36-Runaway

The cameras flashed as I attempted to hide my face. I was wearing what practically every socialite wears when she's part of some scandal: big sunglasses, a conservative dress, and a pair of heels that the everyday joe probably couldn't afford. My lips weren't painted with the usual red. No today they were a muted pink. My hair was carefully curled and it bounced every time as I walked to the car waiting for me. The crowd called my name.

"Peyton! Ms Stark! What are you thoughts on the video?" A reporter near me calls, shoving his microphone near me. I ignore him and how much it might pain me, I keep my head held up high and my back straight.  I carefully slid into the car, Happy shutting the door behind me.  I buckled my seatbelt. Starks have issues with cars.

It takes awhile for me to arrive in front of Matt and Foggy' building. I carefully get out, one leg over the other. There isn't any paparazzi here, thankfully. So I'm allowed to slouch every so slightly when I walk from the car into the building. Happy says to text him when I need a ride. I smile and nod in return before slipping inside. I take off my sunglasses and I grip the bannister, forcing myself up the stairs. Even with all of my training, I can't make my footsteps silent. They're loud and clunky and make my face burn in embarrassment. My wounds are burning when I reach the top of the stairs. Matt and Foggy already have the door open for me.

"Peyton Stark! My favorite Avenger!" Foggy cheers as I walk into the office. I smile, stepping out of my heels and leaving them by the door. Matt gets up, walking over as Foggy carefully hugs me.

"I'm guessing Matt told you to be careful with hugging me." I ask with a smile and Foggy shrugs, grinning. Matt has reached us at this point. He hugs me carefully and kisses me, then he kisses the top of my forehead.

"You guys didn't have to invite me over for breakfast." I tell them, getting the sinking feeling that they are only doing this because of what happened with the video. Karen comes in just at that moment, holding a bag and drink carrier.

"Well we didn't invite you over for breakfast, we invited you over for coffee and bagels." Matt cheerfully says, his arm wrapped around me. I chuckle, ignoring the gnawing at the pit of my stomach. Karen smiles at me and waves.

"I'm glad to see you, Peyton." She says and I nod. I turn my focus onto Matt again. He has a cut on his face, which makes me furrows my eyebrows. He must've went out last night when I didn't come over. Was he pissed about the video? He had to be.

"Can you guys excuse us for a moment?" Matt asks before leading me into his office. I sigh as we walk in and he shuts the door. I close the blinds and sit on his desk, arms crossed.

"Are you guys going to try to pursue any legal action against Barton?" Matt asks, his voice quiet as he leans against the wall. I shut my eyes, tilting my head up.

"I didn't come here for legal counsel, Matthew." I respond and he clenches his jaw.

"You guys are just going to let him walk free?" Matt shoots back, his voice hushed. I slouch as I sit on the table. I didn't want to talk about Clint with him. His name sound like something dirty when it came out of Matt's mouth. I hated it.

"Matt, this isn't that simple. I wish I could just press charges like that, but I can't." I murmur back, looking at my boyfriend, "Too much is on the line."

"For who? For you? Or for him?" He was mad over the video, over what Clint had done. Foggy must've told him what the video was of.  And me saying that I couldn't come over last night because of it probably didn't help. Of course he didn't know that I had spent the night crying while Pepper and Tony consoled me.

"Matt, you don't understand. I don't have a reason to press charges against Clint." I try to explain, biting my tongue. Matt's knuckles are bruised and covered in fresh wounds. I can see the dark circles under his eyes. He didn't get much sleep either.

"He hit you, Peyton! Foggy said he hit you so hard that you stumbled backwards. He shouldn't be able to just get away with that-" I cut his tirade off, looking at his face. My voice is shaky.

"He hit me because he was pissed that I wouldn't have sex with him. I was pregnant with his child until I miscarried. He wanted me to get an abortion but the baby miscarried before I could. He was having an affair with me. I didn't know that he was married until during the whole Ultron things. Three kids, one of 'en is a newborn. His lovely down to earth wife was pregnant when I was and he couldn't have that." I spill my guts to Matt, trying not cry. The blind man stays silent, so I continue on.

"If I come out and press charges against him, then the affair comes out. His family breaks apart and I'm the whore. I'm the other woman. I don't want to ruin his family and I don't want to be the other woman." I try to keep my voice even, but it waivers. Matt swallows and walks towards me. He cups my cheek and leans forward, kissing my forehead. He wraps his arms around me.

"Breathe, just breathe." He murmurs, kissing the top of my head again. I know I am protecting Clint by not exposing everything he has done, but I am protecting his three kids. No young kid deserves to know what their dumbass father has done. It fucked up Tony, learning all about Howard's affairs and misdeeds at an early age. I wasn't about to do that those three children or his wife. She'll look like an idiot. You're husband was cheating on you with someone that's rich and famous, how does that make you feel?

"It's not my place to say everything." I tell him as he pulls away slightly. I look up at him, a small smile appearing on my face. I think it's still absolutely wild that this man in front of me loves me. I feel like he shouldn't, but he does.

"I understand." He responds, his voice soft, "Also, I'm surprised that you told me so much." I chuckle, my smiling growing a bit.

"I am too, but I hope all this stays under attorney-client privileges." I tease, making him smile. He cups my cheek again, leaning forward and kissing me. I kiss him back, my arm wrapping around his neck. My fingers move to slightly grip his hair. It's the first passionate kiss we have had in a while. It was one of those toe curling kisses where you wish you forego oxygen for a while just to continue the kiss. His arms wrap around me and I stand, both arms now around his neck. Matt pulls away first, blushing with a smile on his face.

"I also wasn't expecting that." My boyfriend of two years tells me and I giggle. I lean my head forward and lay it on his chest. I can hear the steady thump-thump of his heart.

"Isn't that what you love about me? My spontaneity?" I ask and his chuckle is loud, vibrating his chest. I know he's smiling a little wider.

"Its one of the things, yes." He murmurs to me.

-

Happiness comes and goes.

In this moment, it's gone.

I sit the bath tub, my knees drawn up into my chest. My head rests on them as I stare out the window wall, my eyes on New York City at night. The water is scalding, but I can manage it. My attention turns to the bottle of pain medicine next to me.

"FRIDAY, you're programmed to tell my brother if I am a danger to myself, aren't you?" I ask, my voice hoarse and full of pain. The AI doesn't take her time in answering my question. I knew what the answer was already. A protocol like that has always been put in place.

"Yes of course, Miss Stark. It's protocol." She responds and I nod. Too much has happened in my life. Too much. I hated the feeling what was enveloping my body. That icky feeling that always manages the claim me. In the past, I'd take care of it with alcohol or a nice little party drug. Something to keep it at bay, something to keep my happy. I pressed my lips together and wrapped my arms tighter around me. Yes of course there's things that make me happy in my life but the bad outnumber the good.  I picked up the pills and filled the tub a bit more.  I don't know when I started crying. I carefully take off the lid- well as carefully as my shaky hands would allow. I sniffled.

Two lost babies. No chance of having anymore.

I was just a side piece go the man I once loved. He told me to kill my baby because the one he loved, his wife was already pregnant.

There was a video out now, showing how weak I was. Letting Clint hit me like that.

It was all too much.

I was miserable.

I put the cap back on as a different thought filled my head. I didn't have to be like this, living like this. I bit my lip, thinking of it for a moment before draining the tub. I wipe my tears and get out it, quickly acting out my plan. Instead of killing myself, for once I was just going to run away from my problems.

-

"Come on Pey, open up!" Tony banged on his sister's door the next day. Steve had told him that she had missed her meeting with him and everyone else had said that they haven't seen the young Stark since last night. Natasha noted that she look upset at dinner. Tony was worried and he had every right to be. There was no answer to his knocks, so he rushed in. He was surprised that the door was unlocked.

Her room was empty.

"Peyton!" He shouts, running into her bathroom and then her closet. She wasn't here, but some of her clothes were gone. Her room was clean and neat. Tony was incredibly worried as he frantically looked around the room. His eyes eventually landed on a baby pink envelope on the bed. Tony quickly walked over and picked up the letter. Written on the front was his name in his sister's handwriting. He carefully opened it as he sat down on her bed.

Tony,

Look I know you're going to be mad at me, but I needed to get away. I felt like I was going to go crazy. Things are getting bad, Anthony. I need my time away. Please don't be mad at me for doing this. I'm not going to kill myself, but I feel like I will if I continue to stay here. I'm going to be okay, I just need time. I need time. You're doing all that you can, but let me take this stress off of you. Thank you for everything you done for me. You're the best brother a girl can ask for. Please don't blame yourself. I love you. If you need me, you'll know how to find me. Just please, give me this.

-P

Tony's thundering heart beat silenced slightly. His sister was gone and there was nothing he could do about it. Not a damn thing.

-

Matt, also got a letter.

He sat at the table, going through his mail. He stopped when he reached Peyton's letter. The letter smelled like her perfume. Like she held it to her chest before she slipped it into his mailbox. He felt the Braille on the outside of the letter. Matthew Murdock. Matt smiled, thinking it was sort of cute that she sent him a letter. He carefully opened the letter and started to feel the Braille.

My Love,

I don't want to worry you, so please try not to worry over me. I have to get away for awhile, not from you, but from life. Things are getting hard and I just need to recollect myself. I'm not running away from you, please know that. I love you, Matt. It's just not healthy for me to keep going through this cycle of sadness. I suppose it's childish of me to leave when life gets tough, but I need to do this for me. I love you so much and I'm sorry for all the hurt I've caused you and I'm even more sorry for the hurt that me leaving might cause you. I don't know how long I'll be gone, but just know that I love you. God do I love you.

-Peyton Stark

P.S-I'm sure you'll could find me if you needed me.

Matt set the letter down, his eyes wide. She was gone. Peyton had just up and vanished. He didn't know how to feel about it, so he put his head in his hands before rereading the letter.

-

I hadn't gone super far. All I did was drive upstate. I could've gone anywhere in the world and I went to my childhood home, our ancestral home if you will.

The mansion upstate was as beautiful as ever, even during the pitch black night. My long dress flowed in the wind as I carried my bags to the front door. It all seemed very cinematic, me walking to a grand house in a long dress while carrying my luggage. After pushing them all inside, I parked the car in the garage, next to Dad's ancient covered cars. I went back inside and got to work putting things away. As I went, I drew back the curtains as I walked up the grand stair case. Before I had left the tower, I had the the water, gas, and electricity turned back on in the house. Tony has been making sure the house was in order for years and in a moment like this, I was glad for it.

That entire night, I cleaned the huge house. It probably wasn't exactly how Mom liked the house, but I cleaned as best as I could. The sheets were pulled off the furniture and the windows were opened. Throughout the night, the big house slowly became a home again. I worked hard during the night, only stopping to rest in my childhood bedroom. I wasn't done cleaning until the next afternoon. When I was finally done, I collapsed on the couch. I let myself take a nap, which turned into a deep sleep.

Having already spent two days in the house, I finally do the second thing on my unofficial to-do list. I rifle through my suitcases and take the old worn leather book out. I flip to the page necessary as I walk to the largest room, the formal dining room. I push back the tables and chairs to one side of the room. Listening to what the pages say, I rummage through the silverware closet, pulling out the silver candlesticks and their candles. I place them in a circle, surrounding me. I sit cross legged on the floor, tilting my head back. I light the candles. The candles glow brightly in the dark room. Somewhere in the house, a grandfather clock chimed. Midnight.

"Come to me, Mother. Use His dark power and come to me." I recite the words, the candles around me glowing brighter, "Come to me Elda, come to me!" A sudden wind blew and suddenly, a hand was running its fingers through my hair.

"You have questions, my daughter." Elda says sweetly, walks to stand in front of me. Her blonde hair was pinned back once again, her green eyes on me. I look up at her. Her hands move to hold my face.

"You went through a Burning recently, didn't you? Well we know that you did. I bet you haven't used your new power, yes? Your telekinesis?" I shake my head and she nods, a small smile on her face. I don't really know why I felt like contacting Elda Bennet. Part of me wanted-no needed to contact her. I mist needed some comfort I suppose.

"I gained a new power?" I ask, my voice sounded so little. She nods, still holding my face. Suddenly her grip becomes harder and her nails dig into my face.

"Since you can't have any children due to that monster your adopted brother created. Your powers are going to increase and heighten. Your body needed to release those powers but now it can't." She practically growled at me. I lowered my eyes, staring at her red shoes.

"Is it because I was pregnant before...?" I ask and she sighs, letting go of my face.

"Yes. It was preparing to increase your powers in order to pass some of the down. Not all of them of course." She responds and I look up at her, confused. Elda pressed her lips together before chuckling. My birth mother disappears, the candles going out as she hauntingly whispers, "It was going to be a boy.".