Checkmate {Book 3} [COMPLETED]

|01|

"The rumors are true people, the one and only Anthony Stark does have a child! The rumors were confirmed when our news anchor Todd Little recorded Scarlet leaving Stark Tower without a mask on! She goes by the fake name Theresa Woods, a junior in high school. Her real name is Theresa Paige Stark, the only child of Tony Stark, confirmed by authorities. Upon further investigation, it is confirmed that Theresa, commonly called Scarlet, has been part of the population to mysteriously disappear. More on the topic coming up at six, back to you, Lola."

The television buzzed with life in a dark room, illuminating the spinning chair in front of it. Tony Stark was leaned back in it, eyes staring aimlessly at the screen. His expression was unreadable as fluids were being pumped into his body by an IV hanging from a metal rod and hook. It was rolled beside him and idle for the past three hours, and he felt as the remaining drops flooded his veins, then only oxygen was left in the plastic bag.

His facial hair was way more grown in as his features were hollow from days without eating. The charcoal matted down hair on the top of his head was outgrown and falling to the sides of his face, which he didn't bother to fix. He hadn't moved for those three hours, only his eyes occasionally blinking and his chest falling up and down in a rhythm.

His left eyebrow hitched up at the mention of his daughter on the news. Well, now everyone knows. He watched as the newscaster explained who she was, but he his heart stopped then they showed her school picture.

Tessa stood in the top right corner, a bright smile on her face. Her ebony locks were straightened and perfectly laid by her side, her pewter eyes gazing into the camera's lenses with glee. She wore a black shirt that barely exposed her neck, and went down into sleeves.

She swarmed his hysterical mind, and he let himself wander and dive into her memory. He drowned as he watched her take her first steps in only a diaper on the fluffy carpet of his old apartment. Suddenly she was eight and smiling up happily at him, holding a trombone and bouncing, her excitement over the roof. She had just performed at her first concert, and the rush was finally hitting her.

But then she was ten, and on the floor in the corner of a dark, dripping room, curled into herself, body rattling with fear. Bars and cement walls surrounded her, engulfing her in one of her greatest fears, the dark. She was in the heart of a HYDRA base, and Tony quickly pulled the bars away, making her attention immediately turn to him, tears streaming down her rosy cheeks. "Dad?" She asked shakily, and that word she uttered would forever be engraved into his mind. The way fear dripped off her voice, yet mixed with relief. She scrambled up with a cry and collided into his Iron Man suit, holding onto it for dear life. Sobs echoed throughout the base as he got out of his suit and held his daughter, hanging onto her as if she was his lifeline. Because she was the most important thing in his life, ever.

Tessa was thirteen and in Stark Tower, standing in the center of the training room, her hair barely lower than her shoulders. She was facing a metal target, an outline of a person staring at her. "Hey, pumpkin. Everything okay?" Tony asked from the doorway, she turned around quickly, hair splaying around her. She breathed in shakily and proceeded to nod, turning back around and facing the target again. He walked over and stood next to her, hands in his pockets. He looked down at his daughter with a smile, but it slowly turned into a frown of concern. "Theresa Paige Stark, what's wrong?" She sighed and looked down at her shoes, kicking gently at nothing. "I'm afraid that I won't have control over myself, and I'll hurt someone." He walked closer to her and took his hands out of his pockets, palms landing on her shoulders. "You've been training for three years, pumpkin. I trust you with my life, I know you have control, I know that you can balance it. But hunny, I know it's hard, but I promise you I'll be with you every step of the way." "Do you pinky promise?" She asked, her eyes shining and wide. "I pinky promise."