❝Just because you hate everybody doesn't mean everybody hates you. You have people that still need you around, and I'm not afraid to admit I'm one of them.❞
. . .in which she must find a way to navigate through a changed world and a changed heart.
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☼ ☼ ☼
"So, who exactly is this Happy we're meeting here?" Aurora asked Andi. She pulled the car to a stop in an isolated field Andi had directed her to. She hadn't told Aurora much of what was happening, but Aurora knew she hadn't been up for much conversation. She respected that and gave Andi her space, but after driving an hour to a random field in the middle of nowhere, she felt it was time for answers.
Andi took her seatbelt off and opened the car door. "He's a family friend," she answered.
Andi grabbed her mask and got out of the car. Aurora switched the vehicle off and got out as well, following Andi further into the field. She was becoming frustrated with the lack of information she was receiving, but she was trying to remain patient, as she knew Andi was currently dealing with a lot.
"Andi, I know you're dealing with a lot right now, but I could really use more than your vague answers," Aurora called out to her. "Don't forget I have no memory of our family, so telling me he's a family friend does nothing for me."
Andi stopped and turned around to look at Aurora. Her brown eyes were still filled with so much anguish, and Aurora was sure the frown on her face was bound to become permanent. Coupled with the contusions and fresh lacerations, Andi did not look good. "Okay, so Happy is Stark Industries's head of security. He was Tony's best friend."
"So, is Tony a family friend too?" Aurora asked. "Is that how you know him?"
"Yes and no." Andi looked to the sky as the sound of a jet overhead grew closer and closer. "Tony is actually my uncle—or our uncle. He married our Aunt Pepper during the Blip, but it'd been a long time coming. They'd been in love with each other since, like, 2008."
"Tony Stark is our uncle?" Aurora was absolutely gobsmacked. Everything she knew about Tony she'd read on the internet or in newspapers or she'd watched it on the news. He was a wealthy philanthropist with an entire technological empire in his name. She'd read he was arrogant and often selfish, but she had a hard time believing that given his sacrifice for the planet, as well as the way Andi acted now that they spoke of him. He meant a lot to her, and it was crystal clear.
Andi shied away from the wind as the jet landed several yards away from them, as did Aurora, but that didn't stop them from continuing their conversation. "Yes, he is...or he was," she answered Aurora. "He practically raised me after our parents died. He was the closest thing I had to a father in years. Then I lost him too."
Aurora frowned, but didn't respond. She didn't want to push the conversation further than she knew Andi wanted to take it. Andi's words were telling, however. Aurora still wasn't sure of all the details, but she was working on putting together the missing pieces of the life she missed out on. One thing Aurora was sure of was that Andi's trauma was deeper than what she'd just been through with Beck. It was deeper than the loss of her parents or Peter or Tony. She'd spent so many years with her abilities, using them to protect the world around her, but when it came down to those she loved, she was unable to protect them. She was forced to watch them die, and she blamed herself for it, though Aurora knew it was not her fault. It never had been. The weight of the entire world was on Andi's shoulders, and she was struggling to carry it.
