The Daughter of Iron Man

Moving Forwards

The thing about nightmares is that there's almost always a reason for them.

Our assailant was standing above me all over again, his gross teeth and crooked smile appearing even more menacing. He tossed the grenade in my direction. I didn't have time to take cover, and the heat of the explosion enveloped me, burning my skin. Several minutes after the blast, I stood up to leave. All over the ground were the bodies of my dead classmates. I started to scream, but nobody woke up. Nobody came to help. I fell to my knees and started shaking violently. Then, I woke up.

"Alice, wake up!" Steve called from my bedside, shaking my shoulders. I shot out of bed and fell onto the floor, crawling backwards and drenched in sweat. It took me several seconds to recognize that I was in my bedroom.

My heart rate gradually began to calm, and I buried my face in my hands. My pajamas were drenched in sweat and my skin was cold to the touch.

"Alice, it was just a dream." Steve said slowly. He crawled over to my side, pulling me into his arms. I buried my face in his chest shaking and sobbing.

We were there for several minutes before I finally forced myself to stand.

"It's only been a week, take it easy." Steve said, standing up. I collapsed on my head, massaging my new headache.

"Was I screaming again?" I asked, my voice feeling raspy.

Steve carefully sat next to me as he nodded his head. "It seems like these dreams are just getting worse."

"What time is it?" I asked, forcing myself to sit up. Steve glanced at his watch.

"2am."

Great.

"I uh, I think I just need to take a shower."

I left Steve on my bed and made my way to my bathroom. I took a long, steamy shower and got into some clean pajamas that weren't drenched in sweat. I took a giant drink of water straight from my bathroom sink, and washed down some melatonin. By the time I made it back to my room, I was alone again.

I carefully walked out of my bedroom and tiptoed my way towards my dad's room. I pushed the door open and found him asleep. He was alone, Pepper was back in California for the week. I shut the door behind me carefully to not wake him. A fan was running which muffled my steps. When I reached his bed, I crawled under the covers next to him. He stirred awake, and turned around to see my big eyes watching him.

"Hey sweetheart, are you okay?" He asked, half awake.

I didn't reply. I sniffled back my tears. He pulled me into a hug and kissed my forehead, and then in my dad's arms I fell asleep.

.

.

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The next morning, I woke up to the sunlight streaming in through the window. My dad was gone, and I was alone in his room. I crawled out of his bed, my bare feet carefully feeling the carpet. Part of my therapy lately has been grounding, a technique to help me stay focused on the here and now.

I made my way down to his lab and sure enough, he and Bruce were in there working. My dad glanced up and smiled at me.

"Hey sweetheart." He greeted. I walked over to him, and pulled up a chair next to him. "I think we need to talk."

I got a little nervous when Bruce took the cue and left the room.

"Okay." I replied, my voice hoarse.

He got up from his chair and walked over to his over-the-top desk with his full computer and monitor setup. I sat next to him as he began typing.

"I gained access to your schools cameras to try and see if we could get a good image of this man, and I saw something I want you to explain." He explained simply as he typed. My stomach dropped.