"Who is he?"

"He's my brother!- aaah!"

"No he's not, he's not your brother!"

"Yes he is!"

"You don't have a brother"

"I have a brother. His name is Anthony Edward Stark. He is my big brother!" Gali screamed again as Mariana shocked her.

It's been a couple of days since they began shocking her and she doesn't seem to be breaking. They can't get through to her but they're confident they will. They kept hurting her until she can't scream anymore, yet not once has she hesitated on the names. She's stronger than they thought but people eventually break. And so will her.

"You don't have a brother" Richard leaned in close to a sweaty, bruised, bleeding, Galilea.

"Yes. I. Do" she screwed her eyes shut in as the pain coursed through her body.

The corner of her eyes pricked with tears and she held them back. She can't scream anymore. Her throat is raw and dry. The palms of her hands covered in cuts and scabs. When they're torturing her, she balls her fists and her nails pierce her skin, leaving her with bloody hands.

The pain stopped and Richard gave the orders to return Galilea back to her cell. Castiel and Mariana unhooked Gali and she slumped into the chair. She's really weak. She can barely keep her eyes open. They grabbed her and held her up as they walked. Gali's feet are dragging but she doesn't care. She's too weak. Too tired.

"Castiel" she whispered "you smell like cinnamon" the man said nothing as he kept dragging Gali.

Her head rolled and her eyes closed for longer than a second and then opened them again to be met with blinding lights on the ceiling. She groaned and moved her dragging feet. She stumbled and fell out of Castiel and Mariana's grasp. She fell in front of a large steel door that was open because people are going in and out. Gali looked inside but only saw black shoes.

Mariana groaned and bent to grab the girl "come on" she grunted.

Her and Castiel managed to pick her up and Gali lifted her head and looked into the room.

She saw some kind of capsule or tube. From what she can see it's big and open. There are men in the room but she didn't pay any attention to them. Her focus was on the man sitting on a chair much more scarier than the one she had been seated. He stood up and Gali swears she saw that the guy has a metal arm. She caught a glimpse of something shiny before she was pulled away by Castiel and Mariana.

"Wha- who is that?" She rasped out.

"No one" Mariana answered.

"But- oh god, I don't feel good" Gali wheezed out.

"Ugh, not again" Mariana groaned as she took Galilea to the bathroom.

Galilea remembers the first Christmas without her parents. It was was too painful. Everything was fresh. She couldn't look at the Christmas tree without bursting into tears. She decorated it with her parents.

Tony had come home from boarding school and was so happy to see his little sister again. His relationship with his father wasn't the best towards the later years of Howard Starks life. Tony was a sarcastic, smart mouthed teenager who was already known for having many girlfriends. He was too much like his father in his younger days and Howard just wanted the best for his children.

It was suppose to be a short trip. They were to go to the Bahamas and be back in time for Christmas. But they never even made it to the airport. They died in a car crash and a week later it was Christmas.

Emil and Kamilla stopped by their house on Christmas morning. They wanted to see how the Stark siblings were doing. They weren't doing well. They were locked in their rooms and an exhausted Jarvis was trying to get them to eat.

Kami didn't get a word out of Galilea. The thirteen year old girl sat on her bed with a pillow in her arms. Her eyes were red and puffy. She stared at nothing and Kami sat on her bed, speaking softly "please Gali, please say something"

Galilea stayed quiet and Kamilla sighed "At least eat. Poor Jarvis is exhausted. He has a pile of food in the kitchen. I'm pretty sure he'll make Em and I take some before we leave" Kami smiled small.

Gali looked down at the covers of her bed. She knows that Jarvis has been working hard on trying to get her to eat. To get her and Tony to stay healthy and they've ignored him and had a couple mouthfuls of food. Gali closed her eyes and took a second to thank Jarvis. He also knew her parents, he knew her father before he got married, before he met Maria, her mother. Not once did Gali consider Jarvis' feelings. She mentally smacked herself for being so selfish and forgetting about the butler.

Rustling and crinkling of paper brought Gali back to the present and saw Kamilla pulling a small package out of her coat pocket "I hope you come around to open it. Merry Christmas" she handed the Stark girl the gift. Gali took it in her hands and looked up at Kami.

"I know this is probably the last thing you want to celebrate but Christmas is about spending time with the people you love. Your parents might not be here anymore but you have Tony. There's Jarvis and Anna, and Emil, and there's also me. If you don't want to be with me that's okay, I understand. I do. But please at least be with your brother. He needs you like you need him"

There was a soft knock at the door and 18 year old Emil poked his head in the room "time to go Lala" he softly told his little sister. She nodded at her brother and turned to Gali.

"Please do it. If not for me then for them. Bye Lea. I'll come back soon" Emil offered the girl a sad sympathetic smile before leaving the room.

Gali heard them walk away and their voices at the end of the hall as they talked with Jarvis "still no answer?" His English voice was soft and sad.

"No" the Rosenthal siblings shook their heads.

"Well, thank you for at least trying. Here, take some food with you" Jarvis handed them tupperware filled with food. They accepted the food and left.

Ten minutes after they left, Gali walked out of her room and slowly made her way to the kitchen where a sad Jarvis is looking over a tray of Christmas cookies. He saw a sneaky hand take a tree shaped cookie and looked up to see Galilea. She didn't say anything as she rounded the counter and threw her arms around the man. Jarvis wrapped his arms around the girl and they didn't need to say anything.

A couple seconds later another pair of arms were wrapped around them both and Gali felt the immediate comfort of her older brother. Whatever it was that Emil told Tony, it worked. The three of them were in a long quiet hug and then slowly let go of each other.

They had cookies and milk, all three of them and then they sat on the couch. The fire was crackling, the tree was lit, the gifts are neatly organized around the tree. The piano stood in all its magnificence, but it wasn't played that night. Maria Stark would be the one to play the piano. Her and Gali. They would sing and sit at the piano and sometimes Tony would try to mess up his little sister so she would get the wrong keys.

The last time Gali played the piano with her mother was the day they died. Maria and Galilea where playing Try to remember by The Fantasticks. Tony was laying on the couch with a blanket over his body and a Santa Claus hat on his head, sticking out from under the blanket. Howard pulled the blanket off his son and called him a homeless man by the way he was dressed and was sleeping for most of the day.

That was the last time they saw their parents. None of that happened that night. None of it.

"Jarvis, shouldn't you be home to Ana, Matt and Poppy?" Tony questioned.

"They don't mind" Jarvis replied.

"Jarvis, go. Be with your family" Tony's voice cracked. Jarvis understood, said his goodbyes and went home to his family.

Galilea rested her head on Tony's shoulder and he held his little sister close to him. The room was quiet aside from the fire. They didn't need to say anything. It was better unsaid. They let actions speak louder than words. The warmth they felt bubbling in their chest, it wasn't because of the fire, it was because of their love for each other. The sense of safety and hope. The feeling of family and always being there for each other.

They both silently promised to take care of one another, to be the best person they can. A promise that both struggled with but have kept it after all those years. That was their first Christmas without their parents. The saddest one and most important one.

Tony and Gali stared at the pile of gifts under the tree and wondered what would be in them. She always wondered what her parents had gotten her for Christmas. Perhaps she'll find out when she's back home with her brother.