Back in Ariana's room, Steve barely registered the fact that Bucky had bolted out of the room, EpiPen in hand. His gaze is solely focused on the top shelf. Snapping out of his state of shock, a shaking hand is brought up to retrieve the three items sitting there. Looking at the small notepad first, his eyes begin to water as a sickening feeling takes over his gut.
He eyes the metal blade with a clear distaste for what the object has done to his niece. What he can't even begin to fathom is the reason she did this to herself.
Walking to the infirmary to catch up with the rest of the team, he clutches the book in his hands. Pages are marked with hundreds of little tallies that Steve can only assume mean one thing.
He surely wasn't expecting to see Wanda crying on a chair when he walked in. Though everyone tells her she isn't at fault, she can't help but feel as if it is. Steve catches Bucky's attention when he runs in. Taking the team's focus off of Wanda, Bucky threateningly asks, "what the hell is that?"
Everyone follows Bucky's gaze to Steve, and their eyes all grow in horror as they see the metal in his hand. Natasha carefully slides up the sleeves of Ariana's sweatshirt to reveal her skin, marred with cuts. Tony plops down in a chair and runs a hand over his face and through his hair, tugging on the ends as his heart beats erratically. In contrast to the silent room, the sound the notepad makes on the table that Tony is sitting by makes it seem loud. Spinning the pad to face him he's met with small, yet neat, handwriting:
Owner #28 Mister Tony Stark
A grand total of 98 tallies are marked on the page. Furrowing his brows, he flips to the beginning of the book.
I am starting this journal to keep track of every mistake I
make so I can be held accountable for my actions.
Mr. Burchester suggested it for me and got me both the
notebook and blade for me. I'll begin by putting three tallies:
two for making him buy these, and one for being a burden
Every once and awhile I will come back to follow
through with my punishment.
Ariana (12) ♡
Flipping back to his page, Tony counts the marks again just to be sure he had it right. What were all of these tallies from? He can't remember Ariana making anywhere near the number of mistakes she reported to her notepad. In fact, he can't even think of one mistake she has made.
Looking over at her unconscious body, he can't help but feel guilty. He should have known. He's angry with himself for not noticing; for accepting her lie of "oh, I'm always a bit chilly" or other excuses. Cringing, he remembers the very few times he gently grabbed her arm and she would close her eyes tight, grimacing in—what he, now, knows to be—pain. How stupid could he have been? Her not wanting to go to the beach? That's why. Her never wearing anything that showed her arms? That's why.
Flipping through the pages in between the first page and his, he notes that she kept a record of all the bastards that abandoned her. Tony is fucking furious.
Natasha suggests he call Pepper, being as Ariana is very important to her as well.
"Hello?" Pepper answers her phone, confused about why Tony is calling her in the middle of an event.
"You should come to the tower as soon as you can," Tony calmly says, not wanting to worry his beautiful wife.
"Hun, I'm at a formal event; remember? I can't just leave," she sighs. "I'll get home around midnight, okay? We can talk then."
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Parasite *•.¸♡ 𝙏𝙤𝙣𝙮 𝙎𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙠'𝙨 𝘿𝙖𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙚𝙧 ♡¸.•*
FanfictionAriana has seen her fair share of homes, of families. Born in London, Ariana has travelled around the world searching for a family to care for her and not die. She views herself to be a curse, a parasite. It doesn't help that she had some of these d...
