America's Sweetheart || Steve Rogers

1994 || changes

I'm getting older, I think I'm aging well
I wish someone had told me I'd be doing this by myself
There's reasons that I'm thankful, there's a lot I'm grateful for
-Getting Older, Billie Eilish

September 3rd 1994
Horace Mann School, New York

"Aria!" the teacher calls out.

The girl turns around and looks a bit shocked to see her father standing in the doorway. He flashes a grin at her and she jumps up, pottering over to him.

"Hiya, munchkin. You ready to get going?" he says, starting to turn to leave.

"No, no!" she whines, "Can I stay longer?"

"Uh, no, because it's three pm and school ends at three pm."

"But I want to play with my friends!" she crosses her arms and stomps her foot down.

"Well, that's fine because you'll be back here tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that for the next twelve years. Now, come on, I left work early for this and I've got a meeting in half an hour."

"Fine." she groans. She spins around and waves to her teacher, "Bye, Miss Sharp!"

"See you tomorrow, Aria.", the teacher smiles.

A series of things along the lines of 'Bye Aria!' comes from the kids still waiting to be picked up. Tony looks down at her, "Somebody's popular."

"I'm not popular, everybody just wants to be friends with me." she shrugs.

"Right... Somebody's also a bit too big-headed."

Ten minutes later, after they've left the school and got in the car, they arrive at Stark Industries. The car pulls into the spot, that has a sign saying 'Tony Stark, CEO' and they both get out.

"You have your own parking spot, that's so cool!" Aria gasps.

He chuckles, "You've been here a hundred times, and you're still surprised every time."

"It's cool," she mutters, turning slightly red. "Does Pepper have a spot?"

"No, because she doesn't own the company." he grumbles, taking her hand and starting toward the entrance with her.

"What about Obadiah?"

"Yes, he has a spot because he runs the company." he says, clearly uninterested.

"And Happy?"

"Nope, he uses my spot because, surprise, surprise, he drives my cars."

"What about... Rhodey!"

"He doesn't even work here."

"Oh... Okay!", she shrugs and continues happily walking along next to him. "Can I have a car spot?"

"No, you can't drive."

He looks down at her and furrows his brow; he has no idea how this girl is always so happy- he loves her for it though. Together, the two of them walk into the building, everyone staring at Tony as soon as he enters. 

They head to his office and he sits down at his computer, getting back on with his work. Even though she's been there a thousand times before, Aria wanders around, inspecting all the pictures and random things he has.

The entire right wall is covered in a tall shelf and cupboards. Files line the top shelves, but the lower ones are littered with photo frames. She picks up one that shows Tony sitting in one of their jets. It must have been a few years ago because Aria is still a baby, Tony cradling her in his arms.

"What's this?" she asks, carrying the frame over to him.

He glances down from his computer, a small smile appearing on his face when he sees the picture, "That is the first time you left the US."

"Where did we go?"

"I took you to Rome, you loved it. Well, apart from the throwing up all night because you ate too much pizza." he chuckles.

"Can babies even eat pizza?"

"No, they're not meant to. That explains the throwing up." he says. She pulls herself up so she's sitting on his knee, "Munchkin, you're really distracting me from my work."

She grabs another photo frame, this one is right next to his computer. Tony himself doesn't feature in this picture, but Howard, Maria, and Aria do. Howard is wearing a tux, Maria, holding Aria, is in a glamorous red gown and Aria wears a fluffy pink dress. The three of them stand in the entranceway of their home, clearly about to leave for some sort of gala. Howard is smiling down at Aria, who grins back up at him, whilst Maria smiles at the camera.

"When was this?" she asks, studying the image.

"That is you with Grandma and Grandpa at a gala back in nineteen ninety-one." he says.

"Why weren't you there?"

"I was taking the picture for you guys." he tells her.

Just then, the door opens and Obadiah Stane himself walks in, "Tony, have you approved that shipment yet? I need it by seve..." he notices Aria sitting with Tony, "Aria! There's my favourite girl!"

She jumps down from Tony's lap and runs over to Obadiah, "Obi!" she grins.

He picks her up, "Wow, you look grown-up!"

"It was my first day of school!" she announces proudly.

"I've heard, your Dad's been telling me all about it." he says, smirking at Tony.

"I made so many friends, and they gave us juice pops!"

Tony chuckles and walks over to them, taking Aria from Obadiah's arms, "Alright, munchkin, I need to have a chat with Obadiah, can you just wait outside for a sec? Then we can head home, okay?"

She nods happily, as he sets her down before she leaves the room. Once she shuts the door behind her, Tony turns to Obadiah, who asks, "What'd you need to speak to me about, then?"

"I've been thinking a lot, and I think it would be in mine and the company's best interests if we moved locations."

Obadiah raises his eyebrows, "Move the whole company? Why?"

"Well, with Howard gone, the company could use a fresh start, so could Aria and I. I've got it all planned out, there are three different plots we could build our new headquarters on, all much bigger than our building now.", he explains.

"Is now the best time for big changes though? Aria only just started school today, do you want to pull her out so soon?" Obadiah argues.

"Well if we did go through with the move, it'd take at least a year to build our house and the headquarters. So we wouldn't end up moving until she'd finished kindergarten." he shrugs.

"I'm not so worried about Aria. You can't just up and move the entire business like that."

"Actually, I definitely can." the younger of the two men declares.

"Look, if you're serious about this, propose it to the board of directors." Obadiah sighs.

"I know, yeah. I just didn't want to go behind your back with this because I know you'd never go behind mine."

Before Obadiah can reply, Aria bursts in, "Can we go yet?"