Father's Daughter

1.01

CHAPTER ONE

The sleek metal floors of Stark Tower gleamed under the warm sunlight filtering through the floor-to-ceiling windows. Outside, the familiar skyline of New York stretched out like a city teetering on the edge of greatness and disaster. Inside, Lyra Maeve Stark sat cross-legged on the couch, her eyes glued to the holographic display floating in front of her—Tony Stark in his Iron Man suit, cutting through a pipeline deep under the ocean.

“Looks good down there, Dad,” Lyra commented, the faint buzz of excitement in her voice.

"You're good on this end. The rest is up to you," came her dad’s reply through the tower’s speakers.

Lyra sat back, watching as her father, the infamous Iron Man, wrapped up another typical day of saving the world with style. Tony Stark was many things—brilliant, reckless, impossibly charming—but to her, he was Dad.

"Did you disconnect the transition lines? Are we off the grid?" Pepper’s voice crackled over the communicator, the tension evident.

“Stark Tower is about to become a beacon of self-sustaining clean energy,” Tony said with his usual cocky nonchalance.

"Wow. So maybe our reactor takes over, and it actually works?" Pepper's face appeared on Tony's HUD, but it was Lyra who leaned forward, more excited than anyone else.

"I assume. Light her up."

Lyra grinned widely as she glanced out the window. Stark Tower, looming over the city, was about to make history again. The bright Stark logo flickered to life as the power surged through the new reactor.

"How does it look?" Pepper asked.

"Like Christmas but with more me," Tony quipped.

"And a lot less tree," Lyra added, earning a soft laugh from her father and a fond eye roll from Pepper, whose image now filled a smaller portion of the HUD.

"Not now, Lyra," Pepper warned, but the warmth in her voice was unmistakable.

Lyra shrugged, unfazed. She had grown up in this world—half billionaire tech dynasty, half superhero madness. Nothing fazed her anymore. Or at least, that’s what she told herself.

“We’ve got to go wider on the public awareness campaign,” Pepper continued. “You need to do some press. I’m in D.C. tomorrow, working on the zoning for the next three buildings.”

"Pepper, you're killing me. Remember the moment? Enjoy the moment," Tony said, feigning melodrama as he began flying toward the tower.

Lyra stood from the couch and hurried toward the penthouse’s open balcony. She watched her father’s red-and-gold figure streak across the sky, drawing closer.

As Tony landed with a soft thud on the balcony, Lyra grinned and jogged over. “Finally, the Tin Man returns,” she teased as the suit’s parts began retracting, his arms free first, then his helmet.

"Sir, Agent Coulson of SHIELD is on the line," JARVIS interrupted, the smooth British accent a staple in Lyra’s daily life.

"I'm not in. I'm actually out," Tony said, the usual bravado not missing a beat.

But Lyra knew better. Behind that bravado was a man who hated paperwork and, even more, hated being dragged into anything SHIELD-related unless he absolutely had to be.

"Sir, I'm afraid he's insisting," JARVIS added, his tone showing more persistence than usual.

Tony rolled his eyes, “Grow a spine, JARVIS. I’ve got a date.”