North (A Robert Downey Jr Fanfic)

"Change"

"What's that?" Penny asked, looking over Vanessa's shoulder.
"We have to go. Now."
"What's wrong?"
"Just hurry up, Pen. There's no time to explain."
"You're scaring me, what's wrong?!" Penny shrieked.

Vanessa scrambled to pick up all of their things, terror consuming every movement. Even with her arms full, she grabbed her daughter's arm and dragged her off of the beach. Their driver was in the SUV and their security was standing just outside of it.
"Who put this on top of my things?" She asked, thrusting the envelope at him.
"Ma'am I didn't see anyone put this on your bags," he said coolly, examining the envelope.
"Well somebody did and there's not many people that know me by the name Annie," Vanessa hissed.
"Mom, they wrote Annie on it? What does that mean?"
"Penny. I don't have time for this. Get in the car, now," Vanessa demanded, opening the back door of the vehicle. Her heart was racing and she could barely think straight.
"Ma'am, get in and we'll take you back home."
"No, you'll drive around until I figure out what to do. I don't know if someone's following us. I need to call Robert. He'll have a plan," she said, climbing into the vehicle.

I knew I shouldn't have come back.
This is a huge mistake.
Nice job, Annie. You've screwed it all up.

"MOM! Tell me what's going on."
"Penny, I don't want to scare you...but there's a reason we changed our names and moved away. I told you we left so that we could be safe from the people that took your father from us. Now we're back and I don't know how, but someone's seen me and recognized me."
Penny's eyes grew wide as saucers when the reality of what Vanessa said sunk in. She began fretfully looking around for anything remotely threatening. Vanessa took out her phone and dialed Robert.

"Hey beaut--"
"Robert! They found us. Someone found us."
"What? What are you saying?"
"I'm saying that Pen and I were at the beach and while we were in the water, someone dropped an envelope on our things that said, Dear Annie,Welcome back to California. We've been waiting for you."
"Well where the fuck was the guard I hired to watch over you?"
"He didn't see anything. Robert, anyone could have walked past and dropped an envelope and gone unnoticed, the beach was packed," Vanessa said and noticed that her daughter was trembling beside her so she reached over and grabbed her hand.
"Come to Rick's office. I just got here."
"But what if someone is following us?"
"There's underground parking and your driver has a pass. You can't get in without one."
"Okay. We'll see you soon," Vanessa said, ending the call.

They rode in silence for half of the drive downtown before Penny spoke up.
"Mom, I'm scared."
I'm scared too, she thought but didn't say it aloud.
"It's going to be ok, Pen. I promise," she lied. Every fiber of her being was filled with dread. She most certainly didn't know if it was going to be ok. She squeezed her daughter's hand as she trained her eyes out the window, trying desperately to think of a way out of another mess.

"Vanessa and Penny Day for Rogers and Cowan. Mister Downey is expecting them," the driver flashed a badge to the security guard and he opened the doors for them. Vanessa whipped around to make sure nobody was behind them but the garage door quickly shut.
"Miss Day, you can relax. You're in a safe place now," their guard said.
"Don't you tell me to relax," she spit back at him as the driver put the car in park. Robert was waiting outside of the elevator and came to the vehicle's front passenger window. He looked at the guard over the top of his glasses and lowered his voice.
"I don't appreciate the fact that you weren't watching close enough to notice someone gaining access to Vanessa's personal belongings."
"Sir, with all due respect the beach was packed...people walking all around...it could have been anyone," he floundered, looking for a way to stay on Robert's good graces.
"I don't give a shit--" he hissed.
"Robert. Just drop it. He's right...there were tons of people at the beach. Thousands. He couldn't have seen," Vanessa said quietly, calmly. Robert stepped back from the guard's window, nodded and opened Vanessa's door to let them out. She fell into his arms and he pulled Penny close too, then waved the driver away.