The Golden Daughter✓Tony Stark

8: It's like Operation

The newscaster mocks;
"Stark Industries! I've got one recommendation! Ready? Ready? Sell, sell, sell! Abandon ship! Does the Hindenburg ring any bells? Let me show you the new Stark Industries business plan! Look, that's a weapons company that doesn't make weapons!"

Dad's voice suddenly booms over the intercom, "Pepper. How big are your hands?"

"What?" She exclaims. We both exchanged looks of confusion as I mute the television.

"How big are your hands?" He repeats.

"I don't understand why…" Pepper starts.

"Get down here. I need you." Dad says and Pepper drops the PC in her hands on the table, heading towards the lab. She suddenly turns around and asks "You coming?" And I rolled my eyes before standing up to join her.

"You know you can't ignore him forever." She says.

"I might if I try hard enough." I muttered.

"Both of you are so alike. You'll come around in a few hours." She says as she opened the door to find dad shirtless on a chair, holding an arc reactor in his hands.

"Hey. Let's see them. Show me your hands. Let's see them."  Pepper holds up her hands as she goes closer, while I just stayed at the door post observing them.

"Oh, wow. They are small. Very petite, indeed. I just uh…need your help for a sec."

"Oh, my God, is that the thing that's keeping you alive?" She asks as she goes closer to him. It hits me again that I'd almost lost him. I know he saw something there that made him make that announcement.

"It was. It is now an antique. This is what will be keeping me alive for the foreseeable future. I'm swapping it up for an upgraded unit, and I just ran into a little speed bump." Dad explained to her.

"Speed bump, what does that mean?" She asks again.

"It's nothing. It's just a little snag. There's an exposed wire under this device. And it's contacting the socket wall and causing a little bit of a short. It's fine." Dad explained as he pulled the reactor out, handing it to her.

"What do you want me to do?" The anxiety was clear in her face.

"Put that on the table over there. That is irrelevant."

"Oh, my God!" Pepper exclaimed placing the reactor in the table

"I want you to reach in, and you're just gonna gently lift the wire out."dad instructs.

"Is it safe?" She asks unsure.

"Yeah, it should be fine. It's like Operation. You just don't let it touch the socket wall or it goes 'beep'. " dad says and I mentally face palm. Way to calm her nerves down.

"What do you mean, 'Operation'?"

"It's just a game, never mind. Just gently lift the wire."

"Okay."

"Okay? Great."

"You know, I don't think that I'm qualified to do this."

"No, you're fine. You're the most capable, qualified, trustworthy person I've ever met. You're gonna do great. Is it too much of a problem to ask? 'Cause I'm…"

"Okay, okay."

"I really need your help here."

"Okay. Oh, there's pus!"

"It's not pus. It's an inorganic plasmic discharge from the device, not from his body." I quipped, coming closer to the duo.

"Oh and she speaks. Here I was, about to sign up for an online lesson for sign language." Dad retorts.