Iron Heart [1]

Chapter 18

"Miss Potts, don't worry, we'll take care of her," Agent Coulson informed as he walked out with Ada, unconscious, in his arms.

Pepper nodded.

"Thank you," she muttered. "I don't know what'd I'd do if I lost her."

She smiled at the teen in his arms as she brushed away some hair out of her face. This was the same girl that had shown up one day all those years ago. This was the same precious girl who she had raised like her own daughter.

"Miss Stark will be transported to the nearby hospital, and then will be brought back to you. Agents will be set up to make sure she's safe," Coulson continued.

Pepper sighed and gave a curt nod as she stepped away. That's when the agent carried the teen to an ambulance.

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Ada's eyelids felt very heavy. She tried to open them, but was met with a blurry environment. She closed and opened them again to wake up in a bed in a boring white room. She looked around and noticed she was hooked up to several machines. She noticed several tubes coming in and out of her body.

And she was alone.

The door slowly creeked open. She expected a nurse, or Pepper, or Tony, or Rhodey, or even Agent Coulson or Jackson, but this was none of them. A man walked in with a syringe and slowly injected it into her arm with a wicked smirk.

She screamed at the top of her lungs in pain. He covered her mouth with his hand. She started to struggle to get away, but suddenly felt very weak from the pain inflicted on her. Whatever liquid was in there she could feel coursing through her veins, and eventually caused her to pass out.

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Jackson kept on shooting a basketball into the hoop. He couldn't get his mind off of her. He was done with surfing, it reminded him too much of her. He was taking a break from acting, as his trailer smelled of her from how many times she had been there. His favorite hoodie smelled of her. Basketball was the only thing that eased his mind at all. He had picked up from High School Musical and 17 Again.

He couldn't stand that she was gone. He couldn't believe it. He sighed as he shot another basket. He sat down with his head in his hands. The ball carelessly rolled away as he continued to mope. Jackson felt tears start to flow from his eyes, and he let them.

He heard a door open. He didn't bother to look up, though. He felt a hand on his back.

"Jackson."

He finally looked up to see his sister, Valerie.

"I know it hurts really bad, but you need to take care of yourself."

"Valerie, everywhere I go I see her. I can barely do anything without thinking of her."

Valerie sighed.

"I got you this movie deal for New Year's Eve. You should really try to get back into it."

Jackson nodded, blinking away tears.

"O-okay. I'll try."

"Thank you," Valerie stated. "I'm going to quote one of your movies now. I think it's like, 'I know right now everything seems like the end of the world, but it's not. It's only the beginning.'"

Jackson chuckled.

"17 Again?"

"Yep, now try to do something productive that makes you happy."

"Alright," Jackson stood.

Valerie started to make her way towards the door.

"Hey, Val."

She turned to look at him.

"Thanks," he slightly smiled.

"Your welcome."

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Rhodey had no clue the absence of the youngest Stark could impact him so much. Everything seemed duller, especially the Stark Mansion. There was no Ada to pop up anywhere. It was as if she brought a vibrant life to those around her, including himself.

He pulled out a small picture from his pocket. He smiled down at it fondly, remembering the day it was taken.

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It had been a year after Ada showed up. Tony had left her in Rhodey's care for the day. Rhodey didn't mind the little girl at all, and, honestly, thought she was adorable. Ada pulled on Rhodey's hand as she excitedly ran towards Disneyland.

"Come on, Uncle Rhodey!" she giggled.

He chuckled as he let the child pull him around Disneyland for the whole day. She dragged him into whatever ride she wanted to and stopped whenever she wanted to stop. Rhodey didn't mind this though.

Eventually, they ended up getting a picture taken with Ada on his shoulders as he carried her around.

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That was a long time ago, but only seemed like moments to him. Oh, how he would miss the teen.

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Tony held his head in his hands. He had lost his only daughter. She was missing. And the worst part about it? He blamed himself for the whole thing.

Pepper had noticed the drastic change.

Tony would lay around the house all the time, or be down in the lab, working until he could no longer keep his eyes open.

Pepper walked down the stairs into the lab to find him with his head in his hands.

"Tony?" she spoke carefully.

He looked up at her with a sigh. His eyes were bloodshot and his facial hair clearly hadn't been maintained. His hair was a mess and his shirt was obviously dirty.

"Tony, you can't keep going like this," Pepper advised.

"How can I keep going?" Tony questioned. "I lost my only family I had left. It's my fault she's gone."

"Tony Stark," Pepper scolded. "It is not your fault. Security was breached, and whoever took her got in. It was in no way your fault."

"Pepper, I'm her dad. I should've been there to protect her. Just let me deal with this on my own, okay?" Tony pleaded.

Pepper nodded and walked away.

Tony quickly grabbed his glass of scotch and drank it. He looked over to his lab table to see the only reminder down there of her.

Her headset...

It had been broken during the battle, but Tony refused to throw it away. He took the device in his hands and turned it over. He weakly smiled at it as he thought of his only daughter.

The girl who had softened Tony's iron heart was gone.