Parasite *•.¸♡ 𝙏𝙤𝙣𝙮 𝙎𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙠'𝙨 𝘿𝙖𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙚𝙧 ♡¸.•*

Two Steps Back

They both take a seat as Tony minimizes the screens and welcomes them. After a bit of small talk, he asks if Ariana's ready to answer some of his questions.

"Sure," she replies, picking at her nails. What choice does she have? She'd rather not ever talk to anyone about the things she's been through. There are so many things that she believes that she should be ashamed of.

"Okay," he starts, grabbing the notes that he took. "So, there are a lot of missing pieces in here."

She watches him bring up a timeline that he created of her life. Seeing the names listed brings a sharp piercing pain to her heart. "What happened here? And here?" Tony questions, pointing at some spots that are blank. "There are times in your life when you just disappeared off the face of the earth." She grimaces, knowing exactly why they aren't documented. "Tell us what was going on then."

"I–I can't..." Ariana breathes.

"Why not?"

"Because..."

"Sweetheart, you need to tell us why you weren't accounted for during these time periods," Pepper's soothing voice sounds.

"Because not–" Ariana sniffs– "not everyone adopted or fostered me."

"What do you mean?"

"They... they never legally gained ownership of me."

Tony frowns, "why not?" Ariana curls herself up, trying to make herself small. She can't tell them. She can't do it. "Ariana, you need to talk to us. Where were you?"

She can barely give them her answer before she breaks out into sobs. Tony turns to Pepper to make sure that she didn't hear what their daughter said either. Through the sobs, they can hear her profusely apologising. They had absolutely no clue why, though. Tony can't help but fear the worst: had she been kidnapped by Hydra?

"Ari, can you calm down for us? We didn't hear you, What did you say?" Pepper tries to calm her.

"I–" she chokes back another sob– "I was ...sold." Tony's face twists in confusion. Sold? Like a slave? "I'm sorry... I know I'm horrible and disgusting–"

It's worse, it's so much worse, Tony thinks. He didn't think it possible that there was something worse than being kidnapped by Hydra; his point was plainly deduced to dust. "I'm going to need more context."

She cringes at his angered tone. That will only make things worse! Then he will think I'm even more of a dirty little whore...

"I can't"

Tony sends her a sympathetic look, "it's okay if you don't remember everything, just the important stuff that affected you."

"I can't," she repeats.

"Why not?"

"I can't–I don't think I'll be able to talk about that kind of stuff"

Tony's eyes grow in realisation. How could he have been so dumb? Of course, that kind of stuff is hard for her to talk about. Hell, he doesn't even talk about the shit he's gone through. "You can just write it all down. Preferably in the correct order so I can understand better, but I know there are probably some blanks."

"Please," she begs, her eyes shut as tears pour down her face. "I like being here so much. It's so nice. I'm sorry, sir. I don't want to leave"

"...Who said anything about you leaving?" Tony asks, ignoring the fact that she called him sir. It was like a punch to the gut from... hell, probably the Hulk. And his heart, he has never felt it shatter quite like it has been these past few weeks.

It's hard to believe that just yesterday he had successfully called her his daughter; now, she's calling him sir. That's not where he expected things to go. Sure, he never really fathomed the idea that she'd call him her dad–though he was very hopeful–but he at least thought she'd start feeling more comfortable around him to call him Tony.

She looks up, confused. She sends Pepper a terrified glance. Ariana doesn't want to get in the middle of another relationship. "Please, I don't wanna cause any trouble, sir," she pleads, lowering her head so it's hiding behind her legs so she's in the fetal position.

Sir, Tony decides, is worse than his daughter calling him Mr. Stark.

Can he even still call her that anymore? She obviously doesn't trust him. She is terrified of him. He hasn't done enough. He isn't enough. He doesn't deserve to call her his daughter. He never did. If only he would have stepped up right away. If only he'd been better.

Now, the bitter taste of Pepper's words has finally reached its full capacity. He's just like his father. He had become the very thing he was trying to not be. He had pushed her away to the point that she doesn't trust him. He doesn't deserve her. He screwed up.