Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel; only Rebecca and the world surrounding her.
Tiny Dancer - Caroline Glaser
Welcome to Lithe from the To Build A Home Series!
Thanks to everyone that reviewed, favorited, and subscribed to this story so far!
I've fallen deep in love with this story again, and I hope you guys do too!
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Tiny Dancer
Ballerina, you must have seen her dancing in the sand
And now she's in me, always with me, tiny dancer in my hand
Hold me closer tiny dancer
Count the headlights on the highway
Lay me down in sheets of linen
You had a busy day today
"Are you nervous?"
Becca looked over to her right, where Pepper stood a bit taller than her in her black heels. "I think I'm going to puke." The redhead humored her lightly with a shake of the head. She may have tried to seem calm, cool, and collected, but Becca could see right through it.
As soon as Becca got the call about her father she actually took up the Stark personal jet and headed straight to California. And now a day later here they stood on the track of the US Air Force hanger. Patiently waiting for the plane to land. There were personnel and authorities stationed every way she looked; either doing their job or taking special precautions. Happy stood a few feet behind herself and Pepper, next to the company car. And it made Becca feel a tad bit more under control seeing him with a soft smile on his face.
She could hear the intercom from the few security teams next to her say 'preparing for landing' and that was when she nearly broke out of her skin. Becca looked up in her horizon to see the gray airline gliding towards them. The few minutes it took for them to land and proceed to backup into the spot was nothing compared to the hellish wait it was for any sort of movement coming from inside of the plane.
All the noise fell around as the back finally started to drop and Becca's eyes focused in on the man sitting at the base. Rhodey carefully helped Tony stand from the wheel chair, letting the injured man grab onto his arm to help him walk down the gate. Tony looked for the most part alright, dressed in his suit with just a sling keeping his right arm in place. And that's when Becca nearly drowned in her own tears again.
Once the family's eyes met, she took off towards him, carefully launching herself in her father's arms. She couldn't help the sobs that racked her body, her face pressed against his neck. Tony wrapped his good arm around her the best he could, holding his baby girl as close to him as possible. He never thought he would be able to hold her, see her, just be able to love her again.
"I love you, baby girl. I love you so much." Tony's voice whispered deep in her ear. Trying to keep this moment as private as possible between the two.
"I love you too, daddy." This twenty-year-old girl turned back into a first grader again, so happy at seeing him again after the first day of school. Becca felt something hard poking at her collarbone from the middle of his chest, but wasn't fazed at that moment.
He rested his hand in her hair, pulling her head closer so he could hush her with a kiss against Becca's temple. She pulled away, remembering they weren't alone in their own home. Becca rubbed harshly at her eyes, trying to rid away the tears that were built up behind her eyes. Tony pulled her under his arm, pressing another kiss to her forehead, as they started walking.
"Oh, are you kidding me with this?" Tony raised an eyebrow at the medics how had wheeled over a stretcher. "Get rid of it." Rhodey motioned for the two medics to push the cart away, letting his friend make the call. They continued walking until the two Starks stood in front of Pepper. "Your eyes are red. Few tears for your long, lost boss?"
"Tears of joy." Pepper remarked back with a soft smile. "I hate job hunting."
"Yeah, vacations over." And just like that, the Tony Stark they all knew, and loved, was back. He moved around his assistant with Becca still tucked under his arm. "Happy, hope you've kept all the cars running smoothly."
"Always the best for you, sir." Happy nodded, trying to keep the overwhelming smile they were all feeling concealed from his face.
"Alright, let's go." Tony and Becca hopped in the back of the car, while Pepper sat in the passenger seat next to Happy.
"Where to, sir?" Happy asked.
"Take us to the Hospital please, Happy." Pepper spoke up for him.
"No." Tony rejected that answer.
"No?" Both girl's in the car spoke up, looking at him as if he was crazy.
"No is a complete answer."
Pepper turned herself full around in her seat to look at him. "Tony, you have to go to the hospital. The doctor has to look at you."
"I don't have to do anything." Becca and Happy looked at each other through the rearview mirror as the two bickered as usual. "I've been in captivity for three months. There are three things I want to do. I want an America cheeseburger, I want to be with my daughter, and the other..."
"That's enough of that." Pepper sighed, automatically thinking of his sexual exploits.
"...is not what you think. I want you to call for a press conference, now."
"Call for a press conference?"
"Yeah."
"What on earth for?"
Tony ignored her further questions. "Hogan, drive. Cheeseburger first." Once they took off, he smiled at Becca, so happy to see her. She grinned happily back, carefully moving over in her seat so she could lean back under his arm. This was the Tony Stark no one outside of their little family got to see. And that family included Pepper, Rhodey and Happy. "I missed your recital."
"It's okay. It's no big deal." She sighed, feeling the warmth radiating off of him.
"It's a huge deal. I should have been there." Tony rubbed her arm. "Did you at least record it?"
Becca nodded her head. "I also thought I give you a live performance."
"Sounds perfect."
The car stopped through the Burger King drive-thru, quickly ordering Tony's burgers and Becca's splurge of a large French fry. Hey, it was summer, she aced all her classes, she deserved a bit of a reward. As they drove into Stark Industries, the first thing they took notice of was dozens of employees stationed around the front parking circle, all clapping in celebration of their boss' return.
Obi was the head of the welcoming party, arms spread wide with a giant smile placed over his face. "Look at this!" His voice boomed over the cheers, stalking over to open Tony's door for him, grabbing him into a hug automatically. "We were going to meet at the hospital."
"No, I'm fine." Tony brushed his injuries off.
Becca walked around the car with Happy who held her father's extra burger. She had polished off her grease filled fries easily. The group effortlessly walked through the masses, Becca and Pepper staying a few steps back. As they found their way back through the building, media and press were already set up in a large group in the lobby.
"Becca." Tony stopped, looking back at his daughter with a hand stretched out to her.
"What?" Her eyes widened in confusion at what was going on.
"Come on." He motioned for her to continue with him. Her eyes widened at the request, but did as she was asked. Camera's flashed brightly in her face as the two walked through the crowd following behind Obi. She would have much preferred staying in the back next to Pepper's side, her usual spot during press conferences, but she didn't want to disappoint her father.
"Okay, let's get started." Obi spoke from behind the platform.
Tony had other ideas though, sitting down on the few steps in the front, allowing his back to lean against the wooden podium. "Hey, would it be all right if everyone sat down?" He pulled another burger from his coat pocket. "Why don't you just sit down? That way you can see me, and I can..." The press did as they were asked. Becca sat next to her father on the steps, not knowing where he was going with this. "A little less formal." Obi sat on the other side of him. "Good to see you."
"Good to see you too." Obi smiled, pressing a reassuring hand on his shoulder.
"I never got to say goodbye to Dad." Tony's statement got Becca's surprised attention if anything. He never talked about her grandfather. "I never got to say goodbye to my father." He told their audience, before looking at Becca. "And I didn't want the same fate to happen to my own daughter."
She nodded, feeling emotional all over again. It was very rare to see him open up like this, especially in front of other people.
"There's questions that I would have asked him." Tony continued, finally putting the burger down. "I would have asked him how he felt about what this company did. If he was conflicted, if he ever had doubts. Or maybe he was every inch the man we all remember from the newsreels." The room was deadly silent; the only sound was a few flashes going off every once in a while. "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."
"Mr. Stark!" A few of the reports called, but the one younger man in the front that he had familiarity with gained his attention.
"Hey, Ben."
"What happened over there?"
It was a question that Becca herself had and wanted to ask. She knew everyone was still keeping her in the dark about certain specifics that had happen, and she desperately just wanted a few answers.
"I had my eyes open!" Tony's voice gained power, enough power to lift him to his feet and put him on the right side of the podium. "I came to realize that I have more to offer this world than just making things that blow up. And that is why, effective immediately, I am shutting down the weapons manufacturing division of Stark International-" the crowd erupted to their own feet, voices yelling questions, "until such a time as I can decide what the future of the company will be."
Becca honestly couldn't hear the rest of his statement as she sat shell shocked on the steps. This was one of Stark Industries biggest exports. If not half of the entire company itself. She jumped out of her stone stance, seeing her father walking back through the crowd. She pushed herself off the steps to follow him, the crowd still shouting loudly as Obi attempted to calm their questions. He continued to walk out of the building, leaving her to stand in between an equally dazed looking Pepper and Rhodey.
"What the hell is he doing?" Rhodey asked, looking down at the girl he associated as his own niece.
"You really think I have a clue about anything that goes through my father's head?" Becca crossed her arms tight against her chest.
"Pepper?"
"Oh, don't look at me." Pepper shook her head, her ponytail bouncing back and forth. "I know even less than her."
Becca looked back through the crowd, watching as it started to fizzle out. One face grabbed her attention in the sea of them all. It was the agent she had met a few nights ago. He was certainly persistent if nothing else.
A few more hours of tenacious 'how are you' and questions later, the two Starks had made their way back home thanks to Happy. The family trudged through the front door, Tony pushing the button to turn on the lights in the large living room.
"Welcome home, sir." Jarvis greeted him immediately.
"Thank you kindly, Jarvis." Tony responded, pulling the tie off his neck. The sling had been removed some hours ago, really doing nothing to help anymore.
Becca walked towards the coffee table, finding more presents have been added since she was home that morning. They were a bit extravagant for her taste.
"It's been a long time." Jarvis' voice echoed through the white walls. "Based on news reports, I calculated your safe return at 0.25%."
"Yep, I missed you too." Tony sat down on one of the wooden stools to look over everything that was laid out.
"I'm going to go get changed really quick, do you need anything?" Becca asked, finally pulling off the obnoxious sweater that had been restricting her movements all day.
"No, I'm good sweetheart."
Becca ran upstairs to her room to throw on some more comfortable clothing. She stopped in the kitchen, putting together a pot of coffee. She could hear her father talking to Jarvis about deleting all of the emails he had missed the past few months. It really hadn't processed in her that he might have never came home. But he did, and that's the thought she planned on focusing on.
"What are you doing, Bec?"
Her concentration broke at the sound of her father's voice entering the kitchen. "Making some coffee." She cleared her throat, pulling two mugs down from the cabinet.
"You didn't have to do that."
"Who said I made it for you?"
Tony couldn't help but chuckle and shake his head. Becca poured the two cups, handing one to her dad who liked it black, while she added her specific creamer that she liked. As Becca finally really looked over him, she could make out a light blue glow coming through his shirt in the center of his chest. Exactly where she had felt the hardness earlier when she hugged him.
"What's on your chest?" Her soft voice broke the silence.
Tony's eyes found hers before looking down at him. He carefully set the mug on the granite countertop. "What were you told?"
"A whole lot of nothing." She sighed. "They told me your convoy was attacked and you were taken hostage."
He nodded, walking towards her. "As I was trying to run away from the area a missile landed next to me and exploded." He didn't want her to worry or freak out because he did make it out alive, narrowly. But she deserved to know what happen. "There was a doctor there, Yinsen, who worked on me. He removed the shrapnel from my chest...but couldn't get all of it. So, I have to wear this."
Becca's eyes widened at the round device that was implanted in his chest. "That's keeping you alive?"
He nodded. "Yeah. It's keeping the shrapnel away from my heart."
"So, basically, if for some reason that decided to stop working you'd be dead." Her eyes glazed over.
"Becca, don't think like that-"
"I have to think like that!" Her fingers pushed through her brown hair. "How many times do I have to worry about losing you? I can't do this again." Her tears fell again. She was a relatively emotionally stable person. She could usually hold herself together quite well. But this was all becoming too much.
"Hey..." Tony took his daughter in his arms, "I'm okay. I'm not going anywhere again all right? You're stuck with me." He kissed her head. "And people think I'm the more emotional mess of the family."
Becca laughed at his sarcasm and pushed him away. "Shut up." A smile graced her face as she wiped her tears away.
"Enough about me. What'd I miss with you?" Tony picked up his forgotten coffee.
"That's a first." She joked back. Their relationship quickly falling back into place. "I don't know, the usual. School, dancing, exams."
"You passed all your classes?"
"Mhmm." Sipping her own steaming mug. "Actually, my instructor, Ms. Gabbert said it was my best performance yet." He gave her a crooked smile, that sadness evident in his eyes but she wasn't going to comment on it. It wasn't his fault he wasn't there. "She um...she actually offered me a job."
"Really? Becca that's awesome!"
"Yeah, it's just this little part-time position at Juilliard, but it will get my foot in the door." She grinned thinking of the opportunity.
"Well, when does it start?"
"Well...I didn't say yes yet."
Tony nearly choked on the scalding liquid at her statement. "Why not?"
"Because it would mean the summer in New York!"
"...so?"
"But you just got home! I can't leave you already." Her excuses continued.
"Honey, I'm a big boy. I can survive on my own." She rose an eyebrow at his statement. "Okay, Pepper will be here to tie my shoes when I can't. You have to take this opportunity, Becca. And don't let me stop you. Who knows I could be kidnapped again tomorrow."
"Dad!"
"Okay, too soon for jokes." Tony raised his hands in defense. "You're going to call her first thing tomorrow morning and accept."
"Is that an order?" She rolled her eyes.
"Your damn right it is!" His hand slapped the counter in finality. "Jarvis."
"Yes, sir." The AI program answered.
"Start a collection of apartments available in Manhattan to Midtown."
"Will do, sir."
"Dad..." She scrubbed a hand across her eyes at what he was doing.
"What! You're going to be working in New York and going to be 21. No more dorm living. If this is what you want, we're going to set you up."
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"I'm starting to regret this decision."
Becca rolled her eyes at her father's statement before dropping another box on her new mattress. "You know, a week ago you were all for this."
"And then I put two and two together." He looked out the window of her small, humble apartment. "You're too young to be living on your own."
"Oh, Tony leave the poor girl alone." Pepper called from her spot in the kitchen where she was unpacking.
"You're telling me you're fine with this?" Tony walked towards the redhead, eyebrows raised. "She's a kid, living on her own in New York-"
"This kid has been living here for two years now, thank you." Becca followed him, passing by to help Pepper.
Pepper sighed. "I'm saying that Becca is an adult, who is living out her dreams." She stepped up behind the younger girl, hugging her close against her chest. "Don't you want your beautiful daughter to live her dreams?"
"Yeah, dad. Don't you want me to live my dreams?" Becca gave her father a big pout as she leaned back into Pepper, holding her forearms.
All Tony could do was stand there, arms crossed, the bright blue light from arc reactor in his chest shining bright. He was trying to hold his guard up, be the tough parent for once, but Becca's giant puppy dog expression was getting the best of him. "You're too much for me sometimes." He has been and always will be wrapped around his daughter's finger.
She smiled brightly, bouncing out of Pepper's arms to give her father a big kiss on the cheek. "Love you, daddy."
"Maybe you should keep Happy here with you." Holding her at arm's length.
"Dad, no."
"I would feel more comfortable."
"Dad, please!" She spoke over her father. "I'm going to be fine. And God knows you're going to be having eyes on me like you have the past two years."
Tony stayed quiet for a second trying to come up with a good enough lie but couldn't think of anything. "You have no proof."
They continued unpacking the apartment, well mostly Pepper and Becca unpacking and Tony trying to help but really being for the most part useless. The apartment was modest in Becca's liking. Tony had kept bringing up the outlandish apartments for her to call home, but this was the one she wanted. It was a small one-bedroom apartment between Hell's Kitchen and the Upper West Side that Becca fell in love with immediately.
But by the time the day was coming to a close it felt like the first time the two brought Becca to college and getting ready to leave her again.
"Alright, I think you're about set." Pepper set aside the last box of books that Becca had yet to unpack.
Becca stood up from her spot on the floor in front of small TV cabinet where she was putting her movies away. "Okay. Thanks again Pepper."
"Of course, sweetie."
"Alright, you're not staying here." Tony came back in from the bedroom where he was doing whatever it was he was doing. "I swear I just witnessed a drug bust go on down the street."
"Pepper." Becca groaned, knowing she would understand the need immediately in her voice.
"Alright, Tony. We have to get going." The older women started gathering their items.
"Why, I'm supposed to be laying low for now anyways. Not like I got some crazy night planned out back in California."
Pepper rolled her eyes and brought Becca into a tight hug. "Have fun sweetie. Good luck with the job, I know you'll do great."
"Thanks, Pepper. For everything." She gave her a big smile. "I'll let you know how it goes." She turned to her father who was pacing, hands behind his back. "I'm staying, Dad. I know you want me to also, and I promise I'll be okay. Just trust me."
"It's not that I don't trust you, Becca." He shook his head, finally looking at her. "It's the fact that I don't trust other people."
She had never seen so much doubt in her father's eyes until he came back from captivity. And that was the exact reason she didn't want to leave him in the first place, but there was only so much she could do before she needed to start living her own life.
Becca walked over and gave her father a big hug. Holding tightly until she finally felt his own arms wrap around her. "I love you, daddy."
He let out a relieving breath, feeling some of the weight that has been on his shoulders. "I love you too, baby girl."
---------------------------------------------------
She had felt eyes on her back nearly the whole day. The only time it had stopped was when she was working in the studio. Every time she turned her head to look behind her nothing seemed out of order. Well as much as out of order you could in New York. So, to be honest, by the time she was heading home that evening she was a little on edge.
She found safety once she entered her building. She stepped up to her mailbox. Becca dug through the mostly junk mail as a man a few years older than her entered the building, following the same procedure as she did. He gave her a soft smile as they made eye contact but the two continued with their own work.
Becca locked her mailbox and started her journey up the stairs. The sound of footsteps behind her grabbed her attention, seeing the man had started up the steps of his own. She didn't think anything of it until he started getting closer. As she went faster, he went faster. She started taking two steps at a time, so did he. She was running up the last few flights trying to get away from him, but felt like she was getting nowhere. Becca finally made it to her floor, getting her keys ready to make a quick break to her apartment.
She refused to look over her shoulder, knowing that would slow her down. She pushed her keys into the door, getting it open quick enough, but she wasn't fast enough to close it on him. The man was able to get his body through the crack that was still open. His larger weight had him easily throwing the door open, pushing her body to the ground.
"Oh, come on Rebecca." His voice was deep, closing the door shut and locking it.
She scrambled up to her feet, running into kitchen. Before she could make of a getaway he was able to catch her ankle with his foot, throwing her body to the ground again. Her head made an angry crack with a cabinet, tilting her whole world around. She shook off the pain that was making her eyes cross-eyed and turned to look at him.
He was looking down at her with a sick smile on his face, pulling a small gun out of the back of his jeans. She looked above her, grabbing one of the knives that sat on her counter. She knew it wouldn't do much against a gun but it was something to protect herself.
"This will be fun."
As those words left his mouth, the living room window smash. A body came rolling through the window right after it. Before the man standing above her was able to turn around, the person who came crashing into the apartment had sent an arrow straight through his throat.
Becca's eyes widened in even more terror as she watched her attacker drop the gun, gasping for breath the wouldn't come and drop to his own knees. He fell face first, becoming motionless on the ground. Becca starred at the body in front of her wide-eyed. She couldn't catch her breath, feeling almost like she was about to have a panic attack at any moment.
"You okay?" The suspicious man crouched beside her, gently laying his hand on her shoulder. Her eyes finally found his and quickly shuffled away from him; her back slamming against the opposite wall. "I'm going to take that as a no."
She didn't realize the knife was still sitting in her palm until she was holding it up to him in a dangerous manner. "Get away from me."
The older man raised his hands in defense. "Woah, easy there, kid. I just saved your ass."
"And how did you know I even needed saving?" She was trying to keep her voice strong, but the fear and tears started clouding it. "Who are you?"
"My name's Clint, I work for SHIELD." He could see her eyes focus softly at the organization name. "You've heard of it?" She simply nodded her head once, the knife still very much pointed at him. "I've been looking after you for a while now, making sure you were protected."
"Protected from what?" Her eyes glancing quickly to the man before staring back at him.
He shook his head with a sigh. "That's a question you'll need to address our Director. I should probably get you to the administration now."
Clint's movements to stand only had Becca hold the knife tighter. "Why should I go with you?"
The man's head fell to his chest, while his hands took place on his slim hips. "Look, kid, I know you have no real knowledge on whether to trust me or not, but I can promise you my only mission right now is to keep you safe. And this guy," he pointed to the body lying on her kitchen floor, "might not be working alone. So, I've got to get you to safety."
Becca stared down at the dead body, well she assumed he was dead. And all she could think about was who he was and why he wanted to kill her in the first place. Her brown eyes glanced back up to Clint, nodding at him in understanding.
"Okay...good, so I'm going to take this." He hesitantly slid the knife out of her hand, setting it back on the counter. He pulled out of his phone, dialing a number and bringing it to his ear. That's when she really looked over Clint. He was dressed in dark clothing, clearly to hide himself but could still look relatively normal in New York. But what she really took notice of was the crossbow that was still sitting in his left hand. "Yeah, it's Barton. Tell Fury I'm bringing her in."
She seemed to move on autopilot as Clint moved her out of the apartment and into a car that was waiting for them on the curb. All she could see in her head was the dead man that was still lying on kitchen floor. They parked downtown in front of a large building that had no real markings on the outside. As they walked through the doors there were a bunch of people dressed in usual business garb. They continued up a few levels and Becca just followed behind with big eyes.
Clint finally opened a heavy door at the end of a hallway, allowing her to enter before him. She entered, finding a big office with a man standing behind the desk, staring out the windows to the usual commission of New York City below them.
"Rebecca Stark. Thanks for coming." He said, still not turning to her.
She looked at Clint confused, but he just led her to the chairs that sat in front of the desk. "It's not like I had much of a choice." She sighed, taking a seat on one of the chairs. Clint however didn't sit next to her, and stood in the back, arms crossed.
"You always have a choice." He finally turned to her, allowing her to see he had a patch over one eye. "I'm Nick Fury. Director of S.H.I.E.L.D."
"I would say it's nice to meet you, but right now all I can think about is the guy that just tried to kill me a few minutes ago."
"That is being taken care of as we speak. Your apartment will be back to normal by the time we're done here." He nodded.
"And my plagued dreams?" Her sarcasm slipping out.
"Well I'm sure we can get you a psychiatric physician. But I don't know how much it will do being a Stark." He quipped right back at her.
She snorted at the comment. "Can you explain to me why someone was trying to kill me? Or why crossbow back here has been watching me?"
"You have a legacy in your family, Rebecca." Director Fury explained, his hands folded neatly behind his back.
"I'm quite aware of the brand that has been stamped across my forehead since I was born." Becca's fingers tapped anxiously against the arm rest of her chair.
"Do you?" He turned to look at her with his one good eye. "How much do you know about the power that your last name holds in this world?"
"My grandfather created Stark Industries."
"Your grandfather did a lot more for this world besides Stark Industries." Fury looked down at her. "Howard Stark was a co-founder and creator of S.H.I.E.L.D. And he wanted to pass down that legacy to you."
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