Stark Crossed Lovers

Chapter Thirty-Two

Sam spent the rest of the early part of her afternoon shooting the bow and arrow, hitting every shot perfectly. “Who would have known, that all we had to do to make you a fighter was to put my life on the line,” Tony said watching Sam shoot as if she had been doing it her whole life. “Actually I did,” Clint said smirking. “Shut up,” Tony mumbled under his breath, drawing his attention back to his daughter. “Okay, I think you’ve mastered it now,” Tony said after Sam had hit another straight bullseye. “Better than Peter?” Sam said smiling, her competitive side taking over. Tony smiled, “With the arrow, absolutely. But let's see how you are with your repulsors.” Sam beamed with excitement as she reached down to touch her necklace. She smiled, feeling the suit graph it self over her body. “Now, this isn't going to be as easy as getting that arrow into a board,” Tony said to Sam, who had already been putting her hand up, trying to position herself up for a good pose to shoot from. “FRIDAY unlock Sam's repulsors for training," Tony said to the A.I. Tony waited a second with no reply. “FRIDAY?” Tony called out realizing that it was taking longer than usual for her to respond. “Sorry sir, I'm working through your safety walls, it's taking me longer than expected due to them being very extensive.” Sam looked up at her dad and gave him a face after hearing the feedback from FRIDAY. “Training wheels have been lifted successfully,” the A I. finally said. Sam became even more annoyed with the A.I’s second comment. “Training wheels? Really?” Sam asked before pushing the button that allowed for her helmet to cover her head. “Everyone has to start somewhere kiddo.” Sam rolled her eyes out if habit, knowing that her father wouldn't see it. Then she was caught off guard by a female voice coming through her suit. “Hello Samantha,” the ladies voice said. The voice was similar to FRIDAY and Peters A.I. KAREN, but it was still different, making her unique. Tony then walked over to Sam and said, “Well don't be rude, talk to her, give her a name.” Sam thought for a few moments about good name ideas for her A.I. After all, if she was going be working with it from here on out, it needed to be a name that Sam could say easily but also something that was cool, and her. She could name it Janet, "Rocky Horror" was on her list of favorite movies, and should she ever be in another situation like with Oc, yelling "dammit Janet!" could be funny. But Sam decided against that and tried to think of something else. Hermione was an interesting option, yet Sam still thought that it was too on the nose. “Well Samantha, we haven't got all day,” Tony said smirking. “What about Janine?” Tony stared back at Sam his eyes wide. “Like your mom?” Sam smiled removing her helmet for a minute to look at her dad. Despite Ghostbusters just being an all around great movie, Sam had always loved it because there was a woman named Janine in it.  Her mom's name was also the only real piece of information Tony gave to Sam about her mom. So Sam grew up wanting to watch Ghostbusters over and over again, imagining that her mom was similar to the Janine in the movie. Sarcastic, funny, strong, yet still very loving in her core. “Not entirely, it's also based off the most bad ass secretary in movie history,” Sam said attempting to hide the fact that her mom had been the first thing that came to her mind when picking the name. Tony just smiled looking back at her and nodded his head. After putting the helmet back on she asked, “What do you think, do you like the name Janine?” The A.I waited a moment. “Excellent choice Samantha.” Sam smiled not being able to get over how awesome the suit was. Tony looked on, “Okay, let's take this outside. The last thing I need is a great big gaping hole in someone's room. Vision already has no idea what privacy is.” Tony finished by stepping into his suit and motioning for Sam to go out of the window. “We are just going to the roof, nothing fancy, just remember take it slow so you can land." Sam rolled her eyes again, but still listened to him to land properly. They flew up and touched down on the roof. “Nice, more practice and you'll be more like me,” Tony said letting his arrogance show just a bit. Sam laughed and looked around at the roof which looked completely different. Tony had set up fake walls made of poster board and empty glass bottles for her to shoot down. “Now, don't just go for it you have to...’’ But Sam had already tuned Tony out and stuck her hand out to fire at an empty whisky bottle. “SAM!” Tony yelled out but it was too late. Sam shot off her repulsor, and while she hit the bottle, the force of the blast was more powerful than expected pushing Sam backward, almost falling. The only thing stopping her fall was her dad, who had been standing behind her, breaking her fall. Sam turned to look at her dad. He was retracting his helmet and hinting to Sam to do the same. Once her helmet was retracted Tony looked at Sam sternly, “Maybe next time, let me finish my sentence before just doing what you want.” Sam smiled and laughed at the situation. “I think that's enough for the day,” Tony said realizing that he was hurting a bit from catching her. Sam agreed and held her diamond tightly in her hand, allowing for the whole suit to retract. Sam sat down to look out over the city. She was thinking about her mother, and she asked the question she had been wondering about for a while. “Do you ever wonder what it would be like if she was still here?” Tony turned his head to look over at her. “Who?” He questioned. “Mom,” Sam replied back the pain in her voice ringing through Tony's ears. He didn't know how to answer her. Maybe he should finally tell her the truth. He stared back at the girl who he had raised as his own, and couldnt find it in him to lie anymore. Tony took and deep breath and said, “Sam, I have to tell you something.” She turned to look at him. “Okay," she said back, slightly annoyed that he didn't answer her question. “I should have told you sooner,” Tony said shaking his head slightly. “Told me what,” Sam said, becoming mildly annoyed with her dad being all mysterious. “Me and your mom were never together,” Tony said quietly waiting for Sam to interrupt him with anger. But then picked back up realising she was too confused to talk. “In fact, I didn't even know her,” he could feel the emotions build up inside him. “There was a attack on New York fourteen years ago, you were only three. Your mom worked in the big Macy's downtown, I assume she was taking you to daycare before her shift. But she never made it there,” Tony was regretting every word coming out of his mouth as he said it. “The building had been crushed with your mom in it, and somehow, some miracle, you survived. I couldn't just leave you there. You were so small and you had no one.” He took a deep breath to steady his emotions, and continued. “I officially adopted you shortly after, met with your real father who just handed all necessary paperwork over. Him and your mom hadn't been on speaking terms, I guess. You never really remembered him or your mom, or anything except for me, so I just never told you. But I can't keep it from you any longer. Especially after you came clean about you and Peter. It would just make me sick if I kept it from you any longer.” Sam slowly stood up unable to feel anything. “Please understand why I did it Sam, you had already lost so much, I couldn't hurt you any more.” Sam heard what Tony was saying. She didn't cry or even get mad. She just looked at him, squeezed her diamond, and made her way back inside, completely numb as to what she had just heard. Leaving Tony outside. Alone. Tony tried calling after her but it proved useless. He didn't chase after her. He just sat on the edge of his tower by himself, thinking that maybe some secrets were better kept as just that, secrets.