↻ ◁ II ▷ ↺

Today was the day society changed it's original trajectory forever, and as of course it happened on Diana Rogers-Stark's birthday. Again. She knew it was going to, but not the way she originally thought it would. After all she just assumed it would be forced to chat with asshole she didn't care about.

From the moment she was forced out of bed Diana already figured out what her day was going to entail. After blowing out her candles Steve had scooped her up from beneath her covers and told the birthday girl that she was in for a great day. What surprised her the most was when Steve revealed that not only would the avengers be going to Avengers Tower, but that for one night and one night only Diana was officially ungrounded. Meaning for the first time in months she would be allowed to leave that prison they nicknamed her home.

Even though she knew the next location she would be visiting was just as secure and closed off. The only difference was that the tower had something missing, fences. Something that made her feel a little less trapped than the other place. 

Once the group arrived Diana could see two familiar faces awaiting them by the doors. Handing her suitcase to her father, the birthday girl ran into Pepper's arms, "Pepper!"

She happily accepted the teen's embrace and allowed Diana to pick her up, "Diana! Oh, happy birthday!" She chuckled as she was set down.

Even though Diana wasn't that excited for the fact it was her birthday, any excuse to see Tony or Pepper of them made her happy. They were the first people to take care of her after she was rescued after all. Diana was attached.

And sadly as Tony technically retired for Pepper the pair had recently have been coming to the facility less and less. Of course they'd stop by, but because of work it wasn't often. Meaning her cool cousin time had been replaced by more and more unwanted training.

"Wow, no hug for your uncle?" A man scoffed next to blonde. "I see where your loyalties lie kid."

Diana tiled my head, "Really?" She deadpanned.

He huffed before pulling his cousin into a side hug, "Happy birthday little Houdini Wannabe. How's the taste of freedom today?"

"Tony," Steve and Pepper both warned him as they greeted one another.

He chuckled, "What? At her age I was grounded weekly as well. Dad said he had to put a lock on Aunt Morg's window. Not to mention all the trouble Captain Dad there got into as well back in the day," he gave Diana's hair a quick scruff. "I've heard stories of the first Dream Team's joy rides and stealing booze from nazis, kid," he snickered.

Steve pulled away from Pepper and roughly slapped him on the back, "That was war Tony."

He rolled his eyes, "Yeah, yeah, I know. Anyways, happy creationday-" he was cut off with another slap from his uncle. "Happy birthday, Kid."

"Thank you, Uncle Tony."

"And we have a surprise for you," Pepper ran over and grabbed her surrogate daughter's hands. "I know your dad said no presents till after cake tonight but this one is a little... different."

"Different?" Diana's brow raised.

The group shared a knowing smirk as she was led inside of the penthouse, "Okay, so we know you didn't request much for your birthday party."

"Yeah just some normal teen party," Diana nodded. "Streamers, balloons and a cake."

Parties were a little strange for the girl, she wasn't sure what normal ones properly entailed considering the only ones she went to were all hosted by Tony. The only normal one that she had ever seen was pictures of Harry's or his cousin... Colette's.

Theirs seemed so cool. Light streamers here and there, balloons duct-taped to the walls, bottles of coke, pizza and this thing called a sheet cake. Plus from the look of it, they only invited a few friends and family making it a very intimate event. 

That seemed like a party Diana could very much enjoy.

"Well..." she trailed off as Tony opened the doors, revealing the exact opposite of what Diana had asked for, "Surprise!"

The birthday girl's jaw hit the ground floor as she stared at the beautifully decorated penthouse covered in thousands of balloons, streamers and so much broadway memorabilia.

"A Broadway themed birthday palooza!" Tony proudly smiled as he wrapped an arm around his cousin. "It was my idea of course."

"We understand you requested something small but-"

"But this is a big celebration!" Tony cut Pepper off, "You're fifteen years old, a woman now! Plus you've had so few opportunities to have a proper birthday party we decided to surprise you with this!"

Her eyes shifted around the place as she struggled on what to focus on. The ceiling was fitted with seafoam green and raspberry red streamers, crisscrossing in a fishtail like design so you couldn't see the ceiling. Blue and yellow balloon arches hit every possible exit, while the middle had a floating set in silver that read, 'Happy Fifteen Diana!'

This was so obviously not a normal teen party.

Luckily, Diana didn't have to look for long considering the two started to pull her around the room, "We have every single wall themed after your favourite musicals. There's Hamilton, Mama Mia, Wicked, Rock of Ages, Phantom of the Opera, you get the idea."

"A Hamilton themed Photo Booth fitted with props and actually worn costumes from multiple performances," Pepper pulled a dress off the rack to show it off, before dragging her elsewhere.

There was a slightly raised platform where a massive screen sat behind a karaoke machine fitted with wall high speakers and very professional microphones, "Introducing the Liberty Karaoke Lounge. We have it on theme of course, so only broadway songs are on file and I have already made a playlist of requests for you and Captain Lameo to do," Tony chuckled.

"Then we head over towards the food table," Diana was pulled to five empty long tables. "We have a gigantic catering event planned. There's going to be sweets, sushi-"

"We have an entire tray of plastic wine glasses filled with cola for your enjoyment."

"Then the peace de resistance..." Tony did a small drumroll before clapping his hands, "The legendary Cake Boss himself, Buddy Valastro, is making you a cake!"

Diana blinked a few times, "Huh...?"

"Fifteen layers, all different flavours, in the shape of your crystal guitar!"

"And finally," Tony pulled Diana towards a large flatscreen. "It took a lot of work, and clearance, but we are going to be able to put on a fifteen minute firework show for you!"

Her eyes significantly widened as they showed off how big the exploding rockets were going to be. Tony and Pepper were both grinning ear to ear as they shut off the screen, "So? What do you think?"

Diana didn't exactly know what to say at that moment, "Um..." she kept shifting her eyes around the room while her entire family inspected the many overstimulating places, "It's... definitely not going to be a normal fifteen year-old birthday party," she slightly chuckled.

The two's excitement quickly shifted as Diana stood there, "You don't... like it?"

Pepper hit her boyfriend with the remote, "I told you we went over to the top!"

"Ow! How was I supposed to know?" Tony rubbed his arm making his cousin quickly backtrack.

"Wait, no! No, no, no. It's awesome! I really like it guys," she quickly covered her tracks. It wasn't a complete lie, it looked really cool.

"But?" Pepper pressed the teen.

Diana gave a small huff glancing around the room she hated, "It's just... a lot. It's really cool, don't get me wrong! It's just a lot," she struggled to find the right kind words to say.

If Diana was more of a bitch she probably would've told them straight up how this wasn't anything like what she wanted. She would've said it looked too crazy and over the top and nothing like a normal person's birthday party, but she wasn't. She wasn't going to tell them that.

They obviously worked super hard on the party. They seemed very excited to show off their hard work. They probably spent thousands on the catering alone, so Diana couldn't just tell them how she really felt! She wasn't selfish. The privileged teen wasn't going to complain. She couldn't!

Pepper let out a small sigh before walking closer, "Diana, we understood that we definitely went overboard and what matters most is what you are comfortable with."

"Yeah!" Tony quickly nodded, "It's your big day so whatever you want you can get. Wanna add more? Get rid of it all? Whatever you want you get today."

Giving a slight glance around the room Diana could see all eyes on her. Both party planners basically hunched over awaiting a response as she struggled to say what she really wanted, "Um..."

Diana couldn't help but tuck her long pin straight hair behind her ear, "I don't wanna sound ungrateful or anything... but-"

"Hey, we did this all as a surprise. It's your birthday," Pepper reminded the teen. "You can change it up however you'd like. Are there too many streamers?"

"Um..." a pit grew in Diana's stomach as she tried to dance around the truth, "A little much I guess? But... don't you think the fireworks are a bit much?"

Tony blinked for a second before standing up straight with a shrug, "You are absolutely right, fireworks are a bit much for a birthday party."

And suddenly it felt as if a huge weight was lifted off Diana's chest. Thankful that he agreed with her, "Are you sure? It's not a big deal?"

He shook his head, "Nope. Not at all, we can save them for another time. I mean it's only a Wednesday after all."

Pepper nodded, "We'll just add them to the Saturday fireworks display for the long weekend this week! It's totally fine," Diana could tell it was not fine, but they acted as such.

How could Diana forget what this weekend was? Not only was it her birthday, but the unofficial start of the Earth's Victory Celebration. As since 2012 the world has dubbed the first weekend of May as New York's Victory Day. A new bank Holiday where the streets would party from dusk till dawn over the Avengers defeating Loki.

Another terrible reminder of what happened to Diana. How she was taken by the Trickster God as she screamed and cried. How she begged to be let go before being hypnotized by him. It's was rather funny people actually thought she would like her birthday to begin with.

"You guys sure about that?" Diana asked again, "It seems as if you wanted them tonight-"

"Diana, it's completely fine," she was reassured. "You don't want them, you won't have them."

"So no fireworks?"

"No fireworks."

"Thank you," she lightly smiled. So at least Diana had a little control over her day. Key word, some.

"Anyways! Let's get your stuff brought down to your apartment. You have a big afternoon planned," Steve grabbed her suitcase.

Diana turned to him, "I do? I thought it was just the party tonight?"

The man gave a small smile, "Actually... the girls have something else in mind."

"You do?" She turned to them.

Natasha skipped over, throwing an arm over the fifteen year-old's shoulder as Wanda went to her other side, "Since you didn't ask for much we decided that the four of us are gonna go out for a girls day."

Diana's lips parted as she looked between Wanda, Nastaha and Pepper, "Girls day? As in... leaving the tower?"

She chuckled, "Well how else are we going to get you a new dress for tonight?"

"I'm getting new clothes?!"

"New clothes, then we're going out for lunch, I booked us for mani pedis and then we are going to go get your hair done," Pepper smiled.

Now that made Diana's heart jump in excitement, "You mean I get to go to an actual salon?!" She excitedly turned to look at her dad, "You said they were a waste of money!"

He sighed, "I still think that, but Nat convinced me you'd want it done for tonight... so I'll allow it."

She immediately ran into his arms and began to thank him over and over and over again, "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

He chuckled, squeezing her back, "Just make sure the dress is appropriate."

"What about my hair?" Diana grinned ear to ear.

He gave it a quick mess, "All that matters is it looks good. Whatever you want done with it is good with me." She particularly jumped once more as she thanked him again.

↻ ◁ II ▷ ↺

Surprisingly Diana Rogers-Stark's afternoon was rather fun. They had lunch at a place called Eleven Madison Park before going to grab a formal dress from some shop called Chanel. Diana was eyeing this beautifully sparkly one but Natasha said it wasn't formal enough so she was given a nice and professional white one instead.

Then they finally made it to the moment Diana was most anticipating, her appointment. The place they went seemed to be very exclusive. Once they walked in they were met by four separate stylists who brought the girls into separate, private, rooms. The other girls were a little apprehensive on letting Diana go off on her own, but the stylists assured them she would be in safe their hands.

It wasn't like Diana couldn't easily mind control them to let her go, but you know whatever. Though before she was taken away they reminded her that she could do whatever she wanted.

Once she was set in her chair the stylist ran her fingers over Diana's locks and looked at the girl through the mirror, "Alright Miss Rogers, what do you want to do today?"

Diana shrugged once she placed the tarp around her neck, "I'm not really sure to be honest. Dad said I could do whatever but... um what do you suggest?"

The stylist hummed, "Well first of all I say we cut away your split ends here," she showed her how bad they were. "At least cut it to the bottom of your collarbone and then we can do whatever you'd like."

"Like what? Dye it?" She asked, sarcastically.

"Sure! What colour would you like? Some highlights, an ombre or the full head?" The woman smiled.

Her sarcastic expression quickly dropped, "What?"

Diana was expecting her to say something like what she was used to. The word 'no', but she continued to study her roots, "What colour would you like? We've got all day and I promise you no matter what you will look amazing."

That made her chuckle, "I'm sorry to burst your bubble Ms, but I'm not allowed to dye my hair."

"I don't see why not? Your father's instructions were to allow anything you wanted, and besides it's your hair on your body," she explained. "You want something done to you, it's entirely your say."

"Really?"

She nodded, "Miss Rogers whatever you want to do to your hair you have the right. All kids your age like to experiment with different looks. It's all about self expression," her smile was becoming contagious.

Though her words struck a chord. All kids experiment with their hair, meaning all normal kids do something different once in a while. Maybe this is what Steve meant by giving her some freedom. A chance to choose her own look. Well... she was fifteen now. Maybe he's finally gonna pull back the reins a little bit.

Diana couldn't help but smirk as she locked eyes with her stylist through the glass, "I know exactly what I want done," Once Diana's hair was completed hours later she practically ran outside to the seating area where the other girls were.

Wanda was in her own little world watching television with a glass of cucumber water in her hand. Her hair was half up and curled, covered in pretty blue gems making a crown of sorts.

Natasha seemed to be enjoying herself with some bottomless champagne, next to her. The spy's hair was up in two sets of braids connecting in the middle.

And Pepper was having a complementary sandwich as she spoke with the spy. Her hair was cut to her collarbone with a soft curl, looking professional as always.

"Here she is!" One of the stylists announced before the three turned to see the birthday girl.

"What do you think?!" Diana threw her arms out and gestured to the awesome new look.

After a lot of conversing with her stylist they finally decided on what was best for her. She had chopped almost all my Diana's hair off so it was just reaching her shoulders. And now nee blonde locks were a gorgeous pink.

Wanda had dropped her glass, "Oh my god!"

"Jesus Christ!" Natsaha spit out her alcohol.

"Fuck!" Pepper threw her hand to her mouth.

Diana's smile started to waver as she received the reaction she was not expecting. So Diana then gave jazz hands once more and grinned, "What do you think?" Obviously excited of how she now looked.

The three all simply stared at the girl with bubblegum pink hair with equally terrified expressions. It wasn't until a stylist coughed that Natasha had the ability to speak, "You dyed your hair..."

Diana then cringed at how scared the woman all look, "Dad said I could do whatever I wanted and... I thought it was time for something different," the teen scratched the back of her neck. "Is it bad?"

"No, no, it's very pretty," Wanda quickly stated.

"We just want to make sure that you like it," Pepper added.

Diana nodded, running her hand through her cool new look, "I love it."

"Then so do I!" Pepper gave a strange, almost staggered, smile while the others nodded in agreement.

"You do?!" That's when she practically jumped, "I'm so glad! I thought you'd think it was a little strange but since dad said I could do whatever I thought to just go for it and get what I always wanted," she laughed. "I hope he likes it!"

The women looked at each other and at the time Diana was having such a high she didn't notice how terrified they were, "I really hope your dad likes it too." 

↻ ◁ II ▷ ↺

The trip back home was one Diana was anticipating. Her finally smiling for real as she started to wonder if tonight's party wouldn't be a complete disaster. It also meant that she got to show it off her new hair to everyone that night. A bit of freedom for the world to see.

She even went so far as to keep her hair hidden from the press with a hat and jacket so tonight would be the first time anyone would see it.

Skipping inside the tower Diana found her family all chilling around the party room. Sam, Vision and Clint, who must've shown up when she left, were pouring themselves coke in a wine glass, while Diana's dad and Tony sat on the couch watching television, drinking some coke as well.

"We're back!" Wanda shouted, making the lot look over.

Sam let out a whistle while the girls posed, "Looking good I say. Making the rest of us look terrible I see," he handed them each a glass of cola. 

"You had the chance to come Mr. Falcon," Natasha chuckled, downing her glass as Tony ran to kiss his girlfriend.

"You are looking exquisite as always, my dear."

She snickered, "And you are a charmer," she was handed a drink as well.

"So where's the birthday girl? I wanna see how she styled herself," Clint smiled as he put his arm around Wanda in a side hug.

"Yeah... about that..." Wanda trailed off, as she grabbed herself something to drink as well.

Diana could see her father from her hidden position tilt his head, "What?"

"So Diana got her hair done somewhat differently," Pepper told them. "She loves it so keep that in mind, but it's not what you'd expect."

Sam blew a raspberry, "Oh come on it can't be that crazy. We've delt with worse than crazy hair before."

Natasha looked back at me, "Come on Birthday Girl, show it off."

The birthday girl stepped out of the shadows and removed her hat and jacket, revealing her hair with a grin, "Tada!"

Surprisingly instead of delayed reactions she was met with a course of claps and whistles, "Damn girl!"

"Looking good, I say."

"The colour really goes with your complexion, Diana," Vision explained.

"It's giving Princess Bubblegum," Tony hummed. "I like it."

She chuckled giving a spin with a small jump, "I know right?! Isn't it great?"

Though the excitement in the atmosphere would quickly burn away when her father swore, "What the fuck did you do?!"

The happy teen then stopped spinning. She stood up proper as she made eye contact with her father. Unlike the rest of her family, Steve he had no kindness in his eyes. Instead his blue irises looked on par with his expression when he and Tony fought over Vision's body.

She watched his hand crushed the half drank plastic glass of coke as he glared at her. The stare alone made Diana slightly shrink, "You don't... you don't like it?"

His voice was low. Cold. Almost betrayed as he said a single sentence, "What would make you think I liked that?"

The room went uncomfortably silent. Diana could see her father's nose scrunch as he tried his best to not scream in front of the others. It took a second before Tony finally broke the tension. Smacking his lips apart as he dramatically glanced down at his watch, "Anyways! Pep, it's almost time for everyone to get here. We should get ready."

She nodded and grabbed his arm, "You are right. We should get going."

It seemed as if the avengers, earth's mightiest heroes all took that as a cue to get the hell out of there. Vision and Sam both said they needed to get changed, Wanda said she needed Clint's help on an outfit and Natasha just left without saying a word. Leaving Diana alone with a very very angry father.

Her hand met her neck as she slowly turned back to him, "So... you don't like it?"

He slowly got to his feet as his anger didn't waver, "What on earth would make you think I'd like it?"

"Because I do?"

He walked closer, his hands running down his face, "Diana why on earth would you tarnish your hair like this? What were you thinking?"

"You said I could get it done however I wanted... this is how I wanted it," she frowned.

"I meant to cut it! Get bangs, curl it, make it look nice for the party tonight. Not ruin your perfect hair," he reached out and touched Diana's now short chemically altered hair.

Though she took a step back so Steve couldn't touch her, "I didn't think it would be such a big deal. It's just hair. My hair."

"And your hair is a very important part of you," he pressed his hands together. "It represents who you are as a person and your family as a whole. When I was touring with your mother, she wouldn't let me leave the room unless my hair was perfect."

"Yeah, but that was different. You were selling your images to make people buy war bonds. I'm not selling anything. I'm not a brand," Diana crossed her arms, "You make it sound like some big deal. If anything, people will think it's cool. Just like I do."

He huffed, running his hand through his own blond hair, "We can work around this. Tomorrow morning we are heading back and getting it fixed."

The birthday girl's eyes then widened. She suddenly felt something strange, but memorable. Just like she did in the elevator months ago when Ultron was alive. Though this time as she stared at her father she felt strange serge. Giving her a sudden boast of confidence. The strength to finally tell him, "No."

He tilted his head, "Excuse me? Did you just tell me no?"

"Yes, I did," Diana Rogers-Stark finally put her foot down. "This is my birthday present. You said anything I wanted. I want this. It's my hair. On my body and I want to keep it pink. You don't get to decide that for me."

"I am your father and I do. You know how I felt about hair dye and you still went and did this," he scolded her. "Your mother would have killed you if she were here. She was always adamant on professional and clean looking hair."

"Yeah? Well, I never knew her so I don't care if she 'wouldn't like it' because mom isn't here. She's dead," Diana shot back. "And I want to keep my hair pink."

"That's enough with that attitude missy," he pointed a finger at her. "I was already embarrassed by it this morning when you were ungrateful about your party."

"You mean the party I didn't want? I didn't want this. I didn't want a party in general."

"That still didn't give you the right to be rude to Tony and Pepper. They were just trying to make you happy," he explained.

"The only thing that made me happy about today was this," she pointed to her hair. "You should all know how much I hate my birthday as a whole. You know what I went through on my birthday."

"I'm just trying to keep you safe."

"Safe?!" She repeated his words, "If anything I'm more of a prisoner than before. I can't even go to the bathroom without a guard at the door. You are suffocating me."

He started to become a little more heated, "I'm just trying to protect you. Why do you think I'm doing all of this? I'm trying to keep you from being taken again. Why do you think I denied the offer for you to go to school?"

That's when the room became silent. Her mismatched eyes stared at him in shock as she struggled to understand what he said. She had to blink a few times in order to understand what he had just admitted, "What did you just say?" How he took away her dream.

Steve took a moment to regain himself before sighing, realizing the secret was out in the open now, "I did it for you."

"What did you do?" She felt her teeth clench as her fingers dug into her scarred palms.

The Captain refused to look his child in the eye, "After Shield fell the senate offered a deal with NAOA Academy. You'd attend undercover and only have your identity revealed after graduation... but I found it too risky."

She looked up at him as she struggled to comprehend the information, "No. No, no you did not..."

"Diana... you do not understand the gravity of the situation. There were... issues. And then when Ultron came I was glad I made that decision," he explained. "It was for your own good."

"You- you..." she struggled to speak, "You decided for me that I wasn't able to attend school?!"

He slowly nodded, "And I'd do it again. Your safety is the most important thing to me-"

"Don't even start with that!" She screamed, "This was never about my safety, this was about your comfortability! You knew how much I wanted to go to school. You knew how important it was to me!" She felt herself holding back tears.

"Diana, I had no choice. I promised to keep you safe and I will. I am so sorry I hurt you, I just wanted to protect you-"

"Protect me? I can't do anything! You have taken everything from me!" She yelled, "You have taken my chance of being normal away from me and had the audacity to blame someone else!"

He frowned, "Diana..."

"Do you know how much it sucked being in the play?" She cried, "How every single person there hated me? How they talked about me? I was the fucking laughingstock of the entire production because everyone thought it was there out of nepotism. And then I didn't even get to perform! I cried to you! Don't you remember that?" Her hand hit her head, "This entire time I was crying to the man who took my chance of normality away!"

"Diana I had no choice-"

"I'm fifteen years-old and I have never done anything normal in my entire life thanks to people like you," she snarled. "I've never made a real friend in my life and it's all your fault! My childhood is just about over and I have never been one because of you!"

Diana could see that her words hurt him, but in that moment she did not care, "I just want to keep you safe. You don't know what's going on out there right now."

"Because I'm locked up in a facility. Like your own little Rapunzel. That's what I'm already called anyways. I don't even have doors like her in the movie."

"You would have a door if you didn't try to runaway all the damn time-"

"I try to run away because I'm sick of living like a prisoner in my own home," she shot back before hitting him where it hurt. "I wish I had chosen to live with Tony years ago. He would've allowed me the freedoms you hold hostage."

His nose scrunched up heavily, "Diana everything I've ever done is for you. I told you I will keep you safe and if that makes me the bad guy I will gladly be the villain in your story."

Anger bubbled around her chest as the birthday girl's face heated up. She didn't know why she was so nervous to say those three words, but once she did there was no going back, "I hate you!"

"If hating me keeps you safe, you can hate me all you want!"

She scoffed, "Stop acting all smug and righteous about the whole situation. I sometimes wish mom was here instead of you!"

"Yeah?" He crossed his arms, "Well, so do I! sometimes I wish you weren't my stupid responsibility! I never wanted you in the first place-!"

Diana let out a sharp gasp as he covered his mouth. The two began to simply stare at one another as he quickly backtracked and apologize, "Wait. Diana, no- Diana that's not what I meant! Wait no-"

But the damage was already done. With tears now streaming down my face she threw a Pocket behind her and jumped through it. Allowing her to breathe in an unknown location.

Diana could still hear her father calling out to her from wherever she was. Though as she slid to the ground with her back pressed against the wall of the random supply closet she had fallen into, she didn't respond. Instead she clutched her knees. Hiding her face between them as she started to wail. She wasn't sure when the crying started or even stopped as she sat alone in her birthday dress, crying over what she had been told.

Diana's entire relationship with her father had come undone like string, all because she cut a strand of hair. Happy birthday to the birthday girl.

↻ ◁ II ▷ ↺

The teen's eyes slowly opened as she heard something strange. As if there were some commotion going on outside of her door. Thankfully nobody from outside bothered to enter the small, cramped, janitorial closet she hid inside. Allowing Diana to take off her glasses to rub her sore eyes.

She must've fallen asleep between the tears and whimpers as she noticed her watch now reading ten instead of five. And sadly from the sounds outside her hiding hole, her family seemed to decided to party on without her. Go figure.

Hearing the music blasting made Diana scream in frustration. Hands running down her face as her fingernails scratched the surface of her skin. Causing the dried makeup to smear.

From the loud shouting and music blaring it seemed as if the others were having a blast without her. Diana should've known that not being there didn't even cross their mind. Hell, Steve probably told them she was grounded again and they just laughed. Writing it in the book of all her problems.

And as Diana's hands had to eventually cover her ears from the loud noise, one thing came to mind. She needed to get out of here. She didn't care if it meant that someone would come and retrieve her moments later. She wanted it. She hoped for it. Bring some attention to the birthday girl. Show her off as an attempt to run away from what everyone considered the "Perfect Life".

Lifting herself up, the teen located a large janitor coat. Once she threw it over her dress, she made a small Pocket to escape from. Even if it only took her towards the stairwell, it was fine. She could walk.

With hood up, Diana Rogers walked down the steps as multiple people passed her, not even giving them a second glance before eventually making it to the ground floor. She was expecting someone to have show up by now but nothing. Not even a receptionist at the front desk. Meaning she could just do easily walk out the front doors. Not even realizing the red flags.

At the time she just assumed her family was having so much fun at her party that they didn't even notice that she was now on the sidewalk outside the tower.

Though once Diana reached the road, her foot seemed to hover over the black pavement. They should've noticed her by now, right? They should've come out and stopped her. Screamed at her, grabbed her and dragged her back inside. So where the hell were they?

BOOM! Diana jolted as the sound of fireworks went off.

The teen's body slowly shifted as she glanced up seeing the light show going off above. Diana's body suddenly felt extremely heavy as she tried to keep herself standing. With a shaky hand she brought it up to her trembling lip. Covering it just in time. Allowing her sobs to be muffled.

That was the perfect push to get Diana to run in the opposite direction, not looking back as civilians stared and gawked at the Spectacular Lady Liberty's birthday firework display.

Happy birthday to Diana Rogers-Stark.

•••