Scar

Chapter 3: Tony's Secret

Chapter 3: Tony's Secret

Still puzzled about what had happened a few minutes ago, Tony questioned, "Jarvis, why are women such..," he paused, "..touchy creatures?" Tony slowly punched the key code into the extremely secure door in front of him, all while shielding it from view, and finally opened it with a quick scan of his eye.

"Sir, I'm not sure I can answer that question," Jarvis replied.

"Well what a helpful supercomputer you are," Tony said with an obvious hint of sarcasm in his voice. Quickly closing the impenetrable door behind him, Tony entered the room only ever seen by his eyes. He huffed as he stared at the glowing, unfinished, top-secret invention before him. "When I finish this, it will be like nothing anyone has seen before," he muttered, excited. He softly touched his chest where his Arc Reactor used to be, and looked at his masterpiece. Chuckling quietly, Tony whispered, "This is how the Arc Reactor is meant to be used." Grabbing a screwdriver and a drill off of the table next to him, Tony approached the machine, prepared to work.

"Mom? Is this good?" Scarlett asked, blowing on the hot pasta.

Busy cutting up the cucumbers, Pepper replied, "Well, taste it."

Scarlett stuffed the slimy spaghetti noodle into her mouth, feeling the burn as it scorched her tongue. "Ow!" She yelped. Her mother giggled and turned to drain the pasta water.

"Sweetie, could you go grab your father and tell him dinner's ready, please?" Pepper asked.

Scarlett stayed silent as she retreated down the stairs, knowing resistance was futile. When she reached the bottom of the stairwell, Scarlett didn't see her dad anywhere. "Dad?" She hollered. "Dad, dinner's ready!" Scarlett yelled, not in the mood to wait for Tony to finish playing with his toys. Hearing a door creak open, Scarlett spun her head in the direction of the noise. From behind a bookshelf, a heavy-breathing Tony appeared, exhausted. Confused, Scarlett questioned, "What's back there? What were you doing behind a bookshelf?"

Tony shuffled over to his daughter and began pushing her towards the stairs. "Nothing, it's, uh, nothing. I was just looking for an outlet," Tony clarified. Scarlett rolled her eyes, but said nothing: she wasn't going to get anything out of her dad.

When her two family members reached the dinner table, Pepper asked, "Cheese, anyone?" The hungry father and daughter quickly sat down, ready for a stuffing of Pepper's amazing pasta.

A couple minutes into dinner, Scarlett stood up from her seat when she heard a buzz. "Um, what exactly are you doing?" Tony questioned.

"I just got a text. I'm going to check it," Scarlett slowly explained, implying that her father was an idiot.

Tony smirked and replied, "Yeah, nice try. No phones at dinner, young lady." Scarlett glared at her dad and rolled her eyes as she sat back down.

"So, how is the.." Pepper was interrupted by the ringing of a phone. That certain phone belonged to a certain Anthony Stark.

"Hey guys, yeah sorry, but I got to take this real quick," Tony innocently said as he stood up and pushed his chair in. As her father left the room to take the call, Scarlett gave her mom the "What. The. Hell." look. The mother and daughter ate their dinner in silence until Tony came running back into the dining room, looking alarmed.

Pepper gave her husband a concerned look and whispered, "What's wrong, honey?"

Tony put his hand over the phone and muttered back, "Lock all of the doors and windows. Now!" Scarlett and her mother rose from the table right as the elevator doors opened, revealing none other but Nicholas Fury.

"Too late," he remarked slyly to Tony as the obviously upset man repeatedly smacked himself in the face.

"Yo, yo, Nicko! What up my man?" Scarlett exclaimed. Fury responded with a simple eye roll and a chuckle - he found Scarlett's nickname for him quite embarrassing.

"Mr. Stark, you know very well what I am hear to speak to you about. In fact, I don't even think I need to say it," Nick stated.

"Look Fury, I already told you no. Besides, I'm retired now. I have a family and I love spending time with them." Tony said.

Scarlett smirked. "Oh yeah. He just loves spending time with us," she said as sarcastically as possible. Her father glared at her and then turned back to Nick Fury.

"Stark, the Avengers need you. Especially at a time like this. There are villains everywhere, and you know it." Fury explained.

"Nick, listen closely. I am done being Iron Man: I've moved on. The team doesn't need me. And if you do need more firepower, hire some more freaks; just not me. Now, if you don't mind, I'm trying to have a nice dinner with my girls, so if you could exit my home, it would be quite nice. Thank you." Tony calmly said.

Nick looked defeated as he approached the elevator and said, "Thank you for your time, Mr. Stark. I hope to see you sometime in the future." The elevator arrived, and Fury stepped in, turned, and gave Tony a nod. The retired father nodded right back. Pepper and Scarlett, both surprised, gave each other a quick look. Once the elevator had left, Tony regained his seat at the table.

Looking at both of his girls, he smiled and questioned, "Now, where were we, ladies?"

Scarlett smiled at her father and plainly said, "Hmm, let's see. Oh! That's right! No phones at dinner."