Princess of Death

Princess of Death

(Alternative Universe to Nightingale)

By: Lalaith Quetzalli

Death drew them together, and it would never be able to pull them apart. Starks are made of iron, strong and enduring; Salanis are like the breeze, soft and gentle. The result of both will be a girl with the strength of the warriors, the kindness of the guardians and a will that not even death shall be able to quell. Ever.

Daughter of Iron and Breeze

I was taught to be as strong as iron, yet as gentle as a summer breeze.

I died when I was six years old. The important part, at least to some, would be perhaps the fact that I didn't stay dead. I was with my dad in our car, we were on our way back home from a concert in the State Theater in Portland. It'd been a beautiful outing, just the two of us, we'd watched a very talented pianist play (Mama had been a pianist, had even given a few concerts, both with a symphony and solo before I was born; she was in fact supposed to go back once I was old enough... but then she got sick and died, so that never happened...).

We were on the highway, on our way to Westbrook, it was night, but not too late, and dad didn't seem to mind driving like that. I will never know what happened exactly; I was too young and had been a bit sick recently, wasn't awake enough to know how things happened. All I knew was that there was a terrible accident. Both dad and I were believed to be dead by the paramedics who found us, and while I was fortunate enough to come back, he wasn't.

No one ever told me how long I was believed to be dead, though I know it was bad, Aunt Kathryn (she was just my aunt back then) suffered a lot, believing to have lost all her remaining family in one swoop. Then again, I didn't tell anyone about the things I saw when I was dead...

I didn't understand a lot of it, but I knew it was important, somehow. I remembered having been in a place with a lot of mist, so much I couldn't see my feet, much less the ground, I was wearing a beautiful dress I'd never before seen in my life and felt... different, in ways I couldn't quite explain, not even to myself. I remembered standing before what, at first sight, seemed like a mirror, except that it wasn't my reflection I saw on it, but instead someone else entirely. A young woman, half a head or so taller than me, with perfectly unblemished milky-white skin, bright-auburn hair falling around her shoulders in thick, loose curls, she was wearing a lilac corseted dress with thing straps and no sleeves, an off-white shawl wrapped loosely around her shoulders; the things I noticed the most, though, was the white-gold and crystal intricately made tiara that sat upon her head, and the fact that her eyes were hazel, just like my own. I raised my hand to touch my not-reflection, and she did the same; I could never be sure if our fingers actually touched or not, but the image disappeared all the same in the next instant.

My dreams started after that night. I would dream myself in my rose garden in Salani manor, sitting on a thin mat, surrounded by all the beautiful flowers and the nightingales that kept flitting around from one to the next. He would arrive then, I could never be sure of his age, his looks, could only retain the fact that he had raven-black hair and jade-green eyes that seemed to carry so many stories, so many feelings, I probably wouldn't be able to unravel them all even had I a lifetime to drown in them...

I went through several surgeries while in the hospital, including a multiple transplant that, by some kind of miracle, helped push the leukemia I'd been dealing with for nearly a year (though no one in the family liked talking about it, or the very real danger it had meant for my life... probably due to how mama died of the very same thing...) into remission. Or at least that's what we were lead to believe. It would be quite a while before we learned that there were more forces influencing our lives than the ones we knew of and could comprehend.

When I was finally recovered enough to get out of the hospital I was surprised when Aunt Kathryn didn't take me back home. Instead she drove to an unknown apartment I'd never seen before. There she sat me down and we had what was probably the most important conversation of my life. I learned about Kathryn Adler, about how she'd worked for the government for fifteen years, first in MI5, then the SSR, and finally SHIELD; how she'd only retired in order to help my dad raise me, after Mama's passing. And she hadn't been any agent, she'd been a great one, partner to Agent Shannon Carter and the legendary Peggy Carter's second protege. Part of a team in SHIELD that had been called the Elites; she had also been given the code-name of Sphinx, after a mission in Egypt she could tell me nothing about. As it happened, the Sphinx had enemies, even years after being retired. She had reason to believe one of those enemies was behind the car accident, that it had been no accident at all. That meant we would potentially be in great danger, were we to return to Salani manor... which was why we didn't do that.

A few days later Eileen and Arianna Grayson, a single-mother and her six year old daughter, moved to Malibu, California where, thanks to some contacts, Eileen soon began working as housekeeper for one Anthony Stark. It was the start of a whole new life for all of us.

xXx

The next ten years were... an experience. At first life as Arianna Grayson seemed like some kind of fairy-tale, a great adventure; eventually it became simply my new life. Miss Pepper, Tony's (he insisted that we were never to call him Mr. Stark; though I did call him Dr. Stark when I wanted to be particularly respectful) PA was the only one who knew our true origins, as Tony said he didn't want her to have a bad impression of any of us. No one else knew the truth, though at least Rhodey (Sgt. James Rhodes of the Air Force) and Happy (Happy Hogan, former-boxer, current driver and bodyguard) eventually gave us a chance.

It took a while getting used to JARVIS, before going to live in Stark mansion I could have never imagined such a being. I knew he was more than a computer program, though Tony tended to downplay him to strangers, pretend that was all he was, because most people simply weren't ready to accept everything JARVIS truly was. Mom and I understood that, so we wouldn't speak to him when there were strangers around, but when it was only us? Then we did our best to treat JARVIS as if were just another person, one of us.

The mansion wasn't actually that hard to clean, taking turns to clean certain areas on specific days. I even helped mom do the easy tasks, harder ones as I got older. The only place we never entered was the workshop, as Tony insisted it was too dangerous; though mom and I did make sure that he leave it long enough to eat, shower and sleep with some regularity. I helped mom where I could, at least when I wasn't doing my own work; even if I was home-schooled, that did not mean I was allowed to slack. Tony had actually offered to give me recommendations for several high-end private schools, or for the local public school (he knew, better than most, that not everyone actually liked attending private schools); but as it happened, I much preferred being home-schooled; and as everyone soon realized, I was going so fast through the curriculum that any decent school would have suggested I get tutors instead. Tony actually got in at some point, began helping teach me math and the hard sciences, though I wasn't too good, and didn't like them as much as he did. Pepper gave me some tips for math and economics (she had a Masters Degree in Accounting, and a Bachelor's in Administration besides), Happy taught me some self-defense moves, just in case, and also how to drive (especially how to do, what he called 'forceful driving' when in case of an emergency). Rhodey put in his two cents where it came to self-defense and, after somehow managing to convince mom, he also taught me how to shoot and use a knife; I hated guns with a passion, but I understood why it was important for me to know such things, so I took it with good graces and did my best.

I was twelve when I had a very important decision to make. I was finished with schooling up to high-school level, and mom didn't have a degree in the areas I wanted to study, which would mean going to an actual school. I was given the option of taking one or more years before doing it, continue studying languages meanwhile; but I was already studying languages, was fluent in six (English, Irish, Norse, Spanish, German and Japanese) by that point, and was halfway there with two more (Italian and French... with Chinese and Russian being next on the list). In the end I decided to give it a try, it's not like I couldn't walk away and go back later if I decided I was too young for college life.

That was the same year when Stark Industries branched out and the Technology Department was born. From what I later learned, Tony happened to hear me while I was cursing at my computer for crashing on me for the umpteenth time while I was writing the essay for admittance into the University of California. Two weeks later I was presented with a prototype for what would eventually become the first StarkPC.

At first I wanted to refuse, I really did (and mom almost had a stroke). But eventually Tony convinced us that by accepting it I could use it, see what quirks it might still have, and then I could tell him so he could correct them before taking the proposal to the Board. And so I became tester for the new products (no joke, I even ended with a contract and everything, though it was mom who signed it, as I was way too young for that). A phone and a tablet followed in the next month. Mom and I did find a few details off in the products, but they were all smoothed out, so by the time Tony actually took the proposal to the Board it was all so good they couldn't say no.

Well, there was one person who didn't like it. I wasn't around for that particular confrontation, but I did learn that Mr. Stane didn't seem to like the idea of a Technology Department too much, he wanted SI to make only weapons. In the end Tony used the numbers to convince him (and the fact that the Board had already agreed with him helped).

I entered UCDavis that fall, in the end I couldn't fully make up my mind, so I took two Majors: Communications and International Relations; and two minors: Sociology and Political Sciences (this aside from continuing my studies in various languages). My intention was to one day work in SI, possibly in Public Relations. Tony, Mom, Pepper and everyone else I considered family and friend fully supported my plan.

The life I had at sixteen was so different from anything I might have imagined when I was six years old, before my father's death, that I could hardly believe it. I had no idea that the world wasn't done throwing me curve balls just yet...

When I woke up to Tony sitting beside my bend, running a hand up and down my ankle in absolute silence I just knew something was wrong... I had no idea just how much. The previous night he'd taken mom as his +1 to a charity event of the Maria Stark Foundation. It was nothing new. Mom had been his +1 to any such events (whenever he couldn't convince Pepper to go with him, at least); neither of them saw it as anything more than it was, a night for friends, and it helped keep the harpies and whores that were only after the Stark money and perhaps a story they might sell to the papers away (there had been far too many of those).

"Oh Ari..." I couldn't help but notice how hoarse his voice was.

"Tony, you're scaring me." I admitted, sitting up slowly.

"Ari... I..." He ran a hand down his face. "I'm sorry..."

"Tony..." It hit me, why everything was so wrong right then. "Tony where's my mom?"

"I'm sorry Ari..." He repeated.

"Where's my mom...?" I repeated, unable to keep myself from getting hysterical. "Tony...?!"

"She's gone Ari..." He admitted after what seemed like forever. "Eileen is dead."

"No!" I hissed. "No! That's impossible. Mom cannot be, she cannot... nonononono, NO! Not my mom! Not her too! NOOOOO!"

I blacked out then. Found myself flung straight back to where I'd been before waking. A beautiful garden that I could have sworn was somehow a mix of the start of my rose-patch in the old Salani Manor (though I hadn't really seen it in a decade by that point), the little garden Tony had had built just for me in a corner of the property, for my twelfth birthday, and one or two others I thought I might have seen before, yet couldn't recall when or where. It was the place of my every dream, and my companion was there as well. Black hair, green eyes, dressed in a green and black a mix of linen and leather. He was always barefoot there, as was I, dressed in a soft lavender sleeveless dress with a straight neckline and a white sash.

He didn't ask me what was wrong, truth was I wasn't sure if we ever actually spoke any in those dreams. If we did I couldn't remember it upon waking, never had, though I knew for sure we had been sharing dreams (could it be called sharing when I wasn't even sure if he was real or not? I thought he was, at least) at the very least since I was six. There were no questions asked or answers given, but there was no need, words were unnecessary; he just held me tight, and I held onto him as well, and that was somehow enough to bring a measure of comfort to a heart that was breaking with the news that I'd just lost the only remaining member of my blood family.

I was fortunate enough to be able to bring some of that comfort with me to the waking world, where I also came to the realization that I was not alone, I'd never be. Even if mom was gone, I still had family: Tony, Pepper, Happy, Rhodey; they might not be such by blood, but they were family in every way that counted, and that was more than enough.

As it happened, we were actually more family than I ever expected. As Tony explained it to me there was a plan. It had been made five years earlier, when mom's and Tony's research rendered a name for the one responsible for dad's death: the Winter Soldier. It wasn't like anything could be done about it; dad's death had been ruled an accident, and the Winter Soldier was believed to be a myth by almost everyone in the world. Mom and Tony both knew better.

Mom did everything in her power to protect me. From us moving to the other side of the country, cutting ties completely with everyone and everything we might have known, the change in names, mom had even dyed her hair blonde (mine wasn't necessary, as I was still young). Mom had done everything in her power to make sure the people who might be after her, who had gotten dad while trying to kill her (or perhaps all along they intended to hurt her by killing her loved ones, who knew?). And yet she'd been pragmatic enough to know her plans might not be enough in the end; and so, one more had been made.

JARVIS called it the 'Princess Protocol', it was a last-resource kind of plan, meant to put me in such a position where no one would dare touch me. Of course Tony offered me to change my name again, make a new life somewhere else in the world, anywhere. I refused, not only because it felt wrong, running away; but because he was family, and I wasn't giving him (and the others) up without a hell of a fight. And so the protocol was implemented.

Three days later the funeral of Eileen Grayson took place. The press was there, everyone knew that Tony had been with mom in the limo when she died. And that was when the reveal took place, when I was introduced as Arianna Maria Grayson-Stark, Tony Stark's daughter. The press went crazy then, the flashes of the cameras nearly blinding me; but I'd known it was coming, I didn't back down, didn't even flinch, I stood tall (though I was quite small), in my long black skirt, blouse and scarf, my hand on my new dad's arm, Pepper, Happy and Rhodey behind us in a show of unity and support.

The public story was that mom and dad had been lovers for several months in the early nineties, they cared for one another, but simply weren't in love with each other, had never been. She never told him about me, had no interest in his money. JARVIS had made up records to make it seem like mom had finally sought him out when I was in the hospital, and that I'd been there for the surgery to treat the leukemia, rather than any accident. After that he supposedly had convinced mom to have us go with him back to Malibu; but she refused to just take his money, which was how she ended working for him. It turned out that my genius had even helped with the story, even if my areas of study had nothing to do with Tony's, it was believed that it was the 'Stark genius' showing through. In short everyone bought it.

The only real trouble was perhaps Stane, (Tony called him Obi, as the man was his godfather, he even tried to convince me to do the same, but I'd never liked him; for some reason even I couldn't comprehend, there was something about Obadiah Stane I simply didn't like). It wasn't that he didn't believe the story, actually he did; it was more his belief that an illegitimate daughter was a stain on the Stark name... I thought it was ridiculous.

It would be a while but eventually I would learn of his other objection. That he hated the idea of a girl, especially one who didn't even like guns, one day inheriting the company. Tony telling him that was why SI was branching out, and half-confessing his idea of slowly pulling out of the weapons' business didn't help out any.

Such things were already in motion, Tony kept creating technology, and there was a possibility for the creation of a medical branch as well; one that, at least initially, would direct its efforts to helping with veterans' crippling injuries. That, and the fact that Tony had reassured the military (through Rhodey) that while he would be stopping producing weapons, SI would continue supplying them with their best in body-armor, armored vehicles and all kinds of protection certainly helped pacify them. What didn't was Stane's continued 'reassurances' that he'd 'convince' Tony to change his mind.

I just knew there was something rotten there, I just didn't have the proof, and since I was no good with computers (other than the basics) I decided to find someone who could help me. It was how I eventually met the two best hackers in the world, known across the web as BlueCloud and TaserNinja (though some liked to call her TaserQueen, the Queen of Hackers). Neither of them could be swayed by money, though when I shared my worries they in the end both agreed to help unearth everything they could about Obadiah Stane; I'd be paying for their service in tech, which they both appreciated a lot more than money itself.

Dad gave me a gift a month or so after I officially became a Stark, a new companion and assistant in some ways. Her name was FRIDAY and she was an AI much like JARVIS, though still in its infancy, which meant that the way I treated her would influence how she finished developing. I loved that. Dad found it funny how I tended to treat her like a dear friend or a baby sister at times, though considering he himself referred to her as FRI and baby-girl, he'd no ground to stand on. She was in all my Stark tech and could access the house mainframe with some help from JARVIS though from the most part she stayed only with me.

After some considerations it was decided that I'd back to school, get another degree. While I was perfectly qualified for the post of Public Relations I hoped to take in SI, dad believed I was still young and should get to enjoy my teenage years for as long as I could (and wanted), so in the end I decided to take the opportunity and study more languages, and another major. I chose Nursing, because it was something different, challenging, because I hoped it might one day help me take better care of my dad (there had been certain 'accidents' in the workshop before, and I wanted to be able to do more than just call an ambulance). Also, and while I never acknowledged it out-loud, it was a tribute to my mom, to who she'd been, to my Aunt Kathryn Salani, the nurse, the caretaker, the woman who'd given everything up, more than once, for me... For the world I was little more than a doll, a figure, the Stark princess they called me, like I was some action figure and not a real person. To her I'd only been Arianna (Silbhé...)

That's what the public called me, literally, the Stark Princess. I'd even read a few magazines were I was referred to as the Princess of Death, which journalists thought was all-so-funny, since they already called my dad Merchant of Death. Dad only scoffed and said that at least they'd gotten the 'princess' right. He even asked me if I wanted to do something to keep them from printing such things, but in the end I decided not to. People would believe what they wanted to believe, and trying to muzzle them could end up making things worse... so I just endured it, much as he did. I was sure I didn't imagine the look on pride when I explained my line of thought.

I also took great delight in playing matchmaker for my dad and Pepper. I convinced each of them that the other was in love with them but didn't say a word out of fear of making things awkward at work (and in my dad's case, fearing that Pepper might hold his past as a playboy against him). Truth was I sometimes could almost see the bonds tying the two of them together, like ribbons of multi-colored light, couldn't believe they didn't realize it themselves. While dad hadn't exactly been celibate in the years since I'd come to live in Malibu, he wasn't as bad as he'd been in his youth, as the tabloids claimed he still was, and Pepper knew it. She knew that dad did not love mom, though he held her in great regard; I also believed that they were meant to be.

They began dating, which made me cheer in the privacy of my own bedroom. They were taking things slow, much slower than he ever had, which I thought was a good thing. It also meant that the press had no idea anything was going on; it was already normal for them to go on events together, even dance, so that did not raise any flags.

Life was good, or as good as it could be really... and then Afghanistan happened...

xXx

There was an Award Ceremony in Las Vegas. Pepper and I weren't there because she had a number of back-to-back meetings at SI, while I had school (I was in my second and hopefully last year of Nursing School at the time and getting ready to get certified in Russian, with which I'd have ten languages under my belt; Portuguese and Greek were next). When Rhodey phoned and told me what had happened just hours earlier to the Humvee dad had been in, and that he was missing... I nearly snapped.

I didn't black out though, not like I had when I was sixteen and had just lost my mom, I didn't allow myself the blessing of unconsciousness, of denial; I knew I didn't have that luxury, because I was Arianna Stark, heiress to Stark Industries, Princess of Death, I had a job to do. And so I set off to do it.

After a talk with SI lawyers the company was footing the bill to get the injured soldiers back to the States and under the best medical care possible; we also paid for the medical service for those who hadn't survived (which were regretfully many). There were some suggestions that the survivors, somewhere down the road, might be seen as the perfect candidates to become the first beneficiaries of the brand new Medical Department of SI.

Pepper kept things going, as Tony's PA for more than a decade she had a lot of trust and leeway. It would not occur to me until much later just how odd it was that Stane hadn't done anything, neither to help or to curtail us.

Four weeks passed, the most insane and stressful month I'd ever lived, and then the search was called off. The shock was so great I actually stopped breathing for a few seconds.

"They what?!" It would have been a shriek if I'd had enough air in my lungs to speak that loud, as it was, I was heard quite clearly.

"My superiors believe that all lines of inquiry have been exhausted..." Rhodey began.

"All lines of inquiry...?" I repeated, breathless. "Exhausted? They haven't found him yet, have they? No, of course they haven't. Which means he's still out there, which means there are places they haven't searched yet; which of course means not all lines have been exhausted!"

"Ari..." Rhodey began, trying to sooth me.

"Don't!" I snapped, then forced myself to calm down. "I know it's not your fault Rhodey, this was not your decision."

"Of course it wasn't." He agreed, not taking my snapping personally, he was good like that (and if he could deal with dad's moods, he could certainly deal with mine). "I haven't given up Ari, I will never give up. Trust me on that."

"I do." I nodded, then turned to Pepper. "What about SI?"

"They're still out there, but there are rumors they'll be pulled back in two weeks at most." Pepper admitted grimly.

"What?!" That was definitely the last thing I wanted to hear. "Why?!"

"Stane's orders." Pepper almost hissed.

I froze. I'd suspected for over a year that something was really, really wrong with that man. My two 'friends' were still working on getting me the information I needed, I'd even sent them some tech in advance when they explained that some of the info they were pulling was so secure it was taking longer than they expected, and they didn't have the right equipment to do things faster without risking losing it all.

"On what authority?" I asked, suspicious.

"As vice-president and interim-CEO..." Pepper began.

I went non-verbal at that, many words running through my head, yet I was too angry to say them out-loud, so instead I just gesticulated and waved my hands a lot.

"Arianna..." Pepper began, probably fearing what I might be thinking.

"Pepper, there is a board meeting tomorrow, correct?" I asked softly but very seriously.

Rhodey and even Happy (also in the room) froze, probably already suspecting that whatever I was planning was big.

"That is correct, Miss Stark." Her voice and choice of address showed she had a very good idea of what I was planning, and she would back me up all the way.

"Then I guess it's time the board accept that I, and not Mr. Stane, am my father's heir-apparent." I stated in a no-nonsense tone.

xXx

I never formally dropped from the Nursing Program, there simply was no time. I had work to do. I hadn't finished my degree (on the positive side, I didn't have to worry about having to do the practical work in an actual hospital and dealing with people wanting 'Nurse Stark' to treat them, simply because I'm a public figure), I wasn't even eighteen yet (still three months to go), but there just was no more time. I had no power in the military, but I did have it in SI, I was dad's heiress in every way that counted, I also had voting shares of my own, and I had the will. I wasn't going to let them give up!

From what I was told later on, the meeting was epic (even dad agreed, months later, while he was recovering and JARVIS showed him a recording of it to keep him entertained). I had no problem telling who among the board were on my side, those who had their doubts but respected me (or my dad, or my name) enough to at least give me a chance, and those who were (almost violently) against me. The last I suspected might even agree with Stane that SI should do weapons, and nothing more than that. Like branching out into technology and medical somehow made the company less, rather than more. Which was absolutely ridiculous (much like thinking that a woman being CEO was wrong for some reason...).

In the end I had the law on my side, and was good enough at spinning things to get a majority vote in my favor, which meant I was Acting CEO of Stark Industries before the meeting ended. I didn't do anything big that first meeting, aside from confirming all the projects in the works for the three branches of SI (though Medical wasn't 'out' in the public just yet), then announced that the search for my dad would continue, and I wasn't listening for any objections.

That same afternoon I got in touch with BlueCloud and TaserNinja, asking them to up their efforts if at all possible; and to get me anything they might have on any and all connections of Stane's (I just knew I'd be getting trouble from there, sooner or later). I even managed to convince JARVIS to let JOCASTA (a mostly unfinished AI that JARVIS himself had created, with some guidance from dad) into the SI network to help the two hackers get into the necessary files. He couldn't do it himself as he was busy searching for dad through the world; also, Stane or someone else might notice his electronic signature, no one would pick up on JOCASTA's, because no one so much as suspected she existed.

Two more months later, dad was found. More precisely, Rhodey found him, in the middle of the freaking desert, after having blown his way out of the caves where the Ten Rings had kept him. I went to meet him in Bagram Base in Kabul. Officially I was there to thank the men and women involved in the search, and to deliver the news of the bonuses they'd be receiving from SI for getting Tony Stark back; unofficially I just wanted to see him...

It was insane, while I had known Tony for over a decade, for ten years he'd been nothing more than mom's boss, perhaps a friend. Even when I agreed with the 'Princess Protocol', I just saw the whole thing as following mom's wishes. And yet somehow... somehow in the year and a half since I'd come to love him dearly, at times I felt like I loved him more than my real father... then again, I lost him when I was barely six, hardly have any more memories of him than I do of Mama... Painful, maybe cynical, but no less accurate.

When I saw dad, when I saw his chest... what was in it... I wasn't sure if I was going to pass out or be sick in front of everyone. In the end I forced myself to do neither, instead I embraced him gingerly and wished with all my strength that I had a way of helping him... I had no idea the kind of effects that desire would have.

Of course, because dad is... dad, he just had to cause chaos. He'd barely made it back stateside when he asked for two things: cheeseburgers, and a press conference. And it was there that things really got crazy, when he publicly announced the closing of the Weapons' Department of SI. Of course Stane tried to cut him off, to deny what dad had just announced, I refused to allow that. So I took the mic before he could and, pushing aside my nervousness I began speaking:

"Ladies and gentlemen." I called evenly. "I know this decision might seem sudden to some of you, the actions of a man who's been hurt, a lot, in the past three months, and while we all know my father has, indeed, been greatly hurt, I can assure you no decisions are ever made, by either of us, in the rush. We Starks take our company very seriously, same with the people who work for us, whose livelihoods depend on us. We'd never let them down." I ignored Stane's attempts to stop me, standing my ground. "This, closing down the Weapons Department of SI, has been in the cards for a while now. I want to go on record saying that this doesn't mean we're abandoning our troops, the good men and women fighting for our country. SI will still be producing armor and everything that can be used for defense, the best we can provide, we shall. It's just the weapons we're walking away from. It has been proven that, in the hands of the wrong people, they can be very dangerous, this choice isn't just about protecting our lives, but every man, woman and child who might be or have ever been affected by one of our weapons." The press had stopped accusing, they were intrigued, now I just needed to make sure to leave them wanting for more. "Ladies and gentlemen let me take this moment to announce the upcoming opening of a new SI branch. I'm talking about Stark Medical. We'll be opening our doors to the public in three months, providing people with the best in prosthesis and other aids. Thank you for coming and I'm afraid we'll not be taking any questions for now."

Stane actually tried to stop me as I walked past him and straight to where dad was standing, looking at me with so much pride I couldn't help the wide smile in my face. I didn't let him stop me, twisting my hand in his to force him to let go unless he wanted to cause a scene (and of course he didn't want that).

I think it might have been my actions that day, my speech, that made him move against dad so much sooner than he'd have otherwise.

xXx

Dad not only didn't mind me revealing the surprise ahead of time, I actually got to hear him boasting to the members of the board how bright I was, how great the decision had been. Against all the odds, SI shares were actually going up, instead of down. SI had already proven it could do more than just weapons, the phones, tablets and PCs were selling so well, and there was more coming, so there were high hopes for the Medical branch.

The future was looking so bright... which is of course why something just had to go wrong (I hate Murphy's law with a passion...). I got a joint call from Blue and Taser telling me their research was finished, they'd sent me their findings, heavily encrypted of course, though one thing they did know for sure: as long as Obadiah Stane was alive dad wasn't safe, and neither was I. He was the one who'd gotten the Ten Rings to kidnap him (actually, they were supposed to kill him, but they went off the script, thinking they'd get more if they kept him alive, get weapons and ransom, though that hadn't worked too well). It wasn't even the first time he tried to kill dad, he'd tried it before, a little over a year earlier, hired a hitman to assassinate him... only the bullet hadn't hit him, it had hit mom instead. As it happened, her former life as a spy had nothing to do with mom's death, it had been Stane's desire to see dad dead and getting his hands on the company, and of course the Stark money.

I was furious, so much I could have sworn I went cold, practically ice-cold in my rage. Might have even hit something if FRIDAY hadn't spoken right then:

"Princess!" Since the implementation of the protocol, JARVIS had taken to calling me that, and FRIDAY had followed his lead.

"FRI?" I asked, confused, I'd never heard her sounding so distressed.

"Sir's in danger!" She squeaked. "JARVIS is down and Sir's in danger!"

I didn't even think about it, I just ran. I was barefoot and wearing nothing but my nightgown but I didn't really feel the cold, all my focus was on getting to my dad. And somehow I managed to run down the hall, a flight of stairs and to the main sitting without making a single noise (though I wouldn't actually realize that until much later). I forced myself to stop just outside the sitting-room itself, stop and wait for an opportunity to act.

"Tony." It was Stane! "When I ordered the hit on you, I worried that I was killing the golden goose. But, you see, it was just fate that you survived that. You had one last golden egg to give."

I had to literally press a fist to my mouth to keep myself from screeching at the bastard for daring to attack my dad, and his whole stupid speech?! Like there was any sort of justification for what he was doing, any possible excuse...

I chose to push that aside, as I began looking fast for something, anything that could be used as a weapon. There wasn't really much to choose from... not without JARVIS to open the safes.

"Do you really think that just because you have an idea, it belongs to you?" Stane went on. "Your father, he helped give us the atomic bomb. Now, what kind of world would it be today if he was as selfish as you?"

"A much better one, I'm sure." I spat as I stepped forth, revealing myself.

I had a gun in hand, one of the useful things I was able to find hidden away in the little table at the entrance of the sitting room.

Stane actually stopped, half-bent over my dad, some kind of tool in hand, I didn't need to be a genius to deduce what he intended to do with it.

"Oh Arianna..." He began.

"Put that down and step away from my father." I stated in my most serious tone, gun aimed straight at his head.

"Arianna Grayson, the bastard daughter of a bitch who thought she could insinuate herself with those far above her station..." He went on, almost hissing, like a viper.

"You mean like you did with Howard Stark?" I asked in a drawl, cocking my head sideways. "You've always wanted SI, wanted all the money, power and position the Starks possessed, but it's not yours and it will never be. You do not deserve it!"

"Neither do you bitch!" Stane almost snarled.

"I care very little for such things." I shrugged.

"Then why don't you just walk away?" He asked. "Walk away now..."

"And what? You might let me live?" I let out a cold chuckle. "That's not how it works Stane. See, I don't care for money, power or anything like that. But I do care about you not getting it, I care about dad... and I also care about you paying for almost killing my dad twice, and for being the reason my mom is dead!"

He couldn't hide the surprise from his expression. It was obvious he wasn't expecting me to know that much, or perhaps it was dad he didn't expect me to care about. Considering that he was godfather and cared not at all... perhaps caring was an alien concept to him? It wouldn't change things any, not for any of us, but I did wonder.

"You're not going to shoot." He was supremely confident about that.

The gun fell from between my hands, I knew he was right, had known it all along; but then again, the gun was meant to call his attention, it wasn't the weapon I intended to use...

Stane's eyes followed the fall of the gun with a satisfied smirk, and that was his last mistake, before he could look again at me I moved forward my right hand, where I was holding a small blade (it was actually a letter opener, commissioned by Howard many years prior... it was shaped like a medieval sword, and quite sharp...). Stane had been so busy looking at the gun in my left hand, he never thought to wonder about my right one (or about just how ridiculous it was for a right handed person to be holding a gun, or any weapon at all, in her non-dominant hand...). I didn't even need to think about it, I just flicked my wrist and let the blade fly, it spun in such a way that it nicked the side of Stane's palm, beneath his thumb, before opening a shallow but long cut down his forearm.

"Bitch!" He barked at me. "I will kill you! You and your fucking father both! I swear I..."

I never got to hear what he swore, for he collapsed right then, his head bleeding.

It turned out I'd ended up being as much a distraction as the gun in my hand, the temporary paralysis had passed without Stane noticing, and then dad decided to attack him with the closest thing at hand, which ended being the very briefcase Stane had been carrying, with the intention of placing the arc-reactor inside. For that reason it was reinforced, hard enough it had probably cracked Stane's skull upon contact. As shocked as I was by it, I couldn't say I regretted the likely death of Obadiah Stane. He was a bad man, and even his death would never be able to pay for all the hurt he'd caused us all, with his attempts against my dad's life, with mom's death; but at least with him gone we'd know it was one less risk for us all, one less worry. And I would be sending everything Blue and Taser had gotten for me to the right people to make sure everyone who'd ever been in league with him would pay for their own crimes.

"Princess...?" Dad was another who liked to call me that. "Are you alright?"

I didn't allow him to say anymore, in seconds I'd rushed to him, leapt straight over the back of the couch and to his side, where I proceeded to embrace him as tightly as possible.

"Oh stars I was so afraid for you..." I began babbling, and didn't even care. "When FRI said JARVIS was down, and you were in danger... and after everything I'd just discovered Stane had done, or ordered done, I just..."

"What did you find out?" Dad asked, confused. "How did you find out?"

"I have a couple of friends, hackers." I gave him the short version. "Asked them to go as deep as possible, get me anything they could on Stane."

"Why?" Dad didn't understand.

"The way he acted when you went missing, and even before that..." I wasn't sure how to explain it, after all, at the start it had been more instinct than any actual knowledge that spurred me. "I know he's your godfather, and that you loved him but... I don't know. All along I couldn't help but feel like there's something... not right about him. For the longest time I didn't do or say anything because, well, like I said, you loved him, and I couldn't find a reason for my feelings. Even when he fought to keep SI in weapons only, that wasn't a reason to believe he was a bad person. And then Afghanistan... and he seemed to care more about having more weapons done and shipped out than about getting you back. He was all for calling off your search after the first month..."

"That's why you took the place of Acting CEO..." Dad finished, nodding mostly to himself. "I'd wondered. You never cared for such position, even insisted that it wouldn't be right since you had nothing to offer... I knew you were wrong about that but chose not to insist, it was always your choice after all..." He shook his head. "A part of me wishes you'd come to me with your fears, your suspicions, another knows that you had your reasons not to do it. We haven't been family for long, and you probably don't trust me..."

"But I do trust you!" I interrupted, unable to allow him to misunderstand something so important. "I trust you, and I love you dad. You're my dad, in every way that counts. And it's because of that, that I didn't tell you. Because if I was wrong... if I was wrong I would have been the one to hurt you, and I couldn't stand that!"

"Oh sweetheart..." He held me tightly against him. "You will always come first in my life, always." He chuckled a bit. "You know, it's crazy because, I never imagined myself having kids. Aside from thinking I'd probably be awful at it. And even when your mom and I made the plan, I never thought it would actually happen, it was supposed to be a last-resource, the thing you plan but never actually do, you know? And then she was gone... and I'm so sorry about that, my girl, that you lost her because of me..."

"It wasn't because of you." I cut him off. "It wasn't. It was Stane's fault she died, his and whoever it was he hired to shoot that bullet. Do you think I wouldn't have grieved if you'd been the one to die that day? You might not have been my dad yet then, but I cared about you, I've cared about you since the very day you took us in, and that's never gonna chance. Even if tomorrow you took the Stark name from me..."

"Never." He was the one interrupting me then. "You are a Stark now, and for as long as you wish to be one, darling."

"The rest of my life, does that work for you?" I asked in return.

He just smiled at me.

Things were still pretty crazy, of course. I had to show him the information Blue and Taser had gotten, then get it to the right people; see that those guilty of any crimes got justice. Then we would have to call Rhodey, Pepper and Happy, tell them what had happened and decide how we were going to handle things. No one outside family knew about the arc-reactor and what it did, for dad's safety of course; which meant we'd need to find another way to explain what had just happened with Stane...

xXx

In the end, it wasn't that hard. We had the proof that Stane was the one to order the hit on dad, and that he'd been behind the one that ended with mom dead. It was easy enough to spin events so the man realized that he was close to being discovered; except he'd thought it was dad investigating him, rather than me. I had been warned by one of our security programs (it so was not the time to explain about JARVIS and FRIDAY) about something being off and had rushed to the sitting-room just in time to see Stane hovering threateningly above my dad. I'd thrown the letter-opener at him and managed to cut him by some 'stroke of luck', then dad had hit him in the head when Stane threatened to kill me.

There was enough truth in the story to make the telling easy; and we still managed to keep out the things we didn't want to make known. So it all worked out.

The others of course were near crazy with worry when they found out what happened (especially because we did tell them about the danger dad had been truly in, and they knew what it meant). Pepper had been almost hysterical, though the true shock with what dad did next, it was enough to make her stop in shock... he dropped to one knee before her:

"Virginia Potts..." He called in a very dramatic fashion. "My Pepper... light of my life, my one true love. I wish nothing more than to be by your side for the rest of my life, marry me?"

I was almost sure that whole declaration was the cheesiest thing I'd heard in my whole life; I knew most of the others agreed with me, though that did not stop Pepper from saying yes.

A couple of days later was my birthday, I was finally eighteen-years old. While I stepped down from Acting CEO of SI, I knew there was no way I could ever be just part of the PR Department, like I once planned, so instead I stayed as part of the Board and quasi-Vice president. No mention was made of my age; apparently in the previous three months I'd managed to prove I was capable enough (all a Stark, as some insisted on saying it... which was absolutely ridiculous considering the truth of my origins... but I did not mention that).

Pepper and Tony married the 2nd of April, a wedding that might have turned into the event of the decade... if anyone had known it was taking place. The only thought either of them gave to the fact that they were very public figures was one interview, to Christine Everhart, and they also passed on copies of a few pictures from the ceremony so she could use them. All in all it went well. Christine repaid the favor (she got a lot of money and publicity out of that interview) by handing over to Tony a file concerning some 'under the table' deals some people in SI had done with revolutionaries and even terrorists in other countries; including the Ten Rings.

Everyone knew about Stane's attempts against us, so there was no doubt who was responsible. What no one could have ever expected was when the weapons began disappearing, and when rumors started of a red and gold robot doing it...

Pepper and I knew what was going on, of course we did, but we turned a blind eye to it, instead focusing our efforts on what weapons we could 're-appropriate' legally. A new foundation was also created, the Eileen Grayson Foundation, to help all who might have been victims of Stane's and his cohorts' illegal deals.

At one point dad asked me if I had any interest in going back to school, finishing my Nursing Degree, but I just couldn't see myself doing that anymore, I'd grown used to my job and to the somewhat-hectic life we all had. Pepper was slowly but surely taking over as CEO (that was planned), I served as a sort of bridge between her and the leaders of each branch of SI: Safety (armors, alarms, etc.), Technology, Medical and dad's new baby: Energy (he had great plans about making the arc-reactors commercial). I was also the one to see after dad when he returned from one of his 'Iron Man' missions (it was what people were calling the suit, though generally the mere existence of it was still seen as something of an urban legend...); even if I wasn't a 'real' nurse, I knew enough and dad trusted me.

I never actually got into calling Pepper mother or anything. Mama was Mama (my birth-mother, Arianna Kinross-Salani) and Mom would always be Mom (Kathryn Salani/Eileen Grayson); while Pepper was Pepper. She was a dear friend, almost like an older sister to me, and both of us were fine with that.

We had a little scuffle with some top-secret agency called SHIELD or something like that. A man called Phil Coulson was very interested in 'debriefing' dad regarding what he might have seen in the caves where they kept him, and how he'd pretty much rescued himself. Then a Nick Fury made an appearance, he had the gall to try and hack JARVIS even! Though he hadn't expected FRIDAY to be there and kick him (figuratively) back. He said something about wanting dad to be a consultant for his organization but none of us were really listening, dad pretty much threw him out (we're not too forgiving of those who might see JARVIS and FRIDAY as less simply because they don't have bodies, and he had actually tried to hack JARVIS!).

I knew it wasn't exactly normal, treating what for most people were computer programs and robots as if they were people... but it was normal for us. And it wasn't even just JARVIS and FRIDAY (and JOCASTA, while she still mostly stayed in the background, and helped my hacker friends when needed, she definitely existed); there were also dad's 'robots' which functioned with the most basic AIs (much more basic than the other three): Dum-E, U and Butterfingers. They'd been greatly distressed (and I didn't even want to think how most people would find it insane to think of robots 'feeling' anything at all, much less distressed) when dad went missing, and then when Stane tried to kill him...

I wasn't exactly surprised when FRIDAY informed me that I'd just received a new encrypted file from my hacker friends. Apparently, after Fury's attempted home invasion Fri had decided that something needed to be done, and she herself had asked Blue and Taser to hack SHIELD with help from JOCASTA and find out what was going on. We got a hell of a lot more than I ever expected, so much I knew it'd take a while to sort it all. Though when I found the personal files connected to Howard Stark I wanted to scream. Who did Nick Fury thought he was to keep personal videos and letters from my dad! From our family!

I never knew what dad did with the things, I just passed them to him, after explaining how I'd gotten them. I think the only reason he didn't bury himself in a funk at the mere mention of his father was the realization that FRIDAY had grown enough to make her own choices, and they'd all been directed to keeping our family safe.

"That's my girl..." He called out-loud, voice full of pride.

There was a wordless hum through the speakers and I couldn't help but imagine FRIDAY blushing at the praise. It was ironic because she wasn't human, none of them were, and yet there were times when they'd just say or do something so absolute human... It was wondrous.

xXx

It was a year after dad was kidnapped in Afghanistan that things got interesting again. Pepper and I (and Rhodey, more discreetly) had managed to legally recover enough SI weapons that dad didn't have to go on many of his own missions anymore. The sightings of 'Iron Man' had lessened enough that few people were talking about it anymore. Did not mean he didn't still go out, but it wasn't as often. That day in particular was important, because he'd decided to excise himself of one fear, once and for all. He'd gone back to Afghanistan. Back to the very caves where he was once kept captive. There was nothing there anymore, no Ten Rings, no weapons, but still, being there, by his own will, being able to leave whenever he chose to... it seemed to help him heal from the old trauma somehow.

Of course, the day couldn't end there. He happened to pick up on chatter of something going on nearby, in Gulmira of all places. And of course he had to help. It actually wasn't all that bad. He destroyed the cache of weapons that particular terrorist group kept, and the left the terrorists themselves, unarmed, to the 'tender mercies' of the people they'd long terrorized.

The problem was that, at some point during the little 'scuffle' a tank shot at him (A tank!). While the suit was strong enough to protect him, there had been some damage. Nothing too bad, but enough that dad needed help to get out of it, and treating some minor injuries. They were just bruises and minor cuts, but considering the fact that he was missing whole muscles and bones in his chest, it was necessary to keep an eye on any and all wounds he might have there.

I extracted the arc-reactor briefly to look it over, make sure it hadn't been damaged, and that dad wasn't bleeding inside, then put it back and began seeing to his injuries, pacified by the fact that they really were nothing to worry about. I was looking for some antiseptic to use on the only real cut, to make sure it wouldn't get infected or something, when I accidentally slapped something else off dad's table.

"Oh! I'm sorry!" I cried out, immediately reaching for it.

Once I had the object in my hand, that I saw what it was I was holding exactly... I froze. The object in question was a Stark Medical Scanner, meant to help people whose blood might be... poisoned. I'm sure I stopped breathing the moment it hit me.

"Dad?!" The word came from my mouth as I spun around automatically, toeing the edge of hysteria so fast I probably shocked everyone.

I lost myself for several seconds, possibly longer; suddenly I realized dad was holding me, even as I kept holding onto the scanner so tightly my knuckles were white.

"Hey, hey sweetheart... easy... it's alright..." He kept whispering against my hair. "Everything's just fine. I promise you. I'm alright..."

"You're dying..." I gasped.

The wordless exclamation let me know we were no longer alone; I didn't need to actually turn around to realize Pepper was there. I hadn't even noticed when she arrived.

"No, I'm not." Dad stated, completely serious, and while I didn't look up, something told me he was looking into Pepper's eyes as he said it. "I'm not. I promise you."

"But... but the scanner..." I finally pulled back, showing him what I was still holding.

"Oh, so that's why you reacted like that." He nodded. "Look..."

Ever so slowly he took the scanner from my hands, pinched his own finger and then pressed it to the signaled space. The small screen lit up, showing: "Blood Toxicity: 30%".

"Look." He insisted. "Look, I'm fine, see? Well, mostly fine, whatever."

"H... how?" I was seeing, yet I had trouble believing it.

"You, I think." Dad cocked his head to a side, thoughtfully. "At least I think it's you."

"I don't understand." I really didn't.

"Darling, this should be impossible." He signaled to the scanner. "Palladium is poisonous, I knew it from the very moment I created the first arc-reactor, back in that cave. It's why I created the scanners at all. And then I realized that the damage was much lower than it should have been. And not only that." He held me tightly by the arms as he added. "Whenever I use the suit for an extended period of time, the numbers go up and yet... if I re-check after you've seen to me, it's gone back down. You're the only one who treats me anymore, Ari, you and Pepper are the only ones who have touched me at all since I came back... aside from a few hugs from Rhodey, but that doesn't really count right now."

"But, but how?" I babbled. "I mean if I... if I can do this, shouldn't I know it?"

"Maybe you do, subconsciously at least." Pepper suggested, approaching us. "Ari, you're a very empathetic person, I've always known that. In fact, for the longest time I've wondered if there wasn't something more than human to that empathy?"

I blinked, having no idea at all what to say to that.

"You've never actually met my family, but my sister is a mutant." Pepper elaborated. "Nothing extraordinary, she can animate origami for short periods of time. Not a huge thing, but great for entertaining preschoolers, like her students. Her children are mutants as well, though only Thomas has manifested, he has the ability to bring what he draws out into the real world for short periods of time. He actually attends the Xavier Institute..." She turned towards her husband lovingly. "Tony himself recommended him."

I knew that Professor Charles Xavier, one of the (mostly unacknowledged) leaders of the mutant community was as good as dad's uncle, and that dad had been donating money in secret to the institute for many years. Even if he wasn't a mutant himself, he respected them greatly, SI was one of few companies who could be trusted to never discriminate a potential employee on race, religion, nationality, background (social, economical, political) or their genetic code. There were even lawyers specifically hired to help any SI employee who might be victim of a hate-crime under any of those areas.

"So what?" I went on, pulling myself back to the main topic. "You think I'm a mutant?"

"A gifted, the specifics are unimportant." Pepper shrugged. "Empathy, blessed healing, perhaps something else that somehow includes both?"

It came to me then, as clearly as if it were happening in that moment, it was myself and at the same time not, me in a body that did not look like my own, or at least not like the one I had in that moment, though some of the basics remained; I was wearing a beautiful lavender colored gown, kneeling beside a figure with waves of golden-blonde hair, stained crimson with blood; in fact, it wasn't just the hair, but the whole body. A part of me knew that there had been an attack and the person, the woman lying there had taken it to protect me, almost paying with her life. I cared for her, almost like a sister, I needed to do something to help her, to save her, and then it happened. Like some kind of metaphorical switch had been flipped inside me, suddenly there was an off-white/lilac-ish glow coming from my hands, and while the blood remained, the wounds beneath it ever so slowly closed.

I was pulled back to the present as dad laid a hand on my cheek:

"Ari...?" He called, worried.

"Not mutant, I don't, I don't think so..." I hesitated, having no idea how to even begin to explain what I'd just seen. "I... I just saw. It was like a memory, or a dream, or the memory of a dream...? I have no idea. I saw myself, only I looked nothing like myself, and there was someone, I think it was a friend, hurt, and I wanted so much to help her, to save her, I felt this huge need... and then I did. Her wounds healed by my will alone..."

I focused again on dad, on the cut still on his chest, the one I was going to put antiseptic on (how the whole thing had begun), instead I raised a hand and held it above the cut, less than half an inch from touching the skin, I closed my eyes and breathed out, concentrating, trying my best to bring back that energy I'd felt briefly in that memory/dream/vision/whatever...

Pepper's gasp made me open my eyes and then I saw it before me, the cut was gone, not even a scar left. And even the slight darkening of the skin around the arc-reactor had vanished, the skin looking fully healthy again (or as healthy as it could look with the reactor embedded in). In that moment I did not need the scanner, I knew instinctively that if dad were to use it again it would show less than 10% toxicity in his blood.

"Wow..." Dad was watching his own chest in awe. "That... princess that's incredible. You know, I think princess just isn't enough anymore... you're an angel..."

I couldn't help myself, I just blushed.

"So, as long as she keeps treating you, the palladium will not be dangerous to you?" Pepper wanted to clarify.

"Yes, though don't think I'm leaving this burden on you forever." Dad told me straight out. "I'm working on something. A new element that might work in place of the palladium. Got the basics from some of the stuff your gray-hats sent, from my father's stuff. I'm not sure yet how it all comes together, but I'm getting there."

I smiled. While I would have continued healing him for the rest of my life and never felt anything negative about it; I would have worried, about my gift failing one day, or it not being enough in the long run. It was good to know he was working on a more permanent solution.

I felt so absolutely happy in that moment, almost giddy... and then Pepper went and put the cherry on the cake: she was pregnant! I was going to be a big sister!

xXx

The new element came eventually, and dad took great satisfaction in changing the core of the arc-reactor. I also took the chance to heal him as much as I was able (without fusing the reactor's casing to his own body). It was exhausting, and I had no doubt that some trace of poison would forever remain in his blood, but it was much better than it could have been.

In 2011, the Stark Expo happened. It was a huge event that would last for the whole year. And it wasn't even just about SI, while of course the company had a presence, taking the opportunity to launch all the new products for the different branches, as well as present Stark Energy and the first ever arc-reactor for commercial use (its usefulness showcased in the fact that the reactor was the one powering the expo, and would stay that way the whole year).

There was some trouble, of course, but that wasn't exactly surprising. With Pepper pregnant she couldn't exactly take over as CEO as dad wanted, so he had to remain on the post, and I helped him as much as I could. A plan was made for her to take her new position once my little brother or sister was six months. Dad also decided that someone should be groomed to take over the post of PA, working first with dad, but with the understanding that they'd eventually be working for Pepper. So we began looking for such a person.

It wasn't easy, so many people were interested in the post, but not all of them for the right reasons (most of them very much not for the right reasons). Some expected an easy job, others a position that would give them power, notoriety, there were even a few bimbos who wanted to seduce dad (which made Pepper extremely angry, though not at dad, she knew he'd never betray her), and then there was the one who tried to seduce me!

"This is insane!" I spat after that particular interview was over. "I mean, it's not like I have anything against such preferences, to each their own and all that. But they do know we're looking for an assistant and not a... a... an escort, right?"

I was honestly baffled by the whole thing. Then again, I hadn't been around when Pepper had first become dad's PA, had no idea what that might have been like.

"I'm actually not surprised." Pepper admitted with a sigh. "There are a few things you need to know for this to make sense to you, Arianna. First of all, in most places a PA is little more than a glorified secretary, or even a pretty accessory. It's not how things are supposed to be, but it's how it is in many places. Even those who truly work in their position, good work, none of them have the level of authority, the power I possess. I haven't yet been made CEO, but truth is that my voice and name carry almost as much power as your dad's, it has for a while. They know he trusts me, and so they in turn trust my orders, follow them. It's why I have no trouble being made CEO, I already have the authority, and when the day comes I'll have the title too. But that's not how things are in many other places. Also... well, you and I both know the kind of reputation Tony has, even if it's mostly undeserved. He might have been many things in his youth but you... you and your mom, your introduction into his life changed him, for good. Back before you were here I could have never imagined having more than a one-night stand with Tony and now... well, you know. I love him with all I am..."

"Just as much as he loves you." I assured her.

"I know." She nodded with a small smile.

The next day we had less aspirants, and thankfully none of them tried to seduce me again. Things got really interesting though, when the last hopeful for the day arrived:

"Good afternoon Miss Rushman, please take a seat and let us begin this interview." I told her, as I was the one conducting the interviews, with Pepper watching from a side.

In the end we hired her, she really was the one most capable. That did not stop me from bringing up her files from the bunch of SHIELD things we had and showing the to the others, though.

"Why did you hire her then?" Happy wanted to know.

"Keep your friends close and your enemies closer?" Dad suggested with a light shrug.

"Something like that." I shrugged as well. "Also, she and her employers must all be aware by now that she's the best candidate..."

"I wonder if that's a coincidence..." Pepper muttered suddenly.

We all froze, none of us had considered that possibility...

"JARVIS!" Dad called, a bit more strongly than necessary. "Research the matter."

"Yes sir." The AI agreed immediately.

"At this point it changes nothing." I pointed out. "They must know she's the best candidate, if we don't take her, it'll make us look suspicious. We don't know why she's here exactly. It might have to do with dad's refusal to work for that Fury guy..."

"It might be related to the Iron Man armor." Pepper added.

"That too." I nodded. "Or might have something to do with my mom."

We all knew that Eileen Grayson was but an alias, and that mom had worked for SHIELD. We had no way of knowing if Nick Fury, or anyone else in his organization knew the alias, who it (had) belonged to, but it was something to keep in mind.

"So, we keep an eye on her?" Happy summarized.

"We keep an eye on her." Dad and I agreed.

xXx

It wasn't that hard, actually after a couple of weeks I began to wonder if Miss Rushman (or Agent Romanoff) even knew what it was she was supposed to be doing with us. She tried to seduce both dad and I (that was getting old really fast), then when that failed she did her best to become Pepper's friend (how she expected that to work after trying to seduce dad, I don't know). She used every opportunity to go to the mansion, tried to get into the private rooms, and dad's workshop, none of that worked, we didn't allow it. When I finally lost my patience was when she caught dad sparring with Happy and, pretending to want some lessons herself, went into the rink and took Happy down ridiculously easy.

I imagined she was trying to show her usefulness, or perhaps it was yet another attempt at seducing one of us. I had no idea. I was already on a short fuse, between Taser's message three weeks prior of something fishy going on where she was, right before something really freaky happened in New Mexico (and while we all had our feelers out, none of us had the slightest idea of what that had been, because we certainly did not believe the public story of a meteor and a super-strong storm). Taser had apparently been nearby for it, and claimed she couldn't say anything about it, I wondered if SHIELD was involved somehow... And it wasn't even just that, I hadn't had a good night sleep in almost a month, something had happened with my dream-companion, whoever he might be (if he was real at all...), I hadn't seen him at all for a good while, but it was more than that, because while I had gone back to not really remembering what I saw in my dreams, I remembered pain, grief, despair, standing on the edge of sanity and feeling like, regardless on what side I fell, none would be good. It was an awful feeling.

So yes, I had a short fuse, and seeing Miss Rushman humiliate Happy like that, it was more than I could stand in that moment. I didn't even realize what I was doing when I suddenly found myself standing inside the ring.

"Miss Arianna?" Happy asked, doubtful.

"It's fine Happy, I'll handle this." I assured him evenly.

I didn't have to look back to know that neither him nor Pepper liked what I was doing, dad did not say a word. Thankfully I was wearing comfortable clothes: dark jeans and a loose dark blouse with a floral print. I took off the short jacket I also wore, and the dark-leather boots, throwing them out of the ring.

"Are you sure about this, angel?" Dad asked quietly as he picked my things up.

"Completely." I answered.

"Miss Stark?" Rushman asked, a mask of confusion on her expression.

I didn't let that sway me, I could differentiate between the mask and the truth. What she'd done with Happy had been intentional, and it was not something I could let stand.

"It's alright Miss Rushman." I assured her with my most practice smile. "I'm sorry if this seems odd to you. It's just, well, you said you wanted to learn to better be able to protect yourself. As great a boxer as Happy is, we women fight differently. I'm sure you understand that."

"And you know how to fight?" She couldn't fully hide the disbelief.

"Mom taught me, before she died." I admitted, pushing down the grief and focusing just on what I needed to do right then.

It was actually fun. Natalie Rushman needed to hold back, obviously, least she reveal that she had the kind of training a secretary could never justify having. Me, on the other hand... I need not do such a thing. I knew I wasn't strong enough to take her down, but I was fast, and agile and very flexible, I used that to my advantage as I kept dancing around her. For the most part I managed to evade her own hits, while the ones of mine she received didn't seem to be too strong, not at first. Until suddenly she turned to slap me down and found herself unwillingly dropping on one knee.

"What...?" She asked, truly confused then.

"Jujitsu." I explained, getting on my feet from where I'd been crouching after slipping by her side and delivering my latest hit to the side of her knee. "It's kind of my specialty. Since I'm so small and don't have much mass, mom knew I needed to be able to do more damage with lesser hits than most people could deliver. With Jujitsu I attack nerve endings, articulations. The damage is not permanent, your physical condition is good enough I've no doubt you'll be back on your feet in but a few minutes." I smiled as innocently as I could at her. "If you wish I can even teach you some of those moves..."

I didn't tell her that the whole thing had been planned, the last hit might have taken her down, but it was the sum of all the others that was truly keeping her from standing again, they were compounding the damage. Even if she suspected what had happened she couldn't even complain about it, because she supposedly didn't know...

"If you can fight like that, why a bodyguard?" Rushman inquired, as she got comfortable on the ring's mat.

"First of all, Happy's my dad's bodyguard primarily, not mine." I pointed out. "Second, tell me Miss Rushman, if someone were to come after us, who do you think they'd focus on first, see as the biggest threat."

"The bodyguard." She finished in understanding.

"Precisely, they'd never expect people like us to be able to fight back." I really couldn't hold back the smirk anymore by that point. "And trust me Miss Rushman, I might defend myself, but my dad, he fights. I suppose it's part of being a Stark, being made of iron and all that, as grandfather used to say..."

"And Graysons?"

I didn't answer, pretended not to hear her as I left the room, boots in one hand, jacket in the other. If I was honest with myself, I had no idea what Graysons were supposed to be made of, yet that wasn't really important, Salanis on the other hand...

"Salanis are the breeze..." I murmured to myself. "I remember mom..."

xXx

Dad went to find me that night. I was sitting on my balcony, pretty much perched on the railing, rather than sitting on the beautiful swing that had been put there just for me.

"What's wrong angel?" He asked very softly.

"I think I'm going crazy dad..." I admitted in the quietest murmur.

"That's impossible." He shot down the mere thought straight away.

"Because Starks don't go crazy?" I couldn't help the sarcasm.

"Because you're much too good to go crazy angel." He replied, still calm. "I found it odd, the way you reacted to Rushman. Though I was quite angry myself, and I know Happy would have taken a much worse blow to his pride and ability to do his duty if we hadn't all known the truth about our resident little spider... that doesn't explain why you came so close to losing control."

"I'm not sleeping." I finally admitted.

"I know." He revealed in return. "FRIDAY told JARVIS, they're both worried about you, as am I. I thought of doing something but didn't want to intrude in your privacy..."

"Thank you..." I laid my head on his shoulder. "I just... I don't know what's going on dad, I really don't. My dreams... it's like something's gone crazy inside my head... or maybe it's happening somewhere else entirely and something in my head is reacting to it... I honestly have no idea. All I know for sure is that something is very, very wrong..."

And even that I had no idea how to even begin to explain...

No more words were said, there was no chance, for a moment later we both saw a green flash coming from a corner of the backyard, the corner that served as my little rose-garden...

"JARV, scan that corner!" Dad called as he straightened up abruptly.

I wasn't sure what kind of instinct took me over, but my next action was instinctive. I swung over the railing and threw myself off the balcony and onto the nearest tree, moving through the thick branches with practiced ease before dropping soundlessly to the grass on the other side.

"Arianna!" Dad was calling to me, but I wasn't hearing him, not really.

All my focus was on my rose-garden and the figure that had just appeared there: a tall man with alabaster skin, raven-black hair, dressed in clothes that were covered by so much blood and grime it was impossible to discern their original color. I didn't even notice it when I began screaming, all I knew was there was pain, and after a few seconds I no longer knew if it was his or mine. Something was so very, very wrong...

xXx

I opened my eyes and found myself surrounded by mists, exactly as I had that one time back when I was six. Though unlike then, I began noticing some other things, like the lilac sleeveless, floor-length dress with a high waist I was wearing, sandals on my feet; the woman in the not-mirror before me also looked the same as back then, and I realized something else, how much she looked like I had in that odd vision/dream/memory from the day I discovered fully my healing gift. Like the previous time, I extended my hand forward, only to stop before I could touch anything at all.

"Who are you?" I asked out-loud.

"I am you." She answered, in a voice that sounded so much like my own it was almost eerie.

"I don't understand." I told her quietly.

"I am you, the piece of your soul you know is there but haven't fully acknowledged yet. The piece that holds the feelings and memories of a life long past..."

"A life... like past lives? Reincarnation?" I shook my head. "How can that be possible when I don't believe in such things?"

"The question should be how can you not believe in something you're a part of?"

I knew the question was supposed to be rhetorical, and purposefully tricky. It didn't help.

"You're mortal." She went on. "Things like reincarnation, death, eternity... they're big things, things not many mortals are capable of comprehending. Not because they're in any way less, but because they're things they know they don't need to worry about, they're beyond them..."

"Beyond them, not beyond us."

She smiled, clearly pleased that I'd caught up that part.

"I am here." She pressed on. "A part of you, have been all along. You've gotten glimpses thus far. Some you remember, some you don't."

"The dreams." I realized. "The healing... and him..."

"Well, He is his own person of course, but yes, the connection you share comes from me."

"He's connected to you."

"To us. I told you, I am you. We might not look exactly the same, but in the end we're still mirrors of one another. We're the same person, whatever our names might be, whatever our races, we're the same soul..."

"Why now?" I knew that was important somehow, it couldn't be a coincidence that aside that I had seen her but once, when I was six, and then she was suddenly back... "It's because of Him, isn't it? He's the reason."

"Yes, he's the reason." She nodded, pleased again. "He needs us, and for that to work you need to be all you can be, all you've always been inside, and that includes me. We need to be one, or this won't work..."

There was no doubt in me as I answered: "What do I need to do?"

"You know the answer to that question."

And I did, I realized it but a moment later, there was no hesitation as I extending my hand fully, I could feel the slightest brush of fingers against mine, and then she was gone, or we both were. The mists swallowed me, and with that hundreds of feelings, memories, they were all there, and as overwhelming as it all seemed, I somehow managed to take it all in, without drowning in them.

I woke up to find myself laying in my bed. That wasn't surprising, nor was the fact that dad was sitting on an armchair at the foot of my bed. No, the real surprise was realizing I wasn't alone on my bed. There was someone beside me, his hand entwined in mine, and I didn't even need to see him to know exactly who it was:

"Loki..."