Saving Grace

Twelve

On the flight home, the TV plays Senator Stern in a interview talking about Tony and the Iron Man technology. Tony knows they'll be pushing for him to hand over the tech more than ever now.

Grace is sitting next to him, leaning into his side. She isn't drawing. She just holds onto him, listening as he talks to Pepper about the whole mess. She sleeps little.

What happened had shaken her. Terrified her. That's the closest she's ever been to an Iron Man fight. She watched it all happen. It only reinforces Tony's belief that she needs to be basically kept under lock and key, sent away with someone he trusts at the first sign of trouble.

He isn't mad at Pepper for convincing him to bring her to Monaco. She couldn't've known what would happen. No one could. And he knows that, really, it was mostly his fault. He just had to drive in the race.

"Don't waste it. Don't waste your second chance," he remembers. He feels like he already has.

~~~~

Pepper and Natalie are doing everything they can to fix what the fight in Monaco has done to Iron Man's image. Tony, meanwhile, is in his workshop, sitting in one of his convertible cars, doing research on Anton Vanko with Jarvis. He was a Russian physicist who was deported in 1967. His son, Ivan, the man who attacked Tony — and who's also a physicist — sold plutonium to Pakistan and served fifteen years for it.

While he's researching, Rhodey walks in.

"Tony, you gotta get upstairs and get on top of this situation right now," he says. "Listen, I've been on the phone with the National Guard all day, trying to talk them out of rolling tanks up the PCH, knocking down your front door, and taking these." He points to the Iron Man suits. "I'm pretty sure the only thing that convinced them not to was the fact that Grace is here right now." Tony makes no reply — doesn't even look at Rhodey. "They're gonna take your suits, Tony, okay? They're sick of the games. You said nobody else would possess this technology for 20 years. Well, guess what? Somebody else had it yesterday." He stops and waits for Tony to say something, but, again, he doesn't. "Are you listening to me?" He walks over and nudges Tony's shoulder. "Are you okay?"

Tony just looks at him for a few moments, then gets up and says, "Let's go."

He falls getting out of the car, and Rhodey hurriedly helps him up. "You alright?"

"Yeah, I should get to my desk," Tony says, and Rhodey helps him over. "See that cigar box?"

"Yeah."

"It's palladium."

Rhodey helps Tony sit down, then opens the box. Tony takes out the arc reactor. Rhodey asks, "Is that supposed to be smoking?"

"If you must know, it's neutron damage. It's from the reactor wall."

Rhodey takes it, pulling out part that's smoking. "You had this in your body?" Tony turns, and Rhodey sees the blackness that's made its way into Tony's veins. "And how about the high-tech crossword puzzle on your neck?

Tony takes the arc reactor back. "Road rash." He replaces the arc reactor and drinks more of the medicine sitting on his desk. He looks back at Rhodey. "What are you looking at?"

"I'm looking at you," Rhodey replies. "You wanna do this whole lone gunslinger act, and it's unnecessary. You don't have to do this alone."

"You know, I wish I could believe that. I really do. But you've gotta trust me. Contrary to popular belief, I know exactly what I'm doing."

Rhodey doesn't believe him. "Tony-"

"You remember," Tony says, "when I made you Grace's godfather, right?"

"Of course."

"Just... keep remembering it. Okay?"

Rhodey's heart sinks. "Okay."

~~~~

Tony heads up to Grace's room, and Rhodey follows. Grace's face lights up when she sees him. "Rhodey!"

He hugs her, chuckling. "Hey, Mini Stark. How you been?"

She sighs, looking over at Tony. "How do you think?" Rhodey laughs.

Soon after that, he heads back downstairs, but Tony stays. "What do you say we watch a movie?" he asks.

Grace grins. "Yes!" She runs to her DVD shelf to pick one, and Tony goes to make some popcorn. When he comes back, she's holding The Little Mermaid.

They put it in the DVD player, then sit on her bed. It's a queen-sized, with a light pink comforter to match her walls, and a thin, white canopy hanging over it. Grace pulls it closed, leaving only the foot of the bed open so they can see the TV. Tony moves her various pillows so they can sit comfortably, then gets under the covers. Grace sits next to him, and he puts his arm around her and presses play.

They sing along to the songs together as the movie goes on; they've seen it so many times, they know it by heart.

By the time it gets to Kiss the Girl, Grace is sleepy, as it's past her usual bedtime. She mumbles the lyrics, and Tony laughs quietly at her. Suddenly, she asks, "Dad?" He hums in response, so she continues. "When are you gonna kiss Pepper?"

His eyebrows raise, the only surprise he shows. "When am I gonna kiss Pepper?" he repeats.

"Yeah. I mean, you've known her for forever."

He sighs. "Honestly, sweetheart, I don't know."

Grace cuddles closer to his side, putting an arm around him. "You should marry her."

He laughs. "Maybe." But in the back of his mind, he knows he never will.

Grace falls asleep not long after that, but Tony lets the movie play anyway. He starts to doze off, too, when there's a light knock on the door.

"Come in," he says, quiet enough that he won't wake Grace.

The door opens, and Natalie walks in, holding a box of watches. "Which watch would you like to wear tonight, sir?"

His birthday party.

He was going to cancel it, what with everything that had happened. He forgot all about it when he asked Grace to watch a movie, but the party isn't even set to start for another hour or so at this point.

He gingerly gets out of Grace's bed, turns off the TV, pulls her canopy fully closed, and steps out into the hall with Natalie.

"I should cancel the party," he says, walking down the hall.

"Probably," Natalie replies, following.

"It's... It's..."

"Ill-timed?" she suggests.

"Yeah. Sends the wrong message." He turns and looks at the box in her hand. "I'll... I'll have a look at those, though." They make their way to his room, where she sets the box down on his desk and opens it. He starts trying on the watches. "Hey, can I ask you a question?"

"Of course."

"It's a bit odd — hypothetical."

"I don't mind."

He stops. "If this was your last birthday party you were ever gonna have, how would you celebrate it?"

She smiles a little. "I'd do whatever I wanted, no matter what anyone else would think about it."