Unsightly Past

"Everyone is looking..."

They were in a fast-food restaurant, old trusty Kentucky Fried Chicken. It just so happened that bloody Tony Stark, or better yet, Iron Man, had entered the shop, but no one seemingly cared. They decided to pay more attention to his date.

This ravishing blonde is apparently ten times more important than Iron Man himself. It mattered not; it was relaxing to not be the center of attention, but...

"Do you feel uncomfortable?" If she didn't feel okay, they'd leave straight away... this is the restaurant that looked the most empty out of all the branches.

"I don't care... but, should we go upstairs? There will be more privacy there, right?"

"Sure, have you ever had fried chicken? I doubt it."

"No, but, if you like it, it must be tasty."

"How is it that you always know what to say?" He smirked and ordered for the two of them, taking a table number and telling the man that they'd be upstairs, hopefully, he listened instead of ogling at the blonde.

"I don't always know what to say..." She looked down with a blush. They walked upstairs and took a seat; the shining city could be seen through the window of the second floor.

"I just... say what I think. I think you're very hardworking, attentive, handsome... being with you makes me feel safe, happy... it feels way better than... wherever I come from... the Aoi Family... I hope I can help you more. I feel like you're doing a lot for me, but I am not doing anything for you. It is not fair." She fidgeted as they awaited their order. This is the time she has spoken the most ever since they met.

He subconsciously thought she was a shut-in, introverted, or someone that didn't speak a lot, but it turns out that she just doesn't have it easy to express herself.

"..." He remained silent, but she felt reassured when he smiled at her. For the next moments, they once again went into a pleasure of silence, just looking at one another amidst the noise of the city until the cashier came with their order himself.

They began to eat.

"Are you and Pepper... together?" She asked suddenly, and he had to stop.

"No, it might have come to something, but I don't think it can happen any longer." He sighed.

"She likes you, and you like her." The tonality was natural, but she didn't look in his eyes when uttering those words.

"Liking is subjective... sometimes it is not possible."

"What about Natalie?"

"She's just my secretary." He gave her a sidelong glance. What with all these questions about his romantic life?

"You know, Natalie... she's hiding something." The blonde said suddenly, raising her head once again to meet his glare.

"What are you saying, Cassandra?"

"Her thoughts were quite chaotic and horrible."

...

Right now, she just said something that he couldn't help but... stop for a moment and think.

"What did you just say?"

"I said her thoughts are very chaotic..." She mumbled, only to take a munch of some salads called 'coleslaw,' which looked appetizing. "Oh, this is so delicious~" Sadly, Tony wasn't sharing her enthusiasm; he literally stood up from the chair!

"You can read her thoughts?!"

"Hoh? Yes, when I touched her hand, I could... yours and Pepper's too."

"Why did you not say anything?!" He clutched her shoulders, and it was then that a visage of fear appeared on her face for a moment. He stopped abruptly, but it was too late.

"Sorry..." She apologized.

"No, I'm the one that's sorry. Just... when something like that happens, please tell me." He patted her shoulder apologetically and sat back down with a sigh.

"It just happened so naturally, as if I'm always doing it... I didn't feel it was something I had to tell you. Sorry... I will tell you everything."

"What did you see in my mind?"

She extended her hand with the intent of holding it, and he took it, initially feeling nothing; yet at some point, he heard her in his mind!

"I can see a lot of things; it is mostly you working..."

"Telepathy..." He gasped.

"There are some more important, prominent memories... of you when you were younger with a man and a woman... your parents, I believe. The male looks a lot like you."

"..." He didn't know what to say.

"T-There are a lot of ladies, and you're doing t-that with them..." When she sent that message, her cheeks gained a slightly red hue, to which he could only cough and look away.

"Please, ignore those..."

"Do you want to see my memories? What I can recall...?" She asked next.

"Can you show me?"

"Yes..."

Memories started to flow into his mind like a cascade.

Buildings, a place filled with ladies... all of them wearing some sort of odd uniform that made them look like nobility, each of them looking astonishingly beautiful.

"My goodness, I need to go to this world!" Those were his first thoughts until the catastrophe occurred, and everything changed from paradise to hell.

!!!!

Yells, despair, death... gigantic creatures attacked those ladies, and they fought, using advanced weaponry that would make his armor look ridiculous.

Then there was Cassandra, wearing something way more advanced than the rest. She fought, and then... all of a sudden, the memories were cut off in darkness, like the missing piece of a movie.

Scenes switched quickly to a house, and he felt everything get disturbing. Even Cassandra started to shake, and he felt it while grasping her hand.

"Cassandra, stop!"

"Ugh!" She clutched in pain, trying to remember even if just a little. If she wanted to regain all of her memories, she had to go through this. This was a point of inflection, the biggest, most painful memory in her mind.

Then he saw it: a man, yelling at her, calling her a 'replacement'... beating her up... and then, abusing her as she cried.

"No... Cassandra, stop it! Don't remember!" He saw tears coming out of her eyes, and when she released his hand, it was as if a shock brought them back to reality.

When he regained his clarity, he saw her there, on the ground, crying her heart out. All he could do was rush by her side and embrace her tightly.

"It's okay... I'm here."

Cassandra embraced him back, so hard that he felt like she was going to crush his body. She cried and cried as she had never cried in her life... perhaps... this was the first time she mourned that incident and allowed all of the sadness to flow, everything on the floor of a Kentucky Fried Chicken shop, an incident that would give way to the birth of feelings she'd possess eternally.

As if her bastion of comfort and security, she clutched Tony's clothes tightly and cried. The more she cried, the worse he felt. Those weren't the sobs of a girl; they were the wails of a lady that had gone through hell.

It took half an hour before the woman's sobs stopped, and at some point, even some personnel came to look for them, worried, even saying they'd call the police until they noticed that Tony wasn't molesting her. It was her that was clinging to him... they ruled it as the multimillionaire dumping yet another girl.

While his reputation got slandered, Tony pulled Cassandra up. This date hadn't gone the way he expected, but at least... she seems to feel better.

"Cassandra, I'm with you, okay?" He said those words to reassure her and perhaps get some room for his lungs to expand, but her hug wasn't getting any lighter.

"Thank you... so much... I think I remember a lot more now, but... some things are still missing... what I am... what happened before I came, it is also fuzzy."

"I see..." He limited himself to caressing her hair, and they remained like that. Perhaps they'd have to take away, as Cassandra wasn't in a mood for eating.

"Tony."

"Hmn?"

"I don't want to remember anything else... I want to stay with you and not remember anything else." She sobbed again and sank her head into his chest.

All he could do was nod and place her head against his chest. This alien had surely suffered a lot wherever she came from. She had even been abused by some bastard. He didn't know if this is where she came from, or perhaps she landed on Earth at some point, to the hands of the wrong people... he didn't know. But since she didn't want to remember, that darkness would remain in the past.

"That doesn't make sense. It was Earth, but what are those creatures? Japan, West Genetics, that place doesn't exist..." He thought it must have been some different dimension of sorts, and it kind of made sense what Jarvis said. She didn't come from outer space, but even then, how did she arrive here?

The answer to those questions was no longer relevant.

"Let's go, I'll take you home..." Embracing her tightly, Tony took her and their food away back home, where she belonged.

**

After arriving home, there wasn't much to talk about. He placed her on her bed, and she reluctantly allowed him to leave.

Not in the mood to continue his research, the man slumped on his bed.

Tony couldn't stop thinking about Cassandra, her memories, the world that he saw, those creatures, her powers... it was as intriguing as it was saddening that she had gone through so much.

In his house, there was a really powerful yet vulnerable alien that resembled humans more than most humans. Her strength didn't stop her from suffering a tragic life.

"What should I do?" Whenever he asked himself this question, it would come unanswered. The answer was so easy: if he survived, he'd stay with Cassandra... she was sweet and helpful, but perhaps... surviving was not an option for him.

*KNOCK*

"Come in." He said, quite aware of who it was.

"Tony..." Cassandra's head popped through the door. He could see her glance his way with a gaze containing fear.

"What is it, Cassandra?"

"Can I sleep with you tonight?"

"..."

"That might be dangerous..."

"Are you sure? Cassandra, I am a man." If before he merely said it due to cordiality, after seeing her memories, he realized that there might have been a deeper trauma in there. Cassandra subconsciously evaded men, but that didn't seem to be the case with him.

"I trust you... you have been kind to me. You won't do anything bad to me, right?" Her entire body entered the room even before he accepted. She could tell in his eyes he didn't want to reject, and by checking on his mind, she knew that although he felt attracted to her, he knew how to respect boundaries.

Her confidence wasn't unwarranted or naively placed; she genuinely felt trust for Tony Stark.

"I would never."

"Then, please... allow me to sleep together with you."

"Come." Opening the bedsheet, he patted it, and she smiled, crawling inside.

She lay down beside him, and he spooned her, embracing her tightly in his arms. It was then that he noticed that she was taller than him, even if just for a few inches.

"Thank you, Tony... for being with me."

"Anytime."

"S-Something is touching me... behind." She blushed and refused to look back.

*Cough!*

"I wonder what it is. Just ignore it."

"I feel like my crotch is slightly numb. I want to piss."

"Cassandra?" Why is she saying all this all of a sudden?!

"You told me to tell you everything."

"Okay, okay, you can save those details..."

"Hmn..."

It would be a peaceful night for the two of them.