Life as Maya Stark • Iron Man's Daughter [ 1 ]

10

"Maya and Tony Stark here. Day 11, Test 37, Confuguration 2.0," Maya said to the camera. Tony looked up at the camera and added, "For lack of a better option, Dummy is still on fire safety." Both of the Starks glared at Dummy. "If you douse me again, and I'm not on fire, I'm donating you to a city college," Tony told Dummy. "Not my college!" Maya exclaimed from her spot by one of Tony's computer.

"Alright, nice and easy. Seriously, just gonna start off with 1% thrust capacity. And 3. . .2. . .1," Tony pressed a button and his boots activated. He slowly ascended into the air and hovered for a couple of minutes. Maya couldn't help but laugh as Tony made faces every time he felt like he was about to crash.

Tony landed back on the ground while Dummy followed his every movement. Tony glanced at Dummy and said, "Please don't follow me around with it either cause I feel like I'm going to catch on fire spontaneously. Just stand down. If something happens, then come in."

Tony looked at Maya and then the camera. "Again, let's bring it up to 2.5%. 3, 2, 1," Tony muttered before pressing the button again. He floated up higher in the air and tried to gain control. He stared floating around the room and grunted whenever he went somewhere he didn't want to go.

Tony flew over his expensive cars and started groaning. "Okay, this is where I don't want to be. Not the cars, not the cars. Yikes!" Tony exclaimed. He blew some papers off his desk while Maya watched him in amusement. Tony flew near Maya and she had to duck in order to avoid the boots hitting her.

"Could be worse. Could be worse. We are fine," Tony assured Maya as he flew around the room. Maya laughed. "Like you could do any better," Tony scoffed. Maya stood up and clicked her heels together. She immediately floated in to the air and flew over to Tony with ease. Tony sent a playful glare in her direction which made Maya chuckle.

A little while later, Maya was back on the ground and Tony was able to stable himself. He hovered in the air for a couple more minutes before landing. He smirked at the camera and said, "Yeah. I can fly." Maya smirked and added, "So can I."

Tony looked over at her and asked, "How did you learn to fly like that?" Maya put her feet up on Tony's desk and leaned back in her chair. "I'm freaking talented!" Maya exclaimed with a smirk. Tony rolled his eyes and Maya grinned. "Also, did I forget to mention that I'm amazing?" Maya asked.

"You crashed a couple of times before you were able to get the hang of it, didn't you?" Tony asked. Maya sighed and muttered, "Yeah." Tony chuckled and ruffled Maya's hair. She gave him a small smile before they started to work on some of the other parts of the armor.

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A couple of days later, Maya was bringing down Tony's dinner since he hadn't bothered to show up for dinner that night. Maya entered in the passcode for the lab and walked in. The plate crashed to the ground when Maya saw the sight in front of her.

Tony was in the suit that they had made together and Maya was super excited. She carefully stepped over the broken plate and mentally scolded herself when she knew that she would have to pick it up later. Maya ran over to Tony in excitement.

"Oh my gosh! You're wearing the suit! Does it fit well? Is it heavy? How do you feel?" Maya asked as she inspected the suit. "Woah, kid. Calm down," Tony chuckled. "What are you doing in it? We still have to test it," Maya told him. "Sometimes you gotta run before you can walk," Tony replied. Maya scrunched her nose up in confusion. "Don't you have to know how to walk to be able to run?" Maya asked.

Tony remained silent and Maya rolled her eyes knowing that she wasn't going to get a response out of Tony. "I don't think you should go out there. There are so many things that can go wrong. We haven't tested the suit in different weather environments. For instance, I read this article about how some machines freeze up from exposure to ice and-" Tony cut off Maya's rambling. "I'll be fine. Besides, what could happen?" Tony asked before turning on the suit and flying out the runway.

Maya sighed and went to clean up the mess she had made earlier. After that she went over to the desk where she started finishing her design for the suit. Much to Maya's surprise, the suit had turned out like her design. Well, all except for the color. When Maya had questioned Tony about the similarity the other day he had answered, "Well how 'bout that."

Maya didn't know how much time had passed, but eventually, something fell through the roof and landed on one of the cars instantly crushing it. Maya let out a scream and reached for a wooden bat that she always made sure was in the lab in case of an intruder. In the process of Maya making her way over to the intruder, Dummy doused the person with the extinguisher. Maya walked over to the car and sighed in relief when she saw Tony.

"Way to make an entrance," Maya muttered. Tony pulled off his mask and looked at Maya with wide eyes. "What the hell are you doing with a bat?" Tony asked. "I thought you were an intruder, so I was going to hit you with it," Maya answered simply as she returned her bat to its hiding place under the desk. "You were going to use a wooden bat to hit someone in a metal suit?" Tony asked. Maya nodded and then stopped when she realized the flaw in her plan. "Oh. I see your point," Maya muttered making Tony chuckle.

Tony took off the suit and put an ice bag on his head. "Come on, kid. Time for bed," Tony told her. Maya groaned and asked, "Do I have to?" "If you still want to be out of school for the rest of the month then yes," Tony replied. Maya's eyes widened and she sprinted out of the room. Tony chuckled and stared to walk after her.

He grabbed a mug of coffee that was on top of a box on his way over, but paused when he saw a note on top of the box. He picked it up and smiled when he saw what it said.

From Maya Stark
(With Pepper's help)

Tony tore off the paper that surrounded the box and froze when he saw what it was. It was another arc reactor that read, 'PROOF THAT TONY STARK HAS A HEART.' Tony smiled and saw that a little note was attached to the top of the box. Tony grabbed the note and opened it, instantly recognizing Maya's handwriting.

Tony-

I realized that I've never properly thanked you for taking a chance on me. . .on us. These last few weeks have been amazing and I've loved working down in the lab with you.

I couldn't ask for a better father.

Love,
Maya

Tony smiled and left the arc reactor on his desk. He then went upstairs to thank Maya personally for the gift, but when he reached her room, she had already fallen asleep. So, Tony tucked her in bed and placed a kiss on her forehead before leaving her room.

Tony went back down to his lab and smiled when he saw the gift. It was in that moment that he knew he had made the right decision in letting Maya stay with him. Somehow, some way, Maya had dug her way into Tony's heart. He knew that no matter what he would always protect her because Maya was his family now. She was the thing he loved most in the world. She was his lab partner. His little genius. His angel.

She was his daughter.