little piece of heaven (tony stark's daughter)

9

rosie's p.o.v

cameras flash in front of my face, questions competing with each other to be heard as they're screamed at me. my dad has a protective arm pulling me close to him as we walk towards the doors of the large building. we're both wearing tinted sunglasses though it's late and the sun has long ago gone down. pepper and rhodey walk behind us, both about as clued in about what this is for as me. i assume that it's just to confirm to everyone that the both of us are alive and well, but there's never any telling with my dad.

"you okay?" he asks once we make it inside, protected from the obnoxiously loud people outside who seem to think they're entitled to answers from me and daddy. i nod as he takes my hand in his "great, let's get this over and done with shall we? then we'll go home and order pizza".

the grin from that last sentence is quickly erased from my mouth when an all too familiar face emerges from the room up ahead.

"tony!" obadiah's smile is wide and sickening, his tall frame dominating the doorway and intimidating me. i freeze as we make eye contact and an image flashes in my head, one of him at a meeting. i can hear his booming voice claim that my daddy isn't of sound mind, that he can't make any decisions with his own company. anger rises in my throat, but i have to keep quiet. don't enter any battle until you're certain you'll win, one of the tips loki gave me. come on rosie, keep it together.

"hey obie, good to see you" daddy grins back, clearly happy to see one of his closest friends, a feeling which i can't seem to muster.

my blood boils as he smirks in my direction "rosalie! how's my sleeping beauty?". dad tugs on my hand, panic showing on his face a little as he realises that i'm not reacting to obadiah the way i should. i force a fake smile onto my face, one which the broad man can certainly see through, but he won't know what i know.

"i'm peachy" i respond lightly, putting up an innocent front. i can almost hear my dad breathe a sigh of relief.

"good.. good" obadiah walks forwards and swings an arm around dad's shoulders "let's get this thing started, there's lots of people waiting for the both of you to give lots of answers".

i roll my eyes, following my dad into the press conference. i trail behind a few steps, reluctant to face waves of people once again. i'd forgotten what this was like, press isn't really a thing in asgard.. . once through the doors, dad looks back for me, realising that i'm not keeping up he waits and holds out his hand for me to hold. "you're fine rose, i've got you".

he does indeed, got me, but that doesn't make me feel much better. my feet have to work overtime to keep up with his strides towards a podium at the front of the room. on our way up to the small stage i see rhodey and pepper already in the crowd at the back, the latter giving me an encouraging smile. i return a small wave to the pair and attempt a smile, i'm pretty sure i still look terrified. my dad squeezes my hand and gives me a reassuring nod as we step up onto the stage.

in the split second between us stepping onto the stage and the press conference beginning, i allow my eyes to scan the group. i see a lot of people that don't interest me, then there's pepper, rhodey, and then there's someone i don't recognise, but am intrigued by immediately. there's no obvious reason why, he seems pretty normal. he has short brown hair, blue eyes, he's wearing a suit with a black tie. it isn't until i allow the stinging to settle in my stomach that i understand.

i see s.h.i.e.l.d written on a business card, the word avengers, and.. a pirate?

his name is phil, phil coulson, and i immediately like him. i can see myself growing attached to him.

then my attention is drawn back to the audience and my legs start to shake, daddy must have realised because he looks out to all the people watching and clears his throat "hey, would it be alright if everyone sat down? will you sit down? that way you can see me, and i can...a little less formal..." he sits down with his back against the podium and i beckons for me to sit next to him. i comply, avoiding eye contact with obadiah who has drawn closer.

all i can feel right now, is rage tinted with a little bit of fear. i can see parts of what is going to happen, but i don't understand it or know how to stop it. my dad obviously doesn't believe me and there's not much i can do there. i'm just so mad, he's one of my dad's closest friends, his business partner, he was even a strong male figure for me. dad trusts him, i trusted him. i can't believe i trusted him.

"i never got to say goodbye to dad".

the mumbled words shock me out of my internal fit of rage and i turn, shocked, to my dad. he doesn't meet my eyes, just carries on but louder, addressing everyone.

"i never got to say goodbye to my father. there's questions that i would've asked him. i would've asked him how he felt about what his company did... ...if he was conflicted, if he ever had doubts. or maybe he was every inch of a man we all remember from the newsreels." he pauses and gulps.

"i didn't get to say goodbye to the mother of my child".

i instinctively shuffle closer to him, taking his hand in mine. he smiles sadly at me, stroking my hand with his thumb.

"the day rosie was born was simultaneously the best and worst of my life. i both lost and received the most important girl in the world. and as if that wasn't enough, i almost lost my daughter without a chance to say goodbye to her either".

an uneasy silence settles upon everyone. dad hasn't even told me about his experience in afghanistan yet, i only know what i watched myself and it was too painful to watch for too long. venus told me that i had to leave it to him too, that i can't do much to help yet but he'd be okay on his own. and he was, mostly.

"i saw young americans killed... ...by the very weapons i created to defend them and protect them.and I saw that I had become part of a system that is comfortable with zero-accountability."

"what happened over there?" a reporter asks from a cluster of the same.

then everything happened at once. dad stood up to answer the question.

"i had my eyes opened. i came to realise that i have more to offer this world than just making things that blow up. and that is why, effective immediately, i'm shutting down the weapons manufacturing division of stark international......until such a time, as i can decide what the future of this company will be, what direction it should take, the one i'm comfortable with, and is consistent with the highest good of this country and the world."

everybody erupted into angry and confused shouts, obadiah clearly panicked and tried to fix the situation. i would've usually taken great pleasure in this, but the sudden shouting took me off guard. i suddenly feel really small and vulnerable and promptly burst into tears. it's certainly not my finest moment. my chest tightens as the sting enters my stomach again and images flash through my head. whatever just happened has set off a chain of events that i really don't like the feeling of.

it takes my dad a minute to realise i'm even having an emotional break down as he listens but doesn't respond to questions thrown at him, then he sees pepper pushing through the crowd. she's saying my name as she makes her way towards us. he looks down at me in surprise and his face falls.

"oh rosie come here, you're okay i've got you, you're okay" he reaches down and scoops me off of the floor, pulling me close to his chest "it's okay rosie it's okay" he repeats over and over as if it's a mantra, carrying me out of the room. we enter a room with a couch against the wall without anyone else around and he places me down on it, squatting in front of me. "breathe, rosalie, in and out, look at me". he places his fingers under my quivering chin and pushes my face up to look him in the eyes "i need you to breathe for me".

i gulp as i attempt to gather myself. there are so many options right now and i'm not sure which path i should take. this has confirmed to me that the future can be changed, every action we take, every word we speak has an effect. so.. wouldn't it be simpler if i just.. didn't say anything?