Author's Note: Hello there! I'm Pip, and this is a fanfiction. Now, first off, I want to say that this fic was inspired by the story Can You Save Me? by colormenikki. It's an incredibly good fic, and I highly recommend the read. That said, my original character and her story, while inspired by colormenikki's story, are entirely my own. I've had this idea in my head for an awfully long time, and during that time I thought it would just be one of those fics where I planned it out in my head but never actually wrote it due to lack of time/motivation. And then, suddenly, I started writing. And writing, and writing. And this happened.

This is one of the first fics I've ever written where I was writing for the pure joy of it; I wasn't worried about chapter length or trying to appease readers. I was writing because I loved the character and the story I'd created for her. That said, I do hope that you enjoy it, and ask that if you do, you please review and let me know! The entire story is finished, but there's nothing I have written that can't be changed, so if throughout the course of the story you have any criticisms to make, I will gladly accept them! Enjoy!

PROLOGUE

1976

The noise downstairs probably wouldn't have woken Tony, but he was already awake. He was sat up in bed, the pages of his favorite math book illuminated by the nightlight across the room and the flashlight in his hand. It wasn't unusual for him to hear his father coming home from work late, but there was something different this time. He could hear his mother, too, when she was usually up in bed by now. Curious, he set down his book and turned off his flashlight, slipping out from beneath the covers and pattering across his bedroom with quiet feet.

He crept from his room, careful to avoid the stairs that creaked so no one would know he was awake hours past his bedtime. The lights were off downstairs, which Tony thought was strange, since his father usually left them on for Jarvis to turn off whenever he came home late from work. He walked around a bit, curious as to where his parents were. They hadn't come upstairs, or they'd have caught him sneaking down, so they must be somewhere downstairs, he thought. The kitchen lights were off, and the study was empty, so Tony sneaked down the hallway towards his father's office.

The door was ajar, and light from inside the room was thrown out into the hallway. Curiosity piqued, Tony approached the room quietly and peered inside, straining to hear the quiet voices within.

"What's going to happen to her?" his mother asked, her voice soft and sad. He heard his father sigh.

"I'm not sure yet," Howard responded. "I was in such a rush to get her out of there, I didn't think of where to take her next, so I just brought her home. Jarvis is arranging a car right now..."

When Tony looked in the small crack the open door had left, he could see both of his parents and another stranger in the room with them. His mother was stood in her dressing gown, wringing her hands, a crease on her brow, and his father, in his disheveled work suit, was standing with his hands braced on his desk, head bowed like something was burdening him. Tony was more intrigued by the woman who was sitting in his father's chair. She was pale and looked very sick, dark circles and bags beneath her eyes, red-rimmed like she'd been crying. He could have sworn that her dark hair looked purple in the dim light of the office. He took in a sharp breath when she turned her head and met his eyes through the crack in the door. She was looking straight at him, and her eyes were silvery-blue and shifted in such a way that Tony knew she had seen him.

Shaken, Tony gulped quietly and stepped away from the door, pressing his back against the wall. There was something wrong with that woman, he knew it, but in his innocence and naïveté, he couldn't comprehend what. Suddenly feeling like his house was haunted, he scurried back upstairs again, peering over his shoulder every few steps to reassure himself that the woman from his father's office wasn't following him. When he reached his room, he shut his door and hurried over to his bed, leaping into it and pulling the covers up to his shoulders.

He laid there for several moments, every so often being sure that he could see shapes in the shadows that his nightlight cast over his walls. He was too worked up to fall asleep, and remained in the safety of his bed, wide awake. Sometime later, Tony heard noises again, only this time they were upstairs. He heard soft voices, and the shower in the bathroom across the hall began to run. He was usually the only one who ever used that shower. Curious again, Tony ran across his room and opened his door quietly, opening it just enough for him to peer out with one eye.

The door to the bathroom across the hall was closed, but it opened several moments later, with his mother leading out the woman from his father's office, this time clad in towels instead of the hospital gown she'd been wearing earlier. His mother spoke softly to the woman as she led her down the hall, but it was too soft for Tony to hear. They entered one of the many spare rooms down the hall and closed the door behind them.

He opened his door a little wider, looking both ways down the hall. He hadn't heard his father come up the stairs, and the light to his parents' bedroom down the hall was off. Frowning, Tony was just about to step back into his room and shut his door when the door down the hall opened. He took in a sharp breath, but stood rooted to his spot. Maria Stark closed the guest room door softly, turning to walk back down the hall towards her bedroom. After a few steps, she looked up, gasping when she noticed her young son standing in the doorway of his room. Casting a nervous glance to the guest bedroom behind her, she gave Tony a small smile and walked towards him.

"Tony?" she asked softly. Tony opened his door wider, stepping out into the hall. Maria lowered herself to her knees before him. "What's the matter, baby? Why aren't you in bed?"

"I had a bad dream," Tony replied, feeling like he was telling the truth. Maria frowned, reaching out to smooth a hand over her son's cheek.

"How about you come sleep with me in my bed tonight? No bad dreams will get you there."

She scooped Tony into her arms, carrying him down the hallway towards her bedroom. Tony peeked over his mother's shoulder, staring up the hallway at the guest bedroom door, feeling as though any moment, it would open and the strange, unsettling woman would emerge. But it never did.

Nestled in the safety and warmth of his parents' bed, Tony was lulled to sleep by his mother, singing softly to him and rubbing circles on his back. He drifted off to sleep, to dreams of silver-blue eyes staring at him and guest bedroom doors just about to open. When he woke the next morning, the house was quiet. His mother was gone, downstairs eating breakfast, and so Tony took his chance to look in the guest bedroom. He crept down the hallway, careful not to step on the creaky floorboards and alert Jarvis or his mother that he was awake, and pushed open the door that he had seen his mother and the strange woman enter the night before. But when he looked inside, the room was empty and completely undisturbed.

Deeply unsettled, Tony hurried downstairs for breakfast. And he thought about what he'd seen the night before for the rest of the day, and he never forgot it for the rest of his life.

A/N: So, um, there's the prologue. If enough people's interest is piqued then I'll post chapter 1 fairly quickly. So, please review! Let me know what you thought. Honestly, if you didn't like it, fine. I'd appreciate knowing why. Anyways, I hope everyone enjoyed!