Iron Man's Secret

I woke up feeling extremely warm and comfortable.

“I don’t know. She handed me the folder, said your name, and then passed out. She looks like she’s been through hell and back.”

“I don’t understand this.” I heard another voice. “I’d love to have JARVIS do a blood test but she’d need to be awake.”

“Poor thing. She looks famished.”

“JARVIS, tell me about New Life Testing Center.”

“New Life Testing Center, a testing center for cures for diseases ran by Dr. Andrew M. Harmond. In reality, they test new drugs on people of all ages to see how their bodies react.” A computerized British voice said.

“Testing center…..Pepper you don’t think-“

“Tony come look at this.” I felt someone lift my arm.

Calloused fingers ran over the several small puncture marks that I knew would fade over the next couple days.

“What are we going to do with her?”

“Well, if she really is your daughter, you’ll have to keep her here.”

“But what if she isn’t?”

“If she isn’t, we can’t just send her out on her own. You see the state she came in, do you really want to send her back out like that?”

There was a heavy sigh and I figured it was best to make myself known.

I shifted slightly and regretted it immediately, seeing as my whole body felt like I had fallen down a 400 step flight of stairs.

“She looks just like you, Tony.” The woman said.

I opened my eyes and saw two blurry figures looking at me. I blinked a few times to try and get them into focus. I recognized the blonde woman who had answered the door. Next to her was the face I had seen on the front page of the newspaper, which looked shockingly like my own. His brown eyes, the same shade as mine searched my face, a cold calculating look in them. I shied away from his look and focused on the blonde woman. She had a look of kindness in her eyes which calmed me.

“Where am I?”

The last thing I could remember was getting in the taxi in Malibu. Everything else was just gone.

“You’re in Tony Stark’s home in Malibu, California.” The blonde woman said. So I had come to the right place.

“What made you come here?” Tony asked, leaning his elbows on his knees.

“Folder.” I suddenly felt like I just wanted to sleep for hours.

I closed my eyes and listened as Tony walked away and came back two seconds later. I could hear him rustling through papers.

“Can you walk?” Tony asked me.

“I-I don’t know.” I opened my eyes and sat up. I felt lightheaded and closed my eyes for a second until the feeling passed.

Tony stood up and I followed suit, swaying slightly, but caught myself quickly. The blonde woman stood behind me.

Tony began walking out of the room, and I followed him closely. He walked down a flight of stairs to a glass door. He keyed in a code, making me feel like I was back in the prison again. The door unlocked and Tony pushed it open, causing the lights to turn on, revealing a lineup of cars, and a bunch of machines.

“JARVIS, I’m going to need to do a blood test.”

“Right away, Mr. Stark.” The mechanical British voice said.

Some of the computer screens came to life, and Tony opened a drawer, pulling out two small needles.

“Charley.” Tony motioned me over from where I stood.

He took my left hand in one of his, which comforted me. He took one of the needles and pricked my finger.

I barely felt anything, even when he squeezed my finger slightly to get a drop of blood on the table. I watched in awe as the blood sunk into the table. Tony did the same thing to himself.

“What happens if I’m not really your daughter?” I asked hesitantly while he did something with one of the screens.

“I’ll have to kill you.” I gulped.

“Good to know.” There were a couple tense minutes of silence.

“Well, it looks like you won’t have to worry about that, Miss. Stark.”

It took me a couple seconds to register what he said. He continued messing with the screens. “Pepper, could you take Charley up to one of the guest rooms please.” The kind blonde haired woman gently took my hand and led me up the stairs.

We went through a maze of hallways before coming to a stop in front of a door.

“Here is your room for now.” She opened the door and went into the room.

I had never seen such a large bedroom in my life. There was a large bed in the center of the room and the whole back wall was made of windows looking out on the ocean. There were two doors.

“This one is your bathroom.” Pepper said, pointing to the door closest to the windows. “And this is your closet. I’ll have to take you out shopping and get you some clothes tomorrow. For now I’ll find something.”

She left the room after that. I hesitantly walked forward and sat on the bed. It felt like sitting on a cloud compared to the lumpy one I had lived on for 16 years. Pepper came back with a shirt and shorts in her hand.

“This should work for now. If you need anything just come and find me or alert JARVIS and either Tony or myself will come and help you.” She set the clothes on the bed next to me and smiled at me before leaving the room.

I stood up and looked at the clothes. There was a brown t-shirt that said ‘Black Sabbath’ on it and a pair of boxers. I knew immediately they had to be Tony’s. I took them to the bathroom.

The bathroom was larger than the cell I had stayed in. There was a large mirror over a counter with a sink next to the door and a large shower in the far corner, and a bathtub across from that. I stripped out of the Malibu shirt and scrubs and pulled on the t-shirt and boxers. I threw away my old clothes and went back to the bed.

I lay on the bed; my head hitting the pillows, making me feel like I was in heaven. Before I knew it, I was asleep.