[𝟏] 𝐈𝐑𝐎𝐍 𝐃𝐀𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐄𝐑

𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗻𝗲: 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗶𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗱

Present day; Las Vegas, 36 hours earlier

"TONY STARK. VISIONARY. Genius. American patriot. Even from a young age, the son of legendary weapons developer, Howard Stark, quickly stole the spotlight with his brilliant and unique mind. At age four, he built his first circuit board. At age six, his first engine. And at seventeen, he graduated summa cum laude from MIT."

The montage that continued to drone on about her father was a little boring to the seven-year-old girl that became known as Claire Stark to the world. When Tony had first took custody of her, he absolutely refused for her name and face to be shown to the public, doing the best he could to keep her hidden from the paparazzi at first. It wasn't easy keeping her out of the eyes of the paparazzi and it wasn't until one time, a reporter had grabbed the little girl when she was with her father and their bodyguard, Happy Hogan walking towards the entrance of Stark Industries since it would be Claire's first time seeing the inside of the place just so the reporter could get a photo of her face and hopefully some answers to his questions. Of course, Tony didn't like that a single bit and had ended up punching the reporter while Happy pulled her away from the scene. That night was when a press conference was held where Tony had it revealed that Claire was his daughter and since then, Claire's life was fully out there in the public with her name on newspapers headlines or on tv. 

Claire looked around the room that was fill of wealthy contributors and board members, each and every one of them dressed in either suits or dresses while they sat at large tables, even Claire had a nice dress on for the event and still listening to the voice go on about her father, Claire glances over at Rhodey that sat across from her at the table, her father's best friend that Tony had made her godfather, and pretends to let out a bored yawn, making Rhodey chuckle lightly before he stands up and starts making his way to get on the stage. 

"...by ensuring freedom and protecting America and her interests around the globe," the voice finishes up as the final picture of Tony Stark covers the screen.

As Rhodey begins his speech, Claire couldn't help but giggle lightly, bringing her hands up to her mouth to keep her giggles from escaping her lips. 

Then, Rhodey ends his speech with, "Ladies and gentlemen, it is my honor to present this year's Apogee Award to Mr. Tony Stark."

The spotlight finds the table that Claire's sitting at as she looks over at the empty seat next to her while the audience erupts in applause. Claire looks over at her godfather and smiles sheepishly, the two of them knowing exactly where Tony Stark was. Obadiah Stane, or as Claire knows him as Obie since she's heard her father call him that multiple times. Rhodey forces a smile and Claire watches as Obie stands up from the table he was sitting at and moves over to the stage. Claire couldn't help but gaze out of Obie's speech, barely paying any attention to it but the sound of the audience clapping draws her back in and she blinks as she notices everyone starting to leave. 

Claire immediately stands up from her seat and rushes over to her godfather with a wide smile on her face. "Uncle Rhodey!" She calls out for, gaining his attention as he looks over and instantly smiles at the sight of her. 

"Hey, kiddo," Rhodey greets with a smile, carefully picking up his goddaughter once she reaches him. "Let's go get your dad, shall we?"

Claire just giggled with a smile on her face as she nodded, holding onto to her uncle as they walked through the casino, heading straight for where her father was at a table with a ton of flirtatious women standing around him. Claire spots Happy and the moment he spots the two walking over, he doesn't hesitant to push the others away so they could make a straight B-line to Tony.