The Genius// Tony Stark's Daughter

Chapter Nine

The next day, after nearly seven hours of working on Tony's suits and doing homework, I head downstairs for Dinner. As I travel down the stairs, I hear Tony and Pepper talking about Malibu Prep, and my stomach practically drops. I'm dreading the day I have to put on the uniform. I decide to push the thoughts into the back of my mind. As I reach the sleek, glass kitchen table, Tony's head perks up from behind his tablet.

"Hey, kid," he says.

"Hey," I respond. "What's that?" I ask, seeing his tablet lit up. I quickly walk over to his seat.

"Uh..uh-nothing..." He quickly protests as I come nearer. He hides the tablet in his lap. "Nothing." He says with more confidence.

"Okay...?" I say suspiciously. He tucks his head back down. Weird. I ignore it, figuring it's just one of his mood swings. I take the time to sit down at the large glass table. It could easily fit 10-15 people, but we seem to make do. It's only then that I realize that the news is on the TV. I look up from my conversation when I hear Tony's name being announced by the anchorman.

"In recent efforts to minimalize fatalities due to this recent tragedy, Mr. Tony Stark, along with others, Steve Rogers, Natasha Ro-"

"JARVIS, bud, turn that off for me," Tony says suddenly.

"Yes, sir," the computer replies, and the TV turns dark. Pepper and I give Tony questioning looks.

"So, Tony..." Pepper changes the subject and hands me a plate filled with steak and asparagus, despite my efforts to tell her that I'm not hungry. "Aren't you going to tell us how last night went?"

"Sorry, that's classified." He says perkily and sarcastically. He smirks, signaling that this was some kind of inside joke of theirs.

"Oh yeah, sure!" Pepper half shouts. She cracks a smile. "Seriously, though." She states.

"Well, I'm not gonna lie." He raises his eyebrows. "It went fantastic, thanks to me. A little death, a little heartbreak..."

"Yeah, Whatever." Pepper says lightly. She smiles. "I mean it. What happened. Tony just smiles sadly.

"Everything okay?" I ask.

"Yeah. Everything's fine, squirt."

"Okay..." I turn to Pepper, "Well, how long are we staying in New York?"

She looks a little bit taken back by the sudden change of subject, but continues. "Not much longer, two days maybe? We have to be back by Monday so that you can start school."

Awesome.

After breakfast is over, unsurprisingly, Tony heads downstairs to his lab. Thinking I could help him with one of his suits, or maybe even one of his Lamborghinis, I follow him. However, he must not notice, because as we reach the bottom of the staircase, he turns to me with a surprised look on his face.

"What?" I ask with a smile.

"Nothing," he says as he starts to turn around. However, he stops himself and turns back around. "Actually, yeah. something. It's not that you aren't my favorite kid, I just... I have to work on something...alone." He almost looks guilty.

"Oh, okay. Yeah..." I turn around.

"Hey, kid, I'm sorry." He tells me.

"No, no, it's fine," I say as i go back upstairs.

Once I get to the main floor, I pick up my pace. What's his deal? Is everything alright? Is it something I did? Maybe I should go talk to him...

I ignore it. I go up to my room, where JARVIS already has the next episode of Supernatural pulled up on the television for me. I watch for about half an hour before slowly falling asleep.

____________________________

Tony's P.O.V.

I'm forgetting something.

What am I forgetting?

I screwed up. Big time.

I mean...big time.

How am I gonna tell them?

Maybe I can just grow my hair out, move to Puerto Rico, and go by the new name of Juan Hernandez. That would work, right?

God. This is bad.