Illegitimate Prodigy

Honesty.

"I thought you said he wouldn't be an issue," Rhodey said, keeping himself lightly balanced on the table next to him. "Do you know what he took?" 

Tony kept his arms crossed, his gaze bolted in on the masked villain that was being projected in front of him.  The green eyes appeared to glow brighter the longer it lay stuck on the same still. Fingertips scratching at his arm, he gave a quick wave of his hand, the image disappearing into thin air. "He's not a problem, just some idiot trying to attempt to steal from me. He wasn't successful, all tech was protected." 

"And if he gets in next time?"

"He won't," Peter Parker confidently spoke, his posture straightening with every word that spewed out of his mouth. "I won't let him."

"Hey," Tony's voice became stern. "YOU don't have anything to do with it. Stick to homework and breaking up the occasional mugging." Peter's face immediately gave a disappointed frown, his posture faltering and back in normal position. "I don't want any grief for it--you're worse than Annabelle. Speaking of which.." He began walking the other direction, grabbing a suit jacket off the back of a spinning desk chair. "You two show yourselves out, considering neither of you are suppose to be here." 

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"Mr.Stark, I believe your guest is waiting inside." The doorman flashed a grin, his hand extending out to the Billionaire. Tony generally didn't shake hands, wasn't really into touching--anyone. No one. Placing his keys into the taller black man's hand, he gave a small smirk. "Park this, would you?" He mumbled quickly. "Hmph." The man grunted, obviously displeased with the rude interaction.

Passing through the glass doors, his eyes adjusted to the small lit establishment. Fake trees in every corner, with white twinkling lights covering their branches. A long bar to the right, with a blue neon light making itself obvious as customers walked by. A very attractive blonde stood at the hostess stand. Kind eyes met Tony's, and of course without fault he turned on his charm by flashing his plastic white grin. "Hello Mr.Stark, let me escort you to your table," Tony nodded, following close behind and watching as the material of her black dress swayed gently with her every movement. "Date night?" The phrase immediately made him snap back into reality. "Come again?" 

"Oh....a beautiful girl is waiting for you. I only assumed maybe it was a date. My mistake." 

Tony's charming grin immediately turned into an uncomfortable smirk. "Oh, no..no. Don't be silly. I'm old enough to be her father."  What he said made him cringe, being that he chased so many young women prior to dating Pepper. Of course, now having Annabelle avidly in his life, the thought disgusted him. No one knew that Annabelle was his daughter. At least not the public. No doubt the press, newspapers and magazines wouldn't skip a beat putting her in their headlines. Unfortunately, everyone assumed she was his new, hot young girlfriend. It was amusing to everyone that knew the truth--even Pepper--but to Tony, he would rather vomit. 

As they approached the table, his eyes fell on Annabelle who sat patiently. Her brown irises were dropped to her hands. Unlike any other young girl her age, she wasn't staring at a phone--a device that her father created--or a girly magazine, but flash cards. He almost wished his intelligent spawn would take a break, and live her young life, but she was stubborn. Just like him. 

"Miss me?" His eyebrows lifted in amusement, watching as Annabelle's dark brown eyes lifted and then disappeared when she gave him a small smile. The hostess pulled out his chair, and gave Annabelle a slight glare. "Your waiter will be with you shortly." 

 He hadn't noticed when she came to the shop door that she was bright eyed and bushy tailed. The more and more time he spent with her, the more she reminded him of his mother---as well as Lizzie. "Quick. What is acetylcholine?" Annabelle placed her elbows on the table top, holding the flashcards up higher, before quickly leaning to one side to give him a small, mischievous look. 

"A neurotrasmitter--learning, memory and muscle movement," he said, reaching for the glass of water that sat at his right and brought it to his lips. Annabelle gave him a playful eye roll. "I thought you were an engineer," she spoke as she bent to the side put the cards back inside her bag that sat at her feet.

 "I dabbled in everything." 

She gave an unamused 'Hmm.' It never occurred to Tony how hard it would be to impress someone Annabelle's age. Let alone his daughter. "What was so important in the shop today that Rhodey was there?" 

Tony's eyes clicked every which way, hesitating. Generally, Belle was good at not asking him questions like this. She didn't want to know--which was fine by him. Why was she so curious now? 

"What are you drinking?" His fingernail quickly clinked against her vibrantly pink drink. 

"Your deflecting, Tony." Her arms quickly stacked in front of her, furrowing her eyebrows, clearly waiting for an answer. In response, he reached forward and grabbed the drink. Bringing it to his lips. 

"Cucumber--and Pink Lemonade." A sour look pinched at his features, placing it back down.

"Also, there was a kid in there that looked younger than me," she pointed at her chest. "Why does he have clearance?" 

Tony let out an almost annoyed sigh, leaning back in his chair and his hands now resting flat on the table. "He doesn't."

His daughter looked shocked, which wasn't a reaction he was use to in this context. "What?" 

"Do you know that masked vigilante that's been making all the yourtube--whatcha ma-call-it, websites?" 

"Spider-Man?" Belle's eyelids fluttered rapidly. 

"That kid--is him. Flying around in that jump suit." He knew he shouldn't be telling her this, but he tried to be honest with her. 

"Okay--and what does he have to do with the man on the video?" 

"Nothing--he doesn't have to do with him. Not really," he felt himself cringing. "It was more of just a meeting to--- give him strict guidelines." He knew that she was tying all the details together, but missing pieces because he wouldn't give them up. "He gets himself into trouble--and puts others in danger. The monster on the screen would have only provoked him."

"Who is the 'monster' on the screen, then?" Her voice pitched change, her attitude pulling itself to the surface.

Pressing his lips together, the older Stark shook his head, his eyes drifting away from hers. "I don't know, sweetheart." He leaned forward, his gaze refocusing on her. "but I will soon."