The Genius// Tony Stark's Daughter

Chapter Two

The car ride to Tony's house was awful. The child services officer was trying to be sympathetic, and I was sick of it. I was a total jerk, and I knew that I was. I felt really bad about it later.

As we pull into Tony's driveway, the size of the house gets to me. It's like 5 stories high! How many people live here? How many people could live here?

Tony and what must be Pepper Potts greet us at the door. There are with a man who I've never seen in the news with Tony. He opens the car door for me, and then is off to grab my luggage. He did it so quickly, I didn't even get a chance to say thank you.

"Thanks, Happy." Pepper tells him for me. She turns to me with a fake smile on her face. "Hello, I'm Pepper. I'm sure you know Tony." She looks calm, but you can tell that she's angry about something. Probably me. I've seen her in the news. I think that she's Tony's girlfriend.

Tony is focusing on something else off in the distance. He's wearing sunglasses, so I can't make eye contact with him. He nods. "Uh, ya. Hey. Your room's on the third floor, next to the staircase. Jarvis will help you." He seems like he's being forced to say it.

"Who's Jarvis?" I ask him. He doesn't really respond.

"Hello, Ms. Stark," a semi-mechanical voice says. I look up, trying to find the source. The name feels wrong, like it's not mine.

"Jarvis is our home computing system. He takes care of Tony's mechanical needs, and just kind of takes care of the house technology." Pepper chips in for Tony.

"Okay, then... well, I'm Eliza." I tell Tony. I hold out my hand, but he doesn't take it. He nods again.

"Okay, then, well let's go get you settled in!" Pepper says excitedly. She's probably trying to distract me from the fact that's my dad is a total douche bag. We walk inside, and I am immediately surprised. It's so big!

She starts to give me a tour, which goes on forever. I don't typically get nervous, but the feeling in the pit of my stomach won't go away.

After we get to my bedroom, I ask Pepper for some privacy. She nods, and steps out.

The room is easily the size of my old house. It's got cream colored walls and has generic furniture, so I can tell that it used to be a guest bedroom. Not that I'm complaining-it's beautiful! The far wall is nothing but glass, and it gives me a perfect view of the ocean.

I start to unpack- not that I have much. That doesn't take long. Then, I step out and start to explore the house some more. I wander around, looking into the rooms that Pepper showed me earlier. I can hardly remember anything from the tour because my nerves are getting the best of me. Eventually, I find myself down a flight of glass stairs. At the bottom is a single door with a keypad next to it. I try to open it, but it's locked. Oh, well.

I go back upstairs. I want to read, but all of my books were burned in the fire. I think about watching TV, but I feel like I should ask, and Pepper and Tony are no where to be seen. Just when I think I'm about to die of boredom, the doorbell rings.

"Tony!" I hear a voice yell from outside.

Should I answer it? Are Tony and Pepper even here? After a while, I decide to go for it. Standing in the other side is a man, maybe 30 or 35 years old. He looks surprised at me.

"Oh...hello?" He says with immense hesitation. After a long, awkward pause, "Um, is Tony here?" He says blankly.

"Um, I think so. I mean, his car is still here, but I don't know for sure," I reply shyly.

He nods, and lets himself in. "Jarvis, is Tony here?" He asks. He seems annoyed and eager at the same time.

"Yes, sir. He's in the basement, working on his suits." The computer replies. The man nods and starts to walk down the same flight of stairs as I did earlier. Does he know the code?

"Um, sorry." I stop him. "Who are you?" I ask awkwardly. He turns around.

"Well, I could say the same for you!" He smiles. I force a laugh. "My name is James Rhodes. I'm Tony's friend. And you are...?"

I honestly don't know how to answer. Does he know that Tony has a kid? Should I be the one to tell him? After a short pause, I go for it. "I'm Eliza. I'm Tony's...daughter." His smile turns into more of a shocked expression, but he tries to hide it. He looks confused for a little bit, but then just walks down the stairs again.

I hear him enter the code, and then yell, "Really, Tony?! Really?!" as he steps inside.

After a while, I hear shouts from downstairs. Then, after that goes on for a while, both voices are drowned out by ACDC blasting through the speakers. After about ten minutes of that, I hear Tony stomping up the stairs like a toddler, followed by James.

"Tony, listen to me! You need to sort this out!" James yells.

"Look, man, you need to loosen up! I've got it covered. How 'bout a drink?" Tony asks. They don't notice me hiding behind he couch.

"Really, you've got it covered?" James mocks. "You've got it covered?Is that why you haven't been answering your phone in the last two weeks?! And why you've been missing meetings?" James asks, annoyed.

"Maybe we should take a trip. Get away from all of this. The plane's ready whenever we want. Say the word, we'll head to Vegas!!" Tony says.

"No. No, there will be no Vegas." James says with a stern voice. Then, with a lowered voice, he says, "Come on, man, why didn't you tell me? I could help. This isn't something you can just blow off! She's a kid- your kid now!"

Tony doesn't respond. He just stares into his drink. James sighs.

"Tony..." James starts to say, but stops. "Okay, well I'm gonna head out." After he leaves, Tony goes back downstairs, still not noticing me.

So much for a healthy father-daughter relationship.

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