Tony's Daughter

Struggle

Valentina woke up that morning, dreading the day. She was taking Pepper's place as Tony's assistant for his trip overseas. Shaking her head, Valentina got up and got in the shower.

Once the shower was done, she got dressed in a professional outfit. She weaved her hair into a French braid that started at the top, and ended just above her butt. She washed her face, then put her makeup on.

Once she was sure that she looked proper, Valentina walked out of her room.

"Good morning, Pepper." She said, as she poured herself a cup of coffee.

"Morning. Don't forget, you're going with Tony to Afghanistan."

"Don't remind me. It's bad enough that he missed his award presentation last night. He's probably gonna miss his plane, too." Val said, shaking her head.

......

True to her word, Tony was late. Val had arrived at the same time Rhodey had.

"I bet you a months supply of mountain dew, that he had another one night stand." Val said, writing stuff down for future use.

"Deal. If I win, you pay for season tickets to the Oakland Raiders."

"I'll see what I can do."

An hour later, Tony showed up. Boarding the plane, acting like nothing was amiss, and sporting a hickey just under his right ear.

"You're late." Rhodey said.

"I'm here now, aren't I?" Tony said, sitting down in the seat.

"Tony, you're three hours late. I'm pretty sure the people that the you're supposed to meet with, aren't gonna be happy. No wonder Pepper gets angry with you." Val said, shaking her head.

"Yeah, yeah." Tony said, rolling his eyes.

Val sighed, and turned to Rhodey.

"From now, until tomorrow morning, he'll be your problem. I need a break." She said.

Sleep for Val didn't come easy that night. She tossed and turned, most of the night. She pretty much summed it up to sleeping while in a jet. After three hours, she finally found sleep. Even if it was only for a few hours.

.........

Val woke up an hour before they were supposed to land. She changed into some weather appropriate clothes that were professional, and moved to the seating area. She ordered toast with scrambled eggs and a glass of water.

When they landed, they got into their designated Humvee's, and escorted to the test site.

"Mister Stark, Miss Potts has asked me to tell you, that once we have landed back in America, you are scheduled for a meeting with the board members of Stark Industries." Val said.

"Yeah, whatever."

Val pinched the bridge of her nose.

"One of these days, you're gonna regret treating people like crap."

"Anything else you'd like to add to that list, Captain Uptight?"

"Yeah. Your company, it's come back to bite you in the ass."

........

Val looked on in horror, as the Jericho missile blew up the side of a mountain.

"What the hell is wrong with you?! There could've been people in those mountains! Does anybody ever think of the consequences around here?"

"Where's the fun in that?" Tony laughed, as he opened a case that had champagne.

Val shook her head and headed back to the humvee. She grabbed her phone, sighing in relief when she had a signal. She dialed the number that would connect her to Jarvis.

"Good evening Miss Stark, what can I do for you?"

"If possible, I need you to pull up any records of people living near my current location."

"Anything else?"

"Yeah. Don't tell Pepper or Stane. Keep this between us. For now."

After Tony was done, they headed back to base. Half way back, during an argument Tony and Val were having, the humvee in front of them, blew up.