did she really think that he cares so little that he would send an employee with her ?! Shaking his head he motioned to the elevator. Putting on his signature smirk he said : “No, just your normal billionaire at your service.” Rolling her eyes she stepped into the elevator. A few minutes later they were on the way to the Bronx. Friday planned the course already, not that Brook was surprised that she knew the address. Tony was surprised when they stopped in front of an older house. It looked a little run down and was definitely not the house Tony bought Charleen when he first found out she was pregnant. Following Brook up the stairs he looked around. The neighborhood doesn’t look very fitted to raise a child. “How long are you already living here ?” He asked her. Again she only shrugged. It seemed as if that was her response for everything. “Since I’m five I think ? I’m not sure really.” “Hm.” Inside Brook immediately went up to her room. Tony wanted to look around a little bit but decided against it. He got a bad feeling in this house and wanted to be out as fast as possible. Brooks room was small. It looked like a typical teenage room, a little bit messy but it definitely had a personal touch. There were some schoolbooks lying around on the table. He smirked when he saw a AC/DC poster above the bed. Kid’s got taste. There were some pictures of Brook and her friends on the wall. He made a mental note to do a background check on them. Then his gaze fell onto her bed. He immediately recognized a small teddy bear. It was the one he bought for her second birthday. He felt something warm inside him at the prospect that she kept it the whole time. He cleared his throat to get Brooks attention since she was busy putting her clothes in a bag. “Just take the most important things, and tell me what else you want to have at the tower. I’m gonna send a few people to pick them up later.” Brook looked at him and then went back to picking up her things. She put her school things in her school bag and picked up the pictures and some other books. He saw her picking up some sketching books and made a mental note to ask her later if she liked to draw. It made him sad that he didn’t know what her hobbies and interests were, but he promised himself he would make and effort and find out. Brook looked around assessing if she had everything. “I’m done” she said quietly. “So what else do you want at the tower ?” She looked around. “Nothing I have everything” Tony looked at her dumbfounded. She only had her school backpack and another duffel bag with her clothes and a few personal things. “You sure ? We can have everything shipped over that wouldn’t be a problem you know.” He told her. “I’m good.” the girl answered, trying to avoid looking at the bed with the teddy bear on it.
“Okay if your sure let’s head back“. But before he left the room he snatched the teddy and hit it under his jacket. She kept it for 14years, it must be important to her. He didn’t want her to miss something just because she was too proud to admit she cares for something he gifted her.
With that they went back to the car. It looked kinda funny and Brook needed to surpress a grin. This expensive car costed probably more that the entire neighborhood was worth. Inside Tony started the engine and they drove away. Away from the house Brook stopped calling home years ago. From the mother that never cared. And most importantly away from him. Her thoughts started to drift away when Starks voice snapped her back into reality. “So I need to talk to you about something…” he started. Brook stayed silent which he took as his sign to continue. “Your school is on the other side of the town and it would be a too long way to drive you there every day, so you would need to change schools. Peter goes to a great Highschool, it’s called Midto-“
“No.” Brook cut in.
“No?”
“No. I won’t change schools. I have friends there, a life I’m not gonna throw that away just because it’s an inconvenience to you.” “It’s not- urgh. I looked into your school. It’s not good.“
„What is that supposed to mean ?!“
„I mean that in the last few years only a handful of students who graduated from your High School went to college, most end up in prison rather than graduate.“
„That does not mean I won’t graduate and who says that I have to go to college anyways ?“ At that Tony was a little irritated, his daughter was smart he knew that from when she was little. Going to college was important, hell even his dad sent him to college for studying. Of course if she really doesn’t want to go he wouldn’t force her, but she should at least have options after high school. Which she won’t have if she doesn’t switch schools and it really would be a too long way to drive everyday, she would have to get up at 4am in order to get to class in time.
„College can be a good experience, I‘m not telling you, you have to go to college. But you have to switch school because you’re sure as hell not staying at your current one. Midtown is a great school and Peter can help you get comfortable there.“ Now Brooklyn just looked annoyed. She should have known he would force her to change her entire life. School and her friends there were one of the only good things she had in the past years. Not saying anything further she waited until they arrived back at the tower. The moment the car stopped she got out of the car and slammed the door. „Hey! Do you know how much this car costs ?“ Tony yelled after her. Rolling her eyes Brook replied: „Do I look like I care ?“ Stepping into the elevator she told Friday to take her to the penthouse. After closing the door to her room Brook lay down sighing on her bed. Switching Schools ? I don’t want to leave Kelly. I know it’s not the best school ever but is it so bad I want to keep atleast something familiar in my life… Why is it always me that has to change something for other people? A knock interrupted her thoughts. „What ?“ she asked.
„Can I come in so we can talk ? Please…“ came Tony’s voice from behind the door.
„What is there to talk about ? Apparently you already decided everything.“
„Brook, please“ he pleaded. Slowly she went to open the door and only because she never thought she would ever hear Stark beg for anything.Tony stood there looking a little bit out of his element, which okay he probably was.
„So ? What did you want to talk about ?“ Brook asked, putting on her emotionless voice.
„Can I come in so we don’t do it in between the door?” Brook let the door close behind her and stepped into the hallway. “Here is just fine.” Looking exhausted Tony sled a hand down his face. “Okay let’s do it here. I’m not making you switch schools to hurt you or because I want to piss you off. I—“
“Let’s agree to disagree on that one.” Brook interrupted.
“Can you let me finish ? Is that something you are capable of?” Tony snapped.
“I don’t know, maybe if you would stop spitting bullshit for a change” Brook snapped back. God Tony was getting to his limit right now.
“It’s for your own good. I’m just thinking of your future here, trust me on this one okay ?”
“Trust you?” the girl spat. “You lost every right to make decisions about my future the moment you walked away without looking back, so excuse me if I don’t really believe you know what’s best for me!”
Alright, she has a point here. But now that she lives here I will make up for everything I missed because I was absent.
“But now you live here with ME again so I will make that decision! If you don’t like it you can go back to live with your mother.” At that a flash of hurt flashed on Brooks face.It disappeared just as quickly as it appeared. Fuck. Why did I say that ?! I don’t want her to go back to her mother. Not in that house. I just got her back! Shit I don’t want her to think I would ever sent her back.
“Brook I’m sorry I-I didn’t mea—“
“Understood. Thank you for clarifying how things are going to be from now on sir” Brook gritted through her teeth with as much venom in her voice as she could. Turning around she opened the door to her room again.
“No Brooklyn, Brook that was not what I—“ But the door already slammed shut right in his face.“Great. That went just great.” Stark muttered.