Stark Crossed Lovers

Chapter Eighteen

Sam sat with her dad at the breakfast table after Steve left for his morning run. She felt incredibly guilty, more so than usual when it came to her relationship with Peter. Her dad was supposed to be her best friend, he was supposed to be her confidant. Yet she had to keep secret her involvement with the second most important person in her life. “Sam did you hear me?” Tony said realizing his daughters mind was wondering. “Sorry I must have been day dreaming,” Sam spoke grimly. “Well, I asked if you wanted to come down to the lab and help me, but I guess...” Sam instantly cut him off,  “OF COURSE I DO.” It had been awhile since Sam went to his lab to actually help him with anything. Sam loved the opportunity to spend any amount of time helping her dad put together projects. It gave her an insight into her dad's head and it also taught her a lot. That and sometimes Sam could prove that she knew more then her dad when it came to certain subjects. As they made their way down to the lab Sam began to wonder what they would be working on. She had the urge to ask but didn't want to ruin the surprise. Once down in the lab she wished she would have asked. Sam looked around and realized that there was nothing moved out of the way or tools sitting out. “Dad, are you punking me?” Sam chuckled nervously. “Not at all actually, I do need your help with something but its not exactly mechanical,” Tony spoke confidently. “Now I am super confused,” Sam said unable to hide the emotions on her face. “Sam, I realized something the other day when I had that attack...” Tony was interrupted by Sam's laughter. She always tried to make jokes out of situations that made her feel bad or uncomfortable. It helped her cope. “What, that you should take your meds, or was it that you learned how to give me a heart attack?” Tony frowned not finding Sam amusing at all. “Sam listen, I realized that life is too short and I want to spend it with the people that I care about the most.” Sam's body started to slowly shut down. She couldn't be hearing this. “So, I need your help putting this together,” Tony said holding up a ring without diamonds in it. “I figured you would know the perfect stones to put in this bad boy, and then I could..” Anger took over Sam's whole body as she interrupted her father “PROPOSE TO PEPPER?” Tony stared back at Sam “Sam come on, I know you haven't always gotten along with her.” Sam couldn't help inrupeting her dad once again to state “I have never liked her dad.” Tony began to talk more sternly “Sam she is good to you, and she loves me and I love her.” Sams face was growing red with anger. “When has she been good to me? She acts like she knows me, like shes my mom. She's not my mom!” Sam spoke thinking back to the many times that Pepper did, in fact, try to act like a parent, both when Sam was young and the older she got. Not once did she ever appreciate any advice ever given to her by Ms. Potts. Tony breathed in exasperation, thinking back to the small fragile girl he rescued from the ruined department store. For the longest time it had just been the two of them. When he and Pepper started seeing each other officially he had hoped she would grow on Sam. But through the years Tony had realized she had become attached to her father. Though this was extremely heartwarming to Tony, it was hard knowing that no one, not even Pepper, who Tony felt was made for him, would be good enough for him in his daughter's eyes. “Sam,” Tony said trying to reason with his daughter. “I know you don't want anyone taking your best pal away from you, but trust me when I say, no one could ever do that. Besides I have to do what makes me happy too.” Sam stared back at her father, and then she did it. Sam spoke truthly, but didn't think about her father's feelings before doing so. “So you deserve happiness but I don't?” Sam had been referring to Peter of course, but Tony didn't pick up on that. “If this is about being locked up in the house all of the time, I won't apologize for trying to keep you safe.” Tony went back to speaking forcefully. Sam stared at her dad contemplating telling him about Peter, but she still couldn't, especially now. She could feel tears welling up in her eyes, and decided that she needed to get away regardless of any rule. She took off to the door of the lab, hearing her father call back to her, “Samantha come back here!” But Sam just kept running. She realized when she made her way out of the lab and half way down the hallway that no one was coming after her. She was crying in the elevator, and trying to get Peter to answer his phone before remembering that he was still at school.  Once she got to her bedroom she put on some blue jeans and a white blouse with “Stay Peculiar,” written on it. “You're not the only one that deserves to be happy,” Sam said to herself as she locked her bedroom door. She then proceeded to open the tracking APP on her phone and decided to turn it off. If she was leaving this tower she was gonna do it without her dad coming after her. Sam left her room before locking it again, so that her dad wouldn't see she wasn't in there. Sam got onto the elevator and went to the ground floor and out the front of Stark Tower, then she made a run for it. The plan was to run up the street to the convenience store. From there she would take an Uber just like the last time she left. Sam ran and ran feeling the pavement hit her shoes with every step. However, after a while she became tired. She sat on the curb to catch her breath for a moment and tried calling Peter again. She was hoping that maybe he was at lunch or could make up an excuse to get out of the classroom for a minute or too. But she still got no answer. She started to regret the way she left things with her dad. Though she didn't like the idea of her whole life changing due to her dad getting married, she couldn't deny the smile Pepper gave him. She sighed realizing that she had been wrong and way to hard on Pepper and her dad. She then picked up her phone to call her dad to come get her. “Hmmm What is the sweet little princess doing out of her tower?” Sam felt her hair stand on end. She froze, her finger hovering over her fathers contact. The voice was sharp and male and horribly familiar. She was alone, and defenseless. She began to move her head up slowly to look at him. Doc Oc looked at her with an icy smile that pierced her soul. Sam went to scream and run back towards Stark Tower. She forgot all about the training she learned this morning. In one quick shot of his mechanical arms Oc picked Sam up and began to walk off in the direction of the city. For once Sam had wished she was still in the tower.