"I can't tell you what it really is
I can only tell you what it feels like
And right now there's a steel knife, in my windpipe"
- Eminem

  "Hey there, sleepy head," Tony whispered as he entered his daughter's bedroom.

  Harper stretched her body and yawned loudly. She was tired from the fight and when she tried to get up, pain shot through the side of her body.

  "Let me see that."

  She lifted the bottom of her shirt and saw a huge bruise right under her ribs. It hurt her every time she tried to move.

   "You'll most likely have to rest for a few days. You took a bad hit there," Tony noted. I'll take you to the hospital, just in case."

  "No, Dad, we don't need to go." Harper tried to comfort him. "I'll be fine."

  "Yeah, maybe you're right but...It's just to make sure, okay ?"

  Tony didn't give her a choice and took his daughter to the hospital. Of course, when they got there, he had to answer a couple of questions regarding that hit. When they met with the nurse, he looked at Tony, not bothering to hide his fascination.

  "I need you to take care of my daughter," Stark said with his natural charisma.

  "Your...your daughter ?" the man stuttered. "Erm...Can you tell me what your problem is ?"

  "She was attacked and got hit on the side. She took a big hit."

  The nurse was still looking at him in awe. He wasn't even moving anymore.

  "So ?"

  "Oh, yes, sorry... Erm...You can go sit over there. Doctor Blake will help you as soon as possible. This is the emergency service so he takes his patient from more to less urgent cases."

  Tony and Harper walked in that direction and sat uncomfortably on the plastic chairs. Harper felt incredibly awkward. Just like her, all these people were waiting to be taken charge of and they all looked insistently at her. She snuggled up to her father : she never felt comfortable in public and with all those eyes on her, she could only feel worse than usual. They were times she wished her father let the world know about her true identity but that day, she was surprised that he'd taken her to the hospital and told the nurse that she was his daughter.

  "Dad, everyone's looking at us."

  "It's because they're wondering what you're doing here with me."

  "I thought you didn't..."

  "It's better this way, now. After everything that went down with Smith, I'm even happier to show the world that my daughter is incredibly amazing, that she's fine and that no one should ever go after her."

  Harper let out a quiet laugh. She felt happy there, snuggled to her dad like a kid. She wished she would never lose him. The doctor got out of his office and called for the next patient. When he recognised Tony Stark, he called for him.

  "Mr Stark ! Please, come in !"

  "Some cases are more urgent than ours. Thank you."

  Surprised, the doctor called in a drunken man who had broken his arm. A lady, who was barely thirty years old, was holding a seven-year-old child who kept crying in pain. Harper felt sorry for that kid and his mother so she went to them after her father gave her a small approving nod.

  "Are you okay, kiddo ?"

  "My throat hurts," he cried.

  "And what's wrong with your throat ?"

  Harper's soft tone made him look up.

  "He's asthmatic," his mother said. "He's been in respiratory failure for two hours. I gave him his emergency inhaler but there's something else... I don't know. Everything's gonna be okay,  sweetie," she added as an attempt to comfort the boy.

  He cried a little bit more before he noticed Harper's hands.

  "What is it on your wrists ?" he asked innocently.

  "Oh, that..."

  She gave her dad an almost begging look. A good super-hero story could always help distract a kid. He nodded almost imperceptibly.

  "I'm gonna tell you a secret, alright ?"

  The kid shook his head up and down as an excited look appeared on his face.

  "See the man sitting on the seat next to mine, over there ? He's my dad. Do you recognise him ?"

  "Not really. I think so."

  "Picture him in his red and gold armour."

  "Oh ! That's Iron Man !"

  He was whispering excitedly, his eyes filled with sparks.

  "You're Iron Man's daughter ! That's awesome !"

  "I know. It's pretty cool. Well, yesterday, we fought against some bad guys."

  "What bad guys ?"

  "One mean old man and his soldiers who were trying to hurt us. And then all the super-heroes came to help us : Thor, Captain America, Black Widow..."

  "And Spider-Man ? Spider-Man was there ?" he asked happily. "I love Spider-Man. I want to be like him when I grow up !"

  Harper was rather troubled at the mention of Peter's name : it reminded her of his lie. She gulped nervously.

  "Yeah, he...he was there."

  "And you ? What's your thing ?"

  "Me ? Well, I... I can shoot flames with my fingers," she whispered.

  "Really ? Awesome ! Can I see ?"

  "It's a little risky in here..."

  "Oh, okay..."

  "But the light of a match can never be too dangerous."

  Being extra careful, Harper let a tiny flame come out of her finger. The kid watched with fascination then looked disappointed when it disappeared.

  "I can't do anything more in here. It's too dangerous. You get it ?"

  When Harper was done talking, the doctor came out again. He looked around the room and was about to speak when Harper interrupted him.

  "This child needs your help, Doctor," she said.

  "Alright. Get in, Mrs."

  "Thank you," she whispered to Harper. "He hadn't smiled like that all day."

  Harper smiled back radiantly and sat back next to her father. She pressed her hand on her wound.

  "You okay ?"

  "It just hurts. I can handle it."

***

  When she came home from the hospital with a week of forced rest, Harper sat comfortably on the couch and opened her notebook on her knees. She found herself drawing the silhouettes of those who had protected her the night before on the battlefield. It was just a sketch at that point but everyone was on it except for one. She couldn't bring herself to draw Peter. Instead of drawing him with the others, she depicted the moment he climbed the building while she was clinging to his back. Pepper looked over her shoulder with a glint of sadness in her eyes. She didn't say anything : she knew her too well. Harper was a Stark, after all, and Starks didn't talk about their problems when they were confronted to it. You had to wait for them to tell you about it. One minute later, Harper unlocked her phone and kept her eyes locked on her conversation with Peter. She had two unread texts.

  'I'm sorry. I hope you're okay.'

  'Please, at least tell me how you're doing.'

  She typed in an answer that she deleted right away. She locked her phone and closed her notebook. She was exhausted.

  The following day, Peter couldn't wait any longer for an answer that would most likely never come. He put his backpack on his shoulders and walked towards the Stark manor. In front of the imposing double door, he took a deep breath in and knocked confidently. Pepper opened the door and smiled warmly at him.

  "Come in," she told him before closing the door. "I assume you're here to see Harper ?"

  "Erm...yes."

  "I'll go get her."

  Pepper thought this was worth a shot even though it was a lost cause. She found Harper in her room, once again leaning over her notebook.

  "Honey ?"

  "Yes ?" she said without getting her attention off of her drawing.

  "Peter's here."

  Pepper saw her daughter's shoulders freeze, her back stiffen. She let at least five seconds go by before slightly turning her head on the side.

  "I'm too tired."

  Pepper was smart enough to know it was better not to insist on it. Forcing a Stark to do something he didn't want to do was rarely a good idea. She got back to the living room, where Peter was waiting and hoping. Peter understood right away when he saw Pepper coming back without Harper. He understood that she didn't want to see him. He sighed.

  "She doesn't want to see me, does she ?" he asked, looking at his shoes.

  "She's asleep. It's been a hard week for her, you know."

  "I know. Is she...How is she ?"

  "Better. Tony took her to the hospital and..."

  "The hospital ?" Peter was beginning to worry. "Is it that bad ?"

  "No, it's just a big hit below her ribs. She needs to rest for a week."

  "Alright. I won't ask you to tell her I came by... I know she's not sleeping.

  And so he left, sad and upset at the same time. Pepper looked at him go away and stood there helplessly. She wished she could've done something to help him. After all, she knew too well what it was like to love a Stark and it was far from easy. Instead, she let him go. She knew everything would be alright, eventually. Sooner or later, Harper would come to her senses. She would forgive him. Pepper knew that because she had seen that particular spark in her daughter's eyes, the night of the dance. She had seen that typical spark that only people who were in love possessed.