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

18

"We've all received the official statement of what occurred at Stark Industries last night. There have been unconfirmed reports that a robotic prototype malfunctioned and caused damage to the Arc reactor-" Maya turned her attention away from Rhodey who was on the tv and looked over at her father who was reading the newspaper.

Pepper was busy working on the bandages that adorned Tony's face while Agent Coulson was trying to explain to Tony what he had to say at his press conference. Tony was ignoring both and instead looked over at Maya and tapped a finger on the newspaper. The newspaper had a picture of Tony in his suit and the article talked about the new superhero that everyone was calling Iron Man.

"Iron Man," Tony muttered as he gave Maya a smile. "That's kinda catchy. It's got a nice ring to it." Maya rolled her eyes, but nonetheless had a smile on her face as she said, "It's not technically correct." "Since it's made out of a gold-titanium alloy, right?" Tony asked and Maya nodded her head in response.

"But Titanium Alloy Man doesn't sound as good as Iron Man," Maya told Tony with a small chuckle. Tony laughed softly and said, "But it's a kinda attractive name anyways, right?" Maya shrugged and muttered, "I guess." Tony pretended to be hurt as he asked, "You don't like my superhero name?"

Maya laughed and said, "I was only joking. The name suits you." Tony smiled before continuing to flip through the newspaper. "Here is your alibi," Agent Coulson said as he handed Tony a blue cards. Tony put down the newspaper and took the cards before muttering, "Okay."

"You were on your yacht. We told Pepper to put you in Avalon all night and sworn statements from 50 of your guests," Agent Coulson explained as Tony read the cards. Tony looked up at Agent Coulson before looking at Pepper and saying, "I was thinking maybe we should say it was just Pepper and me, alone on the island."

Pepper's face went a little red and quickly yanked off Tony's last bandage because she was fed up with his flirting. "What about me?" Maya asked. Tony just gave Maya an 'I don't know' look before Agent Coulson said, "That's what happened. Just read it word for word."

Maya glanced over at the cards and frowned, "There's nothing about Stane here." Agent Coulson smiled at Maya and said, "That's been handled. He's on vacation. Small aircraft have such a poor safety record." Maya chuckled slightly as Tony asked, "What about this whole story that it's a body guard? He's my body...? That's kinda flimsy."

"This isn't my first rodeo, Mr. Stark," Agent Coulson told him with a small smile. "Just stick to the official statement and soon this will all be behind you. You've got 90 seconds."

Agent Coulson then started to leave, but Maya stopped him. "Thank you, Agent Coulson!" Maya yelled after him. "You're welcome, Maya," he said as she started to walk out. He was almost out the door when he turned around and said, "And Maya, thanks for the acronym." He then sent her a wink before walking out of the door with Pepper.

Tony gave Maya a look and asked, "What was he talking about?" "Oh, it's nothing," Maya brushed it off. Tony raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything. Pepper soon returned and said that it was time to go on, so the two got up and started to walk out of the room.

"Hey, Dad?" Maya muttered as she walked out of the room. "Yeah, Maya?" Tony said as he looked down at her. "Thanks for taking me in. I know me showing up on your doorstep wasn't exactly what you wanted, but I just want you to know that it meant a lot to me," Maya told him.

Tony stopped walking and bent down so that he was around the same height as Maya. "I may have not wanted you at the beginning Maya, but you were what I needed. I'm glad that you showed up on my doorstep," Tony said.

Maya smiled and quickly hugged her father. Tony hugged her back and Maya couldn't help but think about those words that her mother had told her two years ago.

Go find your father. His name is Tony Stark. He'll take care of you.

And take care of her, he would.

---

"And now, Mr. Stark has prepared a statement. He will not be taking any questions, thank you," Rhodey told the press before he walked off to the side of the stage to make room for Tony.

Maya stood in the back next to Pepper and she watched as her father glanced around the room before making eye contact with her. He gave her a quick smile before starting to talk, "It's been a while since I was in front of you. I figure I'll stick to the cards this time." The crowd laughed and Maya playfully rolled her eyes.

"There's been speculations that I was involved in the events that occurred on a freeway and a the rooftop..." Tony started but he was cut off by the same blonde reporter from the benefit.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Stark," Christine started. Maya glared at the girl as Christine continued talking, "But do you honestly expect us to believe that that was a bodyguard in a suit, that conveniently appeared despite the fact that-"

"I know that it's confusing," Tony said, instantly cutting the reporter off which made Maya smile proudly at her father. "It is one thing to question the official story, and another thing entirely to make wild accusations or institute that I am a superhero."

Maya's smile quickly disappeared and she mentally face palmed herself. "I never said you're a superhero," Christine told him. Tony's face went blank as he said, "You didn't? Well, good, because that would be outlandish and...fantastic."

Tony let out a sigh and Maya could already tell that he was having trouble not being able to blurt out that he was Iron Man.

"I'm just not the hero type, clearly. With this... long realistic list of character defects and all the mistakes I've made, largely in public, like the fact that I didn't know that I had a kid," Tony started rambling. Maya watched as Rhodey leaned over and whispered something to Tony who nodded.

Tony turned back to the audience and said, "The truth is...."

He then paused and glanced at his card before looking back up at Maya. She already knew what he was about to say before he said it. And as soon as those words left Tony's mouth, Maya knew that her life was going to change forever.

"I am Iron Man."