"Tony has officially lost his mind" Pepper says over the phone
"He's always been eccentric, what is it this time?" I ask slightly exhausted and exasperated. I've been decorating the tower, at least the lower levels, the ones that Stark employees will see, for the last few days finally I'm picking out the last few decorations.
"You should see the amount of suits he's made, it's insane" Pepper sighs "And if I'm being honest he hasn't been sleeping I think this round it is 72 hours of no sleep, you will see when you get here, you are still coming to decorate the house right?"
"I'll be there tonight pepper hopefully I can talk some sense into him" I try to sound confident "I gotta go, I'm just finishing up here I'll see you in 7 hours"
"Safe flight sweetie," Pepper says sweetly, hanging up the phone. I can't help but think that my father made a few good choices in his life, deciding to hire Pepper, then deciding to date her years later is one of them. She's a great addition to our weird family.
"Ok team, load the jet up with the rest of this it's going to Malibu" I instruct after the final lights are hung
Hours later the jet touches down in Malibu. I Descend the stairs of the jet and Pepper is waiting for me.
"The team will unpack and get everything to the house, let's go for dinner and manicures you can start decorating orders tomorrow" Pepper says, pulling me by the arm and practically shoving me into the car. Iv never questioned anything peppers ever done, except this time, it almost feels like she wants to be away from the house.
After our girls' night We drive back to the house. I hear Christmas music blasting from the downstairs lab. I walk down the stairs and pause for a moment, watching my father through the window. I quietly open the door and head over to the couch observing my fathers every move. His genius is truly unmatched and it does slightly terrify me. Suddenly parts of his suit start flying around the lab
"Come on I'm not scared of you" He shouts as his mask flies to him, he does a flip as the mask attaches to his face.
"So that's what you have been working on" I say loud enough for him to hear
"When did you get in? You're not due till 5. I'm supposed to get you from the hanger." He says slightly shocked
"Yeah I got in like 4 hours ago at 5. Don't worry, Pepper was there, she treated me to a girls night, I figured I'd come to check on you before heading to bed for the evening" I say, he gives me a slightly apologetic look
"I'm sorry kid, I've been distracted, but as long as you're ok, I'm ok." He says just as a part of his suit not already attached flies up from the ground hitting him causing him to go flying, the rest of the suit crashing off of him.
"As always, sir, a great pleasure watching you work" JARVIS chimes in over head,
"Nice one JARVIS, if you got that on tape send it to me!" I laugh while talking to the AI, then turning to my father "I trust you got this handled I need to go to bed see you in the morning"
"JARVIS your not aloud to send that to anyone" My father remarks back at his AI, and looks to me as I leave "Good night kiddo"
Shockingly decorating only takes about 7 hours with the fantastic crew I had hired to do the job. I woke up exhausted of course but the crew really did kick butt. I decided to relax a bit and make dinner for Tony, Pepper and myself. I carefully carry a plate down to my fathers lab, that he hasn't left all day. I have never seen him like this, sure he gets involved in work, but never this bad.
"Hey kid," He says while tinkering with the implants in his arm
"Hey dad" I say semi sadly, I'm worried about him.
"Anything you want to talk about kiddo?" He says looking up at me for a half second
"I'm just worried about you dad, I know you're not sleeping, and your desk naps don't count. the whole day you haven't left your lab. Anyway, did you like your decorations?" I ask, pointing to a pathetic tree in the middle of the room, already partially distorted.
"Yeah it was nice" He pauses, "Before I killed it. Sorry, when did you bring it in?"
"When you were taking a desk nap, there was drool and everything... anyways It's fine I just wanted to give you some joy" I turn and go to the doors of the lab "I'll see you tomorrow dad, get some sleep" I can't shake this bad feeling I have. Something is up, I can just feel it. I ascend the stairs outside of the lab lost in thought
"You ok kiddo" Pepper breaks me out of my trance
"Yeah it's fine, dads already trashed the decorations in his lab, I shouldn't be shocked." I vent still slightly upset by it.
"The rest of the house looks amazing, you should be proud" Pepper says with a smile "Also thanks for making dinner! Sorry I got back so late that I didn't eat with you, I take it Tony hasn't left the lab either?"
"Thanks, it doesn't look too bad. And no problem, that's why I left the extras on low in the oven for you! And no, I brought him some dinner, but I'm sure it's just sitting and getting cold." I pause making sure I answered everything she had said so I'm not being rude. "I'm going to head to bed, catch up some more tomorrow?"
"Sure thing sweetie, I have to be at the office early but after we can talk. Good night Kay'' Pepper calls after me as I'm already halfway up the stairs
I sit at my window, it overlooks the ocean, without thinking, I play with a gust of sea air, everything feels so different here this visit. Hours must have gone by because it's now completely dark outside.
I creep downstairs and sit in the living room. It's about midnight at this point, so I don't want to turn the lights on, so I summon a small ball of light to follow me around. Since I can't sleep, I walk to the kitchen and make tea. I hear my dad screaming in his sleep, suddenly one of his suits comes crashing through the floor knocking me back then smashing into the floor above me into my fathers room, Pepper starts to scream.
Pepper runs down the stairs and sits on the couch crying. My shift in movement and the glow of the small orb of light causes her to jump.
"I don't mean to scare you" I say making the light slightly bigger so she can see In the dark too "Are you ok?"
"His suit just attacked me Kay, it attacked me in our room" She says between sobs. All I know to do is give her a hug and stay with her so she feels at least a bit safe.
YOU ARE READING
Elemental Mastery (Steve Rogers Love Story)
FanfictionKaylee Stark has always felt in her fathers shadow. Her mother died when she was born, she was raised by her grandparents until they passed away. She has always felt pushed aside by her father. Will Kaylee ever find her own voice? Will here father...
